My Little Pony: Northern Aggression

by A. Tuesday

2.3 Way Back Home

She saw her friend fall to the ground. Without pizzazz, without drama – just a fall. As if she simply got tired of standing.

But Rainbow knew it wasn’t like Applejack to do that. Lying on a cloud not too insanely high above the battlefield, dodging the occasional stray bullet that somehow made its way up there, she looked down at the orange clump with a stern face. She reached with a wing into her saddlebag and pulled out her binoculars.

Through the lens, she did indeed see Applejack.

She lie on the ground in a clump.

On her forehead, a dark red dot let a stream of blood flow down her face. Like an awful brook of death itself.

Rainbow’s heart nearly leapt out of her throat.

“No, no,” she repeated, shaking her head as horror set in, “No, no, no!”

Without hesitation and no concern of getting shot, Dash shot down from the clouds and landed in the midst of the Union side of the battle. Dust and dirt rose from the ground, shaking some of the soldiers where they stood.

Rainbow knelt and held Applejack in her hooves. Her friend’s eyes were glazed over, and some of the blood was now smeared over one side of her face. She dangled limply in Rainbow’s forelegs, lifeless.

“Oh, Celestia, no!” Rainbow screamed, catching the attention of everybody around her. Bullets just missed her prismatic mane as the pegasus wailed. But, before she full-out cried, for once in her life, common sense got the best of her.

Twilight.

In one fluid motion, Dash held Applejack so that she was nestled comfortably in between her hooves, and then took off for the Union encampment. Soldiers took cover as what they imagined was a cannonball flew past their heads.

But, a friend trying to save another’s life flies much faster than a cannonball does.

Once outside the field, she saw Twilight. Talking with one of the soldiers in one of the open plains just outside the rows of tents. They seemed to be having a pleasantly mild conversation.

Rainbow never broke her speed, she slowed down only enough to stop in front of the two of them, which she did without much grace. Dirt and grass flew everywhere, and Twilight’s mane whipped back, along with the soldier’s cap. From behind the pegasus, a sonic boom resounded.

“Rainbow,” Twilight began, “What are you doing? Can’t you see I’m – “

And then, the lavender unicorn saw Applejack. Laying in Rainbow’s forelegs. Her eyes glazed over.

A massive bloodied hole in the middle of her forehead.

The scholar jumped to her feet, as did the dark-skinned soldier beside her. He pointed a shaky finger at AJ. “M’Sparkle,” he stammered, “Ain’t – ain’t that yer frie – “

“Take her to the medical tent.” Twilight’s statement was cold. No emotion in it but a sense of urgency.

Dash, on the other hand, could barely keep her voice from cracking. “Tw – Twilight, I – I think – I think she’s – “

“Don’t say that,” Twilight retorted with the same tone, “Medical tent. I’ll see what I can do. There’s – there’s no way any of us are dying out here. Get to her NOW. Charles?”

“Yes’m.”

Twilight led the way to a khaki colored tent, a dirtied red cross painted on the side of it. Charles, the soldier Twilight had been talking to, stood close by, watching every move with anticipation. The unicorn looked inside the tent really quick, and then enveloped Applejack in an aura of purple magic, carrying her inside. Rainbow followed, until her friend turned around and stopped her with a hoof.

“Rainbow,” Twilight began, “I need you to stay out here. If – If I’m going to save Applejack, I need the utmost concentration. Charles, stay out here too, if you don’t mind.”

The Element of Loyalty began to protest. “B-b-but, Twilight – “

“Rainbow, please,” she seemed to begging.

And, without another moment’s hesitation, unicorn and earth pony disappeared behind the flap of the medical tent.

Charles remained outside, breathing regularly and thinking about what Twilight could be doing to her friend. Rainbow, on the other hand, danced around in her spot and began panicking wildly.

“This – this can’t happen!” she bawled, “Not to Applejack! Never! Who would shoot us? Oh, Celestia, why – “

“I’d say Confederates.”

Rainbow froze in mid-panic, and, with water in her eyes, turned to the black soldier on her left. “W-what?”

“Confederates. They’s the ones who killed your friend.”

“DON’T SAY THAT!” the pegasus commanded, the soldier shaking in his boots and taking a step back at the force of the order, “Don’t say ‘killed’! She’s not dead! She can’t be!”

Charles nodded. “I know, I know – it’s tough out there.”

A single tear rolled down Dash’s face. “You don’t know the half of it.”

The Northerner shrugged. “I think I know a little bit. I’ve watched ‘couple o’ my friends die.”

A look of newfound curiosity, along with a bit of sympathy, was received by the soldier. “R-really?”

He nodded. “All different ways. One got his leg blown clean off. Bled out. Another caught pneumonia. I think two o’ them got their head blown off. Nothin’ but a neck.”

“That’s – that’s terrible!”

“Yeah, I guess so. Name’s Charles Freelance, by the way.” He stuck out a coarse hand.

Rainbow, weakly, put a cyan hoof to meet it. “Rainbow Dash.”

“I wish we’d have met under better circumstances,” he chuckled. The pegasus couldn’t exactly find the same enthusiasm.

Noticing this, the soldier continued talking. “So, you’re with Twilight and all? And that was the third?”

A nod. Freelance acknowledged this. “Gotta be astoundin’ to be one o’ you. I was talkin’ with Twilight earlier – she can perform magic! Actual magic!”

“It isn’t so uncommon where we’re from,” Dash explained, “And I doubt ‘astounding’ is the kind of word I’d be using right now.”

“Could be worse,” Charles countered, kicking the dirt with his boot, “You could be like me.”

“What? A medical assistant?” Dash actually snickered. “You can actually stay out of the battle, though. Why is that – “

“No, not that, Miz Dash,” the soldier interrupted, “I mean you could be like me. You could be a black man.”

The tears stopped momentarily on Rainbow’s face, as her head tilted to the side in confusion. “W-what do you mean?”

Freelance opened his mouth to speak, but just then, Twilight came out of the flap in the tent. Her face was covered in sweat, her hooves in blood – she was a sight to behold.

“How is she, M’Twilight?” the black solider asked.

“She’s…” Twilight tried to begin, breathing heavily. Then, closed her eyes and swallowed, nodding vigorously. “She’ll be alright. I managed to get the bullet out and patch up what I could with magic. It’ll be a very, very long time – but I think she may pull through.”

After a short pause, she locked eyes with Rainbow Dash. “Come into the tent. I need to speak with you.”

Applejack looked bad. But better than she did before.

Her eyes were shut, now, so she did look peaceful, but it seemed her entire body was splattered with blood. On her fur, her mane, especially on the layers of gauze and medical tape around her forehead. But, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully. Dash noticed her stomach moving up and down faintly, so that was good.

There were no words for almost five minutes. Dash just looked at AJ and smiled, and thanked Celestia she was alright. Twilight had been looking between the two of them, lost deep in thought. Eventually, Rainbow was the first to speak.

“So, she’ll be alright?”

Twilight nodded.

“Good. I can’t imagine what I’d do if we lost her. I just hope she’s more valuable to Lincoln or maybe the guy Grant than the rest of the soldiers. Think we can see if we can pull her out of the remainder of the war?”

Twilight found her voice. “I am.”

“Oh, good.” Rainbow sighed contentedly as she leaned back on a medical crate. “So, what is it you wanted to talk about?”

Another pause. Then, the scholar spoke. Her soft voice delivered a harsh reality to Rainbow’s world.

“We’re going home.”

Dash gave Twilight a glare. “Twi’, now’s not the time for jokes. Maybe tomorrow, but – “

“I’m being completely serious.”

The pegasus stood up straight. “Wait, what?”

Twilight nodded solemnly. She took a deep breath. “This…this just isn’t safe for us anymore. I’ve been trying to get home this entire time, but I didn’t want to because we didn’t have the other three. Plus, we seemed to be doing all right. But this…this is too close a call, Rainbow. We’re leaving this world and its war.”

Dash scratched her head. “But…I thought you didn’t know how to get home…”

“I think I’m pretty close. But, we have no real option right now. We have to go as soon as possible. Which means now. Anywhere else is better than here.”

The unicorn put a hoof on AJ. “Grab hold of Applejack, and I can get the three of us out of here.”

Rainbow did nothing of the sort. She didn’t move a muscle. “Wait…what about the others…?”

“Dash.” Twilight’s eyes lowered in a sort of somber glare. “Face the facts. We haven’t seen them in a year. Who knows how long it’ll be until we see them again? What if we don’t? What if they’re dead? You’ve seen Applejack – they probably shared a worse fate.”

The pegasus shook her head. “You’re saying Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, and…Fluttershy, even…they’re all dead?”

The scholar sighed. “I know it may be hard to believe, but that’s most likely the case.”

“’Most likely’? We’re leaving here with the knowledge that they could still be alive?”

“Dash, I’ll come back for them – “

“But, what if you can’t? You don’t even know how we got here, or really how we get back. How do you know we can get back? How do you know you could come back here for them once we’re back in Equestria?”

The unicorn looked off to the side. “I…I know. But, for Applejack’s sake, I need to get her home, where I can help her. This place is too dangerous for her, and it's too dangerous for us. Let’s go.”

Rainbow looked out the flap of the tent. Extending a hoof in that direction, “It’s too dangerous for them, too – but they still fight it. I think we have more of an advantage than they do. We’ve fought in almost their entire war up to this point! You’d leave them here?”

“This isn’t our war,” was the cold reply, “It’s theirs. From my conversation with Charles, it seems humans like to have little ‘games’ like this every few years. They’re used to it. Regardless of whether we have an advantage of it or not, they’re used to it. It’s on their world, and their war.”

“Yeah,” Dash countered, “But, we’ve also been in it since the beginning, the Union was kind enough to provide for us, and we’ve helped change the course of a few battles. They need us, Twi’, just like we needed them when we came here.”

Twilight reeled back a bit. “You really are the Element of Loyalty. Wanting to stay with these people. It’s admirable, Dash. But, I’m sorry, we need to go. This isn’t our war, and I don’t plan on fighting it any longer if it involves endangering our lives. We’re getting out of here as quickly as we can.”

“No,” Dash replied, “You’re getting out of here as quickly as we can.”

“What are you talking about?”

Dash exhaled slowly. “I’m – I’m not coming with you.”

The silence in the room seemed louder than the battle outside, which seemed to draw nearer.

Twilight broke it. “Rainbow, don’t be silly. Now, put your hoof on Applejack and – “

“I’m. Not. Leaving,” Rainbow stated, “It is our war, whether you like it or not. And I intend to finish it and find our three friends. If you leave, so be it – I’ll stay here for all I care. I owe the Union, and it’s a debt I plan to pay.”

Twilight looked solemnly at Applejack, then closing her eyes. When she looked back to Rainbow Dash, she had water in her eyes. “I guess this is ‘goodbye’, then.”

Dash remained stoic, but on the inside, she began to break. “I guess so.” As a formality, she held out a hoof.

Reluctantly, Twilight met it with her own, and they shook hooves for what seemed like the very last time. Dash told herself she’d never forget this moment. The khaki walls, the fur of Twilight, the tension – but most of all, the pain of her heart breaking.

The shake didn’t seem long enough. All too soon, for Rainbow Dash, it was over, and Twilight closed her eyes once more, but this time in concentration. Before she knew it, a glow surrounded Twilight’s horn.

The aura traveled all around the unicorn’s body, and then down her arm to Applejack, where it also covered her, from orange back hooves to bloodied, bandaged head. The aura intensified in light and a high-pitched buzzing was heard.

Rainbow squinted and brought a hoof up to her eyes to shield herself for the almost-solar intensity of Twilight’s magic. The buzzing noise heightened in volume.

And just like that, it was over.

The tent darkened again, and Dash slowly removed her hoof. Where Twilight and Applejack had been only moments before, there was nothing. Just stale air.

So, that’s it, then.

Before Rainbow had a chance to mull over the morning’s events any longer, Charles opened the flap and looked in. “M’Twilight, there’s – Miz Twilight?”

He looked around the room, the valiant attempt fruitless, just like Rainbow knew it would. Freelance looked over to the pegasus, who was wearing an expression of sorrow without any tears. “Uh, Miz Rainbow Dash – where’s Twilight and the other ‘un?”

Rainbow sighed. “They, um – they had to leave. You just – you just missed them.”

“Oh.” The soldier pulled something out from behind his back and held it out for Rainbow to see. “One o’ the soldiers from the battlefield dropped this off. I think it’s meant for your friend that was shot.”

Rainbow felt terrible looking at the object in Charles’s hands; she felt that the pony with Twilight wasn’t really Applejack without it.

In Freelance’s hands, Applejack’s Stetson hat rested.

All hope of Rainbow forgetting her two friends vanished upon the sight of it.

Comments

[A. Tuesday]

Soundwave G1, this is the first instance of your Charles. I have some plans for him, so everybody should expect to see him more.

[Soundwave G1]

So he's going to be Rainbow's guardian then? I have a few more suspiscions about this which I'll message you about.

[Gyvon]

... damn.

[Silverstein]

Good chapter! Keep it up!