Post War Chapter 3: Rainbow Dash
By Foxgear
A new uniform, a large desk in an office overlooking the training yards, and a bright gold plate with her name engraved on it. Everything a newly minted Wonderbolt captain would need to start her career.
“Ok Rainbow… you can do this.” Rainbow Dash said smoothing out the lines in her skirt. She hated the female uniform. She didn’t mind wearing skirts, but this knee length made it hard to run. Funny how she was one of the few female officers in support for shorter skirts or at the very least shorts or why not just pants? What was wrong with pants?
Frustrations about her wardrobe aside Rainbow was ready for her first day of being captain, her first order of the day… finding out what the hell she was supposed to do.
“Hey um… secretary lady… what’s my schedule?”
From the intercom on her desk her secretary, Free Flight, replied in a flat professional tone. “Ten o’clock you are to do an inspection of new trainees, followed by dinner with the princess for the annual Wonderbolt fundraiser, and then you have the rest of the evening off. Is there anything else you need Captain Dash?”
“No, that will be all… thanks… I guess.” Free Flight ended the call, leaving Dash alone with her thoughts; it was only eight o’clock right now. She had two hours to kill and she didn’t have the usual piles of paper work that Spitfire usually had…
Rainbow felt her lip quiver at the thought of the former captain and quickly pulled a bottle of her “medicine” from the bottom drawer of the desk. It had been left there as a gift from the former captain. She wished she was here to enjoy it.
“Just a little sip.”
Ten o’clock rolled around and Rainbow swaggered out to the training fields where the latest batches of Wonderbolt hopefuls were lined up. Rainbow tried hard to keep the redness of her cheeks hidden. She’s been on the receiving end of a Spitfire’s drill sergeant routine many times but she was a little nervous about being on the other side now.
“Alright listen up… maggots! You think you’re ready to be wonderbolts? Well let me tell you you’re not! If you had what it takes you would already be one! Now get out those wings and give me twenty!” At first no one move, all of them looking uncertain about what to do. “Well what’s wrong? I said give me twenty!”
A single shaky hand was raised. Stomping over to the owner Rainbow stared down the shaking filly as she struggled to speak. “What was that limp wings? Speak up! I can’t hear you!”
“Um… ah… twenty what? Captain Rainbow Dash sir ma’am?”
Rainbow wanted to slap herself, she really did. How could she forget that! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
“Twenty laps… do twenty laps… which is forty now around the base. Get going before I make it eighty!”
“Yes ma’am!”
All at once the group of trainees took off flying high and flying fast while she waited on the ground with her stop watch observing how they flew. So far everyone was doing good, flying steady, no crashing or anything, this looked like pretty promising group.
For the next few hours Rainbow ran the newbies through the wringer as Spitfire had did to her before. As expected when the group landed they were sweaty, tired, and sore, just way she liked them after a workout.
“Good job out there kiddies, shower up and I’ll see you here tomorrow.” She grinned evilly for added effect and walked off. She had lunch with the princess.
Rainbow Dash sat awkward to Princess Luna, who looked equally as awkward next to her. It had been awkward for everyone when Princess Celestia retired from the throne. It had been at the end of the war, maybe a few days or weeks after and she just disappeared one day. Rainbow and Fleetfoot, the only other Wonderbolt to survive the war at the time, were the first to go look for her while everyone else was still organizing. They found her fairly easily, she was visiting Twilight, or Twilight’s castle at least. Twilight was in the Crystal Empire and would be for several more years. That was another story though.
They found Princess Celestia in the kitchen eating cake. Rainbow didn’t know how many times she had told people that’s what really happened, but they had a hard time believing her. Anyway Celestia sat them down and explained why she left without a word, even to her sister. She said she needed some time to think and that she had decided to step down as quote “head princess” despite her and Luna being co rulers. She said the time has come for some else to take the helm and that she was no longer the princess Equestria needed.
She remembered the sadness in the princess’s eyes when she spoke to them. She hadn’t noticed before but Celestia was looking… old… which she was, but she always looked like she was in her mid-thirties and has for over a thousand years. That day Celestia dropped the veil. Her glamour fell, a magic that hid her true age, showing for the first time in a thousand years and the strong powerful princess faded to tired old woman.
Celestia looked like she was in her fifties pushing sixty. Her bright rainbow hair was dull and faded gray. There were wrinkles on her face, actual wrinkles! It was a sight Rainbow could never forget.
“Tell Luna…” She said softly, “Tell Luna I’m sorry.”
After that Celestia left for the Everfree forest. Where she is said to wonder to this day, every now and then in that old castle you could see the signs of her visits or if you talked to Zecora she would tell you of a time or two that the ex-princess had stopped by for some tea. Other than that, no one saw Celestia again. Not even Luna, at least not in person.
“How’s she doing?” Rainbow asked as the charity event got underway; it would be awhile before she needed to actually do anything or anything at all. Mostly just smile and wave to the kids.
Luna gave her said smile, “She’s gotten married. Found an old widowed zebra that lived on the other side of the forest. He’s very nice to her, he makes her happy.”
“Did she tell him who she was?”
Luna’s smile brightened. “She did, he laughed and said he would eat his shoe before he would believe that she was the lost princess. His shoe could have used salt he said afterwards.” Rainbow fought to suppress her giggles.
“How’d she prove that?”
“How else? She moved the sun.”
They shared a laugh, just in time for someone to snap a picture of them; making the perfect front cover picture. After they settled down a bit and the reporters got their way with them. Luna asked Rainbow how she was doing.
“Oh me? I’m fine. Perfectly fine. I’m the captain of the wonderbolts life could not be better…”
“Your nightmares say differently Rainbow Dash, I wish you would allow me to help you.”
“I’m just one person, you got whole nation to worry about.”
Luna wrapped her arm around her shoulder, “You are not just one person Rainbow Dash. You’re a hero to the people and my friend. Please let me help you tonight.”
“I’ll… I’ll think about it.”
For the rest of the event they exchanged little dialogue and when it finally ended Rainbow dashed out of there as fast as she could into the coming night.
Several hours later Rainbow landed in the streets of Canterlot. Her eyes tired with sleep, but she didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t want to see Luna in her dreams. She didn’t want to see her dreams period.
(Rainbow) Luna’s voice echoed in her head. Rainbow Dash shook herself to stay awake as she breathed hard against the alley wall. Princess Luna’s powers have gotten more powerful over the years; she could now speak to ponies even if they were still partly awake and lead them to sleep. The princess has been relentless in her goal to get her to have a dream intervention. There was only one way Rainbow knew to block her out. Black out.
She stumbled into the nearby liquor store and threw her entire bag of bits at the cashier and walked out with an armful of liquor, AJ’s Apple Sucker punch, to be exact. The stuff literary felt like someone punched you in the face when you drank it, it was tough stuff.
Arms full of booze Rainbow ran for the Canterlot memorial cemetery. Rain began to fall as she passed through the gates and her foot slipped on the grass sending her and her bottles flying as she came to stop before Spitfire’s and the others graves.
“Hey Captain Spit… how’s it going?” Rainbow groaned as she rolled up to lean against the former captain’s grave. She was covered in mud, but she didn’t care and just opened a bottle and started drinking it straight. The alcohol burned her throat, again she didn’t care. She just tossed the empty bottle aside and grabbed another from the muddy ground. She noticed a red stain on her uniform and touched the side of her face… she was bleeding. She poured some of the contents on her face, the wounds hissing, but she paid them no mind and starting chugging her second bottle.
“I’m great by the way…” She slurred, “Never better. The famous captain Rainbow Dash… just like I always wanted… but… but… not the way I wanted it. I wanted to…” Rainbow sobbed, “I wanted to beat you! I wanted to earn it! I didn’t… I didn’t… I didn’t want you to die… I didn’t want any of you to die! I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO SAVE ME!”
“Rainbow…”
“Shut up Luna!” Rainbow screamed into the sky, “Leave me alone!”
“I will not!” Luna’s voice thundered and suddenly the world changed. Rainbow as no longer at the cemetery, but in a long hallway filled with doors. In front of her was her door.
“No, no, no! Don’t make me relive it! Please don’t make me!”
Her cries were ignored as she was dragged through the door and straight into her personal hell. She was in King Sombra’s fortress. He was the last holdout of the resurrected villains. He took over the Crystal Empire for a third time and it was their mission to get steal the Crystal Heart well the Princesses held his attention outside. They didn’t run into the same traps Twilight did when she went looking for it. No they were left with something much, much worse.
Throughout their entire journey in the castle they encountered nothing. They got cocky, impatient, and careless. They never even gave it a second thought when they saw the Crystal Heart just floating there unprotected. The moment they moved it, they all knew they screwed up. There was blinding light, Spitfire flew on top of her and pushed her outside of the room to safety and in an instant Spitfire was gone and so was everyone else, reduced to nothing but a couple of blood smears on her uniform.
They were all gone, yet she was still here.
“Rainbow…”
“Leave me alone!”
“Rainbow you must forgive yourself, it wasn’t your fault.” She sobbed as the Princess appeared before her staring down at her with sad eyes. “Please Rainbow; it is time to move on. They would not what you to be hurting like this because of them.”
The dream faded and Rainbow awoke in the cemetery, cold, bloody, and alone.
“I can’t…” Rainbow cried curling into a ball and grabbing another bottle.