Through Thick and Thin

by White Comet


Chapter 3: Settling In

Rainbow Dash stepped off the train at Horseshoe, quickly racing out of the station and into the town. Despite the heavy saddlebags on her back, she moved quite fast.

“Hey Dash, wait up!” Soarin called, rushing after her. He tried his best not to rush past and startle anypony else on the platform.

Dash heard him but continued anyway. She turned a corner…

...and quickly realised she had no idea where she was going.

She glanced up and extended her wings, then suddenly gave them a hard pump, propelling herself into the air. It was nice to stretch them after being cooped up in a train for a couple hours.

“Dash!” Soarin called again, following her. He did a little runup before taking flight, so it took him less effort to take off.

Dash flew a few feet into the air before hovering in place, giving her an opportunity to take in her surroundings. A cluster of towns and villages that over the years had grown to merge into one known area; Horseshoe Bay. Aptly named because it was in the shape of a horseshoe. Despite the news, the residents seemed to be carrying on as usual. Town markets were still selling their goods, young fillies and colts even played on the streets. The weather only made it feel like a vacation, with a few clouds complemented by a gentle breeze.

“You done?” Soarin called, flying alongside her.

Her attention drawn, Dash’s head quickly darted in Soarin’s direction, seeing him slow to a hover as he pulled alongside her. “Y-yeah...I-I just…” Dash sighed and looked around, and once she spotted a cloud, she flew over and perched on it.

Soarin raised an eyebrow as he slowly flew over to her. Something was definitely up. She almost seemed like she was panicking...not unusual considering the situation, but he hadn’t seen Dash react like that in a long time. “Is everything okay?” Soarin asked, perching alongside her.

“I...I’m not sure…” Dash admitted, looking over the horizon. “Think about what we’re going into…” she looked over at him, “It should be scary, shouldn’t it?”

“I...yeah, I guess,” Soarin answered, not sure where Dash was going with this.

“Well...are you scared?” Dash asked Soarin.

“Of course I am,” Soarin admitted, “But we have a duty. But remember all the incredible things you’ve done that you’ve told me about?” He wrapped a wing around her shoulders to comfort her. “King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Lord Tirek?”

Dash smiled. She knew that Soarin knew how much she loved having her ego stroked. He was clearly using it to his advantage. “I know, but...this is sorta different…” She looked away from him, “We never had weapons...we had the Elements of Harmony. They just kinda...work. I don’t really understand the magic...maybe for the better...but this,” she looked back at him and tapped her hoof a few times on her saddlebag. “We have weapons. We’re going to kill or be killed. This is something completely different…”

Soarin gave her a concerning look as he tried to formulate an answer. “I know what you mean, Dashie…” he began, “But from what I’ve read and the training we’ve been given...apparently it all happens so fast we just kinda move on and forget about it.”

“That’s the thing,” Dash continued, glancing away. “I don’t think I can do that…”

Soarin suppressed a frustrated sigh. “I know what we’re walking into...and frankly, I don’t think anypony’s ready. Don’t let the expressions and voice tones fool you, they’re definitely scared. But there’s one pony I can rely on to make it through this, and that’s you, Rainbow Dash.” He pulled her tighter to himself with his wing, seeing a slight smile creep onto her face as he stroked her ego. “You’ve fought off Changelings, King Sombra, and even Tirek while the rest of us were stuck knocked out on the ground. And there’s a reason you’ve been a Wonderbolt for the last four years.”

Dash’s smiled slowly grew larger, “You know me too well,”

“I hope so,” Soarin replied, quickly smirking before returning to his concerned look. “I just wish I had some more advice I could give you. Hell, there isn’t even anypony we can ask. There are only two ponies alive today who were also alive four hundred years ago…” he gently rested his hoof on one of her cheeks and slowly tilted her head to lock his eyes with hers. “But you’re a quick learner. We’ll learn together. And I’ll be there to protect you. The whole team will. We’ll look after each other, I promise.”

Dash smiled. Soarin’s words felt like they had lifted an incredible weight off her shoulders. “Thanks...I needed to hear that…” She admitted. She had no doubt the road ahead would be challenging, but at least she didn’t have to face it alone…

“Heh,” Soarin smiled, “Now that’s more like the Dashie I know and love.” He looked over the horizon, towards the sea. “Looks like Horseshoe Naval Base is that way,” he motioned with his hoof, causing Dash to look in the direction. There was plenty of silhouettes of pegasi flying around that particular area. In the Horseshoe bay, they could see ships of all different shapes and sizes moored alongside.

“Let’s go,” Soarin extended his wings and took Dash’s hoof in his, “Don’t wanna be late.”

Dash let Soarin pull her up, and they flew side-by-side towards the harbour. As they got closer, it gave them time to examine the base. She could see several different packs of ponies, performing training or marching drills around the base. Out in the harbour, she saw dozens of ships, ranging from small destroyers to large battleships. They were all being loaded with crates full of supplies for the battle ahead. Cranes loaded the ammunition down into the depths of the ships. The mouth of the Horseshoe Bay leading out into the Celestial Ocean looked calm and clear. It was hard to believe that those peaceful waters were about to become a battleground...


Spitfire sat with her back against the guardrail on the roof of one of the buildings, leaning back and going over her notes from the early morning briefing she hadn’t long been out of. It had only given her plenty more to think about, which was the last thing she needed right now. She was just in the process of making herself a checklist of things she needed to go through with her team.

“Everything okay with you?”

Spitfire glanced to her left, seeing Admiral Swift Sprint gently landing next to her. She just shrugged in response, “As good as it’s gonna get, I suppose. How about you? What about your airponies?”

Swift just sighed and turned to look over at the view of the town of Horseshoe, a decent view from the rooftop. “Eager, naive...young…” he reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. “They think they’re going on a grand adventure…” he pulled himself a cigarette with his wing then presented the pack towards Spitfire while putting the cigarette in his mouth.

Spitfire shook her head, “Thanks, but I don’t smoke.”

Swift shrugged and returned the packet to his pocket with his hoof, replacing it with a lighter. He clicked it a few times before it lit up and singed the end of his cigarette, which he followed up by taking a long drag. “Anyway, I came to ask a favour.”

“A favour?” Spitfire raised an eyebrow.

Swift nodded, “Of course, it’s entirely up to you who you assign to me. But I would like to request Rapidfire--”

“Already done,” Spitfire cut him off with a smug look.

Swift chuckled and returned the look, “Great minds think alike, it seems. His past life in the Airship Force will be invaluable.”

“Maybe so, just bear in mind he’s been a Wonderbolt for a long time. Longer than me even,” Spitfire added.

“I’m sure he won’t be that rusty,” Swift replied confidently, taking another drag from his cigarette. “Looks like your team is arriving,” He observed, pointing with his hoof.

Spitfire stood up and turned around, glancing at the entrance to see her team arriving early. Just what she expected. She smiled as she picked off the faces, including some reserves returning for service. “They’re early...not that I didn’t expect it. It’s even a standard I’ve come to expect of them by now…”

“I have no doubt they’ll be very capable...but these will be tough times for all of us. We are all going to be tested.” Swift explained.

“I trust them with my life,” Spitfire stated confidently, “We’re like family…” she looked over at Swift, remembering something. “Didn’t your son go back into the Airship Force?”

“He did indeed,” Swift replied, smiling and glancing up as if he was reminiscing. “Torque is currently a lieutenant serving on the REAS Buckby, engineering.”

“How is he doing? He was a bit...well, interesting all those years ago,” Spitfire put bluntly.

Swift chuckled, “Whatever you did actually flipped a switch in his head. He seemed more confident, more assertive. He wasn’t so scared of me. To be honest, he’s not far off a lieutenant-commander, and if things keep going the way they are, I might have to fast-track his promotion.”

Spitfire raised an eyebrow, “Uh...glad to be of help?” She replied semi-sarcastically, mostly because she had no idea what she might have done to help.

Swift took one last drag on his cigarette and threw the butt on the ground, stomping it out. “I need to brief my CO’s. I imagine you need to need to do the same.”

Spitfire nodded, “Yeah...round about now…”

Swift nodded and smiled, turning to her and brought his right hoof up in a salute. “Good luck, Captain,”

Spitfire turned and saluted him also, “Thank you, Admiral. You too.”

Saying their goodbyes, Spitfire took another look at her team, gathering in the courtyard of the base…


Dash quickly caught up with her teammates as they gathered in the courtyard of the base. The feeling was bittersweet. She was always pleased to see everypony, but there was definitely a tense feeling in the air which put everypony on edge. Dash didn’t want to show it, but she found it really unnerving…

“Hey, Dash!”

Dash turned her head at the sound of the familiar voice. Just as she did, the sound of hooves landing on the concrete below them hit her ears. Standing next to her was her old friend Dahlia. Her deep purple fur and candy cane mane were easy to spot. And before she knew it, Dash was being drawn into a hug. Although she didn’t hesitate to return it, wrapping her forelegs around her. To be honest, she needed one right now.

“Hey Dally,” Dash greeted back. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been good,” she replied, withdrawing from the hug. “I mean, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Almost two months?”

“Yeah about that,” Dash agreed. “You just uh...started dating that stallion?” Dash tried to recall what they talked about the last time they saw each other.

“Oh yeah, that was a complete waste of time,” Dahlia batted her hoof, “He put on a good act but was such a try-hard.”

Dash chuckled, “So you got pulled up from reserves?”

“That I did,” Dahlia answered with a proud smile, “I was shocked to hear the news, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t expecting it. How are you coping?”

“Uhh...still a bit shocked, but I think I’m ready,” Dash answered, partially lying.

“Pfft, alright for some,” Dahlia rolled her eyes. “To be honest... I'm terrified. But Equestria needs us to be brave.” She looked Dash in the eye and smirked, “Something the brave, daring Element of Loyalty is used to I’m sure.”

“Heh...right,” Dash replied with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a familiar sight gliding down. “Oh, here comes Spitfire,” she pointed with her hoof.

Spitfire landed on the concrete with a clack of her hooves, drawing everypony’s attention. “Good morning, Wonderbolts,” she greeted, quickly pulling out her list. “Let’s make this quick, we’ve got a lot of work to do,”

Spitfire ran a quick roll call to make sure everypony was there. Of course, everypony was. As expected.

“Alright, paperwork to me,” she pulled a thick file out of her saddlebag and opened it up, “Make sure it’s named clearly.”

Dash dug through her own saddlebag to dig out her paperwork and placed it in the pile. She was never a paperwork fan at the best of times, but this one was even harder. Ironically it was shorter than she was expecting as well. Her last will and testament was something she spent many hours pondering. If the worse were to happen, she wanted to leave it all to Soarin. But Soarin could be in the same position as well. It ended up being very complicated to write, but she was confident she got it right in the end. She had a lot of ponies to write for...

“Okay,” Spitfire pushed the folder shut and set it aside, “We’ve been given three task forces to cover, some requiring more ponypower than others. We’ve spent a long time picking these assignments, and they assigned to you specifically for a reason, so don’t go swapping places with somepony.” She pulled up a list. “I’m only reading this once, so listen up.”

Dash nodded and twisted her ears to try and hear her better.

“On First Fleet, we have High Winds, Silver Lining, Surprise and Dahlia,” she lifted her eyes from the list to look at the ponies in front of her. “You are to report to Commodore Windwaker aboard the battleship RES Celestia.”

Spitfire waited for some nods of acknowledgement before looking back down at her list. “The next assignment is the Airship Force. Those assigned are Rapidfire, Fire Streak, Fleetfoot and Wave Chill.” She glanced up, putting her list away. “Admiral Swift Sprint is leading that operation personally. Report to him directly. He’s arranging an airship to take you to the staging grounds near the Crystal Empire. The rest of us will be based here with the Second Fleet, we will report to Commodore Sea Salt aboard the RES Moonlight.”

Spitfire took another quick glance around the faces of her ponies to make sure that what she was saying was sinking in...and also giving her time to formulate what she wanted to say next…

“Take your orders from whoever they assign you to. Aside from that, the normal chain of command applies...now, this may be the last time some of us see each other for a while…” Spitfire trailed off, looking for words. “Please, be safe. No heroics. I want to see you all back safe. I know I’m probably telling you all to suck eggs...but I just want us all to get out of this alive,” She spoke personally from her heart.

“We will, Sis,” Blaze reinforced Spitfire’s words with a smirk. “Besides, somepony’s gotta watch your six!”

Spitfire chuckled, then focused back on her colleagues. “Alright, we’ve gotta go. So say your goodbyes everypony.”

Lightning Streak turned his head to look over at his brother, Fire Streak. “Well brother, I guess I won’t be seeing you for a little while…”

“I guess not…” Fire agreed, holding his hoof out. “Stay safe out there, little bro. Because I won’t be there to watch your flank when you screw up.” He teased with a grin.

Lightning chuffed, “Likewise,” he raised an eyebrow and banged his hoof against Fire’s. As he did, his eyes moved over onto Fleetfoot. “Make sure you keep him safe, yeah?”

“Pfft, only if you keep him safe,” Fleetfoot joked, pointing at Soarin with her wing.

Lightning chuckled, “I think somepony’s already got that covered,” he answered, looking over at Rainbow Dash. But she was too involved in another conversation to be paying attention to him.

Rainbow Dash extended her hoof to Dahlia. “It’s been short Dally, but we’ll definitely be catching up again.”

“We better be,” Dally responded, bypassing Dash’s hoof completely and extending her forelegs over Dash’s shoulders to pull her into a hug. “If we both get out of this alive…”

“Hey, we will. We’re the best, right?” Dash returned the hug.

“I hope so,” Dahlia replied, withdrawing from the hug. “Goodbye, Dash. And watch those Griffons, I hear their talons can tear through flesh,” Dahlia lifted her own hoof up and looked at it, imagining a set of razor-sharp talons sprouting from it.

“I know, trust me,” Dash replied, “I’ll be fine.”

Finishing their goodbyes with one last group hoof-bump, Dash followed Spitfire and her teammates into flight over the harbour. Flying over the water gave them a good look at all the navy ships of various shapes and sizes. They were looking for the RES Moonlight. Dash didn’t know what she was looking for, but hearing that it was a battleship, she knew it meant it must be one of the bigger ones. And it seemed like Spitfire wasn’t exactly sure either, given the way they were aimlessly flying about the harbour…

Soon enough, they found a large ship bearing the name Moonlight on a plaque on the side of its hull. They descended towards a central section of the vessel to land. Dash had seen and been on a warship before, so she kind of knew what she was looking it. But the sheer size of these enormous hunks of steel always left her in awe. It’s main guns almost looked wide enough for her to crawl down.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant." Spitfire made her presence known, her and her teammates' hooves all clacking down on the wooden deck at the same time just behind a stallion in the blue uniform of the Equestrian Royal Navy.

The earth pony in question turned to face Spitfire, immediately realising who he was talking to. "Captain!" He saluted

"Where's Commodore Salt?" Spitfire asked, saluting back.

"He's forward deckside, overseeing inspections," the stallion motioned with his hoof.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, carry on," Spitfire acknowledged and nodded, turning to walk towards the forward part of the ship.

The walk, albeit short, took a while. The ship was being prepared for its deployment, meaning sailors were carrying crates and other supplies through any walkways they could get their hooves through. Sometimes even with several ponies carrying one object. At least the unicorns had it easy…

Once they reached the front section of the ship, a quick scan with her eyes quickly identified the Commodore for Spitfire. He was wearing the dark blue uniform the rest of the sailors were, but the big cap on his head made his rank clear...well, that and the insignia on his shoulder boards. He was talking to some of his fellow sailors.

“Commodore Salt!” Spitfire struck her left forehoof on the deck to make a clack to help announce her presence. At the same time, she lifted her right forehoof into a salute. Her teammates followed suit.

The Commodore turned his head in their direction, revealing his aged dark purple coat and light blue short cut mane just poking out the sides of his cap. After seeing who it was, he smiled and turned around to face them. He quickly finished his conversation in a few words with the sailor he was talking to. The unicorn mare simply nodded and moved along, carrying a clipboard with her magic.

“Captain Spitfire, a pleasure to meet you!” He greeted in a deep voice, mirroring Spitfire’s salute then extended his right hoof out to her.

“We’re reporting as ordered, Commodore,” Spitfire added, shaking his hoof.

Sea Salt nodded, “I’ll have to go through assignments with you shortly, Captain,” his eyes wandered onto Spitfire’s teammates standing behind her. “I trust your squad is ready?”

“Ready for anything,” Spitfire confirmed with a smile.

Sea Salt smirked and trotted over to the edge of the deck, staring down over the harbour operations. “We’re currently getting ready to move at a moment's notice, hence the reason everypony is running around like a headless chicken trying to get supplies loaded onboard.” He turned back around to face the Wonderbolts. “Dump your gear in the bunks, get suited up, then assist with loading the supplies. They should all be clearly labelled, and anypony should be able to answer your questions. Captain, see me on the bridge.”

“Yes Sir,” Spitfire acknowledged, turning her head. “You heard the stallion. Find a free bunk and dump your gear, then get shifting those crates.”

“Yes, Ma’am!” All of Spitfire’s teammates replied in unison before turning to one of the open doors.

They descended down into the bowels of the ship. Even at idle, the heat and humidity through the corridors were immense. Dash was glad that she wouldn’t have to spend too much time down here. The metallic sound of hooves tapping away on the floors all around them might also drive her stir crazy, but she could get used to it. The stairs were also steeper than she anticipated. Good thing she could fly. She could only imagine the smell that built up from this humidity and temperature after a few weeks on deployment...the thought made her cringe…

The interior had excellent signage, and they just kept following the signs to living quarters. They passed several bunks on the way to it, but none of them was available going by the chalkboards with names written on them on the front of the bunks. They turned a corner, and sure enough, they found an ample space with nothing but bunk beds crammed in any way they could be. They were arranged in stacks of four high, and there were already a couple sailors down there.

As they walked through, it was quite easy to work out how to claim a bed. Each row of beds had a chalkboard in front of it. If it was empty, it wasn’t in use. To claim it, you wrote your name on it. Sounded simple enough…

Dash glanced over all the bunks as she trotted between them. The moment she spotted a set of free beds, she immediately took Soarin by draping her wing over his back and pulled him towards the stack of bunks. She picked up the chalk that was dangling on a piece of string next to the board and quickly wrote their names next to each other for the two top bunks.

“Nice catch, eh?” Dash commented, grinning.

“Damn right, it’s a good catch,” Soarin replied back, giving her a hug with his wing. “Oh, and the beds aren’t that bad either I guess.”

Dash snorted and blushed a little at his sarcasm before dumping her bags in one of the trays below the beds and unzipped one of them. She pulled out her flight suit. It was very different from the one she was used to wearing. It was a darker shade of blue, and it had more holsters and mounting points for the various bits of equipment she could mount to it. It also had plenty more pockets. All in all, much more practical. It had her military rank insignia of Flight Lieutenant represented by a pair of pegasi wings with two light blue stripes underneath them. Her name was printed in large letters on the back as well as smaller letters above the chest pocket on the front.

She threw it on quickly, as did everypony else once they got their living arrangements sorted. Luckily, there seemed to be plenty of spare beds around this neck of the woods.

“It ain’t much, but it’s a bed alright,” Blaze commented while testing out her home away from home for the next...indefinitely…

“If it can stop you snoring, it’s a miracle bed in my book,” Soarin replied as he finished getting his flight suit on.

“I think there’s gonna be more ponies than Blaze to accuse of that…” Bright added, looking around at all the bunk beds that surrounded them. There must be at least a hundred in his little portion of the ship alone.

Dash stretch a little then sighed. “Guess these supplies aren’t gonna load themselves…” she said half-enthusiastically half-sarcastically. While she was eager to get underway, shoving crates around a harbour wasn’t the first thing she had in mind. Nevertheless, it had to be done, and the sooner, the better. She glanced up at Soarin, “How you doing?”

“I’m doing...okay,” Soarin replied with a straight face. “But more importantly, how about you? You holding up fine?”

“Yeah...I’m feeling better…” Dash admitted with a smile.

“Glad to hear it,” Soarin replied, smiling back. “But as you said, these crates won’t shift themselves.” He said while trotting back the way they came.

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Dash answered, following him. Despite not even being in there for very long, she was pleased to be outside in the fresh air again. Also, if she was going to be darting in and out for the next short while, she might as well enjoy the fresh air while she could.

She traced the stream of ponies going back and forth with her eyes and immediately spotted the large...incredibly large pile of crates. Obviously, not all belonging to the Moonlight, but they all had to go somewhere. When she was told she was going to war, she sort of expected something exciting to happen.

Nevertheless, she wasn’t a unicorn; she couldn’t move those crates by staring at them…


Soarin let out a long sigh as he finished pushing a crate into the storage compartment of the ship. As menial as the job was, he quickly found himself getting into a rhythm and losing track of time. He wasn't even sure what time it was, but he had been at it for hours. It must be afternoon by now, or at least midday. Although that was hard to tell when he was stood in the dark storage compartment of the ship he was on.

He perched himself on the crate he had just finished loading to give himself a little rest. With no clock around, he had no idea what time it was. Perhaps it was worth checking in with his teammates.

"Tired already?"

Soarin smirked and turned his head in the direction of the familiar voice to see Lightning Streak approaching him. "I've just finished," he answered back.

Lightning looked around at the well-organised crates. "Everypony helping you did a good job huh?"

"Hey, I did most of it!" Soarin jabbed back

Lightning chuckled, "Relax, I'm only pulling your tail,' he batted his hoof at Soarin. "Anyway, I just wanted to know…" he glanced over his shoulders to confirm nopony else was around before looking back at Soarin. "Have you...said anything to Dash yet?"

"...Not yet," Soarin admitted reluctantly, sighing, "And to be honest, I really don't know what to do. I don't feel like the moments--"

"Do it," Lightning cut him off. "Before we set off. You need to at least ask her before shit really hits the fan. Because who knows what will happen out there…"

Soarin raised an eyebrow. "That's unusually direct advice from you...who put you up to this?"

Lightning chuckled, "You saw through that, eh?"

"Was it Spitfire? You didn’t tell her my plans did you?" Soarin asked again, bluntly.

"No, of course not!" Lightning batted his hoof, "I promised you I’d keep that a secret, I wouldn’t do that. But to be honest with you, Soarin...I think she kinda knows. She was asking me about you two, but I tried to play it off the best I could. She heavily implied that she wanted you two to have a final date in case...y'know, the unthinkable happens..."

“What bought that on?” Soarin continued to question.

“Oh, I was just working near Spitfire, one question leads to another, and we got on the topic,” Lighting shrugged, “To be honest, I think she wanted me to unofficially advise you. She probably doesn’t want to speak to you about it herself because she’s worried you’ll take it as an order rather than a request. Speaking of which, have you had lunch yet?"

"Nope," Soarin answered back.

"Good, because neither has Rainbow," Lightning replied. "She's going to be heading into the harbours mess hall soon. If you catch her, the two of you might be able to go somewhere."

Soarin shook his head, "We have a job to do, I can't just take Dash and go--"

"I won't say anything, and nopony will question you I'm sure. Just go," Lightning encouraged, motioning with his head.

Soarin thought about it for a moment. Lightning seemed to really be pushing him into it...and to be honest, he appreciated the thought. EXPAND

"Okay," he said, sliding off the crate he was sitting on and back onto his hooves. "Thanks for your help, Lightning."

"No need to thank me, just don't fuck this up," Lighting replied with a smile, patting Soarin on the back.

Soarin wandered up and out, flying off the ship he was working on and back to the Moonlight. He made a quick detour inside the battleship to pick up his... equipment...then flew back out.

As he flew low back down into the harbour, he managed to easily spot Rainbow Dash. Her mane stood out as a useful identifier when everypony wore similar uniforms. He changed his course so he could fly in at an angle behind her. Once behind her, he let gravity pull him down, and he landed just behind her. “Boo,” he greeted in a calm voice.

Dash stopped in her tracks and looked behind. “Soarin?”

“How’ve you been doing?” He asked, even though he could probably already guess her answer.

Dash rolled her eyes, “Whenever I blink I see crates,” Dash groaned.

“Me too,” Soarin replied, “No wonder all these sailors probably enjoy spending more time on the ocean than land...speaking of spending time, want to grab lunch?”

“Of course,” Dash answered, “I was actually just heading to the mess.”

“Orrr…” a sly grin formed on Soarin’s face, “We could head to a restaurant, just you and me?”

Dash raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think we should go too far…”

“Oh, it’s just in town,” Soarin batted his hoof, “We won’t be far at all. We’ll even be able to see the harbour from our table.”

Dash half-smiled. His words sounded like he already had a place in mind. She glanced over her shoulders quickly. “Alright...I guess a quick bite wouldn’t hurt,” she caved. “Do we need to ditch the uniforms?”

“Nah, probably best we keep em on just in case,” Soarin replied, rubbing his hoof on the chest of his uniform. “Anyway-” he opened his wings “-follow me!”

Dash quickly took flight after Soarin. She tried not to be too self-conscious, but she struggled with that at the best of times. Part of her couldn’t help but feel like they were acting irresponsibly by leaving for some personal time together. What if they were needed and nopony could find them? If they were quick and made it back in time, then it would be alright she guessed…

Although he wasn’t too familiar with the area himself, Soarin guided Dash up the hills around Horseshoe and surprisingly quickly found a tiny little village up on one of the hills. A couple of cottages very well spread out, with the village name of Haystead printed on an ageing wooden sign at one of the paths. All the ponies they saw while flying through looked quite old. Being out of the way of Horseshoe, it was probably ideal for them being nice and quiet.

On the very eastern side of the village, Soarin found a lovely little cottage pub. It seemed quite quiet, and they were able to get seats right on the edge of the garden, able to overlook the town of Horseshoe and the harbour which was only a few miles away. Had it not been for the current situation, it could have been a little taste of paradise…

The waitress bought the two of them their food. Just plain and simple salads. Soarin paid upon delivery to speed up the process, meaning that they could leave whenever they were ready.

“So...think we’re ready?” Soarin asked, tucking into his food.

“I...I hope so,” Dash answered, unzipping her uniform's headpiece to eat. “I think I’ll get used to it…”

Soarin slowly nodded in agreement. Getting used to war...not something he ever imagined Dash would be telling him…he could still hardly believe it himself. Celestia’s announcement remained stuck in his mind, word-by-word like a nightmare. A speech that would be down in history for sure...

“So Soarin,” Dash started after a swallow. “If I die…” She paused, struggling to find the right words. “Would you...find somepony else?”

Soarin raised an eyebrow and looked away as he thought. Of course, the answer was clear-cut, but it was more the question itself that made him think. It wasn’t an easy topic under normal circumstances, but in these times, it was more important than ever to think about these things.

“No,” Soarin shook his head, looking back up at Dash. “There’s nopony that could replace you, Dash. I love you. And if it happened...well, I don’t know what I’d do. But I’ll do everything I can to stop it.”

“Not even Spitfire?” Dash replied, changing the tone by adding sarcasm. She smiled mischievously and wiggled her eyebrows.

“Eugh,” Soarin cringed, “I’ve known her for so long our relationship is more like brother-sister at this point, that would just be weird.”

Dash laughed at Soarin’s response, causing him to smile as well. At least she was keeping in good spirits.

“How about you?” Soarin flipped the question around as he took another bite.

That was an easy one. “I’d have stallions try, that’s for sure. They always have. But to be honest...well, I’ve never really wanted a special somepony...until I met you,” she felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she admitted. She tried to cover it by taking another mouthful of food.

“Glad to see you’re sticking to your Element of Loyalty,” Soarin replied, smiling.

They finished their meals and leant back in their chairs, enjoying the view out onto Horseshoe Bay. The afternoon had almost perfect weather. The trees that lined the hill obviously did something to calm what would otherwise be an aggressive wind. With the atmosphere being so calm in the small village and the gorgeous weather, it was hard to believe there was a war going on.

Falling into silence as they finished their meal, Soarin had time to think. This was it. This was the opportunity. All he needed to do now was stallion up and take it.

“How long have we been together now?” Soarin extended his hoof over the table and scooped Dash’s up over it.

Dash glanced down at her hoof as he held it. “Over four years now…” Dash replied, blushing as she recalled the memories.

“They’ve been the best years of my life,” Soarin answered, feeling himself blush a little too. His ears twitched as they tried to fold backwards, but he was trying his best to maintain his composure.

“Mine too,” Dash smiled, “So much has changed in these past four years…”

“I know,” Soarin replied, “Meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me, Rainbow Dash,” he said sincerely.

Dash felt her whole face turning red and her ears folding back as he praised her. She had to break eye contact before she exploded.

Soarin had it. He had her buttered up. The scenery was beautiful. It seemed like the perfect moment. The only complaint he had was the number of strangers that were around, but being Wonderbolts, they were used to being famous faces in the public's eyes at all times. Especially when their names and faces were also printed all over merchandise and advertisements everywhere.

Welp, here goes nothing.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Soarin asked as he withdrew his hoof.

Dash turned her head back to face Soarin. “Sure, what is it?” She replied casually.

“...Well…” Soarin smirked and pushed back on his chair. “It’s probably better if I showed you,” he stood up from his seat. “Close your eyes.”

Dash chuckled as she complied and shut her eyes. “What’s the prank this time?”

“One you won’t SEE coming,” Soarin replied sarcastically.

Dash shook her head, “That pun was terrible...but I’m Ponyville’s all-time prank champion, there’s nothing I won’t expect.” She stated proudly with a smile.

“Well, we’ll see about that in a few seconds, won’t we?” Soarin replied.

Dash chuckled as she simply kept her eyes closed and waited. She relied on her ears to convey as much info as she could. With her eyes shut, they naturally felt more sensitive. She heard Soarin moving around in front of her. She couldn’t tell what she was doing, but he was definitely there.

She sat patiently and waited, her ears poised to pick up any little detail they could.

...Or one crucial detail. A loud BOOM in the distance echoed in her right ear. “WHAT THE HELL!?” her head immediately darted to the right, opening her eyes and looking down at Horseshoe Bay harbour.

A black plume of smoke gushed from one of the ships in the harbour. The ships seemed like toys in a bathtub from this distance, but Dash could tell it was serious. Alarms began blaring from all over the harbour. Other ponies dining had got up from their tables to look at the scene. Seconds later, another ship exploded with a second powerful BANG that rang out across the area. The explosion tore it in half down the middle like paper.

“Quick Soarin, we gotta go!” Dash yelled but didn’t wait for Soarin to act. She didn't even look at him after opening her eyes. She zipped up her flight suit’s headpiece and leapt out of her chair in unison. Using the sheer power of her wings, she took off from the seating position and flew towards the harbour.

Soarin’s eyes twitched as he watched Dash fly away...he was down on one foreleg presenting the box to her...and she didn’t even see.

“Will you marry me, Rainbow Dash?” He said to himself, half-sarcastically half-angrily. He gritted his teeth, stood up and drew his hoof back with the velvet box in it…

..And used every ounce of his willpower to overcome the anger that wanted to use all of his strength to throw the box as far as he could into the distance. He groaned in frustration as he composed himself, taking a deep breath to help calm himself and focus. He pocketed the rings once again and zipped up his flight suits headpiece before following Dash. All he could do was pray that none of his teammates were on those ships...