So this is life for us, eat, sleep, train, kill, and watch others die before our very eyes. What a life, but if you can’t take it like the man you claim you are, then just leave because the army has no place for the likes of cowards. The Crystal War is the first big war of Equestria, and its death numbers increase every day, sometimes soldiers have to stop and think ‘is this really worth it?’ of course it is worth it because you have the chance to show your skills, fight for your country, see the dying faces of the one who dishonored you. It can be worth it, and sometimes it’s not.
It’s been two weeks since the new recruits arrived, already Blue Blood and Flash Sentry are dead, one got hit by a crystal unicorn, and the other thought he could reason with Sombra, and ended up a statue just like Thunderlane and Lily Blossom. Time Turner and Derpy are an unstoppable team so far, with a record of 43 kills together.
“Hey doc! It turns out they are powerless without their heads!” Derpy exclaims as she uses a crystal to slit one of the minion’s throats. Soarin had done impossible and befriended Rainbow Dash, the two practically fought together all of the time because with Soarin’s senses and instincts, and Dash’s skills and strength, they made a very powerful team. There was no doubt that with most of the teams made, the Crystal War has a very good chance of ending before winter starts, it was only November and the snow has yet to fall, this year would be complete if only the war would end. The bond between Dash and Soarin made it possible to trust and rely on each other, there would be no betraying the other or sacrificing the other, it was a team effort the entire way.
“Alright soldiers listen up; the lunar defenses have made it possible for us to test out the new weapon they have put together, so we can finally end this war once and for all. Pinkamena and Maud Pie, you will be testing out our rock cannons, with these we can easily blow apart crystal minions with less blood shed as well. The rest of you head out onto the battle field and fight!” Captain Spitfire ordered, the Lunar defense is the small defense’s army that builds new weapons, plans escape routes, and alerts civilians if there are minions approaching or an attack is on the way.
“Hey softie, who are you willing to bet will die this time on the field? Scootaloo can’t even fly and last time she got into trouble Derpy had to save her.” Dash says as they trot around digging trenches to hide in.
“I’m not sure, and I’m not one to make bets like that all of the time. Besides you have to look at the positive sides of these soldiers, sure Scootaloo can’t fly but she’s a great fighter.”
“Wow and you wonder why I’ve nicknamed you softie, watch out minions at two o clock!” Dash yells as she charges at a minion, it was fun to watch Dash and Soarin fight; they had moves where one would swing the other around while the other kicked at minions charging all at once. They would call out where a minion was at the moment, and of course drag each other to the safety point if one were injured.
“Dash, Captain asked me to bring you with me on a quick little mission.” Pinkie says as she appears behind a crystal.
“We’re going to blast our way around and make our way to Sombra, and see if this cannon can make his death canon!” she exclaims happily, but Dash on another hand isn’t so happy.
“Is Captain crazy?! We’ll surely die if we try and take on Sombra! You’ll die and I’ll be left without my best friend for guidance, the only original friend I would have is Maud, and she barely talks!” she yells as she shakes Pinkie trying to make sense of the situation.
“Listen here Rainbow Dash! We joined the army so we could help all of pony kind, and if that means dying for pony kind then so be it! You’re coming with me on this mission because there is no way I’m going to die alone! Now are you with me?!” Dash looks away and nods her head yes, she never thought it would come down to this and now it has, but as it was said, if you’re going to join the military then take it like the man you claim to be. However unknowingly Soarin had overheard the conversation and decided to follow them up to the crystal castle.
“There he is Dash, the big shadowy moron. I need you to distract him by flying around so I can fire at him.” Pinkie says as she gets the cannon ready for fire, Dash flies above the pictures on the wall and grabs his attention.
“How’s it going Sombra? Bet you can’t catch little old me!” she yells as she flies around him making it impossible to hit her with his evil magic, Pinkie ready the cannon and fires at Sombra.
“Alright Pinkie! I knew you could fire any weapon just right!” A distracted Rainbow Dash now gives sombra the chance to move before the cannon hits him; he moves out of the way causing the wall of the castle to be blow to pieces. Dash now realizing it charges at him, but Sombra has another trick up his sleeve, he uses his telekinesis to grab Rainbow dash by the neck and bring her closer.
“Crystals always win” he whispers as he throws her against the wall, and moves towards the pink pony he really wants to take care of.
The force of the throw was too much, her head spinning; you could hear the crack of her back from a mile away, a thin stream of blood now falling onto her broken face. The smell of blood is a smell too familiar now to be mistaken for something else,
‘Is this it? Is this how I’m going to die right now? If only my dad were here now, so I could hug him one last time, I wish I could hear another poem from Maud right now, and I’ll probably see Pinkie where I’m going.’ The darkness getting ready to fully consume her, she hears a familiar voice in the distant, yelling her name. ‘And Soarin, I want to see his adorable face one last time, hear him, and feel him. I should have told him how I’ve felt about him, but the truth is I was scared to say it, say I love you, I care about you, I need you.’ The voice is getting louder, soon loud hoof beats can be heard running up the castle stairs.
“RAINBOW DASH! OH SWEET CELESTIA NO, COME ON DASH GET UP YOU CAN MAKE IT!” Soarin yells as he finds an unconscious Dash lying against a wall with a pool of blood surrounding her face, he picks her up and rest her on his back. There would be no way she’s going to die, not right here, not now.
“Come on Dash, you’re going to make it, first we need to find Derpy and Time Turner, then they’ll fix you up and I can see your beautiful magenta eyes again. You can’t die now; there are so many stars you haven’t gazed at yet.” Tears threaten to fall as he flies out of the castle through the hole in the wall, there have been so many things left unsaid the last two weeks, things that should have been said sooner. The cool explosions in the castle are something he would have stopped to watch as a bright beam of sun shown done, but all he needed to see was Dash being taken care of. The blood loss has already been too much, the force of being thrown against a wall caused damage to her back and a concussion to the head, she needed to be alive, so she can see the war end, so she can see the other soldiers return, so she can watch the stars with him once more.
“Hey doc there’s wounded soldiers coming our way! It looks like Rainbow Dash and Soarin; we’d better go check on them!” Derpy says as Time turner messes around with some gadgets,
“Derpy I’m almost done with my invention to stun and shock minions can it wait? Besides Celestia is arriving at the castle right now, WAIT CELESTIAS AT THE CASTLE?! DERPY GRAB THOSE SOLDIERS I’M GOING TO SEE WHATS GOING ON” he yells as he runs towards the castle.
“Derpy! We need your help Dash got really badly injured and she needs help right away, she was thrown against a wall, she’s lost a lot of blood and i think she has a concussion. Just please fix her up.” a teary eyed Soarin asks as he sets down Rainbows body, her face covered with blood, her beautiful bright blue coat now a sickly pale color, if only he knew what she was thinking before she closed her eyes.
The fight happening at the castle all started with Pinkie shooting the cannon, it was a distraction so that Celestia could enter the empire un-noticed with the elements of harmony. Many soldiers taking down many minions at once with the new cannons made it possible for them to coward away and surrender. The fight at the castle was amazing, good versus evil magic while other soldiers kept the rest of the minions a bay, capturing them and keeping them prisoners. Celestia brought in the elements of harmony and used them against him, it almost looked like he was being torn apart limb by limb, a crack in the ground opened up and swallowed him whole. The screams of defeat echoed through the entire empire, the minions were taken prisoner in Canterlot as well, who knows what’s going to happen to the empire now. While victory shouts were heard across the terrain, there was one pony who couldn’t grasp hold of today, sure he was happy that the war was finally over and Equestria can finally go back to normal, (whatever normal is) but there was one thing missing in his life right now, Rainbow Dash.
It’s been a week since the war officially ended; soldiers have been sending letters home to their parents, making plans, packing their things so they can finally leave. Today was the day everyone would be going home to their families finally; however Soarin still remained the same after the war.
“Hey Soarin, how are you holding up?” asked Pinkie as she and Maud walked over to his room.
“Same old sad I guess, I know I should be happy since we won and all but, how can I be happy when I can’t share it with the one pony I cared about?” he said as he sat down beside them.
“Soarin, listen to me now, I’ve known Dash for a while now and she is not a quitter, I know you love her and I know she has feelings for you. Never give up on someone you can’t go a day without thinking of, meeting her was fate, befriending her was your choice and now falling in love is beyond your control. If you truly love her then you must be by her side now, even if she’s in that coma, just go.” Maud says to him.
Soarin thought about what Maud had said, she’s always quiet but when she talks you better listen. He ran to the infirmary and went to her room, the nurse said she might not wake up because of the damage caused, but hopefully she could hear what he was about to say.
“Hey Dash, long time so see huh? I know you probably can’t hear me but try and listen. I need you to wake up and be alive, I need to see your beautiful lively eyes again, I need you because you make me laugh more than anyone else, I’m the best I am when you’re near and when we’re fighting together, and I need you because I’m nothing when you’re gone. It’s like the world is empty and dark, I can’t promise to fix all of your problems with the world but I can promise you won’t face them alone. Geez listen to what I’m saying, I’m sounding like such a girl right now ha. I guess what I want to say is, I love you Dash. I love you in the morning, the middle of the day; because those are the hours we are together.”
“Soarin, it’s time for you to go; we need to run some tests now.” Nurse red heart asks.
“Alright nurse, please wake up Rainbow Dash, you need to see the world for its true beauty for once.” Walking out of the room as a tear drops from his eye, all he can do now is hope, hope she heard him, and hope she wakes up.
That night looking up at the stars was a bit strange, the stars were brighter, and Soarin was the first one to arrive there. All of those stars represent the soldiers fallen for the past two years, each one twinkling as if they were speaking to him.
“You know softie, when we first met, I never thought we could be that important to each other.” Says a very familiar voice, instantly his ears perk up and has never moved faster in his life, he grabbed the mare and held her close, wishing to never be able to let go.
“You’re alive, you’re really alive, I thought I’d never see you again but here you are!”
“Yeah I am I’d never leave you guys hanging. And I heard everything you said but in the infirmary, so don’t dare consider taking everything back.” She said laughing at him in the moon light.
“You never fail to amaze me Rainbow Dash, every day you do something that makes me love you more than the day before”
“Ok enough of the gooey stuff softie, I love you too. I’m glad you saved my life; if it weren’t for you I’d probably still be stuck there, so I guess I owe you big time Soarin.” Dash says while escaping his hold, they both sit down and stare at the stars.
“You can start by never leaving my side Dash, keep that smile on your face because you look even better with it.” they laid on the grass staring up at the stars to remember the fallen soldiers, holding each others hoof, not wanting to let go.
"Well mom I'm finally happy again, and i even found somebody to share that with. i hope that if your watching me right now, that your proud of me." Dash said with a smile on her face as the stars twinkle and shine the entire night.