Battle For Equestria

by Cutiemarkcrusader

Chapter Five

Rainbow Dash's day had gone horribly wrong. First: she and Fluttershy were on the evil side. Second: Her job was to scout out ponies. And Third: Her wing was broken...again.

If anything, being a spy was a lot of work. You couldn't forget that you were a spy or else you could be caught. You always had to be careful, you couldn't make any tiny mistake or slip up or else you would be labeled a traitor and thrown into the same jails they put every enemy in. It was nothing like in the Daring Do books.

Rainbow Dash was lucky enough to have a home to stay in while some pegasi lived at the rainbow factory due to the lack of homes to go around. Fluttershy was even luckier to have a job that was peaceful and didn't deal with the nitty-gritty casualties of war that so many others had to deal with daily. She was able to be the librarian of the Cloudsdale Library. It suited her, although it dealt more with other ponies than it did with the books themselves, but Fluttershy still managed it nonetheless. Rainbow Dash meanwhile was stranded on the small sofa they had in their living room.

Rainbow Dash glared at Angel from across the room, "You're lucky my wing's broken you little puffball."

Angel, like Rainbow Dash, was stuck indoors because if he stepped an inch outside he would go plummeting down. So, due to that situation, he was extra grouchy, extra mean, and extra bossy. He had been sticking out his tongue at Rainbow Dash, waving a fluffy fist at her in the process. Rainbow Dash growled menacingly, but Angel rolled his eyes at her.

A knock on the door finally sent him scurrying away. Rainbow Dash winced as she was forced to get up from the sofa. She limped as she answered the door. Fluttershy had only been gone for three hours, so Rainbow Dash knew it wasn't her. As she opened the door, her spirits dropped instantly once she saw who it was.

"Hey Rainbow Dash," Derpy Hooves sing-songed "Watcha' up to?"

Rainbow Dash made a mental face hoof. Derpy was a great pony, but she was always so clumsy. She had no job because no pony ever wanted to hire her. So as a result, she spent most of her time checking up on Rainbow Dash, inviting herself in, and then accidentally breaking a piece of furniture. The last time she was there she had accidentally set fire to Rainbow Dash's new Daring Do book. Honestly, you could see why Rainbow Dash's enthusiasm for Derpy's visit would be at an all time low.

"Not much Derpy," Rainbow Dash sighed, "Not much…"

"Is it alright if I could come inside?"

"Actually," Rainbow Dash fibbed, "I was just going to...the, uh, library."

"Me too," Derpy's clueless smile brightened, "Hey! We could walk together."

Rainbow Dash swore under her breath. Why didn't Derpy ever learn to take a hint?

A few minutes, and surprisingly, several broken lampposts later, they arrived at the library. Rainbow Dash waited as Derpy opened the door for her, but Derpy opened it too quickly and ended up hitting Rainbow Dash's face with the door.

"Sorry Rainbow," Derpy frowned as Rainbow Dash rubbed her aching nose gingerly.

"It's fine Derpy," Rainbow snapped as she quickly stepped into the library.

Fluttershy looked up from the checkout counter expectantly. She looked surprised and mildly confused to see Rainbow Dash come in. She looked slightly terrified when she spotted Derpy.

"Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy spoke softly, "What are you doing here?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, "To read. I guess…"

Rainbow felt guilty about tagging Derpy along with her. Fluttershy was too nice to ask Derpy to leave. Derpy stopped right by the door, her smile vanishing slightly.

"Derpy? What's the matter?" Fluttershy asked.

Derpy shook her head slowly, "I'm not allowed inside, or at least past the front desk. Flitter told me so, but she was really nice about it."

Fluttershy's eyes trailed over to the head librarian's office, "She did? That doesn't seem fair at all, but...maybe it's for the best…at least, that's what I think."

Derpy smiled again, "Yeah, well, life's not fair, is it?"

Rainbow Dash looked up in surprise. Derpy had never said something so straightforward before.

"Oh," Fluttershy replied slowly, her eyebrows arched in surprise as well, "Well, what book do you want, Derpy?"

Derpy thought about it for a few moments, "Do you have any of the Horsey Potter books?"

"Oh, yes we do," Fluttershy nodded as she quickly pulled out the first book from the bookshelf behind her, "It's very popular these days. I highly recommend it."

Derpy smiled even more as Fluttershy checked out the book and gave it to her, "Thanks, Fluttershy."

The yellow Pegasus returned the smile, "Oh, it's no problem. The book is due back next week, but if you need more time to read it you can just always check it out again."

Derpy stepped out of the library after Fluttershy handed her the book, "Bye guys. Tell Flitter that I say hi!"

Suddenly the head librarian's office door swung open revealing a slender, lavender-colored, pony. Flitter looked around the library with an air of disdain. Rainbow Dash stared at Flitter. Flitter and Rainbow Dash had gone to flight school together back in their filly days. Her minty teal-colored mane hung limply around the back of her neck and her pink bow had been replaced with a sleek, black one. Unfortunately, she was one of the few pegasi who didn't take the war well. She refused to talk about it whenever the subject was brought up and often spent all of her time in her cooped up inside her office for hours on end, doing Celestia knows what. But of course nobody mentioned this anywhere near her. No pony ever went about asking everypony about the effects of the war. It just wasn't something you went around asking ponies these days.

"Did you call me, Fluttershy?" Flitter asked loudly.

Fluttershy dropped her head down quickly, "Oh, uh, no."

"Oh," Flitter looked confused for a second or two before finally responding, "I'm going home early today. Would you lock up, please?"

"Of course, Flitter," Fluttershy replied meekly.

Rainbow Dash glowered at Flitter as she passed by. As soon as Flitter left the library, Rainbow let out an exasperated sigh.

"Why is she such a jerk for?" Rainbow leaned against the front desk, "I mean, banning somepony from the library is as bad as it is. But then again, it is Derpy..."

Fluttershy shook her head defensively, "Oh, she doesn't mean to be so mean. She really doesn't, you know."

"Let me guess, it's the war that changed her, right?"

Fluttershy bowed her head down in embarrassment, "Yes, but everypony's story is different. And her's is so sad."

Rainbow snorted, "Why should I believe anything she says?"

"Well, you believed the Wonderbolts' story. Why should it be any different?" Fluttershy raised her head up.

Rainbow Dash felt a whoosh of anger go through her for a second. That was a low blow, but Fluttershy was right, if the Wonderbolts were all really hiding out in different places, helping with the earth ponies and unicorns, that would be great. But not all of them were. The only ones not amongst the Wonderbolts anymore were Spitfire, Soarin', and about four others. But why shouldn't she believe Flitter's story.

"You're right," Rainbow Dash said, her voice laced with guilt.

Fluttershy looked around the library quickly in case there were any eavesdroppers. Once the coast was clear she began to talk.

"Well, during the attack on Ponyville, she and Cloudchaser had the same idea as us and disguised themselves amongst the pegasi. Once they came to Cloudsdale they decided it would be safest to blend in with everypony. They were living with each other peacefully for the first ten days or so. They weren't happy, but felt safe. It wasn't until that Saturday morning. The pegasi took Cloudchaser away. Most of the neighbors around them said that the pagasi wanted Flitter, but Cloudchaser volunteered in her place instead.

"Cloudchaser is somewhere in the frontlines of battle and Flitter can't do anything but sit and wait for her to come back. And the sad thing is...when Cloudchaser does come back...she'll never be the same as before. You can only imagine how stressed out Flitter must feel."

Rainbow Dash was silent. She checked out a Daring Do book and quietly exited the library without another word.