//------------------------------//
// Preparations 
// Story: Raining Metal 
// by thecakeisalie 
//------------------------------//

	Midnight left the hotel shortly before the sun rose. He wanted to be able to talk with Rainbow before anyone else could get to her. He needed to know what she remembered about the battle.
As he rounded on last corner, lost in his thoughts, he bumped into a white unicorn. A very familiar white unicorn, in fact. Icescape wasn’t alone, either. He was supporting a rather exhausted looking purple mare, who was also instantly recognizable. Midnight stopped, slightly shocked that either of them were awake. He’d been told by AJ that Twilight had a reputation as a late sleeper, and he’d though Icescape would be out of it all day, the way he’d been going.
“Hey,” Icescape said, taking most of Twilights weight. “What are you doing up?”
“I think I should be asking you two that,” Midnight scowled at the two of them. “I’d say neither of you should be up this early. Especially you, Ice. You need to sleep. Get some R and R.”
“Yeah, well,” Icescape gave a half chuckle, slowly shrinking under Midnights hard glare. “I woke up, and… uh… couldn’t fall asleep, so I went to check on Rainbow, and Twilight was sleeping on the floor…”
“U-huh.” Midnight’s thoughts were running a mile a minute. Did Icescape like Rainbow? That couldn’t end well. Rainbow could be mean at times, though Midnight felt it probably wasn’t intentional. But if she did that to Icescape… well, he probably wouldn’t handle it well. “Whatever. Take Twilight back to the apartment, get some rest man. I’m worried about you, you know.”
“Alright.” Icescapes head drooped a little, and then he leaned back into Twilight, leading her away. With that little ordeal over, Midnight started heading towards the hospital. He had a pony to see, after all.


Icescape felt lucky he’d gotten away without being questioned more thoroughly. He had seen the suspicion in Midnight’s eyes, and had figured that he either thought Icescape was in love with Rainbow or Twilight. He wasn’t in love with either, of course. But he may have broken down during questioning, and revealed that being around Rarity made him feel funny. He got kind of a tingling in his stomach, nervousness, and an increase in the inability to speak. Of course, he was never going to tell anypony about any of it. He felt it was irresponsible for Applejack and Midnight to be dating, given the state of the times, and that it would be even worse if he did it. But it wasn’t his place to tell others how to act, so he’d just have to try not to be a hypocrite himself. 
He heaved a sigh. He’d almost missed the hotel due to his wandering thoughts. Helping Twilight up the stairs to the room he was sharing with Applejack and Midnight, he decided a nap might be just the ticket.


Midnight reached the hospital to find Rainbow deep asleep. Too bad he wouldn’t get to talk to her, but it did give him the chance to ensure she wouldn’t remember anything, without any risks to himself. A short spell later, he’d clouded the day she got shot enough that there was no way she’d ever pick out anything specific. He figured the pain would account for the memory loss. With that, he picked himself up, and left the hospital. 


Rainbow was released later the same day. She had been told that she wasn’t fully recovered, of course, but the hospital needed the rooms desperately. Applejack had come to pick her up, explaining that everyone else had returned to their respective bases and command centers. Applejack had gotten leave to guide Rainbow home, or at least to the hotel. 
Rainbow had been told that she couldn’t fly, and may not ever be able to again. Her wings hadn’t been touched; she was confused as to why she wouldn’t be able to. After a rather lengthy lecture from the doctor, which barely caught Rainbow’s attention at all, she found out two things. Firstly, flying could put a lot of strain on her internal organs, which had been damaged, and secondly, Pegasi were able to fly because of some kind of air sack in their stomachs. Strangely, the air sack actually held magic, but the magic made it so that the Pegasi could support themselves off the ground. Rainbow’s had been ripped; while the surgeon and Midnight had done their best to heal it, it was impossible to know how well they’d done. So, she’d been told not to even risk any flight for a long while, and especially not something like a Sonic Rainboom. Apparently, the power in one of those would tear her apart. Or so she’d been told.
That was how Rainbow found herself sluggishly trotting alongside Applejack, headed to a hotel she could have flown to faster than thought. She was useless to the Pegasi corps in her current state, so she hadn’t been recalled for service, either. Eventually, she thought, I will be able to fly again. Maybe not as fast, or as far, but more than well enough for the Wonderbolts, or the Pegasi corps. 
Rainbow looked up into the clouded sky, seeing the sun just barely starting to poke out from behind the cover. Someday, I will be up there again, she told herself.


Midnight looked at the same sun. He had just gotten out of debriefing, and didn’t have any specific plans for the rest of the day. He knew Applejack would be taking Rainbow to the hotel, but since Icescape hadn’t been debriefed yet, he wouldn’t even consider checking in on the girls. It’s not like he would get permission, anyways. Captain Thorn seemed to be fairly pissed about the battle still, having chewed out himself and Icescape earlier, for not being with the rest of the platoon.
Midnight didn’t like Thorn, for more than the obvious reason. There was madness in the Captains eyes, and it wasn’t the kind that was funny. It was the kind that scared the hay out of anypony who could see it. It was the kind of madness that led to killing sprees, bombings, and general hay. That is, the violent kind. Midnight had run past plenty of ponies like Thorn before. The things he’d seen sickened him. A few of them even went so far as to be cannibalistic, which disturbed even him.
Of course, he didn’t think Thorn was that bad. In fact, he pondered to himself, it could just be too much pent up anger and aggression. That was bad, but at least it was solvable. As long as the war was happening, ponydom was probably safe, at least. These assuring thoughts fell flat, even in his own mind, and he was glad he wasn’t trying to convince somepony else.
Icescape left the debriefing tent just then, carrying a manila folder in his mouth. He spit it out onto the ground before taking a quick glance into the sky. “Nice to see the sun out. Anyways,” he looked back down at the folder, “These are mission orders for us. Applejack and Twilight are both included, too. It seems to be something about shipping over seas, to the Bridle Islands. They’ve stood against Gryphony, somehow, and we’re to go support them. We leave in a week, I think. Until then, we’re to get our affairs in order. That’s what the officer back there told me.”
“All right man,” Midnight replied, as Icescape picked the folder back up. “Let’s go find the others, they may want to know about this. We’ll just wait with Rainbow back at the apartment, they’ll show up eventually.” Icescape gave a quick nod, then flashed himself away. Midnight was impressed he had the energy to teleport still, as he’d teleported to the temporary camp, too. Giving a quick shrug, he ignited his own magic, already making a mental list of what he would need to bring with him.