“She’s very upset after that battle, Commander. I’m sorry if we were out of line in telling her and the others all that but she didn’t seem like she would take anything else but an explanation,” Captain East Wind said to Commander Blizzard as he stood with his brother in the Commander’s office.
“I’m not surprised she’s upset. She still holds onto her silly Equestrian values. Obviously she doesn’t understand what it means to be a true pegasus yet, more time is still needed for her,” the Commander responded, his eyes drifting upwards. “Eventually she’ll come around and see things from my point of view. That pony doesn’t realize how much she has in common with me.”
The twins stealthily shared an unsure glance with each other.
“Er, Commander?” West Wind started. “I’m worried that she may attempt to tell others about this and start causing problems in the city. And with the others who also know...”
Commander Blizzard grunted, his eyes lowering to the twins as he frowned. “Possibly. Right now she’s still very volatile and untamed. This wouldn’t even be a problem if every pegasus was more like me...” His eyes narrowed and he grit his teeth as anger started to build up in him. “It shouldn’t even be something that needed to be kept secret, if everyone believed in the pegasus way as strongly as I did they wouldn’t care about why we’re fighting or anything like that. But instead now they’d see it as some kind of scandal, as if we were doing something wrong. Pathetic.”
He stomped one hoof on the floor. The loud sound getting his two captains to jump.
East Wind quickly regained his wits and made some of his other thoughts known to the Commander. “I think, sir, that if we do nothing now she may just stew in her resentment of us and the Empire. But she also threatened to become violent with you the next time you met. I’m uncertain of what to do.”
“Reward her,” Blizzard told him.
“Sir?” The twins said together.
“Reward her. You said she did an exemplary job in the fight and numerous other soldiers witnessed that as well. Just lie about her being the one who finally killed that old wolf that’s pestered us for years too. Make her admired by the other soldiers, respected, give her a medal or something if you think it would help too.”
“Is that a good idea, sir?” West Wind asked, apprehension clear on his face. “She’s already shown to be quite charismatic on her own, her squad is fully behind her now and she’s a popular topic of conversation in the city already. I’m worried that making her more popular might bring others to her side if she chose to pursue it and actually disrupt things here.”
“It will be good for me. Everyone will see her as a fantastic pegasus soldier and know I was right about her and that I could make a filthy Equestrian pegasus more like us. And if she tries to do anything then so what?” Blizzard shrugged. “There’s nothing she can do with me around. Perhaps even with the admiration of her peers she’ll change her tune and come around a bit. Unlikely, but possible, no pony from Equestria can have a will as strong as a true pegasus.”
Rainbow Dash was lying in her cot and staring up at the ceiling. Despite it being well into morning when she should be out training she had not gotten ready whatsoever. Her helmetless armor sat below her bed and her squadmates (sans Crescent Moon) awkwardly stood about in the barracks.
She refused to go along with Blizzard’s way of doing things or the normal life of a soldier anymore. She was doing it to begin with cause why not? It was a part of her fun adventure. But now after learning the truth of everything she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure or play along with his dumb experiment. There was absolutely no way Rainbow Dash was going to let him use her to push his agenda and make this Empire and the pegasi who lived in it even worse.
The problem was… she didn’t know if she could actually fight him or do anything about it. She knew how much these soldiers valued strength and if she challenged him and lost again it might destroy her in the eyes of the others. So what else could she do? What did she have to work with? And if she couldn’t beat him in a fight would anything else she did matter at all? He was dangerous, she knew she needed to stop him somehow so he couldn’t do anything else up here. She really liked when she could just punch a problem but maybe she’d have to change the Empire in a different way.
“Rainbow Dash? Shouldn’t we be getting out to the training grounds already?” Summer Rains hesitantly asked.
“You guys can, in fact you should, I don’t want any of you to get in trouble because of me, but I’m staying here. I’m not letting anyone here order me around again,” she said, her face scrunching up into a frown.
“I’m glad you’re thinking about us but I think we made it abundantly clear back on the battlefield that we’re all in this together,” Flashbolt stoically said. “So we’re not just leaving you alone, regardless of what you say. If that ends up with all of us being punished then so be it. But if you’re not going to do the normal training then neither will we.” He looked at the others and raised an eyebrow. “Right?”
His cousin was the first to respond. Skychaser bit his lip and shuffled about on his hooves but eventually gave a small nod. “R-Right.”
Summer Rains sighed. “Yes, that’s right. You’ve even met my family already, my little sister really liked you, so I’m certainly not leaving you out to dry.”
“I actually think this is just really interesting,” Fierce Current shrugged. “I mean, you already knew how I felt about Blizzard, and I guess I’m not afraid to say anything like that in present company anymore.”
“I’m more or less with Fierce but also… I just think you’re right. I liked what you said back there,” Clear Skies told her.
“Yes,” Wild Wind agreed. “Rainbow Dash, you called them out in a way none of us ever could even if we knew what you did. And you fought hard to protect as many of your fellow soldiers as you could, I saw you. After recent revelations I am on your side too. You don’t have to be doing any of this, you didn’t have to help, you didn’t have to get along with or try to help us just with day to day things either. But you did. I don’t know if every pony from Equestria is like you, but I know a better leader—a better pegasus—when I see one.”
Rainbow Dash sighed and rolled off her cot, standing up and throwing a hoof through her mane even though it hardly changed how it looked. “Thanks you guys, that uh, actually does mean a lot to me. I just really don’t want any of you to get hurt cause of what I’m doing. You all have families and stuff to look after up here too. I don’t, I’m just flying through.”
“Be that as it may, you’re one of us now and we look out for each other,” Wild Wind stepped forward and put a hoof on her shoulder.
“And you don’t need to worry about us. We’re tough too after all,” Fierce Current grinned.
“Thanks, all of you,” Rainbow Dash genuinely smiled to her squad. She was lucky to have met and become friends with all of them, even the obviously more apprehensive Skychaser. All six of them were good ponies.
“Soooo...” Clear Skies whistled. “What do we actually do now though?”
“We already threw the idea around of just messing around before, didn’t we?” Summer Rains said.
“Our superiors could either just ignore us or much more likely throw us in jail,” Wild Wind said. “But either way we’ll be making it abundantly clear that the normal soldier life is behind the seven of us. We’ll do what we want to do and they’ll have to lock us up if they want to stop it.”
“I wouldn’t mind doing stuff that, you know, at least kind of matters. Like patrolling, or checking up on things, but we definitely don’t need to follow their training regimen or anything to the letter anymore,” Fierce Current said.
Rainbow Dash thought about it, she wouldn’t mind doing stuff that allowed her to stretch her wings and see more of the city either. She hadn’t met too many non-soldiers so far but all the ones she had were good ponies. Getting to fly around with her friends and see what else was up in the Empire might be fun. Maybe they could just watch fights in the coliseum or visit some other relatives. She had only met Summer Rains’ family and had just briefly seen Fierce’s father and Clear’s younger brother. If they were going to do things their own way now then why not have an extended leave and Rainbow Dash could introduce herself around the city?
She knew she’d be pretty popular what with being the mare soldier from Equestria after all.
Equestria, huh? Rainbow Dash idly thought. I could tell these guys all about it now. I could tell everyone about it and to Tartarus with the consequences. Let Blizzard threaten me all he wants, if anyone up here wants to know about Equestria I’m telling them!
“I’m thinking we could still go and get breakfast for now though?” Summer Rains suggested.
“Sounds good to me,” Clear Skies nodded with a smile on his face. “And if Iron Star or any of the other sergeants give us lip I’ll knock em into next week, hah!”
“Good, I want to eat too. All this serious talk has been stressing me out,” Skychaser said, a disgruntled grimace on his face.
“Oh relax,” his cousin rolled his eyes.
Rainbow Dash grinned and stretched her wings, the seven of them getting ready to leave the barracks and go get some chow. Whatever else was ahead could wait. She was happy to be able to enjoy the time she could with the others. And she knew they, even Skychaser, would be happy too with the freedom and fun she could give them. But it looked like that might be put on hold for a moment. Since right as they were getting ready to leave the barracks a certain lieutenant opened up the door and walked inside.
“I figured you must be here if you weren’t out training or in the mess hall,” Crescent Moon said. He had a troubled look on his face but he didn’t exactly seem to be angry.
Rainbow Dash frowned when she saw him, still unsure of just where she stood with the lieutenant. She walked up to him with the others behind her. “And? Any reason you were looking for us?”
“Well I am the one in charge of this squad after all. It’s only natural for me to wonder what you’re doing,” Crescent Moon stiffly replied. “Especially if it’s something like ignoring scheduled training and being insubordinate.”
“Are you here to make us go back to doing things like normal?” Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at him.
Crescent Moon regarded her for a second with an emotionless face before briefly looking over the others as well, finally his eyes flickered back to Rainbow Dash. “No. No, I’m not going to do anything like that. You’ll get no complaints from me, nor will I report anything to the Captains or Commander.”
A small smile broke out on Rainbow Dash’s face again. “Thanks, dude. So what are you here for then?”
“Partially I did just want to tell you that, since I know I have not been the most direct of commanding officers that I could be. But also I’ve been told by Captains East and West Wind to inform you of something,” Crescent Moon replied.
“What?” Rainbow Dash couldn’t imagine it was anything good.
“You are to be commended for your efforts in the recent battle as well as being the one to personally take down the War Chief of our Frost Wolves enemy,” Crescent Moon told her in a tired tone.
Rainbow Dash’s eyebrows shot up. “What? But I-”
“I know,” Crescent Moon cut her off. “But it doesn’t matter. This is the story Commander Blizzard will have told.”
“Tch,” Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue and glanced back at the others. “Just so we’re clear, you all know that I’m not the one who killed that old wolf right? It was East Wind… or West Wind. I can’t remember, same pony basically.”
Wild Wind nodded in acknowledgment. “Yes, I was there, I saw what happened.”
“But why does the Commander want others to think it was Rainbow Dash who killed the War Chief and not, er, East or West Wind?” Skychaser asked.
“Yeah, I don’t get that either,” Dash said.
Crescent Moon gave a wry grin. “I asked the same thing when I was told about it. The Captains said that Blizzard wants you to be appreciated and seen as a great success of our system. The mare from Equestria is now going to be looked at as a shining example of what a soldier of the Empire should be.”
“Meanwhile everyone will have to admit that Blizzard was right to take charge of you and induct you into our army,” Flashbolt’s eyes narrowed.
“Great, so he’s just trying to use me some more?” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
“I do believe he’s trying to placate you and make you feel like you fit in more. So you’ll have a more positive outlook on the Empire,” the Lieutenant scratched the back of his neck, knowing that Rainbow Dash will definitely not have that reaction.
“Well the joke’s on him then,” Rainbow snorted.
“I had figured as much. But just so you know the word on this is already being spread. Soldiers and others have heard about your accomplishments and are already talking about you with fondness. You’re becoming popular more than just because you’re an oddity,” he explained.
“Fine! Whatever!” Rainbow Dash threw up her hooves. “I like to be admired for stuff I actually did but if he wants this then fine. I’ll make him regret it someday. Let others think I’m some big dumb success of his, and if they like me more because of that then maybe I can talk to them easier.” She looked at the rest of her squad. “Forget all of that for now anyways, let’s go get some food.”
“Finally,” Clear Skies grinned.
The seven of them started to walk out of the barracks. As they passed by Crescent Moon, Rainbow Dash shot him a grin.
“By the way, dude, you’re cooler than I thought you were.”
Crescent Moon’s face scrunched up as he awkwardly looked at the floor. “I just… owe you I suppose. You saved me, even though you didn’t have to, you still did it. And I don’t think anyone would’ve blamed you if you didn’t bother either.”
Rainbow Dash stopped and gave him a surprisingly serious look. “Hey, I did that because it was the right thing to do. That’s the kind of awesome pony I am.” Her eyes looked up for a second before she smiled and looked back at Crescent. “Do you want to come to breakfast with us?”
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I-I really probably shouldn’t...”
“All the more reason why you should,” Dash threw a hoof over his shoulders and pulled him with her to the barracks doors. “Come on, we can talk more about stuff and what we’re all going to do now at the mess hall. I’m starving.”
“Well we officers really aren’t supposed to eat with the rank and file… b-but I suppose that if I’m already not going to go against you or anything then what’s one more step like this? I don’t think the Captains ever really held me in high regard, so might as well stick it to them! Right?” Crescent Moon hesitantly said, trying to put on a confident grin.
“That’s the spirit!” Rainbow Dash laughed.
And now eight ponies left the barracks together on their way to the mess hall. Their future in the Empire uncertain, but still ahead.