//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back 
// Story: Nowhere to Go 
// by TheGuineaPig45 
//------------------------------//

	When Rainbow Dash awoke, she found herself lying on the ground, sweating, covered with a gray piece of cloth. She looked to her right, and saw Applejack and Apple Bloom lying together on the bottom half of a bunk bed, both sleeping peacefully. On her left, she saw her own bed, which looked like it had taken a beating. The mattress was covered in blue feathers, and the entire thing had been ripped up.
Oh no, Rainbow thought, climbing to her hooves. She inspected the blue feathers, and pressed them against her body. They were hers. No… this can’t have happened again.
As she moaned and sat on her bed, Rainbow noticed that there was a large, purple bruise on her flank that hadn't been there when she went to sleep. When she touched it, she felt a sharp sting that made her cringe.
“Applejack!” she called out to the pony across from her. “Applejack, wake up!”
Slowly, Applejack opened her eyes. “Rainbow,” she yawned, scratching her head. “Hey. Is the base still on lockdown?”
“I dunno,” Rainbow admitted. “Haven't checked.”
“Oh,” Applejack said, letting go of Apple Bloom and beginning to stretch her legs. “So, why'd ya wake me up?”
“Because, uh, something… bad happened while we were sleeping.”
Upon hearing this, Applejack became fully alert. She leapt out of the bed she had been sleeping in, then ran across the room to Rainbow's bed. “What is it?!”
“This,” Rainbow sighed, pointing to the bruise and the beaten-up bed. When she saw them, Applejack gasped.
“Oh my goodness!” Applejack cried, covering her mouth with her hooves. “What happened?!”
“I happened,” Rainbow said, picking up a blue feather from the bed. She held it in front of Applejack’s face. “This was all me!”
“Holy… Rainbow, this is not good!” Applejack screamed, taking a few steps back. “What happened?! Was it another bad dream?”
Rainbow nodded, looking away from her friend. Applejack sighed, then sat on her bed, her face in her hooves.
“Rainbow,” Applejack began, “this is the second time this has happened. If we don't do something about it, it's only gonna keep happening!”
“Well, what am I supposed to do?!” Rainbow yelled, pulling on her mane.
“Get help,” Applejack said calmly. “Talk to Soarin, like you said you would. Get this burden off your chest. Talking to somepony will help, I promise.”
“And what if he can’t help me?” Rainbow cried, with tears forming in her eyes.
“We’ll cross that bridge if we get to it. For now, please, just talk to him.”
Rainbow took a deep breath in, then exhaled. “Alright,” she agreed, finally looking at Applejack. “I'll talk to him.”
“Great!” Applejack exclaimed with a big smile on her face. “I promise you, it'll do you a lot of good.”
“One can only hope,” Rainbow said, turning to the door. When she was a foot away from the exit, however, she turned back to look at Applejack, who had walked back into Twilight’s bed with Apple Bloom. She was now hugging her sleeping sister tightly.
“Hey, AJ?” Rainbow began, walking back toward Applejack. “How are you holding up after, uh... you know... Big Mac?”
“I’ve been better,” Applejack admitted, not taking her eyes off of her sister. She began slowly rocking Apple Bloom back and forth in her hooves. “The night was rough. After you went to bed, Apple Bloom and I couldn’t sleep at all. Just the thought of him being…” Her voice trailed off, and a small tear fell onto Apple Bloom’s forehead. After a moment, another tear followed.
“I-I'm sorry, AJ,” Rainbow said, putting her hoof on Applejack’s back. “Is there anything I can do?”
Applejack shook her head. “Just go talk to Soarin. Trust me, you need comfort much more than I do.”
“Are you sure?” Rainbow asked, reluctantly moving toward the door.
“Yes, Rainbow.”
“But, what if—”
“Just go!” Applejack screamed, slamming her hooves on the ground. Her teeth were clenched together, and she was breathing heavily. Large tears began streaming down her face.
Rainbow gulped, then slowly began taking steps toward the door. Her entire body was shaking, and her heart was beating rapidly inside her chest.
As she left the room, she saw Applejack sobbing, hugging Apple Bloom even tighter than she had before. Tears continued to fall down her face, and her moaning echoed through the halls.
Applejack, Rainbow thought as she flew through the hall. I'm sorry.





As the few clocks in the base struck seven, Cheese Sandwich walked through the base’s corridors, heading in the direction of the dining hall. For the most part, the hallways were empty, save for the occasional pony that was walking to the bathroom. Most ponies were still inside their sections of the barracks, getting sleep after all the excitement of the night.
When Cheese entered the dining hall, he found Soarin already inside, fixing one of the tables Spitfire that had flipped over the previous night. He lifted up the table's legs and began to turn it back to its original position, only to have it slip out of his hooves at the last second and fall back into the ground. He moaned, then began to lift the table up again.
“Want some help?” Cheese asked, walking over to Soarin, whose forehead was covered with sweat.
“That'd be great,” Soarin panted, pausing what he was doing so Cheese could grab onto the table. Once he had a good grip on it, the two began lifting again, this time successfully flipping it onto its legs.
”Huzzah!” Cheese exclaimed once the table was back in place. He took a few steps back to admire their work.
“Thanks for the help,” Soarin said, beaming at Cheese. “I really appreciate it.”
“Hey, it's no problem,” Cheese replied with a wink. “Happy to help.”
Soarin winked back, then began to walk toward the room’s exit. However, midway there, he paused, then turned back and walked over to Cheese, looking inside of a box on the stage.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Soarin began, climbing onto the stage, “but why are you up so early? With Spitfire still asleep, I’m sure all the other ponies are relaxing in bed right now. Why aren’t you?”
Cheese pulled a small, gray rag out of the box. “I couldn’t sleep,” he admitted. “My heart was still racing from all the craziness of last night.” He slowly began to wipe down the table. “Plus, I still can’t make a decision about having the funerals or not. I spent the entire night thinking about it, and I can’t reach a conclusion.”
“Well, you better hurry,” Soarin said, digging through the box. He pulled out a gray rag similar to Cheese’s. “After last night, Spitfire’s gonna want to know if we’re having a funeral tonight for Bulk or not.”
“Exactly,” Cheese sighed. “But, like I said, I can’t reach a conclusion.” He put down the rag and looked at his hooves. “On one hoof, I want to make sure we honor everypony we’ve lost. And yet, on the other, I want everypony to be happy and productive, not sad and worried.”
“Well, which one do you value more?” Soarin asked as he wiped down the table behind Cheese. “Honoring everypony we’ve lost, or keeping the rebels happy?”
“Keeping the rebels happy, I guess,” Cheese admitted. “Like Spitfire said, ponies who are depressed have less productivity, and the funerals have been making the ponies depressed. Plus, my entire life has been dedicated to making ponies happy.” He paused his work to look at Soarin. “But... I still value honoring the ones we’ve lost. I guess that’s my dilemma.”
“Well, Cheese, we’re in a war. This is the time when need you to decide what’s really important. I know you value both honoring the lost and making ponies happy, but they really don’t go together. If we want to stop Sombra and be the best rebellion we can be, we can only have one.” He walked over to Cheese and patted him on the back. “You have got to consider what’s best for not only you, but for everypony.”
When Soarin was finished speaking, Cheese froze, his eyes were wide and watery. After a moment, he blinked, and a small tear fell down his face. He slowly sat down at the table he had been cleaning, then put his face in his hooves. Soarin could hear him quietly weeping.
“Cheese,” Soarin began, patting him on the back, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“SOARIN!!!”
Upon hearing the loud shriek behind them, both Soarin and Cheese jumped. Their heads turned to the exit, where they saw Spitfire, who had a scowl on her face. She was growling.
“SOARIN!!!” Spitfire repeated through clenched teeth as she began approaching the stallions. Soarin began backing away from her, while Cheese remained in his chair, watching them.
“Spitfire! W-what’s, uh, wrong?” Soarin asked, his voice shaking. As he walked backward, he tripped over a chair leg and fell to the ground, taking the chair with him.
“I'll tell you what's wrong,” Spitfire said, standing over Soarin. She grabbed his hoof and dragged him towards the door. “This is what's wrong!” she yelled, pointing at the hallway. It was completely empty; not a single pony was in sight.
“Uh, I don't get it.”
“Why are none of the ponies working right now?!” Spitfire screamed in Soarin’s face. “I always make the ponies get to work as soon as they get up! That way, we get the maximum amount of work done each day!” As Spitfire was yelling, Cheese got up out of his seat and helped Soarin back up to his feet, causing Spitfire glared at both of them. “Soarin, you’re supposed to lead this group when I’m not available. That means when I’m asleep, it’s up to you to do what I would normally do. So why are the rebels still in bed?!” She climbed onto the stage and looked down on the two stallions.
“I thought they deserved a break,” Soarin said, flying up to Spitfire’s eye level. “Yesterday was kinda rough from them. After you and AJ left to stop the bomb, everypony was panicking. We were all crammed inside the hospital, and there was so much screaming because everypony was worried that they were going to die. And it certainly didn’t help their nerves to find a bloody changeling tied to a bed in the center of the room.”
Spitfire sighed. “Sorry about that,” she apologized, looking down at her hooves. “You see, I killed the changeling when I got all the info I needed from it, but I didn't exactly have time to get rid of its body.”
“Well, its corpse certainly created quite the ruckus,” Cheese piped up.
“That's why I decided to let the ponies stay in bed,” Soarin finished, attempting to sound professional to Spitfire. “Last night was so stressful for them. I just thought they deserved some time to relax and cool down, that's all. I didn't mean to hurt our productivity.”
When Soarin had finished talking, he slowly flew onto the ground next to Cheese and looked directly at Spitfire, who was still standing on the stage. She was completely silent, and appeared to be looking through the stallions, rather than at them. Her motionless body was still covered in dirt from the explosion.
After a moment, Spitfire blinked a few times, then slowly flew off of the stage. “Fine,” she sighed, landing in front of Soarin. “I guess that makes sense, although I still think you should’ve gotten them to start working.” She began to brush the small pieces of debris out of her mane. “Did you at least keep the base on lockdown?”
“Yep,” Soarin affirmed. “After you and Applejack returned from outside, we locked the trapdoor again just in case the other soldiers were still out there.”
“Good,” Spitfire said, searching through the box of cloth. After a few seconds of digging, she pulled out a dark blue rag, then began wiping herself down. “So, when were you planning to get the ponies out of bed?”
“In about an hour or so,” Soarin replied, beginning to wipe down his table again.
“Alright. I was going to do this later in the day, but I guess I can do it now if nopony’s around.”
“Do what?” Cheese asked, scratching his mane.
“Have a group meeting,” Spitfire responded. “I need to talk to all of you about the events of last night, as well as what I have planned for tomorrow.” She carefully placed her now-dirty rag on the stage. “Cheese, can you go and get Rarity and Fluttershy from the hospital?”
“Alright,” he responded, slowly exiting the room.
“Soarin, can you find Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow?”
“Sure thing,” Soarin responded, tossing his rag back into the box. He began to follow Cheese out of the room, but paused right in front of the door. He just stared at the doorway, biting his lip.
“Soarin, what are you doing?” Spitfire asked, seeing her friend's hesitation. “Get going.”
Soarin sighed, then turned around to face Spitfire. “I wish you'd be nicer to the ponies,” he said, walking back toward the stage. “You barely give them any time to relax, you call them ‘expendable’ behind their backs, and you lie to them about what's going on with us in the army.” He planted himself directly in front of Spitfire. “It's not very kind.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes. “Soarin, being nice isn't going to win us the war.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Look, Cheese will be back here with Rarity and Fluttershy any minute now.” She pointed to the door. “Get going.”
Soarin moaned, then turned to the door and sulked out of the room. Spitfire rolled her eyes again as she watched him leave.
Why can’t they understand what I’m doing? she thought to herself as she climbed back onto the stage. This is what’s best for everypony. Everything I do is to help the rebellion flourish. By doing this, I’m saving lives.
As she waited for the army to arrive, Spitfire sat on the stage, and contemplated one simple question:
Why can’t they see that?





Spitfire cleared her throat.
Directly in front of her, all the ponies she had just called were sitting at a table, quietly waiting for the meeting they had been promised.
Applejack, who was closest to the stage, was lazily spinning her hat on her hoof, while Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight watched her. Rainbow, on the other hand, was watching Soarin, who had reclaimed his rag and was wiping down the table with Cheese’s help.
Once Spitfire began talking, however, all of them froze and looked up to their leader.
“Alright, everypony,” she began, walking to the edge of the stage. “There’s a lot of things I need to talk to you about today.”
“I would imagine so,” Rarity said, looking at the reflection in her hoof.
“First,” Spitfire continued, “I would like to commend all of you for your performances last night. Even though there were some bumps in the road, all of you handled the situation very well. Thank you for that.”
All of the group nodded, except for Applejack, who went back to playing with her hat. Spitfire glared at her, then began speaking once more.
“So, I was thinking over what Applejack said yesterday, and there was one thing that really stood out to me.”
“Only one thing?” Twilight asked, her mouth gaping open. Spitfire ignored her and continued.
“And that thing was the fact that the size of our army has dramatically decreased since the beginning of the war. As of right now, our army is only comprised of Rainbow, Cheese, Fleetfoot, Soarin, and myself, and Fleetfoot isn’t even in a condition to go out onto the battlefield right now.” She briefly paused to make sure the others were listening. “Let’s be honest: a four pony army isn’t going to win the war.”
“You can say that again,” Cheese muttered to himself.
“I realized this, and decided that if we want to win the war, we need to recruit more ponies to the army.”
Once the sentence was out, the room fell silent. The group blinked a few times, then rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
“Wow,” Twilight said, breaking the silence. “That's a really good idea, Spitfire.”
“Yeah,” Applejack agreed, pausing her hat-spinning. “Can't say I expected that you’d want more members, though, given the fact that you called almost all of the past ones ‘expendable.’”
“Well, the more members we have, the better chance we have at winning,” Spitfire admitted.
“But how are you going to recruit anypony? And who were you thinkin’ of bringing in?”
“Well, I thought we could start with you, Applejack.”
Upon hearing this, the mouths of everypony in the room dropped. All eyes were on Applejack, who stumbled out of her chair and fell onto the floor in surprise. Soarin and Rainbow quickly ran over to help, while Applejack began gasping for air.
“M-me?” she stuttered, using Soarin and Rainbow to get up.
“Yes, you,” Spitfire said. “Yesterday, you proved to me that you were ready for the army. You stuck with us through thick and thin, fought the changeling, and stopped the bomb alongside me. That warrants a spot on my team.” Spitfire paused for a second, thinking over something in her head. “And… I think it might be good to have somepony on the team who doesn’t always agree with me. That way, I’ll have somepony who can reel me in if I ever go too far.”
“Sounds great to me!” Soarin exclaimed. The other ponies nodded, once again looking at Applejack. Rainbow had a large grin on her face.
“I dunno,” Applejack said, sitting back in her chair. “Ever since the beginning of the war, I’ve always been workin’ in the kitchen with Sugar Belle and the Cakes. I can’t just up and leave them. Plus, making food for the entire rebellion is a lot of work. I don’t even know if they can handle it by themselves.”
“Applejack, they’ll be fine,” Spitfire replied. “You can still help them when you’re not on missions.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Look, the army needs you. This is your chance to really get out there and fight for Equestria.” Spitfire briefly paused so she could walk over to Applejack. “Plus, by joining the army, you’ll get the chance to avenge your brother.”
For Applejack, that was all it took. “I’m in,” she said quickly, jolting up in her seat.
“Good,” Spitfire replied with a smile on her face. “I’ll get you started on your training as soon as this meeting is over.” She walked away from Applejack and turned to the rest of the group. “Same goes for you, Twilight.”
Upon hearing this, the alicorn’s face went bright red. “Whoa, wait,” she gasped, holding her hooves out in front of her. “Are you saying that you want me in the army?”
“Yes, I am,” Spitfire said. “After you blasted those soldiers into the forest last night, it only makes sense to bring you in. Your talent for magic would give us a much needed boost.”
“Plus, you’re an egghead,” Rainbow added. “Your intelligence would seriously help us on the battlefield.”
“I guess,” Twilight replied, unsure.
“Look,” Spitfire continued. “I know you turned me down the last time I asked you to join, but that was before. Right now, we need you more than ever. Please, Twilight.”
The words echoed throughout the room as the group stared at Twilight, who was sitting down, deep in thought. After a few seconds of silence, she got up and sighed.
“Well, it’ll severely interfere with my research,” Twilight began, “but if you really need me as much as you say, then I’m in.”
“Great!” Spitfire exclaimed, flying off of the stage. She grabbed Twilight and Applejack and stood them next to each other. “Welcome to the army, you two!”
The rest of the group nodded and similarly congratulated them, causing their faces to become an even brighter shade of red than before.
“Now with you on the team, we’ve really got a chance!” Soarin cheered, clapping his hooves together. After a second, though, he abruptly stopped, and a confused look appeared on his face. “Or, at least, a better chance than we had five minutes ago.”
“Yeah, a seven pony army isn’t really much better than a five pony army,” Applejack said, walking away from Twilight and sitting back down.
“I know,” Spitfire replied. “I figure we’ll recruit more ponies as time passes. For now, let’s just move on to the second part of the meeting.”
The army murmured sounds of agreement, so Spitfire flew back onto the stage and faced all of the ponies at once. After clearing her throat, she addressed the group.
“If there's one thing I've learned this past year,” she began, projecting her voice throughout the room, “it's that living during in a war is difficult.”
“Understatement of the year,” Cheese muttered, staring at the table. Spitfire glared at him, then continued.
“I understand that there's a lot of times where things get out of hand, and we really just need a break from all the excitement.”
All seven of the other ponies nodded, unsure of where Spitfire was going with this.
“And, well, I figured that, since tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Eve—”
“TOMORROW IS HEARTH’S WARMING EVE?!” Rarity shrieked, interrupting Spitfire’s sentence. “But… I thought winter just started!”
Spitfire sighed. “Rarity, that’s why it’s happening tomorrow!” Spitfire replied, scowling at Rarity in annoyance. “Hearth’s Warming takes place on the fifth day of winter, remember?”
“Ohhhh, right,” Rarity said, composing herself in the chair. “Sorry about that. Please, um, carry on.”
Spitfire rolled her eyes, then continued. “Like I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted, since tomorrow is Hearth’s Warming Eve, I thought that maybe everypony could have the day off to celebrate.”
Once that last word had left Spitfire's mouth, the jaws of everypony in the group dropped. All of their eyes became wide and watery, and Applejack had to blink her eyes top make sure she wasn't dreaming.
“Who are you and what have you done with Spitfire?” Rainbow asked, getting out of her chair and slowly backing away toward the door.
“Relax,” Spitfire said, flying off of the stage and onto the table. “It’s still me talking, don't worry.”
“Okay, but why are you suddenly doing this now?” Cheese questioned, looking Spitfire in the eyes. “I don't think you've ever even considered giving us a break before.”
“Yeah, but, ever since last night, I’ve been thinking: I want to do everything I can to win this war. That means I need to make sure that everypony living in this base is happy and productive. Right now, they’re neither. I mean, you saw them last night. They’re feeling awful. I figure that celebrating Hearth’s Warming would really boost their spirits, which would in turn boost productivity.”
“Plus, everypony would finally get a break from the war,” Applejack added, thinking over her leader’s words. “That… actually sounds like a really good plan, Spitfire!”
“Yeah!” Soarin agreed, nodding his head. “I fully support that.”
“I’m not so sure,” Cheese admitted, getting up out of his chair. As soon as he said it, the eyes of everypony in the room focused on him exclusively, causing him to sweat. “I mean, think about it. We don’t have any decorations, gifts, or even a tree! It’s a good idea in thought, but how are we supposed to pull it off?”
“I’m leaving that to you,” Spitfire replied, “Since you’ve planned every single event we’ve had in the base thus far, I’m sure you’ll be able to plan how we’ll celebrate Hearth’s Warming.”
“You don’t understand,” Cheese insisted. “I may have planned all those big parties and funerals and stuff in the past, but for those, I always had something to work with. What do I have here?”
“Well, for starters, you have us,” Soarin said, getting up and putting his hoof on Cheese’s shoulder. “I’m sure we’d be happy to help you out. Right, guys?”
Everypony in the room nodded, except for Spitfire, who raised an eyebrow at the two stallions.
“Plus,” Soarin continued, tapping Cheese’s forehead, “I’m sure you have a bunch of good Hearth’s Warming memories from the past that we could use for tomorrow. Ones that don’t necessarily need material things to be special.”
Cheese paused, then thought over Soarin’s words for a minute before sighing. “I don’t really have any Hearth’s Warming memories,” he admitted, scratching his head. “My parents and I never really celebrated the holiday, aside from the two times we went to see the Hearth’s Warming Eve play in Canterlot.”
“And we can’t possibly perform that in such a limited time,” Rarity said, brushing Fluttershy’s mane. “The production was filled with costumes, decorations, and props. While I’d love to make those, there’s no way I could do it by tomorrow.”
“Yeah,” Applejack sighed. “It’s a shame, too, since almost everypony in Equestria loved that play.”
“Well, uh, since we can’t perform the entire play, how about we just do a scene or two?” Soarin suggested, turning everypony’s attention back to him and Cheese. “I’m sure the ponies would be happy to see even a little bit of the play.”
“Okay, but what scene can we do?” Rarity asked. “I would like to remind you that we don’t have any scripts, so any scene we do has to be from memory. What’s a scene that at least one of us knows word-for-word that we can do without any props or costumes?”
The ponies thought in silence for a moment, each of them biting their lip. In their minds, they searched for an answer to Rarity’s question, but none of them could seem to find one.
Then, after two whole minutes of silence, Cheese let out a large gasp and jumped up into the air.
“THE HEART CAROL!” he exclaimed with a broad smile on his face.
“The what?” Spitfire asked, her eyebrow still raised.
“The Heart Carol,” Cheese repeated, bouncing up and down. “It was the song that we used to sing at the end of the play! You know, ‘The Fire of Friendship lives in our hearts, as long as it burns we cannot drift apart?’”
“Oh, yeah!” Rainbow said. “I remember that!”
“Of course you do,” Cheese sang, jumping onto the stage. “It was the best part of the play! And it’s perfect for a performance tomorrow since we don’t need any props to sing it, Soarin and I know all the lyrics, and it’s short and should be easy to rehearse!”
Soarin nodded his head. “Sounds like we’ve got our million-bit idea!”
“Not so fast,” Spitfire interrupted, holding Cheese down in an attempt to make him stop bouncing. “Soarin suggested that we do a scene from the play. That means ‘The Heart Song’, or whatever it's called, doesn't apply, since it occurred after the curtains closed and the play ended. And even if it did qualify, you know my policies about singing in the base.”
“I know your policies about humming,” Cheese corrected. “And besides, this time, the music isn’t just for me. This is for everypony.”
“Cheese, we need to win the war, not sing a forgettable song from the past.”
“Singing this song is going to help us win the war, Spitfire. It's going to boost everypony’s spirits, which then will boost productivity and morale. Isn't that exactly what you wanted?”
Once that last word came out, it was clear that Cheese had won. There was no use fighting back. Everything he had just said was true. Spitfire wanted to boost ponies’ spirits, and performing the song could do just that. Deep down, Spitfire knew what she had to do.
“Fine,” she sighed, letting go of Cheese. “I'll let you perform your song tomorrow. But only on one condition.”
Cheese stopped bouncing and scratched his muzzle. “What is it?”
“You agree to stop doing the funerals altogether and let me be the one to handle all of the events in the nearby future.”
The room went dead silent. All eyes were locked onto Cheese, who didn't even break a sweat. He remained calm on the stage, and faced Spitfire with a straight face.
“Alright,” he said, shaking Spitfire’s hoof. “It’s a deal.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Rainbow interjected. “You can’t be serious. You’re giving up doing the funerals just so we can perform a short song tomorrow?”
“There’s more to it than that,” Cheese admitted. “For the past few hours, I’ve really been thinking about what I want. And I’ve realized that, while I do want a lot of things, the thing I want the most is for everypony to be happy. I don't believe I can accomplish that with the funerals going on. I mean, you saw how the rebels were yesterday. All of them seemed miserable!”
“I see your point,” Applejack agreed.
“If I ever want to make everypony happy,” Cheese continued, the funerals have to go. I know it seems wrong, but, this way, hopefully everypony will be able to move one step closer to happiness in this wretched time.”
“Glad you finally saw the light,” Spitfire said, nodding her head at Cheese's words. She then turned to the rest of the group. “There'll be one last funeral tonight for Bulk Biceps and Big Mac, if that's alright, but once it's over, we won't be having another funeral until the war ends.”
“Okay,” Rainbow sighed. “I can live with that.”
"I am still going to plan the one tonight?" Cheese asked, wringing his hooves together.
"Yeah, why not?" Spitfire agreed. "You've planned all of the other funerals.  It wouldn't make much sense to switch over command just for this final one."
"Thank you, Spitfire," Cheese said, nodding his head. "I won't let you down."
“Does that conclude our meeting?” Rarity asked, tapping her hooves on the ground. “Not to rush you or anything, but Fluttershy and I really need to get back to our patients.”
“Yeah, we can end it right there,” Spitfire responded. “Thanks to all of you for your cooperation and patience. Let's hope these new changes give us a better shot at winning the war. “
“Agreed.”
With that, the meeting was over. All of the ponies began walking toward the door, with the exceptions of Soarin and Cheese, who went back to cleaning the tables.
“Hey, Cheese,” Soarin said, grabbing the same gray rag as before. “I'm proud of you. I think you did the right thing back up there on the stage.”
“Thanks,” Cheese replied, blushing. “I couldn't have done it without your advice, though. Thank you so much for your help, Soarin.”
“Anytime, Cheese. Anytime.”





Once the dining hall cleared out and almost everypony had gone down separate corridors, Rainbow quietly peeked back into the room she had just come from. Inside, Soarin and Cheese were wiping down the tables, laughing about something from the past.
“Alright, Rainbow,” she whispered to herself, taking multiple deep breaths. “You're going to go in there and tell Soarin everything. Tell him about the dreams, tell him about how you feel, tell him everything. He's going to help me. Applejack promised.”
After wiping the sweat off of her forehead, Rainbow took one more deep breath, then entered the room. She was positive that the two stallions could hear her heart racing.
“H-Hello, Soarin,” Rainbow stuttered, taking small steps towards the pegasus. “Hey, C-Cheese.”
“What's up, Rainbow?” Soarin said cheerfully, scanning his friend. “Is everything okay?”
“No, not really,” Rainbow admitted. “Something bad has been happening, and I really need to talk to somepony about it. And, well, that somepony is you.”
“Um, okay,” Soarin hesitated. “Take a seat. Uh, Cheese, could you leave us for a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Cheese said, nodding his head. “Just holler when you need me.”
“I will,” Soarin agreed. Cheese then turned around and exited the room, leaving Rainbow and Soarin alone with the now-clean tables. Rainbow took a seat at the same table she had just been sitting at minutes earlier, while Soarin remained standing, staring at his friend. Rainbow knew that she had to be the one to start the conversation, so she took one last deep breath and began.
“Soarin, have you ever… blamed yourself for the death of somepony else in the war?”
“Umm, not really,” Soarin admitted. “I haven't been on nearly as many missions as you have, since Spitfire always wants me to be here to lead while she's away. I haven't really seen any deaths.” He briefly paused. “But, I have blamed myself for stuff other things in the past.”
“Really?” Rainbow asked. “Tell me about it.”
Soarin smiled. “Well, it’s kinda silly, but… Remember the dinner before the opening of Celestia’s royal garden?”
“Of course I do. How could I forget it?”
“Well, while we were in line to grab dessert, I noticed that there was only one slice of apple pie left, and I really wanted it. However, behind me in line, there was a young little filly who also really wanted the pie to eat. So when I got to the dessert table, I quickly put grabbed the one slice of pie, put it on my plate, and ran to my seat to make sure I’d get to eat it. The filly chased after me and begged me for the pie, but I just apologized to her and ate the pie in one gulp.”
“Right in front of her?”
“Yeah, not exactly my best moment. The filly ran away from me like I was a monster, and I just shrugged it off and continued my life like that had never happened.” He paused for a moment, then sighed, “However, later that night, I was drinking some cider alone in the hallway, when I saw that filly again with her parents. She was screaming and crying and her parents couldn’t make her stop. And then, when that filly pointed at me with tears in her eyes, my heart sank.”
“She was crying because you ate the last piece of apple pie?”
“That’s what I thought had happened, at least,” Soarin confirmed. “It turns out she was crying because her parents wouldn’t her go to the Wonderbolt performance the next day, and she was pointing at me because I was one of the Wonderbolts she was excited to see perform. But since I didn’t know that at the time, I felt so guilty. I thought she was crying all because of me. And for the next hour, I spent all my time beating myself up over it, wishing I had never even seen that slice of pie in the first place.”
Rainbow laughed. “You seriously thought you made a filly cry from eating a piece of pie?”
“I did tell you it was silly,” Soarin giggled, smiling. “But it’s true. Maybe it wasn’t as big as a death, but I have blamed myself for something.” He once again paused, then stared at Rainbow. The smile on his face vanished.
“Dash, I told you that story because I wanted to give you a good laugh to make you feel a little more comfortable talking to me,” he said, sitting down next to Rainbow. “But now it’s time to be serious. You asked me that question in the beginning of our conversation for a reason. I think I know what that reason is.” He paused for a moment, then grabbed Rainbow’s hooves. 
“Rainbow,” he began softly, “do you blame yourself for the death of somepony else in the war?”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, and her heart managed to start racing even faster than it had before. As she slowly nodded her head, she could feel the tears rolling down her face.
“Who?”
Rainbow wanted to tell Soarin about the pony she was dreaming about, but she couldn't bring herself to it. Instead, she chose a completely different pony whose death she blamed herself for.
"B-Bulk Biceps," Rainbow coughed, trying to hold back some of her tears.
"Bulk Biceps?" Soarin repeated out of confusion. "Why do you blame yourself for his death?"
"Because it's all my fault, Soarin," Rainbow responded, rubbing her eyes. "Bulk Biceps shouldn't have even been outside last night. It was supposed to be me going out there on the mission, but because I didn't go, his life paid the price."
“No, Dash, that wasn't your fault!” Soarin said. “If anything, that was Spitfire's fault. She was the one who made Bulk Biceps and Big McIntosh go on the mission in the first place."
"Yeah, but I should've been able to stop her!" Rainbow yelled, slamming her hooves on the table with such force that she was pushed out of her chair and onto the floor. As Soarin ran over to help her get up, he noticed something he hadn't seen before: the bruise on Rainbow's flank.
"Rainbow..." he gasped, covering his mouth with his hoof. "Oh my goodness. Wh-what happened? Where did that bruise come from?"
"It came from me," Rainbow sobbed, hiding her face in her hooves. It took a moment for Soarin to process this statement, and when he did, his jaw dropped.
"How long has this been happening?" he asked, helping Rainbow into her seat.
"This is the first time," Rainbow responded. "Well, the first time I've ever hurt myself, at least."
"Is it because of what happened last night with Bulk?"
Rainbow hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"Oh, Dash," Soarin said sympathetically. "You have no need to be hurting yourself like this. Like I said before, what happened wasn't your fault." He grabbed onto Rainbow's hooves, then pulled them close to him. Rainbow gulped, then turned her head away from Soarin, choosing not to look at his face. Soarin sighed, then continued what he saying.
"Dash, let me tell you something. Beating yourself up like this is only going to make you feel worse about yourself and your actions. If you ever want to feel better, you've got to forgive yourself."
Rainbow took a quick glance at Soarin, saw a smile on his face, then looked away from him again. "Why should I take that advice from you?" she asked, trying to concentrate on anything except for her fellow Pegasus. "You yourself said you've never felt guilty for another pony's death. Why should I listen to you?"
"Because I know how you're feeling, Dashie. I know what's it's like to feel guilty for something that wasn't your fault and then hurt yourself because of it. After I saw that filly crying and thought I was the cause, I beat myself up over it, just like you're doing now." He paused. "Well, okay, maybe not physically, but mentally, I was a wreck. I cried in the bathroom, tried to avoid everypony I could, and generally, I just felt awful."
Rainbow still refused to look at Soarin. "How did you stop feeling so awful?" she asked.
"I learned the truth," Soarin replied slowly, clutching onto Rainbow's hooves even tighter than before, "and then I forgave myself."
It was that moment when Rainbow Dash finally turned back to look at Soarin, whose eyes were full of tears. As one of those tears slowly trickled down his face, Rainbow removed her hooves from Soarin's grasp and put them around his body. The stallion was surprised at first, and wasn't sure how to respond, but after a moment of thinking, he did the same.
"Soarin?" Rainbow asked, unable to control her tears. "How am I supposed to forgive myself, when I've done so many awful things?"
"There are many different ways," Soarin admitted, also unable to control the tears that were coming out of his eyes. "And honestly, not all of them might work for you. It all depends on the pony." He paused, then looked directly into Rainbow's eyes. "Rainbow... I'd like to help you find your way of forgiving yourself. I doubt it'd be easy for either of us, but I don't think anypony should have to go through something like this alone. I really want to help you out, but I'll only do it if you want me to."
"Of course I want you to," Rainbow said, nodding her head. "Thank you so much, Soarin. I-I actually feel a little happy right now."
Soarin smiled, then hugged his friend as tight as he could. "No problem, Dash," he said.
Silence followed those last few words. Once they had been spoken, the two pegasi just sat there, alone at their table, hugging and crying for what felt like hours.





When Cheese entered his section of the barracks, he found that almost every inch of the room was black. The light that came from the candle had disappeared, leaving only darkness and the smell of burnt wax in its place.
“Ugh,” Cheese moaned, rubbing his eyes. “Why does this keep happening to me?”
Even though he could barely see anything, Cheese began slowly walking through the room in search of the candle. Once he found it, he reached for a nearby match and lit the candle, once again giving the room a nice, orange glow.
“Much better,” Cheese said to himself, admiring the fire he had just created. After a wave of warmth came over him, he climbed into his bed and covered himself with a blanket. I think I did the right thing, he thought as he closed his eyes.
“Cheese? Are you there?”
Startled by the sudden voice below him, Cheese looked down from his bed and saw Wind Rider on the ground, looking up at the stallion.
“Hey, Wind Rider,” Cheese responded. “Shouldn’t you be outside, working?”
“I should,” Wind Rider admitted. “But I’m not. I wanted to see you, Cheese, before I went to go clean or whatever it is I’m supposed to do.”
Cheese removed the blanket from his body and sat up. “Me?” he asked, confused. “Why do want to see me?”
“Because you’re a member of the army,” Wind Rider said, flying up to Cheese’s eye level. “Look, Cheese, I don’t think Spitfire’s been a hundred percent honest with all of us non-army ponies here in the base.”
“Oh?”
“Last night, when she said all of you sent Big Mac and Bulk Biceps on a mission to meet Princess Luna in Dodge Junction, I knew something was up. I had heard you saying that they were going on a ‘suicide mission’, Cheese, and what Spitfire said did not add up with that. She actively lied to us last night; I can feel it.”
Cheese scratched his head and bit his lip. He didn’t know whether he should lie to Wind Rider or tell the truth, so he chose not to respond to him at all. Wind Rider, noticing the silence, gave Cheese a suspicious look before continuing to speak.
“There’s something she’s not telling the public, and it’s become something that I need to know if I ever want to feel safe in this craphole. I wanted to find you because I’m hoping you can tell me what it is.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Cheese exclaimed, nearly falling out of his bed in surprise. “You want me to tell you what’s Spitfire’s keeping secret from the rest of the ponies?”
“So there is a secret,” Wind Rider said.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t deny it, either.”
Cheese sighed, then slowly climbed out of his bed and closed the door to the barracks so nopony could hear what the two were talking about. He signaled for Wind Rider to come closer, so the pegasus flew back onto the ground and leaned in to hear what Cheese had to say.
“Alright, Wind Rider,” Cheese began in a low whisper. “I’ll tell you this: there is, in fact, something Spitfire hasn’t told anypony outside of the army.”
“I figured,” Wind Rider replied. “What is it?”
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Cheese admitted. “I doubt Spitfire would be happy if she found out I told somepony outside of our group something she’s trying to keep a secret.”
“Who says she has to know?” Wind Rider said with a smirk on his face. “She has a secret, so you can have one too. It’s as simple as that. And, hey, even if she does find out, what do you have to be afraid of? I mean, Spitfire can’t really do anything bad to you. That would just create an even bigger scandal, right?”
“I guess…” Cheese replied slowly.
“So how about it then?” Wind Rider asked, tapping his hoof on the ground impatiently. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on with Spitfire? Yes or no?”
Cheese hesitated, then spoke. “I dunno,” he admitted, absently looking at his hoof. “While it would be great to actually tell somepony about the things Spitfire’s been doing and saying, I don’t want to end up on her bad side because of it. Your plan sounds like it could be good, but it sounds very risky, too.”
“I understand,” Wind Rider said. “How about I give you a few hours to think it over? You can weigh the pros and cons and such, and then come back to me soon with a definite answer. That sound good?”
Cheese paused for a moment to think it over, then nodded.
“Good,” Wind Rider said, heading toward the door. “When you make your decision, you know where to find me.”
Cheese nodded once more before watching Wind Rider exit the room, leaving Cheese alone with nothing but his bed and the warmth of the candle. Yawning, he climbed back into his bed, covered himself with his blanket once more, then closed his eyes. As he slowly dozed off, only one thing went through his mind:
What's the right choice now?





The dining hall was filled to the brim with ponies, just as it had been the night before. Once everypony had realized that it was almost sunset, all of them had run to the dining hall as fast as they could, hoping that they would be able to get some food as well as a seat. Many times, most ponies either didn’t get their bread and applesauce in time, or were stuck sitting on the floor, unable to see anything above their fellow ponies’ flanks. This night wasn’t any different.
Even though the odds had been against them, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Soarin had all managed to procure a table together and get two trays of food to split amongst themselves. Rainbow’s stomach was growling, but she restrained herself from eating before anypony else got the chance.
“I’m so glad decided to come to dinner, Rainbow,” Twilight said, smiling at her friends. “It’s been, what, a week since we last saw you here at this time?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow sighed, eyeing the trays in front of her. “I wasn’t doing very well before, but I’ve started feeling better. Hopefully, you guys’ll be seeing me here a lot more.”
“Great!” Twilight exclaimed, hugging her friend.
“Does that mean you spoke to Soarin?” Applejack asked in a whisper so Twilight couldn’t hear her. Rainbow nodded, causing a large grin to emerge on Applejack’s face. “I’m proud of you for doin’ that, Dash.”
“Thanks,” Rainbow replied, grinning back at Applejack. She was about to remark about how she didn't get to telling Soarin about the dream, but was interrupted by a large scream coming from the back of the room.
"AM I TOO LATE?!"
The scream, which had made nearly everypony jump, had come from Cheese Sandwich, who was attempting to quickly make his way through the crowd in order to get to the front of the room. There were bags under his eyes and his mane was a disheveled mess, but he kept pushing his way to the front anyway, oblivious to the scene he was making. 
"Did I miss the funeral?!" Cheese frantically asked once he reached Twilight's table. His breathing was fast, yet heavy. "Guys, please tell me I'm not too late! I can't be late! I need to—"
"Calm down," Soarin interrupted, causing Cheese to freeze. "You didn't miss anything. As far as I know, Spitfire's still in her section of the barracks."
"Oh, thank goodness," Cheese sighed, sitting down on the ground next to Applejack. He held up a small, slightly ripped up piece of paper with messily written words on it. "I have to give this to her now."
"What is it?"
"It's the speech she's supposed to read tonight," Cheese replied, carefully placing the paper onto the table. "It's not my best work, because I wrote it in literally five minutes after accidentally falling asleep and waking up thinking I was late to the funeral, but hey, at least it's done."
"And not a moment too soon," Applejack said, pointing to the doorway. Spitfire had just entered the room, carrying a piece of paper that looked similar to Cheese's.
"I'm going to go meet her up on the stage," Cheese said, grabbing the piece of paper and turning to face the entire group. "Thanks for the help, guys!"
Applejack, Twilight, Soarin, and Rainbow all nodded to Cheese, who then proceeded to run back through the crowd, attempting to make his way to the front of the room.
He reached the stage just as Spitfire landed on it.
"Spitfire!" Cheese called out to the pegasus, drawing all of her attention to him.
"Hey, Cheese," she responded, scanning her fellow army member. "What's up? You look like a complete mess."
Cheese glared at Spitfire, who pretended not to notice the expression. "I brought you this," he said, holding up the speech for her to look at. "Sorry that it's coming to you so late. I know you like being able to memorize the speeches before the funeral begins, but I hope you're okay with just reading from a piece of paper this time."
"Actually," Spitfire began, grabbing Cheese's speech and tossing it behind her back, "I won't be needing that tonight." She held up the piece of paper that she had been carrying, which contained a neatly-written speech that was as twice as long as Cheese's had been. "You see, when I hadn't gotten a speech from you two hours before the funeral, I decided to write my own. Sorry I didn't tell you that sooner. I'm sure I would've saved you a lot of trouble." She smirked at the earth pony, who just stared at her blankly.
"Y-you want to read that tonight?" Cheese asked, trying to comprehend Spitfire's words.
"Yes, I do, Cheese. Do you have any problems with that?"
"N-no, ma'am," he replied, his voice shaky and fragile. "If you want to read that tonight, be my guest."
"Wonderful!" Spitfire exclaimed, putting her speech on the ground so she could read from it as she addressed the rebellion. "Thank you so much for letting me have this moment, Cheese. I'm going to make this final funeral very special, I promise."
Cheese nodded his head, then turned away from Spitfire and walked back toward the group of ponies he had just left. When he arrived at their table, he slumped onto the ground next to them and sighed.
"What happened?" Applejack asked, looking at her friend. "From over here, it looked like things were going pretty well between you two... for once."
"Well, looks can be deceiving," Cheese moaned. "Spitfire decided to write her own speech, and completely disregarded mine. That means that all of the last minute work I did was pointless. Ugh, I feel so stupid..."
The other four ponies looked at each other. "You're not stupid," Soarin said, patting Cheese on the back. "You were just late, that's all. Nothing to be ashamed about."
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "And besides, I'm sure Spitfire's speech is going to be nowhere near as good as yours are. You've been doing this for how long now?"
"I guess you're right," Cheese replied, standing up and leaning on the table. "I do have prior experience, unlike her..."
"That's the spirit!" Soarin said, playfully punching Cheese's shoulder. The group shared a smile, then turned to the stage and remained silent, waiting for the funeral to begin.

"Attention, everypony!"
When Spitfire called this out, the heads of a hundred ponies turned to her, and all talking ceased. Within seconds, the room became just as silent as it had the night before. Anypony would've been able to hear a pin drop.
"Nice job quieting down," Spitfire said, nodding at everypony in the room. She looked at her speech for a second, then cleared her throat. "I would like to thank all of you for gathering here tonight as we celebrate the last funeral we will ever be having here in the base. Now, I'm sure a lot of you are probably wondering why this particular funeral last one we'll ever be having, and I promise that all of you will be finding that out soon. For now, let's just treat this funeral as if it were any other, okay?"
Almost everypony in the room nodded, with the exception of Applejack, who looked at her leader suspiciously.
"Thank you," Spitfire continued. "Before we can begin, however, I'd like to take this moment to acknowledge two ponies in the rebellion: Princess Twilight Sparkle and Applejack!" She pointed to the table the two were sitting at, causing everypony to stare at them. "As of today, these two brave mares have decided to aid us on the battlefield by joining the army! Let's give them a round of applause!"
As the ponies began stomping their hooves on the ground, Applejack blushed and covered her face with her hat, while Twilight put on her best smile and waved. Rainbow, Cheese, and Soarin just grinned.
"If anypony else would like to join the army, please see me as soon as possible. Thanks."
All the ponies turned their attentions back to Spitfire and nodded. After a few murmurs about potential army recruits, the room went back to its usual silence and everypony waited for the funeral to formally begin.
Spitfire took a deep breath, then exhaled. "Alright," she said to herself, reading over the next few lines of her speech. "Let's move onto the funeral." She picked her head up and faced the entire group of ponies before her, who were patiently waiting for her to speak. She cleared her throat in, then spoke:
"'War is difficult'. Those are the exact three words I told my army earlier today during a meeting, and they responded by telling me I had just made a serious understatement. Well, after spending a lot of time thinking about it, I can't do anything but agree with them on that. War is more than difficult; it's painful, it's harsh, and it's unforgiving. It takes away the ones you love when you least expect it, breaks you open and pours your emotions out, and makes you take a step back whenever you get two steps ahead of everypony else."
"Wow," Rainbow whispered to the ponies at her table, who were listening to Spitfire intently. "She's actually pretty good."
"Yeah, no kidding," Applejack replied.
"War has brought famine, strife, and sadness to Equestria, but worst of all, it has brought death," Spitfire said, no longer looking at her speech. "Tonight, we are gathered here to remember, as well as honor, three of the brave ponies who fought for Equestria, but sadly lost their lives during this horrible, violent time."
"Wait. Did she just say three brave ponies?" Rainbow asked, confused. "I thought there were only two who died last night."
"I thought so too," Applejack replied, glaring at the pegasus on stage.
"Each of them should be remembered as heroes," Spitfire continued. A small bead of sweat had formed on her forehead. "Each of them fought on our side until their very last breath, and served their country very well. Their sacrifices should be honored, and never looked down upon as long as we are living. Their names are: Big McIntosh...”
Everypony in the room became tense. All of their hearts began beating at a very rapid pace.
"...Bulk Biceps...."
Please don't do what I think you're about to do, Spitfire, Soarin thought to himself. Please, I'm begging you. Don't do this.
"...and Pinkie Pie."
At that moment, the entire room froze. Everypony's heart skipped a beat, and their breathing almost ceased. All heads turned to Cheese Sandwich, whose face had turned pale. As he slowly got up and began walking his way to the doorway, everypony bit their lips and backed away from the earth pony, afraid of what he might do.
The only thing anypony could hear was the sound of his hooves banging against the hard, dirty floor.
Crap, Soarin thought as he watched Cheese exit the room. She did it.





Wind Rider was sitting on his bed, looking up at the ceiling when he suddenly heard the door loudly slam in front of him. When he looked up, he saw Cheese Sandwich in the doorway, his eyebrows lowered and his nostrils flaring.
"Well?" Wind Rider asked, watching the angered Earth pony walking toward him. "Have you made your decision?"
Cheese didn't even hesitate with his answer. The words just flew out of his mouth, and once they had been spoken, he knew that there was no going back.
"Yes," Cheese said in a low, grave voice. "I'll do it."
His response couldn't have made Wind Rider happier.