Hero of War

by Teal

Chapter 1: Ponyville

Tic Toc

One minute till H-hour.

Glancing away from her watch, Rainbow Dash looked from left to right to see nervous faces staring back at her. Feeling her stomach clench from their gazes, she looked away and instead focused on the wide field right in front of her.

Rocky and barren, the field was at least a mile in length, stretching out from the thick underbrush they were hiding in to the high ridge that lay on the other end. From her position, Rainbow Dash could glimpse at the ridge and see the silhouettes of the enemy right on top of it, preparing themselves and readying their weapons as they awaited their assault.

“Celestia damn it…” She cursed under her breath, before glancing back at her watch.

Tic Toc

Thirty seconds left before the charge. But would they make it across?

Earlier, the artillery corps let out a long one hour bombardment that shook the ground and seemed to have obliterated anything that stood on that ridge. Watching and listening, Rainbow Dash witnesses with awe as shells landed on the ridge and threw dirt and rock everywhere. But now, as she studied the ridge once more, it seemed to have done just that, throw dirt and rock, while leaving the ponies there untouched.

Tic Toc

Now, as the silence of the artillery hung upon them, they waited anxiously for the order the move out, the loud signal of bugle that would tell them to move forward. Many of them wished that the charge would be called off, that somepony would come rushing in and tell them that the attack had been cancelled. But they knew that that wouldn’t happen. Although some were really hopeful, they knew better than to cling too much on that hope.

Tic Toc

Fifteen second.

Shifting her body and getting ready to move out, Rainbow Dash could feel the tension build inside of her. This was always the worst moment, the wait before the battle. She always felt at place when she was in the fight, a sense of sureness as she battled the enemy. But while waiting for the fight to begin, that sureness is absent as fear clung onto her as she waited.

In battle, she had no time to fear, for her mind was constantly thinking, making decisions as she gave out orders. But as she waited, laying and staring, her mind wandered and called on fear to keep it company. She always hated that, hated the feeling and the fact that she always had to deal with it before every battle. But she knew that she could do nothing to stop it, she was helpless for this fear was only natural. The only thing she can do was run down the objectives of her mission over and over in her head, but Celestia knows how effective that could be in distracting her.

Tic Toc

Four Seconds.

She could already feel the tension in her ready to be released as the seconds went down.

Tic Toc…Ding! Ding! Ding!

Instead of the screaming call of the bugle, Rainbow Dash was shocked to hear the ringing sound of a bell echo in her ears as she was thrown back in surprise. Frantically looking around her, she glanced towards the side to find a wooden long case clock ringing as it hit seven o’clock.

Frantically breathing after being shocked back to reality, she looked away from the clock and placed a hoof on her forehead. Rubbing her head and trying to ease the growing pain, she tried to do her breathing exercises as she assured to herself that she was safe.

It’s just stress… She thought. Like they said, it’s just stress…

Calming herself down, she began to relax her tense body when the sound of the door opening behind her caught her attention. The sound of hooves stepping on the wooden floor echoed in the room, as the panting and tired voice of a mare called out to her as she approached.

“I’m…sorry I’m late, Major Dash.” The mare said as she came pass her and placed herself behind the desk in front of Rainbow Dash. “The letter
I received never specified what time you would arrive here and I was caught in complete shock when a pony came knocking on my door saying that you were already here and waiting in my office.”

“It’s alright, mam.” Rainbow Dash said. “My visit here was completely unexpected and out of the blue.”

Her visit here was in fact unplanned for, yet necessary, at least according to her doctors it was. After her sudden outburst a few days ago, where she managed to severely injure two civilians who were crowding her, the medical team assigned for her care suggested that she should take a break from P.R. duty and go somewhere calm and peaceful.

They believed that the cause of her outburst was only due to the stress that came with her job. With all the work, restlessness, and constant travelling, they concluded that all the stress that it brought had gravely agitated. So sending her off somewhere quiet, where she calm down for a while, with a couple of medications, they gave her a two month vacation in the sleepy town of Ponyville, in hopes that she would be refreshed by the time it was over.

Glad to finally get a break from her monotonous duty of serving as a P.R. tool, Rainbow Dash quickly accepted this treatment, hoping to finally get the rest that she believed she deserved, as well as the flashes of horror that continuously plague her. But the night before heading to Ponyville, she was restless and unable to sleep, getting the haunting feeling of memories that kept her awake. If it weren’t for the sleeping pills they provided her, she would have doubted if she would have gotten and rest that night.

Now sitting inside the Mayor’s office at Ponyville’s town hall, Rainbow Dash stared at the Mayor, who gave her an apologetic look as she nodded.

“Well, it is still rude of me to be caught so unprepared like that.” She said. “I should have been there at the train station to greet you with a welcoming party.”

Rainbow Dash gave her a sheepish smile but shook her head. She actually preffered this private welcoming than a ceremony that would have her crowded once more. “No, no need for that.” She told her. “I don’t know if you have heard, mam, but I’m trying to lay low for now, after a recent accident that happened a couple of days ago.”

“Ah yes, right...” The Mayor said knowingly. “I almost forgot about that. But don’t worry, your superiors informed me that you need space and closure and this town is willing to provide that. Nopony here will disturb you, I promise. The ponies in this town like to mind their own business and unlike the cities, we don’t really like to talk about the war. Ponyville has been hit hard and most would like to forget about those terrible years.”

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded her head, having already noticed that the ponies here indeed seem to want to forget about the war. Passing by many of the locals as she went from the station to the town hall, most of the ponies she went by chose to ignore her, not even bothering to glance at her direction. Many must have recognized her despite not wearing her uniform, for the metal wing on her side and cut off ear was easily distinguishable, but whether they knew her or not, they just trotted away without a greeting.

This was a big change when compared to the environments of the bigger cities like Canterlot or Manehatten, where she was often followed by groups of fans, greeted everywhere she went as they tried to attract her attention. So far, she was really liking Ponyville for quiet setup that didn’t care who she was.

“You’re residence here would be in the old library.” The Mayor said as she pulled out a key from her desk’s drawer before giving it to Rainbow Dash. “Don’t worry, nopony visits that place anymore, though you might find some old books that haven’t been removed from there yet. The place is just a quick trot from here and I’m sure you wouldn’t miss it, cause it’s basically a hollowed down large tree, the only one in this town.”

“A tree for a home, well I lived in worst in the past.” She said, with a small smile.

The Mayor just smiled back. “I can assure you that the place is quite comfortable and can handle all your needs.” Then, glancing towards the side. “Would you like me to send somepony to escort you and carry your luggage?”

“No, I don’t think that would be necessary.” Rainbow Dash said smiling as she looked at the fairly sized rucksack she brought with her. She barely anything inside it, with only her medication and few personal belongings within. “I think I can make my way there myself without getting lost.”

“Very well, Major.” The Mayor said nodding. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to call me, cause I will be willing to provide anything at my disposal to you. I do hope you have nice stay here.”

“Me too.” Rainbow Dash said nodding.

Me too…

---

Ponyville looked more like a ghost town than anything else. Trotting through the unpaved streets and glancing around, Rainbow Dash could ill maintained houses littering every block and broken down carts lied up in almost every corner. If it weren’t for the fact that ponies trotted by the lanes and passed by her, she would have thought that this was an abandoned town.

It was hard to believe that this very town was a key producer during the war, turning out supplies of rations for the troops. With barely a hint of industrialization here, Rainbow Dash wondered how they were able to produce a million of those canned apples that gave comfort to so many ponies in the frontlines.

Having left the town hall and taken the main street to her residence, Rainbow Dash looked around the town that was going to be her new home for the next three months. Taking in what she saw, she had to agree that her medical team did a great job picking this town for its peace and quiet. Although she was pretty sure that they didn’t choose this place for its scenery.

Gloomy, broken down, and seemingly depraved, the town was the least attractive vacation place one could think off. But Rainbow Dash didn’t really care much about. As long as the ponies here leave me alone, I’ll be fine.

Passing by a large structure, she glanced up to see that the roof of the building had caved in from years of negligence, as the windows of the bottom floor showed off scorched marks of blackened wood. Turning her eyes towards the planked doors, she read a simple sign that said ‘Closed Down’. Above that, an old burnt down sign read, ‘Sugarcube Corner’.

Lingering a little longer to study the building, she noticed that a large portion of the building had burnt down, while other portions had collapsed down on it.

Fire. She thought. Burnt down and collapsed.

Fire…

“Fire!”

The flames could be felt from afar as the heat in front of her grew and grew. Staring at the building, she watched as the flames spread throughout the wooden structure, burning anything in its path as ponies desperately tried to combat it. Gathering buckets and scooping up water from the nearby well, they tossed meager amounts to try to fight the fire, but to no avail.

Feeling helpless, she stood watching as the flames engulfed the entire building.

It was a lucky shot, nothing but a lucky shot. Coming from a quick enemy bombardment meant to harass them so that they were always restless and on their hooves, a shell landed on the barn used by a company of soldiers as their place for the night. She had been outside when it happened, taking cover from the bombardment beside the well, when she saw something hit the roof of the barn and burst with a loud booming explosion.

Almost immediately the building caught fire as ponies rushed out of it and tried to get clear the building before the fire could spread. Many of the soldiers inside managed to get to safety before the flames blocked the exits and trapped the rest of them inside.
Standing nearby, she could hear their screams as the flames engulfed them. Their ear-piercing cries as the hot fire burnt them alive. She would never forget those scream, she could never forget them. They were unnatural and with each shrieking cry, then planted their noise inside her head.

Glancing at one of the windows, she saw a scorched and blackened hoof make a grab for the edge as a burning pony tried to lift their body up. She couldn’t tell if it was a stallion or a mare, as the flames had burned anything distinguishing features from its body. The fire had burnt its fur and was already melting parts of the skin exposing bone.

Keeping her eyes fixed, she watched as the pony desperately tried to pull itself up and out of the burning building. Some ponies desperately tried to get to this pony, but the flames increased to the point that it was impossible to approach the building without getting burnt themselves. So instead they all watched helplessly as this pony got burned alive, screaming as it failed to get out.

Staring at the scorched marks on the building, Rainbow Dash’s breathing grew faster as this memory slammed right against her. That terrible sight, those horrible screams.

Groaning in pain, she shook her head, hoping to get rid of the headache that already formed. But it lingered, just like the memory.

Not wanting to remember any more of it, she trotted away from the burnt down building, moving quicker than before and hoping to distance herself as far from it as possible. But her quick pace only lasted for a few seconds before the headache gnawed at her again and forced her to slow down.

Cursing, she let out a frustrated sigh as she looked around her. Hoping that she was near her residence, she searched for the large tree home that the Mayor told her about and found it a good distance on the other end of the street.

Sighing, she felt relieved that it was near, but also felt tired from the headache that was attacking her. Looking around once more, she saw the familiar sign of a tavern nearby, open and ready to serve.

Keeping her eyes fixed on it, she felt drawing call of it as she unconsciously turned her body towards its direction. She hadn’t been in a tavern for a while, for a very long while.

Since she was the figure head for many ponies, adored by everpony, young and old alike, the War Ministry had suggested that she avoid going to taverns, wanting to make her a good role model for young colts and fillies. Complying with this, she had avoided this place of solace, depriving herself from alcohol till she was alone in her room where she can drink all her sorrows as much as she wants.

Alcohol seemed to be the only medicine that helped prevent the terrible memories that plagued her. Damn those medications, those things are useless! Compared to the untested medicines they gave her to calm down her nerves, she knew that alcohol was something that would work. Whenever she had nightmares of the war, she would often look for a bottle and drink up till she was barely able to comprehend the nightmares.

Now, knowing these flashbacks were in themselves nightmares, she glanced at the tavern confident that a bottle or two from there would help her in her current state.

Without giving it a second thought, she trotted towards the tavern, ready to spend the rest of the day there.

A day of drinking might cloud my memories enough to forget everything…

Author's Note:

I think I need to bring up the rating from teen to mature because of this chapter.

Anyways, since you have all been talking about the songs this story reminded you about, I give you this song by Sabaton. This is the song that inspired me to write this.

Comments

[Mares-a-Mares]

I listened to the song - very deep. I really enjoy the direction you're taking this.

[The Bricklayer]

Hmm, I wouldn't say you needed to bump it up yet... I've seen Supernatural get away with worse and it's not rated MA. But that's your choice to make. Anyways, good chapter!

[Teal]

7414905 Thanks, I'm glad you're liking it!

7415769 Better safe than sorry.

[Teal]

7418789 Woops! Thanks for pointing that out.