Leading the charge.

by Watercolor the Pegasus

Donuts and Attackers.

Rainbow walked silently beside Applejack and Pinkamena. Well, Pinkie Pie, as she now insisted on being called. Ever since her outburst the day before, and the next Element's activation, she had insisted on going by Pinkie. She credited it to that she felt that, since all three of them had agreed it was her who activated it, she should start living up to the name she had gone by as an Element bearer, but Rainbow felt like it was something more. Something else weird she had noticed, was that PinkamenaPinkie had seemed a bit brighter colored than usual.

"What did we come out here to do again?" Rainbow looked up at Pinkie's voice. The three stood in the center of town square, surrounded by bustling ponies and stores. Rainbow sighed. "I guess we just, go about our day like we normally would." She watched as Applejack and Pinkie exchanged glances. "Well, Ah guess." Applejack said. Rainbow sighed again. She just needed some time away. Surely they wouldn't mind. "We can meet back at the apartment for lunch. See you then." Rainbow walked down, turning a corner, when it finally dawned on her that she had nothing to do. She flinched as her stomach growled, and decided on getting some breakfast.

She walked through the streets, passing multiple restaurants and shops. She finally stopped in front of a small building wedged between two others, made of wood that had clearly not been sandpapered, a flat roof also made of crumbling wood, and a single sign, (that was simply a piece of wood that had an image painted on it), with a picture of a donut and a cup of coffee. "Donut Joe's breakfast shop." She sighed, moving towards the door. She stepped through to see that the inside was just as dull and bleak as the outside. The walls were also made of wood, along with the floor and ceiling, and the tables were all wooden along with chairs, and a single wooden desk sat at the back with a bell and a single cash register, behind that was a clearly exposed kitchen with no wall between it and the dining room. The whole place seemed completely empty, and were it not for the small amount of ponies in the kitchen, she would have thought the place was empty.

Rainbow sat down at a single booth in the back corner next to the kitchen. She tapped her hoof against the table, looking down. Finally, a blond Unicorn with a scruffy brown mane and a chefs coat came out and took notice of the blue Pegasus. He walked over, levitating a notepad, and smiled at her. "Hello miss. What can I get for you today?" Rainbow kept her head down. "Plain donut. No glaze. Coffee." The unicorn scratched down her order on the paper. "And, how would you like your coffee?" "Black as Sombra's heart." He looked at her curiously, as if questioning her mental stability, before writing it out on the notepad. "Alright then. It should be out in a few minutes." He quickly went back into the kitchen. Rainbow groaned as she became lost in her thoughts. She had been noticing more and more things differently ever since she had been sent on this excursion. Everything from herself, to the ponies around her, all felt....more important for some reason. She sighed, as she remembered how two Elements had already been activated. She knew it was Applejack and Pinkie who activated them. No way could she have activated one. She had just complained the whole time.

She looked up as she noticed her food had been brought out while she was in thought. She stared at the plain donut and steaming coffee. She picked up the cup, taking a sip.

Tastes like Sombra's heart.

Delicious.

She grabbed the donut, and began to slowly nibble on it while staring off into the distance, resting her head on her hoof. The pony who took her order came out of the kitchen, and glanced at Rainbow. He walked over next to her table.

"You okay lady? You seem a little down."

She looked at him, mildly scoffing. "Why would you care."

"Because I'm the manager, Donut Joe, and it's my job to make sure my customers are happy. And you don't look too happy."

She sighed, swallowing her bite of donut. "You wouldn't have time to hear it."

He sat down on the other side of the booth. "I'm pretty sure you can see as well as I can that not many ponies come in here. I got time."

Rainbow stared at him, having the urge to punch him.

Really Rainbow? You were just talking about how you were starting to see things differently, and now your going back to the same old defensiveness as always.

She sighed, setting down her donut. "I'm one of The Princesses soldiers, and a few days ago, another soldier and I were requested as bodyguards for The Princess on a trip to Ponyville. When we got there, it turned out that the information the pony who requested The Princess to discuss, directly involved the other soldier and I. When The Princess realized this, she sent the Pony, the other soldier, and I, all on an excursion of sorts, to find some answers to what the Pony from Ponyville found."

Donut Joe nodded. "Now, why does that make you unhappy? Isn't it an honor that The Princess trusts you for something?"

"Second question first: not really. I kinda had to help, no matter how much she trusted me, or the other soldier. First question second: I.....kinda feel like I'm not being a help. The other two have already given us leads, and all I've done is complain."

He nodded slowly, resting his hooves on the table. "And, what exactly makes you think you haven't done anything?"

She sighed, slouching down into her hooves. "Because I haven't gotten us any leads yet."

He nodded again. "And, how was the first lead found?"

She paused for a moment, thinking back. "Well.......the pony from Ponyville had asked me about my time as a soldier, and after I told her about it, I said she couldn't tell it to anypony. Then she said 'I promise' and it......she found a lead."

"And how was the second lead found?"

"The Pony from Ponyville and I got into an argument, and the other soldier said we needed to be positive, then the other.....she found the other lead."

He nodded again. "Now, why does that make you think you haven't done anything?"

She looked up at him quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"If you hadn't told the first pony about your time as a soldier, she may not have found the lead. And if you hadn't gotten into an argument with her later, the soldier might not have found the second lead. Right?"

Rainbow looked down thinking for a moment. Applejack had no reason to promise anything until she had said not to tell anypony about her time as a soldier. And Pinkie had no reason to say they needed to be positive, until she and Applejack had gotten into an argument. "Yeah. I guess your right."

Joe smiled. "Now, are these ponies your friends?"

"I guess."

"Then you'll be helping. I guarantee it."

Rainbow softly smiled. She began reaching for her money, digging around for some bits. "How much will my meal be?"

"Please, it's on me."

She looked up at him, and smiled.

No, she didn't cry. That was liquid happiness.

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Rainbow walked through town, looking for her friends. She thought they would meet for lunch back at their apartment, but they weren't there. She had been looking around for about half an hour now, and was starting to get worried.

She froze as she heard a subtle sound from nearby. Her ears swiveled, and centered in on what sounded like a mix of somepony growling, a southern voice, and somepony whimpering. She moved towards the sound, and turned into a dark alley.

Three mares were cornered by six stallions. Two of the cornered ponies were Pinkie and Applejack.

Rainbow crouched down, eyes narrowing to a glare, as the stallion in the middle chuckled evilly, speaking with a deep, droned, almost mechanical sounding voice. "Our master will be very happy to see you."

She jumped on top of him, knocking him unconscious.

The other stallions reacted quickly. She looked up to see the horn of the one Unicorn beginning to flare, as the two Earth Ponies and two Pegasi ran/flew at her. She flew up quickly, causing their attacks to miss. The Unicorn's spell ended up hitting two of them, leaving one Earth Pony and one Pegasus. Rainbow moved quickly, knocking the Pegasus into the wall. However, she underestimated his strength, and found herself thrust into the ground, suddenly pinned down by the Unicorn. She called on all her strength as his horn began to flare. She threw him off at the same moment that his spell blast. She cringed, feeling a slight pain sting in her real wing, but ignored it, attacking the Unicorn. She quickly threw him against the wall, knocking him out. She saw the Pegasus come up behind, but she quickly directed a powerful buck right at his face, knocking him against the wall. She stood still for a second too long, as she found herself thrust against the wall by the Earth Pony. He slammed at her multiple times, before throwing her down on the ground, but she reacted quickly, ignoring the pain in her chest, and bucked him into the wall, finishing off her competition.

She stood, panting, staring down at the once conscious stallions. She froze as she noticed something. Every stallion was wearing a helmet, marked with the symbol of the Crystal empire. She sat down, resting from the sudden fight, as her friends came up next to her, also examining their attackers. She looked up at them with a strained smile, before turning to a single Unicorn mare.

"Who the heck are you!?"

Author's Note:

Here it is everypony! The next chapter of Leading the charge I cannot believe the amount of views and likes I already have for this story, and I thank you all for your support Has Rainbow finally found a way to help her unlikely friends? And who is the strange Unicorn mare? That's for the next chapter, which I probably won't get out until next week I really do wish I could get these out faster than I do. But I'll keep doing my best. Have a pony good time my friends