A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.
Arnold H. Glasow
Cloudchaser yawned. She was standing with Flitter, Cloud Kicker and the rest of their squadron in the changing room of the Canterlot Air Base, putting their equipment back into the lockers. They came back from Ponyville only recently and Cloudchaser had problems with getting out of her armour. She considered sleeping in it, but then she imagined tossing and turning in bed with a 20 mm autocannon under her right wing and the assault rifle dangling from the neck.
With the help of her cousin, she uncoupled the battle saddle and took off the black armour. She sighed, seeing her coat – the inner layer of the suit was worn thin and the bulletproof metal elements were scratching her body. She checked the safety locks of her guns, removed the magazines from them and carefully put everything on the shelves. Then she went to the shower, once again explaining Thunderlane that he and Snowflake had separate bathroom.
“Time to hit the hay, sis.” said Flitter, yawning, when Cloudchaser finished wrapping the towel around her mane. “Equestria won’t fall if we sleep for a while…”
“Later. I need to check something.” Cloudchaser replied, watching Rainbow Dash, who just left the shower and headed to her room quickly, without saying anything to them.
“Chill out, ‘Chaser. You don’t have to control everything,” said Cloud Kicker.
“If I didn’t, you two would be hanging in the dungeon of Princess’ castle. Do you know how they hang a pegasus? First they break the wings so you can’t fly away,” Cloudchaser snapped. Before they could react, she turned back and followed Rainbow Dash.
“Geez… She’s still pissed about Cloudsdale?” Cloud Kicker shook her head. They walked down the corridor to their bedroom.
“Maybe,” Flitter replied. “Well, you didn’t exactly improve her mood with that little stunt you pulled today…”
“What? I killed a guy who tried to shoot you in the back! She hates you or what?”
“No, it’s about what you did later… On a side note, there’s still some of his blood on your face…”
“Oh, fuck me…” Cloud Kicker rolled her eyes. “She’s, like, buried in the books about pegasi tradition and she doesn’t know about that custom? Our great-grandfather was a berserker too…”
“Oh, she knows about it well,” Flitter said. “It just creeps her out. To be honest, I also think it was creepy.”
“Come on!” Cloud Kicker snapped. “On her first flight she blew a dude’s head off and she thinks I’m creepy?” She reached to the pocket of her uniform. The pills rattled in the package.
“Chill out, Kicker. She’s worried about you. She knows about it…” Flitter pointed at the pills in her cousin’s hoof. Cloud Kicker put them back in her pocket.
“Oh, so that’s what’s going on… You can tell her that she’s not my mom and that I can control it. I never take more than two…”
“Cloud Kicker…” Flitter stared into her cousin’s eyes. “You took two before we left the base… Then one more when we were fighting. And then another one when we got back to the base to get ammo. After we landed in Ponyville you were almost unconscious… I barely could wake you up.”
“So? I was stressed because of the bat ponies trying to kill me!” Cloud Kicker yawned. When Flitter opened the door to their room, she trotted to her bed staggeringly and threw herself on it.
“I’m tired…” she said. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow… But you can be sure – Cloudchaser and you have nothing to worry about…”
***
Cloudchaser cursed her injured leg. The corridor was too low for her to fly and the place where two pieces of bone were joined with the screw was now aching with every change of the weather. Even with the painkillers Nurse Redheart had given her, walking was a nightmare. She finally get to the Rainbow Dash’s room and knocked the door.
Nopony answered, even though she heard that somepony was inside. She pushed the knob and opened the door.
Lightning Dust’s bed was neatly done since its owner had landed in the hospital, but the rest of the room was in a mess. Rainbow Dash’s towel was lying on her bed; the closet contents were scattered all over the floor. The sole inmate of the room was sitting on the floor with a bottle of some orange-tinted liquid and a package of sleeping pills in front of her. Her mane was still wet after the shower and her eyes were red and swollen.
“Breakfast of champions, huh?” Cloudchaser deadpanned.
“Supper of champions,” said Rainbow Dash, not rising her head. “I guess you won’t just go for a walk for, like, twenty minutes, go back here, open the door, panic and call Nurse Redheart?”
“No.”
“Shit. A vice of being a squadron leader: even when you’re considering killing yourself, somepony keeps pestering you.”
Cloudchaser sighed. “May I ask you something, Dash?” Her tone resembled a parent who just saw their foal playing with a grenade. “What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?”
“I quit.” said Rainbow Dash quickly, “Fluttershy, Scootaloo, Applejack, and now, Fleetfoot.” Her voice cracked, tears running down her face. “And when we were flying above Ponyville, I saw Sweet Apple Acres… I… I can’t live like this anymore…”
“Rainbow Dash,” Cloudchaser said, her tone serious. She trotted to Dash and embraced her with her wing. “I know it’s hard, but you can’t just give up.”
“You don’t understand!” Rainbow Dash snapped. She freed herself from Cloudchaser’s embrace and lay down on her bed.
“Dash, I know that you’ve been through a lot of shit since the war started, but, for Celestia’s sake, stop behaving like my sister when she was thirteen,” said Cloudchaser, throwing the sleeping pills into the trash can and putting the bottle back in the closet. “Just tell me what’s bothering you, and I’ll help you, okay?”
Dash muttered something incomprehensible, sinking her face into a pillow. Cloudchaser stood up, wincing at the jolt of pain in her hind leg, and sat on the bed next to Rainbow Dash, who sighed and turned her head to her.
“Right,” she said, her voice quivering. “Have you talked to Lightning Dust recently?”
“I tried, but she’s constantly high on meds,” Cloudchaser replied. “I really think they should stop drugging her like that.”
“It’s because every time they wear off she… she…” Rainbow Dash lifted her hoof and Cloudchaser saw the freshly healed cuts on it. “You see… We… we killed those foals…”
She started to cry again. Cloudchaser hugged her and began stroking her mane.
“I see them… Every time I close my eyes, I see Scootaloo… and Fluttershy… I can’t sleep, can’t eat… All because of a stupid accident…”
“Shh, it’s okay…” Cloudchaser cooed, rocking back and forth with Rainbow Dash in her arms. “It wasn’t your fault, Dash. You didn’t know that they were hiding there…”
“Yes, but… We were supposed to protect ponies, not to kill them!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “What happened to us, Cloudchaser?”
“Honestly, Dash, I have no idea,” said Cloudchaser, running her hoof down Rainbow Dash’s wings. “It’s all fucked up. Just like Cloudsdale.”
“Cloudsdale was simple,” said Rainbow Dash. “You on the one side, and Luna’s followers on the other side. That’s it, no civilians, no politics…”
“Oh, Dash...” Cloudchaser shook her head. “Cloudsdale wasn’t simple… It was as far away from simple as possible.”
“What exactly happened there?” Dash asked, yawning. “Or no, don’t tell me. I had enough for today…” She covered herself with a blanket and rested her head on a pillow.
“Sometimes I don’t get it myself,” Cloudchaser said. “It’s like…” She paused, seeing that Rainbow Dash fell asleep, muttering something that sounded like “Don’t leave me.”
“Of course I won’t leave you.” Cloudchaser wrapped her forearms around her and fell asleep immediately.
***
She woke up few hours later, trying to remember the dream she had, about walking aimlessly around the weather factory. The rays of the sun were shining on her face through the half-open blinds. The dull pain in her hind leg grew stronger; her muscles were stiff after sleeping with Rainbow Dash in a bed that was apparently dedicated for a one, wingless pony. She stood up, stretching her body and, limping, went to the window to close the blinds. Rainbow Dash turned on her bed.
“Mom?” she asked groggily.
“Sleep, Dashie, I’m with you,” said Cloudchaser, stroking the rainbow-coloured mane. Then she went to the Lightning Dust’s empty bed, hoping that it’d be more comfortable. When she lay down on it, Rainbow Dash started to talk again.
“’Chaser… If something happens to me, I want you to become a commander of the squadron…”
“Shh, don’t say that,” Cloudchaser whispered. “You’re the best flier of us; you’ll outlive us all…”
“Yeah, but… Just in case... I want somepony responsible to be in charge…” Rainbow Dash explained and fell asleep again.
“Yeah… responsible Cloudchaser… Everypony wants to put her in charge…” Cloudchaser muttered to herself. A memory of the evening in Cloudsdale, not a long time ago, appeared in her mind.
***
“Sis, I’m going out,” said Flitter, leaving her room with her saddlebags on. Cloudchaser lifted her head from the book she was reading.
“Date again? Really, my little Flitty is growing up…”
“Yeah, a date…” said Flitter quickly, and took off. Cloudchaser was about to lie down on a couch again, when she noticed something.
“Really, sis, there are better ways to tell a stallion that you prefer, well… bigger calibers,” she laughed, pointing at the barrel of their grandfather’s old shotgun protruding from one of her sister’s saddlebags.
“It’s not safe in the streets,” Flitter explained. “I want them to see that it’s not safe to fuck with me…”
“Flitter…”
“Yes, sis.” Flitter sighed, took a one bit coin from her saddlebags and put it in a jar standing on a bookshelf. A colourful label, resembling the Equestrian Army’s propaganda posters, saying “Bring a new book home sooner - drop F-bombs” was attached to it.
“And by the way,” Flitter said, “What are those ways you were talking about?”
“No way, lady, you’re far too young for that!” Cloudchaser laughed.
“I’m nineteen, sis! You were younger when you were dating Snowflake…”
“There were exactly two dates, unless you count those three times when we went to the gym. Not to mention that, no matter what they say…” Cloudchaser lowered her voice to a whisper. “…it’s all in the wings size.”
Flitter giggled and flew away. Cloudchaser sighed and went back to reading her book.
Unlike earth ponies, who always relied on cooperation in small groups, often tied by family bonds, and unicorns, who were born individualists, pegasi tribes were usually ruled by one leader, usually the fastest, strongest and the most aggressive individual. This often led to fights, especially because of the tribes consisting of few families, each with their own leader. As many pegasi before the Founding of Equestria were following the law called Hakmarrja (blood feud), the death of a leader usually resulted in bloodshed between his family and family of his killer.
After Equestria was founded, pegasi decided to bring an end to this law, but they weren’t able to eradicate it instantly – it took almost ten generations before the last followers of Hakmarrja were outlawed by Princess Celestia.
An attempt to combat the primitive instincts led to the formulation of the set of rules known as “The Pegasi Code” in…
Cloudchaser stopped reading. She didn’t have to read about the Code, she knew it well, just like all the young pegasi who happened to be in elementary school. But, unlike the other young pegasi, she was actually following it.
She remembered the day when it all started. It was a cold winter, two days before the Hearth’s Warming Eve. Even though it never snowed in Cloudsdale, the cold winds discouraged anypony from flying through the streets.
Her mother was just trying to persuade Flitter to go to sleep, when somepony knocked at the door.
“Can you open the door, Cloudy?” asked her mother, grabbing a laughing ten-years-old filly and flying with her upstairs.
“Yes, mom,” Cloudchaser said. She put the newest Daring Do novel on the couch and flew to the hall.
Behind the door there was a dark, grim looking stallion, wearing a khaki-coloured uniform. He was sneezing from time to time, his mane and feathers were ruffled by the wind.
“Good evening, young lady,” he said. “Is your mommy home?”
Cloudchaser sighed. She was fifteen, but her mane styled in two braids and braces on her teeth were making her look like a foal. She called her mother, who flew to the hall and froze upon seeing the stallion.
“Cloudy, go upstairs and check on Flitty,” she said, inviting their guest to the living room. Cloudchaser flew upstairs, but didn’t go to her sister’s room, instead staying on the stairs, hidden behind the railing.
Her mother offered the stallion a tea, but he refused, telling her to sit down.
“Mrs. Cloudscape, I’m deeply sorry to inform you that your husband, Storm Chaser was killed in action yesterday over Changeling Territories…”
Cloudchaser didn’t hear what he said next. She rushed to her room and threw herself on her bed, crying in a pillow.
Her father was dead. Killed during war somewhere far away, just like her grandfather and great-grandfather – both during the Griffon Wars – and uncle, who was killed by Zebrican separatists during the battle of El-Alamane. All members of her family were either soldiers or Royal Guards, and, even though he didn’t show it, Storm Chaser was a bit disappointed when his second foal also turned out to be a daughter. During those short moments when he was at home, he was treating Cloudchaser as if she was his son, teaching her to fly and telling her about the principle of The Pegasi Code he followed: physical development, constant training to become ready to defend the motherland.
She’d read the Code herself only recently, and was surprised, seeing that her father was wrong: training wasn’t the way of preparing to fight, but rather to channel the pegasi’s inner aggression in more peaceful way. She also discovered other principles: temperance and constant searching for the ways of development of both body and mind. Her father, just like the other members of her family, used the Code only to justify him being a soldier. She decided to follow it and become a better pony.
Now, nine years later she smiled at her first attempts of following the Code. She was already interested in both reading and flying, but temperance was much more difficult to achieve. Cloudchaser never felt an urge to drink alcohol or do drugs, and didn’t care about the peers laughing at her and calling her prude or teetotaller. However, as she hit puberty, she realised that sexual abstinence wasn’t for her and after a long battle with her conscience, she resigned from this part of the Code.
Not that she had time for dates. Three years after her father’s death, her mother died of leukaemia, and Cloudchaser had to take care of her sister. With a help of her aunt, Cloud Kicker’s mother, she somehow managed to graduate from school while bringing Flitter up. It wasn’t easy – she remembered numerous quarrels with her growing sister, even a fight when sixteen-years-old Flitter came back home at 2 AM, completely intoxicated. Yet, she somehow achieved success. She even managed to become the Wonderbolts’ trainee – at first she was repulsed by this idea, knowing that the Wonderbolts were a branch of the military, but then she decided that there’s the only way to improve herself further.
Now she was again sitting on the same couch, reading another book, and thinking about her life. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, but at least she had home, job at the weather factory, friends and a loving, although sometimes a bit annoying sister. Other ponies, like those protesting in the streets of Cloudsdale, to whom Flitter referred scornfully as “they”, had nothing. It was a week since they started to occupy the city hall, but so far they didn’t achieve anything. They were also divided – most of them opted for continuing the protest, but there was also a more radical wing, consisting mainly of adolescent stallions wandering aimlessly around the town and provoking brawls. They’d even tried to rape somepony and that was why she didn’t tell Flitter to leave the shotgun at home – even a very horny pegasus would think twice, seeing a mare who could shoot his family jewels off.
Cloudchaser went to the kitchen to make herself a tea, and spent another few hours reading about the habits of ancient pegasi.
When she woke up, the room was dark. She realised that she had fallen asleep on the couch while reading. The remains of a cold tea were still in her cup. She looked at the clock – it was almost 3 AM and she decided to go to bed.
Upstairs, she decided to go to Flitter’s room to check on her, as she was doing every night. She often scolded herself for that habit – her sister was no longer a little filly and it wasn’t necessary to mother her, but she still was doing that. She quietly opened the door and looked at her sister’s bed.
She gasped in horror. Flitter wasn’t there; her bed was still neatly done, just like when she’d left it in the morning. Her saddlebags were missing; Cloudchaser remembered her taking them when she was going on a date. Instantly, somnolence left her. She rushed downstairs, trying not to think what could happen to her little sister. She had taken a shotgun with her, but did she know how to use it? Or maybe the stallion she was with raped her, when she’d put the weapon somewhere, thinking that she was safe?
Cloudchaser flew out of the house and headed to the centre of Cloudsdale. Even though it was late, there were many ponies there. A large crowd was surrounding city hall; some of the protesters were sleeping in the tents; some gathered on the streets singing songs. The sleep-deprived ponies living in the nearby houses were shouting at them, occasionally throwing various heavy objects at the crowd. Cloudchaser almost got hit by a flower pot that flew near her wing and smashed itself on the cloudcrete.
“Flitter! Where are you?” Her calling quickly drowned in the noise of the protesting pegasi. Suddenly they stopped chanting, instead turning their heads to the side street. Cloudchaser followed their gaze and saw another group of pegasi approaching them. They were quiet, some of them walking, some of them flying, and seemingly they were no different from the group occupying the town hall. But there was something else – while the protesters were mostly harmless, the approaching group was much more dangerous – some of them were drunk, some of them were drugged, but all of them were armed – mostly baseball bats, lead pipes and knives, but some of them also wielded guns. They went to the square and stopped, merely few feet away from Cloudchaser, who was looking at them, shocked. Among the hostile crowd, she found some familiar faces.
“Cloudchaser? What are you doing here?” Flitter asked. She smelled of sweat, tobacco, and vodka and was hovering above the street with the shotgun in her hooves. Cloud Kicker was standing next to her, smoking a cigarette.
“No, Flitts. What are you doing here?” Cloudchaser spread her wings and jumped to her sister, causing her to lose balance and fall on the cloud. “Do you know what time is it? I was worrying sick about you…” She turned to Cloud Kicker. “And you! What the fuck are you two doing?”
Cloud Kicker blew a puff of smoke in Cloudchaser’s face. A pungent, herbal smell made her nauseous, but somehow she managed not to wince.
“Easy, ‘Chaser,” her cousin said. “We’re only going to clean this mess.” She pointed at the square. Several ponies gathered around them. Cloudchaser recognized her colleagues, recently fired from the weather factory, Crescent Moon and Parasol, and two currently unemployed construction workers, Rivet and Jack Hammer.
“Parasol? You’re also with them?” Flitter shouted.
“What can I do?” Parasol cried. “I have no job, no money…”
“Go home, Parasol,” said Cloud Kicker. “We don’t want ya to get hurt…”
“What’s going on here?” another voice called. Cloudchaser turned back and saw the leader of the protesting ponies. She knew her well – it was Firefly.
When Cloudchaser was eight, she wanted to be like Firefly. Well, everypony who, like her, was born in early Eighties, wanted to be like her. The youngest winner of The Best Young Flyer Competition, one of the fastest pegasi ever, and future hope of the Wonderbolts, Firefly had everything that a fourteen years old filly could have – money, fame and, despite young age, a quickly growing group of fans. The citizens of Cloudsdale were surprised when one day she’d simply disappeared. She stopped to participate in competitions and left school; her family refused to give any explanations.
There were many theories. It was suspected that one of her stunts went wrong, leaving her paralysed or in a coma. Some ponies claimed that she died of a heart attack, caused by the stimulants she was allegedly taking – Cloudchaser herself knew at least two ponies who claimed that they had taken photos of Firefly suddenly losing consciousness mid-flight and falling to the ground – each of them on a different day and in a different place. The others were saying that she was murdered by her parents, her coach or one of her envious opponents. But soon she was forgotten, when young Rainbow Dash took her place as an idol of every aspiring sportspony in town.
The pegasi were even more surprised when, four years after her disappearance, Firefly again shown up. Speculations that she’d soon become Rainbow Dash’s greatest rival were quickly cut – physically, Firefly was all right, but something about her changed – it seemed that she didn’t care about flying anymore. As she had missed a few classes, she became Rainbow Dash’s classmate and, to Cloudchaser’s surprise, they soon became close friends. It seemed that Rainbow Dash stayed in touch with Firefly even during her absence. Cloudchaser tried to ask her about that once, but the cyan pegasus, usually the first one to gossip, remained tight-lipped. Cloudchaser, who used to be an adventurous filly, wanted to investigate it further, but then her father died and she had enough of her own problems.
“We came to get rid of you,” said one of the Flitter’s companions, a scruffy brown stallion called Crafty Crate.
“Why? We’re not doing anything bad,” said Firefly, calming Crescent Moon and Parasol down.
“We just don’t like ya sitting there,” said Crafty Crate. “And that ya’re plotting with the bloodsuckers…”
“They’re Princess Luna’s guards. If she trusts them, you should too!” Parasol exclaimed. Flitter flew to her, with a shotgun in her hooves.
“Yeah, but who knows what Luna plots…” she hissed, aiming at her.
“Flitter!” Cloudchaser shouted. Crescent Moon flew to her sister and grabbed her shotgun, trying to disarm her.
“Don’t play with this, filly,” he said. “You can shoot your curvy flank off…”
“Fuck you,” she muttered through gritted teeth, and tried to punch him. He blocked it with ease, and hit her with his head, causing her to drop the gun.
Cloudchaser reacted instinctively. When he took the shotgun and aimed it at Flitter, she tackled him, but he still didn’t drop the weapon when he fell to the ground.
A single shot echoed through the street. Cloudchaser looked around and saw Crafty Crate collapsing on the cloudcrete with surprised expression. Crescent Moon caught her off guard, hitting her. Her vision blurred and she fell to her knees.
“They’re shooting at us!” Cloud Kicker bellowed at her comrades. The pegasi rushed forward, several of them tackling Crescent Moon. Cloudchaser, still trying to get her bearings, heard his shrieks as they overwhelmed him. Firefly and Parasol started to run away, but the latter had no luck – one of the chasing pegasi hit her with a crowbar when she tried to take off.
“Stop it!” Cloudchaser shouted, pushing her way through the angry mob. She shielded Parasol with her own body and went with her to the side of the street, hiding between two houses.
“Are you all right, Parasol?” she asked, watching her spitting blood and pieces of broken teeth.
“Why…” Parasol cried. “We came at peace…” Cloudchaser hugged her, letting her weep in her coat for a few minutes. She still felt dizzy and when she put her hoof on her head she felt a goose egg.
“Parasol, you must go,” she said finally. “Hide somewhere, I dunno, leave the town…”
“Yes…” Parasol sobbed. “You’re probably right…”
“Don’t show up too much. Who knows what they’re up to. Now I have to find those two idiots before they do something they’ll regret.”
Parasol nodded. “Take care, ‘Chaser,” she said.
“Take care, Parasol,” Cloudchaser hugged her one last time and watched her fly away, before going back to the main street.
Most of the pegasi were now on the town square, which, for Cloudchaser, looked now like one of the circles of Tartarus. Some of the tents were burning; clouds around them hissing as they started to evaporate. Several ponies were lying on the ground, trampled or shot. A group of pegasi surrounded the protesters, pushing them off of the square. Cloudchaser could still hear shots, now mostly coming from the small group of pegasi Royal Guards, who were shooting rubber bullets at the crowd – Cloudchaser almost tripped over a mare who was lying on the ground, pushing her hoof to her eye. Ponies who were trying to fly away, were mercilessly chased and pinned down to the ground.
“Flitter! Cloud Kicker! Where are you?”
“Right here, sis!” Flitter shouted. She had a black eye and dishevelled mane, but was otherwise unscratched. She threw Cloudchaser a revolver.
“Got it from one of them,” she explained. “Come on, sis, we’re gonna finish ‘em off!”
“Sweet Celestia, Flitter what the fuck are you doing? Listen to yourself!” Cloudchaser snapped, seeing her sister hitting the fleeing pegasi with a butt of her shotgun. Their group, beaten and bruised, was slowly retreating to the weather factory.
“We must stop ‘em!” Flitter shouted back. “They’re planning to overthrow Celestia and make Luna rule us, together with griffons and bloodsuckers!”
“Who told you this crap?” Cloudchaser asked, suddenly remembering all those “dates” here sister was having recently.
“Watch out, sis!” Flitter shouted. Cloudchaser ducked quickly, and saw Rivet’s hoof missing her head only by few inches. She somersaulted in the air and kicked him in the ribs with her hind legs, causing him to fall back into the crowd of ponies trying to run away, trampling each other. Somewhere in front of them, the gates of the factory were smashed open, and the protesters were pushed inside.
And those dirty cowards doesn’t intervene, Cloudchaser thought, seeing the Royal Guards watching everything from the safe distance. Either they are afraid of the drunk mob, or they believe these sick gossip themselves.
“Where’s Cloud Kicker?” she asked, searching for her cousin frantically.
“Fuck me if I know,” said Flitter, smiling sheepishly. “Somewhere inside, probably.”
“Language, Flitts…”
“It’s not time for that… ‘Sides, you’re swearing too…”
Because I learned that my little sister is a pawn in hooves of some bunch of sick fucks, sponsored by Prince Blueblood. But she’s right, there’s no time for a discussion.
She followed her sister and soon they disappeared in the interior of the weather factory. The protesting ponies, some of them beaten unconscious, were gathered in the empty rainbow pool, surrounded from every side, including air. Cloudchaser saw her cousin among her comrades, taking some pill from her saddlebags and swallowing it.
“Hello, girls,” Cloud Kicker said, trying to focus her gaze on them. Her pupils were dilated and she was hyperventilating. “Flitts, Meadow and Stormfeather are in the control room, they want to see ya. They’re planning something totally awesome for these fucks…” She pointed at the empty pool and laughed. For a moment Cloudchaser wanted to hit her, just to stop her silly guffaw.
Flitter flew upwards, on the second level of the factory. Cloudchaser followed her, but they were stopped by the grayish mare, who just emerged from the side corridor, filled with something that looked like a blue mist.
“I’m sorry, but if ya can’t go down this corridor,” she said. “One of those drunk idiots shot at the pipes and now he’s a nice pile of bones dipping in the concentrated rainbow essence. The whole corridor is contaminated and we had to turn on the neutraliser.”
“Don’t worry, Dust Devil, we only wanna get to the control room,” said Flitter.
“Okay,” said Dust Devil. “Meadow Song and Stormfeather are already there. After Crafty was killed, they’re in charge.”
The control room was full of different machines, blinking with numerous lights. The wall on the left was littered with various valves and levers, and in the middle of the room there was a monitor showing the current parameters of the factory’s main reactor. Cloudchaser understood most of them – since she started to work in the weather factory, she was a frequent visitor in that room and she often was maintaining the equipment by herself. Behind the machinery, a large window was providing a view of the factory’s main hall.
“What are we gonna do?” Flitter asked the two stallions sitting in front of the monitor. One of them was blonde, with brick-coloured coat and the guitar cutie mark. The other one was also blonde, his coat grayish blue, even darker than Cloudchaser’s.
“We’re afraid that if we leave the factory, they’ll escape and join the bloodsuckers,” said the red stallion, Meadow Song. “Since they’re in that pool, we can drown ‘em in the rainbow concentrate.”
“Are you crazy?” Cloudchaser exclaimed. “That’s genocide!”
“I’d rather call it ‘carefulness’...” Stormfeather replied. He probably wanted to sound ruthless, but he was sweating heavily under Cloudchaser’s stare and didn’t look like somepony who’d pull the lever. Actually, he didn’t have to.
“If we won’t do something about them, they’ll escape and tell everypony what happened here!” Flitter shouted, trotting slowly to the wall with the levers.
Cloudchaser sighed. “Sis, I really hope you talk so stupid because you’re drunk. There wouldn’t be anything to tell about, if you didn’t start to fight with them! Besides, those Royal Guards outside will soon get reinforcements and storm the factory. For causing riots, you’ll be imprisoned, but for genocide you all will be hanged – you, those two imbeciles, Cloud Kicker–”
“We need to do this. Princess Celestia will thank us…”
“Celestia or Blueblood?” asked Cloudchaser, but she could clearly see that she was losing this battle – Flitter put her hoof on one of the levers, ready to pull it. Stormfeather and Meadow Song stood behind Cloudchaser’s back, ready to attack her if she made even the smallest move.
Unlike earth ponies, who always relied on cooperation in small groups, often tied by family bonds, and unicorns, who were born individualists, pegasi tribes were usually ruled by one leader, usually the fastest, strongest and the most aggressive individual.
Most aggressive, you say? Cloudchaser thought. Before the stallions could react, she jumped forward, raised the revolver Flitter had given her and aimed it at her sister. Stormfeather and Meadow Song took the knives, but it was a lost cause – she could easily shoot all of them before they’d get to her.
“Move that lever, sis and those two gentlecolts will have to wipe your brain off of it…” she said coldly, staring into Flitter’s eyes.
A change was almost magical – Flitter’s betrayed look quickly faded, replaced by the expression of absolute obedience. For a moment, she looked like an innocent thirteen years old filly, who was just said that her sister would now take care of her. She put her hoof back on the ground and trotted away from the lever, joining the two stallions.
“Thank you, Flitts,” said Cloudchaser. She went to the console, still aiming at them, and pushed a few buttons on it. The system asked her for a password, and she typed it quickly. Deep inside the factory’s interior, a main reactor entered the procedure of shutting itself down.
“Just in case any of you get ideas,” she said. She knew that the rainbow concentrate gathered in the pipes would soon cool down and solidify, destroying the reactor and clogging the whole system, but she was ready to pay that price. She then turned on the microphone and said to the pegasi gathered downstairs, “My name’s Cloudchaser and I’m now in charge here.”
The pegasi guarding the group imprisoned in an empty pool looked upwards, some of them, less drunk or stoned than the others, trying to recall who Cloudchaser was.
“No shit,” Cloud Kicker muttered. “Saint ‘Chaser in charge…”
“I’m gonna rip apart everypony who’d try to hurt the prisoners, starting with feathers,” Cloudchaser continued, knowing that the factory speakers were slightly damaged and everypony trying to talk to the microphone appeared ominous and emotionless, like a voice of an ancient, cruel deity. The pegasi downstairs, although still holding their hostages at the gunpoint, calmed down a bit. The fact that they were tired and hammered also played a role in that.
“Now, you two.” Cloudchaser turned the microphone off and turned to Meadow Song and Stormfeather, her wings spread, and fire raging in her eyes. "Get your sorry flanks outta here. Dust Devil seemed bored, go and ask her out... Or try to discover the joys of coltcuddling, I don’t care. But if I see any of you around the hostages, you’ll spend the last moments of your pathetic life contemplating the pros and cons of having a piece of lead in the stomach. Understood?”
“Understood,” said Stormfeather, and they both left the control room.
“Now you, Flitts…”
Flitter cowered on the floor, seeing her sister with the revolver in her hoof. But soon Cloudchaser lowered the gun and sighed, tucking her wings by her sides.
“I’m disappointed,” she said in a dejected tone, sitting by Flitter’s side. She now looked old and tired. “Don’t worry, sis, I’m not gonna punish you. As I said, the guards will soon be here. I’m gonna turn myself in and tell them that you did nothing wrong.”
“W-what?” Flitter exclaimed. “You can’t do that, sis!”
Cloudchaser sat by her sister’s side, her voice calm. However, she couldn’t bring herself to stare into Flitter’s eyes.
“I promised mom that I’ll protect you.”
“They won’t punish us! You want to tell ‘em that you saved Cloudsdale herself!”
At first Cloudchaser didn’t realise what she had done. Only after she saw Flitter lying on the floor, pressing her hooves to her faces, she realised that she just punched her sister.
“I can’t believe that you can be so stupid, Flitter.” She spat with disdain. “Your Cloudsdale saviours literally tore Crescent Moon to shreds and mauled Parasol. You call the massacre of innocent ponies ‘saving Cloudsdale’?”
She stopped in her tracks, seeing her sister whimpering. She sat back by her side.
“I’m sorry, sis… You must understand…”
“Leave me alone!” Flitter shouted and ran out of the room. Cloudchaser wanted at first to chase her, but something told her that it wouldn’t be a good idea. She went back to the window, checking on the ponies gathered downstairs. Luckily they were still too afraid of her to even get close to their prisoners. Some of them decided to go to sleep, some of them took the bottles from their saddlebags and started to drink; she even spotted a pair of ponies cuddling each other while flying into some darker and more intimate corner of the factory. Cloudchaser shook her head and curled on the floor, sure that the next occasion to sleep would be probably in some dark, moist and rat-infested dungeon.
She was woken up by somepony’s faint voice. She looked at the clock and realised that she slept for at least six hours. Above her there was an old radio. It was turned on, and somepony was trying to connect with her, fighting with the heavy static. She quickly glanced through the window to find most of the pegasi in the main hall still asleep. She also looked outside of the control room to see Stormfeather and Dust Devil sleeping on the floor by the door in tight embrace. She sniffed the air and retreated to the room, wincing.
I’m sure as Tartarus I’m gonna become a beloved aunt of the foals of the revolution, she thought.
Reassured, she turned a knob of the radio and the voice in the speaker became much clearer.
“Cloudsdale! Cloudsdale! Where are you?”
“Cloudsdale here,” she said. “We’re in the same place as usual, you know.”
“Thank Celestia!” the pony on the other side sighed with relief. “We were trying to get to you since those journalists found the bodies on the streets… How’s your situation?”
“SNAFU, by now,” said Cloudchaser. She looked at the door once again. “Well, some of us more ‘F’ than the others. It was FUBAR here yesterday, and I’m afraid that it can get nasty again, when this whole mob wakes up. I’m sitting in the control room of the weather factory, some Celestia-supporting militia holds at least a hundred of ponies hostage, so send the cavalry quick–”
“Wait… The Sun Army is controlling Cloudsdale?”
“What the fuck is the Sun Army?” Cloudchaser was usually very patient, but that idiot was testing her boundaries. Some group was already trying to commit genocide once and he was talking about some sun armies or whatever it was.
“Haven’t you heard?” the pony asked, “When the riots in Cloudsdale started, pegasus’ manure hit the windmill. No offence. Princess Luna got pissed, when I tried to call Manehattan, they told me to fuck off, same with Detrot and Fillydelphia! Then, of course, Princess Twilight Sparkle happened, and now we’re officially at war,” the pony sounded as if he was at the verge of tears. Cloudchaser sighed.
That’s what they call TARFU, she thought. When they get to us, we’ll be totally and royally fucked up.
The pony, however, continued. “You can’t believe how happy I am, seeing Cloudsdale still in our hooves. Tell your ponies to open the gates of the factory, the guards will be there soon, they’ll take the POWs to Canterlot.”
Wait… MY ponies?
“By the way, those lunatics from Moon Army somehow got to our airships. If you have some strong pegasi under your command, you can tell them to enlist. We’ll need every pair of wings…”
***
Cloudchaser sighed, stretching her limbs on the bed. At first she wanted to keep Flitter away from war at all costs, but soon her sister heard that the famous Rainbow Dash looked for the ponies who could become the members of her squadron, and went completely crazy about it. Knowing that there was no way to talk her out of it, Cloudchaser, who, despite their strained relationship, still wanted to protect her, eventually joined the squadron too.
“It’s all pretty ironic, isn’t it?” she said aloud.
“What’s ironic?” Dash asked. She had almost fallen asleep while Cloudchaser was daydreaming, and now opened one eye again.
“I’ve never wanted to be a soldier and it seems that I’m good at it.”
“Yeah… I wanted to fight and now I’m a wreck… Now that’s ironic.”
“You’re not a wreck, Dash.”
“I am,” Rainbow Dash rolled on her back, staring at the ceiling. “I feel… empty, that’s a good word. Nothing makes me happy anymore, except maybe cutting myself. Can you believe this?”
“No, I can’t,” said Cloudchaser, feeling that she didn’t want to sleep anymore. “You’re Rainbow Fucking Dash, there’s surely something that makes you happy!”
“No,” Dash sighed, “That’s why I wanted to kill myself…”
“How about flying?”
“I’m flying all the time, we just came back from Ponyville, remember? Still, nothing. Not even flying.”
“But I don’t mean flying in that heavy piece of junk we have to wear,” said Cloudchaser, rising from her bed and opening the window. “Come on, Dash, we’re gonna fly!”
“’Chaser… it’s 4 AM…”
“Who gives a fuck? The sun is still up anyway. C’mon, take your goggles and follow me!”
She flew out of the room, waving her wing quickly and waiting for Dash to get her bearings. Soon she joined her, hanging in the air like a clumsy pegasus foal, hiding her cut hoof behind her back.
“Let’s fly to the sea, there shouldn’t be anypony there,” Cloudchaser commanded. They flapped their wings, gaining altitude and soon the building below them disappeared, replaced at first by grey and brown fields, and then by the endless, blue ocean.
Cloudchaser somersaulted and made a double barrel roll. Rainbow Dash copied her moves catching up with her – unlike Cloudchaser, who was slightly bigger, her body more suitable for endurance than fast flying, she was small, slender and extremely agile. She could pull off every sharp turn with ease, but Cloudchaser didn’t want to give up to her.
Cloudchaser made a series of quick loops, ending it with a chandelle and closing one of her wings, when she lost the speed almost completely. She started to freefall, entering a spin, and recovered just above the surface of the water. She started to gain altitude again, ramming into a nearby cloud and obliterating it.
“Nice one,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now look at this…”
She started to fly straight, making a half roll as she passed near Cloudchaser. Then, flying on her back, she quickly entered a half loop, pulling a perfect split S. A rainbow-coloured trail appeared behind her. She looked back to see Cloudchaser flying behind her, seemingly not affected by the turbulences. She spread her wings to slow down, pulling up almost vertically – a manoeuvre invented in Hooviet Union and known as “Cobra”.
Cloudchaser, caught off guard by Dash’s sudden loss of velocity, flew below her, trying to slow down. Rainbow Dash fell back to the horizontal position, chasing her friend, but they quickly parted, when she turned right and made a slow roll, before turning sharply. Cloudchaser, who had turned left, now made a split S and, gaining altitude, tried to intercept Dash, who dove to meet her. For a moment Cloudchaser thought that they were going to crash and moved her wings slightly to dodge her friend, but then Rainbow Dash tackled her in mid-air and, still holding her in her hooves, performed a stunt known as Coltban Eight – a rapid, double loop with two half-rolls, each in the highest point of the loop.
“Dash, stop it!” Cloudchaser shouted, seeing how the sky and the ocean swap positions. Dash finished the second loop and landed on a large cloud, releasing her.
“That was awesome!” she exclaimed. Cloudchaser was lying on her back, panting heavily, her wings spread and twitching. It was much easier for her to fly without her armour, but still, trying to keep up with Dash was difficult – her fur was now soaked with sweat and although the cloud was cooling her body, she had a feeling that her muscles wouldn’t stop aching for at least a week. In spite of that, she smiled.
“Welcome back, Dash,” she said.
“Thanks, ‘Chaser. For everything.” Rainbow Dash didn’t look even a bit tired. The sadness in her voice disappeared and her eyes were burning with passion. She ran a hoof down her windswept mane and took off in the air.
“I’m gonna show you something you’ve never seen before…” She laughed and started to gain altitude, soon becoming only a small point on the sky. Cloudchaser watched her diving, rainbow-coloured trail forming behind her, as she was almost free-falling, gaining speed, making only small adjustments with her wings. A Mach cone started to form around her, and soon the sky exploded with an eerie of colours. Small waves appeared on the surface of the ocean, as Rainbow Dash flew just above it. A blastwave tore the cloud Cloudchaser was sitting on; she had to take off, watching Dash skidding to a halt, her hooves almost touching the water. She then flew up, joining Cloudchaser, who, to her surprise, saw tears in her eyes.
“It’s nothing,” said Rainbow Dash, wiping them. “I just thought that Scoots would be glad to see it…”
“It’s okay, Dash…” Cloudchaser flew to her and wrapped her forelegs around her, “It’ll be okay...”
“I know,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I just need some time… But as long as I’m flying, everything is okay.”
“Nice to hear that,” Cloudchaser said. “Let’s go back home before they notice…” She looked at the rainbow behind her, which was now connecting the sun and the moon. “Or maybe let’s just go back home.”
The Canterlot Air Base already woke up when they came back there. When they landed they saw the new recruits on their first training, carried out by Flitter and Cloud Kicker.
“Not so close, Blossomforth! Do you wanna shot it or bang it?” Cloud Kicker shouted at the white mare, who just fired at the levitating, pegasus-shaped mannequin at point-blank range and almost got hit by ricocheting bullets. She blushed, and flew away, making place for Cloudchaser’s friend from the weather factory, Dust Devil. She quickly aimed her rifle at the mannequin, hitting it several times, but then the recoil threw her off balance, and, after a failed attempt to recover, she crash-landed in front of them.
“Could be worse,” Thunderlane, who just approached them with his brother Rumble, said. “At first Flitter wanted to give them cannons and try to teach them to shoot at the airships…”
“Now you, Cloud Break!” Flitter shouted to the stallion, who was Stormfeather’s twin brother. He approached the mannequin with ease, and shot its head clean off. Its pieces fell on the ground, almost hitting Rumble and Dust Devil.
“Watch out, she’s your sister-in-law!” Cloudchaser laughed, before turning to Rainbow Dash. “Another Cloud?” she shrugged, “We should make him Kicker’s wingpony, at least they’d fly together if called…”
“Don’t think so,” said Dash. “No offence, ‘Chaser, but your cousin’s special talent is apparently losing her wingpony.”
“None taken. Thunderlane, how many recruits we got?”
“Six,” he said. “Three girls, Blossomforth, Dust Devil and Cinnamon Swirl, and three guys, Cloud Break, Stormfeather and Cerulean Sky.”
“I only know Blossomforth,” said Rainbow Dash. “Are they any good?”
“As you can see. I’m not sure how they’ll perform with the armours, but I’m afraid some of them might not be strong enough.”
“I think Snowflake will help them with that,” Rainbow Dash smiled. “How about shooting skills?”
“Well, so far they didn’t shoot one another…”
Suddenly they heard a loud stream of abuse, quite shocking, as they were delivered by a short, innocent looking red mare with a green mane – Cinnamon Swirl, as Thunderlane called her. Her tail was slightly charred and that was probably the reason why she was yelling at the light blue stallion, known as Cerulean Sky, who was trying to apologise to her.
“Well, that was close…” Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
“Yeah,” Cloudchaser said. “We have to learn them about the gun safety. And about the birds and the bees, unless you want to make a kindergarten here.”
“May I try shooting too?” Rumble asked.
“No, Rumble, you’re too young…” Thunderlane sighed. Rainbow Dash looked at them. She knew that letting a civilian live in the military base was illegal and, as a squadron leader, she should react, but she didn’t do that. In fact, she regretted that she hadn’t done the same with Scootaloo when she had a chance.
The last shots were fired, and the remains of the mannequin were dropped on the ground. Flitter landed in front of them.
“I’d say they’re… promising. They can fly; before they got there, somepony already shown them where’s the barrel of a gun, we only need to give ‘em armours, cannons and they’ll learn the rest by flying with us,” she said, saluting to Dash before turning to Cloudchaser and wincing when she sensed sweat. “Where were you, sis?”
“Morning training,” Cloudchaser explained, smiling sheepishly. “I guess Dash and I could use a shower…”
“Yeah, training…” Flitter smirked, and, seeing Snowflake who just landed with a set of armours on his back, went back to the group of new members of their squadron. They immediately stopped chatting.
“Seems that Flight Sergeant Flitter is in her element,” Rainbow Dash said. “Come on, ‘Chaser, let’s go, before they accidentally shoot us.”
Cloudchaser nodded, and they both flew to the showers. A hot water was all she wanted after the exhausting flight. For a few minutes she just stood under the shower, enjoying the streams running through her fur, loosening her sore muscles.
“You know what we should do next?” Rainbow Dash asked, splashing the water around. Cloudchaser could barely see her through the steam, only a part of the chromatic mane, now covered in shampoo.
“Well, few things come to my mind…” Cloudchaser smirked, flapping her wings to dissolve the steam.
“We should go and visit Dust. She lies there all alone, no wonder why she loses marbles…”
“You’re right,” Cloudchaser said, looking at Rainbow Dash, who was now washing the shampoo off of her mane. Weeks of wearing an armour toned her muscles up a bit and, as Cloudchaser had noted when they were flying, she was in the top form, her blue fur clean and shiny. The scars on her hoof were almost invisible. Cloudchaser suddenly realised that she was staring at Rainbow’s flank and quickly turned her gaze away. She hit the water tap angrily with her hoof, and poured cold water all over her wings. After she was done, Rainbow Dash gave her a towel and they left the showers.
Outside the building a bursts of cannon fire and Flitter and Cloud Kicker’s yelling could be still heard, so they decided to go upstairs to pick up a book for Lightning Dust from Cloudchaser’s room. Then they left the building through the window.
The hospital wing was empty – the Wonderbolts were now stationed in Ponyville and the only pegasus who needed to be hospitalized was Lightning Dust. Dr Stable visited her twice a day to check on her and she was constantly guarded by Nurse Redheart.
“Hi, Nurse,” said Rainbow Dash when they landed in hospital wing’s hall. “How’s Dust?”
“Better,” Nurse Redheart muttered. “Her wing heals well, and she only tried to tear the needle off of her hoof once today.”
“Umm… good to hear that?”
“If you say so,” said Nurse Redheart, rising from her chair and leading them to Lightning Dust’s room. “She still refuses to eat. When we tried to force-feed her, she provoked vomiting, so we had to switch her to parenteral nutrition. It’s not that bad, since she doesn’t want to move from her bed and it’s less dirty when I have to wipe… nevermind. Frankly, I think they should take her to a loony bin.”
“I can tell Twilight,” said Rainbow Dash. “If the problem is with her head, she shouldn’t be here.” She waved her hoof at the window – the shooting could still be heard from the outside.
“I’d be glad,” said Nurse Redheart and opened the door at the end of the corridor. “You have guests, Dust.”
The room was dark, all the curtains were closed. Lightning Dust was lying on her side, staring at some point on the floor. Her right wing wasn’t wrapped in bandages anymore; there was only a dressing over the wound. Her mane was messy and greasy and, although her body was covered with a blanket, they could see that she was much skinnier than before – her cheeks were sunken, eyes devoid of any sparks of emotion and only the fact that she was breathing steadily was indicating that she was alive.
“I don’t think she’ll be very talkative after all those meds we pump into her, but have a fun time,” Nurse Redheart whispered and left the room.
“Hello, Dust,” said Rainbow Dash. “It’s me, Dash… I brought Cloudchaser with me.”
Lightning Dust muttered something incomprehensible and covered her face with her wing.
“We managed to get rid of Luna’s soldiers from Ponyville. Crystal ponies are attacking Detrot. The war will be over soon.”
Lightning Dust gave out something between a sigh and a grunt.
“Lightning… speak to me, please…”
“Leave me alone,” said Lightning Dust in a monotonous voice.
“Dust, you can’t just lie here like that,” Cloudchaser said. “Your wing will soon heal, you should start a rehabilitation.”
“Why? I’m a foal killer and I should be put to sleep, like a sick animal.”
“Dust… it was an accident, you were wounded…”
Lightning Dust said nothing, turning away from them and moaning when she accidentally squished her wing.
“Get out,” she said emotionlessly. Cloudchaser put the book – “A Tale of a True Pony” – on her nightstand.
“I’ll leave it for you, in case you get bored,” she said.
“Get out.”
“We really don’t think you’re a foal killer, Dust.”
Lightning Dust only grunted.
“I think it’s enough for today,” Rainbow Dash whispered. They turned to leave the room, when they heard Lightning Dust muttering to herself.
“Accidents… The Academy… Everywhere I go, I bring only death…”
“It wasn’t your fault, Dust,” said Rainbow Dash. “Really… I told you to drop these bombs…”
Lightning Dust was still muttering something to herself, not paying attention to them.
“See you tomorrow, Dust.” Rainbow Dash closed the door and wiped sweat from her forehead.
“She really needs professional help,” Cloudchaser concluded as they walked down the corridor. “We can visit her every day for the next few years, and she’ll get no better.”
“Yeah… I sometimes think that she has it worse than all those ponies who died… I know how she feels, you saw that yourself yesterday... But I can at least go flying when I want to forget about everything.”
Cloudchaser nodded. They took a turn and saw somepony sitting on the floor. At first they thought it was Nurse Redheart, but then they saw that the mare had green mane and wore an armour, a bit too big for her. Rainbow Dash immediately recognised her as one of the new recruits, the one whose tail had been charred during the shooting training. When she saw them, she stood up, making a move as if she wanted to run away.
“Don’t worry,” said Rainbow Dash. “We don’t bite. Cinnamon Swirl, right?”
The mare nodded, slowly backing away.
“Is everything all right?” Cloudchaser asked. “Did you get hurt?”
“No, I just–” Cinnamon Swirl whispered anxiously.
“Did somepony get hurt?”
“No, it’s–” for a moment she stood there, looking for the right words, but finally closed her mouth without saying anything.
“C’mon, soldier, tell me what’s wrong,” said Rainbow Dash, leaning closer to her. Cinnamon Swirl, whose face was now even more red than usual, resembled Fluttershy to her, not to mention that she looked very juvenile, almost like Scootaloo.
“I- I can’t shoot the cannon… It’s too heavy and I can’t compensate the recoil…”
“Don’t worry, Swirl, it’s nothing wrong.” Rainbow Dash patted the mare’s head.
“B- but now I won’t be able to fight… M-maybe there are some pills for that? Sergeant Kicker said–“
“No,” said Cloudchaser quickly. “Don’t take any pills Sergeant Kicker offers you.”
“But I really have to fight! A-after all I’ve done to enlist…”
Cloudchaser looked at her carefully. Cinnamon Swirl leaned against the wall as if she wanted to go through it.
“What have you done to enlist?” Cloudchaser asked.
Cinnamon Swirl was at the verge of tears. “N- nothing!”
“Oh, come on, I brought my sister up, I can see when someone’s lying…” Cloudchaser paused when she remembered the riots in Cloudsdale.
“I promise we won’t be mad,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Okay…” Cinnamon Swirl’s head drooped. She reached to the pocket of her armour, took her ID and gave it to Cloudchaser.
At first sight it looked normal – photo, description of her cutie mark (“abstract, spiral-like symbol”), date of birth – August 24th, 986 year after Discord, which made her more or less Flitter’s peer. Cloudchaser looked at it more carefully and noticed something – the “6” in year of Cinnamon Swirl’s birth looked more like a partially scratched “8”.
“So… you’re 17?” Cloudchaser asked. Cinnamon Swirl nodded.
“Just great…” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “All we needed was a filly with bogus papers… I’m sorry, Swirl, but that’s just–”
The sound of somepony’s hooves clopping against the floor made them raise their heads. They saw Flitter who stopped in her tracks and said, “Here you are! I just got a message that Luna’s airships are flying to Ponyville! The Wonderbolts intercepted ‘em, but they won’t stop all of ‘em.”
“Shit,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “C’mon, Swirl, you’re going with us, but we’ll talk about it later…”
They quickly flew to the changing room where they put on their armours, attached weapons to them and put additional magazines into their pockets.
“Don’t take it,” said Rainbow Dash, seeing Cinnamon Swirl looking at the cannon. “Can you fly with a bomb?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“Take a rifle and a bomb, we may try to drop it on the airship. Cloud Kicker...” She turned to the mare who, seeing this, hid the package with pills in her pocket. “You’ll fly with Dust Devil today; Cinnamon will fly with me. And don’t look at me like that, we have to protect the rookies.”
Cloud Kicker saluted and went to finish her preparations. Which included popping two pills when she thought nopony was watching. Cloudchaser only sighed and shook her head.
“Stay with me, Swirl, and don’t fly too close to them,” Rainbow Dash told her new wingpony. Cinnamon Swirl nodded and they went out of the changing room, accompanied by the rhythmic clicking of their armours and equipment. She looked at the sky and for the first time in her life she felt fear seeing it. Yet, the silhouette of Rainbow Dash by her side was calming her down. She exhaled and flapped her wings for a few times, bracing herself.
When they all were outside, Cloudchaser looked at their squadron – finally they had a complete line-up, twelve pegasi in six pairs. Rainbow Dash with Cinnamon Swirl, Cloudchaser and Flitter, Thunderlane and Snowflake, Cloud Kicker and Dust Devil, Blossomforth and Cerulean Sky, Stormfeather and Cloud Break; they all took off into the orange sky, heading to Ponyville.
On the airstrip Rumble was sitting, watching their formation as it disappeared behind the horizon.