-sh pollen entering her nose as she tensed her wings and:
*WHOOSH*
Inches from crashing into the ground Rainbow Dash pulled out of the deadly nosedive. She leveled out, the tall grass tickling her belly as she looked around for something to do. In the horizon, the clouds parted revealing a large mountain in the distance. It was strange, Dash had seen it many times before but never thought much of it.
Today was different thought, whether it was because she was bored or it was the adrenaline rush that cleared her mind. Curious and with nothing to do, she slowly started to make her way towards it, aiming for the summit. She took her time, she knew it was a long way away, at least 12 miles, so she relaxed, taking in the sights a she made her way towards the large mountain.
She looked down, she was above the clouds flying over sweet apple acres, Rainbow Dash she could see AppleJack below, bucking trees one after the other. The earthpony then caught a glimpse of the cyan Pegasus flying above her.
"Howdy!" Applejack shouted.
Rainbow didn't hear what the earth pony said, so she just returned a wave before flying off into the distance. She continued to look down at the ground before her head hit something. The impact was soft and seemed to bounce away from her, Rainbow Dash looked up before her eyes widened at the sight of Pinkie Pie in front of her.
"EEK!" Pinkie squeaked floating away into the distance.
Rainbow Dash quickly flew to her friend before holding her steady. The Pegasus looked up to see Pinkie with a forest of balloons above her.
"Pinkie? What are you doing?!"
"I just wanted to say goodbye before you went."
"Uh. .... Why?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My right ear was flopping. That means I have to say goodbye to somepony. But Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity were at their houses so then I thought. 'How can I say goodbye to myself?' But then I saw you flying away from Ponyville, so I grabbed as many balloons as I could and, well here I am. .... Goodbye Dashie!"
The Pegasus rolled her eyes, she patted her friend on her mane before pushing her back towards Ponyville. Pinkie used her legs to face Dash as she flew backwards away from the Pegasus.
"Thanks Pinkie! But I'm only going to that mountain, I'll be back soon!"
"Okay bye! Whoa!" The pink pony said, flailing her legs to keep herself steady.
Rainbow Dash turned back to her task and with another firm thrash of her wings she set off again, this time faster then before. She focused on her path, carefully looking for faster routes around the clouds. She thought it would be easier to just fly above the clouds and fly the rest of the way. But where's the fun in that?
As the mountain got closer Rainbow Dash noticed a small light glisten, not too bright but just enough to get her attention. She adjusted her course and took a deep breath as she slowly made her way towards her destination. She breathed in the crisp morning air as she glided through the clouds, feeling the air caressing her blue coat as the sun bathed her in a warm glow. She closed her eyes as a smile grew across her face.
"This is the life." She said to herself as she floated through th-
"Hello?"
**********
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes to see sergeant Bishop standing over her, she groaned as she was pulled away from her dream. She sat up and rubbed her eyes looking around her to see the platoon packing theirs bags and checking their weapons.
"Wh-what's going on?" She coughed, standing up and flapping her wings.
"We've gotta move, the boss said he's found a way for us to get back to base."
Rainbow Dash crouched, flexing her legs and forehooves, her joints clicked and popped with every firm stretch before she stood up and looked at the sergeant through her ruined mane. She brushed it to one side before turning her head to look at the soldiers, she noticed that they weren't their usual, cheerful selves.
"What's wrong?" Rainbow asked, her ears pressing flat against her head. Bishop sighed before kneeling down, almost matching her height.
"We've just been informed that we can't get an extraction from here. We need to go to a nearby town and get picked up from there."
"I-Isn't that a good thing?"
"We have to go through a red zone to get there?"
"R-red zone? .... That's dangerous isn't it?"
Bishop stood up and looked around him before looking down at Rainbow with dismay in his eyes. Her heart sank as she could predict this was not going to be good news.
"You should get ready. We'll be moving in 10 minutes."
The sergeant walked off to his team before Rainbow made her way towards the smoldering ash of the fire she was stood next to last night. She followed the smoke as it made it's way up into the air. But the Rainbow saw past the smoke and found herself looking down the barrel of a gun. Instantly she was paralyzed with fear as she started to shake uncontrollably.
"DIXON!! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!!"
Rainbow Dash watched as the weapon was ripped from her vision, she backed away from the smoke to see the captain holding Dixon by the scruff of the neck. Dixon forced his superior off of him before brushing himself off.
"Just what do you think your playing at?!!" The captain yelled, just inches in front of the unruly soldier.
"I'm demonstrating how easily I can see this thing! Look! She'll blow our cover if we go into Norden! I'm getting a migraine just looking at it."
Rainbow's fear turned into rage as she stomped her hoof firmly into the ground, gnashing her teeth.
"IT?!! .... It, has a name, jerk!!"
Dixon didn't react, he looked at his team, almost as if he was preaching to them.
"That thing, is going to expose us and from where I'm standing we're hardly blending in as it is. We don't need this bitch, so why the fuck are we protecting it?!"
Bishop stood walked past the captain to Dixon, squaring up to him.
"Are you fucking retarded?! It's not that we don't need her. She needs us you selfish prick!! And it's a soldiers duty to protect the innocent!!"
"You're talking as if she's human! She has wings, why doesn't she just fly away huh?!"
"WHERE WOULD I GO!!" Rainbow wailed, instantly silencing the stand off. The two soldiers didn't break eye contact as Rainbow Dash began to break down in tears once again.
"Where would I go?! I can't go home! I don't even know where the hay I am!! I'm staying with you because your the only guys I know who haven't tried to kill me!! .... I don't want to be here! I hate this world, I hate being scared all the time and I hate this war!!"
Bishop was first to break eye contact, walking towards Rainbow Dash he could feel the eyes of every soldier looking at him as he walked towards the cyan Pegasus. He then kneeled down looking into those magenta eyes before turning to his captain.
"I'm not leaving her behind captain. You know as well as I do that she wouldn't last a second out there."
The captain looked at Bishop and then he looked at Rainbow Dash. There was no way she could tell what was thinking, of all ponies and creatures she had met the captain no doubt had the best poker face she had ever seen. He then picked up a large bag off the ground and threw it at Bishop's feet.
"You empty that bag. She can ride out in there as we walk across Norden, unless you have a better idea."
"Thank you sir."
"Now come on everyone! We're already late! Move your asses!"
The soldiers continued to pack their things as Dixon gave Bishop a menacing scowl before turning to his bag. Bishop turned to Rainbow Dash, she leaped forward and wrapped her hooves around his neck, muzzling his shoulder as tears began to soak his shirt.
"T-thank you. .... Thank you."
She let go of his neck before sitting on the the ground, Bishop gave her a sly smile before grabbing his bag. As he opened it Rainbow could see there was not much inside, he pulled out some ammo and a small black book before tipping the rest of the junk inside, onto the ground. Bishop then held the book in his hand, looking at it before looking at Rainbow Dash.
"W-what?" Rainbow said. "What is it?"
"I uh. .... I never got your name."
"R-rainbow. .... Rainbow Dash."
"Really? .... Uh alright. Come on lets get going."
"Okay."