Rainbow Dash: Prisoner of War

by The Mountaineer Brony

Prologue: The Flames of War

That day...

Oh, how she still thought of that day...

When it first started out, it seemed as though it would go as normally as any other.

Rainbow Dash, despite her usual sluggishness in the morning, had decided to rise with the sun that day, and take full advantage of it. The Pegasi Weather Team had a beautiful one lined up, with strong thermal winds and not a cloud in the sky. In fact, because it was such a nice day, and because their previous airshow had gone down so well, Spitfire had decided to give her Wonderbolts the day off in order to enjoy themselves; she'd figured they'd earned it. Little would she know that it would be the last day off they would enjoy for quite some time.

Rainbow rushed out of her open window as soon as her alarm clock rang, leaving her reptilian friend Tank to warm up in the strengthening sunbeams. She gave her silent thanks to Celestia as she swung low over the cumulus streets of Cloudsdale, using the momentum to launch herself high into the still crisp morning air. She let out a deep breath, watching it steam up in front of her and dissipate into the upper atmosphere. She smiled. The chilly air above the city made her fur stand on end, and she shivered and chuckled at the sensation. Her smile stayed around; she was ready to feel like a filly again.

Flipping backwards, Dash folded in her wings, cutting all power and allowing herself to divebomb between two drifting clouds that supported the city. Closing her eyes, she felt the wind rush past her as though she were a comet, as quickly she descended towards the forest below. Soon, she encountered a front of much warmer air: the thermals, beginning to rise. Dash popped her wings open, slowing her slightly, like a parachute. With a laugh and a cheer, she pulled up just before she could touch the forest canopy; using the momentum to go high again, she soared on the breeze, barely having to flap at all. She executed tight aileron rolls followed by wide, sweeping barrels, her wingtips seeming to cut through the air as they left a trail behind her. Her rainbow-patterned mane and tail fluttered wildly, the light casting off them giving the impression of a rainbow wake behind the cyan Pegasus. Rainbow Dash laughed gleefully as she playfully mimicked her Wonderbolt exercises, putting her own unique spins on them. Endorphins flooded her brain as her body and spirit alike soared.

She could keep this up forever, she thought.

It was truly shaping up to be a great day.

…

Then the news started coming in.

---

As she stopped by a little café in Ponyville to grab breakfast, she noticed a large crowd of ponies gathered in the town square. The Mayor was standing onstage alongside Twilight Sparkle, and she could also make out several of her other friends among the crowd. Rarity, glancing back over the crowd, caught sight of her and motioned for her to join them. She seemed rather urgent.

"Huh?" thought Rainbow "What the hay is going on? Some kind of... public announcement?"

She hovered over to where her five friends were standing; the Cutie Mark Crusaders weren't far away. Scootaloo came to her, equally confused as to the goings-on. Rainbow's surrogate sister hopped into her forelegs, being lifted above the crowd by blue wings. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle hopped up on their respective sister's heads for a better view of the stage.

"What do you think it could be?" Sweetie could be heard to say.

"Who knows?" Apple Bloom replied. "Maybe we're gonna have some kind o' festival!"

"What do you think it could be, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked, her big childlike eyes looking up at her in excitement.

"Well, I dunno Scoots." Rainbow replied. "Whatever it is, it must be pretty important for every pony in town to be here."

From the stage below, Spike could be seen setting up a large projector screen behind Twilight, whilst Mayor Mare took up the microphone at her podium.

"All right, everypony, settle down!" The crowd quickly silenced as the old mare's voice came over the speakers. Scootaloo propped her chin up on her hooves in anticipation.

"Princess Twilight and I have gathered you here for an urgent announcement..."

"...a message directly from Princess Celestia in Canterlot; a mandatory broadcast to the entire nation." Twilight finished the sentence. There was a wave of murmurs from the crowd as Twilight turned to face the screen. Levitating a small jewel to the tip of her horn, she cast a magical beam through it, casting the image onscreen of the palace doorstep in Canterlot, which was being captured in real time by another unicorn doing the same thing there. Celestia stood at a small podium, while Luna stood off to her right by another projector screen.

"Dear Citizens of Equestria," the Sun Princess began in a solemn, yet amplified voice. "My sister and I come to you today with... unfortunate news. You all probably remember several years ago the wedding of Princess Cadence and Shining Armor here in Canterlot, an event which was marred by an assault on the capital by Queen Chrysalis and her changelings. They were stopped, fortunately, but Chrysalis was not defeated. Some years later, she attempted yet another conquest of our great nation, which, again, was halted by some of Equestria's bravest."

Discord could be seen in the stonework behind the princess, waving happily.

"Their intervention resulted in the reformation of the changeling capital, and the crowning of King Thorax. However, when Chrysalis was offered reformation, she refused, and once again crept away into hiding."

Celestia sighed deeply. She didn't want to deliver this news, but she had to.

"Unfortunately, just a week ago, we heard rumors coming from the Changeling Empire that unreformed changelings had been spotted near the borders. At first, both King Thorax and I regarded these as mere pranks or a case of mistaken identity, but soon enough... well..."

She motioned towards Luna with her head. The Moon Princess raised the jewel to her own horn, casting an image the changelings had sent onto the projector screen.

"After the disappearance of several changeling civilians from the capital city, this mark was found burned into the rear wall of the royal palace." Said mark, though roughly designed, somewhat resembled Chrysalis' face, hair, and twisted horn, complete with gaping eyes.

"It was accompanied by a message that the 'Rightful Queen' would return, as well as the message '3 days.' Well, at the start of yesterday, being the third day, the sun rose to reveal..."

Celestia paused. She took a steady breath.

"Before we go on, I must warn that what you're about to see is... disturbing. If anypony watching has small foals, you might wish to send them away." She hardened her visage into solemnity. Luna cast her eyes towards the ground in dismay. Meanwhile, various ponies attempted to shield the eyes of their youth; even the Crusaders were barred from viewing the rest, though Scootaloo tried her hardest to get around Rainbow's hoof.

"The sun rose to reveal this outside the city limits... Ahem, Luna..."

Luna swapped the jewel at her horn's tip for another, casting a new image upon the screen.

The four changelings who had gone missing had been "returned."

Pikes were run through their bodies, entering in the crook of their hindlegs and exiting out of their necks, or out of the skull in one case. In their decaying forms, one could make out the chitinous plates that covered their bodies, which, other than on the abdomen, appeared smooth on living changelings; the pikes had been inserted almost surgically, by beings who clearly knew where the weak points were. The hostages' once vibrant eyes were now pale and lifeless. Each of them appeared to have had one wing ripped off, and one of them had been gutted across the abdomen, allowing its complex insectoid innards to spill onto the ground while still rooted inside the body. Horns were shattered, legs were broken in several places, and green blood was smeared everywhere. Below the grisly display was a message scrawled on the ground in black paint: "FRIENDS TO THE END"

An audible gasp and perhaps a scream or two could be heard from both the Canterlot and Ponyville crowds. The mothers, fathers, and elder siblings of the throngs clutched their young ponies tightly, shielding their faces as their own wrenched in horror. Applejack shoved her hat over Apple Bloom's face, putting her other hoof to her mouth to hold back breakfast. Rarity nearly fainted, staggering on her hooves as blindfolded Sweetie Belle tried in vain to support her. Fluttershy's face paled and she hid behind her hair. Pinkie was completely static with horror. Ocellus, standing with her friends, broke into tears with a heart-wrenching "NO!"; Silverstream pulled her close, and she buried her face in her feathers as she sobbed.

"I KNEW THEM!! I KNEW THOSE CHANGELINGS!!"

Princess Celestia continued with her grave announcement after encouraging Luna to show the horror as little as possible.

"King Thorax shortly thereafter received a letter at his door, supposedly written by Chrysalis, saying that this act was a harsh but necessary one. It goes on to denounce Thorax and his changelings as traitors to their kind and an eternal dishonor to the 'true' changeling brood, as well as touting her 'newly-formed army,' before ending in a declaration of war."

Celestia closed her eyes, her head looking downward and seemingly within herself. This wasn't the first time she'd delivered grave news in her multi-millennial reign, though it was the first time in quite a while. Nerves newly steeled, she looked back to the crowd.

"Given our... close bond of friendship with Thorax and the Changeling Empire... after much deliberation, we have decided it best to support our friends in any way possible. At Thorax's request..." a slight pause to fight back her disbelief "...Equestria has declared war on Chrysalis' Remnant and will be entering the conflict shortly."

Another loud gasp came up from the crowd. Even Twilight was agape with sheer shock.

"I have issued an order for urgent mobilization of the Equestrian Army and the Wonderbolts. All E.U.P. Guards not currently assigned elsewhere are to report to the Canterlot Barracks for reassignment, and all Wonderbolt squadrons are to report to their Academy for immediate briefing and deployment."

Scootaloo's jaw dropped. She slowly craned her head up to look at Rainbow Dash, whose jaw was equally limp.

"R-Rainbow?" The orange filly asked as she started to shake. "What does this mean?"

The Element of Loyalty hovered there for a moment in stunned silence.

"I can't believe it." She said under her breath. "I'm going to war."

Comments

[Fanatic-Heretic-101]

Very promising start. How big of a war will this be? Will Equestria call on its other allies like the Hippogriffs or the Griffions?

[The Mountaineer Brony]

9284999
Can't say for sure. This is just about one pony's misfortune in a much larger turn of events.

[Illuminutter]

Interesting, you have my attention.

[Golden Cake]

You have my attention, friend! Nice job!

[Bronycommander]

Interesting