//------------------------------// // Negotiate // Story: A Hero Of War (UNEDITED) // by DontWakeTheNeighbour //------------------------------// "Well. …. This sucks.” Rainbow Dash sat in the cold room of the prison cell, shivering as she glared at the two guards looking at her through the small broken window on the door, grinning, pointing and joking. “Hey jerks!! Why don’t you take a picture, it’ll last longer!!” The two soldiers looked at each other before turning away from the door, Rainbow Dash looked around, the rooms walls were solid concrete with a small window behind her, creating just enough light to help her see. Her stomach growled, she hadn’t eaten since the first day she slept at the abandoned hospital, her throat was dry and she was growing weak. She looked to her left where the guards had left some dog food on the floor, Rainbow bent down and breathed in the potent smell before she recoiled in horror, the meaty smell filled her nostrils making her retch. “MEAT?!! …. THAT’S MEAT!! …. YOU EXPECT ME TO EAT MEAT?!! …. Y-YOU’RE SICK!!” She backed into the dark corner of the room, seeing that the guards outside were looking at her again. She gritted her teeth, growling in rage; she sprinted at the door before throwing herself against the window. Rainbow Dash growled as she used her back legs to kick the door as hard as she could. “YOU CANT KEEP ME IN HERE!! …. LET ME OUT!! …. LET ME OUT NOW!!” Rainbow Dash climbed up the frames of the steel door before peering through the window. “COME GET ME!! …. YOU HEARD ME?!! …. COME IN HERE!! …. I DARE YOU!! …. I’LL KICK ALL YOU’RE FLANKS!! …. I’LL TAKE YOU ALL ON!!” “SHUT UP!!” A guard used his gun to smash the tiny window on the steel door, glass shattered in all directions, making Rainbow Dash loose her balance. Instinctively she flapped her wings to keep herself from falling down but the pain in her left made them both cease up before she landed on the solid floor, knocking the wind out of her. She laid on the ground, coughing, her legs hung in the air as she squirmed on the ground, groaning in frustration. “Okay. …. Urgh. …. That was stupid.” With one swing of her legs she flopped onto her side, staring off into the distance as she tried to catch her breath. She remained silent, she began to worry, she felt different, the ringing in her ears was getting louder, the room felt like it was spinning, her head was beginning to throb, she was starting to change. Her mind had been poisoned by this war, she saw things no mare should ever see, she felt numb, like she was drowning in rage, like her heart was fuelled by nothing more than unadulterated hate, she was starting to change, she could feel it. “Y-you’re losing it Dash.” She whispered to herself. “Don’t. …. Lose it. …. Do. …. Not. …. Lose it.” *CLUNK!* Rainbow Dash looked up, the large steel door with the recently broken window had opened, two men walked into the room through the light. The exhausted Pegasus squinted, one man was holding some sort of a collar and the other one was holding a chain. Both men looked at her before they slowly advanced. Rainbow Dash growled, she backed into the corner of the room, gnashing her teeth as she glared at the imposing soldiers. “Oh no! …. You are NOT putting that thing on me!!” ********** Rainbow Dash grunted with every firm tug on her neck as she was pulled along the polished floor of the hallway. She pressed her hooves firmly into the ground, doing everything she could to make it as hard as possible to drag her along. After being shouted at and threatened numerous times she still refused to cooperate, to which the guard dragging her turned around and kicked her in the stomach chest. There was nothing she could do to jump out the way or run off as she was struck by the leather boot. She fell to the ground, gasping for airs as she held her aching stomach, tears streaming from her eyes. Both the soldiers then began to shout at each other as Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, trying not to bewail in front of them. The feud between the two men had stopped before the soldier handling Rainbow Dash started dragging her across the floor. The quivering Pegasus went limp as she was dragged into another room, her body quickly tensed up as she felt the soft carpet tickle her belly, almost making her smile. She was then picked off the ground by one of the soldiers; she was unable to struggle as she was dropped onto a large chair. She took a minute to gather her senses as she slowly sat up opening her eyes. She was sat next to a large wooden table, she looked ahead to see a black suited man sat opposite her a few feet away, holding a file. “Good morning.” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up, she sighed in relieved that someone spoke English. She smirked before trying to put a brave face on. “W-where’s the dork with the moustache?” “…. *Ahem* …. Sir Hitler is currently engaged at the moment. I’m his translator Paul Schmidt. I’m here to discuss you’re current situation.” Schmidt placed a file on the desk before opening it up and showing a map to her, Rainbow Dash had no idea where she was so reading a map was pointless but she looked at the distinctive red lines drawn onto the map. “As you can see we’ve been tracking you’re friends movements for quite some time. Ever since they attempted to aid their undercover agent. …. Thomas, Felix. We’ve managed to keep track of their movements until 2 days ago, where we. …. Lost track of them. …. I can understand how stressful this must be for you. You’re clearly not from around here. But I’m afraid, considering the circumstances, we need to be more. .... Direct with you.” “W-what do you mean?” “We know you were being escorted by these American soldiers.” Schmidt pushed a handful of files to Rainbow Dash, her eyes widened as she looked at the familiar faces on the profiles in front of her. They were all there, her saviors, her friends, Sergeant Bishop. She hesitated before she reached forward, grabbing the picture with her hooves, pulling it towards her as she dreaded what was coming next. She looked at the picture of the uniformed soldier, standing tall and proud, she smiled as she sniffed, wiping a tear from her eye. “S-so that’s what he looks like when he smiles.” She said under her breath. She lowered the picture to look at the others, Sergeant Cole, Sergeant Dixon, Private Andy and Captain Matt, Finn, John, his picture stamped with large red letters that spelt some German word she didn’t understand but she didn’t need any German lessons to figure out what it meant. Whilst the picture of Bishop was hidden under the table she discreetly unfurled one of her wings before slowly hiding the picture in her feathers. “We know that you’ve spent a lot of time with them. ….Obviously you must have talked to them at some point. …. We want you to tell us where they are heading, before they do anything else rash. Before they get themselves killed for, frankly pointless reasons.” “Y-you’re concerned about them?” “Yes.” “Oh really?” Rainbow Dash stood in her seat leaning across the table glaring at Hitler’s translator dead in the eye. “Was you concerned about them when you attacked us? When you shot my friends?!! When you SHOT ME?!! YOU DON’T WANT TO HELP THEM!! YOU WANT TO KILL THEM!! …. I may not be from around here, but I know what war is and I know when somepony is lying to my face! …. SO FRANKLY!! …. YOU CAN GO!! …. SHIT YOURSELF!! …. Wait, did I say that right?” Schmidt sighed in frustration before pulling the files away from the opposing creature in front of him. “I was hoping it wouldn’t have to resort to this but it’s your choice.” “Huh? …. R-resort to what?” With one firm yank Rainbow Dash was pulled off the chair, falling onto the ground with a thud, she looked up to soldiers above to see a disturbing grin wiped across their faces. She saw Schmidt walking away towards the door before he turned around to say. “Remember men, we need her alive if she decides to talk, so don’t kill her.” “K-k-kill me?” “I can understand you’re loyalty but my führer said he wants answers. In the end he always wins. …. I’m sorry.” Schmidt walked out of the room, Rainbow Dash looked back at the men standing above her, cracking their knuckles as she started to shake, knowing what was coming next. “…. Uh. …. Gesundheit? …. Eheheh. …. *Gulp*”