Eternal Conflict

by Sparkz

Chapter 2

Rainbow Dash popped the top of a soda can labeled "Bonk! Atomic Punch", drank its contents and proceeded in the direction of the last remaining control point that belonged to BLU on the area known as Coldfront, a factory-like area that was locked in eternal winter. For some reason, the punch always seemed to give her the hype and motivation to be able to evade everything that was thrown in her direction for a short amount of time. She had, in between her, a level three enemy sentry protecting the only "safe" pathway to the last point and Fluttershy, following close behind her with an invulnerability charge ready with Derpy and her Rocket Launcher close by ready to accept it.

The last point could be easily captured if all of them got by safely. All Rainbow Dash had to do was use her Bonk! in order to get the sentry's attention so Derpy could take it out while it was distracted. Then the three of them would wipe out all enemies that were back at their base using Fluttershy's charge that would be protecting them both. Rainbow Dash, however, had other ideas.

Rainbow Dash glanced ahead of the sentry gun. It seemed that the only two threats were the heavy weapons guy and the sniper. Only those two? Hah! Easy! I can take care of this myself. Instead of stopping in front of the sentry so Derpy could deal with it, she rushed right in the room with her scatter gun in hoof. Unfortunately, since Fluttershy and Derpy were already in the room, the sentry honed in on the two of them since its multicolored target had already fled. Fluttershy deployed the invulnerability in order to keep them both alive. However, she had the misfortune of standing closer so the sentry had focused on her first. This didn't do any harm to her but the knockback forced her off the platform on which they were all standing on thus breaking the connection with Derpy who was now vulnerable against all attacks.

"Ohmygoodnessohmygoodness! Nonononono!!" Fluttershy panicked as she desperately tried to get back to Derpy as fast as she could. Derpy only had time to fire just two rockets before she was killed by a mass amount of bullets and a few rockets of its own to go with it. When Fluttershy got back up, the sentry, having just taken out Derpy, now aimed right at Fluttershy. She made a despite attempt to get away but the last of her invulnerability ran out and she simply wasn't fast enough. The sentry opened fire on her. "Ahh-!!" She cried as she fell straight to the ground. The last thing she heard before blacking out once again was Big Macintosh calling for a medic in what could only be described as desperation.

Rainbow Dash sized up her opponents once again before making any actions. The heavy and sniper. She knew the sniper always had trouble locking onto her because of her ridiculously fast speed, making aiming at her a constant problem for him. She could easily take him down with a couple shots from her Scattergun. The heavy however... Hmm... actually, I have this I can use. I can cap the last point before he even has a chance to fire his gun. Rainbow took out a wooden baseball bat that had the words "The Sandman" inscribed on it and a baseball. She burst into the room quickly hitting the baseball straight at the heavy's head. He didn't even have a chance to dodge it. A bullet whizzed by her head harmlessly. The sniper missed his shot. Before he could get another chance to fire, Rainbow quickly took out her scatter gun and fired three shots at the sniper. He screamed in pain and collapsed. Rainbow Dash proceeded to get on the last control point. She had done it! By herself, she had captured the last contr- Rainbow Dash collapsed after a series of bullets showered her whole body.

Rainbow Dash respawned with a scowl on her face. She was so close! Just a fraction of a second longer and it would have been over! Rainbow Dash bucked the wall in frustration... no. Now was not the time to be angry. There was still a good shot at getting to the last point. But before she could even leave the spawn area, she was stopped by a gruff voice.

"You are a danger to yourself and your comrades, soldier!" Rainbow Dash turned around. It was Derpy. Fluttershy had already gone ahead back to the battlefield but Derpy had apparently stayed behind to chew out Dash. Of course... "Not now Derpy. The last point is almost ours. It can wait until-"

"Oh horseapples. Gotta fly!" Rainbow Dash rushed outside but somehow, Derpy had gotten in front of her and was blocking her way. "Hey! What's the big idea?! Move before they cap our point!"

Derpy glared at her. "You think you can just fly past everypony else and expect to win by yourself? Do you?! Well you've got another thing coming, cupcake! You don't have the strength to win the whole thing by yourself!"

Rainbow let out a loud growl in frustration and glared back at Derpy. "Now look what you did! I could have stopped that from happening if you just LET! ME! GO!!" Rainbow Dash shoved her way past Derpy. Rainbow Dash and Derpy continued glaring at each other for a few seconds before Rainbow Dash gave a defiant huff and turned around, getting ready to take off again.

"We would have already won if you weren't such a hot-head!" Derpy yelled right before Dash disappeared from her view. Rainbow Dash didn't bother responding to her. Arguing with her was just pointless. And it would waste valuable time anyway... but at the same time, Rainbow couldn't help but wonder if she had stayed behind and helped them get past the sentry. Her thoughts drifted to the Heavy. Alone, Rainbow couldn't have done much against him but if Fluttershy and Derpy had been alive, she was perfectly capable of capping the last point while Derpy and Fluttershy distracted him. Rainbow Dash shook her head and put these thoughts at the back of her head. Get yourself together Dash! You can easily do this by yourself. You just... slipped up! That's all. They can get everyone else easy while you handle the capping. It's your job! But Rainbow Dash kept thinking of how better they would be off had she stayed by her friends as she rushed into combat once again.

"What do you mean put my guns away?!" Rainbow Dash asked surprised and outraged at the sudden command from Berry Punch.

Berry Punch kept a steady glare aimed right at Dash. "I mean just what I said. You aren't participating this round. You have been putting yourself and your teammates in peril by your rash and dangerous actions. This has to stop. You're sitting out this round and all the remaining fights for the rest of the day."

"The rest of the day?? Are you kidding me?!" she yelled, clearly outraged. Rainbow Dash glanced around the 1st control point room of Dustbowl. Derpy just so happened to be closer to the two than the rest of the ponies were. Rainbow Dash gave Berry an icy cold stare as she motioned to Derpy. "Did SHE put yo-" she was promptly cut off by Berry. "No she didn't. The entire team thinks you need to cool it. It's not just me and it's not just Derpy. It's everypony."

Rainbow Dash could not believe what she was hearing. "But why? What am I doing wrong??" she protested.

Berry Punch couldn't believe what she was hearing. "I swear to Celestia, you are so oblivious to everyth-" Berry started to yell but she cut herself off, remembering the Pinkie Promise that was made. She softened her gaze and her voice a little bit. "Look, Rainbow... in the last match alone, you disregarded the spy that was giving AJ trouble, you passed the sniper when he was giving the entire team trouble, not to mention that moment where you ditched Fluttershy and Derpy to deal with a sentry, getting them both killed in the pro-"

"Hey! I nearly got that last point capped!" Rainbow Dash shot back in the middle of her rant.

"We all would have gotten it capped sooner if you had just stayed and helped! We almost had that battle won but your little screw ups cost us yet another match!"

Rainbow Dash faltered, desperately looking for a retort. "But why is it suddenly all my fault?! You guys slip up too!"

"That's the thing though. Everypony makes mistakes but you make them so consistently that we constantly have to give up matches because of you! At least we try and help each other but you just keep rushing into battle getting yourself and your friends killed almost every single time!" Berry said without missing a beat.

Rainbow Dash's expression began to break. "W-well... how else am I supposed to help?!"

"Oh I don't know. How about actually trying to help and protect your friends??"

Rainbow Dash's expression shifted from anger to grief, surprising every pony in the room. "I CAN'T!! Haven't you figured it out by now?!" Rainbow Dash didn't even give anypony a chance to respond. She left the control point room and went towards the Red spawn room to leave the arena entirely.

Everypony in the room just stood there, stunned at what they just witnessed from one of their toughest friends, unsure how to react to the conversation that transpired. The entire room was uncomfortably silent as they tried to make sense of Rainbow's reaction. Derpy left the shack, uncomfortable with the change in atmosphere. Berry Punch was the first to break the silence. She turned around to face the rest of the team that was nearby. "I-I uh- I swear. I had no idea she was going to do that," Berry stammered.

Twilight, who was standing on the balcony of the shack, directed her attention back to Berry and sighed. "It's alright. I don't think anypony was expecting her to react like that."

"Perhaps this war has been considerably more taxing on her than we previously had thought." Rarity piped in. Her sorrowful expression followed to where Rainbow had left. "The poor dear must be more stressed than the rest of us."

"Um... actually that might not be it." All attention shifted to Fluttershy when she spoke up causing her to flinch. "Eep...!"

"Well don't keep us in the dark! What do you think is going on?" Twilight pressed Fluttershy to keep going.

"Oh- um... of course. Well, its just that since she said she can't protect us, I just assumed it had something to do with that. She might be upset because her rushing in gets ponies killed." Fluttershy quickly explained.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You really think it has something to do with how she's acting?"

Fluttershy hesitated for a second. "Well... I'm not sure but I want to find out."

Big Macintosh looked at her with unease. "Ah don't mean to stop you from helping a friend but ya'll do realize that we're about to start a match, right?" He asked. As if on cue, the timer sounded off again.

Fluttershy nodded. "I know. But I want to talk to her while this is still a problem for her rather than bring it up again later. Besides, if we don't take care of this now, we'll have to later at some point."

Nopony could argue with Fluttershy's logic. The siren sounded signaling the beginning of the battle on Dustbowl. Berry and Big Mac charged into the battle while Rarity waited a few seconds before slipping away under her enchanted invisibility necklace. Twilight glanced at Fluttershy once more. "Good luck," she muttered before scoping in, focused on the battle now.

Fluttershy nodded and made her way toward the main Red base.

Rainbow Dash wasn't anywhere to be found. She appeared to be nowhere to be found... at least, not in plain sight. Fluttershy almost gave up when she began to hear a very faint sobbing noise. Fluttershy's heart fell. "Rainbow Dash? Are you around?" The sobbing stopped almost instantly. She slowly made her way in the direction of where she heard it coming from until she reached the Frontier arena base. "Rainbow Dash?" She looked around and spotted her curled up in a corner, softly crying to herself. Fluttershy swallowed nervously and slowly trotted up to her. "Rainbow Dash?" She said, once more.

"Go away. I wanna be alone..," Rainbow Dash muttered.

Fluttershy crouched down next to her. "What's the matter?" She asked softly.

"I don't want to talk about it. Leave me alone," she said a little harsher this time.

Fluttershy frowned. "Rainbow Dash, I know something's bothering you and I want to help you! Nothing's going to get any better just feeling bad about it so tell me what's wrong!" She said forcefully then shying away immediately after. "Um... I mean, if you want to..."

Rainbow Dash was quiet for a few seconds and then muttered something that Fluttershy didn't catch. "Um, I'm sorry but could you please repeat that?"

"I can't protect anypony..."

"One more time? Just a bit louder?"

Rainbow was quiet for a few more seconds and then started sobbing silently again. "I just can't protect anypony... They expect me to be a reliable f-fighter and help them out when they're in trouble when I just... c-can't. I've never been able to..." She managed through her tears.

Fluttershy didn't know what to do or say. She had never seen this side of her friend, even when the war first began to take its toll on the world. Rainbow Dash had always been one of the bravest ponies through the entire ordeal, never showing any signs of weakness. She grieved the loss of ponies she knew but she was always the first one to try and push everypony else onward. Fluttershy hadn't ever seen Rainbow break down like this, or even show any signs of despair. At least she thought she hadn't... "Um...never been able to? You stood up for me when we were fillies though..," she said hesitantly.

Rainbow Dash just shook her head, tears dripping off her face. "Th-that was when we were fillies, Shy. Years before the war started and hundreds more before today..."

"But that means you-" Fluttershy stopped mid sentence. Another thought came to her. "Are you upset about losing your parents?" She asked carefully.

Rainbow's crying slowed down a little bit. "No... well yes I was upset when I first heard they died but that's not it. I hadn't seen them in like... what, five years before this whole mess started? I got over it quicker than I probably should have..."

"Then why are you sad? All your friends are still here."

Rainbow curled up a bit tighter and spoke in a voice that was barely audible. "Not Scootaloo..."

Fluttershy stood there confused for a second. It took her a bit to realize she had said Scootaloo, but that only confused her even more. "What? Umm... I hope you don't mind me asking but what does she have to do with anything?"

Rainbow Dash blinked away her tears and looked up at Fluttershy. She was serious. "Oh right... nopony ever got a chance to tell you..."

Fluttershy got a bit more nervous. "Tell me what?"

Rainbow Dash sat up and wiped away any lingering tears from her face. "It happened about a year after this whole thing began. Nopony ever told you because one pony didn't really matter then I guess... but it crushed me."

Like I said, it was about a year after the war began. Ponyville was still being used as a battleground and it was clearly noticeable. The buildings were half to fully destroyed and some were on fire. I'm not sure where you were at the time. Somepony said you had gone to Zecora's to take shelter?

Yes, I was taking shelter and trying to protect all of my animals at the time.

Right. Well I was in ponyville trying to get some weapons with Twilight and Applejack to defend ourselves with. Somepony had re-created some of the weapons the humans used so they could be hoof-held and they sent a huge case of them to us so we could defend ourselves. I took a scatter gun and a pistol for myself and I also grabbed a nearby baseball bat that had been lying on the ground (don't ask why I kept it. I don't remember what I was thinking at the time). Anyway, we finished gathering weapons for ourselves and the rest of you guys when I heard somepony yelling out for help and it was coming from the crusaders' clubhouse. I told Twi and AJ that I'd be right back and flew off to see what it was.

When I got over there, I saw Scootaloo being pinned down by a human with a shotgun. Applebloom or Sweetie Belle weren't with her so she was by herself. I raised the scatter gun to stop him but I had only just gotten it. I still had no idea how to fire a gun. I was lucky I didn't hit Scootaloo but I did end up hitting the human's leg. *shudders* His scream still haunts me even now... The gun's recoil ended up making me smash myself in the snout so I had to drop it. Naturally, the human noticed me after being hit so he raised his shotgun on me instead. But even though my face still hurt from the scatter gun, I was still able to move. I got to him and gave him a good solid buck to the chest sending him flying backwards, making him let go of the gun.

"Run!" I yelled at Scootaloo. "Get away from here as fast as you can!"

Scootaloo got up but she screamed in pain and fell right back down. "I can't! My hoof hurts way too much!" She yelled back. Her front hoof was either sprained or broken and I could tell she was scared out of her mind. I had to think quickly. I couldn't carry Scootaloo out of there because she'd slow me down a bit and then we'd both get shot. The thing I thought I could do was call for help in case I needed it. "Twilight! Applejack! Help!"

While I was doing this, the human got back up and he was MAD. Like, I thought he was going to blow up right there. "You're dead meat, horse," he growled at me.

I kinda got pretty mad, myself at that. "This is the last time I'm gonna tell you two hooved freaks... I. AM. A. PEGASUS! PONY!!!" While he went back for his gun, I went up to him and this time, instead of bucking him, I rammed him full force. I guess he was prepared that time though, because he didn't go flying backwards like before. He only slid backwards. We then traded punches and kicks for a good thirty seconds before I heard Twilight calling me. I made the mistake of getting distracted and looking away. The human sucker punched me right across the face. I didn't have time to recover. He didn't let me. He kept on attacking me, forcing me backwards until I was finally slammed hard into a tree. And I mean HARD. I could feel some bones cracking. I was starting to black out. I thought for sure my life was going to end right then and there but I guess the human thought I was finished off because he picked his shotgun back up and started walking towards Scootaloo again instead of me.

I could still hear Scootaloo's desperate cries. She was panicking. I spotted my scatter gun laying right by me. It would probably hit Scootaloo but it was the only chance she had. With the last of my strength, I grabbed my scatter gun. It hurt like Tartarus just trying to grab the thing but I couldn't hesitate for a second. Not while Scootaloo was in danger like that. I aimed at the human and I heard a gunshot... but it wasn't my own. The last of my strength faded and the last things I heard was a shout that sounded like Twilight's voice and a second gunshot.

I woke up under the care of the medic ponies about three days later in... I think I remember them saying it was a refugee hospital. Twilight and Applejack had found me right after I had been forced into the tree and Twilight finished the human off with her sniper rifle. They carried me and Scootaloo here so we could get medical help. I had seven cracked ribs, two shattered, a broken wing, a broken front hoof, several cuts and gashes, and a concussion to finish it off. Obviously, I survived though. And thankfully, the unicorns' magic helped me recover within a week. But Scootaloo...

Rainbow Dash began to tear up again. "They said that single shot was one of the deadliest ever. Several of the shotgun pellets went through her head and a few went through her heart. She died instantly." Rainbow Dash had tears welling up again. "A-And the worst part of it is that she looked up to me like I was a sister! I pretty much was! An-and I couldn't save her!" she collapsed on the ground again and began sobbing under her front hooves. Fluttershy moved next to her friend, offering what little comfort she could give her. "This didn't happen only once though. I tried to save Thunderlane and Rumble! I couldn't! I tried to save Spitfire! I couldn't! Buck, I couldn't even keep Tank safe!! How does anypony expect me to be any us like that if I can't even save my own pet?!" she yelled, slightly muffled, under her hooves.

Fluttershy was starting to let go tears of her own. This whole time, for hundreds of years, she had been keeping this much stress locked away within her and nopony had any idea... all Fluttershy could do was lay by her friend as she let out grief that has been building inside of her for many long years. .

"Anyway..," Rainbow Dash muttered. "That's pretty much how I know you can't count on me to keep anypony safe. I've never been good at it... you should probably go back to the battlefield now. They kinda need you, Flutters," she said bitterly.

Fluttershy didn't even hesitate. "No."

Rainbow looked up at her, surprised at her immediate refusal. "Wait... what was that? No- you really should be going back."

Fluttershy shook her head. "I'm not leaving without you," she said, simply.

Rainbow's exclusion shifted to confusion and concern. "Umm... Shy? Did you not hear anything I just said? And isn't it painfully obvious that I'd just hurt everypony instead of help them? Especially after today," Rainbow Dash said, looking back down sorrowfully.

"I know how that feels... Having your friends die right in front of you and knowing that even though you tried your hardest to help them, you couldn't save them. It really hurts..." Rainbow Dash shrank away at Fluttershy's words. "...but if you keep thinking you can't do it, you'll never get any better." Rainbow Dash looked back up, taken aback. "I'm really sorry about the loss of the ponies you care about- really, I am. I know how that feels. I tried to keep all of my forest friends safe but they all died when the Everfree forest caught fire- but if you keep thinking about what you didn't do, you'll always miss what you can do better."

"But I can't get better! I don't know if you noticed since you have other responsibilities, but I can't take a hit very easy. I get tired fast and I go down fast. How can I improve my battle skills at all if I'm gonna get killed in like... only two or three shots every single time?"

Fluttershy thought for a minute. She had, in fact, noticed her friend's lack of endurance. It never seemed to get better at all over the years. So what else would Rainbow Dash be able to do? ...What about her speed and agility? Actually, that provided her a rather simple answer. "So don't try and pick them off head on. Fire at them a couple of times to get their attention. Give them something to shoot at and distract them while the rest of us do what we usually do. Or if you're by yourself, just keep jumping and flying around them while chipping away at them with scattergun shots. You're fast so they won't be able to hit you easily," she explained, hoping she could get through to her. To her relief, Rainbow seemed to be considering it.

"...That might work." Rainbow Dash nodded to herself. "Yea, I think I could- actually, I KNOW I could do that." Fluttershy smiled at her friend who was already in a better mood. "But," she explained, "you have to be careful that stuff like the sentry incident doesn't happen again."

Rainbow sighed. "I know... and I'm really sorry about that." Fluttershy smiled. "It's okay, Rainbow Dash. I've already forgiven you. Just focus on what's going on now and what you can do. Don't worry about anything else. Are you ready to go back?" Rainbow Dash looked down again. "I would be but I can't... Remember earlier? I was told to sit out this round," She muttered.

Fluttershy's smile faded quickly again, remembering what had taken place moments ago. Thinking back, this was a completely unfair decision. Why punish her for a mistake she had no idea she was making in the first place? If only she could help even just a little this round, then it would make things a lot better for herself and the rest of her friends... hold on a second. "Actually," Fluttershy began as she went to the supplies closet and switched her medigun with a new one, "we're in the middle of a match right now and they've been working without a medic for a while so I kind of need to get there quickly..." Rainbow Dash looked at the medigun she pulled out and instantly knew what she was getting to. It was called the Quick Fix. In addition to its fast healing rate, an earlier unicorn had enchanted it to make the user as fast as any quicker moving patient. Fluttershy would use this on Dash to get to the battlefield much faster. Rainbow Dash smiled at her friend. "Thanks 'Shy."

Fluttershy began to heal Rainbow Dash. "Let's get there quickly before the battle ends while we aren't even there!" Rainbow Dash didn't need to be told another word. Rainbow Dash shot towards the current battlefield, possibly quicker than she had ever managed with Fluttershy not far behind.

The ponies were not having a good day at all. Having given up the first control point in the first thirty seconds of the match, they had almost no time at all to prepare to defend the second point before it started to be captured by the BLU team. In fact, they were at a point where if the BLU team so much at stepped on it, they would win instantly. Losing on Dustbowl was nothing new to the ponies but they had never once given it up this quickly. And yet it seemed like they were about to do just that

A heavy-medic pair, along with a third party Demoman, was advancing on Derpy and Pinkie, threatening to take control of the last point. Berry, Big Mac, Applejack and Rarity had all been killed almost simultaneously and Twilight was too busy with her own problems- namely, the BLU Spy- to help Derpy and Pinkie. The Demoman was peeking out and firing pipe bombs at the ponies while the heavy prepared to fire his minigun from the higher ground. Pinkie went to meet the Demoman half way at the tunnel below the Heavy and Medic while Derpy dealt with them. The two turned the same corner and almost ran straight into each other. The Demoman fired a pipe bomb instantly and Pinkie reflected it on reflex causing it to blow up in both of their faces. Derpy and the heavy began trading rockets and bullets, steadily chipping away at each other. But only the heavy had the luxury of having his health being restored whereas Derpy did not have Fluttershy to rely on. Derpy was getting frantic. She felt like she was about to collapse any second now. "Heeelp!!" she yelled out to anyone that may still be alive.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy both rushed into the arena, trying to waste as little time as possible getting to the battlefield. Berry, Big Mac, and Rarity all gave them surprised looks as they passed them but Rainbow and Fluttershy ignored them. They had more important things to worry about.

"Heeelp!!"

Such as helping out Derpy, who seems to be in a mess of trouble. "I'll get their attention, you get to Derpy quickly!" Rainbow said quickly. As soon as she could see them, Rainbow quickly hit the baseball she was holding at the Heavy's head. Once again, he had absolutely no time to react and the baseball connected with his head. Hard. Rainbow Dash began making her way towards the top of the platform they were standing on while the heavy was stunned from the hit. When she got there, she decided that it was a better idea to take out the Medic before the Heavy. She rushed in and fired her two shots, point blank, leaving the Medic and the Heavy with no time to react. The Medic screamed in agony and collapsed. By then, the Heavy had recovered from the baseball and began revving up his minigun. Rainbow was tempted to try and beat him by herself again but decided against it. Instead, she fired her next two shots as she jumped away from the platform the two were standing on. The heavy focused his fire on Rainbow Dash, completely forgetting about Derpy, who was now fully healed and fully reloaded. While the heavy was distracted with Rainbow Dash, Derpy fired three rockets and the heavy went down with ease.

Rainbow Dash regrouped with Derpy and Fluttershy. "Hey Derpy. I hope we're not too late to the party."

Derpy glared at Rainbow Dash. "You should not have come back, private. You disobeyed a direct order from your comrades to SIT! OUT!" Derpy growled. Fluttershy cringed, fearing what Rainbow's reaction might be. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and scowled. Yea, I only saved your sorry flank. You're welcome. Rainbow Dash muttered to herself, but not loud enough to be heard. Derpy continued to glare at Rainbow for a few more seconds before smiling again, surprising both Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "...but it's good to have you back in action, soldier."

Rainbow's surprised look turned into an appreciative smile. "Thanks, Derpy." Derpy grinned and Fluttershy gave a sigh of relief. However, their reunion was cut short by the battle cries of the incoming BLU mercenaries. "But we're not out of the woods yet. How long until we can secure Dustbowl?"

Derpy's expression turned serious again. "We still have just over three minutes. The humans have almost fully captured the last point though so if they walk on it for even a second, Dustbowl One is theirs-"

Rainbow Dash blanched and jumped up. "Oh horseapples!" She quickly shot off towards the last point and stood on top of it, scanning her surroundings frantically.

Derpy shook her head, unable to surpass a grin from surfacing. Berry Punch, Big Mac and Rarity passed her to join Rainbow Dash in defending the last point. Fluttershy left Derpy to meet up with them while Applejack calmly trotted up to Derpy. "Were ya gonna tell her that mah sentry was still up on last?" she asked, clearly amused at Rainbow's reaction. Derpy just shrugged. "She didn't give me time to. We should probably join her before those humans come back."

"Yea... ya think Dash learned her lesson for real, this time?" Applejack asked as they began trotting towards last again. As if on cue, Rainbow called out to everypony around her. "The Soldier and Pyro are at the gate!" Berry started coating the gate exit with sticky-bombs while Big Mac revved up his minigun. Rarity headed towards the tunnel to go around and get them from behind, turning invisible right as she reached the entrance.

"Oh I don't think that'll be a problem anymore," said Derpy, picking up the pace towards the shack that held the last control point. Derpy heard a thud behind her and looked back to see Applejack on the ground, wincing in pain. "You alright, AJ?"

"Ah'm fine... just hit my leg on the base exit on mah way out trying to get to last. Nothin another respawn won't fix," she said dismissively, waving a hoof. "Well let's get to last before the fight starts without us!"

Derpy and Applejack entered the shack with Big Mac, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Applejack moved next to her dispenser to start gathering metal for her sentry. "So what all has happened so far?" Rainbow Dash asked. Applejack waved a hoof. "Ah'll explain. Right after I saw you and Fluttershy leave, the match began and we were quickly overwhelmed in under a minute. Ah was backstabbed and that Spy sapped everything, not giving us enough time to get a good defense up before they started cappin' this point too. I barely got mah sentry to level two in here but the rest of us have been dying a lot so we can't get ready fast enough before they come at us again."

Rainbow smirked. "Well now you have me and Flutters here." Applejack shot her a warning glance. "Rainbow..." "What?? I didn't say anything about taking them on by-"

"Mini sentry!" Fluttershy called out. Derpy was the first to react. "I got it!" But before she was able to fire a single rocket, a loud static noise interrupted her. One she was all too familiar with. "Spy in our midst!!" She turned to see that all of Applejack's buildings had a sapper on them. And Applejack, herself, was missing. Big Mac took care of the mini sentry instead while Rainbow Dash looked around for any sign of a spy or Applejack. "I don't believe this!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she faced Derpy, "How can somepony just disa-" Rainbow Dash stopped mid-sentence to see Derpy's body on the ground and fading with another Derpy behind her with a smug look on her face. "Deadly Disguiser* Spy!!" she shouted. Big Mac turned around and faced his gun towards the fake Derpy, the color on his/her face draining. "Oh merde-" Big Mac took down the BLU spy easily.

Rainbow stood quietly, in shock for a second before panicking. "What the hay was that?! How did that spy get here so easily??" Big Mac looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone else coming. "Ah don't know but if everypony don't respawn soon-" "INCOMING!!" Berry yelled, rushing back to the control point with Fluttershy. "All of them are here! Most of them are coming through the tunnels!" Berry exclaimed, breathing heavily.

"Ugh! Figures." Rainbow Dash got ready to fly off toward them by herself. "And where do you think YOU'RE going??" Berry called out to her. Rainbow Dash stopped only for a second to turn back around to face Berry. "I'm not just gonna stand around and wait for them! I'm gonna try and get to them first so you don't even have to deal with them!"

"Do you not remember our conversation not even a few minutes ago?! Besides, you're not strong enough to take on all of them at once!"

But Rainbow Dash just ignored her and headed for the tunnels, leaving Berry, Big Mac and Fluttershy by themselves. "What. An. Idiot," Berry muttered.

Rainbow Dash peeked through the center tunnel and saw just the demoman heading through. She took out her Atomic Punch and waited a few seconds for the demo to get near the exit. She took another sip and jumped right in his face as he reached the exit, causing him to fire two pipes at her in surprise, which instantly exploded in his face and left Rainbow Dash unharmed.

Not even stopping for a second, Rainbow Dash sprinted down the tunnel towards the first point to access the upper tunnel. She started to hear explosions and gunfire coming from the clearing near the last point. There was no time to waste. Upon exiting the tunnel, Rainbow Dash noticed the engineer on the BLU team heading in the other tunnel. Thankfully, he didn't seem to notice her so getting a pick on him would be easy. Rainbow Dash was about to head in the tunnel until she heard the tell-tale beeping of a sentry. She decided that perusing the engineer would be suicide and focused on her original plan of going in the upper tunnel.

Rainbow was surprised to see that no one was even in the tunnel when she got there. Great. I'm too late. She thought to herself. She was about to leave the tunnel and join the fight when he heard a scream from nearby. She went towards the balcony exit of the upper tunnel to find Rarity and a dead sniper with a stab wound in his back. "Hey Rarity!" she called out to her, getting her attention. "There's a sentry set up in the side tunnel. Probably a teleporter too."

Rarity nodded. "Thanks. You really should be getting down there, though. They look like they could use your help."

Rainbow Dash pulled out her baseball bat again. "I was just getting to that." She rushed out the gated exit of the tunnel. Big Mac, Derpy, Fluttershy and Twilight were dealing with several of the humans that were attacking them from the front. Applejack was furiously trying to keep her sentry up from the incoming fire of several humans with Pinkie trying to help by reflecting projectiles while Berry was trying to deal with the Soldier and Medic, who had somehow gotten backfield, away from everypony else. The Soldier had taken out Pinkie and Applejack, who were both oblivious to the Soldier's presence just as Berry noticed them. Berry and the soldier began trading blows with pipe bombs and rockets.

Rainbow decided that the soldier was currently the biggest threat due to the ability to attack them at a very awkward angle and opted to help Berry out. She had to hurry though. Taking the bat and her baseball, she rushed through the point toward where Berry and the soldier were. "Berry! Duck!" she warned, tossing her baseball in the air and hitting it with a great amount of force.

Berry had heard her warning and moved her head away just in time to see the baseball colliding with the Soldier's head, knocking his helmet right off. Berry took the opportunity to fire a bunch of sticky bombs at the disoriented soldier's feet which promptly blew him up. The medic pulled out a crossbow to try and fight the two ponies but another two shots from Rainbow's scattergun stopped him instantly. Berry gave a sigh of relief. "Thanks Dash, I owe you one."

They were instantly interrupted by Twilight's scream. Both pairs of eyes shot over to see her getting backstabbed by the spy. "You can thank me later!" she called as she began to rush over for the kill. "Wait! Let Big Mac handle it!" Berry called after her. Rainbow stopped and noticed that Big Mac was, in fact, shifting his focus to the spy. The spy pulled out his revolver to attack Big Mac, in return. "Besides, we have bigger issues, right now!" Berry waved a hoof and instantly started running towards the BLU Heavy, who was standing on the tunnel balcony and was already firing at the ponies below him.

Rainbow decided to follow her lead. "You're right. Let's- woah!" Rainbow had to swerve to avoid the Scout who has just ran in and was now attacking Derpy and Big Mac.

"Ignore him! If we don't take out the heavy, he'll kill all of us and we'll lose for sure!" Berry called back. "Argh.. fine! Follow my lead, then!" Berry glanced at her but didn't argue. Now was not the time for it. "I hope you know what you're doing!" Rainbow flew in closer to the Heavy. "I hope I do too," she muttered under her breath. Rainbow got his attention by firing a couple of shots at him. To her dismay, it worked. The heavy pointed his minigun at her. Rainbow backed off a little and flew around erratically making her a tough target to hit. Unfortunately, he was putting too much pressure on her so she was unable to ready herself to fire even one more shot without being torn apart by bullets. She had already taken a few bullets and didn't know how much longer she could keep it up. "Any time now, Berry!" she yelled frantically.

"Just one more...!" Berry muttered as she charged one more sticky bomb. Satisfied that it had charged enough, she launched it upwards to land right at the Heavy's feet. Berry wasted no time pressing the trigger on her stickybomb launcher. The heavy was blown up in an instant.

Rainbow Dash landed back on the ground, breathing heavily and bleeding from a few bullet wounds but still on her hooves. "Hah... *cough* thanks, Berry." Berry just nodded in return.

"Aw, crap!" A voice made Rainbow Dash and Berry turn their heads again to see the Scout fleeing Derpy and Big Mac as they both continued shooting at him, trying to kill him before he got away. "Nice..," Rainbow muttered sarcastically.

"Crap, get back to the control point!" Rainbow nearly shouted. She and Berry, upon arriving, noticed Fluttershy was missing. "Where's Fluttershy?" she asked urgently.

"Dead. That low-life maggot did her in while she was weak. Humph... greeaat time for her to die on us," Derpy spat bitterly.

"Derpy! What's wr- argh... whatever, now is not the time for this. I'm gonna see if I can't catch the Scout," Rainbow declared, turning around once again.

"PRIVATE!! You will stand your-"

"We just killed most of their team and you three have the most powerful weapons. Are you seriously going to argue with me??" Rainbow Dash retorted before Derpy could finish her sentence. Rainbow started toward the tunnels but right as she got to the entrance, she was interrupted by a loud buzzing noise. The sound of an uncloaking spy. Rainbow Dash turned around faster than she ever thought she could. The spy, with his revolver aimed at the point, fired two shots before he was silenced by a shot from Rainbow Dash's scattergun. But the two revolver shots had found their mark.

Berry Punch grunted in pain and fell over. She made one last effort to get back up but her limbs wouldn't support her. She collapsed, now lifeless. Nopony was given a chance to say anything, however, because immediately after, the pyro came charging through the gates with a continuous stream of flames onto the control point. Only Derpy was able to react. She fired two rockets, both of which exploded in both her and the pyro's faces, killing them both. Big Mac was also unable to escape the pyro's flames, as he collapsed, screaming as he burnt to death.

Before Rainbow Dash could process what just happened, the gates to the side tunnel caught her attention as they opened up, letting out the BLU scout. The two stood still, staring at each other.

The scout broke into a mad sprint towards the last control point.

"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she too, broke into a gallop towards the last control point, determined not to let him get the better of her.

The scout and Rainbow Dash stepped on the control point at the exact same time but only the scout was prepared for the encounter. He pulled out his bat quickly and hit Rainbow Dash right across the muzzle, sending her towards the wall.

The scout pulled out his scattergun to finish her off but Rainbow Dash wasn't about to go down that easily. She used the wall as a launch pad to flip over the area she would have landed, avoiding the scattergun shot, entirely. Rainbow Dash readied her own scattergun and fired a wild shot while she was in mid air, catching the Scout's side.

The scout grunted in pain but he didn't let up yet. He made a sharp movement to his side towards the wall and aimed another scattergun shot. Rainbow Dash used her wings to stop herself in mid-air but she was unable to avoid this shot. Her left wing got hit by several pellets.

Keeping as much of her balance as she could, she turned in mid air so she could land on her hooves. She rushed her next shot and ended up only hitting the scout's left arm. The scout dropped his scattergun in response, seeing as he could no longer use his left arm so he instead, pulled out his pistol and began shooting at her, close range. Rainbow Dash and the scout jumped and moved around each other, trying to avoid the other's fire as much as possible while making sure to stay on the control point. Rainbow Dash, however, was having a harder time finding moments to fire her gun while at the same time making sure she wasn't hit by a lot of bullets at once. Then, when it seemed like the scout was going to overwhelm her, they both heard several ponies exiting their spawn. Rainbow Dash didn't know who it was, nor did she have the time to check. All she could do was hope the right one was there. "FLUTTERSHY!!" she yelled before jumping off of the control point.

Fluttershy, Applejack, and Twilight wasted no time rushing for the last control point upon respawning. Overtime meant that there was an enemy on the control point and since it was prolonged, an ally as well. This was going to be very clutch so whoever was on the control point, needed help right now. Fluttershy turned to heal a random pony, which happened to be Twilight, before rushing to the control point.

"Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy had but an instant to react to Rainbow Dash's cry. She needed medical attention but there was also no time to heal her with the Medigun. Fluttershy broke her connection with Twilight and pulled out the *Medicating Crossbow, still rushing towards the control point. Rainbow then jumped out of the shack where the control point was so she was in Fluttershy's line of sight. Fluttershy aimed a single shot in front of Rainbow Dash right as she jumped back inside.

Rainbow Dash jumped back towards the scout, hoping desperately Fluttershy got there in time. Right as she entered the shack again, her neck was pierced by a syringe, shooting adrenaline through her body. She ran right for the scout, barely flinching as she was shot three times in the chest with his pistol. A single scattergun shot to the scout's stomach put him down. Rainbow Dash stood on the control point, bleeding heavily, but still alive.

Rainbow Dash gave a sigh of relief, ready to collapse. She was about to until the feeling of fatigue suddenly started washing away and in it's place, came rejuvenation. Her bullet wounds started closing and the bruise on her muzzle disappeared. She turned around to see a smiling Fluttershy, medigun aimed at her, along with Twilight and Applejack who were just as happy.

"Nice going, RD!" Applejack cheered, trotting up to her and giving her a friendly hit on the shoulder. "Ya really pulled through there in the end." Rainbow Dash grinned.

"Well what did you expect? I'm awesome!" she said in a gloating tone. Then her smile turned genuine. "But seriously, thanks. I'm not really sure how I did it, myself. And..," her gaze went downward and her smile melted into a frown. "I'm really sorry that I got you girls into trouble... over and over again... I didn't mean it."

Twilight rested a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, Rainbow. You saw your mistake and fixed it. And even if it was a liiitle bit late-"

"A couple hundred years late," Applejack muttered under her breath. Rainbow Dash didn't hear her and Twilight and Fluttershy both ignored her.

"-righting a wrong late is better than not righting it at all." Twilight finished. Her comforting expression turned inquisitive as a thought struck her. "Although, you never did tell us what was wrong in the first place. I guess you told Fluttershy, which is why you're back already, but what was-"

Rainbow Dash waved a hoof to cut her off. "I'll tell you later. Right now, I just want to relax because I am so tired right now- wait, are they attacking any other areas?" she suddenly asked Applejack.

Applejack quickly rushed to a nearby terminal to check to see if any of their land was being threatened. Nothing showed up on screen. "Nope, it's all clear right now."

"Good," Rainbow Dash said, flopping on her back. The others laughed as Rainbow Dash lay on the cool wood floor, finally able to relax. And as the rest of the ponies began to join them, for the first time in hundreds of years, they were able to sit and smile again. Enjoying the moment they have now with no arguing, no worries, just sitting around their control point, talking about the amazing work of the whole team. Discussing what could have been better, debating what could have been worse, readying themselves for the next battle at a moment's notice, while they sat together, able to feel like for once, nothing has really changed in Equestria.