When an unnatural phenomenon sends Rainbow Dash back in time, she must adapt to an Equestria at war while all the while looking for a way to get back home.
It was all a mistake.
A portal opened up during their Wonderbolts training exercise and Rainbow Dash fell through, saving a teammate in the process... But at a cost. Now stranded in an Equestria that is all but foreign to her, Rainbow Dash must figure out why exactly she is there and what she needs to do to get back.
Yet when something happens that Rainbow could never have been prepared for, she decides that enough is enough. Stricken with guilt and compelled to do what's right, Rainbow finds herself stuck between a rock and a hard place. With her name already meaning nothing so far in the past, she decides to call herself one that she still viewed as the epitome of awesomeness and nobility in all of history...
A Wonderbolt.
Captain America:Pony Style! - Wonder Edition! Find All The Answers In This Fantastic New Addition!
If you haven't already, read the prelude one-shot Daring Do and the Frozen Wonder. I wrote it so the beginning made a little more sense.
“Thanks,” Daring Do murmured as she took the mug in her hooves. She looked at the thawing figure of her number one fan and sighed before turning her attention to the four mares working on Rainbow Dash.
“It’s the least we can do after your efforts, Darling,” Rarity whispered as she winced from pain. Her chest piece radiated softly with a blue glow. Apparently, while Daring Do and Tank had been searching, Rarity had been in a small predicament. And just a few days ago, so had Applejack.
It had been a whole year since the marehunt for Rainbow Dash started. A whole year since she had disappeared after Starlight had fought an entity from another dimension. Since everything in Equestria had seemingly gone to hell. The famous explorer, Daring Do, had been asked by everyone who knew Rainbow personally if she could find her. And find her Daring did. After a year of searching, she and Tank had done it.
“And you did gol-darn well too. Without you, I don’t think we would’ve ever found Rainbow,” Applejack said, fiddling with the hammer in her hooves. It arced with small jolts of electricity which were self contained.
“Um… thanks for finding Rainbow…” Fluttershy uttered, tucking a blanket over Daring and Tank’s shivering frames. Daring Do hated being pampered, but she lived with the conditions. She was being housed as a guest, so she would have to abide.
“I just hope she’s alright,” Pinkie whispered, her mane nearly flat and her coat a pale pink. “Because then I can throw her all kinds of parties… yeah!” She visibly began to brighten as plans raced through her head.
“I can set up a ‘Get Better’ party, a ‘Welcome Back to the Land of the Living’ party, a ‘Congratulations on Becoming a Super Soldier’ party, and a ‘Thanks for Saving Equestria a Thousand Years Ago’ party!” With that exclamation, Pinkie had returned to her chipper state and zoomed out of the room, leaving behind a trail of confetti.
“Never going to get used to that,” Daring Do muttered before petting Tank in a comforting way. They all stared silently as they watched Princess Luna, Twilight and Celestia work with Starlight to safely unfreeze Rainbow Dash.
It had only been hours since Daring Do had found Rainbow’s frozen body in that plane. After she and Tank discovered Rainbow, they had proceeded to quickly write a letter and used dragon fire to send it to Spike. Almost instantaneously, swirling blue sparks began to emerge from the air before turning into a full fledged portal. Behind it were Starlight and Twilight, who stepped into the crystal plane and saw Rainbow Dash and her shield.
At the sight, Starlight had broken down in tears and collapsed onto the ice holding Rainbow, saying many sorrys and weeping at it’s edge. Twilight stood composed, watching events unfold, yet had streaks down her face indicating her silent melancholy. Turning to Daring Do and seeing her state, she ordered Daring Do to go through the portal and into the graces of the warm castle.
She then watched as they carved the ice out that was holding Rainbow Dash and the shield that bore her colours and brought it through the portal. Almost immediately, they rushed the Dash-icle to their most capable Emergency Room and opened a portal to Canterlot Castle, where the Royal Sisters stepped out of and into their company. With a shout, Twilight announced that she could still detect a magical energy signature and the two Princesses plus Starlight looked at Twilight with shock. She began to write down how there was still a possibility that Rainbow Dash was still alive and in some sort of suspended animation.
Upon hearing this, Daring Do nearly lost her jaw at the thought that Rainbow Dash, apparently suspended in ice for a thousand years, could still be alive. Tank could only shed tears of joy at the thought and stretched a leg out at Rainbow’s frozen figure longingly. In a flurry of runes and magic, Twilight asked Daring Do to “Get the girls” before she shut the door to the ER. With no time to waste, Daring Do sluggishly got Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, as she was still at least 2 degrees below her proper body temperature.
Upon arriving and rushing into the observation room, Fluttershy ordered Daring Do to stay still as she prepared hot cocoa and four warm blankets, one for her and Tank while the other two warmed up. By the time they had salvaged Rainbow’s shield from the ice, Daring Do and Tank had had a change of blankets and two cups of cocoa.
“All I wanna know, is why she was even in the ice in the first place,” Applejack hushed. “It just don’t make sense.”
Daring Do remained silent as she listened to the exchanges around her. “What about why she’s dressed as a superhero from a comic book?” Rarity asked. “It certainly compliments her look, but she looks just like how I would think that old foals tale, ‘the First Wonderbolt’ would look.”
“Well, maybe she is the First Wonderbolt,” Fluttershy whispered, and Rarity couldn’t help but laugh.
“That would be preposterous, the name ‘Wonderbolt’ didn’t even come around until General Firefly organized her squad and called them ‘the Wonderbolts’,” Rarity said, churning the thought over in her head.
“It’s only a legend. A story used for the morals it presents. Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Honesty, Laughter… and… magic…” Rarity slowed down as she began to realize what she was saying and looked through the window at her frozen friend. “No… it can’t be…”
“How would that even work?” Applejack inquired as they all looked at Rainbow’s melting form. “The First Wonderbolt was a soldier. We never needed soldiers, not since the Crystal War.”
“That’s simple really,” Daring Do uttered after a while. The three mares and sleepy turtle in the room all looked at her and she sighed. “One thousand years. That’s enough time to make any story seem like a foals tale. Look what happened to Princess Luna.” Daring Do motioned to the midnight alicorn on the other side of the glass.
“She became Nightmare Moon. In only a thousand years, little to nopony remembered who she was, or that there even was a lunar princess. After years and years of twisting and re-telling, she became nothing more than a legend to scare fillies and colts. And then what happened? I’m sure you can all remember.” Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy all nodded.
Daring Do fixed her gaze on the nearly thawed out Element Bearer in the ice. “I looked an entire year for Rainbow. I know exactly what you’re thinking. ‘It’s impossible!’, right? ‘It’s just a silly story! A story that portrays a role model ponies can look up to!’, right?
“A pony that has no basis at all in real life!” Daring Do finished with dramatic emphasis. “But when are all the stories based? During the Crystal War. 6 years before Luna’s banishment. A time when soldiers were needed. A time when King Sombra reigned supreme and led a charge against Equestria’s forces. When the Princesses banished King Sombra.
“But what about how they did it? Certainly King Sombra wouldn’t have just let the Princesses have at him. What kind of idiot does that? No, there would’ve been many missions, many battles. I’m sure if you asked them right now, they would say it didn’t happen in a day. And since shadow magic was something nopony had ever seen before, some ponies might have even come to drastic measures in the hopes of winning the war.
“I’ve done enough research to last a lifetime in that past year to know what I’m talking about. It all adds up. And since I couldn’t get a single scrap on Rainbow’s whereabouts in the past twenty years apart from her own life ‘til her disappearance, I came to the disheartening conclusion that Rainbow might’ve been sent back further than any of us thought possible.” Daring Do breathed.
“Yet here we are now, discussing a fairy tale, that is now also lying in front of us in the form of our friend!” Daring Do finished, and the three former Element Bearers present looked at each other wide-eyed before once more turning their attention to Rainbow Dash.
“That… wow…” Fluttershy murmured. Finally warmed up, Tank left his blanket and snuggled up beside Daring Do. Having had enough of her own unconditional therapy, she abandoned her own comforter and moved to stand right up against the window. Setting Tank on the ledge, she stared down at the resting face of a pony that she had spent countless hours searching for. Shaking her head ever so slightly, Daring Do blinked.
As Rainbow banked to her left with little to no effort, she looked behind her to see several of the Wonderbolts-in-training flutter and waver in their course, adjusting sloppily and messing up the formation of the entire group. With a face of dissatisfaction, Rainbow curved to the right once more.
“Stay together! Don’t break up, and watch each other!” Rainbow cried. With a last ditch effort to try and get them to lock in formation and to cement their flying, she began to spiral up.
“Vertical Corkscrew! Keep your eyes focused on what’s in front, not what’s around!”
As she spun around and around, she could feel her own vertigo threatening to overwhelm her. Narrowing her eyes behind her goggles, she took a deep breath and focused on the time between each flap of her wings. It always helped to calm her nerves.
“Now, scatter!” she yelled before releasing her locked forelegs and bursting up one last bit. She looked down and yelped as nearly all of the recruits kept going, hitting the cloud cover above in a burst of condensed water and dizzy confusion. She looked at some of the other trainees and sighed as she could see they had abandoned about halfway through and were trying to keep their lunches inside them.
“Bad day,” Rainbow muttered, holding her head as she could feel a headache coming along. What was so hard to understand about keeping your mind when you flew in a twist? With so many things already on her mind, the invasion of Equestria for the second time by changelings and her kidnapping; it hurt her head just to think about. And with all the new threats popping up daily now that other nations, pony or otherwise, had heard of how even the highest authorities had let the same culprit invade them twice…
Equestria hadn’t been on the brink of war in over a thousand years.
She slowly flapped downward and waited in the air as her group of amateurs gathered around. All were either grasping their barrels in contorted queasiness, or were holding their heads as their eyes gradually stopped spinning. Sighing, she faced each of them directly.
“That could’ve gone loads better, but it was okay for a start.” Rainbow flew above them a few hooves before lifting her goggles from her face. “You all are better than the average flier, but if you want to make it into the Wonderbolts, you’re going to have to do better than that.”
“How are we supposed to when all you’re doing is giving us vague commands before telling us how to do it?” a mare with a fiery red mane asked.
“You study. Or in my case…” Rainbow put her goggles on and did a routine in front of them that she had practiced over a million times. “You adapt, you train, and you never give up. It’s as simple as that,” she stated as she landed in the center of the hovering group of pegasi. They all now looked at her with awe and wonder. “I didn’t become a Wonderbolt just by being as awesome as I am-”
Several groans could be heard but Rainbow elected to ignore them. “I flew every single day. I trained. I made up a schedule. I relaxed. I did everything I could to get better, and look where that got me.
“And if you can tell, one is not like the other,” Rainbow smirked. “Yes, rest and relaxation is a thing too. I know for a fact, that some of you train every single day, but that those of you who don’t take the time to rest and to recharge and to have fun.”
“Isn’t this fun for you, though? You’re a Wonderbolt already, and that’s awesome!” a stallion shouted and Rainbow almost facehoofed.
“I’m also surrounded by jockeys and idiots, no offense, that I have to train because it’s part of the job. Or at least, this shift is. You don’t know how tiring it is to have to listen to your arguments about how your lifestyle is already ‘good as it is’ and ‘doesn’t need changing’, or that I’m too harsh of an instructor and I should be fired for being this rough,” Rainbow explained. With a flap of her wings, she flew a circle around them.
“And now I’m getting restless as I’m hovering here talking to you sorry excuses for fliers. Get back to the Academy and get a drink before coming back. Pronto! ASAP! Whatever you say to get ponies moving, just hurry up so I can finish this last round with you girls and move on.”
As they began to fly their way back to the compound, Rainbow could sense multiple things begin to happen around her. With her subconscious tracking ability going haywire, she shouted out in alarm. “Hey, everypony, buddy up! Something’s wrong!”
As they all heard the urgency of Rainbow’s tone, they rushed in a frenzy to find a partner. Without warning, rifts began to open at random around them. As Rainbow began to fly around the disruptions in reality, she scanned the entirety of her field of view. With a startled sucking of her teeth, she could see that these portals, as she was dubbing them, were appearing randomly and for any amount of time for as far as she could see.
“Stay close to each other, ponies! Don’t let each other out of your sight! Get back to the Academy now!” Rainbow commanded, and everypony in her training squadron began to fly as fast as they could. Satisfied that her regiment would be okay, she began to look for anypony who might’ve been left behind.
And there she was.
Spitfire had been out with her own gaggle of Wonderbolts and they had only now realized what was happening. As Spitfire tried to get a hoof on the situation, a portal opened up behind her and a stray piece of debris seemed to knock her upside, causing her to falter mid-air. At the sight of the portal attacking Spitfire, the squadron scrambled, leaving a dazed leader of the Wonderbolts on her lonesome.
“Spitfire!” Rainbow shouted as she raced to her position.
“Rainbow? Whoa, where did your twin sister come from?” Spitfire murmured, and Rainbow widened her eyes behind her goggles, knowing what just happened.
“Come on, Spitfire, let’s get you back to base,” Rainbow uttered.
“Wait, argh! Why are there two of you?” Spitfire cried, painfully coming to her senses as she still couldn’t think fully straight.
“You have a concussion, and we need to get moving! Something’s happening and it doesn’t seem like it’s going away anytime soon!” Rainbow said urgently before pulling Spitfire to base. The orange-maned Wonderbolt tugged her hoof back and shook it.
“I’m perfectly capable of flying on my own, thank you-agh!” Spitfire said as her head throbbed in pain. “I’m fine!”
“And I’m taking it from the mare that got hit in the head,” Rainbow rolled her eyes before watching a spark of black appear behind Spitfire. Time seemed to slow as Rainbow began to bolt forward.
“Watch out!” Rainbow shouted as the portal coalesced into a full fledged gateway. Her movements seemed so sluggish to her, yet she was moving as fast as she could. Shoving Spitfire out of the way, the leader of the Wonderbolts tumbled toward the tarmac of the Wonderbolts Academy and Rainbow skidded to a halt at the fringe of the portal.
By the time she noticed the blue beam of mana headed her way, it was too late.
She flew backward as the force of the magic knocked the air out of her, causing her to wheeze and sputter. She only had enough time to see the shocked look of a unicorn with a cracked horn before another portal opened up behind her. Just as she fell through, she could see Spitfire tumble to safety, and she resignedly sighed before she tried to flap her wings. To her horror, she found her entire body from her neck down to be numb from the blast, and she could only watch as the portal closed and she crashed to the ground below.
With her form practically in a comatose state, she lay on her back staring up at the sky for a time. She was surprised to see how the terrain around her seemed so much more different than the one that surrounded the Academy. But this took the cake. She was shocked to see a plane fly overhead.
A plane hadn’t been in use since before Luna’s banishment, and Rainbow knew this. With a grunt of effort as she could begin to have feeling in her hooves again, she threw one foreleg after the other and pulled herself out of her little impact crater. Looking around, she widened her eyes, not believing for a second what she was seeing.
“Bad day…” Rainbow finally said, choosing to fall back into the crater and stare at the suddenly night sky and ponder.
“Come on, we’re going to miss it!” a little purple maned filly called to her friend.
“Okay, Firefly! I get it, I’m coming!” another filly cries, rushing to catch up. With an orange mane that looked ruffled as if she had just woken up, she sighed. “Why are you so eager to even see this? It’s not like any of it’s real.”
“Because it’s fun!” Firefly exclaimed. As they began to weave in and out of various shrubberies and obstacles in their path on the way to their destination, they stumbled onto an empty airfield, and they stared in awe as they watched a plane take off.
“Wow,” the other filly whispered.
“Isn’t it awesome, Sky?” Firefly muttered, and Skylark could only nod in agreement.
“But this isn’t the expo, so let’s get moving!” Firefly suddenly urged, startling the other pegasus filly. “Let’s go!”
Just as they were about to take off, however, they noticed a groaning figure pick herself up out of a crater they hadn’t noticed before. Rainbow Dash crawled her way out of the small impact groove before settling on her barrel and pulling her glasses up. Groaning in exhaustion, she rubbed her eyes.
“Ow.”
Intrigued by how Rainbow was dressed, Firefly began to approach her. Feeling a tug on her tail, she looked behind her, annoyed to see Sky biting down on her tail. “Firefly! We don’t know if she’s safe to approach!”
“Of course she’s safe,” Firefly rolled her eyes, “She’s wearing a uniform! Soldiers wear uniforms, don’t they?”
“Well, yeah,” Sky said, “But we don’t know if she’s a nice soldier.”
“What? Who’s there?” Rainbow cried out, now hearing the chatter going around her. Meeping at the sudden reaction, Firefly and Skylark hid behind a bush.
“Hey, does anypony know what’s going on here?” Rainbow shouted. “Why were there portals? And why are there planes going around? Aren’t those useless nowadays?”
“Useless?” Firefly cried out before stepping out of the bush. “Are you kidding me? Those planes you just called useless are helping us win the war against the Crystal Empire!”
“Firefly!” Sky called from behind the bush. Firefly turned to glare at her friend but could only see Sky’s desperate look for her to come back into cover.
Rainbow didn’t know what was happening at all. Bewildered, beaten down and confused, she questioned the little filly now confronting her. “Wait, what? War? What war?”
Firefly now turned to look at Rainbow with disbelief plastered all over her face. “You’re a pegasus soldier, and you don’t know about the war between Equestria and the Crystal Empire? What the heck?”
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa, wait,” Rainbow jumped into the air, waving her forelegs around. “We’re at war with the Crystal Empire?”
“Of course we are!” Firefly assured, now getting annoyed with Rainbow’s incomprehensibility. “Since last year! Where the tartarus have you been the past six months?”
Rainbow could only begin to comprehend whatever the living buck was happening at that moment. “I, uh, wha?” sputtered Rainbow. As she tried hard to think of impending wars, none could be so ridiculous as a war with the Crystal Empire. Shining Armour and Cadence would never let it happen. Never. And to Rainbow, the thought of there being a friendship problem in the first place to start a war was insane!
“But we just yesterday we went over there and everything was fine!” Rainbow cried and Firefly widened her eyes in excitement. Sky realized what she had said too, as they both ran up to Rainbow’s side.
“You’ve actually been to the Crystal Empire? How many ponies did you have to fight-” Firefly motioned jabbing with her hooves “-To get in?”
“Now we both know that’s a lie,” Sky accused. “You can’t just trot into the Crystal Empire. Not with that big mean shadow pony watching over everything.”
Rainbow’s ears flicked at something the little white filly had said. Picking her up, Sky squirmed in Rainbow’s grip. “What shadow pony?” Rainbow interrogated, and Sky whimpered. “Right, sorry,” Rainbow whispered before setting her down and fixing her up.
“This pony named ‘Sombrero’ or something, he apparently enslaved his entire nation and waged war against all of Equestria and the lands around us,” Firefly muttered, bored. “Apparently, he wants to rule the world.”
Rainbow couldn’t help but gape at Firefly and Sky, switching her head back and forth between the two. “S-Sombra? But I thought my friends and I defeated him a while back…”
“Nopony’s been able to beat Sombra.” Sky narrowed her eyes, “Only somepony with the Princess’ power could defeat him… Are you a spy from the Crystal Empire?”
“What!?” Rainbow fluttered her wings at the accusation. “How could you think that?”
“Well, you are talking about Sombra as if he’s just another everyday thing to you,” Firefly explained, “And your uniform isn’t one I’ve seen before ever since the war started.”
“How can you be a pegasus and not recognize my uniform?” Rainbow asked, now bewildered at the little filly’s absent knowledge. “I’m a Wonderbolt, one of many in the best flying squadron in the whole of Equestria!”
“A what now?” Sky and Firefly asked together, and Rainbow facehoofed.
“Work with me, here,” Rainbow pleaded, “Don’t you know who the Wonderbolts are?”
“Never heard of them,” Firefly said, before seeing the fireworks going off in the distance. Growling, she tugged at Sky’s mane. “And now, thanks to you, we’re going to miss the expo! Come on, Sky,”
Firefly then began to bolt with Sky’s mane still clutched between her teeth. Sky waved at Rainbow before they disappeared down a bend. She still couldn’t fathom what was going on around her. Planes in Equestria? A war with the Crystal Empire and the return of King Sombra? No mention or knowleged of the Wonderbolts at all, and they would’ve been one of the first to have been called in for a fight. None of it was adding up, and Rainbow had only been here for what she thought of, at most, to be a half hour. With nothing else to do, she began to follow the path of destruction the two little fillies had left behind.
War… Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe it. As she kept thinking over what she knew about past events, there was only one that could coincide with what she had just learned. Shaking the thought away, she thought about her friends in Ponyville. Yes, Ponyville. That sounded like a good idea.
If she could just go over there and talk to her friends, maybe this would all make sense. Why nopony seems to remember who the Wonderbolts are, or why Sombra’s back. All she could do at the moment was hope that following those two little fillies would lead to some answers.
“I think I’ll just take a bite out of Applejack’s book here and say…” Rainbow began as she rounded a bend and found at least five hundred ponies milling about a decorated market place, “What in tarnation?”
Everypony was dressed in at least a shirt and a wool cap. As if the nakedness ponies so well presented was still taboo. She couldn’t really argue herself in the current state she was in, what with a Wonderbolts uniform and all. Pulling back the part of her costume that covered her face, she breathed a sigh of relief, feeling the wind buffet her air-deprived fur.
Lights, both magical and technical in nature floated all around her, attached to cables or travelling to their own whims. Soft orange, blue and yellow light illuminated everything as far as she could see, and couldn’t help but feel a sense of nostalgia. Something she didn’t quite get. In the center of what seemed to be a fair, but if Rainbow could recall correctly, that filly had said an expo, was a large brass globe that was spinning of it’s own accord.
Hollow and supporting itself with wire frames making it completely transparent, it showed off the many lands that inhabited Equus. She could recognise Equestria, and all the lands round about. Griffonstone, Zebrica, the Crystal Empire, Maretania, etc… it all spiralled around and around, ever so slowly, ever so monumental. Rainbow couldn’t recall when something like this had been erected. If it had, she would’ve known, because that thing looked awesome.
She could see retro-like script illuminating many displays and shops, soft neon lights prevalent almost anywhere she could see. As far as Rainbow knew, there had always been electricity in Equestria, but it had never been flaunted as much as it was at that moment. Smooth cobblestone steps were founded on every hoofstep she took, and the clothes ponies wore, that all ponies wore, were, to put it simply (or in Rarity’s words), out of fashion.
“Seriously, what?” Rainbow whispered, looking around. “Where am I?”
“You’re at the Exhibition of Future Technologies, ma’am!” a colt said in passing, saluting to her. Rainbow frowned at that. “Thought you would know that!”
“The what in the hay now?” Rainbow asked, already losing sight of the little capped colt. With the tiny figure disappearing, she felt her focus shift to her primary directive at that moment. Finding those two fillies.
It didn’t take long. Seeing two fillies dashing around to look at exhibits, she began to canter in pursuit. “She said her name was Firefly, right?” Rainbow muttered to herself. She couldn’t think for the life of her why that name sounded so familiar. “Firefly! Wait up!”
She could see the little filly’s ears perk up and she turned around to see her. The filly, now at the destination wanted to be at, happily made her way to the polychromatic mare. “Hi miss soldier pony!” Firefly called. Sky waved a hoof, looking at her with her own gaze of wonder.
“The names Rainbow Dash,” Rainbow smirked before dropping it, “And I’m not a soldier. Never was… and I might think about it.”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve actually seen a mare be a soldier yet!” Firefly fluttered her wings excitedly. “You do look a bit small and thin for one anyways.”
“Hey!” Rainbow complained, and the two fillies giggled.
“She’s got a point,” Sky said, “You don’t look near as beefy as the ponies that go to sign up, and most of them are colts and stallions. The mares that do sign up are usually assigned to the medicare ward.”
“What?” Rainbow paused, “Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Firefly assured, “And most are usually unicorns or earth ponies, and maybe the occasional pegasus.”
“Gosh, that would be so cool to be on the front lines… fighting for Equestria…” Sky murmured, and Rainbow hardened her gaze on the little filly for a few seconds. Even though there hadn’t been a war just half an hour previously, she knew what war entailed, and what it meant.
“Look, squirt,” Rainbow began, “War isn’t like that. I may not be an actual soldier, but-”
“Then how would you know?” Firefly interrupted. “How would you know what war is actually like if you’re not actually a part of it?” Rainbow raised a hoof to argue, but lowered it.
“I… don’t.”
“Hey, Firefly, didn’t you want to see that presentation?” Sky muttered, pointing to a large stage with a carriage set up on it.
“The Belle Industries one?” Firefly’s eyes lit up, “Hell yeah I do!”
“Hey, watch your language!” Rainbow blurted out, frowning at their use of the word. She didn’t like it when fillies and such were exposed to it, so she never swore in front of of foals, a particular set she knew of consisting of three rambunctious fillies. God only knows what would happen if they tried to earn a ‘Profanity’ cutie mark. “Kids like you shouldn’t even know those kinds of words!”
“Yeah, well, live in Brooklyn long enough and you get used to it,” Firefly shouted. “Hey, you should join us!”
“In what, watching a stupid light show?” Rainbow said.
“What?” Firefly asked, scandalised, “Any Belle Industries show is worth watching! They're not ‘stupid light shows’.”
Something about the name struck her with realization. “Belle… Industries?” Rainbow asked herself, following the fillies with nothing better to do. “As in, Rarity Belle?”
“Who?” Sky inquired, looking at Rainbow quizzically, just as the lights around the stage dimmed and a stallion stepped up, grinning from ear to ear. At this, both Sky and Firefly hushed in anticipation. At the sound of giant lights turning on and filling the air once more, Rainbow frowned as she looked on.
“Mares and gentlecolts, Missus Luster Belle!” a pony announced. Upon stretching out her left hoof to the right of the stage and walking backwards, another pony walked onto the stage.
“Welcome, one and all!” the mare on stage shouted as lights focused on her. Many ponies cheered and stomped their hooves in reply. Smiling, the mare continued, “What if I told you that in a few years time, your carriages and transportation would have no need to touch the ground at all?”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the statement, pondering what it might mean. She couldn’t help but notice that Luster Belle, whoever she was, was an earth pony. She proceeded to watch as ponies of all three races helped in removing the wheels off of the coach, revealing four sleek machines, all stamped with a Belle Industries seal.
Luster grinned at the sight of her creations. “With Belle archaic reversion technology, you can do just that!” Rainbow watched in confusion as the mare eagerly pushed a lever up on her panel before something began to happen with the machines. A low whir emitted from the carriage, soft blue light beginning to pour out, and the sound of pure energy and mana began to take form.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe her eyes. In all her time living in Equestria, she had never seen something like this. This Belle pony, she had to be related to Rarity. Because the only pony she knew of with a last name like Belle was Rarity and Sweetie. Could she have landed sometime in the future? Where Sombra made his return for the third time and succeeded once more in enslaving his entire race?
She didn’t know, but what she did know was that the carriage in front of her shouldn’t be floating. The coach began to levitate on it’s own, with no outside help. No unicorns using their horns to lift it, no strings pulling it up as far as she could see, and no tricks. It was real. The engines that lifted it were humming with power, and like a horn, were surrounded in a mystical aura.
As quickly as it astonished everypony in the crowd, it began to sputter and die. In one swift motion, each machine flickered off, causing the whole thing to come crashing down. One look at the engines and one could see that they were hammered and unsalvageable. Smiling nervously, Luster Belle turned to the crowd once again.
“I did say a few years, right?” she chuckled, and the crowd followed suit. She even had Rarity’s accent.
“What is going on?” Rainbow muttered worryingly, a mixture of awe and confusion evident on her face.
“That was so awesome!” Firefly whispered excitedly, “I always love it when she comes up with something new!”
“The way it went vrrrrrm and fwoooo!” Sky agreed, sighing, “I wish I could make something that was that cool.”
“Keep dreaming, kid,” Rainbow couldn’t help but murmur. What could this mean? That Rarity finally made a name for herself in the world? That she finally had success and was branching off from her icky-gicky fashionista tendencies?
Firefly had said Princesses, as in plural, which meant Luna and Celestia were together. Rainbow sighed at the connection, but that could also mean that Twilight and her foalsitter Cadence were still here too, which was even better… But then, why would Cadence and Shining Armour let Sombra back in to terrorize his previous victims? Some things just didn’t add up, and Rainbow was determined to get to the bottom of it. She just needed to fly over to Ponyville and see how things were going. She was sure that with Twilight’s help, all would be solved.
“Haafwaa!” Firefly yawned, patting her mouth as she did so. “I’m tired, Skylark. I’m heading back home to hit the sack.”
“Yaaaaaaaw,” Sky agreed, stretching her wings out. “Yeah, I think I’ll do the same. Goodnight!” And just like that, Sky had dashed off in the dispersing crowd.
“Hey, do you have a place to stay?” Firefly asked Rainbow suddenly, and Rainbow looked down at the little filly.
“Yeah, of course I do!” Rainbow announced proudly, looking ahead stoically. “Only the best cloud house you can find in Ponyville!”
“Pony-what now?” Firefly asked. Rainbow froze in her place, slowly craning her head back to look at Firefly.
“What do you mean ‘Pony-what now?’?” Rainbow inquired nervously.
“What do you mean ‘what do I mean?’? I’ve never heard of ‘Ponyville’ before.”
Rainbow could feel her blood run cold. She could feel her heart stop and just about her whole world come crashing down, yet she remained firm. “You… haven’t heard of Ponyville… as in, ever?”
“Nope.”
Rainbow took a few shaky breaths and calmed herself down. It’s probably just ‘cause she’s a filly, Rainbow thought to herself. There’s no need to panic. If she flew over there right now, she’ll probably find Twilight’s castle and all her friends. Just because one pony doesn’t think it exists, doesn’t mean it doesn’t, right?
Right?
“Is that a yes or is that a no? Cause I have some room if you need to bunk. And you seem pretty cool, I wouldn’t mind having you in our apartment.”
Maybe a good night’s rest would ease her qualms. Yes that sounds good. And in the morning, she could thank the Firefly and she would be off, finding her friends doing their everyday things and they could all worry about the war together. Rainbow nodded.
“O-of course I’m cool! I’m the fastest mare in Equestria!...” she chuckled nervously, “And uh, sure. I’ll take you up on that offer.”
Firefly grinned, saying, “Sweet! I get to have a soldier pony in my house!”
“I thought you said-” Rainbow began, irritated and slightly confused.
“Shhh,” Firefly interrupted, “I know what I said. I know what you said. Nopony needs to know!”
“Hey, that’s not cool!” Rainbow said as she began to follow Firefly. “Besides, why did you even offer me a spot in your house? I’m a complete stranger!”
“You looked like you need some help and sleep,” Firefly explained, “And you seem to know about as much where you are as I would in the middle of the ocean.”
“But, I-” Rainbow stuttered, before sighing deeply in defeat. Knowing she was tired all of a sudden after getting hit by magic, falling through a portal and it suddenly being night… When she put it that way, well, it would seem, no, it even sounds tiring. Shaking her head, Rainbow began to follow Firefly.
“Hey, Small Fry,” Rainbow said, smirking with the nickname she came up with, “Thanks.”
“No problem- hey!” Firefly shouted, fluttering her wings in protest. “Don’t call me that!”
“Call it payback for abandoning me earlier,” Rainbow said.
“That’s not fair,” Firefly grumbled, “You held us up and we almost missed the awesome presentation!”
“How about ‘because I feel like it’?” Rainbow smirked.
“I get to call you Skittles,” Firefly snapped back, and Rainbow chuckled.
“You remind me of another little filly I know,” Rainbow laughed, “And her name’s Scootaloo.”
Firefly looked almost repentant at the name. “Goddess, it must be totally brutal to deal with nicknames when you have a name like that.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Rainbow piped up, and they both laughed. “You’re not bad, squirt.”
“You’re pretty awesome too…” Firefly scrunched her nose as she tried to remember. “Hey… I don't think you ever gave us your name.”
“You little punk, get back here!” Rainbow began to chase Firefly as Firefly led them to her apartment. Weaving in and out of bustling streets, they both laughed as it soon became a game of cat and mouse.
Rainbow didn’t know why she was having so much fun with a completely unknown filly she had only met an hour ago. Maybe it was to relieve the stress she currently felt with the thoughts that were going on in her head. The possibilities of what might be happening at that moment. Or maybe it was just because Firefly reminded her of Scootaloo.
As if the idea of falling through a portal into the future or the past wasn’t enough, she was being daunted and concerned by a few ponies. She hadn’t seen looks of worry like those since… Well, she’d never seen faces like those on anypony she’d known. The closest she’d seen to expressions like those were when she was trying to get the crystal ponies to cheer up.
Why here, why now? And why her? Why Rainbow Dash, the best and most awesome flyer and Wonderbolt in Equestria? By now, she had determined that she was most certainly not in present day Equestria, so Rainbow slightly faltered at the idea that her titles were now moot. Even if, Rainbow would insist on calling herself that.
Who knows? It was probably still true.
“Try and catch me, Skittles!” Firefly squealed, running up to a street corner and hiding behind a trash can.
“I’ll get you Small Fry,” Rainbow shouted, stopping as she reached the same street corner. “Hm, I wonder where she is?”
“In my house, dummy!” Firefly then announced before running to a door and opening it, slamming it shut behind her. Feeling slightly betrayed, Rainbow raced to the door and cried out in annoyance.
“Hey! What happened to ‘a place to stay’?” Rainbow complained, pounding on the door before huffing in annoyance and leaning on it. “Figures. Little filly from Brooklyn, a pegasus, no less, tricks me into chasing her around town before shutting me out. That little-”
The door opens all of a sudden, causing Rainbow to stumble backwards and fall in a feathered heap. Getting backing up with a tint of red on her face, Rainbow glared at Firefly. “What’s the matter, feather-brain?” Firefly smirked, and added, “As you were saying?”
“You just caught me a little off guard, is all,” Rainbow allowed, “And I wasn’t going to say anything, but you’ve got something on your wings.”
“What?!” Firefly said in alarm, stretching her own wings out and scanning them. Spotting nothing, she cocked an eyebrow to Rainbow. “Liar.”
“Gotcha!” Rainbow said before bursting in laughter. As her bout of laughter ended, a thought popped into her head. One that was unbearably unpleasant… and one that she had to confront. “Hey, Firefly…”
“Yeah, Miss Dash?” Firefly asked, noticing the sudden change in mood and responding accordingly. She could almost sense what she was going to ask before she asked it.
“Why do you live in a place like this and not in a cloud house somewhere like Cloudsdale? And your friend, where does she live?”
The look on the filly’s face already told her everything she needed, but Firefly still opened her mouth to speak. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’m a stranger, remember?”
“But… you still feel like the sister I never had,” Firefly muttered, “Even if I didn’t know you ‘til just know.”
Rainbow could feel her heart burn at those words. She could almost see an orange filly with purple hair looking up at her with the same look Firefly had. Firefly looked away, walking into the apartment and motion for Rainbow to follow.
“My dad went into the military. He’s somewhere out there, fighting who knows what battle while my mom is out there with him, being a nurse pony. And since both of them are out doing war stuff, they left me with my Aunt here in Brooklyn. She’s an earth pony. Which is why I live on the ground. It’s annoying, and I hate it.”
“Your aunt, or you being stuck on the ground?” Rainbow asked, and Firefly said the latter. Ruffling the filly’s hair, she chuckled. “Heh, trust me, I know how you feel.”
“And my friend is sort of the same deal. Kinda,” Firefly added. “She lives with her aunt like me, which reminds me…” Firefly began, “Aunt Ter! I’m back, and I brought somepony with me!”
A cry of alarm could be heard from within before the sound of pans clattering met their ears. Wincing, Rainbow could hear hoofsteps begin to approach. After a moment, a pale yellow mare with a messy orange mane stepped into view.
“Firefly?” Ter asked, widening her eyes at the sight of Rainbow. “Oh dear. Miss, I’m sorry for any troubles Firefly caused. Tell me what she did and I’ll-”
“Aunty, she’s with me,” Firefly groaned.
“Uh, yeah, I’m with her.” Rainbow gestured to the pink filly beside her. She could see the mare widen her eyes in surprise before cocking an eyebrow suspiciously at Firefly.
“Aunt Ter, this is Rainbow Dash. Can she stay with us for a bit? She has nowhere to stay and she’s pretty nice.”
Ter eyed Rainbow up and down, noticing her uniform and goggles. “Hmm… sure. Supper’ll be done in a few, so the both of you just sit tight.”
“Oh no, I don’t need any food, I’m just-” Rainbow began, but she wouldn’t have any of it.
“My home, my rules. Make sure Firefly doesn’t run off again, Celestia knows I need help watching over her and you just might be the answer to my prayers.” With that, Ter retreated back into the kitchen.
“O-kay,” Rainbow slowly uttered, and Firefly sighed.
“Yeah, Aunt Ter is alright. I mean, I’m the one who’s rebelly here and I know I’m a hoofful.”
“You do know I’m going to leave tomorrow, right?” Rainbow questioned, scanning the living room of the apartment.
“Yeah,” Firefly muttered, “But without any food or water, how are you going to reach ‘Ponyville’?”
Rainbow raised a hoof, opening her mouth before closing it again in defeat. “You’ve got me there,” Rainbow allowed, grumbling as she sat down beside the filly on their couch.
“You know, I might've asked the same thing to you if you came crashing into Ponyville,” Rainbow said.
“What?” Firefly asked.
“I might've asked if you were a spy, too.”
Firefly smirked at that. “Sky’s weird like that. But she’s my best friend so… I make fun of her and we beat each other up. It’s pretty great.”
“I have some weird friends too,” Rainbow laughed, thinking about Pinkie and Twilight. “I’ll make sure to drop by once I meet with them tomorrow. Maybe I can even show you some of my tricks!” Rainbow said, stretching her wings out and grinning. “I’ll perform my most awesome stunt ever: the sonic rainboom!”
“Sonic what-now?” Firefly asked.
“You’ll see.”
“You should probably get that uniform off if you’re going to eat with us,” Firefly began as she could already here plates clacking and silverware klinking. “My aunt won’t stop pestering you, that’s for sure.”
Rainbow looked down at her uniform with some form of disdain before sighing. “You’re probably right,” Rainbow agreed, taking her goggles off before beginning to take it off. Soon, it lay as a heap with her goggles set on top of it. Upon doing so, Firefly could clearly see Rainbow’s cutie mark.
“Wow, what does your cutie mark mean?” Firefly questioned eagerly.
“Dinner’s ready! Come on over!”
“Maybe another time, kiddo,” Rainbow smiled before they both walked into the kitchen.
“Are you a soldier?” Ter asked Rainbow as they ate the spuds that she had prepared. Rainbow choked on her food at the question, as she had not been expecting it.
“Yes, she is!” Firefly quickly said for her polychromatic friend as Rainbow began to cough. “Which is why… I asked if she could stay with us. Yeah. Because she doesn’t have a place to stay right now and she’s going to try and find her home tomorrow.”
Ter seemed to accept the answer and Firefly sighed in relief. Noticing Rainbow’s look of disbelief as she continued to hack and cough, Firefly whispered to her. “Hey, just shut up and stick to the plan.”
Rainbow nodded as she hit her chest in an attempt to dislodge whatever was stuck in her trachea. Soon enough, she huffed with air from the effort. Quickly finishing her meal, she stayed at the table as Ter and Firefly still ate theirs.
“I’m going to sleep now, Aunt Ter,” Firefly announced before excusing herself from the table. As she began to walk out of the dining room, Firefly motioned for Rainbow to follow. “Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep!”
Rainbow nodded before shooting a glance at Ter. “Hey, uh, thanks for the dinner, I guess.” Ter smiled at the thanks.
“You’re my guest. I can’t have you starve yourself in my care,” she shrugged and Rainbow made a sheepish expression before she followed Firefly.
Upon hearing the clinking of plates and silverware being washed in the kitchen, Firefly stopped at her room. “Well, there’s really only two rooms: one for me and one for Aunty. I’ll get some blankets and stuff ready for you if you want to sleep in my room. I know it’s not as great as a cloud, but yeah.” Upon opening the door, Firefly walked and motioned to her mattress and around the room.
“If you really want,” Firefly paused, “You can sleep on the couch in the living room.”
Rainbow almost said yes to that, as the thought of sleeping on the ground horrified her. Normal beds were bad enough compared to cloud beds, but the ground? Sheesh. “Uh…” Rainbow began, her eyes darting between the filly’s hopeful eyes and the door to the main area before sighing. “...Sure. I’ll sleep with you. But I’m not using blankets for a mattress.”
Spotting a window in Firefly’s room, Rainbow dashed out and looked for the nearest tame cloud. Spotting several small tufts, she rounded them up and morphed it into a cloud that could occupy her body. Now with a makeshift cloud bed, she zoomed back into Firefly’s room, cloud in tow.
“Woah…” Firefly whispered, having watched Rainbow’s display of weather magic. “I wish I could do that. I miss my cloud bed…”
“You’ll get there one day, Small Fry,” Rainbow moaned as she lay back on her cloud. “Aw yeah, that’s the stuff.” As they both began to settle down, Firefly on her bed and Rainbow on her cloud, a silence fell in the air. Feeling something needed to be said just so the air wasn’t so empty, they both began to think of something to say.
“Rainbow Dash-?”
“Hey, Squirt-” The two began to say at the exact same time, when the door to the room opened up, startling both parties and causing both to fall off their respective beds.
“Are you all settled in…?” Ter said cheerfully before. She paused as she heard the dull thuds that accompanied two bodies hitting the floor.
“Aunt Ter, how many times have I said to knock before coming in?!” Firefly shouted, huffing. “This has gotta be the hundredth time at least!”
“Ow…” Rainbow muttered, nursing the bruise on her muzzle for she had face planted.
“Sorry,” Ter shrugged, glancing once at the cloud bed Rainbow had made.
“I’ve been here for ages and still,” Firefly sighed, climbing back to her bed. Rainbow said nothing, her face heating up as she realized how she must’ve looked. She promptly flew back onto her cloud and shoved her face between the crannies of her cloud.
“So, uh, where’d you get the cloud from?” Ter asked Rainbow, waving her hoof through the cloud and disrupting some tufts of condensated water.
“Outside,” Rainbow said.
“O-kay,” Ter punctuated, taking in the scene of them trying to sleep. “I guess this is goodnight. Sweet dreams, Firefly!”
“Yeah, sure,” Firefly waved her hoof, and Ter closed the door behind her.
Another silence thickened as the two recovered from the small surprise. “That shouldn’t have surprised me nearly as much as it did,” Rainbow muttered, finally rolling over. “Ugh, now she’s gonna see me as ‘not cool’.”
“Yeah, well, that’s my aunt for you. Fine one moment, unexpected the next.”
“Your aunt is weird.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
Firefly began to think of what she was going to say earlier before she remembered. “Hey, Skittles-”
“Don’t call me that,” Rainbow groaned, scraping some cloud and throwing it at Firefly as water.
“Hey! If you can call me ‘Fries’ or whatever, I can call you names too. It’s not like you’re in charge of me,” Firefly humphed.
“I’m older, and that means I am in charge,” Rainbow smirked, thinking she had won the argument.
“And that’s the only thing you’re better than me at: being old,” Firefly remarked. Firefly could feel the daggers boring into her fur from Rainbow’s fiery gaze.
“Hey, that’s not cool!” Firefly replied, “I only gave you one name!”
“You were asking for it, squirt,” Rainbow shook her head with a laugh.
“Stop calling me that too!” Firefly cried, now standing upright on her bed. “You’re a complete stranger, why am I even talking to you?!”
“Because I’m cool and you know it!” Rainbow shouted, and Firefly paused at those words.
“Okay, maybe. But also because you… okay, fine.”
“Hah!” Rainbow pointed a hoof at Firefly, now laying across her bed.
“Shut up,” Firefly mumbled, getting back into her sheets. As they both calmed down, Firefly once more began. “Where are you from?”
After their little argument that held little to no real basis whatsoever, the question caught her a bit off guard. Not that she would say so to this Scootaloo-wannabe. “What?”
Firefly repeated the question. “Where are you from?”
Rainbow scrunched her muzzle. “Well, I’m from Cloudsdale, obviously.”
“It doesn’t hurt to ask,” Firefly said.
“I’m going to sleep,” Rainbow finally announced quietly, her voice seeming like thunder in the peaceful air.
“Then goodnight,” Firefly said, rolling over to face the window on her left, facing away from Rainbow. After a peaceful quiet finally fell through the room, Firefly gazed out the window. Thinking and thinking. “Are you still awake, Miss Dash?”
After a moment of silence in which Firefly thought Rainbow had fallen asleep, she could her the soft rolling of her cloud bed. “Don’t call me ‘Miss Dash’. It makes me feel old.”
“Alright, Skittles,” Firefly smiled. She could already picture Rainbow silently groaning. After that image faded, her expression reverted to that of reverie. “Er- Rainbow… you’re like the big sister I’ve never had.” Rainbow stayed silent, pondering those words. She had heard that very same sentence uttered by another pegasus filly she had grown fond of.
“I know I’ve only known you for like, three hours, but you just… I don’t know…” Firefly tred to explain, but couldn’t seem to formulate her words. “Sorry, not cool, I know, but… yeah.” Hearing another rustle, she assumed Rainbow had shifted in her cloud bed once more, and Firefly sighed, staring out the window and now at the moon that had emerged from above the rooftops of Brooklyn. Soon enough, the snores of Rainbow Dash began to fill the air, indicating her slumber.
“Like the sister I’d always wished for…” Firefly mumbled as her eyes began to droop. Just as she fell asleep, the moon glinted with a sheen, as if smiling, but Firefly would not remember, a dream of flying and being with family now all that filled her mind.
Firefly woke up to the sound of bustling. Opening her eyes and rubbing them in confusion, she sat up to see Rainbow Dash back in her uniform, stuffing her saddlebags with some supplies and rations. Confused, Firefly emitted a soft moan. “Rainbow? What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving as soon as possible,” Rainbow said, placing her goggles on her head and double checking each saddlebag. “There’s no need for me to stay any longer.”
“But what about breakfast and food and water?” Firefly asked, throwing the sheets off of her.
“Ter was already awake when I woke up and she gave me some stuff for my journey. You don’t have to worry about a thing, squirt. I’ll come back, don’t worry. Once I get my friends together, I’ll see what I can do.”
“But you only just got here!” Firefly argued, “Don’t you want to rest and hang out and lay back?”
Rainbow clasped a bag shut before turning to Firefly with a frown. “As much as I’d like to, something happened, and I need to talk to my friends about it. Something very, very bad, and if Starlight is to blame…” Rainbow looked away, clasping her other bag before slipping them and securing them onto her flanks. Each clasp had somehow been fashioned with her cutie mark: a cloud with a rainbow-styled lightning bolt.
“If there’s a war, then Equestria needs me and my friends more than anything right now.”
Firefly looked at Rainbow curiously. “What do you mean?”
Rainbow grinned. “Well, me and my friends are in charge of the Elements of Harmony. They hold the greatest magic in Equestria, the magic of friendship!” Rainbow’s eyes glinted with awesomeness. “And me? I’m the Element of Loyalty! I’m sure you know what that means.”
“The Elements of Harmony?” Firefly inquired, putting a hoof to her muzzle in thought before shrugging. "Ehh... I got nothing."
Rainbow paused slightly at those words. “Uh, what? What about my friend Twilight? I'm sure you've heard of her. She became a flipping princess!"
“Twilight?” Firefly said, “Never heard of her.”
Rainbow could feel a small blow to her gut at those words. It… was possible for ponies to not have heard of Twilight becoming a princess, but it just didn’t add up. “Look, Small Fry, I’m going to find my friends, and I’m going to help save Equestria. After that, I’ll come back and make sure you’re alright, capiche?
“Capoosh caposh!” Firefly ended, and Rainbow grinned wryly. Holding a hoof up, Firefly eagerly met Rainbow’s and they both made explosion noises as the clopping sound of hooves echoed.
“I’ll be back before you know it. You’d love to meet the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“The who in the what now?” Firefly asked as Rainbow began to flap her wings and shoot out the window.
“You ask a lot of questions!” Rainbow called, “See ya soon, squirt!”
“Bye, Skittles!” Firefly cried, waving a hoof as Rainbow soon became a small speck on the horizon. Sighing, Firefly began to mope. “Aw shoot, I thought we could hang out and have sister things…”
Just then, the doorbell rang and she could hear the door opening. A familiar voice followed. “Firefly?” Sky’s voice asked. “You free today?”
Bursting out of her room, she zoomed over to where she knew Ter must be. Jumping up and down and fluttering her wings, Firefly asked, “Hey, Aunt Ter, can I hang out with Sky?”
“As long as you’re both safe,” Ter said, shooing Firefly to the door and Sky. Firefly giddily hoofbumped and hugged Sky before they both dashed out the door. “Come back before sundown this time!” Ter shouted, and Firefly called out in reply. Shaking her head, Ter closed the door and glanced into Firefly’s room still seeing Rainbow’s cloud.
She slowly watched as it began to turn a slight grey, sending a shiver down her spine.
Rainbow Dash flew at a brisk pace. Faster than she normally would, but she didn’t notice that. The only thing she did notice were her own thoughts racing in her mind. Everything was conflicting inside her. Her brain was as chaotic as Discord’s first reign, in terms of things happening at a random pace, but in this case, it was her thoughts.
It wasn’t because she was a little bit wary. No, why would she be? There was nothing wrong with the world! Just that Equestria was at war and that something felt incredibly off about this whole ordeal. No, not even the fact that she seemed to be living in a completely different time period from when she was last aware of her surroundings.
The clouds above her whizzed by, lending their white blurs in contrast to the blue sky. The ground moved just as fast; trees, hills, roads and paths going unnoticed as she flew. She knew not how much time had passed, but as she took a glance up, she could estimate that it was just before noon. Having left a bit after sun up, she could say that it had been about an hour or two of flying.
Rainbow could feel the weight of her saddlebags slowing her down. The very air dragged her, making her that much slower. She wanted to keep pushing herself, to get to Ponyville faster. But she knew that if she did, her saddlebags would fly off with little to no warning, and she would lose all her supplies for the fly there and back. She hated being slowed down. She didn’t like not being fast enough.
She could feel her stomach roll with hunger, partnered with how dry Rainbow’s mouth now felt. She didn’t want to stop. She needed to keep going. As another stomach rumble protested Rainbow’s ignorance, Rainbow sighed, slowing to a stop as she dropped her head.
Flying up above the cloud layer, she looked for a comfy cloud to rest on. Spotting a particularly plump nimbus, she hovered towards it. Gently setting down her saddlebags, she plopped down, taking her goggles off and tossing them into saddlebags for the time being. She proceeded to pull out a simple daisy-oats sandwich that she had prepared to be packed with protein, so she could have more energy to use up.
While she munched on the basic snack, she peered lazily over the edge of her cloud. There was nothing interesting, as per usual. Just the occasional tree and stretching prairies. Green grasslands waved and shifted in the wind, her own cloud moving of it’s own accordance to the wind. Smiling at the gentle breeze contrasting the sun’s heat, she tilted some of the feathers in her wings and closed her eyes.
She could feel the many tiny shifts in the air, wind patterns and calculations running their course in her mind. She had flown marathonic routes like this before, and each time she had found her way by detecting where the wind moved and how it felt at certain places. Something was a bit off with the wind current where she was at right now, but she estimated that she was only a few hours away from Ponyville.
Having finished her meal, she packed up and donned her goggles once again. Pushing off from the cloud, she flapped her wings, beginning to gain momentum and burst off once again at her top safest speed. She allowed her feathers and internal compass to direct her to where she knew Ponyville would be, and allowed her mind to wander.
Rainbow slowed to a hover as she neared the mountain she knew Canterlot to reside on.
The city on the mount that she knew was unmistakably there, but it missed something. Something very grandiose and unique. Something that had been a presence since before she was born. She didn’t want to believe, yet all the facts were there. She looked left, right, up, down, though to no avail. Knowing she should at least be able to see the dot of civilization that Ponyville was from Canterlot, she pushed her goggles up and squinted.
There wasn’t even a rooftop. It all seemed like open fields and forest. She could see the ever-changing Everfree from her vantage point, but nothing else. Narrowing her eyes, she steeled herself. She shifted her saddlebags so she could gain some hold on them and put her goggles back down. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to Ponyville in record time.
Her saddlebags threatened to release their contents as she sped to where she knew Ponyville to be. She just hoped that whatever she was thinking, it wasn’t real. Maybe Canterlot had lost it’s castle and the sisters moved to another location?
Yes, that must be it! But Rainbow, with all her arrogance and laziness, couldn’t wrap her hoof around the thought that everything she knew was gone. As much as she hated being wrong, she hoped she was. Just this once.
She should’ve seen more than one road leading to Ponyville, yet they all veered off to the Everfree. Not a single path from where she knew one to be was present. She couldn’t see a train of any kind, she could not even sense the sort of draft that came with wind travelling through a town. No musks of apples or anything reached her nostrils, and she was beginning to fear.
As she came to a stop, she huffed. Breathing in and out, her eyes remained hidden behind her reflective goggles, but not for much longer. As she lifted them up for the upteenth time, her eyes were wide with disbelief. Her heavy breathing soon became more of hyperventilation as she darted her eyes back and forth. Looking for anything. Looking for something. Even just the mark of civilization would’ve been enough for her.
She had come upon a vast expanse of empty field. Dotted with the occasional tree, it bordered the edge of the Everfree, and there was nothing to be found. Not a pony, not a soul. Animals looked up curiously at the flying visitor, but there was nothing else to be had.
Rainbow could feel her eyes begin to water and her throat begin to close up, but she remained strong. There had to be something. Feeling her vision begin to blur along with her breath catching, she shoved her goggles down and began to scan the area. Once, twice, even three times she began to circle Ponyville’s land.
There was no Castle of Friendship. There was no Fluttershy’s Cottage. No Boutique, no Bakery, not even Sweet Apple Acres. Even her cloudominium was gone. Not a single house, no Town Hall, no Schoolhouse. There was nothing for her here.
And that broke something inside Rainbow. Rainbow plopped down on a tree in the middle of the prairie and decided to rest there. With no care left, she dropped her saddlebags haphazardly. Nothing could possibly make it any worse than it was right now. Her breath was becoming ragged, both from her state at the moment and from her frantic flying.
Ponyville was gone.
There were two possibilities. Either she was far into the past, or centuries into the future. Rainbow couldn’t decide which one was worse, and that made it all the more hurtful. Her vision was now beginning to blur even further, because she knew exactly which one was true. She was in the past.
A past where Ponyville had yet to be created. A past where Luna was still to be banished to the moon. A past where Canterlot did not even have it’s landmark of a castle. A past where her friends did not exist yet.
A past where she shouldn’t be.
Dropping to one foreleg as she tumbled away from her tree, she began to cry. Rainbow did not even care that she was doing something she had considered as ‘not cool’. After all, who was there to judge when everypony was gone?
Now sobbing with streaks going down her face, she threw her goggles and screamed. She screamed for all the world to hear. Birds flew away from their perches startled. Critters and fauna of all kinds ran away in fear of whatever was happening. Rainbow didn’t care.
All of her friends, everything she knew was gone and she had no way back.
And so she cried. With the torment of a pained soul, she let her heart out. She punched the ground in frustration. She screamed as she tore plants from their roots and kicked a tree next to her. With eyes red and her breath hitching, she took her uniform from off her body and grinded it forcefully into the dirt before grabbing it in her teeth and throwing it away.
Finally, Rainbow stared, breathing heavily as she watched her uniform only fly a few feet before lazily floating to the ground. She continued to watch as each fold of fabric rested gently onto the ground, and Rainbow sniffled and continued to cry. Her voice kept catching as she breathed in and out. She slowly approached her battered uniform and held it with a hoof.
Rainbow collapsed onto the ground, and she pulled the uniform close, cradling it. Alone, and with nopony to see, she held tighly onto it as if her life depended on it. Sniffling, she closed her eyes…
Rainbow Dash flew with her eyes forward, her dirtied uniform donned once again.
The wind blew past her, her mane waving furiously as she pumped her wings. Her saddlebags lay snug beneath her clenched teeth, make-shift fastened claps fashioned so they were safe. With slightly cracked goggles and her hooves in front of her, the world around her was a blur.
Her uniform, most of all, had taken the brunt of her outburst. Green grass stains and mud coated it, cuts and tears ran all along its seams. The lightning insignia that had prominently boldened the blue of the cloth was now worn down, it’s yellow a pale comparison of what it used to be. Wrinkled and shorn, it lay as an ultimate reminder.
But all thoughts of Ponyville were gone.
She couldn’t accept it. Instead, she was going to Cloudsdale. To find her home. And after that, the Crystal Empire. Rainbow just couldn’t wrap her hooves around the thought. It burned her alive.
She didn’t want to believe it. She just couldn’t. All the memories she had created… the friends she had made… they can’t have all just disappeared on her like that. They couldn’t have.
Small trickles of water occasionally escaped the goggles that so easily masked Rainbow Dash’s emotions. From the outside, she seemed stone-hard, an immovable force, an unstoppable object… and yet, her soul was shattered.
They’re gone, Rainbow… You know that…
Rainbow shook her head. She shouted at her mind.
“NO!”
She flew up.
She flew up and up and up… into the clouds above her. She burst through the cloud cover, her fury knowing no bounds. Each new cloud she encountered, she punched it. And with each cloud she came into contact with, it burst apart into each and every separate water molecule. Even then, it did nothing to calm Dash’s nerves. Her mind raced, her heart beat, and she cried with every single swing of her hoof.
Rainbow could see Cloudsdale in the distance. Flying through every single cloud she could see, not bothering to hit them anymore, she quickly came upon her home city. Rainbow pools and loud factories dotted the glorious cloud citadel, rainbow falls and pegasi dominating the entire city. She hadn’t come to Cloudsdale for sight-seeing. No, Rainbow had only one place she needed to go to, and only one place in mind.
Her home.
Her home in her city. Where her Mom and Dad lived.
She wanted to know. She wanted to make sure. She wanted to see whether it was all just a dream and she could just return home and think of it all as one big nightmare.
You know it is, Rainbow… you know it’s all real.
The voice in her head, her rational side; she knew it was right. But she didn’t want to.
She didn’t…
But she did.
Rainbow Dash had a surprisingly good memory, contrary to popular belief. She wasn’t just the cocky daring mare everypony had gotten to know her as. Proven when Twilight had successfully taught her the things she needed for the Wonderbolts exam, she knew. She knew that her house was right where it should be.
And it wasn’t.
“No… no… please...” Rainbow whispered. Pegasi around her glanced at her worriedly, but didn’t pay her any more attention in fear of backlash. After all, she looked like a soldier. A beaten, worn down soldier that was pleading at a house in the suburbs of Cloudsdale.
Rainbow’s magenta eyes glistened as she lifted her goggles. It was her house. But at the same time… it wasn’t. The sky tree that was supposed to be on the front lawn wasn’t there. The front lawn itself was too fancy and floral for somepony like the likes of Rainbow’s parents. She knew her own kin. She knew herself.
Pulling her goggles down, she remained in the air a few seconds longer. And in the air she hovered, a mysterious figure to those in Cloudsdale and a trespasser to the ponies who currently lived in Rainbow’s home. As tears began to streak down from beneath Rainbow’s goggles, she resolutely flapped her wings, away from the house.
It wasn’t her house. Not yet. And not for a long time.
With that thought, she left Cloudsdale, looking beyond Canterlot’s range.
Towards the Crystal Mountains.
She flew with all of her might.
She had already left… left the Everfree in her dust, Cloudsdale not far behind. She wasn’t stopping for a single second. Not one. She wanted to see it for herself. She wanted to see Equestria at war.
Even though she knew it would break her. Even though she knew it would be the final nail in the coffin. Even though it would cement everything she had come to know about her situation.
Rainbow Dash sliced through the air effortlessly. The only thing slowing her down being her saddlebags and her own tired physique. She had somewhat lightened her load however, as she had eaten most of rations already just trying to keep the energy going for her to stay awake.
In no time at all, she would be able to ditch her saddlebags and fly unburdened. And as she flew, she could already see Mount Everhoof nearing her, or in reality, she was nearing it. Canterlot Mountain flew past her as well, taking a full five minutes to truly fly past. Canterlot lay beneath her as she pumped her wings, no castle to make it the shining capital it would eventually become.
She could still see the Castle of the Two Sisters’ pristine condition in the midst of the Everfree forest in her mind’s eye, it’s shining bricks and wooden bridge mocking her. She could still see the way it seemed to stand as another reminder. Another drop in the bucket. Closing her eyes, Rainbow could still see herself refusing the Shadowbolts’ proposal to betray her friends, the broken castle as a backdrop. Her first real time bonding with who would eventually become her best friends. The Castle’s perfect condition stood as a testament.
She had felt the presence of the Princesses there. At the time, a thought had occurred to her that she might be able to speak with the Princesses, but even then, she knew it would be useless. She probably wouldn’t even be able to get an audience, and even then... Rainbow still remembered when Twilight had an entire week of insanity resulting from a stable time loop; all that she had gotten from Twilight’s explanation as it had begun to hurt her head. It was only a week.
With each new train of thought in her mind, a corresponding memory seemed to surface beside it. And with each new impression, each new idea and theory, an equally hurting memory came to mind. Pinkie’s antics, Fluttershy’s kindness, Rarity’s posh tendencies, Twilight’s egghead-ness, Applejack’s competitiveness… Rainbow’s loyalty was breaking inside her.
As the Crystal Empire began to come to view, so did the battlefields. Large expanses of field were mostly what remained past Canterlot, and what she saw shook her. It surprised her more than she would have liked to admit. As the sun set behind Rainbow, the lights that illuminated the clouds became more prominent.
Rainbow lifted her goggles in shock. For the first time in her life, she could see it first-hoof. She could see the magic zipping wildly and ponies falling. This may be only one battle, but one battle was enough. With it only being a few kilometres away from the Crystal Mountains, she stopped flying and observed. Observed the one thing nopony should ever experience.
Rainbow Dash had fought many monsters in her lifetime.
I mean, seriously! Manticores? Easy. Evil twisted power-hungry alicorns? Piece of cake. Shadow ponies capable of enslaving entire nations? Not a problem!
But ponies having to fight against each other, and watching magic and instruments of war decimate the scenery and ponies around them? She couldn’t have been less prepared. Archaic colours of all kinds painted the clouds below her, some even threatening to attack her as they broke the cloud cover. Just peeking over the edge nearly made Rainbow nauseous, as sickly glowing combat spells were shot all across the battlefield.
What she wouldn’t give to have Twilight or Starlight at that moment. Maybe even Rarity.
Catapults and trebuchets lined both sides, and each were firing at a slow but steady rate. Some ponies even rode large armored carriages that seemed to run on some form of electricity, and powerful burst of mana shot from their uncharacteristically large turrets. She didn’t know what was scarier; the fact that they even had this kind of weaponry available in Equestria or that some of the crystal ponies were willingly fighting for Sombra.
It all scared her to death more than Rainbow Dash could ever truly admit. She could see most of those on the other side were wearing powered glowing armour, their movements sluggish as if they were moving against their will, and they were. To make other ponies fight like this was sick, and Rainbow knew it. She knew everything about this was wrong. Everything.
And with that thought, she couldn’t take it anymore. Defeated and torn between wanting to help and JUST wanting to be alone, Rainbow began to hover away. Just as she left her cloud, however, her sub-conscoous kicked in and she sideflipped in mid air, narrowly missing fiery red artillery. With eyes wide and hidden, she breathed heavily, looking down.
Somepony was tracking her.
She had stayed in the same place too long, and it cost her her cover. Cursing silently to herself, Rainbow quickly began to dodge all combat mana that was thrown at her. With a quick glance to something jutting out of thr cannon the crystal pony was using, she saw a glowing crystal, and she realized that, of course, everything they used was powered with crystal.
With her target in sight, she blazed her way through the air, blurring into a rainbow contrail. Moving too fast for the cannon pony to keep up, she came down with an iron hoof, punching the pony upside and causing them to go flying from the machine. Saying a silent prayer in her heart that the pony she had punched out was being mind-controlled and not dead, she jammed the power crystal. The machine sputtered out.
Upon closer inspection, Rainbow realized that even the machinery itself was made of crystal. Sleek, black, and metallic, it looked just like the crystals she had seen grow in the Crystal Empire. Shuddering from the thought and not wanting to stay any longer for fear of her own safety, she began to flap away.
“Fall back! Retreat! They’ve outgunned us and outsmarted us, let’s live to fight another day! Move, move, move!”
Rainbow froze in mid-air as she turned to find where the source of the voice came from. Somepony was in trouble? Of course they were, they were in a battlefield! But still… Rainbow looked up at the clouds. It would be so easy just to fly away… forget about these ponies who she never would’ve known and probably still won’t since they belonged in the past…
She couldn’t. Rainbow Dash could not abandon her fellow ponies like that. She was the Element of Loyalty! She couldn’t do that. Even if she had never known any of them. Even if she didn’t owe them anything. Even if she didn’t belong. Resigned, head dropping with a sigh, Rainbow found them. A battalion of stallions all rushing away from a group about half their size and yet with the clear advantage.
She was shocked to see ponies falling, the life leaving their eyes before they even hit the ground. The small squadron that was now retreating slowly began to be picked off one by one, and Rainbow stood in horror. With her mind set and most thoughts of silent escape forgotten, Rainbow steeled herself.
She burst off faster than she had ever started before. In an instant, a rainbow wave of energy caused everypony to stop and look at what was happening. All the crystal ponies would ever see was a flashing polychromatic blur that quickly moved through their ranks. Punch, kick, wham! Rainbow hit every surface she could see that belonged to a pony on the other side, and made sure all of them were crippling in a way. Blindsided by a tackle from her left, she grunted.
Falling to the ground, she could see the rainbow contrail she had made and the rainboom explosion dissipating, and she wheezed for air. With a narrowing of her eyes, she ignored her lack of air and flared her wings, bursting off the ground and smashing into the armored pony in front of her. Falling to the ground as well, she tried her best to regain her wind.
A kick to the wing made her shout in pain.
The armored pony now stood above Rainbow’s prone form, and Rainbow glared back with a heavy breath. Her goggles began to crack even more, spider-webbing all across her left eye. With no real response from the pony hiding behind his suit, Rainbow waited. The stallion brought down his hoof… and Rainbow tripped him. Quickly sliding out of the way, Rainbow had the higher ground once more.
Several flashes of light around her caused her to turn her attention to her surroundings. The small group of ponies she had saved that had become isolated from the main battle was and had been defending her since she had taken out half of their forces single-hoofedly. Even with the help, their numbers still fell, and only Rainbow’s sharp instincts and the inflections each spell committed onto the air helped her stay alive. And yet it wasn’t enough.
As she dodged one more spell, the pony she had pinned to the ground seized hold of her foreleg, before a sick yellow light began to pulse from his armour. “You… will… die… with me!” he announced, and Rainbow immediately felt something off.
The flora beneath the crystal pony began to blacken and wither, their luscious greens and vibrant petals falling and dying. The spread of influence grew and the pony himself shrivelled up, causing Rainbow to widen her eyes. Just then, the dark magic drew back into itself, and Rainbow realized.
She pushed off of the pony with all her might, breaking the suit’s contact with her and she flew upward, but it was too late. The suicide spell or whatever it was imploded, and subsequently exploded a spore of gas violently outwards. Gas that was nothing like gas at all. She tried to outrace it, she tried to flap her wings faster, she prayed for another rainboom… but nothing.
The shroud of dark mana caught up to her.
She quickly burst out of the confines of the poisonous substance, but the damage was done. She could already feel herself begin to weaken unnaturally, and Rainbow felt herself begin to wither. She glanced down and found a gruesome sight… the pony that had taken himself out had taken a portion of his own soldiers and Equestria’s, and those that were affected seemed to be empty husks…
And yet Rainbow still persisted. She could feel her wings becoming like lead. Her breathing became ragged. Her suit began to hang limply as her own body began to cannibalize itself. But with all this, Rainbow was still alive. On the verge of oblivion, but alive.
Crying with effort and screaming with a voice now hoarse, she burst forward in one last explosive flap of her wings. Her rainbow carried with it a shadowy substance, crackling and devouring the colours as it remained further and further in the sky, eventually dying out.
The rainboom she had just performed restored some of her energy, but she could feel the wither-spell fighting back already. It’s own magicks seemed strong enough to last even through something as purifying as a rainboom. And that scared Rainbow. A terrifying inescapable feeling that she had made a grave mistake.
Firefly laughed as she and Skylark buzzed after each other in the streets of Manehatten. Her wings fluttered fast in the dying sunlight as the two fillies chased. Ponies milled around, most wearing a cap and a simple shirt and vest. Others wore suits and the like, somewhat standing out from others. As for the two little fillies, they refused to wear any clothes as they always itched and were never too good for flying.
Firefly still wasn’t good enough at flying just yet though, only able to manage an altitude of a couple feet off the ground. Watching as her friend continued to outrace her, Firefly narrowed her eyes and she pushed forward with all her might. She wouldn’t lose to her best friend! Firefly cried out in determination. “You’re a goner, Sky!”
Skylark turned her head around and blew a raspberry, causing Firefly to frown. Of course her best friend would. She was going to play it that way? Firefly would show her! With a burst of her wings, Firefly shot forward, straining her pegasus magic to push faster and farther. In less than five seconds, or an eternity for the likes of a pegasus, Firefly pulled ahead. Skylark could only widen her eyes in surprise.
“Haha!” shouted Firefly triumphantly.
Now ahead by half a filly’s body, it was Firefly’s turn to blow a raspberry. Just as she was about to, however, several things happened. Firstly, Firefly bumped into a pony she hadn’t noticed. The collision practically knocked the air out of her lungs, and she wheezed. Secondly, she spiralled out of control, hitting a trash can and rolling into a nearby alley. Finally, Skylark gasped, immediately taking off after her fallen friend and opponent. Rushing to Firefly’s side, Sky fretted.
“Are you okay?!” Sky asked, shaking Firefly vigorously. Fortunately, Firefly responded with a groan. “Oh, good! You’re still conscious.”
Unfortunately, Firefly now had a sore head and a slight headache. The shaking only made her head hurt that much more. Her breath caught in gasps, her chest feeling like it had been crushed by a cinderblock. Only one response was appropriate to Firefly in this situation.
A very dignified and wheezy “Oww!”
Sky stepped away from her friend as Firefly brushed her aside. “You know, you probably shouldn’t be moving so much after you just got hit like that.”
“I’ll… do… what I want…” pushed out Firefly, her breaths still coming in gasps. “Just… a little… bruised…!”
Getting up to her hooves, Firefly could feel the blood rush to her head. Her vision went curvy as she wobbled precariously on her hooves. Sky, seeing Firefly’s dizziness sidled up beside her. As the world careened around her, Firefly blinked oowlishly.
“W-wow,” Firefly mumbled. “Maybe I took a harder hit than I thought.”
“I told you so.” Sky rolled her eyes.
As Firefly painfully shook the stars from her head, she found the world tilting ever so slightly to the right. Knowing it was just her own disorientation, she didn’t pay it too much of her mind. What really concerned her now were the ponies that had started walking down the alley she had crashed into.
“Uh, Sky?” Firefly whispered, punching the ground with her hoof so she could have something to focus on.
“Y-eah?” Sky muttered back. She had begun watching the same four ponies that Firefly had spotted.
“You know how I bumped into that pony?” Firefly said.
“Uh-huh.” Sky nodded, and the two fillies started to back away from the advancing threats.
“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to play in the heart of Manehatten.”
Sky turned to Firefly with a face that screamed “You don’t say?” Firefly could only smack Sky in the foreleg for the attitude her friend was giving her. “Eeyah,” Sky finally said in agreement. They both looked behind them as they found that they had run out of alley to back up in.
“Little fillies like you shouldn’t be running around when it’s getting dark.” The stallion she had bumped into smirked, his words coming off of him with a sharpened edge.
“Bad things happen to foals who play around at night.” Another pony, a mare, said beside the groomed stallion.
“Playtime’s over, girls.” The stallion grinned as he motioned for the two thugs that surrounded him and his partner. The two mares that had flanked the two ponies now moved from behind them, and they began to advance on the two fillies.
“Together ‘til the end?” Firefly gulped, pawing on of her forelegs on the ground as she made eye contact with Sky.
“And ‘til the end will we fight!” Sky nodded, and the two fillies braced themselves.
The two thugs pounced, and so did the two fillies. Screaming a shout of battle, Sky and Firefly closed their eyes as they were about to collide in time to see a bright white blur intersect between the two groups of ponies. In that instant, they felt themselves get blown backwards into the end of the alley. Both fillies winced from the impact. As they fell to the ground, Firefly was the first to recover.
Groaning flat on her stomach, Firefly cracked open her eyes only to shut them again from the blazing plethora of colours in front of her. The next time she opened them, she squinted.
Standing in front of them, heaving with exhaustion and with black curls of some sort of smoke weaving in and out of her body was the one and only Rainbow Dash. The ground underneath her had cracked from the force of impact. Quickly getting adjusted to the amount of weather magic imbued into Rainbow at that moment, she opened her eyes fully.
Lightning crackled at Rainbow’s hooves, and an aura of pure energy surrounded her. With as much awesome power Rainbow emanated, she could tell Rainbow was on the verge of collapse. Her body sagged, and her muscles twitched from overexhaustion.
Not willing to take her gaze off of the pony standing between her and her attackers, she could see a rainbow contrail coming from Rainbow and shooting into the sky; presumably her trajectory of a dive. A steep angle that made Firefly question just how good of a flyer Rainbow actually was. Seeing Sky stir beside her, she scooted over to her, hugging her in anticipation and uncertain fear.
Rainbow’s voice barely came out as a tired whisper, but the tone she gave might as well have been thunder. “Don’t you dare touch them,” she said. What scared Firefly the most was the odd reverb that Rainbow’s voice seemed to have.
The stallion growled, and the mare narrowed her eyes. “Deed! Grind! Attack her!” the mare shouted, and the two thugs reluctantly squared up.
Rainbow Dash quietly stretched into a form ready to pounce. Firefly almost yelled for Rainbow to stop, seeing how bad of a condition Rainbow was really in, but the words caught in her throat. As the two mares, lunged for Rainbow, all Firefly saw was a rainbow blur.
One gust of wind later, and Rainbow’s hooves hit the ground with four soft taps. The mares that had attempted an attack stood perfectly still. The stallion growled even lower than his cooperative, a new tone of fear having creeped into his voice and movements. “What are you doing standing there!? Beat her to a pulp!”
The response was a deathly silence for one quick instant before the two mares toppled fell to the side like flimsy cardboard.
Firefly could feel Sky shiver at the sight of the now unconscious mares before them. Firefly just couldn’t believe how quick Rainbow had disposed of them. But even now, she could see Rainbow’s power waning, her fur looking paler and paler, her mane and tail greying from an unknown factor.
With what little strength she had left, Rainbow leveled her gaze to those who had tried to attack Firefly. As Rainbow stared at them through her cracked goggles, she whispered one more word.
“Go.”
The two ponies did the only logical thing. They fainted alongside their thugs.
Firefly, seeing that the danger had now disappeared, watched as Rainbow faltered to her knees. The aura surrounding Rainbow had now dissipated, and the tendrils of black smoke were sucked into Rainbow’s body. Too scared to move, Sky and Firefly could do nothing but watch.
They watched as she cried out in pain before getting back to all four hooves. With her back faced to the fillies, she shakily put her goggles up, and turned around.
For the first time in three days, Firefly looked into Rainbow’s eyes. For the first time in her life, she saw true desperation, anger, shock, and relief.
“How’s it going small fry?” Rainbow managed to scratch out.
A small smile donned Rainbow's face before her eyes rolled into her head and she crumpled to the ground.
Firefly gasped for breath and Skylark raced after her as they moved through the streets of Manehatten. They didn’t pay any attention to anypony other than themselves, for they needed to get home as quickly as possible.
They pumped their hooves hard and fast as they sped their way through the city, weaving in between ponies with a full grown mare to take care of. Rainbow Dash lay sprawled across their backs, her limp form breathing shallowly as they raced their way back to Firefly’s home.
“Come on!” shouted Firefly, not addressing anypony in particular. Her voice quivered and her form shook as her nerves were the only thing helping her run. “We’re almost there!”
Ponies were beginning to thin out as they made their way through the neighbourhoods. Those that did manage to get in the way of Firefly and Skylark jumped to the side. The urgency emanating from the two fillies-plus the sight of Rainbow Dash in her tattered uniform-made anypony who did question their reason to quickly lose their doubts.
The ground rushed past them as they continued to pass street upon street. The longer it took them, the faster, Rainbow Dash seemed to be breathing, and the more she seemed to shrivel up inwards. As if she were being eaten from the inside out.
Not a moment too soon, they broke into Acreview Lane, Firefly’s street. They burst the last 200 metres to her house and Firefly quickly but carefully let Skylark take Rainbow Dash’s form. Running up to her front door, she tried the knob, only to find it was locked.
“Ter!” shrieked Firefly. “Aunt Terra!”
She could hear the comical crashing and banging of pots and pans as she heard hoofsteps stomping quickly to the door. As if no time at all had passed, the door swung open to reveal Ter with a cooking apron. With her orange hair tied back in a bun and a look of surprise and confusion, Ter looked down at the filly.
“Firefy?” Ter asked, her eyes widening. “You only ever use my full name when you really need something and you weren’t supposed to come back for a couple hours…” Her voice trailed off as her eyes floated to behind Firefly, and Ter spotted exactly the reason why behind the trembling filly. The image of Skylark shakily supporting Rainbow’s weakening existence was all she needed.
Her face hardening in determination, Ter nodded. “Firefly, help Skylark move Rainbow to the couch. I’ll be with you shortly.” The mare then burst off, rushing into her room.
“Come on, Sky!” Firefly cried and she tucked herself under Rainbow once more.
“Oh thank goodness,” Sky huffed, “I thought I couldn’t hold her any longer!”
Firefly glanced apologetically to her friend as they moved into the house and Firefly kicked the door closed behind her. “Sorry!”
Soon enough, they were able to roll Rainbow onto the couch on her back. Carefully, Firefly and sky unfurled her wings into a more comfortable state so they weren’t compressed to her sides. With one last thought, Firefly gripped Rainbow’s hoof in her own. Sky chose to stand watch, glancing nervously to the hall where all the rooms were.
“Come on, Rainbow,” Firefly whispered, “Hang in there. You can do it.”
Ter came barreling out of her door, her hair tidied up more neatly with no hairs sticking out of place and gloves draped over a box on her back. The box was made out of metal, a red cross brightly portrayed on it, and Ter had adorned a face mask on herself.
“Aunt Ter?” Firefly asked, and Ter cast her eyes at Firefly.
“Firefly, I’m going to need you to step away while I check her vitals,” ordered Ter softly. “I’ll answer any questions you have later. But not right now.”
Firefly stepped back, and Ter dove right into her work. Setting the box down, Ter got her gloves on. With a loud click, the box opened and Ter began to dig through it’s contents.
“What’s she doing?” Sky whispered to Firefly.
Firefly couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “I have no idea; before today I thought she was the blandest earth pony aunt to ever live.” The two fillies continued to watch Ter work.
Neither of them could identify what was inside the medical box. Various medical paraphernalia were being organized onto a fresh towel by the mare with such precision that it would seem she had done it a million times over. As the contents of the box were all taken out, Ter brushed it off to the side and she picked up a strange y-shaped tool. What Firefly knew to be called a stethoscope.
“Checking vitals,” Firefly could hear Ter say to herself. “Analyze heart rhythm, airways, breathing, and circulation... “
Ter placed the flat end of the stethoscope onto Rainbow’s chest. Ter’s gaze hardened as she found something that Firefly could not understand. Placing the instrument away, Ter began to place her hooves underneath and on Rainbow, each time her hooves disappeared from their view, she checked them. Firefly bit her lip and Sky fiddled with her hooves.
“No bleeding, no signs of swelling or disfigurement…” Ter muttered, just loud enough for the fillies to hear. Realizing exactly what this meant, she widened her eyes, her tone increasing in strength. “By all physical accounts, she’s alright!”
Firefly cocked an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”
Ter turned to Firefly with a look of disbelief. “It means that her injuries are purely magical. Whatever this is…” Ter carefully took a sample of Dash’s blood and pinged it, staring at it with as she brought it up to one eye. “It is eating Rainbow Dash from the inside out.”
Firefly and Skylark gasped. “Is she dead!?” Skylark immediately inquired, putting a hoof to her mouth in the process.
“No.” Ter shook her head. Quickly moving to her organized medkit on the towel, she began to check labels and shake bottles. “But at this rate, she may very well soon be.”
Firefly rushed to Rainbow’s side, unable to understand her sudden feeling of attachment to the rainbow-maned mare. “B-but, I’ve only known her for two days, and not even!” Firefly cried, grabbing hold of Rainbow’s hoof. “She saved me and Skylark. We have to do something!”
Sky looked somewhat split, not sure what to say. “Firefly… What’s gotten into you? First, we meet this random stranger that basically doesn’t know anything around us and then you let her crash at your place. When she leaves and comes around a few days later, here we are now, trying to save her. What gives?”
Firefly turned her head, her eyes forlornly looking away as she held Rainbow’s hoof a little tighter. “I… I…”
“We can talk about this later, Firefly,” said Ter as she now had a needle prepared, “Right now, we’ve got a pony that needs medical attention.”
Watching as Ter gently tore Rainbow’s hoof from Firefly grasp, Ter propped the hoof over Rainbow’s chest. Feeling around a bit, Ter finally found what she was looking for and placed the needle in that specific spot. Injecting whatever it was that was inside the syringe, Ter grimaced.
Firefly couldn’t meet her friend’s questioning glance.
“Firefly, listen to me,” Ter said, pulling the filly’s hooves into her own. “Whatever is happening right now, to Rainbow Dash, to anypony, is not your fault. It is not. Your. Fault. Okay?”
Firefly nodded.
“And you need to promise me that you will take good care of Rainbow Dash when she eventually comes to stay with us, mhmm?”
Firefly nodded once more.
“Good,” Ter remarked. Tucking away the needle into a biohazard bin that hadn’t been there a second before, Ter turned to address both fillies.
“Because we need to get her to the hospital now.”
“Why?” Sky asked.
Ter looked over Rainbow’s decaying body, the medicine she had applied already taking it’s toll in slowing down whatever magical process had begun in Rainbow’s body for a short amount of time.
“There’s not much else for a doctor like to do in helping a Class-M magical injury.”
As a heavy silence filled the air for a moment, Ter continued.
“Ms. Cell?” the mare at the counter confusedly asked, watching as Ter rushed into the room with a pony on a stretcher and two fillies close behind.
“No time for formalities, Paper Weight, I need an emergency room!” Ter barked, talking as though she had done this a million times. For Firefly and Skylark, they wouldn’t have been surprised at that point if she had.
“Terra, why-” Paper Weight began, but was cut off by Ter’s next words.
“She’s in a Class M condition, Paper Weight,” Terra whispered gravely. “Class M.”
Firefly and Sky watched as Paper Weight’s eyes widened in surprise and shock. “But-but I thought…” Paper Weight trailed off.
“Yes, I know, and there’s no time to waste. It’s a miracle she’s still alive!” Ter said. “Can you get all doctors and nurses that aren’t attending to a patient in life-threatening condition and the head of the hospital to attend? We need all the minds we can get!”
She nodded quickly. “Emergency Room 7 is open,” Paper Weight said, her motions quick and panicky. She went to hit a button with a small grill. “To all doctors and nurses with a Class F patient or lower, please finish up and move to Emergency Room 7 ASAP. This is a Class M emergency. Doctor Magis, please report to ER 7. Thank you.”
Ter nodded quickly before she turned to the fillies. “I’m so sorry, Firefly, Sky. You’ll have to wait out here until we’ve got this down. Please don’t do anything rash.”
Before the Sky and Firefly could say anything, Ter had disappeared down the hall, speedily flying down the hall. The stretcher did not waver, and Ter’s movements were controlled. They tried to keep her in their view until she finally went into a doorway. Soon enough, confused and shocked doctors and nurses were rushing to the counter to check in as they fled down the halls to ER 7. When Doctor Magis came, it was clear who he was. A badge, a few pins, and the sense of authority filled the air. What was more was his flabbergasted face at the possible incursion of a Class M patient. Nodding to Paper Weight, he too joined the ranks of other speedy doctors and went into the room.
“Would you kids like a lollipop?” Paper Weight asked nervously, holding two suckers in her hoof. Firefly and Sky took a glance at each other before nodding quietly. As she hoofed them over, Paper Weight glanced down the hall. “Firefly and Sky, right?” Paper Weight confirmed. “Terra tells me all about you whenever she visits. You spend a lot of time getting in trouble, hm?”
Firefly and Sky neglected to answer, and an awkward silence filled the air.
“Uh,” Paper muttered. With a look of defeat, she looked down on the two fillies who remained standing, sucking on their lollipops and craning their heads to look down the hall. “They’re… Look, kids, they’re going to take a while. Please, if you would, I’d recommend you take a seat. Since it’s a… it’s a Class M, this may even take the whole night.”
Firefly had had enough of the mentioning of this stupid ‘Class M’. “What the hell does ‘Class M’ even mean?” she asked Paper.
Paper was taken aback by the crass vocabulary Firefly had used. Not sure what to say, Paper Weight blinked. “Well, it, uh… it means that the patient has suffered an irreversible magical spell that has the ability to disable parts of, if not whole sections of a pony’s body. It is supposed to be impossible to make a spell that is irreversible in that sense, or incredibly difficult to cause a pony’s body to basically fail on it’s own.
“For as far as we know…” Paper Weight murmured, “...it can’t be done. At least, not until today.”
A chill went down their backs, and both pegasi ruffled their feathers in discomfort. The way she had said it… it gave them bad vibes. As they glanced once more down the hall, they looked at each other.
“There’s nothing we can really do, Firefly,” Sky said. “This isn’t our problem.”
“It was for me,” Firefly murmured, and they both hopped onto some seats. “Can you just explain to me why I feel like this? Wanting her to be safe, even though I’ve only known her for a day or two?” Looking into Sky’s eyes for answers, Sky held it for a moment. Firefly was disappointed and left to ponder when Sky dropped her gaze, instead playing with the lollipop in her mouth and staring at her hooves.
With nothing to do and time to burn, Firefly closed her eyes to think.
“...Firefly…”
The small filly could see herself looking up at the technicoloured mare, amazed by the tricks she was performing. “You’re awesome, Rainbow Dash!” she would say.
“...Firefly…!”
Firefly's ears flicked at the sound of a familiar voice but couldn’t take her attention off of Rainbow Dash. As she watched her in amazement, it slowly turned to horror. Rainbow had begun to shrivel up, black wisps of something beginning to drain her of energy. As her wings locked up, Firefly could only scream in silent terror as she watched Rainbow being to plummet to her death…
“FIREFLY!” Sky cried, smacking Firefly across the face. The shock of the hit woke her up instantly.
“Ack-agh!” Firefly stuttered. “Wagh!”
Sky shook her friend out of her daze. “Get yourself together, girl,” Sky said. “I think they’re done now!”
Rubbing her eyes, Firefly blearily turned her head to see dozens of disheveled and prim-faced nurses and doctors coming from the hallway. Each was tired in some way. Some eyes were red, some were dry. Some coats were rumpled and others as crisp as how they were before. By this, Firefly could tell Sky was right.
Ter and Doctor Magis walking into the room together was the final nail in the coffin.
Rushing up to Ter, Firefly hugged her. “Aunt Terra!” Firefly announced. Sky just kinda stood awkwardly to the side as none of the ponies here was family she knew. “Is Rainbow going to be okay?”
Ter glanced to the doctor standing next to her before the doctor nodded. Nodding back in acknowledgement, Ter smiled softly. “Why don’t I take you two to her?”
She led Sky and Firefly down several more hallways than they had seen Rainbow be taken. Confused a little bit, Sky and Firefly shrugged at each other as they continued to follow the earth pony ahead of them. Soon enough, they came to a room that had a window and held only one occupant.
Lying down in a near comatose state was Rainbow Dash. As much as Firefly hated to admit it to herself, it made her insides churn to see the way Rainbow looked. The way she felt. The aura she gave off was all wrong. All kinds of wrong. Completely different to how she had been like just a few days prior.
Rainbow shifted slightly, having sensed three new presences in the room with her. Turning her head, she sighed. A tired smile donned Rainbow’s lips, but something else was in her eye. Firefly couldn’t understand it just yet, but in later years, she would realize it was the look of a pony on the brink of desperation and breaking down. And as all meetings go with the polychromatic mare, this was no different. With a soft grin, Rainbow nodded.
“That I did, squirt,” Rainbow Dash croaked, “That I *hack* did.”
“And my Aunt Ter saved you!” Firefly said enthusiastically looking to her flesh and blood.
“It wasn’t easy,” Ter said, “But me and my old colleague Magis Cane were able to stabilize… whatever it was that was attacking Rainbow’s mana directly.”
There was a short silence for the patient and two fillies to process her words. What was most pressing for the fillies however was a question Sky had been wondering since she had seen her best friend’s aunt work miracles. “Ms. Cell,” Skylark began, “Since when were you a doctor?”
The question took Terra by surprise, if only for a few moments. “I guess I did say questions later…” she muttered.
Firefly quickly shifted mindsets as she too had been wondering that question, though it had been set back as a minor priority compared to Rainbow’s life. “Yeah, Aunt Ter, since when were you a doctor?”
“Since I was a young mare, my little ponies,” Ter sighed. I can’t get out of this one, she thought. “I’ve always been a doctor. It’s my special talent. Although it doesn’t look it, the stick with a swirl on my flank does not mean the kitchen or some sport. It’s a rod of Asclepius.”
“What does that mean?” Firefly asked.
“A ‘rod of Skelepus’?” Sky inquired. “But it doesn’t look anything like a skeleton or a octopus?”
“Not ‘Skelepus’, Sky.” Ter corrected, “Asclepius. And it means ‘healing’.”
“So how did you get it?” Firefly asked. “Did you find some ancient artifact and save a whole town?”
“Or how about defeating an evil monster by hitting them with it!” Sky chimed in.
Ter chuckled. “None of the above, Sky, Firefly. I had been helping splint a friend that had injured her leg in a freak wagon accident and as I finished tying the tourniquets, there it was! A healing cutie mark! I went with my friend to hospital right then and there, and I eventually became a well-known contributor to the medical community. I was ecstatic, you know. It’s not everyday you get a cutie mark in something you’ve been wanting to do all your life. ”
“But I thought that’s what happens all the time?” Sky thought aloud.
“Not always, Sky,” Ter said. “Sometimes, you get a cutie mark in something you didn’t think you would ever be good at or do. And those times, you have to work extra hard, but those ponies always end up happy with their lives.”
As all of this happened, Rainbow Dash watched with melancholic interest. These two fillies were so eager to find out their destinies… so eager to do something in life… so eager to get their- their cutie marks…
Rainbow could feel the world begin to spin and blur as she thought of another group of fillies that she knew… or used to know. The Cutie Mark Crusaders. And- and… she might never get to see them again… How she would never be able to teach Scootaloo how to truly fly and feel the wind beneath her wings...
She could feel a tapping at her side and a voice calling her name. As the world righted itself, she looked to the side of her bed to see Firefly, Sky, and Ter eyeing her worriedly. “Rainbow? Are you alright?” Firefly asked.
Sniffling, Rainbow wiped her eyes. She couldn’t show weakness to the ponies she had just saved. However much being in a hospital bed lessened her awesomeness, she couldn’t let them see her like this. Nodding her head, she smiled shakily. “Y-yeah, of course! Rainbow Dash is always *gak* alright…!” She trailed off as her weak smile faltered at the sight of their disbelief.
“Come on Rainbow,” Firefly pleaded. “Tell us what’s wrong.”
Rainbow looked away, the tears returning in full force to her face. It was only seconds later that her fur was matted with tears. Red and hot, they made it hard to see. Her body shook, trying to contain her posture, but there was only so much she could do. “I… E-everything… N-not…”
Rainbow glanced down to her hooves and truly saw them for the first time since waking up. They seemed so unhealthily skinny. Her blue coat had lost its lustrous vibrance, replaced by a dull pallor. Fragile. Broken.
Pitiful.
Suddenly, she remembered why she had done what she did. Why she stood up to those thugs. To try and save those ponies. Because she didn’t have a reason to live anymore. What was the point? All her friends were gone. Tank was gone. Ponyville was gone. She was in a different time and place. Equestria was at war.
Everything she knew had disappeared in a flash.
Slumping into her bed and turning away from her visitors, Rainbow closeted herself. Curling herself in the blankets she was in, she began to cry. Cry, cry, cry. Why was she still here? Why was she still alive? She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. She shut them hard, seeing white in the black abyss. Her breath hitched, her body shook, and she was cut off from everything around her.
“Rainbow?” Firefly began to cry. “Rainbow? Rainbow!”
Ter looked on between her niece and the dulled polychromatic mare. She could only watch in detached understanding and sadness. “Firefly… we have to leave her be. When somepony is in this state, they can’t be disturbed. They need to time to heal and recuperate. There’s no telling when she’ll finally be okay.”
“But…” Firefly murmured worryingly, “She was fine just a second ago…”
“Firefly,” Sky said. “Maybe we should listen to your aunt. I think it’s time to go.”
“We can visit her tomorrow,” Ter said. “How about that? We’ll visit her tomorrow and maybe she’ll better then.”
Seeing Rainbow crying brought tears to Firefly’s own eyes, but she took one look at Sky and nodded. “Right. Uhm, yeah, let’s just have a sleepover or something. Sure.” Simple as that, Firefly promptly left the room.
Sky glanced worriedly at her own best friend before casting her eyes at Ter and running after Firefly. Taking one last look at Rainbow before she followed the fillies out, Ter sighed. “What could’ve made you like this?” Ter whispered aloud.
The next morning, they returned just as Ter had promised them. Knowing she would’ve been moved to a different medical wing, Ter asked the Paper Weight where they needed to go, and they made haste. Out of ear-shot, Paper Weight related to Ter that Rainbow had recovered and was responding but hadn’t said a word since they had left. Nodding, Ter, glanced over to the anxious fillies.
“Floor 3, Room 319,” Paper Weight supplied. “The staff is hoping that you will be able to cheer her up. She seems incredibly depressed.”
“I’ve seen that,” Ter replied. “We’ll make sure to do our best.”
Smiling, Paper Weight got back to work and Ter smiled at the fillies. “Alright, let’s go see Rainbow Dash.”
Down some hallways, up a couple flight of stairs, some more hallways, passing several doctors and nurses, and finally, a room. Emblazoned in gold letters on the door was the number 319, and Ter opened it gently. As the door creaked open, they saw Rainbow Dash silently gazing out the window into the skyline of Manehatten.
Rainbow had heard them coming from a mile away. Her ear’s had twitched when she heard the fast clip-clop of hooves and the hushed conversation of two fillies. But she didn’t move an inch. Only when she sensed they had sidled up beside her bed did she turn her head to face them.
To Firefly’s surprise, it was Sky who asked the first question. “You feeling better, Rainbow?”
Rainbow lethargically swung her head to meet the gaze of Sky. “Loads!” Rainbow croaked. Going into a coughing fit, Rainbow cursed herself mentally. “Ack! Gah! Huff… but could be better, yup.”
“Aunt Ter-” Firefly turned her head to look up at Ter “-How long until Rainbow gets out?” she asked.
“Not for a while, my dear,” Terra said. “She needs to undergo a few more examinations and physiotherapy.”
“But -hack- That’s boring!” Rainbow protested, and went into another short bout of coughs. “You’re a doctor, aren’t you? Can’t you pull some strings and bust me -urk- out of here?”
Ter sighed. “It’s not that simple, Miss Rainbow Dash. You’ve been severely injured.” Terra paused, thinking of what else to say. “Not only that… but you’ve been assigned a ‘Class M’ injury. That is supposed to be impossible.”
Rainbow Dash grinned devilishly as she winced. “Heh, that must look good on a resumé.”
“Quite,” Ter murmured.
“Miss Weight explained that to us,” Sky said. “But what exactly does that mean?”
Ter raised at an eyebrow at Sky. Turning to look at Firefly, she could see her nodding her head with an eager smile. “Oh, alright,” Ter said. “‘Class M’ is the highest tier -that’s level- of injury anypony can get. It means a pony has been more than magically affected. The very cells and ley lines within a pony have been altered, or changed. Something has happened on such a small catastrophic, dangerous scale that nothing we know of could cure or heal it.”
Rainbow has been listening intently and could only feel a cold shiver go through her as she heard the words come out of the horse’s mouth. The thoughts she were forming made her gulp and bring tears to her eyes. Uncurable? Rainbow thought. But… I’m sure Twilight could’ve figured something out…
The last thought made her almost break down again until she saw the scrunched up muzzles of Firefly and Sky in confusion. They feel just like them, Rainbow suddenly thought. They feel just like Scootaloo…
As if a wave of refreshing water had splashed over her, Rainbow’s mind went aflame in a new idea that she, for some reason, couldn’t shake. Her sadness was replaced with longing and attachment. Her depression was replaced with the faces of three determined little fillies, before she saw them in the two faces she saw before her. Sky and Firefly. Who would take care of them if she… if she disappeared? With her resolve beginning to ground itself, Rainbow had started climbing out of the hole that she had dug for herself.
“Hey, squirts,” Rainbow smiled. “Don’t worry about not understanding that crud. It’s advanced stuff.” As their faces lit up with mirth and understanding, Rainbow couldn’t help but feel a strong warmth in her bosom. One she had once hated, but it now brought her renewed purpose. It made her… belong...
With a smirk, Ter narrowed her eyes.“I’d have you know that it’s more than just ‘crud’,” Ter argued, but nopony could deny hearing the obvious tone of banter in her voice.
“Hey, if it ain’t broke...” Rainbow shrugged, smiling.
At that moment, a mare had walked in with a clipboard only to observe three unwanted visitors. “Oh dear…” the nurse murmured, “I’m done for…”
Ter’s ears flicked at the comments and turned to the nurse. “Sorry, Nurse…?”
“Greywall,” the nurse replied quickly, “Nurse Greywall.”
“It would appear we came at a most inopportune time, yes?” Ter asked.
“Erm, yes,” Greywall whispered. “I’m to take care of Rainbow Dash and was given instruction not to let any visitors except family come in.”
Everypony, Rainbow Dash included, glanced at each other with uncertain eyes. In that instance, Firefly spoke up. “Oh, sorry Nurse Greywall!” she cried, “This is my bigger sister Rainbow Dash! She’s only the most bestest awesomest friend I could’ve ever dreamed of meeting two days ago and-”
Sky stuffed a hoof over her friend’s mouth and Firefly’s muffled voice continued to run a mile a minute. “What she meant to say was…” Skylark began, “I’m her older sister, Rainbow is even older than me, and Aunt Ter is our relative on our mom’s side.”
Rainbow gulped, feeling more tears well up before she nodded with a large grin. “Y-yup! That’s me, big sis!...” And at that moment, Rainbow could only think of a certain purple-maned orange filly pegasus that she had come to know as a little sister to her, and her throat began to well up but she blinked several times and breathed, allowing her a space of calm.
Unfortunately for her, Nurse Greywall almost went cross-eyed from the sudden onset of ramblings she had just received. Widening her eyes a little as she blinked, she nodded all the same. “Okay, so, uh, I think you’re able to stay for a bit longer but I really must be getting to my caretaking duties again.”
Ter smiled softly. “Don’t worry, we won’t take long.” With that, they all turned back to Rainbow Dash, who was now eyeing Firefly and Sky, though the former more than the latter, with melancholic wistfulness. The threesome could see Rainbow’s eyes take on a misty sheen as her breath began to increase steadily in shaky rapidity.
“Rainbow?” Firefly asked, putting a hoof on Rainbow’s.
“H-huh?” Rainbow murmured, before blinking and seemingly realizing where they were for the first time. “S-sorry, I was just… remembering something…”
“It is alright, Rainbow Dash,” Ter said, covering for the sudden shift in mood that she knew Firefly and Sky would question lest she do something about it. “Hearing one is uncurable can put anypony a bit off.”
“Y-yeah, that…” Rainbow whispered, before smiling softly. “Promise you’ll visit, small fry?”
“Yes!” Firefly exclaimed. “Of course.”
“And watch after the runt, eh?” Rainbow asked Sky.
“Hey!” Firefly whined. “Sky is only a year older than me!”
“Heehee!” Sky giggled, “Your friend put me in charge!”
“You take that back!” Firefly growled, punching Sky in the fetlock.
“Yowch!” Sky cried before punching Firefly in her own leg and immediately dashing out of the room.
“Come back here!” Firefly shouted as she darted after her.
From the room, the remaining three occupants could hear Sky shout “You’ll have to catch me first!’
Rainbow could only stare on at the empty doorway with a doleful smile. She only barely acknowledged Ter returning her gaze to Rainbow’s form, and Rainbow continued to stare at the door space. Just like them, she thought. Just like the Crusaders. I can… I should be there for them. For Firefly.
“Goddess-speed, Miss Dash,” Ter said, and Rainbow finally acknowledged Ter once again.
Rainbow scrunched her muzzle in an effort to understand the words Ter had just said.“Huh?”
Ter could only smile. “I’ve tried my best to be Firefly’s aunt,” she began, heading towards the doorway. “But it seems it’s high time for her to spread her wings and fly.” With that, Rainbow watched as Ter left to go after the two fillies, leaving Rainbow to her thoughts. Slowly sinking into her sheets, Rainbow stared at the ceiling, trying to process Ter’s parting words.
“Would you like some breakfast now, Miss Rainbow Dash?” Nurse Greywall suddenly appeared beside Rainbow, holding a tray.
“Gyah!” Rainbow cried, jolting in bed before a coughing fit overtook her body.
Wincing, Nurse Greywall retreated. “Eek!” she said. “I’m sorry, Miss Dash! If I had known that you would be-”
Rainbow held a hoof up to stop her as she coughed into her left foreleg before casting a weary wary gaze at the nurse. “Y’know what? You’re fine. Just don’t go… randomly appearing beside unsuspecting ponies, alright?”
“Yes, Miss Dash,” Nurse Greywall murmured.
“And, uh, Greywall?”
“Yes?”
“Pass me the food. I’m starved.”
“...Okay...”
Shuffling. The food tray was passed, and utensils were forgotten in favour of direct munching.
Silence.
“Are you new?”
“...Erm…”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“...Okay...”
“Easy does it… No, not that quick! Eek!... O-h, you’re okay… that’s good. Now, just steady on your- woah!”
Since Rainbow’s confinement to her hospital bed, it had only been a couple days before the hospital had begun to mobilize her healing process.
The physician that was tasked with aiding in Rainbow’s physical therapy gasped as he caught Rainbow’s shaky form. Rainbow attempted to swat him away, but she could only fall into his steady grasp more and sighed in vexation. As she knew there had to be some physical activity for physiotherapy, Radial Art had to get Rainbow off of her bed, with the help of Nurse Greywall. And even though Radial had told Rainbow to go down slowly, she had practically flown herself off.
“Grr! Let go of me!” Rainbow complained, straining under their grasp.
“Miss Rainbow Dash!” Nurse Greywall attempted to reason, “We need you to be cooperative so we can help you heal faster!”
“I can heal on my own just fine,” Rainbow growled, grinding her teeth. “You just need to let me-”
“I can’t allow that, Miss Dash,” Radial said as he continued to struggle containing Rainbow Dash. “As your physician, I must advise in you ceasing your struggling as it could possibly be doing more damage than good, and that means a longer healing process!” At that, Rainbow strained one last time before falling limp and grumbling. After the trio took a small breather, Rainbow grunted one word.
“Fine.”
Oh, praise the sun, Radial thought before helping Rainbow back to four hooves and motioning for Greywall to help support Rainbow between them. “Now that we’ve -ahem- settled down, I would like you to do one thing for now and one thing only.”
“Oh yeah?” Rainbow snorted. “What is it.”
“Merely to stand.”
Silence.
“Pffffft! Hahaha!” Rainbow laughed, her whole body trembling between the two ponies she was squished between. “You want me to stand? I’m doing that right now, bub! What’s next, you want me to blink? Haha!”
Radial cast a forlorn face at Nurse Greywall and she only shook her head. “Miss Dash,” Radial said, “Perhaps it would be better if we showed you.” With that, Radial motioned his head away from Rainbow and they both nodded at the same time.
“Hey,” Rainbow said as she saw them conspiring. “What are you…”
They both stepped away from Rainbow’s sides.
In that instance, Rainbow’s legs began to shake as she wobbled under her own weight. “W-wait!” Rainbow cried, grimacing in effort. “W-why can’t I stand p-properly!?”
Radial’s expressions darkened at the sight but couldn’t help admire Rainbow’s resilience. He would’ve thought anypony else would’ve buckled by that point, but Rainbow was miraculously holding her own.
Grunting, Rainbow spread her weight before her legs stopped shaking, and she growled. Just then, she felt the need to stretch her wings and fly so she flapped, but didn’t feel the air. She plummeted almost straight down,. Ready to feel the oncoming floor, Rainbow closed her eyes in anticipation. She never got the satisfaction. Having suddenly felt the weight of two ponies beside her once more, Rainbow cracked her eyes open to see Radial Art and Nurse Greywall supporting her back up.
“As you can see Miss Dash,” Radial whispered gently, glancing at Nurse Greywall, “You need us. At least, for the foreseeable future.”
Rainbow said nothing, shakily bringing her own hoof up to examine it and bringing it to her chest with an inscrutable expression. Breathing a bit shakily, she steadied herself before looking forward with renewed vigor and a hard gaze..
“...Then let’s get started.”
“One step at a time…” Radial Art murmured. “Come on, that’s it…”
Rainbow breathed deeply as she grounded herself and took step after step, each one getting stronger than the last. Her balance was still questionable, but she could stand on her own now. Rainbow hated this. All of this. It was too technical for her. What she wouldn’t give just to be able to unfurl her wings and…
A steadying foreleg was put up against her, and she realized she had begun to fall forwards. Following the leg, she saw Nurse Greywall looking at her with all the concern a nurse could give. “Miss Dash, you’ve been improving so very well, but I must insist that you follow Mr. Art’s instructions and start with walking first.”
“Well put, Nurse Greywall,” Radial nodded. “A foal does not begin running the moment it comes out of the womb. The foal must take their first steps before they can finally start running.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow asked with an edge.
“Your wings have unfurled.”
Rainbow looked behind her to see her limp feathered appendages unfurling and furling back, as if in anticipation of imminent flight. “So what?”
“So you start flying, yes?” Radial said. “And you need to land. What then? Will you be as you are right now, barely able to keep it together much less walk the length of the room?”
Rainbow went silent.
“We’re here to help you, Miss Dash. It would only be beneficial towards you and a relief to us if you would co-operate more.”
As Rainbow continued to study the ground, Greywall looked at her ward worriedly. “Please, Miss Dash,” the nurse said. “After you learn to walk, then we can definitely talk about running and flying.”
Sighing heavily, Rainbow nodded. “...alright…”
Smiling softly, Radial nodded in approval at Greywall. “Now, Rainbow,” Radial said, “I want you to begin to take steps with us by your side. We will support you as you get a good grip on your hooves.”
With a jerky nod, Rainbow lifted a hoof… before placing it in front of her. She lifted the opposing back hoof and moved it forwards. Then came the other foreleg and other hind leg. At this point, they had moved a foot from the bed.
“Good, Rainbow,” Radial said. “Nice and steady. That’s how it should be from now on, until you are confident in your abilities.”
Step, shuffle. Step shuffle. Step shuffle, step shuffle. It went on like this for the majority of the hour, until Rainbow could feel herself grow tired just from the simple motions. Gritting her teeth, she urged her overseers to continue pushing her, and she kept going. On and on. On and on, until she finally nearly collapsed between the two.
“Gah!” Rainbow cried, nearly slipping between the Radial Art and Nurse Greywall.
“Miss Rainbow Dash!” Nurse Greywall squeaked, brushing up closer beside her and Rainbow was prevented from falling by the two ponies beside her.
“I think it is finally time for you to rest for today, Miss Dash,” Radial ordered. “Regardless of your feelings in continuing, you are overworked as it is. You’ve barely just been healed, and of a Class M injury no less; to see you this far already is a feat even I think is amazing. But that will not last if you are to damage what has already been made irreparable by unknown means.”
Rainbow, knowing exactly what he was getting at, sighed in defeat. “Alright, melon fudge. I’ll hit the hay.”
Radial and Greywall helped her onto her bed before Radial smiled. “Tomorrow will visiting day. Seeing your progress today, I think it’s safe to say you’ll be able to walk on your own soon.”
Rainbow grunted as she reclined into a position where she could stare at the ceiling and mope. “Anything else, sunshine?”
“You’ll be out of here in no time, Miss Dash,” Radial smiled. “Just you watch.”
Rainbow said nothing.
“Miss Dash!” Nurse Greywall called, running into the room with a smile. “Miss Dash, you’re family has come to visit!”
Rainbow’s ears twitched, and she turned her head to look at her. “Come again?”
Nurse Greywall’s smile faltered a bit in confusion. “Your, er, family? Doctor Cell and her nieces?”
“Oh, yeah,” Rainbow whispered. “Awesome.”
“I’ll get them for you,” the nurse smiled before leaving the room to Rainbow’s thoughts.
She looked out the window and observed the ponies milling about, selling wares and goods. Ponies making their way to work, making their way to wherever else ponies went. Ponies meeting up and chatting. She looked up and saw birds flying. Pegasi casually flapping away. Rainbow took a glance at her own wings and saw them go limp at her side, knowing she wouldn’t be able to fly for a good long while. Finally, she looked out the window once more.
This time, her eyes focused on the reflection of herself in the window.
Rainbow Dash looked haggard. Her fur was pale. Her complexion was a shadow of what her vibrant colours once were. Her uniform was nowhere to be found and her wings looked almost pathetic beside her. Looking into her own eyes, she found her irises had dulled, their magenta sheen having lost its shining glimmer. It was the first time in a week since she had truly looked at herself. The first time since she had begun trying to walk.
And she could barely feel the static that came with the weather. The way her fur would shift, her wings and feathers would tremble at the slightest change. She almost couldn’t feel it.
“What kind of pegasus am I?” Rainbow muttered, her voice cracking with despair. “What… what am I worth without my wings?”
As she watched her reflection in the mirror, she could swear she saw the colours return and her reflection look back at her with righteous anger.
“Are you kidding?” her reflection seemed to say, “You’re Rainbow Dash, the most awesome pony around!”
Rainbow could only look at her shrivelled form. “Am I awesome like this? A… mess of feathers and fur that can barely walk… much less fly?”
Her reflection glared angrily at her. “Would your friends think any less of you?” it implied. “Would Scootaloo think any less of you?”
Rainbow felt hot tears welling up, and she shook her head. “N-no, but-”
“Then what? Are you going to sit around and sulk? Or make use of the life you have left?” her reflection said. “Be the pony you’re friends knew you to be! Loyal! Unwavering! Stalwart and unmoving! Awesome!”
Rainbow tried to meet her own gaze. “And what if I f-fail? What if I…”
Her reflection’s gaze softened. “We’re Rainbow Dash. We make do. We can be honest, like Applejack. Be kind, like Fluttershy. Bring laughter, like Pinkie. Be generous, like Rarity. And be like the eggheaded Twilight Sparkle and bring magic everywhere you go, because you and me, we are Rainbow Dash.”
As Rainbow found herself finally looking at her own reflection once more, she heard herself echo one last thoughts, the vestiges of an epiphany fading away into her mind.
Be the pony you always were…
At that moment, Rainbow could hear the telltale signs of hooves clip-clopping their way to her room. With haste, Rainbow wiped her face clean of tears and mucous, grabbing a paper towel and wiping it all off before crumpling it up and hiding it. Just as she blinked her eyes of their moisture, all five ponies entered the room with bright smiles.
Rainbow blinked.
Five Terra, Firefly, Sky, Nurse Greywall… and Radial Art. Rainbow mentally shrugged. It really didn’t matter if he was here, but she knew he was here for a reason.
“Hey everypony,” Rainbow Dash grinned, before her gaze landed softly on Firefly.
“Rainbow!” Firefly grinned. “Mister doctor said you’ve been healing up!”
“Sound like you’re getting better by the day!” Sky exclaimed beside her. “We heard you can walk now!”
“Eh heh heh…” Rainbow laughed nervously, flashing her eyes at Radial with suspicion. He only shrugged.
“And it’s nice to see you looking more alive and well, Rainbow,” Ter greeted. “You truly are getting better by the day.”
“Yeah…” Rainbow whispered. Looking down at the two fillies by her bedside, her eyes landing solely on Firefly.
Be the pony you needed when you were younger…
Thoughts of her parents welled up in Rainbow’s mind. How they had always cheered her on. Supported her, through thick and thin. Through failure and hard-won success. How she had reconnected with them just… just a few weeks ago by her time. But when Rainbow thought back, she had always wanted somepony to look up to, aside from herself. Somepony just as awesome yet amazing, knowing everything there was to know about flying. She thought all this in the span of a second as she smiled at Firefly.
“So, how you doin’, small fry?” Rainbow said. “Been holding up just fine?”
“Yeah!” Sky answered with Firefly. She then pointed between Firefly and herself. “We’ve been racing around Manehatten, and Firefly still hasn’t beat me!”
Sky received a punch in the arm, eliciting a shout of surprise and pain. “It’s only because you’ve had more time to practice,” Firefly grumbled.
Tapping her on the shoulder, Rainbow Dash leaned in to whisper something to Firefly. Firefly was confused at first, but as Rainbow spoke, Firefly’s eyes widened.
“When I get out of here,” Rainbow whispered, “I’ll teach you all my moves, capiche?”
“R-really!?” Firefly cried. “You’re such an amazing flyer! You went all boom! and kapow! on those bad guys! Will you teach me that too?”
“Wait, you’re going to what now?!” questioned Sky. “No fair!”
“Everything’s fair when you’re trying to get better,” Rainbow sagely said.
“That…” Sky whispered, taking it in before squinting, “...makes no sense at all! It’s still not fair!”
Firefly blew a raspberry at her.
Sky blew one back.
They both began to blow raspberries and Rainbow had to shield herself of stray spit.
Ter pulled them apart, and everypony rested easier.
Be the pony for Firefly that Scootaloo made you out to be…
“Rainbow,” addressed Ter. “Doctor Art here said that you wanted to show us just how far you’ve gotten in healing as of late.
“He w-what?” Rainbow hissed, glaring at Radial. “I didn’t agree to this!”
“Miss Dash,” Radial smirked, walking up to her side, “I think we both know that you’re perfectly ready to show off just how well you can walk now.”
Through gritted teeth, Rainbow pulled the tie around his neck down and growled in his ear. “And what if I fall?” she said, “Fall, and disappoint those kiddos over there who are for no reason whatsoever, looking up to me?.
Radial only smiled. “I also think we both know that that is not going to happen.”
Rainbow sighed, and glanced at all those watching. Firefly glanced back, shifting her eyes between Rainbow and Radial to try and determine what they were discussing. With a nod, Radial called Nurse Greywall over, and they began to help Rainbow down, albeit mostly unsuccessfully and Rainbow still didn’t like being helped a lot.
As Rainbow was propped up between the two, Radial cleared his throat. “We’ve been helping Rainbow regain the strength to walk over the past couple days, and we are confident she has healed enough to show you just how good she is again.”
“Jee, thanks,” Rainbow muttered, “You’re making it sound like I wasn’t able to walk before.”
“I said ‘again’, didn’t I?” Radial smiled before nodding at both her and the nurse.
Rainbow steeled her hooves and the two medical ponies stepped away.
Rainbow wobbled a bit, and she could hear the collective holding of a breath as to see what would happen. With a growl, Rainbow stomped a foreleg into the ground, in turn causing it to nearly cause Rainbow to buckle at the surprising amount of pain, but helped her concentrate. The wobbling stopped, and she grinned.
“Feast your eyes,” Rainbow smiled before taking a slow step forward.
Step, clip, step, clop.
Step, clip, step, clop.
Her motions began slowly, still shaking from the effort at first, until her pace began to grow and Rainbow started doing circles in the room.
“Go Rainbow!” Firefly shouted, hollering through a cupped muzzle. “Woo!”
“Yeah Rainbow!” Sky called, “You can do it!”
And finally, Rainbow’s trot evened out and she could feel a might sense of pride and accomplishment well up in her breasts. “Oh yeah!” Rainbow pumped a hoof in the air. “I’m awesome!”
Grinning at Radial and the Nurse, they smiled back. She found her eyes resting on Ter’s own smiling figure and the doctor of a mare nodded in approval.
“Well, kid,” Rainbow began, propping herself up on her bed, “Looks like I’ll be coming… coming home sooner than ya think.”
Firefly beamed, and Rainbow couldn’t help but see a scooter-rolling filly in her place. With a sigh, Rainbow felt one last thought go through her mind before everypony began to bombard her with more tales of daily life and the woes of being a kid in Manehatten.
“Miss… Paper Weight?” a gentle stallion asked as he approached the desk, looking at the tag.
Paper Weight only smiled and nodded. “Yes, that would be me. What can I do for you, sir?”
The stallion smiled warmly. “Miss Paper Weight, you have already done enough to brighten my day with your smile.” At the comment, Paper Weight began to blush. He continued. “But if you wouldn’t mind me asking, just who was it in this hospital was recorded with a… ‘Class M’ injury?”
Paper Weight blinked, before checking her records and any pre-prepared notes on whether she was allowed to say. “I’m not sure whether I’m authorized to tell you anything, so if you would just wait a moment.”
Seeing the mare shuffling about, he widened his eyes in remembrance.“Ah! Yes. Here are my credentials and pardon papers, to make things easier.” Paper Weight glanced up from her rummaging and smiled primly, quite relieved. Taking them in her hoof, she looked them over, and her eyes were drawn to one particular symbol.
“The… Manehatten-”
“Yes, Miss Weight,” the stallion nodded. “It would be best if you were not to mention such aloud.”
“But of course,” Paper Weight acknowledged, hoofing the papers back. “Two floors up, Doctor. Rainbow Dash, attending physician Radial Art and Nurse Greywall. Room 319. You can’t miss it.”
“Thank you, my dear,” he murmured warmly. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”
Paper Weight beamed. “Thank you, Doctor. Not many ponies are as appreciative as you.”
Tipping his hat to her, he smiled. With nothing else holding him down, he made his way to the stairs. Climbing the flights, his thoughts turned to who this pony might just be. Who could be reckless enough… crazy enough… and careless enough to let something happen to them? Surely, it would be somepony with nothing to lose… or else it would be an unfortunate soul.
Mind lost in thought, he nearly tripped when two little fillies ran into him, knocking him a few feet back in surprise. The two giggled at each other before looking up in sudden realization. Seeing their expressions turn to grimaces and apologies, he quickly stepped forward to remedy the situation. With an open expression speaking of forgiveness and mirth, he smiled.
“Ah, two adventurous souls running into an old shnitzel like me! What could possibly bring a gaggle of young madchen to such a confining space of the afflicted?”
The pink and blue one’s face instantly shone with pride and happiness, as did the filly beside her. “Well, me and Sky were just checking up on the greatest pegasus- er- sister in the whole world!”
“She saved us and everything just before we got her here too!” the filly named ‘Sky’ said. “I think I respect her just as much as Firefly does now!”
Firefly nodded her head vigorously.
Crouching low, almost as if he was ready to pounce, he stretched his lips in jovial accord. “So, you admire a mare that is capable of incredible feats of bravery to stand up for two amazing little fillies?”
“Hey, I’m not little!” the one named ‘Firefly’ accused.
“Yeah!” Sky pouted. Both pegasi began to flutter their wings, which he found outright adorable. Grinning, he backed away slightly, waving a hoof. “Oh, but of course! You are such dashing grown ups to be here in a hospital with scary needles and blades, visiting a good relative.”
“Rainbow Dash isn’t good, she’s great! Yup yup!” Firefly agreed. “We just came from her finally walking again after only, like, five days!”
He raised an eyebrow at her before looking at Sky. Sky bobbed her head in agreement. “You should’ve seen her, all tired and sick, but she still began to walk in front of us!”
Hearing that, he was impressed inside. Only a pony with resilience and steadfastness would be able to attempt such a feat. With a mental smirk, he smiled once more. “But of course, you must be amazing yourselves to be visiting her.”
“That they, are,” a yellow mare said, approaching from behind the fillies. “Hello there, mister…?”
The stallion nodded, obliging. “Ah, but of course. Introductions are all but necessary, yes?” Stretching out a hoof, he smiled as she took it and shook. “Goldheart, usually affixed with the title ‘doctor’, but such titles are unnecessary in these instances, hm?”
She smiled at him with tired, understanding eyes. “As one attached to such a prefix, I can understand. Terra Cell, doctor, aunt, and friend.”
“Doctor Cell?” Goldheart asked, pulling the name from his head. “Co-inventor of many First-Aid practices several years before the war?”
Wincing, Terra sighed. “As you can see, the name brings with it accomplishments.”
“I am sorry, Fraulein, I did not mean to bring up any unwanted attention,” Goldheart apologized. “But it is most interesting to find you here in the wings of a hospital.”
“If only the same could be said, Goldheart,” Terra murmured. “I have to get these girls home before bedtime, so it was very nice meeting you. Thanks for humoring -erm- my little fillies after their rude collision with you.
“Think nothing of it, Fraulein,” Goldheart bowed, “I live to bring the best out of ponies and other kinds alike.”
“I’m certain you do, Doctor,” Terra smiled, already pulling Firefly and Sky along as she began to trot forward.. “You seem decent enough. It was nice meeting you.” They proceeded to begin to walk past him.
“And you as well, madame.” Tipping his hat as they passed, he sighed softly, holding the hat to his chest and looking forward with trepidation, and a soft, gentle smile.
“Rainbow Dash… interesting,” he murmured.
Rainbow Dash felt the smile cling to her face before it began to fade away, whatever her physician or nurse was saying was lost to her.
She stared at the open doorway with mixed feelings, wondering what in Equestria she was going to do. Who she might become for Firefly. Would she be a surrogate sister? Would she become a close friend? A role-model?
She couldn’t help but wonder, her eyes darting to her fiddling, shrivelled hooves.
“...and make sure to get lots of water, as I always remind you after our sessions,” Radial droned.
“...I’ll be sure to take care of her, Doctor Art,” Nurse Greywall smiled. With a nod, Radial Art smiled at Rainbow Dash and turned to leave the room. As he left, he passed a hatted stallion, who smiled and tipped his hat. Nodding back, Radial Art left, and Goldheart stood at the doorway to 319.
“How are you doing, Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow Dash didn’t reply.
As Greywall fidgeted, she heard a knock at the door. Seeing Goldheart, the nurse furrowed her brows. “Hello, Fraulein,” Goldheart greeted, “I’m here to see Miss Rainbow Dash.”
“Are you a family member or close family friend?” she asked, stepping away from her patient. Rainbow Dash’s ears flicked.
“Quite the opposite,” Goldheart smiled warmly, “But I wish to remedy such a situation. I’m to be expected, of this I am sure.”
Raising an eyebrow, she looked at the visitor's roster and pursed her lips. “Doctor Goldheart?”
“Der einzig wahre.” Goldheart nodded, holding his hat to his chest and bowing slightly.
Smiling nervously, the nurse nodded back and placed the clipboard down. Turning to Rainbow Dash, she said “You’ve got another visitor, Rainbow. He’s a doctor, like Radial, so he’ll be good company!”
Rainbow Dash stayed silent.
Biting her lip, Nurse Greywall sighed and nodded to Goldheart again before trotting out of the room. This left the remaining two occupants to settle in the imposed silence.
As Goldheart looked Rainbow Dash over, he couldn’t help but pity her. Everything about her told him she was sick. The way her wings and feathers drooped. How her mane lay limp. Her coat was a shade greyer and her frame seemed emaciated and unhealthily thin. Goldheart could tell from one look that at another time, she had been beautiful. Dashing and athletic, even. Alas, his eyes pitied the mare in front of her.
Pulling a chair up from the wall, he positioned himself by the foot of Rainbow’s bed and joined her in looking out the window at the cityscape before them.
Rainbow Dash tore herself away from her introspection as she looked the suited pony up and down. His somewhat ill-fitting suit, his tie, and his hat. The spectacles he wore were round and small, perfectly fitting on the middle of his muzzle.
“When I was a child, cities like this fascinated me,” Goldheart whispered, his eyes twinkling. “How other ponies built their house, instead of carving or growing them from the crystals blessed to us by the earth.”
Rainbow watched him with squinted eyes. Goldheart noticed this, and shook his head slightly.
“You have nothing to fear from me, mein freund,” Goldheart murmured. “I wish only to talk.”
Wiggling her jaw with a degree of annoyance, Rainbow turned to look out the window.
He continued. “When I grew up, I knew I wanted to move away from our kingdom’s citadel and find a place in the world. Make a difference, and… and make everyone’s lives, pony or otherwise, better.”
Rainbow silently listened, if only because she was tired of her own musings.
“And then the war started, of this I’m sure you know. It started two years ago, and with it rose the mighty King Sombra. Small at first, ja? Nothing to warrant attention… until late into last summer when things started to kick up.”
Talk of the Crystal War now brought Rainbow’s full attention to him.
“I… I can sense it within you, Fraulein,” Goldheart said. “The will to do good. The strength to overcome trials. A heart of gold… as it were.”
Rainbow sighed, her eyes drooping to her reflection in the window once more. “Fat load that does me. Now I’m sitting in a dank hospital with nothing but my… m-my reflection to keep me company.”
“You were injured, ja?” Goldheart asked. “Saving those fillies I bumped into in the hall?”
Rainbow pursed her lips. “Mm…” she hummed quietly.
“A brave gesture, considering what came of it.”
Rainbow shot her eyes at Goldheart. “I didn’t get this from that,” Rainbow croaked. “I… I tried to save some ponies on a… on a b-battlefield… this small bomb or something stuck into the ground and exploded some weird black dust in the air… and… everything started to die. E-everything…”
It was Goldheart’s turn to watch Rainbow as she bore her gaze into the window once more. He could see the twinge of confusion and fear in her eyes. The way they glinted almost… differently. Looking at his files in hoof, he shuffled a couple pages to the forefront and pored over them once more, looking over the results from all the testing that had been done on Rainbow Dash.
It was the most curious thing to him. He could see the mare in front of him struggling to breathe, and yet, something was sustaining her. Goldheart believed one great factor was sheer willpower, a kind he had seen far and few in between ponies, but also a desperation that pushed her forward. The more medical and practical explanation, however… it was many times more interesting.
A wither-bomber should have killed her. It should have corrupted her very life essence and damned it to oblivion. It should’ve been her end. And yet, by these reports, he saw something remarkably different. The doctors at the hospital, this hospital, however good they were, didn’t understand what they saw, but Goldheart certainly did.
Something was combating the disease. The dark magic that leeched and fed on the good of the world and the life that it sustains. A swirl of energies, an amalgam of magic that was so beautifully complex even Goldheart had trouble understanding it, but it was something. In truth, Rainbow was and would likely be the first and last pony to survive the use of such a spell. He knew what it did. And he finally found a pony who could help him.
“Fraulein, if I may,” Goldheart started, watching as Rainbow paid no mind to him, “There is a way I can help you. A way for you to be whole again. Restored. And, in the most likely of cases, even enhanced.”
Rainbow’s ears flicked at the notion, this time slowly turning her head to look at the doctor. Her baffled expression was a novelty to Goldheart. She said “Did I hear you just right, egghead? Did you say you can fix this-” she motioned to herself weakly “and even make me better? Have you been hit in the head too hard?”
Goldheart let a light chuckle escape his lips. “Ah, yes, snark away my dear. It is good to know you are still alive.” Leaning in a bit more conspiratorially, he began putting his files back into his folder. “Yes, it is possible. Granted, this is experimental, as you are such a unique case, so I cannot guarantee your survival…”
Rainbow found herself saying “What about me makes me so unique?” Surprised at herself, she wondered if she too was going crazy, as if she wasn’t the first pony to pull a rainboom and wasn’t an Element of Harmony.
“Well,” Goldheart said, “Let us put it this way. You are alive because there is something special about you. Do you not know that no mortal, save a few special cases (namely the Two Sisters and certain dragons), has survived what you have? The Wither, as you have described it, is just that. It withers everything it touches. It kills the light around it and thus suffocates the life it sustains. But you, you were able to beat it back. Something happened, ja? I believe, something extraordinary?”
Rainbow paused for a moment before nodding. “I, I guess, yeah. I pulled a sonic rainboom. It’s something that’s supposed to be legendary, and every time I pull it off it releases a lot of magic.”
“A ‘sonic rainboom’?” Goldheart mused with a soft smile. “Well, that certainly helps narrow it down. Mein freund, if you were to accept my offer, not only would I be able to help you, but you may very well give Equestria a fighting chance in this war. Does that not sound like a fair deal?”
“And how exactly would I help when I’m like this?” Rainbow snapped. “Right now, the wind could push me over and I’d snap like a twig. How could I help you?”
“That is for me to know, and you to find out.” Goldheart smiled. “But there are certain hurdles I am unable to dismiss even with my status. There is a war camp just outside of here you must enlist in before I allow you to take part in my little project. I am very sure, however, that even if you are not chosen, I would be able to pull some strings.”
“So is that all?” Rainbow asked. “I’ll be some sort of lab rat? An experiment? I’ve been in a lab way too many times because of my friend Twilight. No thanks.”
“No, no,” Goldheart assured. “You will not be experimented on like that.” With a grin, he added “I promise there won’t be needles either.”
Rainbow shivered. “You better make good on that promise, doctor.”
“I will do my best,” Goldheart admitted. “Just… remember that what is coming, should you choose to accept, will be gruelling, burdening, and I would not be able to guarantee your survival. It will be a challenge in and of itself.”
“So you’re saying I could die?”
Goldheart, expecting the direct translation, bowed his head a little with hesitancy. “That is correct, mein freund.”
As a pregnant silence filled the air, Goldheart looked up to see Rainbow Dash lost in deep thought. No doubt coming to terms with all that had just been discussed, and processing everything that was said. He could definitely see the contemplation in her eyes as she stared into her own reflection, an unknown question filling her eyes.
Finally, after some time, Rainbow whispered something. “Pardon? Goldheart asked.
“I’m… gonna become a soldier?”
Goldheart nodded. “Yes, but not just a soldier. A super soldier.”
Rainbow pondered the conundrum presented to her. On one hoof, she had promised her newly named sisters-in-all-but-blood that she would be there for them, but at what cost? Going to a camp, going through war drills, being ordered around, gone for months on end… What kind of Element of Loyalty would she be if she abandoned Firefly and Sky just after she said she would stay with them? But then, what kind of Element of Loyalty would she be if she also let monstrosities like the one she was battling get let loose on Equestria as a whole?
Feeling a headache coming, she closed her eyes and focused inwards. She’d been doing a lot of that lately. And it seemed to help focus her. She tried to gather her thoughts, but they scattered like dust in the wind, like the life that withered away, like her own body. Would it be right to let Equestria fall, to even maintain the idea that she could’ve helped save Equestria but let it fall to a mad tyrant like Sombra? But was it alright to leave behind fillies who were already suffering loss, abandonment?
To maintain the future, or live in the past?
Or maybe she could do both.
Taking a deep breath, she stared Goldheart in the eyes. “Will it... will it help me help everyone? Will it help me keep my promises?”
Goldheart was taken somewhat aback by this question, but he nodded earnestly, an amused smile quickly growing. “Don't worry, it is sure to make you the best große schwester you can be."
“And there won’t be needles?”
“I’ll do my best.”
"Firefly likes soldiers..." A beat. "Scootaloo digged soldiers..." A sigh later, she nodded her head. “Alright. Yeah. Whatever. I’m in.” Goldheart beamed. Just as he was about to say something else, however, he was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.
“But seriously dude, I know a hoof-ful of crystal ponies and none of them sound like they're from Germaney.”
Goldheart did a double take.
“What’s your deal, dude?” Rainbow asked, tiredly raising an eyebrow.
Goldheart blinked. “Er, I… studied abroad for a long time. I picked up a few things in my travels, Fraulein. Heh, I suppose it is somewhat strange-"
Rainbow waved a hoof. “Y’know what? I know a lot of ponies with accents. Not all that strange, actually. As long as we can trust each other, yeah?"
Goldheart chuckled softly.
“Loud and clear, mein kleines pony.”
Issue 2.6 - A Little Less Sad and A Little More Awesome
“Paper Weight, please record that Rainbow Dash has been released as a ward of the Manehatten General Hospital.”
Paper Weight looked up from her work to see Rainbow Dash standing in between the bodies of Nurse Greywall and Radial Art. “Mm? Really? Rainbow Dash, are you feeling better?”
Rainbow fidgeted. “Uh… yup! No worries here!”
Smiling, Paper Weight recorded it in the books and nodded to Radial Art before looking at the polychromatic pegasus.. “Alright, Rainbow Dash! There are a few more steps I have to take to make sure you’ve been fully released from the system, but you’re allowed to go free! I’ve contacted your family. They should be here in no time. Feel free to wait anywhere you want, as you are still within hospital boundaries to be taken care of.”
“Alright, Rainbow!” Nurse Greywall said, “I feel so proud of how you’ve progressed as far as you have-”
“Save the mushy stuff for somepony else, Nurse,” Rainbow said. “Talk as much as you want. I just don’t like cheesy cliche’d stuff.”
“Uh, okay…” Greywall murmured, looking away with a little flushing in her cheeks.
“But truly, Rainbow,” Radial Art said, “You’ve been absolutely fascinating to work with. I didn’t think you would ever recover in terms of maneuverability as fast as you did. I know there a dozen more tests and examinations that would need to occur to fully realize the scope of your actual healing… but I can say with full confidence that you have shown immense strength just in pushing yourself this hard.”
Rainbow grimaced at him, having to mentally tell herself to remain standing though it had gotten easier over the days. “Keep talking, Doc. I’m trying to stay standing here.”
Radial Art smiled. “And it’s the fact that you’re still trying that makes me happy to have had you as a patient.”
Rainbow sighed. “What did I say about the mushy stuff?” Rainbow’s voice cracked.
“Alright then, Miss Dash.” Radial Art tilted his head to her in acknowledgement. “We shall leave you to your own devices and attend other patients. Come along, Nurse.”
Greywall fidgeted as she looked at Rainbow. “It was nice taking care of you. You have a good soul. Don’t let all of this bog you down. You’ve still got your life. Take care of it.” With those words, Rainbow parted with them. Seeing them walk away with no words of her own, she called out.
“Thank-! Uh… Thank you!” Rainbow remarked, raising a hoof and waving.
Looking back, both medical practitioners waved back before disappearing behind a corner. And finally, Rainbow stood there, staring down a hallway as ponies passed to and fro between rooms. All the while, continued to look, thinking of how much they had really helped her. Biting her lip as she thought of all the words she could and should have said.
“Thanks for everything…” Rainbow whispered, staring at her hooves. Staring at her hooves had become a habit for her. It reminded her of what she had done to be like that. What she would continue to do. She had saved a few lives on the battlefield, and the lives of Firefly and Sky. In turn, she had fallen victim to some weapon that caused her to be like this… but if the price was to save even one life…
It was all worth it.
“Miss Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow flicked her ears at the calling of her name. Lethargically turning around to face who it was, it seemed to be the receptionist. Paper Weight held something in her hooves. “Erm… Doctor Goldheart, as his name was told to me, said to give this to you upon your release.” Stretching the envelope out for Rainbow to grab, Rainbow looked at it.
It was addressed to her with simple script. Nodding, she said “Thanks” and took it from her. Paper Weight nodded and returned to work, and Rainbow turned the letter in her hooves. It was a non-descript brown colour, almost trying to look unnoticeable. Seeing it was sealed, she ripped at the edges until it opened, two sheets of paper falling out.
One was a small note with writing on it, the other a folded piece of paper with a military-looking stamp. Glancing at the note, she read it’s contents.
To Miss Rainbow Dash,
Here are your enlistment forms. I think you will be pleased to find that your call to the boot camps is a week from today, giving you plenty of time to reconcile with your loved ones before the experiment. I would strongly advise you try and prepare mentally and physically for what is to come. I strongly believe in you and your abilities, Rainbow Dash, though we have just met. We may talk later, but suffice it to say, do not worry. All in good time.
Regards,
Goldheart
Pursing her lips. Rainbow moved on to the forms. It seemed that all the information had been pulled from the various tests and information done to and gathered on her within her time in the hospital. With a furrow of her brow, she looked through some of it.
Found Fully Acceptable for Induction Into All Active Military Services: Yes No
Summary of Patient Health Issues:
Asthma
High blood pressure
Palpitation or pounding in heart
Easy fatigability
Atrophied muscles, negatively accelerated to a substantial rate
CLASS M INJURY: IN NEED OF EVALUATION Under jurisdiction of PROJECT: REBIRTH
Rainbow grimaced as she read the last few lines, the list of her newfound ailments bothering her to the highest degree. She was once the fastest flyer in Equestria. Capable of breaking multiple sound barriers before performing a Sonic Rainboom! She was-! She was…
She was.
WIth a sigh, her eyes fixed on the name ‘Project: Rebirth’. What the hay does that mean? Rainbow thought, frowning. Is it the experiment this Goldheart guy is talking about?
Finally looking up at the sound of two high-pitched voices conversing, she found herself grinning at the sight of Firefly and Skylark.
The two fillies widened their eyes at the sight of Rainbow, and they began to bound towards her, Ter in tow. As they hugged Rainbow, her eyes bugged a bit.
“Ack!” Rainbow squawked. “Hey! A little too tight! Gack!”
Firefly and Sky immediately let go. “Sorry!” apologised Firefly. “We just were so excited to see you outside of a stuffy hospital room!”
“You and me both, sister,” Rainbow wheezed, tapping her chest.
Firefly’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Rainbow. “Sister?! Are we already going to call each other that?! Can I call you Big Sis? Wow! I have a big sister now! This is so unreal! I never-mmmrffmrfff!”
Firefly blinked as she looked down to see her muzzle muffled by Rainbow’s hoof.
“Look, small fry,” Rainbow said, “If we’re going to be sisters or something jazzy like that, let’s tune the talking down 20%, capiche?” Removing her hoof, she watched Firefly vigorously nod her head. Smirking, Rainbow turned to Sky. “So, what about you?”
“Well, I’m happy to see you out of that room too,” Sky said. “Just not as excited as Sky. She’s all over you. Can’t stop worrying about you either. In fact- OUCH!” Sky turned to glare at Firefly as she rubbed her foreleg. Firefly glare back.
“I thought we agreed never to speak of it,” Firefly growled, and Sky gulped.
“Yeah, uh-huh, okay!” Sky blurted. Smiling, Firefly turned back to Rainbow.
“So, what’s that you got there, Rainbow?” Firefly asked, pointing to the envelope beside Rainbow. Quickly stuffing its contents back in, she folded it. Giggling nervously, Rainbow hid it behind her before clapping her hooves in one swift motion.
“Hehehe! Er, nothing! So, what have you fillies been up to-”
“Actually, Rainbow,” Ter said, finally saying something after having stood silently, watching, “I would like to know that too. I think I saw a very notable stamp on that sheet of folded paper you had there.”
Silence.
Gulping, Rainbow glanced at all three faces staring at her. “Maybe... we should take this back to your house before I talk about it.”
Ter nodded. “That’s reasonable enough. Come on, girls, back to my apartment.”
“But we were just there!” Sky complained.
“And we want to know now!” Firefly whined.
Ter picked them up by the scruffs of their necks, Firefly with her mouth and Sky with a hoof. As they shouted in defiance and squirmed in her grips, Ter turned to Rainbow. “Arr youf comfing?” she said, her voice muffled with the body of Firefly.
“Yep!” Rainbow nodded, wincing as she got to her hooves and putting the envelope on her back. As she hobbled to the side of Ter, Ter nodded. She then proceeded to walk on three legs, successfully maintaining her balance and a study pace with two struggling-and-quickly-giving-up fillies.
Rainbow followed her to their home.
“Wait… what?” Firefly blinked. “What!?”
“Seriously?” Sky asked.
“Hm…” was all Ter said.
Rainbow scratched the back of her neck with a nervous laugh. “Eheheh… yeah, I guess.”
“But… but…” Firefly said, “You’re going to be a soldier in the army? That’s awesome!”
“Yeah, it totally is right?” Rainbow breathed, sighing in relief. “They even said I could get better with this sort of program or something!”
“But…” Sky began, “Doesn’t that mean you’ll be away from home even more now?”
Silence.
“Rainbow?” Firefly muttered. “As awesome as this is… you said you would be my big sister…”
“I know, small fry,” Rainbow said, “But I can’t really be a big sis like this, right?” She motioned to herself.
“But… you’ll be away…” Firefly said. “I guess that’s okay. I mean… I’ve been alone this long with just my best friend, right? And being a soldier is cool, especially somepony like you…”
Seeing her increasingly downcast expression, Rainbow gripped the filly’s shoulders. “Firefly, I’m not leaving for a week. You know what that means?”
As the thoughts raced through her head, Firefly began to brighten up. “We can hang out and do sister things! Yay!”
“Can I join in?” Sky asked. “Feeling a little left out here.”
“Of course, dude,” Rainbow voice-cracked. “You’re her best friend. You’re practically family!”
Sky hoof-pumped. “Yes!”
Firefly finally said “But then… you’ll be gone anyways. I guess I can write you?”
Rainbow glanced back to Firefly before looking aside in guilty thought. As she thought of what she could do, she sighed, and pulled the first thing that came to mind.
“Alright, kiddo,” Rainbow started, “When I get healed or whatever, or whenever they release me, I’ll tell you first, alright?”
Firefly nodded. “Mmhm?”
“And then…” Rainbow stuck her jaw out as she thought. “I’ll… I’ll see if you can come with me to wherever I go, and while you’re safe at whatever base or whatever I was, you can cheer me on, got it?”
Firefly nodded even more this time. “That sounds so cool!”
“You can even bring along Sky and your Aunt.”
“Yes!” Sky fist-pumped again.
“But ew!” Firefly said, sticking her tongue out at her Aunt. Ter chuckled. “Does my Aunt really have to come?”
“Somepony has to look after you while I’m gone, right?” Rainbow said. “She’ll be that pony!”
Firefly grumbled and sighed. “At least it isn’t somepony else that is lamer.”
“Way to think positive!” Rainbow grinned.
“Alright, this all good and all,” Sky began, “But shouldn’t you take a nap or something? You’re looking pretty tired.”
“Huh?” Rainbow asked. Suddenly, her arms went limp, dropping Firefly who grunted, and she went cross-eyed. Her wings went limp and she began to tilt back, laughing drowsily as the day had unreasonably sapped her strength. Also remembering that she was basically a walking wither, she smiled comically.
“Come on, small fry! Hey, flightless, help her out!”
At the edge of a raised sidewalk, Firefly had jumped off. Her wings buzzed and buzzed, keeping her afloat, but going no further. Grunting and scrunching her muzzle, she tried to get more lift, but only proceeded in flapping her wings faster.
“Hey!” Sky cried, shooting a glare at Rainbow before standing beneath Firefly. “Alright, Firefly, you got this. Just keep trying!”
“Bigger wing flaps, Firefly,” Rainbow urged. “Don’t buzz them so much! All your doing is pushing air away. You need to push the air down. Big! Big, and curl!”
Firefly nodded, sticking a tongue out in concentration. With intense care, a sweatdrop formed on her brow, and her wings stretched out. Trying even harder, she began to push down farther. Almost incrementally, she slowly, slowly began to rise.
Sky began to glance up at the slowly rising pegasus. “Whoa… whoa! Go Firefly! WHOO!”
Firefly opened her eyes and looked around. “Wait, am I doing it?” She looked down at Sky’s figure to see that she seemed to get a little smaller every flap of her wings.
In a flash of feathers, Firefly had begun to buzz her wings again which led to her dropping, ultimately resulting in-
“Firefly! OW!” Sky cried, tapping the stony sidewalk, a comically painful tear rolling off her muzzle. “Uncle! UNCLE!”
Rolling off, Firefly tapped Sky’s groaning body and tried to help her up. “Sorry! Sorry! Ack! Sorry!”
All the while Rainbow looked at them with a large sigh.
She facehoofed.
“...flightless chickens I swear…”
“Alright, snowflake, just remember what I said to Firefly!”
Sky nodded looking nervous… and then squinted at Rainbow. “Stop giving me nicknames!”
Rainbow smirked and gestured to Firefly. “Your friend is fine with them.”
“That’s because I have no choice!” Firefly explained. Rainbow sighed, looking around and down at Firefly. She brought a hoof up in disappointment.
“Hey, whose side are you on?” Rainbow asked. Shaking her head, Rainbow looked back to Sky. “Whatever, frosty. Just go! Attempt number what? Nine? Firefly got it after a million tries! What about you?”
While Firefly shouted in indignation, Sky growled, and released it all in one long breath. “Fine,” Sky said, facehoofing. Jumping off the sidewalk, she too, buzzed her wings before trying to follow Rainbow’s instructions. “Big wings, curl, air underneath,” she muttered. Focusing on her breath, she slowed her buzzing down and found herself… achieving lift!
“Haha! Eat that, Firefly!”
Firefly snorted. “Yeah, well, Rainbow likes me better!”
Sky gasped. “Hey! She likes me better!”
“Does not!”
“Does too!”
“Does not!”
“Does too!”
“Does too!”
“Does not!”
Sky’s eyes crossed while Firefly crackled with laughter. “Hahaha!” Firefly cried, “You just said she likes me better!”
As Sky realized, she growled and tried to fly into Firefly. The action, however, made her lose her concentration.
Now a rock that arced in ascension before descending straight at Firefly, Sky desperately tried to get back into the air.
She failed.
As Sky’s shadow loomed into Firefly like a missile, Firefly wiped her eyes before sighing with a laugh and looking up. With a grin that immediately turned crazed, her eye twitched.
“Buck me sideways-”
WHAM!
In another flurry of feathers, Sky and Firefly groaned in a pained heap, worse than last time.
With a completely deadpan expression, Rainbow slowly turned around and walked away.
“R-Rainbow!” Firefly cried, trying to get her body disentangled from the wings and hooves. “Wait!”
“No!” Sky cried, “Wait for me!”
Rainbow continued to walk.
As their wrestling came to a defeated stop, Firefly and Skylark looked at each other knowing exactly what needed to be said to the other. They then both glanced at Rainbow’s retreating figure and both heads drooped their heads with a conspicuously black shadow falling over their eyes along with a drop of sweat.
“...ponyfeathers…”
Rainbow came home with two hobbling fillies, whom Ter immediately went to attend to.
“What happened?” Ter asked, grabbing her First-Aid box and ditching her rubber kitchen gloves.
“They failed.”
Ter sighed and began to torture Firefly and Sky with alcohol swabs. “How bad?”
Rainbow held the two fillies in place as they squirmed in pain, trying to avoid the disinfectant. Looking Ter square in the eyes, Rainbow deadpanned. “I’m sure the baby birds didn’t see them, or else they would be laughing.”
A suppressed laugh rose in Ter’s throat and she smiled. “That bad, huh?” She grabbed ahold of Firefly’s foreleg and smacked the alcohol swab on.
“Sckreeeeeeeeee!” Firefly hissed, recoiling and pawing at Ter’s hoof. She received a similar reaction from Sky.
“I’ll make sure to keep them practicing while you disappear again.”
“You do that…” Rainbow nodded, yawning. “I’ve had enough teaching for the last day. Wake me up when I need to go to the station. Later!”
As Rainbow disappeared into Firefly’s room, Ter sighed and let the two fillies stand to their hooves. As they winced from their scrapes and aching muscles, they fidgeted.
“You will practice while she’s gone, right?”
Firefly and Sky glanced to each other.
“Oh yeah!”
“Of course!”
Ter nodded. “Good.” Glancing at the trunk that was meant to house Rainbow’s possessions, she smiled at the fillies. “How about we do Rainbow a favour and pack her things?”
“Are you doing anything?” Firefly asked Sky.
“No. You?” Sky inquired. As they mutually shook their heads, they nodded.
“Alright!”
Rainbow stood with Ter, Firefly and Sky at the rally point that would cart them off to the camps at the border of the next city. Seeing other ponies already rushing to get on the wagon transports Rainbow lugged the suitcase that her surrogate family had packed her.
“So what gives?” Rainbow asked, dropping the suitcase for the time being. “What’s inside here?”
“Some uniforms they had prepared for you and mailed to us,” Ter answered, “As well as a few knick knacks and souvenirs to keep you company, courtesy of Firefly and Sky.”
“Yeah!” Firefly cheered.
“We packed you some awesome things!” agreed Sky. “You’ll see!”
Rainbow nodded, smiling at the two. “Alright, kiddos. It’s been a really fun week, but I guess I’ll see you in a while. Might not be for a week, two weeks, or heck, even a month! But I’ll be sure to see you again, alright?”
“Read you loud and clear, Rainbow!” Firefly nodded.
“You were a pretty awesome teacher too!” Sky smiled.
“And I had an awesome week,” Rainbow grinned
A beat.
“Too cheesy for me,” Rainbow said, and ruffled their manes. “Take good care of your aunt, okay Firefly?” Turning to Sky, she smirked. “And you take care of Firefly and not crash into each other, okay?”
“Hey!” Firefly protested, “I can take care of myself!”
“Like hay, you can,” Rainbow laughed as she shook her head. “Well, I guess I’m off to Celestia knows where…”
“Bye, Rainbow!” they collectively waved and Rainbow walked over to the transport and boarded it.
“Keep my cloud bed warm, small fry!” Rainbow called.
“You bet!” Firefly shouted. Thinking even more excitedly, Firefly hollered over "And maybe you can even say hi to my dad in the one-oh-seventh! His name's Ember Wing!" Rainbow could only smile as she looked at the enthusiastic fillies she would be leaving behind.
As the wagon began to pull away, Rainbow faced her fellow companions on the transport and saw that almost all of them were stallions. Grimacing a little, she nevertheless retreated to her thoughts and stared at her hooves.
A new adventure again… Rainbow thought. Staring off to the side at the retreating buildings and increasing forestry, she closed her eyes.
I hope everypony I still love is okay… Scootaloo… Mom… Dad… the girls… are you all doing fine in the future? Are you living okay without me? Is staying alive worth it?
Rainbow stood at attention, alongside numerous other well-toned and healthy-looking stallions. Any other mares in the line were scarce, making Rainbow a spectral oddity… even more than she was just standing in line with all of them.
When she had arrived at camp, they had immediately told her to get her uniform and seized her belongings to be placed in the barracks. With just enough time to get in her uniform, they gave her a helmet, dogtags, and told her to get in line for roll call. Since she couldn’t really do much in the department of arguing, already feeling out-of-sorts as a walking skeleton, she obliged.
Standing at attention, their names were called, one by one. Ordered around to stand in alphabetical order by last name, she found herself somewhere near the start of the line.
“Alright, maggots!” said their supervisor. “You can stand at ease for the time being while I go fetch people that are above my paygrade. Don’t go wandering off or you’ll be kicked off the compound before you could say ‘pas de cheval’!” With that, the lanky, red-faced stallion marched off, leaving all the new soldiers to begin chatting up the others. As Rainbow observed all the other ponies hustling around the camp grounds and training and conditioning, she listened in to the conversations around her.
“So, you excited?”
“For what? Winning the war? Hay yeah!”
“I dun reckon that they’ve got some sweet victory hidden in them cellars of theirs, huh?”
“I wish!”
“How ‘bout shootin’ up some shadow ponies, eh? Eh?”
“I heard they’ve been able to free some of them mind-controlled ones! Makes you think twice about throwing the bullet, hm?”
“Sure, but it doesn’t mean I can’t!”
“Haha!”
“Hey, what’s a scrawny runt like you doing in a line of full grown mares and stallions like us?”
“Yeah!’
“Looks like you could snap your limbs in half!”
“Haha!”
At this point, Rainbow realized they were talking to her. Gritting her teeth, she sighed and found a thought flashing through her mind. What would Pinkie do…?
“Hehe…” Rainbow said, “Yeah, but I’m here, aren’t I? Same as all of you, just, uh, doing my duty to the country and all… hah!” And practically committing suicide, Rainbow added, being as… a-as sick as I am…
“I’m sure they’ll find use for you in scrubbing the toilets,” one particular stallion sneered, “Especially somepony as skinny as you.”
Rainbow blanched. Clearing her throat, she faced forward and chuckled lightly, shakily. “Hah! Hehehe…” Nice work, Pinks, Rainbow said in her mind, audibly sighing. At least it helps keep the ‘ghosties’ away…
“Recruits!” a voice suddenly called, causing all heads to swivel towards the approaching mare and uniformed soldier. “Attention!” The sense of authority in her voice was enough to cause everypony in the line to snap into place.
As she began to pace in front of the soldiers she nodded to the soldier behind her. “Fillies and gentlecolts, I am Agent Russet. I supervise all operations of this division.”
“What’s with the accent, Princess?” The stallion who had sneered at Rainbow just earlier now smiled sweetly at the agent. “I thought I was signing up for the Equestrian Army.”
With a narrowing her eyes, Agent Russet deadpanned and then primly smiled. Proceeding to walk back in front of him, she raised both her eyebrows and eyed him up and down. “What’s your name, soldier?” she asked.
“Bowler Hills, your Majesty,” Hills said.
“Step up, Hills.”
Smiling and glancing at those around him, he trotted forward and faced her up.
Pursing her lips, she nodded. “Put your right hoof foreward.”
“Ooh,” Hills grinned, “Are we gonna do wrassle? ‘Cause I know some moves I know you’ll like.” He winked.
Squaring him up, wordlessly, Russet nodded before giving him a powerful right hook. Teetering backward, he fell flat on his back. Brushing her hooves on her uniform, Russet grinned wryly. “Hm!”
Rainbow suppressed a laugh, along with many other soldiers in line, now holding a clipboard with forms, among other things.
“Agent Russet!” another, baritone voice called, appearing with a passenger wagon. “I can see that you’re breaking in the new candidates. That’s good!” Behind him, Goldheart stepped down, smiling and nodding at Rainbow as he caught her eye. Rainbow nodded back.
“Colonel Bellum!” Agent Russet said, turning around and saluting quickly. He nodded and squinted at Hills on the ground.
Eyeing him, the commanding voice of the decorated stallion ordered Hills. “Get your flank up, out of that dirt and wait in the line of attention until somepony comes and tells you what to do.”
“Yes sir!” Hills quickly said, getting up and wiping a foreleg on his bleeding muzzle.
Nodding, Bellum began to pace forward to the start of the line, looking at the ground.
“General Boltstrike has said that ‘Wars are fought with magic but they are won by stallions!’ We are going to win this war and free the Crystal Empire because we have the best-” The Colonel did a double take at Rainbow’s figure and blinked. Quickly casting a suspicious gaze at Goldheart, Goldheart smirked at him before looking straight. “-men.” Sighing a little, he continued.
“And because they are going to get better. Much better!” Walking down the line, he continued to pause and go, relating his speech to all recruits who could hear.
“The Allied Intelligence Movement is a combined effort made up of the best minds in Equestria and beyond. Our goal? To create the best army in history! But every army starts with one soul. At the end of this week, we will choose that soul. They will be the first in a new regiment of super-soldiers…”
Finally finishing his line, he stood beside Goldheart and Russet, squinting expectantly at the entire line.
“...and they will personally help the Princesses banish King Sombra to depths of Tartarus.”
“It won’t be easy…”
Rainbow gulped as she approached the rope walls with raspy breath, struggling to take in air. She cursed her damned existence as she began her ascent, grasping at each coiled piece of twine weakly.
“We’ll see how you do without the magic you’ve loved all these years just to see how you react in worst case scenarios…”
She shouted with anger and disappointment as she got tangled halfway up the first side of the rope wall. She winced as she could already hear her supervisor in the distance shouting at her and berating. Sighing, she lay there limply, dangling by her hindlegs.
“In sickness or in health…”
Rainbow inched ever so slowly under the barbed wire, some mane hairs getting stuck in the barbs. She winced and gritted her teeth as the air blew from her lungs faster than she could take in and she threw one foreleg after the other. Clutching the foreign weapon in her arms as tightly as she could without letting go of it or letting it touch the mud, she moved ever so slowly.
“In trial or error…”
Hills glanced backward at the sick, gangly body of Rainbow Dash. With an evil grin, he kicked at one post holding up the barbed wire nearest her. In no time, it had fallen, trapping Rainbow under the swathes of steel points.
“Dash!” the supervisor screamed, “Get that rifle out of the mud!”
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth, looking up at the wire and shaking her head before inching even slower, trying to avoid being stabbed innumerably.
“Your state of mind...”
“Faster! FASTER! Double time, let’s move! RUN YOU SISSIES! MOVE! AND SQUAD HALT!”
It was the last day, and they had just run kilometres upon kilometres of running. As they neared a flag post, the main group came to a slow shuffle behind the supervisor in charge of their troop.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, found herself sweating so hard her fur matted everywhere. The sun beat down especially hard for her, with a special spell having been placed on all of them to suppress any magic that day so as to test their durability. With such things, she felt her energy draining with each new step, each new breath, and each new thought.
Her helmet was the only reprieve, and it too began to heat up. As she came to a slow stop behind the main group of runners, she collapsed to her belly, gasping for air.
“That flag” -the supervisor pointed his hoof up at the tall skinny flag post that held the name and years as well as the motto of the camp- “only means we’re at the halfway point!”
Rainbow breathed hardly as she lazily, tiredly glanced her eyes at the supervisor, almost hearing the whines of the main squad (though if there truly were any, a froshing would have been in session). Glancing up at the flag, she clenched her eyes shut and focused on breathing.
“First anybody to bring it to me, gets a ride with Agent Russet back to base!”
As soon the words were heard, the entire body moved with one accord, rushing to the base of the pole and attempting to climb the white post.
“Move. MOVE!”
Rainbow merely opened her eyes at the mention of a ride back and rubbed her pounding head. Glancing at the group of trying-and-failing recruits trying to climb it, she immediately knew she herself would not be able to accomplish it.
“If that’s all this army’s got, then we’re in trouble!”
At least not normally.
What would Twilight do without magic? Rainbow wondered tiredly, watching Hills begin to make some progress.
“Come on, Hills!” shouted the supervisor. “Get up there! Get your flanks up there! Nobody’s gotten that flag in 21 years!”
The group almost mutually made a circle of space for Hills to fall in, giving Rainbow view of the base of the flagpole.
Something egghead-y, probably… Rainbow thought, her eyes drifting to the base. With almost ghostly resonance, Rainbow could hear Twilight’s voice in her mind, shaped by her perception of her.
“Well, blah blah blah, pins and stuff hold things together! Blah blah blah! By taking the pin away and removing the axle, blah blah, it can fall and stuff, blah!”
Rainbow struggled to get back to her hooves, but nevertheless, found herself shakily brushing dirt off her uniform. “Heh… hehehe…” Rainbow giggled to herself, smiling at her own thoughts. “Nice one, Twi,” Rainbow whispered. Her eyes focused on the pins. “Pins…”
Hills slid down the pole, and the supervisor shook his head before growling. “Now fall back into line. Come on! FALL IN!” He waved the troops on as they resettled on the packed dirt road. “Let’s go! Get back into formation!”
Rainbow hobbled towards the pole, now free all to her lonesome. Her eyes were centered on one thing only. The base.
As the supervisor headed to the front of the group, he noticed one of his soldiers missing. With a snarl, he shouted at Rainbow. “Dash! I said FALL IN!”
The whole group’s attention was on her now, including the motorized wagon that housed Agent Russet and the driver.
Wordlessly, Rainbow found herself at the flagpole. Grabbing the smaller pin, she bit onto it with her tongue before using both hooves to wiggle the large axle pin out. As soon she to removed it, the flag post groaned… and came crashing down.
Spitting the pin to one side and throwing the axle to the other, she shuffled over to the flag that was now readily available on the ground, untied it, and handed it to the supervisor.
He looked in jaw-gaped silence, the entire troop looking at Rainbow with stunned and flabbergasted expressions.
With a salute, Rainbow smirked and hopped into the carriage.
“Hey,” Rainbow breathed, resting on the edges of the wooden motor cart. Agent Russet smiled, and the car left the squad in it’s dust.
“Are you seriously considering choosing this… Rainbow Dash?”
Goldheart glanced at Colonel Bellum’s serious face and he continued to walk beside him. “I am more than considering. She is the clear choice.”
“When you brought an incurable patient onto my base, I let it slide!” Bellum said. “I thought ‘What the hay, maybe she could be useful to you, like a gerbil.’ I never thought you would actually pick her.” As they came to a stop in a shaded area beside an munitions truck, they faced the troop that was currently doing conditioning.
“Faster, fillies!” Agent Russet shouted, “My granny had more spirit in her, Celestia rest her soul.” Seeing them at the same pace, she barked. “Move it!”
He sighed. “Stick a needle through her leg, it would go right through her. Seriously, Doc.” Rainbow struggled to push up, much less let herself down, and her muscles betrayed her in more ways than one. She could sense herself become sicker with each strain, each push. She growled through the pain, but it could only do so much.
“Look at her,” Colonel Bellum said, watching as they now switched to four-hooved jumping jacks. “She’s making me cry!”
“I am looking for qualities beyond the physical, Colonel,” Goldheart explained. “She is more than anything I have ever sensed or felt in my time here on this base and in my studies abroad, not to mention a great trial run for her injury alone-”
“Do you know how long this took to set up? With the board of Wartime Activities? With the Princesses?”
“...yes, I know,” responded Goldheart with a nod.
“And all the asking and forms I had to do for the Council of Eclipse?”
“I am well aware of all the effort put into this,” said Goldheart.
“Then don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Colonel Bellum said. “Hills passed every single test. He’s quick, obeys orders! He’s a soldier at heart.”
“He’s a bully. I hate bullies. She can’t stand them either and she’s still here.”
Bellum sighed, turning away before looking at the boxes piled in the truck next to them. “You don’t win wars with being nice, Doctor,” he said, before shoving open a box of training grenades and unpinning one. “You win wars with guts.”
He threw it into the middle of all the troops.
“Grenade!” he exclaimed with sudden urgency. In a flash, all the troops had run for cover, finding space to hide from the shrapnel of the explosive ball.
“Move move move!” Hills had yelled.
Rainbow Dash, however slow her body had become, still had her acute mind on the case. Hearing the word grenade, she watched it bounce in slow motion, seeing everypony else sluggishly move away from it. Her breathing hitched, and a flash of memory went through her mind…
As she dodged one more spell, the pony she had pinned to the ground seized hold of her foreleg, before a sick yellow light began to pulse from his armour. “You… will… die… with me!” he announced, and Rainbow immediately felt something off.
The flora beneath the crystal pony began to blacken and wither, their luscious greens and vibrant petals falling and dying. The spread of influence grew and the pony himself shrivelled up, causing Rainbow to widen her eyes. Just then, the dark magic drew back into itself, and Rainbow realized...
The bulbous mass that had begun to glow… it looked just like it. She had to make a decision.
“Forgive me,” Rainbow whispered, and she ran towards it instead of away. Maybe if she stopped the explosion, she could stop the gas or whatever damage this particular one would have made.
“GET AWAY!” Rainbow yelled, jumping towards it and huddling around it. She motioned her hoof and braced for pain. “Please! GET BACK!”
I’m sorry, Firefly…
I’m sorry, girls…
I’m sorry...
As she waited for oblivion… nothing happened.
With heavy breaths, Rainbow cracked open an eye and found she was still there, in one piece, not shrivelling up and dying. With a shaky glance at the grenade pressed closed to her chest, she prodded it and watched as everypony else peeked out from their hiding places. Trying to calm her adrenaline-filled veins, she took a deep breath and faced Colonel Bellum and Doctor Goldheart.
“Is… I-Is this a test?” Rainbow stammered, nearly choking on hidden sobs.
Russet only stared at Rainbow with wonder while Goldheart smirked at Bellum.
Bellum turned back to Goldheart, deadpan.
“She’s still skinny, and a mare.”
With that, he walked off.
“May I come in?”
Rainbow Dash looked up from the tattered uniform she was examining in her hooves. Hugging it closely so he couldn't see, she nodded. She quickly stuffed it back in her suitcase be the doctor could see it, but she continued to look into her cracked goggles intently, forlornly.
Surrounded by folded mattresses, Goldheart placed a bottle down on Dash’s suitcase for a moment, unfolded the bed, and prepared to sit on it.
“Can’t sleep?”
Rainbow shook her head, the brief memories of her time on the field returning to her, as well as the loving faces of the friends she had disappeared from. “I just… too much… and… heh, and scared...”
“Me as well, Fraulein, me as well,” Goldheart murmured. “Too much curiosity, too many variables, too little time…” Grabbing the bottle, he settled himself on the edge of the mattress and faced Rainbow.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Goldheart flicked his ears. “Just one?”
Rainbow looked up from studying her hooves. “Why me?” her voice cracked. “I’m literally a nopony right now… sick, dying, and… and useless.”
Goldheart sighed, making an ‘of course’ face and nodding. “I guess… that’s the only question that really matters, isn’t it?”
Rolling the bottle on his hindleg, he studied it. “You know this is from the Crystal Empire, once known as the Crystal Kingdom?” He closed his eyes. “So many ponies and griffons and dragons and zebras and other kin alike forget that the first place Sombra invaded was his own home.”
He opened his eyes to look at Rainbow. “We were living in peace and harmony, you know? It was almost as if there was no bad that was willing to disrupt what we had going. Loving families, friends…”
He closed his eyes as he thought once more. “Sombra, he… I knew him before The Fall. He was kind. He loved Radiant Hope. Where she is right now… Anyways, something twisted him. He spread darkness through the hearts of our kind. Fear. Malice. Those who did not comply were… and are being enslaved and brainwashed. It is no different for souls found on the battlefield.”
Rainbow blinked as she realized she was finally getting knowledge about the war… but in a completely different way than she had expected.
“In any case, he reaches out to me from abroad… he tells me ‘You! You will help me succeed. We will rule in order and peace.’” Shaking his head, Goldheart waved the bottle. “I said ‘I’m not interested’. So he sends a head of his shadow magic division, HYDRA. Still listening?”
Rainbow nodded.
“A crystal pony by the name of ‘Insomnia’. Insomnia was brilliant. He was smart, intellectual. He is a part of Sombra’s inner circle and he shared a similar passion of Sombra’s… and that is, occult powers and strange myths. While Sombra thirsts for them merely to give incentive to those who’d listen to his words, Insomnia does not think it as fantasy of the like. To him, it is real. And he thinks that there is a higher power left here by those from ancient times to help balance harmony in the world, waiting to be seized by a superior being.”
Rainbow blinked again, instinctively putting a hoof to her neck before remembering once more that the time for necklaces had disappeared long ago, replaced with some crazy rainbow power. Nevertheless, Rainbow widened her eyes, wondering if she and Goldheart and Insomnia were thinking of the same thing.
“So when he hears of me and my synthesised formulas… he can’t resist. He must become that superior being.”
Rainbow frowned, the thoughts processing in her head. “So he took it? Did it make him ‘superior’ or whatever?”
Goldheart shook his head with a dark smile. “Yep! But it was not ready yet. There were other effects.” He looked at Rainbow with softened eyes.
“But what’s more important is being. The serum- it amplifies everything that is inside. Good becomes great! Bad… becomes worse.”
Rainbow inhaled sharply, and a silence lingered.
“This is why you were chosen.”
Rainbow glanced back up at Doctor Goldheart, having dropped her eyes to stare at her hooves. “Huh?”
“A strong mare who has known power all her life may lose respect for that power… but a weak mare knows the value of strength… and knows compassion.”
Be kind… Rainbow felt a voice echo in her head, and nodded, sighing deeply. “I… I just don’t know I’m all you’re cracking me up to be, Doc. What if I’m not the pony you’re looking for? You’ve supported me all week, but…”
“Rainbow Dash,” Goldheart said, “Though I see the arrogance you portray, you are more than that. I’ve seen it. I know it.” Pulling two glasses from his jacket, he put them by his sides and brought up the bottle.
"And doc, will this help heal me?" Rainbow whispered. "This... this whatever that I have? Will it cure me?"
"And then some," Goldheart nodded, before contemplating silently. “Rainbow, whatever happens tomorrow, promise me one thing,” he murmured.
“Sure,” Rainbow said.
“You do not have to be a perfect soldier… or a perfect anything,” said Goldheart. “But always have your good heart. Always be the good mare you are.”
Rainbow breathed in deeply, slowly, processing the words. With surety, she nodded. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my- OUCH!” Rainbow rubbed her eye before smiling sheepishly at the interested doctor. “I, uh, Pinkie Promise.”
A shiver went down both of their spines.
“Hm…” Goldheart hummed, passing a glass to Rainbow. He then poured two glasses of a sweet scented drink, and Rainbow almost recognised it.
“Is this… is this apple cider?” Rainbow asked, eyes misting.
“Why, yes it is! Straight from the crystal farms, a staple drink, might I add.”
Rainbow’s muzzle stretched into a grin, bringing the sweet cup of heaven to her mouth. “It… even smells like home… mm…” Just as she was about to sip, Goldheart reached out and took it from her.
“Aiyah!” cried Goldheart. “What am I doing? You have a procedure tomorrow! No fluids!” He poured her glass into his and set the spare aside.
“Awwww…” Rainbow moaned, whimpering as she pawed lamely in the air at the apple cider. With a comical sniffle, Rainbow felt a tear fall from her eye. “A-alright, we’ll drink it after!”
“What do you mean?” Goldheart frowned. “I don’t have a procedure tomorrow. ‘Drink it after’? I’ll drink mine now.” He quickly downed it and smiled toothily at Rainbow.
“Hmmmmmmmm!” Rainbow sniffled, trying her best not to cry. “Why is it always the cider?!
The journey back into the city of Manehatten was silent as Rainbow Dash sat in the back with Agent Russet. Rainbow watched the scenery, watching once more as trees suddenly grew scarce before buildings began to appear. She watched as some roads began to be more and more familiar before they disappeared all the same.
“You’ve certainly proved yourself in more ways than one this week, Rainbow Dash.”
Rainbow stopped staring out the window and looked at Agent Russet with a tired look.
“Yeah. And my breathing sure does agree with you.”
“You mustn’t believe you’re terrible because you’re not fit,” Russet said.
“Fit for what? Duty? Soldiers and stuff? The whole shebang?” Rainbow asked in retaliation before sighing and staring at her hooves. “I know I’m better than this. I… I know there’s more to me than just… me, but…”
“But nothing,” Russet said. “Your are strong enough without brawns. Just think how strong you’ll be with it.”
Rainbow wiggled her jaw, her eyes misting against her will as she thought back to her time with her friends. “Heh… if only you had seen me in my… in my prime before all of this.”
“And yet, here you are,” Russet said.
“Look, I know what you’re trying to do, but… I think some space is required right now. Just please… I… don’t think I’ll be getting any more of it any time soon.”
“Still, you can’t just ignore the fact that you need some uplifting.”
Rainbow fidgeted, and finally looked at Russet. Thinking of Fluttershy and all her kindness, she bit her lip. “Thanks, then.” She turned away once more. “Just… memories. Old memories…”
“I’ll leave you be,” Russet nodded before looking straight ahead again. “Just remember to never lose sight of what you need.”
With one last glance at the Agent, Rainbow’s gaze softened before sighing once more and nodding. “Thanks.”
Finally, the car came to stop at an old antiques store, which Rainbow eyed warily. As they both stepped out, Rainbow fitted the drabby hat of her plain uniform onto her head. The only bearable thought about wearing the uniform was the fact that Rarity would’ve fainted on the spot if she saw Rainbow. With a smirk, she shook it off and returned to frowning. “What are we doing here?” Rainbow asked, glancing up at the sign and several bystanders before Russet motioned with her head to follow her in.
Doing just that, they walked into a musty, dusty shop, which Rainbow instantly scrunched her muzzle at. Just as she was about to say something, however, an old mare walked in from the back of the shop.
“Wonderful weather, we’re having, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Agent Russet began, “But I always look both ways for crossing pegasi.”
Nodding, the old mare smiled and moved over behind the counter while Russet led Rainbow deeper into the store. As they stood in front of a bookcase, Rainbow nearly asked why, until she saw for herself.
The bookcase fissured open, opening the sudden additional rooms and hallways before her. With her jaw slightly agape, Russet set it back for her before continuing forward. Blinking, Rainbow followed closely, and they went straight down the hallway into a set of doors… into an even larger room.
The room was massive, able to accommodate over 30 ponies, easy. Scientists hustled and bustled but, at the motion of the doors and Agent Russet and Rainbow stopping at the railing, everything slowed to a standstill. Even Goldheart stared up at Rainbow expectantly, with a small smile. Motioning for her to come, Rainbow nodded and gulped, already seeing the big cords looping everywhere from the pony-shaped sarcophagus in the center of the room.
As she walked down the ramp, she continued to notice just how new, and yet, old everything felt. Shiny, but retro. Huge tapes filled some walls. Knobs and levers filled others. Panels and controls and meters and valves and wheels scattered the machinery. And through it all, Rainbow walked towards Goldheart, gulping.
Goldheart smiled warmly, trying to ease her mind. “Morning!” he greeted.
A flash of light caused Rainbow’s nervous smile to turn into a confused one as she went cross-eyed and blinked the flash away.
“Seriously?” Goldheart asked, “Please, not now.” And the photographer shamelessly smiled before slinking away again.
Rainbow glanced at the contraption she assumed would contain her. “Heh! Hehehe…”
“Are you ready?” asked Goldheart.
Rainbow nodded, silently, eyes wide.
“Take off your uniform. You won’t need it.”
Glancing at Goldheart, she nodded before stripping of it completely. In her opinion, it was a new-found freedom after one week. For others…
Some were suddenly blushing.
Nodding, Goldheart turned around to attend to more of his pre-check checks.
As Rainbow stepped up to lay back in the chamber, she found it was nice and padded, and there was extra comfort stuff especially for her wings. Smiling at that, she let her wings lay limp, just as they had been for the past who-knows-how-long since her run in with the battlefield and she closed her eyes, pushing the memory away. She then noticed all the many wired devices in on the side itself, and the insides lined with bright orange lights.
“Comfortable?” inquired Goldheart as he approached the side, checking and double checking the machine.
Rainbow glanced down as she saw just how small she seemed to be compared to the chamber parameters and raised her eyebrows for a second. “A little big, Doc. Looks like it’s meant for, uh, ponies bigger than me.”
Goldheart smiled.
“Please tell me you saved me some cider,” Rainbow implored, and Goldheart broke into a chuckle.
“Heh… uh, not as much as I should have,” Goldheart admitted. “Sorry. Maybe next time”
With a cardboard smile, Rainbow looked ahead, unblinking as streams poured comically from her eyes. “I-it’s alright. Heehee! Hee…”
Stepping away slightly, Goldheart turned to the side. “Miss Belle! How are your levels?”
A goggled mare stepped into view as Rainbow suddenly widened her eyes in recognition, fear, and shock. “Power levels at one-hundred percent!” she announced, smiling at Rainbow. “We may dim half the lights in Manehatten, but we are ready!” Putting up her goggles, she winced as she looked Rainbow’s form up and down. “...as we’ll ever be.” Putting her goggles back down, she rushed over to one specific panel and began to push buttons, knobs and levers.
Already, Rainbow was shocked by the differences between Luster Belle and Rarity’s composures. Rarity tried to maintain a lady-like air and loved to design. Luster Belle was an engineer who wasn’t afraid to get dirty… yet she could also see the similarities. The same elegance in their craft. The same dedication and smile. The same creativity.
But she still didn’t understand… just how Rarity could have had an ancestor (or something) like this and nopony know about it.
With those thoughts going through her mind, somepony had been buckling her in with plenty of leeway, and she finally flicked her ears to hear Goldheart asking Russet to go to the viewing booth.
As she walked away, she paused and looked behind her. Russet, smiling, nodding reassuredly, walked up the ramp and disappeared.
Feeling a little better remembering her words from the car ride, Rainbow shook her head.. With a sigh, Rainbow closed her eyes… and found herself staring at the circular ceiling. She only listened now to what was going on around her. Hearing shuffling, she heard a large static shriek pierce everything, making everypony wince with discomfort. After passing, Goldheart began to talk.
“Ladies and gentlemen, today we take not another step towards annihilation, but the first step on the path to peace.” Rainbow found her vision dropping from the ceiling to a cylinder that was being wheeled in. "With what we have discovered, what we are about to achieve, may change the world forever. Magic has helped us in times past, and it will save us now."
“We begin with a series of microinjections into the subjects major muscle groups. The mana-serum infusion will cause immediate cellular rejuvenation.” She watched as several masked ponies began to put six consecutive vials of blue liquid into place in slots in the machine. With a gulp, she cast her eyes to Goldheart, who had moved to stand beside Rainbow.
“And then to stimulate growth the latent potential of the serum as it is introduced, the subject will be saturated with vita-life rays.”
Rainbow squirmed in her seatbelt as she saw a needle coming her way. Casting a panicked gaze at Goldheart, he merely nodded, and mouthed ‘stay calm’. Rainbow began to pace her breathing again, but her heart still pounded. Suddenly, she could feel the sting of a needle piercing her left foreleg, and she bit her lip almost to the point of bleeding. As soon as the feeling ended, she breathed a little easier, though a stinging sensation rang ever present.
“Did I say I hate needles?” Rainbow shivered, before breathing easier. “I-I guess that wasn’t so bad.”
“That was a painkiller,” Goldheart muttered.
“Huh!?” Rainbow’s voice cracked, and Goldheart lightly shrugged. Rainbow could only lie back down and stare at the ceiling a little more panicked as more ponies helped pull down chest apparatuses that settled against her blue, fuzzy beating chest.
“Serum infusion, beginning in Five…” Goldheart had begun to count down.
“Four…” Two more mechanical arms placed themselves snugly against Rainbow’s arms.
“Three…” Several ponies had begun to step away.
“Two…” Goldheart gripped Rainbow’s right arm and squeezed reassuringly.
“One.”
All of a sudden, Rainbow could feel a million new pinpricks all across her body as the blue liquid in the vials diminished. Clenching her eyes tight from all the pain, they shot open all on their lonesome and she looked on in surprise and shock. With eyes wide open, she cast them over at Goldheart with worry and helplessness. Goldheart bowed his head, and Rainbow gritted her teeth, sound emitting from her throat uncontrollably.
“Now, Miss Belle.”
Belle slapped her goggles before nodding and slowly pulled a lever down.
With it, a large whirring sound.
Everybody, pony or not, watched with awe as the machine slowly came together and sealed tight around Rainbow Dash, now obstructing everyone’s view of the rainbow-maned pegasus. Rainbow faced the closing with a brave face, and closed her eyes as they finally did come together.
As a pony carefully levitated a tube into the top port of the chamber, Goldheart approached the coffin and knocked on it.
“Rainbow?” asked Goldheart, “Can you hear me?”
“It’s probably too late to go for a quick nap, right?”
Goldheart grinned with mirth and nodded, turning around. “We will proceed!”
Luster Belle saluted as she leaned on the consoles and shifted a few to the right. Now twisting a knob, he quickly moved to a wheel and slowly began to turn it. Turning it, a glow began to emanate from the chamber. Beginning to blind in it’s intensity to those who saw it, Luster Belle smiled.
“That’s ten percent… twenty percent, thirty percent… that’s forty percent!” A deep bass whirring had begun to fill the room and shake the very core of everypony present. It’s high pitched whines and low pitched hums coalesced into a cacophony of sound.
“Vital signs are stable!” A scientist called out.
“That’s fifty percent… sixty… seventy…!”
“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
An ear-piercing shriek was muffled, emitting straight from the core of the chamber. As Goldheart had been shielding his eye from the intensity, he needed only glance in fear at the chamber before darting his eyes panically shooting to Luster Belle’s. “Rainbow!” He rushed up to the chamber and began to knock on it frantically. “Rainbow!”
For Rainbow, she felt like she was burning alive. Her eyes were clenched shut yet all she could see was white. She shouted in pain as the light tore her apart and put her back together, or so it felt, and she release one more scream before shutting up and sucking it up, knowing it wouldn’t do her any good. Struggling against her restraints, she nevertheless endured the barrage of pure mana and vita rays towards her serum-laced blood.
All the while, Agent Russet watched in horror before rushing out of the glass view box and onto the railing. “Shut it down! I said shut it down!”
Shaking his head with no other options, Goldheart nodded and turned around, jumping off the pedestal. “Kill the reactors! Miss Belle, kill the reactors!”
As Luster began to move over to the next console for the emergency shutdown, a voice screamed at them, and they froze.
“NO! I’M RAINBOW DASH! AWESOME! I… I CAN HANDLE THIS! ARGH! KEEP GOING! GO!”
It was the only order Belle needed and she returned to the panel with the wheel, still turning it. As everybody watched the chamber with bated breath, Belle included, she continually glanced at the meter.
“Eighty… ninety… that’s one hundo! A hundred percent!”
Smoke had begun to rise from the consoles… all the consoles, and sparks appeared on everything, surprising many and causing Belle to jerk away from fear of electrocution. She may’ve been an expert, but she was not an idiot.
Soon, sparks arced all the way to the chamber before, finally, after several seconds of full-powered blasts of vita rays… the light from within shut off. A powering down whine could be heard, and soon, it was just the previous buzz of machinery. Yet considering the events that had occurred… it was just as well dead as a graveyard.
Glancing over his shoulder with a sweat-drop on his forehead, he said “Miss Belle!” In an instant, Belle nodded, and gently pushed the same lever she had pulled down… back up.
Silence.
The quiet echoed through everyone’s ringing ears, their breaths shallow and expectant.
Then…
FWISHHHHHH…
The chamber opened up…
Rainbow Dash was breathing heavily, sweat drenching her fur. Her eyes were shut tight as she hyperventilated, clutching the sides of the machine with dear life. As she felt cool wind bless her from the outside of the chamber, she blinked several times. Several, bright, vibrant, vivid, tireless times.
She didn’t feel tired. She didn’t feel fatigued at all.
Seeing she was dazed, Goldheart rushed to her side, sparking everybody to begin moving again. Ponies, griffons, zebras and dragons all patted each other on the back, relishing their accomplishment. All the while, Belle bounded over the consoles to help Goldheart help Rainbow down.
The changes most noticeable were her fur, hair, and skin. Her fur was bright sky blue once more. Her vibrant mane shone more vibrant than ever and she seemed as healthy as can be, her muscles tightly defined underneath her fur.
“We did it…” Belle murmured.
“Yep, yep!”
“We actually did it,” Belle repeated, raising her goggles.
“We did it,” Goldheart smiled. He hugged Rainbow and nodded. “How do you feel?”
Rainbow blinked several more times before letting go of Goldheart supportively, feeling the metal grating with all four hooves. “T-taller,” Rainbow stammered, unused to being as tall as a stallion like Goldheart. “W-whoa, it’s like I just flew ten marathons but really didn’t!”
“I’m sure it does,” Goldheart smiled warmly, and he watched as Russet came to join them.
“Are you okay?” Russet asked, and Rainbow nodded lightly.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just, uh…” Rainbow shook her head. “Out of sorts.” She began to tip to one side and squawked. “Argh! That’s -unghh- so frustratingly weird!”
“Yep, looks like you’re fine,” Russet sighed and smiled. “I told you it wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Yeah, well, why don’t you try being burned on the outside from your insides, then we’ll talk.”
And with that, Rainbow tried to get her bearings, nearly collapsing from her strange new form, at least to her. She just found it all so… sudden. She could feel the strength that had returned to her. The power. The feeling of being alive. She could even feel herself feel so much better… not just in body, but in mind.
“Doc?” Rainbow asked, stumbling, “Ya think I’m cured or whatever?”
Putting a reassuring hoof on her after having shaken some hooves, he smiled. “Positive.”
Rainbow nodded, frowning as she blinked and felt another wave of disorientation fly through her.
Nodding and patting her gently, Goldheart found his attention turning to one pony in particular. Frowning at his appearance, recognising something was off, he widened his eyes as he saw a silver shard of crystal being pulled from his jacket, and his furry coat flickered between that and a dark glossy sheen.
“EVERYBODY DOWN!” Goldheart shouted, just before the pony crushed the silver crystal and the glass view box exploded.
As smoke and debris filled the air, Goldheart shakily got to his hooves and stared at the pony in shock, his guise falling away to reveal a darkened coat of a crystal pony “Stop him!”
Before he could continue, Goldheart saw the crystal pony had pulled another item from his coat and he felt two thudding impacts in his chest. Looking down, he found mana burns on his lab coat and fur, which quickly began to bleed.
With shocked and confused eyes, he fell to the ground.
In escape, Russet quickly pulled a mana charge from her own coat and shot a chunk off of the shadow crystal pony before beginning to chase after him.
All the while, Rainbow had just witnessed her first death… the death of a friend…
Rushing to his side and skidding as she had overstepped herself, she fell to her haunches, surprised and sudden but welcome and unnoticed tears beginning to form. As her eyes misted of their own accord, she shook Goldheart’s limp form.
“Doc?” Rainbow asked. “Doctor Goldheart!?”
Shaking him from his pale oblivion, Goldheart showed tears streaming down his own face before placing a hoof on Rainbow’s chest, pointing at her heart. Poking it, he struggled for words.
“...your… heart, Rainbow… stay… true…”
His body went limp in Rainbow’s grip, his hoof slowly falling away.
And she sat there, her brows furrowing and unfurrowing in confusion. Her eyes misted. Her gaping mouth grew rigid… and with a growl, she swung her head up to the platform above her...
Rainbow Dash watched as Russet disappeared behind the corners the compound.
Holding Goldheart’s limp body, she let it down slowly, as gently as she could. With a deep breath, she growled and stretched out her newly buffed wings, feeling the power that came from within. Glancing aside at both of them, she looked up and fully flapped.
The amount of air that suddenly moved underneath her surprised Rainbow Dash, so much so that she cried in surprise when she suddenly flew backwards as well as upwards. Trying to steady herself, she crashed into the back walls of the room. Groaning more out of embarrassment and anger than pain, she growled and twitched her eyes at her wings. This time flapping them lightly, she found that she now hovered at her usual pace.
Frowning, flapping much more gently than she was used to, shakily geared herself up and…
FWOOSH!
She shot forward at a speed she couldn’t control and immediately went for a tumble as her wings clipped the doorway. She yelped as she rolled to a stop, feathers ruffling. In a blink, she shook her head and shouted in frustration and anger, choosing instead to gallop. Bursting through the doors, she followed her way back through the shop.
Widening her eyes as she saw the kindly old mare that had greeted them earlier lying on the ground, she went to check on her. Rushing to her side, Rainbow found a hoof-sized singe on the mare’s coat, with streaks of the black substance beginning to spiderweb across her. Touching it, she found that it hissed into nothingness the moment it came into contact with her own fur. Glancing up at the sound of screaming, glass shattering, and loud percussions, she found Russet standing in the middle of the street.
In one hoof, she focused on a small object that radiated power for a moment before something burst from it in the blink of an instant. An instant, Rainbow found, she could process at a fathomable speed. She frowned inwardly as she saw the mana dissipate from the bullet as it broke the sound barrier. In another blink, it was gone and another had taken it’s place.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow could see an abandoned carriage rushing straight for Russet, it’s harnesses waving in the open air like eels snapping for fresh meat. Seeing it seem to travel at a sluggish pace, Rainbow began to stretch her wings. Seeing them unfold at a slow pace too, she found her eyes focusing on Russet.
Blinking, Rainbow galloped forward and- FWOOSH! Launched herself into a straight glide. She tackled Russet to the ground before they both tumbled, and the runaway carriage continued it’s journey down the street.
“Gah!” Russet cried as they both tumbled. She tried to get her bearings and stand up, shooting a glare at Rainbow. “I almost had him!”
Rainbow merely shook of the dirt that she had accumulated in her tackle and grinned sheepishly. “Sorry,” Rainbow said before sprinting down the road.
She found her mind racing at everything she could see, watching it all, processing everything. Rainbow found everything now seemed a shade brighter, sharper, more detailed. Like eagle eyes, she could spot commotion several carriage-lengths away, and found one erratic moving hood bumping into other carriages and transport carts.
Holding her breath, she stretched her wings. Almost immediately she took to air, and she grinned. Already rising a good respectable amount of feet, she embraced the wind. She closed her eyes, feeling the breeze. It’s currents. The way it shifted and tweaked through her feathers. The way it made her feel alive.
Sucking in deeply, her eyes shot open and she squinted down at the runaway carriage. With two wing flaps, she flew up… and curled in. Immediately, she began to dive, slicing through the air with ease. The ground was rushing at her at a speed she had never noticed before but she narrowed her eyes just as she angled herself to the carriage. In a split second, she stretched her wings out, stopping her spin immediately and setting her in a sharp glide that landed her directly onto roof the vehicle.
She winced as they made loud percussions and she immediately lost grip, spreading her weight and gripping the sides so as not to fall off. She looked ahead and her eye twitched when she saw nopony was at the helm, but the carriage seemed to be moving anyways. Edging forward and peering through the clear glass, she widened her eyes when she saw the the crystal pony pointing something directly out the window. In that instant, she was already moving to the side when she saw the item begin to radiate a black essence when-
POW-zzzinggggg!
Her ears flicked and rung as something shot out of the object. Suddenly, her mind went to the large clunky firearms that they had forced her to train with. To shoot. She cursed herself for forgetting. It was a gun. But this wasn’t like any gun she had seen. No, it was completely different.
Her mind registered him faster than she thought possible, and she had already begun swinging from side to side as bullets of light-eating darkness whizzed past her at a hair’s length. Growling in anger, she tightened her forehead and Ba-CRASH! The glass of the windshield shattered, startling the crystal pony agent and merely making Rainbow Dash more annoyed than anything. As the agent lost contact with a wheel that was connected to the base of the carriage, Rainbow Dash could hear the screams of ponies echoing through her mind.
Twisting her neck with lightning urgency, she widened her eyes to see several carts and stands just ahead, along with fleeing terrified ponies and those jumping out of the way. Reflexively, almost with a mind of their own, her wings stretched and caught air. Immediately, her form let go of cab just as it hit stray cart, turned sharply, and proceeded to flip sideways, crashing through the street with stray debris flying this way and that.
Rainbow winced as a few shards of glass flew her way but nonetheless dodged them with ease. As the carriage came to a stop, Rainbow eased herself to the ground. With a jolt, she accidentally pulled her wings too early and dropped to the ground with a grinding thud. Walking forward, she paused, seeing a body roll out of the carriage. As the crystal pony agent got to his hooves, she frowned. How was he…?
She widened her eyes before diving forward into a roll just as a couple bullets whizzed past her. Ponies jumped to the ground following Rainbow’s example split second just before, and she could hear the screams of more and more as chaos continued to unfold. Knowing more would come, she gritted her teeth and grabbed the nearest sturdy piece of debris next to her: a carriage door bearing a star. She swung it up just as more bullets came into contact with the metal.
CLANG!
PHTANG!
BZZWAAA!
Rainbow clenched her eyes, waiting for more, before frowning. Peering over her makeshift shield, she saw the crystal pony beginning to run away. Glancing at the front of the door she held, she could see splotches of black wisping into the air, stretching across the metal. Throwing her gaze back to the crystal pony, she found his image flickering between his facade and his real form.
She then widened her eyes as he took a little filly from her mother’s grasp, waving his armed hoof wildly. The crowd of ponies in front of him shrieked and cowered, and he glanced back at Rainbow before disappearing into the airfield next to him. Rainbow glanced from his retreating body to the crying mother before her.
Her eye twitched once before she threw the door aside and took to the air. Flapping them once, she corkscrewed straight into the airfield. Putting her hooves out, she slid to a gravelly stop and glared at the crystal pony who was now metres away.
The crystal pony sneered and shot at her. Side-rolling, she dodged a couple of his shots before he disappeared further into a hangar bay. Curling and stretching her wings in anger and adrenaline, flew just to the edge of the water next to the compound before she froze mid-air, wings flapping slowly as she hovered.
“Don’t move!” the crystal pony commanded, pointing a hoof straight into the crook of the filly’s neck.
Rainbow gnashed her teeth, settling down to the floor and waving a hoof. “Don’t hurt her!”
Silence.
Rainbow flinched back.
Click!
The crystal pony shook his hoof before angrily tossing the device away. Just as Rainbow made a move towards him, he swung the filly back.
Rainbow glanced to the side at the frothing waters of the ocean next to them and waved her hooves. “No, don’t-!”
The filly flew over, and he disappeared deep into the hangar.
Rainbow dashed to the edge of the concrete, glancing worriedly down into the water. A small voice caused her to flick her ears, ignoring the sounds of wind breaking and shouting behind her.
“I’m fine!” the voice said. Rainbow’s eyes immediately found her treading water as waves began to form from the wind breezing in from behind Rainbow. “Go get the bad pony! I can swim.”
With a proud smirk, Rainbow nodded at the filly and turned around.
She immediately frowned as her hair blew across her face in the stead of a plane steadily accelerating away from her. Pawing the ground with a hoof, she stretched her wings out. She felt the coolness bristle through each of her feathers, both underneath and above her. Closing her eyes, she focused on the wind.
Then her eyes blazed open.
One gallop forward, she spread her wings and flew.
She grinned devilishly as she finally found herself adjusting to her environment. Her new lease on life. Her new body. She could finally feel the power in her wings. The way it seemed to move around her, push her. How it felt like the wind was alive… and it was helping her in any way it could. It was something she had sorely missed for over a month.
And with it, she began to corkscrew in the air. She almost couldn’t feel the drag like she used to. The wind parted around like like nothing she had ever felt before. She sliced through the air, and it’s sting soothed her burning hot fur and her eyes glistened from the force of the air.
And she could see the rogue glider rushing away at a steady pace.
Her smirk turned into a determined frown and she reached up to her head… only to remember she had left them hidden within her suitcase. Scowling, Rainbow squinted her eyes and focused on the glinting midnight glider. She pumped her wings, pushing the air and steadying herself out of her corkscrew. Shaking her head to get some loose hair out of the way, she bursted forward.
Steadily and assuredly, she gained on the vehicle. She didn’t know rightly just how fast they were both going until she latched onto the plane and looked down, watching clouds and the city whiz by, already disappearing behind her. Eyes twitching, she flapped her wings with each inch forward until she found the clear crystal that showed the crystal pony within. Just as she reached back to punch through the plane, she could see the crystal pony turn his head in surprise before-
Brrrrck-crCRACK!
SHPLACRACKATASH!
Her hoof broke through the window, grabbed him by his collar, and stretched her wings. Immediately, she caught air and she winced slightly as her wings fought against the rushing wind until she was hovering in the air and the plane had left them in the dust. It was already spiralling out of control with no one behind the wheel.
Grabbing his collar with both hooves, she brought his face close, sneering at his startled face. “Who do you work for?!” Rainbow growled, dripping with venom. “Why’d you have to kill somepony!?”
The crystal pony spat to the side and slammed his chest with a hoof, his whole form beginning to flicker as he broke one of his teeth.
“Hail… Hydra…”
Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean ‘Hail… Hydra…’?” She paused and watched in confusion as he began to convulse. Her eyes widened with incredulity as darkness spread through his already darkened crystalline form until he started wisping black essence. In the span of a few seconds, he had withered into nothing, his body merely a husk.
Rainbow didn’t even notice the plane crashing and exploding several clicks away as she stared at the dead pony in her hooves.
Rainbow stared listlessly at the wall opposite of her.
She didn’t really notice when her skin was pierced and blood was taken from her. She didn’t really hear the words being said to her. She didn’t really notice anypony around her. Only when she couldn’t feel the cold needle in her blood did she acknowledge anypony else.
“Think ya got enough?” Rainbow whispered, looking to the floor beside her before staring forward again.
Russet sighed. “Any hope of keeping this project going lies within your blood, Rainbow. And without Goldheart… it could take years. Years we might not have.”
Rainbow wiggled her jaw. “He… he shouldn’t have gone out the way he did. He was a good pony. He deserved more, way more. Especially when I had given up on myself, he gave me something to look forward to.” Rainbow tore her gaze from the wall and to the sky outside. “I just… I’ve never given up on myself like that and he believed in me. Just like my… my f-friends would’ve.”
Russet pursed her lips, putting the syringe and flask down. Walking over to Rainbow, she put a hoof around her and smiled. “Hey, if it could only work once, I’m sure he’d be proud it’s you.”
Sighing, Rainbow turned to look at Russet and gave a small smile back. “Yeah,” Rainbow whispered. Patting Russet on the foreleg, she turned her attention back to the window, before looking down at her hooves. Feeling her ears flicker, though, Rainbow frowned, and she began to hear the nearing voices of Colonel Bellum among others she didn’t recognise. Turning her head to look into the main space out of the medical view box, she glanced at Russet, and they both nodded. Walking out and down the stairs, Rainbow tuned in fully, listening to their voices echo.
Hearing a voice already speaking, one she could almost remember hearing at one time, she flicked her ear. “...I’m probably the most qualified pony in all of Equestria to study this, and that’s putting it modestly. I don’t know what was inside it, what kind of crystal it’s made of, or why it combusted the way it did. Coming to me with more than a dozen pieces of shrapnel and a vague outline just puts the cherry on top.”
“Well, Miss Belle,” a voice Rainbow didn’t recognise said, “Who made it then?”
“Hydra,” Colonel Bellum said immediately. Finally leaving the stairs, Rainbow and Russet could see Colonel Bellum standing beside two well-dressed ponies facing Luster Belle, who was donned with her goggles and covered in soot standing beside the wreckage of the plane Rainbow had crashed. “I’m sure you’ve been reading our briefings.”
The pony beside the Colonel frowned as he turned to him. “I’m on more than one committee, Colonel. Please enlighten me.”
“Hydra is what we believe to be their deep studies division, led by the pony we know as Insomnia. A right hoof to Sombra, but by the looks of things, he has even bigger aspirations.”
Rainbow turned and stared at Russet for a second before remembering she was a pretty top class secret agent and shaking her head. She knew of Insomnia? Hm…
“Hydra is basically a cult. Their followers worship Insomnia. They think he’s higher and mightier than even Sombra, to the point of invincibility.”
Rainbow blinked. Goldheart had told her Insomnia was pretty crazy, but to this level? She was starting to think that maybe all he needed was a friendly conk on the head to readjust. Smiling at that, she continued to listen to the events playing out before her.
“So what are you going to do about it?” the well-dressed stallion said.
Colonel Bellum glanced at him before sighing and turning to Russet. “AIM is being reassigned. Spoke with Princess Celestia through the radios this morning.”
Rainbow watched as Russet blinked. “Colonel?”
“We’re taking the fight straight back to the Crystal Empire,” Bellum said. “Pack your bags. You too, Belle. You’re flying to Rainbow Falls tonight.”
Feeling like something was missing there, Rainbow quickly realised that she wasn’t invited. “Sir?” she tried, “If you’re going after Insomnia, then I’m coming too-”
The Colonel waved a hoof, interrupting Rainbow. “No can do, missy. You’re an experiment. Our one and only super soldier. You’re going to Baltimare.”
Rainbow, flabbergasted, frowned. “But Colonel, the stupid serum worked. And he ordered the hit on Goldheart. If there was anypony more dignified to strike back at him, it would be me!”
Bellum pursed his lips. “You. You’re one of a kind. I asked for an army, and I got a single soldier.” Stamping a hoof down he shook his head. “You are not enough!”
Rainbow could only frown. “...seriously? Are you serious?! Why can’t I do it!? They took Goldheart! I can’t just stand around and do nothing-!”
The pony with the suit put a reassuring hoof on Rainbow, interrupting her. Rainbow stared at the hoof before narrowing one eye at him. “With all due respect to Colonel Bellum, I think we might be missing the point. I’ve seen you in action, Miss Dash, but more importantly, Equestria has seen you in action.” He glanced behind him and said “Paper.” The younger stallion floated a newspaper to him, and the pony grasped it in his magic, showing the front page.
Rainbow read the article title and skimmed it.
The Equestrian Chronicle
Rainbow maned mare saves life of filly, Manehattenites relieved!
Just yesterday morning, an unnamed mare with a striking rainbow mane and tail saved the life of a filly, all the while pursuing the culprit that would dare harm a foal. The mother, along with many bystanders, were incredibly relieved to have somepony so brave and courageous living among them, and many also wonder if the mare is a soldier employed by the government.
Reporter Frantic Script has this to say…
Frowning, Rainbow eyed the pony holding the newspaper. “So?”
“So,” the stallion said, smiling, “You don’t hide something like that, a symbol of the country, in a lab. The enlistment lines have been around since your stunt, and there’s been a noticeable surplus of new recruits, even if it’s only a few digits.”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “So?”
“Would you like to serve Equestria on the most important battlefield of war?”
Of course, Rainbow could only look at him as if he grew a second head. “Heck yeah!”
The smirk on his and his assistant’s face unsettled her.
“Uhhh…” Rainbow looked down at herself before raising an eyebrow at who he she had come to know as the Senator’s Assistant. “I’m not sure this is a good idea.”
Half Write shook his head and smiled. “Nonsense! All you have to do is say a few lines, sell some bonds, bonds support the army, army fights back against the Empire. Bing bang boom, you’re a national hero. Easy as pie.”
Rainbow sighed, pulling over the costume they had given her. “I just didn’t picture this being how I got there.” Shaking her mane, she slipped the flimsy fabric hood over her head. “And who the hay designed this costume?”
“You’ll have to blame the textile workers for that, and for cooking it up so fast too,” Half Write said before patting Rainbow. “And the senator has a lot of pull with the higher ups. You do your part, and you’ll have a platoon in no time. Here, take the shield.”
“Huh?” Rainbow asked. Finding a badge-shaped shield in her hoof, she started to get pushed out by him.
“Your lines are taped on the inside. All ya gotta do is read it, and you’re set.”
“My- whoa!” Rainbow was pushed the rest of the way, half stumbling onto centre stage. Seeing the crowd made Rainbow blink, as this was not her usual way of showing off. Gulping, she glanced behind her at the ensemble she had been given and nodded her affirmation.
She heard music kickstart before the ensemble began to sing to their hearts content. “Who’s here to stay, strong and brave, to save the Equestrian way?”
Rainbow swallowed before glancing at the shield on her leg. “Uh, not everypony is capable of joining the army? Of fighting on the front lines and taking it to the enemy’s doorstep, but there’s still a way you can help. Heh, uh-”
“Who’s vowed to protect, to defend, what is right, night and day?”
Rainbow smiled even wider before reading from the script again. “Dawn Dusk Defence Bonds! Each one you get is a great contributor to the greater good of Equestria!”
As the performance went on, Rainbow’s smile grew ten times wider and she could only soak up the cheers and hollers for her own spectacular presentation. She could get behind this.
Thunder crackled as Rainbow sat on some stairs, staring intentedly at the paper before her. Her show just minutes before had been bolstered by a crowd of actual soldiers, and she could almost understand their sentimentality. For the months she had been touring, she had gained in popularity and found that more and more fans, more than she could have ever dreamed of, had begun to notice and know her… and she really was happy.
It was just… she couldn’t just forget what she had seen. Rainbow Dash still wanted to do more, and to see a group of soldiers fighting for the true Equestrian way just take her down like that was discouraging. All the films and shows she had done did not compare to the guilt and anger she now felt for only being able to do so little. With a deterred and hefty sigh, she slammed the tip of her pencil onto the journal she had been given, breaking the point.
There, she stared at her drawings of two certain fillies she missed, but knew one was surely keeping track of all she was doing. Of course, they were both completely perfect drawings thanks to the clarity of the images she could see in her mind, and before she knew it the pieces was complete and she just sat there, staring at them.
“Are they your sisters?” a voice said as it approached her. Glancing without turning her head, Rainbow closed her eyes.
“They’re a… they’re important to me I guess.”
Russet’s smile was bittersweet. “You’ll get to see her soon enough since this show is one of your last.”
Rainbow could only feel anger and frowned, before taming it right quick. She had been away from Firefly for over two months, and Scootaloo...
She could feel a tear well up before scrunching her muzzle and sniffling. Shaking her head, she turned to Russet. “What are doing you here? Aren’t you needed elsewhere? Not this dump where I’m useless.”
Russet bit her lip before sitting beside Rainbow and smiling reassuringly. “Officially, I’m not here at all, but that was quite an interesting performance.”
Rainbow scoffed and went back to staring at her drawings. “Yeah. Sure.”
“I understand that you’re being made out to be ‘Equestria’s New Hope’?”
“Every city and province I visit has a ten percent bump in bond sales,” Rainbow recited monotonously. Finding herself reliving the memory of when she and the girls had first met together and gotten the Elements of Harmony, she smiled a bittersweet smile and closed her eyes sadly. “Heh, what else is new?”
“Is that Senator Deign I hear?” Russet said.
“At least the guy’s got me doing this. I could be ‘stuck in a lab’ instead, and Bellum wouldn't have batted an eye.”
“So those are your only options, then?” Russet tried to look Rainbow in the eye. “A lab rat or a jester? You were meant for more than this, you know.” Almost immediately, Rainbow sharply breathed in and glared at Russet before closing her eyes and drooping her head. “What?” Russet coaxed.
“I just… I promised Goldheart I would do more. I promised Firefly I would fight on the front lines and let her be only a radio away. I promised myself I would help end this war one way or another, but I can’t believe that this is the way it’s ending up to be. It’s so… frustrating. And with this last show… I don’t know if I can do anymore to begin with.” Sighing, she recalled their haunted and tired faces. “And… they all look like they’ve been to Tartarus and back.”
“Well,” Russet began, “These ponies more than others. Insomnia had led an attack on one of our forces in Breakstall. Over two hundred of our ponies went to fight, and only about fifty returned. What you saw today was what was left of the one-thirty-first.”
Rainbow’s ears flicked, and she slowly turned to Russet, frowning. “The one-thirty-first*?”
“What?”
Rainbow pocketed her book and wiggled her jaw before meditating for a split second. A split second was all she needed. Getting on to all fours, she cracked her neck and motioned forward. “Come on!” And so, Rainbow began to trot a brisk pace, while Russet had to canter to keep up. It wasn’t that short of a distance to where they were going, evidently Colonel Bellum’s tent, and soon, Rainbow Dash was marching right up to Bellum’s desk.
Shuffling some papers around, he noticed Rainbow and tilted his head. “Well, if it isn’t the Star-Spangled Rainbow with a Reason. And what exactly is your plan today.”
Setting her jaw, Rainbow narrowed her eyes down at him. “I need to know where the one-thirty-first was captured and taken.”
“You don’t get to give me orders, girl,” the Colonel said almost immediately with authority.
“I just want to know the location,” Rainbow said. “Just the coordinates, or even a map.”
Looking up from his sheets, he finally truly noticed Agent Russet standing by Rainbow’s side. His eyes darted between the two before settling on Russet. “You and I are going to have a talk later that you won’t enjoy in the slightest.”
“Please, just give it to me sir.” Rainbow persisted. “It’s very important.”
“Look,” Bellum said. “I’ve written too many condolence letters today and giving you the location does not help me or the survivors at all.”
“But you’re mounting a rescue mission, right?” Rainbow asked, on the verge of yelling. “These are our ponies who’ve been fighting for our country! You’re going back to save them, right!?”
“You do know that the Hydra base they were taken to is over fourty kilometres behind enemy lines, right? Any hope of getting them out from that is almost zero to none. I’m sorry, Miss Dash, but it’s a lost cause.” Standing up from his desk and tucking some papers into his jacket, he walked past them.
Left standing in front of an empty desk, Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth and growled. Turning her eyes to the map with pins on it, she quickly memorised it before noting the blue pin surrounded by red pins.
“What are you going to do now?” Russet asked, seeing the cogs turning in Rainbow’s head.
Rainbow hardened her gaze and stared at the pin. “What needs to be done. With or without his help. They served loyally to Equestria, it’s time I showed mine.”
With that, Rainbow left the tent, with Russet trailing behind. Rainbow quickly took to the air, still wholly unused to her wings since she had been travelling by train and wagon, and landed at the stage platform. Running in, she glanced at all the helmets with letters on them, before her eyes settled on one with a 'W’.
Smiling, she thought of her title as a wonderbolt, and the stupid ‘E’ stiched into her costume. “As Rarity would say…” Rainbow swiped the helmet and placed it on her head. “‘E’ was so last season.” On her way out, she spotted her shield. Without thinking twice, she grabbed it.
Running out, she ran to the nearest car she could see and ran up to it, ready to figure out how it worked-
“You’ll need some help,” Russet’s voice said as Rainbow put her shield in the backseat.
“I really don’t,” Rainbow said. “Just stay here where it’s safe.”
“I’m not just an agent, I’m a soldier too,” Russet said. “Are you planning on just flying in there? You do know that’s crazy, right?”
Rainbow cast a glare at her. “I got wings. I can fly fast. Good enough for me. Are you just gonna stand around and lecture me?”
“What I’m trying to say is, Rainbow Dash,” Russet said, “You’ll need somepony to help you get inbound. Don’t you think somepony would’ve tried that already? Sombra and especially Insomnia have safeguards and countermeasures for flying pegasi with a magical signature! You’d be blasted out of the air with anti-aviary artillery before you could say ‘boom’!”
Rainbow blinked. “Huh.”
“You’re going to need something that can effectively cover up any sort of mana signature before you go dive-bombing in, Rainbow. Something like a specialised plane.”
Her lips curled down ward in confusion. “Where are we going to find something like that?” Russet could only smile.
The cabin shook as the winds tore around the plane at high speeds. The three ponies in said cabin were all at varying levels of focus, and each were coping with being so high in the air. Luster Belle at the helm was grinning wildly, checking and rechecking each gauge and light fixture in the cockpit. Russet merely smiled at Belle’s enthusiasm, all the while gripping her foreleg-rests a little tighter with each new bump.
Rainbow on the other hoof stared listlessly out a window, staring down at the dark landscape below. She could feel the air rushing past them and knew that it was still nothing compared to what her fastest speed was before she had been left stranded in time. Just as well, with her heightened senses, everything she could sense she knew was factual. Gripping her shield, she made sure she still had her… her gun, and continued flexing her wings.
“Woohoo!” Luster Belle said. Checking her readings and referencing with Russet who held a map, she turned to look back at Rainbow. “Miss Dash, we are almost at the destination, and might I say, it’s great to finally able to use this thing for what it’s designed for. Speed and reconnaissance!”
Rainbow smiled softly in her direction while Russet sighed. “That’s the fifth time you’ve said that since we left the field. I’m sure Rainbow has gotten the message, although knowing we’re almost there is a slight comfort.”
It was Rainbow’s turn to sigh. “No, it’s okay Russet. Let Belle enjoy her fun.”
“Thanks, Cap,” Belle chuckled. “But yeah, we’re almost at wherever you said we were going- (“A facility near the town of Lockwood based near the mountains,” Russet interjected) and so you better get ready for jumpoff.”
Rainbow nodded and began to fully flex her wings. She grabbed them and stretching them just a bit farther before doing the same for her legs, until she realised something Belle had said. “Wait, Belle, you do know I’m not actually a captain of anything, right? And you also know I think the name ‘Captain Equestria’ is stupid, right?”
Belle and Russet laughed in the cockpit. “Oh yeah, I’m sure everypony in Equestria knows that name is stupid, but what else are we supposed to call ya? And ‘sides, you’re called a captain, it’s good enough for me, and if you ask me, I’d tell you you’re pretty much a captain of the entire war, what with all the ponies you’ve been recruiting and all the services you’ve been boosting.”
Thinking, Rainbow glanced up at the helmet rested on her head and smirked. “Just call me a Wonderbolt. That’s what I am. It was my title and I’m still proud of it even if I’m right here.”
“The Wonderbolt?” Russet said, “Sounds strangely fitting, I should say. Just look at the headlines now, ‘The Wonderbolt saves Platoon, joins war efforts in full force’!”
“Come on, Russet,” Rainbow groaned, “I’m not The Wonderbolt, I’m a Wonderbolt. There’s more of me.”
“Really?” Belle asked, “Because I’ve never heard of ya before. If anything, you could be leading a platoon soon yourself and be called ‘The Wonderbolts’. And since you’re the leader and made it all up, you’d be the first of them. Just think, having the title of ‘The First~’!”
Ping!
Krrrapapow!
Krack!
Boom!
The plane shook from the concussive forces that were now ringing all around them. They all gripped to something tight as their craft wobbled, and Rainbow’s smile dropped to her gritting her teeth. With a glance outside, she could see plumes of glowing red flame and magic bursting randomly around them… but they were getting closer.
“Just get me as close as you can!” Rainbow shouted over the din of explosions. “And thanks for this! You’re both going to get in trouble, so double thanks!”
“And you won’t?” Russet shouted back.
“Where I’m going, I can knock ‘em out! Plus, I have this!” Rainbow knocked on her shield, and another shell blew right beside them.
“It’s now or never, Cap!” Belle yelled and the door to the outside flew open. Almost immediately Rainbow could feel the buffeting winds and the pressure of the air… and she grinned.
“Stay safe girls!” Rainbow cried before jumping out shield first.
Hitting the wind at such a speed felt like a huge slap to the side. She was almost surprised to not even feel the effects on her. At that moment she regretted forgetting to bring her reliable pair of flight goggles, cracked as they were. Looking up from her freefall, she could see the plane beginning to circle around, already so far away from her after she had left it’s pocket of speed. Seeing it ascend above the clouds, she knew it would be safe for the time being, and she clasped her shield onto her back.
Turning her attention back down, she squinted into the night, and closed her eyes, feeling the wind.
She was so close. Close to the ground. Enough that… there!
Her wings shot open to their full span and she opened her narrowed eyes. Hollering, she laughed from the intense rush of wind. Glancing from side to side, she observed her wings to be nearly a third bigger than when she wasn’t enhanced, and she could still fold her wings in so that they looked like normal pegasus wings. Grinning, she sped even closer to the ground before tilting a few feathers just right, slowing her down to the point where she snapped her wings closed and dropped the last few metres to the ground at a still-incredible speed.
Breaking a few branches from stray evergreens she fell into and barely feeling their sting, she rolled into the ground to spread her momentum before sticking a hoof out. The hoof then shot her a good couple of feet into the air where she spread her remaining hooves out, and shot into a speedy gallop. Marvelling out how she was somehow able to calculate all the right variables in the few split seconds it took for her to reach the ground, she laughed.
“Still awesome,” Rainbow whispered to herself, and she raced across the forest, the only sounds that could be heard being the soft crunch of snow and leaves that her hooves made. She had seen the facility in the distance, so she knew the general direction that she had to go. That didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun.
Soon enough though, she saw a short clearing that stretched on horizontally; a road. Narrowing her eyes and breathing a cloudy breath in the cold night, she slowed down. Taking her time, she trotted closer to the edge of the road, trying her best to silence her own hoofalls. By the looks of things, there were fresh wheel tracks in the ground along with day old hoof tracks. Pursing her lips, Rainbow’s ears flicked. Her ears turned to the source, and she quickly hid behind a tree as a large armoured vehicle passed by. Rainbow hesitated to call it a car, but it had four wheels, so she shrugged and ran up to it.
Finding herself easily able to keep up with it at its seemingly amble pace, she saw the flaps to its storage area. With a moment of brilliance, she grinned and shot in, landing perfectly and with barely a sound. Sitting down on the benches that she found inside, she rested her head on the canvas before turning to look at the two ponies she neglected to acknowledge at first.
“Hey guys, how’s it hangin’?” Rainbow grinned. The two ponies glanced at each other before looking at her again, and Rainbow’s smile stretched wider. “Thought you’d never ask.”
As one of them brought their gun up, Rainbow used that split second and grabbed her shield from her back to throw it point-side first, smacking the gun up. She then leapt forward, jumping at the slower of the two and punching him into the canvas. Grabbing her shield just as it was about to hit the ground, she smacked the first of the two across the face, knocking him straight into the bench.
Shaking her mane, Rainbow giggled. “Phew!” Rainbow said, “Nice warmup to get the blood pumping, and a shot wasn’t even fired! Sweet.”
Now all she had to do was wait until this cargo thing went to the facility. Realising she now had nothing to do but watch over two ponies who thought they could beat her, she sighed.
“Whelp, I hope it’s not that long.”
It only took another half hour according to her own internal clock. That was weird for Rainbow. She had never had an internal clock before, but now it was like she always knew the time. She only needed a glance at a clock to readjust if it changed in anyway. Which it shouldn’t.
As the truck came to a stop, she patted the heads of the unconscious soldiers and shrugged. “Fun ride guys, but I feel like you both were a little out of it. Maybe next time!” Going to the opening in the canvas, she waited a little longer until she sensed somepony coming to check inside the truck, and she hid behind her shield. Seeing the light intensify around her as the guardpony checked inside, she waited a second before slamming her shield forward, hearing a satisfying twang and a loud crumpling sound.
Jumping out, she landed with four taps just before glancing left and right. Seeing a vast compound filled with vehicles of all kind, she rushed towards it quickly, keeping her body low to the ground. Slipping in between each vehicle, she took some time to marvel at their glistening crystal shells, and their seemingly complex makings. Maybe she could ride one of them in the future.
Shaking the thought away, she focused on not getting caught. Weaving her way closer to a small branch off of the main building, she looked around her to make sure no one was looking before stretching her wings wide and flapping once. The aerial boost it gave her allowed for her to land on the roof with the perfect amount of clearance to be able to hug the roof. Making her way to a roof hatch, she opened it and entered the building.
She could see a door at the end of the hallway she was in, so, looking behind her, she rushed towards it and tried it. Locked. Grumbling to herself, she sighed until a brilliant idea came to mind. Seeing a soldier standing just a few metres away from the door, she knocked on it and hide away from the window. Just as she heard the pony’s footsteps come closer and saw the door open, she pulled it wide open and swung her shield up, knocking him out completely. As the body fell forward, Rainbow caught the pony and dragged it into the hallway.
Hoping nopony had seen the action, she sidled up against the nearest large pillar and sneaked around into the nearby machinery. Running along the aisles, she could hear the loud chatters and bangs of workers and machinery, and she gulped. She had never really been one for subtlety, and suddenly realising this, she hoped the serum had enhanced her sneakiness too. Gulping, she nearly ran into a table piled with glowing capsules of… energy? Grabbing one in her hoof, she could almost feel the amount of power contained in just one cartridge. Frowning as it’s light glowed against her visage, she pocketed it and took a few more.
Looking around once more to check on her credibility, she smirked and dashed out of the area.
Weaving her way in and out of surprisingly empty hallways, she scrambled against a door. She held her breath as a guardpony walked by and closed her eyes. As a second passed, then two, she heard the hoofsteps lessen and she nodded to herself. Taking another view of her surroundings, she found a map helpfully stationed beside the door she had squashed herself against. She looked it over and smiled. She knew where they were.
Running quickly, she found the prison cells guarded by no less than four ponies. Looking at them all, she blinked and smiled. She knew what she needed to do. Running forward, she smashed into the nearest guard, bringing them down instantly. In the next second, before the others could react, Rainbow stretched her wings and flapped them in the direction of her next victim. Slamming the shield forward, the guard flew into the wall. With only two left, Rainbow threw her shield point-side first at the third guard, incapacitating them.
With just one left, Rainbow blew the bangs out of her face. The guard raised their gun. Rainbow smiled. As she sensed them pull a trigger, she leapt out of the way before grabbing her own gun and aiming it straight at they’re… clack-a-clack! The gun bounced of their armoured face, startling them and giving Rainbow the perfect opportunity. She flew at the guard with her hindlegs outstretched and they were down for the count.
Wiping a little bit of perspiration from her forehead, she smiled at the prisoners below. “Hiya!”
They looked up at her in confusion. “And who are you supposed to be?” one of them asked,
Rainbow cocked her head to the side and smirked. “I’m The Wonderbolt, or Captain Equestria. Just call me ‘Cap’ for short.” She watched as they looked at each other with uncertainty, and she mentally laughed. Oh well. She searched the four guards for the keys and swiped them.
Going down to the floor below, she unlocked all the gates to each cell holding at least a dozen soldiers. Patting herself a job well done, she smiled widely. She felt so good. Clearing her throat, she put all the attention on herself. Any chattering or muttering among the prisoners quickly hushed.
“Alright y’all, better listen up if you want to get out of here alive!” She waited a few seconds only making sure she had everyone’s rapt attention. “There’s at least three corridors from here until you’re homefree. Two rights and a left! You’ll find a guard or two conked out right beside a door. That’s your ticket out of here! Use that, and give all those imperials the smackdown! The tree line is only 80 yards away from when you get out, so make it quick, and make it fast! Give ‘em hell!”
As they gave a quiet cheer and several nods, they began to file out. Doing so with them, Rainbow quickly asked the nearest soldier “Hey, do you know a pony named ‘Ember Wing’? I’m looking for him.”
The soldier responded with “I know him, but he went into the isolation ward. As far as we know… nopony’s come back out of there alive.”
Rainbow winced and stood in place, allowing the rest of the crowd to file around her eagerly. The soldier she had asked only smiled sadly before joining the mass of faces. Watching their ranks file into the corridors and eventually disappear, she resorted to listening to their quickly hastening and retreating footsteps. Gulping, she looked around her.
“Crud cakes.”
Running to the opposite end of the room, she entered a different hallway and looked for another map. Spotting one at the end of the hall, she ran up to it and put her hoof against it, mumbling each hall and room name until- there! The Isolation Ward! Licking her lips, she looked for it’s relation to her position. It was on the highest floor and about two corridors away. Glancing to her left, she eyed a stairwell. This would be easy.
Racing up its flights, she found herself seeing at least a dozen guards making their way down the hall opposite of her. Smirking, she winced as she heard at least several dozen explosions rock the compound. The soldiers must’ve been roughing things up. Made her job easier at least. With a nod of approval as she saw plumes of smoke rising outside, she burst through the doors and raced down the halls.
Knowing she was nearing her destination, she rounded the last corner and slid to a stop. There, exiting the same room she was going to was a crystal pony decked out in a coat and fedora. As they locked eyes, he (for he was most certainly a he) widened his own before racing away like a coward.
Frowning, Rainbow glanced from him to the room. He wasn’t worth it. With a shake of her mane, she bounded into the room. “Ember?” she called. “Ember Wing! Are you in here?!”
She could hear a few moans and mumblings. Her ears flicked towards the sound and she followed their direction. Seeing the silhouette of a pony splayed on a mattress, she ripped the curtains open and saw a pegasus with nearly all his extremities tied down and a dazed look on his face.
“Ember Wing?” asked Rainbow.
The pegasus smiled goofily. “Who’s askin’?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked to the side. “Now I know where she got her humour from.” Rainbow turned back to him and patted him lightly. “Don’t worry Ember, we’re getting you out of this in one piece. You’ve got a daughter to come back to.”
“F-Firefly?” Ember Wing blinked, his eyes trying to focus on Rainbow. “Is th-that you?”
“Unless she grew four feet and rainbow hair, I don’t think so,” Rainbow joked, and began untying him.
“Heh, you got spunk,” he muttered, sluggishly waving his now free hoof around.
“Definitely too much for my own good, but whatever gives me attention, eh?”
Ember smiled droopily. “I bet you that hair isn’t even real.”
Rainbow glanced at her own locks and laughed. “You’d lose.”
“Whatever it takes to pay the bills,” he mumbled before sliding off the bed in an attempt to walk on his own. As he took a step, he tottered and began to fall forward. He almost looked surprised as he hit the ground face-first, and Rainbow winced.
“Yeaaaaaah you’re not going anywhere without me.” Rainbow quickly hauled him over her back before a large explosion rocked the entire world. As the rumbling settled for the moment, Rainbow glanced outside the observation window of the room and saw fireballs coming from within the building itself. Frowning, she looked at all the pieces of ceiling and platform falling.
“Alright!” Rainbow shouted, “Time to get out!”
It was definitely a bit harder to maneuver with a pony draped across her back, but she found it really didn’t make that much of a difference. She just had to be a little more careful with how she moved so Ember wouldn’t fall off her back.
As they cantered through the hallways, Ember continued to groan, incoherently saying things to himself and shuddering. Pursing her lips, she found the stairwell blocked by it’s own doorway, collapsed under parts of the roof. Wincing, Rainbow doubled book and recalled the map, remembering there was a gangway across the main area she had sneaked through earlier. As she made it, she saw a figure just about to enter a doorway.
She stopped in her tracks, her eagle eyes settling on his figure. He too stopped, before stepping backwards once… and turning his head to smile at her. As he saluted, Rainbow’s eye twitched before he seemed to laugh and disappear behind closed doors. Glancing from the door he disappeared through to Ember Wing and to the railway, Rainbow gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes and breathed.
“Alright Ember Wing, we’re getting out of here,” Rainbow finally said and began to trot across the metal platform, the rumblings of the explosions outside and down below shaking the metal. Rainbow bit down and wiggled her jaw. “Come on…”
As it settled, she yelled and ran across, feeling her hooves hit hard against the metal. It shook and groaned. Finally making it across, she slid, throwing Ember Wing from her back. She turned behind her just in time to see the metal platform snap and fall into the fiery depths below.
“Woohoo!” Ember Wing cried, “Let’s do that again!”
Rainbow sighed and got up, really wanting to just lay down and take a nap like in the good ol’ days. Helping Ember up once more, she notice he seemed a lot more steady. “Hey hotshot,” Rainbow said, “You feeling better?”
“Is the sky blue?” he asked Rainbow.
Rainbow smiled. “Great. Just lean on me if you need help.”
Ember Wing smiled. “Sure thing, skittles.”
Rainbow’s eye twitched.
“Senator Deign, I am sorry to inform you that Captain Rainbow Dash has been announced MIA and presumably KIA in an attempt to save the lives of the one-hundred and thirty-first infantry from the hooves of Hydra over forty kilometres behind enemy lines. As such, Project Rebirth has been shelved and closed until further re-evaluation in the hopes that-”
“Sir, if I may, I have faith in Captain Dash’s abilities and hope for her return,” Russet interrupted, and Bellum turned to glare at her.
“Is that so?” Bellum said. “Well, how splendid, because that’s all it is. Hope! Hope isn’t going to bring her back, and faith is as intangible as a ghost trying to haunt me. This your fault, Agent Russet, and Belle’s too. You roped her into this, you will both face the consequences!”
Russet pursed her lips, staring Bellum straight in the eyes. “Colonel Bellum, with no disrespect, I believe you are blinded by your aspirations for more than an army of one and neglect to see her true potential, which she has set out to demonstrate.”
“I don’t care about your philosophies, Agent, I care about results!” Bellum shouted, and jabbed a hoof at Russet. “And so far, I don’t see a rainbow-maned super soldier nearby. Do you?”
Russet remained standing still. She had no more words to say.
Bellum sighed. “I thought so. Deck Write, let’s continue…” He was interrupted once more when shouts of surprise and confusion rang out throughout the camp. Glancing outside the comfort of his tent, Bellum could see ponies running from their own tents into the dirt roads to see the commotion, and Bellum furrowed his brows.
“What in tarnation is going on out there!?” Bellum cried and marched out.
Russet felt the glimmer of hope in her chest burn twice as bright in the hopes that her friend was alive and kicking, and maybe with a few hundred saved souls to boot. Slowly making her own way out, she watched with the rest of the crowd as what seemed almost like a parade of weary and wary soldiers made their way into the midst of the camp. Leading them all was one Rainbow Dash, who was grinning widely at all the wide eyes and owlish looks she was receiving.
Her mirth, however, died with Bellum’s expression. Glancing backward, she sighed and put on a much more fake smile and marched up to the Colonel.
“Sir,” Rainbow said, “I understand that I have gone against your direct orders and will stand to receive any punishment you deem appropriate.”
Bellum studied Rainbow carefully. Rainbow watched as his gaze flitted from her, to Russet, and finally to all the rescued ponies that were still filing in around them, and the crowd that had gathered. With another moment’s passing, a smile crinkled it’s way onto his face.
“That won’t be necessary,” Bellum finally announced… and patted Rainbow on the shoulder. “The march back here was punishment enough.”
As Rainbow smiled, wider than she had since starting her part in the war, she could hear Russet’s voice call out from among the crowd. “Let’s hear it for the Captain!”
And then from right beside her, Ember Wing cried “Yeah, The Wonderbolt, let’s go!”
Right then and there, everypony began to cheer. “Hip hip!”
“HOORAY!”
Rainbow smiled as she saw friends reunite after thinking they would never see ach other again.
“Hip hip!”
“HOORAY!”
She saw the beaming face of gratitude Firefly’s father had, and it couldn’t feel better.
“Hip hip!”
“HOORAY!”
But there was still one more thing that needed to happen.
The last time Rainbow Dash had been this anxious, she had been studying for her Wonderbolts Entry Exam.
Marching feverishly, she muttered to herself, still somewhat angry at how difficult they had made this for her. It was such a simple thing she asked for in return for her service, and they wouldn’t even allow it! She was going to be completely safe in the hands of AIM whileshe was out on the front lines with a regiment of her own, what’s not to get?
Her thoughts now officially turned to Firefly, she sighed. She shook her head and looked up into the waning sunlit sky. It did make sense though. They didn’t want her in any danger. Why would they? She’s a filly! Who would be crazy enough to let a filly into a barracks filled with countless weapons of death?
Well, after making a very convincing statement involving Firefly’s father, and Rainbow’s threat of abandoning the war effort along with any publicity she might have garnered, they conceded to allow Firefly to reside at the bases of operation in complete safety while Rainbow was out doing her duty to Equestria.
Rainbow’s ears suddenly flicked and she promptly turned around in circles, searching the skies and horizons for a carriage of some sort. Seeing a sleek plane, Rainbow smirked in approval. She would have to thank Belle later for Firefly’s First Class trip. Though she still had to wait quite a bit for the plane to get there. Sometimes, her ears were just a little too good.
As soon as the plane touched down, Rainbow rushed over to it, standing at a respectable distance away. She knew that although they would both be happy to see each other, Firefly would more than likely hit Rainbow for not having contacted her sooner. Still, Rainbow almost couldn’t wait. It felt like so long since she last saw Scootaloo-
Rainbow froze in place, her mind suddenly reeling from the feedback of vivid memories. Gritting her teeth, Rainbow growled a little, clenching her eyes tight as she plead for the torrent of images to retreat. Her mind began clouding over just as one last memory of Scootaloo came to her forefront, one from where she had been scrapbooking for her personal hero project and brought Rainbow to talk to her parents for the first time in ages.
Feeling a tap on her hoof, Rainbow opened her eyes only to realise her vision was blurry. Hastily wiping the tears away, she bilnked and took in her surroundings. Standing in front of her with worried expressions on their faces were Ter, Firefly and… Skylark? What was she doing here?
“Rainbow Dash?” Firefly asked, tapping Rainbow’s hoof. “Are you okay?”
Rainbow shook her head as the thought of Scootaloo was mind-numbingly shoved to the back. “Y-yeah, squirt, never better! See? I’ve got my costume and uh, everything, and I was, I was waiting for you here too.”
“It’s so cool to see you in that costume, Rainbow!” Skylark said, smiling widely. “Everypony at home is all over you, buying comics and stuff!”
“C-comics? Me?” Rainbow said, hesitating, surprised. “Why would they make comics of me?”
“Because everyone thinks you’re awesome, duh,” Firefly snarked. “But having hanged out with you, we both know you’re nothing but an egghead.”
Rainbow sucked her teeth in and cocked her head. “Phew,” Rainbow began with a grin, “I dunno if I can let that one slide, small fry.”
“It’s good to see you’re well, Miss Dash,” Ter said to Rainbow as Firefly began chatting with Skylark excitedly. “Firefly had been worrying about you for a while until you came to visit Manehatten on one of your tours. Then she couldn’t stop telling everypony she came across that she knew you.”
“Yeah, about that,” Rainbow whispered. “Why is Skylark here? I was told that only Firefly could come, along with a trusted guardian.”
Ter nodded, understanding her worry. “I was hesitant as well when Firefly insisted Skylark come with her to reside at your bases of operation, but I couldn’t leave Skylark all alone at her apartment complex either.”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow inquired quietly. “Skylark lives alone?”
“Yes,” Ter replied. “Her parents are working hard to support the war working in places such as textile and munitions factories, mostly overseeing all the other workers. Very important jobs. Very time consuming.”
“And did you get their permission? Did you get my superior’s permission?” Rainbow asked.
“But of course, Captain,” Ter smiled. “It’s why we took longer than we thought it would to come here.”
“Why didn’t they tell me Skylark would be coming too?” Rainbow asked once more as they began to walk towards the base.
“Probably the same reason you haven’t told Firefly the real reason she’s here specifically,” Ter said. “A surprise.”
Rainbow raised her eyebrows before sighing and walking alongside Firefly. Smiling at her antics with Skylark, Rainbow smirked and faced forward. All of a sudden, she felt a sharp punch on her hoof, once she was sure would have hurt a lot more before her enhancement but now felt more like a pinch.
“Ow!” Rainbow cried, playing along. “What’d you do that for?”
“For not checking up on me when you came to Manehatten, stupid!” Firefly said, rearing a hoof back again before Skylark shoved her playfully. They then started shoving each other and laughing before pushing off one another and Firefly turned her attention back to Rainbow.
“Seriously though,” Firefly said, “I waited like a whole month before I just heard that we would be flying in to see you. That’s crazy! Come on, you could’ve sent mail while you were at the camp and on tour!”
“I’m sorry, okay?” Rainbow cracked, laughing a little, “I was really busy and they didn’t give me a lot of free time to actually do that kind of thing.”
“Oh yeah?” Firefly said.
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied.
“Stop bothering her, Fly,” Skylark said, “She’s trying to show us where we need to go.”
“I’ll bother her all I want, Sky!” Firefly giggled, pushing her.
“No, you won’t!” Skylark said before tickling Firefly under the wing. Firefly gasped sharply as she recoiled, bemused.
“Hey!” Firefly cried, “No fair!”
“All’s fair in love and war!” Sky shouted back and they began to wrestle on the ground, mere metres away from the main encampment. Ter sighed heavily.
“I’m sorry, Rainbow,” she apologised, “They’ve been like this since they got on the plane.”
“It’s alright, really,” Rainbow smiled, laughing at the sight of Firefly getting the upper on hoof on Skylark before being slammed to the ground again. “They’ll definitely be paying attention after this. Or, at least Firefly will.”
Walking away from the tussling duo, Rainbow led Ter to step into a tent with a certain male pegasus sitting and playing cards with another soldier. Ter brightened immensely at the sight of her brother. As Ember Wing realised Ter was standing there, he shared the same reaction.
“Terra!” Ember cried, dropping his hoof of cards and rushing to hug her. As they embraced, Rainbow stepped back a little, giving them some space.
“You don’t know how good it is to see you, little brother,” Ter said, hugging him tightly.
“After being on the front lines and fearing for my life, I’m pretty sure I have a good idea,” Ember chuckled and they both shared a laugh before stepping away.
“How’s the medical practice?” Ember said, relaxing more than he had in the past couple weeks.
“Still pretty good, I must say,” Ter replied, “Though taking care of Firefly and Skylark has taken up a lot more of my time than I would care to admit. I still check in every now and then, and I’m still payed quite a bit, especially for my contributions to the medical field, but I feel my skills are being wasted behind a suburban door.”
“I’m… so sorry about that,” Ember began, rubbing his hoof with the other. “Silver and I just didn’t know anypony else we could trust to be able to take care of my little girl. I’m sure you know by now just how much of a hooffull she is.”
Ter giggled, wiping her eye as she had begun to cry. “Yeah, yeah I do. I just… I had the worst feeling, Ember. I really hope you take better care of yourself if what I’ve been hearing is correct.”
“At least I would’ve died knowing I didn’t give in,” Ember smiled. At that, Rainbow’s ears flicked as she began hearing a higher pitched conversation just outside of the tent.
“No no, I’m pretty sure they went this way,” Firefly could be heard saying.
“Really? Cause I remember seeing them go this way!” Skylark argued, and Rainbow could imagine her point her hoof in a completely different direction from Firefly. Shaking her head with a smile, she patted Ter and nodded to Ember before stepping out.
“Skylark! Firefly!” Rainbow called. Waving a hoof, the two fillies quickly spotted Rainbow.
“Ha, see?” Firefly smirked, “I was right!”
“No, you were almost right!” Skylark harrumphed. “You pointed at the other tent!”
“Did not!”
“Did too.”
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Girls!” Rainbow ordered, and they stopped bickering immediately after shoving each other one last time. “...Okay, good, you calmed down. Well, Firefly, you having fun yet?”
“Oh yeah!” Firefly practically shook in place. “Me and Sky were just, uh, having fun comparing tents!”
“Mmhm!” Skylark nodded, completely dedicated to look innocent. Rainbow rolled her eyes with a grin and settled on Firefly.
“Well, small fry, somepony is here to see you. Somepony special. It’s why you came today.”
“Really?” Firefly asked, cocking her head. “Who is… it…?” she had begun to ask but slowed to a crawl as the pony in question stepped out of the tent.
“Hey there, sunshine,” Ember Wing whispered.
Firefly blinked, staring at her father with increasingly widening eyes. Skylark, quickly understanding that this was quite an important moment, stepped away. Firefly remained stuck in place, her breath suddenly becoming more and more ragged as her eyes began sparkling with joy and longing.
“P-Papa?” Firefly rasped, taking a hesitant step forward. “I heard Aunt Ter talking about something happening, h-h-happening to you with the ponies in s-suits… I, I thought…”
Ember smiled softly and shook his head, his own eyes misting over. He sat on his haunches and stretched his hooves out wide. Firefly glanced at both hooves before settling on her dad’s face before breaking into a sob and running forward with a wet smile. There was a soft rustle of feathers and a fwump as Firefly glomped Ember, and they hugged each other as if their lives depended on it.
Rainbow couldn’t help but smile brightly at the reunion. She felt happy for them. Her ears then flicked as first, one set of hooves began thundering before another joined and another until it was a thunderous applause of hooves and cheers. Ember merely looked at every soldier he knew with a roll of his eyes and went back to hugging Firefly and whispering how much he loved her.
Yet through all the noise and the other soldiers’ joy of seeing one of their comrades reunite with their family, Rainbow’s smile faltered. With a broken smile, Rainbow felt herself begin crying silently as she began to recall every single face that she had unwillingly left behind, possibly forever.
Rainbow breathed in heavily, wiping her eyes and nose on her uniform before shaking her head. As her breath continued to hitch, she moaned softly at her own loss and turned away. She would give Firefly and Ember their space for the moment. She didn’t want to ruin it.
Trotting away for that reason, though being able to hide her weakness was an added bonus, somepone came running up to her with a rushed look plastered all over their face. Enough panic that they didn’t notice Rainbow’s red puffy eyes and quivering lips.
“Captain!” the pony said, “Captain Rainbow Dash!”
“T-the Wonderbolt or Cap is fine,” Rainbow said, scolding herself internally for not holding it together… though it seemed there were much more pressing matters at the moment.
“Colonel Bellum,” the pony began, “He says you’re needed in Zebrica ASAP!”
That shocked Rainbow into rebooting. “Wait. What. Zebrica? Why?”
The pony merely pointed to the colonel’s tent with wide eyes. “The Crystal Empire… they’re attacking them, they’re attacking Zebrica on the Northwestern Front, and we’re the closest encampment with enough troops to even consider fighting them off!”
Rainbow blinked. She blinked again. Finally, her gaze hardened and she sniffled once. Glancing back at Ember and Firefly who were still clinging to one another even though it wasn’t a hug, she sighed, her gaze resting on the colonel’s tent.
“Tell Colonel Bellum I’ll be there in a few seconds.”
The pony nodded sharply before rushing back. As Rainbow turned her gaze to the horizon, her eyebrows slanting downward, she muttered something to herself.
“I have a feeling he’ll want me on the front lines.”
“So what you’re telling me is that one specific tribe of Zebrica is being attacked by Hydra?” Rainbow asked, frowning at Colonel Bellum.
“Yes, Captain Dash, however hard to grasp that may seem to be. Hydra Seems to be isolating a single Zebrican tribe nation and, if my sources are correct, without the proper approval from King Sombra himself.”
Rainbow Dash looked at Colonel Bellum with scrutiny. “They’re doing this… without Sombra’s permission?”
“Yes,” Bellum said. “And if what little we know of the tribe is correct, then they’re doing it because they’re trying to get some sort of powerful metal from them.”
“Do you know what kind of metal?” Rainbow asked.
Bellum shook his head. “Remember, we only know so much of Zebrica already, what more could we know about an obscure tribe apart from what spies have told me?”
Rainbow began pacing in front of Bellum’s desk. A look of contemplation and anger plastered all over her face, she closed her eyes. She could still remember the first time she had met a zebra and how kind Zecora had been to her. The thought only served to make her breath hitch a little and she clenched her jaw, turning to face the Colonel.
“So what do you want me to do?”
Bellum smiled. “Time for your first mission, Captain.”
“Alright Ember,” Rainbow said, adjusting her cracked goggles and sliding her shield onto her back. "Firefly all tight and ready on the other side?”
Ember smiled, putting his own pair of goggles on before tapping the radio on his chest. “Ask her yourself.”
The radio crackled with magical static before a voice broke through the fuzz. “Hey Rainbow! Hey Dad! Me and Sky read you loud and clear!”
Ember sighed, looking at the radio with joy. “Well, squirt, you might read us loud and clear, but we can’t. The distance is already making our end all staticky-like, and we’re almost there so I have to shut it off soon.”
“Not yet, though,” Rainbow budged. “We’ll keep listening to you until we can’t!”
“Whoo!” the radio blared, both fillies shouting at the same time.
Meanwhile, the other passengers on the transport vehicle watched on in silent amusement. Even though they themselves were separated from their families, just hearing the bright naive voices of children and seeing Ember’s bright face was enough. Ember noticed their looks and nodded, a soft expression crossing his face.
All the ponies in the current car were ponies that Ember trusted with his life. For Rainbow, that was enough. Sitting beside Rainbow herself was a pony named Guffin. Donned with a red beret, he had striking silver eyes and a soft smile, always ready to crack a joke. A pony that could make a dire situation into nothing more than a nuisance with his well-plaved wit.
Sitting beside Ember was a zebra who wore several rings similar to those she’d seen Zecora wear, but not quite as many or as well crafted. Bearing a distant face that lingered with a smile from seeing Ember happy, Deseret stared into nothingness, her soft amber eyes laced with worry and stress. Rainbow frowned as she noted her size compared to some of the others. She couldn't have been older than Firefly by three or four years.
Beside Deseret was a pony who went by the name Jaydock. Rainbow had no idea what the name might imply, but she knew that this pony was not somepony she would’ve liked to mess with, enhanced or not. Sure, he was still one of the friendliest ponies she’d been surprised to know after being introduced by Ember, but she knew his stocky build and silent countenance could place fear into the hearts of the damned. Either way, he reminded her of Big Mac, save for the sky-blue coat and yellow mane.
Next to Guffin was a pony Rainbow still didn’t know the name of. With a curved horn and a pure-coloured mane, Rainbow suspected she must’ve been oriental in some way. Especially with the floral pattern of the bandana on her forehead. She looked shifty. Untrustworthy. Analytical. But Rainbow saw past all that and all she saw was somepony who wanted the war to end.
She pursed her lips as she figured that out.
Sitting right next to Jaydock was a smirking mare that nodded at Rainbow. Sharp Spark had a spiky blue and seafoam green mane and an eye that could match a hawk’s. Ponies called her Goldeneye because of it; the sharpshooter of the group. To Rainbow, she seemed the pony easiest to talk to next to Ember. Rainbow smiled and nodded back.
Last but not least, driving the vehicle was a pony she knew by the name of Puff. She knew it was a nickname by the way he averted his eyes for a split second when she asked him his name, but nopony had yet to actually reveal his real name. What she did know? He was strong. Very strong. Nowhere near as strong as her, of course, but if Rainbow had met him while she was still normal and gotten into a fight, she might’ve lost.
“Hey Puff, what’s the ETA on Checkpoint Alpha?” Rainbow asked.
Puff glanced back at Rainbow before nodding. “Only a few more minutes, Captain.”
Rainbow giggled lightly. “Everyone here knows I’m not actually a captain, right?”
Smiling, Puff rolled his eyes. “Of course we know. That doesn’t stop us from following you, though. You saved us and many other POWS. I saw the moves you busted out to save our friend Ember. If there was anypony more deserving of the title, it’s you.” Puff returned his full attention to the road before adding “Plus, Ember trusts you, and you saved him. That’s good enough for me.”
Rainbow nodded, smiling. “Thanks a lot dude. I really appreciate that.”
Puff tipped an unseen hat. “Anytime, Cap.”
Nodding again, Rainbow turned her attention back to Ember who was busy chatting up Firefly and Skylark. For her, Firefly and Scootaloo were so much alike. They both had the same fire in their eyes to do more than they could do at the time. They were both headstrong and passionate. Both had parents who were just… absent, but this time, for a good reason. Ember was serving his country alongside Rainbow herself. At least this time, she could take care of both of them.
As the vehicle slowed to a stop, the convoy behind them did as well and Rainbow jumped out the side of the truck. Trotting around to the front, she adjusted her goggles and turned to face her squad along with the other soldiers filing out of the vehicles behind. She adjusted her goggles and banged a hoof on her shield as she slid it off of her back.
“Listen up!” Rainbow shouted, silencing everypony. “In the next few miles is the treeline is going to begin thinning into the savannahs of Zebrica. About five miles after that, we’ll be reaching the battlefield, and the tribe of Wakanda.” Rainbow waved to the forest around her.
“As you can see,” Rainbow began, “The trees are already beginning to thin and the grass is shrubbery receding and turning yellow. What this means is that we’re going to have to start watching each other’s backs because our cover will start disappearing quickly. Buddy up and shout if you see any signs of the enemies, because we will be spotted sooner or later, so we have to be ready. Got it?”
Receiving nods and murmurs of approval, Rainbow nodded herself. “Alright, team, let’s move. Quiet, stealthy, and maintain our cover until it breaks on its own. Go go go!”
Waving a hoof, the majority of the platoon began to move. Holding a hoof to stop her troop though, Rainbow trotted closer to them. “When all hell breaks loose, I want you all to stick close to me, okay? If we work together, we can maximize our damage as a small group while everypony else sticks to each other. That way, they can’t pick us all off one by one. Got it.”
“Roger that, Captain,” Ember saluted. Tapping his radio, everyone got to say their hellos and goodbyes to Firefly and Sky before he shut it off.
As they started marching, Rainbow found herself looking at her surroundings with intense scrutiny. Her heart was racing as she listened closely, every single noise around her, the crunching of leaves and small whispers heard by her enhance hearing. If anything, Rainbow almost wished for the action to start already so that she didn’t have to keep anticipating it.
The sense of a presence beside her startled her for a second and she almost swung her shield until she realized who it was. Also finding out that Rainbow herself was the one who sneaked up on Deseret was just a minor shock. Blinking, Deseret met her eyes before averting them just as quickly.
“Hey, Deseret,” Rainbow said. “How are you?”
Deseret widened her eyes as she realized Rainbow was speaking to her. “Me?” she asked.
“Yeah. What’s up?”
The decorated zebra sighed as if she didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m just… nervous, you see. This particular endeavour is making me feel a bit dreary.”
Rainbow nodded, though somewhat puzzled as she was now questioning if all zebras rhymed. Shaking the unnecessary thought away, she tightened her shield’s straps. “Why would you be feeling nervous, though? You have your friends, and you have me here!” After being met with some silence, Rainbow faced forward.
“You have family in Wakanda, don’t you?”
Deseret looked at Rainbow with surprise before quickly hiding it. “I truly hope it isn’t that obvious,” she whispered, “And I hope nopony or zebra else is as curious.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong, did you?” asked Rainbow. “I won’t fault or court martial you for running away, I just want to know.”
“No! I would never do anything wrong like that,” Deseret said, “But my family was disappointed in me, like a rotten apple to a fruit bat.” After pausing, Deseret sighed and continued. “So run, away I did, to escape my shame, and leave behind my family I did, who must certainly put me to blame.”
“What did you do to make you feel ashamed enough to abandon your family?” Rainbow said, shaking her head and not expecting an answer. “Even when everything falls apart, your friends and family have your back. They won’t ever betray you like that. Even if it seems like it.”
Deseret merely shook her head. “Your kind words mean many things to me, Captain Dash, but I cannot express how-”
“Shh!” Rainbow suddenly hissed, putting a hoof against Deseret’s mouth, muffling her. Motioning for everyone else to lie low, Rainbow glanced at Deseret and shook her head before crawling a little ways away and lying flat. Closing her eyes, Rainbow focused on what she could hear.
After hearing the last of her platoon come to a stop, she ignored the rustling of the grass and the whistling of the wind. She began to isolate what couldn’t possibly be natural… and she could hear it in the sound of crunching leaves just to the right of their group. Gripping her shield in both hooves after carefully sliding it off, she sat up.
“Hey!” a pony shouted, his accent clearly indicating he was neither a normal Equestrian or Zebrican. “Who are you? What are you doing out here? Put your hooves where I can see them!”
Breathing in sharply, Rainbow felt the world come to a crawl. Despite that fact, Rainbow could move as fast as she normally would. Without even looking, Rainbow spun once before shooting her shield as fast as she could in the direction of the voice. Releasing her breath, the rustle of the wind could be heard again, the breathing of Deseret, and the painful grunt of whoever she had hit with her shield.
Opening her eyes and snapping her head towards where she knew her shield went, she saw the soldier she had heard just before he fell to the ground. Quickly shaking her head at everypony as she saw them beginning to get up, she quickly and quietly flew to the soldier in a flap. Picking up her badge shield, she prodded the soldier with a hoof.
Feeling for a pulse, Rainbow almost sighed with relief, but kept that to herself. Steeling her face, she scanned the area and listened for anything else out of the ordinary. Seeing nothing, she turned around and motioned onwards.
“Let’s keep moving, but we’re in enemy territory now! Remember, Zebrica is under some Imperial influence, even if we’re saving one of their cities. All we can do is protect them from Hydra and get out.”
As the platoon got moving again, Rainbow was on even tighter strings, ready to pounce at any sign of foreign aggression. At this point, the trees were truly beginning to disappear, giving way to acacias and tall yellow grass. It was here where Rainbow could see the assault that had already begun on Zebrica.
She didn’t know whether her platoon or troop could sense the change in the way the air felt. She didn’t know if they could understand why Rainbow straightened herself up just a little more than normal, even for her. What she did know was that there was no time to waste.
And it looked like Hydra had similar ideas.
As the first shots from outside the group were fired and shouts began to be heard near and far, Rainbow shouted at the top of her lungs. “Alright everypony! This is where we make our stand for Zebrica! This is where we protect Wakanda! We fight! We protect! We defend! Move onward to the fronts of Wakanda! We cannot fall here!”
With that, the fight began. Though the soldiers were sparse this far from the battlefield, their seemingly superior firepower was a challenge. As they began galloping across the savannah to Wakanda, the hellfire began to grow more and more until it could no longer be shrugged off as a nuisance. Bullets and mana and lasers of all kinds began raining around Rainbow and her platoon, but they stood their ground, taking out as many as they could without suffering too much themselves.
Rainbow continued to deflect the artillery facing her with her shield, but she swore she could feel her shield beginning to heat up. Not just that, it was already beat up from her use of it on her tour as well as her impromptu rescue mission just couple weeks prior. Using it now was like wearing a pair of rusted horseshoes she knew weren’t good to keep but used anyways for luck.
As she ran forward as a hail of shells rang against her shield, Rainbow slammed into the pony in front of her barrelling over them and rolling up. With a grunt, she quickly threw it at the next pony ready to aim a gun at her before bursting forwards with a quick flap of her wings. As the shield knocked the next pony to the ground, Rainbow was there to grab it before it fell and brought it to her face just in time to block a stray ray of magic.
Pushed back by her momentum, Rainbow rolled and came to a stop in a small divot in the ground. Holding the shield above her head and peering at the battlefield around her, she bit her lip. It was not going as well as she’d hoped.
Her buddy system was working. With two ponies working together in sync, they were able to mostly protect each other, but they were slowly falling. The troop that Ember had assembled for her seemed to be holding up, the most formidable force on the battlefield save Rainbow herself and… and-
Rainbow blinked as she saw a trio of beings clad in black… armour? Fabric? Rainbow couldn’t tell from where she sheltered for the moment, and she knew her eyesight was as good as an eagle’s. She watched with awe as they began to take bullets and magic and shells to their body, but continued running, left unfazed. Remembering that she shouldn’t stay in one spot for too long, she jumped and rolled out of it.
With a running start, Rainbow got one good wing flap in and launched into the skies, throwing her shield down like a knife and embedding it into the ground upright. She needed something that could distract the enemy enough to give her side an advantage. Something bright and flashy. But she needed to warn somepony first. Flying as high as she could while avoiding shots aimed at her from below, she burst through a cloud and slammed the radio on.
“Ember! Jaydock! Deseret! Puff! Wonderbolts! I’m going to perform a sonic rainboom!”
Rainbow didn’t even notice her slip-up before the radio crackled and Ember’s voice came on. “What? A what now?”
“Where are you, Captain?” Goldeneye asked her, “I don’t see you!”
“I’m in the clouds, and I’m going to perform a ‘sonic rainboom’! It’s when-”
A large explosion rocked the ground below and caused an audio feedback loop that threatened to burst the mana pathways of the radio. Gritting her teeth for a second, she heard Jaydock pipe his voice up.
“Holy buck nuggets!” he cursed, “They have those tanks we saw when were escaping their prison!”
“We need backup!”
“No! We have to stop them here ourselves!”
Rainbow ripped her radio off her persons and shouted into it “LISTEN UP! I recognise that the situation is going to crap but I have a trick up my sleeve and I need you to tell the platoon as quickly as possible not to be alarmed and just keep fighting the good fight!”
“What the hell is this trick then, it better be friggin good!” Ember cried.
“I’m going to break the sound barrier, and when I do, a large wave of rainbow energy will explode from the sky in a circle. Don’t mind it! Tell everypony that! Now!”
“Wait, what!? What the hell do you mean you’ll break the friggin sound bar-”
Rainbow shut the radio off and tossed it aside, adjusting her goggles. “No distractions. Gotta do this right.” Frowning heavily, Rainbow stretched her wings fully and sighed as she didn’t realise they weren’t getting the full air they deserved. Determined to grant their wish at that moment, Rainbow stared down. Down at the flashing lights of bullets and magic. Down at the carnage of Wakanda’s siege and her platoon’s stand against Hydra.
She fell.
Down, down, down.
Rainbow could already see the cone forming.
She flapped her wings as hard as she could.
She got to two before she could begin feeling the pressure of the sonic rainboom.
Three flaps before she was on the verge.
One… more…
Stretching both hooves out, she made a sonic rainboom, and her speed doubled, tripled, quadrupled. In an instant, she shot down to the ground, but Rainbow was processing it at a speed as if it were normal speed. She could see herself grab her shield with a thought before she shot horizontally and began slamming into as many Hydra soldiers with her current momentum.
She ricocheted off one soldier and toppled over another. She slammed into another one and demolished a group of them with one blow. She punched and kicked and utilised her sonic rainboom to her advantage before she could see the magical effects beginning to wear off and she began slowing down to her normal… still fast speed.
That’s when she saw him.
The pony she knew was behind all of Hydra.
The pony she had seen at the factory when she was saving all of the POWS.
The pony called Insomnia.
Aiming straight for him next, Rainbow shouted with all her might before she flew straight past him. Using her wings to break, Rainbow tucked them in and went for a hard forward roll. Sliding to a stop, Rainbow slammed her shield down and dragged to a stop. Breathing heavily, all sounds of the battlefield seemed to mute as she looked up from her breathing and her eyes met with Insomnia’s.
“Remarkable. Beautiful. Stunning,” he said, coughing and laughing as he picked himself up and brushed himself off. “Nothing short of perfection.”
“Why are you attacking Wakanda?” Rainbow growled. She slid her shield onto her one foreleg and stared at Insomnia. “You already watch over Zebrica with the Crystal Empire like a hawk. Some of it is under your control. What’s the point of laying siege to a city like this?”
Insomnia chuckled, his laugh echoing across the distance between them with menacing ease. “Ohoho, this is just one city, Captain. One of many in the nation of Wakanda. Or wouldn’t you know? You’re fighting to protect them, aren’t you?”
Rainbow gritted her teeth, but remained silent, calm as she could possibly be in the situation.
He laughed again before shaking his head. “It’s funny how much you do not understand. This is really good to see, though. Goldheart really did succeed, didn’t he? Not exactly an improvement, I must truly say, but still very impressive-”
Rainbow sneered and crossed the distance in a split second, slamming a hoof into Insomnia’s jaw. “You have no idea," Rainbow hissed as he stumbled back a little. She spat to the side. "That was for Goldheart.”
Laughing, Insomnia rubbed his jaw a bit and wiggled, smiling. “Oh, I don’t, do I?” Rainbow then saw him lunge forward with his own punch and Rainbow brought up her shield.
Clang!
Rainbow felt something pull away before she peered over her shield… and saw the hoof-shaped indentation in her solid metal shield. Frowning with disbelief and annoyance, Rainbow swung her shield forward. Insomnia dodged it and stepped back, completely missing the swing. Rainbow growled and swung her shield like an arrow-
And he deflected it with his thick-gloved hooves.
She wouldn’t allow this. Galloping up, she began to throw punch after punch, and Insomnia did the same. Rainbow could actually feel these punches, as if she were just a normal pony. Screaming, she headbutted him and bucked him back.
“Get. Out. Of. Zebrica!” Rainbow shouted, rushing up to Insomnia as he got back up.
At that point, it was too late for Rainbow to see that he was charging up a complicated spell. As Rainbow pulled a hoof back, Insomnia cast it on her, and they both collapsed to the ground in pain.
Rainbow’s mind was on fire. She screamed in pain as her vision began blurring and returning in waves of nausea. But she tried to remain focused. She tried to remain conscious. Her temples pulsed like drums. Her mind was ablaze. Through it all, she could see the hazy outline of Insomnia walking up to her.
“I… must say, you are a lot more competent than I took you for,” Insomnia smiled. “Of course, this spell will just be another test to see if you’re really as strong as Goldheart said he could make me.”
In tears of physical and emotional pain as random memories of Rainbow’s past began resurfacing, she was able to make four coherent words. “You. Will. Never. Win!”
Insomnia chuckled, his horn glowing a little once more. At that point, Rainbow realised her vision was fading, blackness beginning to creep in slowly, steadily.
“Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, I think we’ve lost Wakanda… thanks to you. Cherish your victory here today, Captain. You’re on the losing side…”
Finally, Rainbow began slipping into oblivion as Insomnia began walking away, her consciousness only barely catching his last words before the blissful world of purgatory claimed her.
Rainbow woke with a start, inhaling sharply as she sat straight up in her bed. Frowning quickly, she took in her surroundings, blinking at their familiarity to her. She looked left and right, finding nopony else in the hospital hallways with her. Staring down one length, she stared down the other way and felt her heart jump as she saw Spitfire with bandages across her head.
Rainbow blinked, and blinked again. There before her was the Wonderbolts Captain herself, injured and shallowly breathing. This couldn’t possibly be real. She was stuck in the past! Rainbow was stuck in the past and there was no possible way any of this was real. Reaching a hoof out to poke Spitfire, she barely prodded her when-
Spitfire grabbed Rainbow’s foreleg tightly wrapping it with one hoof. Rainbow jerked away but found the grip as solid as iron, and watched with incredulity as Spitfire stared Rainbow in the eyes.
“Why didn’t you do more to save me, Rainbow?” Spitfire rasped, “Why… didn’t you…”
Rainbow felt her eyes go wide as Spitfire’s limb went limp, her eyes glossing over and the foreleg falling to the bedside. Rainbow slid off her bed in an instant rushed to Spitfire’s side fully, checking her once, twice, three times.
“Captain? Captain! Spitfire!?” Rainbow shouted, shaking the unresponsive body. “S-Spitfire?”
Just then, the world around her began warping and twisting, as if reality itself was bending out of whack. Rainbow watched in horror as a portal she had hoped she would never see again tore open the walls facing the outside world just a few hospital beds down… before feeling the ground beneath her split.
Rainbow looked down and released Spitfire as she saw another portal opening up beneath hear. As she began to hyperventilate, she attempted to spread her wings and gust herself away from the portal but found her wings tightly secured around her and rubble trapped her in one spot.
Rainbow shook her head as panic crossed through her features and she screamed, her wings uselessly tightening and wiggling under her restraints before the portal grew big enough to swallow her whole. She fell helplessly, flailing her legs as she began to cry in fear and terror while her wings remained useless. The ground loomed closer. The whistling grew louder.
Closing her eyes, Rainbow accepted her fate and felt the sharp pain of the ground shoot across her body…
...
She jolted awake, finding herself in a pristine crystal room. One she had woken up in all too often when performing dangerous stunts in Ponyville that ended up injuring her. Wiping her forehead which was drenched in sweat, she only ended up soaking her foreleg with the liquid. Shaking her head, she grabbed a towel nearby and wiped herself dry, throwing the towel to the side. She didn’t need this right now. She was in Twilight’s castle and she couldn’t remember why she was there.
Or… she did… but it seemed like all a joke. A portal that could shove her a thousand years into the past? Being enhanced to superequine heights to the point of physical pony perfection? Meeting the founder of the Wonderbolts as a child and taking her in like she did Scootaloo? Insanity.
But… the thought of the little filly with bright blue hair and blazing magenta fur bore into her mind like the summer sun, a beacon of reality. It had to be real. These… she was recalling memories that couldn’t possibly have been imagined by her imagination. Rainbow was never that creative. At least, not until the serum…
In a flash, with naught a way to explain the transition, Rainbow found herself strapped to the same machine she had been in when the serum had been injected. Struggling against the restraints, she resolved to wait and understand why and how she got there. Seeing nopony else but herself, Rainbow tried to peek around the machine, but was startled by the touch of a hoof on her chest.
Expecting to find Goldheart, Rainbow Dash stared blankly at Twilight Sparkle, who trotted away muttering something unintelligible. Rainbow continued to watch her with concerned sadness, glancing between her and the machinery.
“T-Twilight?” Rainbow whispered, “Is that… is that you?”
“Stay still, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said sharply, “You’re going to disturb the experiment. We have to preserve all the steps and precise procedures or else we’ll lose it all forever!”
“Twilight, it’s me, Rainbow!” Rainbow said, “I… you have to help me, Twilight. Forget the experiment! Something’s happening and I don’t know what! I-I-I need you, Twilight, I need the girls… please!”
“QUIET!” Discord boomed, storming up to Rainbow with chaotic fury. “You really don’t care about your friends, do you? You abandoned them, you betrayed them, you left them to fend for themselves at a time where Equestria is considered weak!”
“No,” Rainbow hissed, straining against her restraints. “No! I’d never betray my friends! Never!”
“Oh, but what about when I was still a chaotic beast wanting nothing more then to see you suffer?” Discord smirked, sneering down on Rainbow. “You left your friends to in the maze to help your precious cloud city-”
“No!” Rainbow shrieked, breaking one foreleg away and hitting Discord in the face with a loud crack, and he fell. In that instant, an explosion blew the machine behind her away and caused her to stumble to the ground in front of… Doctor Goldheart, multiple bullet wounds bleeding profusely.
With fire raining around her, Rainbow stared at her hoof and the body of Goldheart, who was somehow still breathing. How could she… what? Crawling to Goldheart’s side, she felt tears beginning to resurface as she remembered clearly how he died in her arms.
“Goldheart?!” Rainbow said, clutching the doctor tightly. “Goldheart! I won’t let you die again! Please, I can’t… all my friends are gone, I don’t know what’s happening to me and… and… I need you with me! You were so good to me even when I wasn’t to myself… don’t...”
“But… why?” Goldheart rasped, turning his head to look into Rainbow’s soul. “This… all of this is your… your f-fault… I blame you, Rainbow Dash…”
Rainbow stared at one of the only beacons she had latched onto in her pain of being stranded in the past with a parted jaw. Her vision blurred as she sniffled and began crying, tears pouring all over Goldheart and burning her eyes with rage. She would find whoever did this. Who hurt her this way. Who hurt her friends. Who thought turning her own mind against her would work. Rainbow snarled. A guttural noise began to hum in the back of her throat…
Hugging Goldheart’s body tightly as the world around her burned, Rainbow screamed. Her voice cracked and broke as machinery and panels exploded around her and she cried, her anger, her sadness, her loneliness, all being released in one raw utterance.
With tears streaming down her face, Rainbow looked at Goldheart’s face one more time as the world closed in around her.
“I’m sorry.”
Coming to in a room that blinded her and gave her a slight headache, Rainbow shut her eyes hard. The vivid memory of her nightmare still fresh in her mind, the last scene pained her to no end. Rainbow could feel her breathing growing heavy and her ears flattening as the corners of her eyes began to grow wet.
She shook her head. Taking in quick deep breaths, she growled a little as she sniffled and shook her head a little more. She needed to get grip on her emotions. With a quivering frown, Rainbow eased her eyes open, rubbing life into them with her hooves. Slowly, gradually, and much longer than she remembered, the light faded to something manageable.
She struggled to sit up properly as she still couldn’t see forward without blinding herself. What she could see though, she took in. It seemed apparent to her that this was a hospital room all on its own, separate instead of a tent or hall filled to the brim with the wounded.
It was luxurious, too. This was quite possibly the best bed she’d ever lain on that wasn’t a cloud bed. Clouds still trumped anything the fabric industry could make, but she gave props for it’s comfiness. Apart from herself however, much of the room was a pristine white, looking clean as a fiddle.
Looking to her right, Rainbow found her tattered uniform laying as neatly as it could, frayed as it was. Right next to it was her pair of goggles, cleaned of any grime it had, and still scratched up. However, when Rainbow went to pick them up to inspect them, she found that the glass in her left lens, no, the glass in both her lenses were reflecting perfectly. The crack in her goggles’ left lens had completely replaced. Gingerly holding the goggles up to her eyes confirmed her suspicion.
Putting them back down, Rainbow swung her hindlegs off the bed and lingered on the edge. Staring at the ground, she shook her head. Where was she? This wasn’t just any normal hospital. It couldn’t have been. It was too much for Equestria to ever risk spending on unless other institutions request the same costly upgrades. Trotting up to the window that, until then, had been blinding, she squinted until her eyes adjusted.
Staring back at her was a view unlike anything she had seen in Equestria, and certainly nowhere near similar to the savannah’s of Zebrica. There were luscious green trees and forestry, being held at bay by the impressive architecture and buildings of those that lived there. If she hadn’t seen zebras going about their own business, she would have believed herself to have been captured by a technologically advanced race.
It was as if she had suddenly jumped into the future.
A knock on the door broke her away from her sightseeing. “...Come in?” Rainbow said, the door opening to reveal a zebra decorated in two colours of bands, red and purple, where rings should have, or would have been. Clearing her throat, the zebra spoke to her.
“MissRainbow Dash, how are you feeling?”
Rainbow glanced outside for a second before turning to face her. “I’m... I’m feeling good, if that’s what you’re wondering. Just… had some… disturbing nightmares.”
The nurse, or at least, she assumed her to be one, looked at Rainbow with a flash of worry and concern. “Disturbing indeed.” The cryptic response left Rainbow wanting more, but before she could ask, the doctor spoke again. “Your friends would like to see you, Miss Dash. They have been quite worried about you while you have been incapacitated.”
Rainbow flicked her ears as she caught how the zebra had worded her sentence. Before she could ask her, for the second time, she was left hanging as the doctor retreated, leaving Rainbow alone. Frowning at the disappearance, she quickly realised why the doctor had done so when she re-appeared with a several familiar faces in tow.
“Mother of Celestia, Rainbow!” Ember Wing shouted, the first one to rush up to her. “You had us all worried! Not even a super soldier like you is invincible, Rainbow, you need to take better care of yourself! Even Firefly and Skylark are worried sick!”
As everypony filed in, they murmured in agreement, all looking at Rainbow with varying degrees of concern. The most intense of which, was Ember’s. Rainbow shook her head, sighing. “I’m fine now, guys, really. See? Not a scratch.”
“Not a scratch my ass,” Goldeneye said, “I spotted you pass out from across the battlefield before all of Hydra’s forces retreated. Never seen anything like it. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have said that colourful stunt of yours scared them off.”
“And the looks on everyone’s faces when you pulled… whatever it was you pulled on the field… that was insane,” Puff exclaimed.
“That explosion was something else, Rainbow,” Ember said. “I had no idea what you were up to when you disappeared into the clouds like that, but… where did you learn to do that?”
Rainbow shook her head. “It’s called a ‘sonic rainboom’. As far as I know, I’m the only pony who’s been able to do it, all because I wanted to prove the legends true.”
“Legends?”
“Yeah, legends about the sonic rainboom. You’ve heard of them, haven’t you? You’re a pegasus, so you should know.”
Ember shook his head, and Rainbow frowned slightly. That was odd. All pegasi knew of how powerful a sonic rainboom was, and knew just how mythical they were too. Not so much after so many had seen Rainbow do it multiple times, but myth all the same.
“But after the fight ended,” Guffin spoke up, “It was almost quiet, quiet as it could be on the battlefield, granted…”
“And then we heard you, Cap,” Jaydock said, “Heard you shouting something fierce.”
“Relda here was the one who came to your side first,” Goldeneye said, motioning to the mare with the curved horn. “She cast some spell on you that calmed you down in your sleep. Must’ve been some nightmare.”
That statement nearly caught Rainbow off guard, her gaze falling on the mare she had finally learned the name of. Nodding with gratitude, Rainbow let a gracious smile form. “Thank you, Relda.”
Relda smiled softly and nodded back, looking away again without a single word. Pursing her lips at that, it brought Rainbow to her most pressing question. Even though she wanted to know how long she had been out, this was the cherry on top.
“Where’s Deseret?” Rainbow asked. “She should be here with you seeing me. Where is she?” Everypony was silent for a moment before Rainbow’s terse stare began to bore into them.
“I’m serious,” Rainbow said, “We’re a team. We don’t abandon anyone. Where is Deseret?”
After another moment of silence, Goldeneye said “After we, er, calmed you down… the Wakandans came out and started helping us. They especially came for you, they saw your shield and just… they told us that we were welcome to stay in Wakanda until we recovered from the battle.”
“But when they saw Deseret, Rainbow,” Puff said, “They just looked at her funny. And… I stepped in between her and them, Rainbow. I wouldn’t let them touch her… until these two zebras in armour and one zebra in a suit or something came around.
“There were only three of them, but… when Deseret saw them, she was… she was shaking, Cap. When the suited zebra took off her mask and looked past me at Deseret, I was ready to knock her lights out… but Deseret…”
“She went with them, Rainbow,” Ember said. “She said sorry and that was it.”
Rainbow let her face relax as her mind raced to figure things out. Why would Deseret just go with them so willingly? Did she really know them that well? And if so, what was her relation to them? Family? Criminal? Outcast?
But then one key detail stood out to Rainbow. Something she’d noticed with the doctor. Something with Deseret. Something with Zecora, even.
Deseret rhymed her speech. The doctor that had come in did not. Deseret wore gold bands on her neck and right leg, Deseret having fewer than Zecora did and looking more worn, while the doctor only had coloured bands.
Would that mean that Deseret wasn’t a normal zebra? Because… it would make sense. Nobody, pony or zebra, would actively go out of their way to rhyme their speech unless it was… to differentiate themselves from others. The bands were just extra confirmation.
Unless Deseret and Zecora were convicted outcasts that were specially marked and forced to make themselves noticeably different.
Rainbow tossed that thought into the trash.
As the world sped up to normal once more, Rainbow could hear hoofsteps coming closer to the room’s entrance before her doctor came in with a slightly impressed look.
“The chieftess and her family would like to see you, Captain Dash. She would like to thank you personally for helping Wakanda in a time of need.”
With a glance to her friends, Rainbow stared at her. The zebra cleared her throat, bowing her head. “Your close teammates are welcome as well, and one of the chieftess’ escorts will come along shortly.” As an afterthought, the doctor stepped forward and gestured towards Rainbow’s uniform. “If I may, I would suggest wearing your special attire to the meeting. It would be most appropriate.”
As she bowed once more to Rainbow and her team, the doctor stopped at the door. “It is truly a great honour to meet the chieftess personally. May Bast bless you with long life and good fortune.”
Just like that, the doctor left, leaving Rainbow and her team to stare at the door, unsure what to make of her words.
That was... “
“Interesting.”
“Mysterious?”
“Creepy.”
“Weird.”
Rainbow shook her head, heading over to the bedside table. “Just get ready. Where we’re going, we need to be.”
They followed the escort in careful trepidation as they moved through the streets of Wakanda. Zebras left and right stared at them, some going as far as to whisper with suspicion and fear, while others rushed into their homes and shops, closing them off. The irony was not lost on Rainbow, her situation mirroring Zecora’s first encounter with Ponyville.
The thought of Zecora brought a smile to Rainbow’s face, the thought of the friendly mystic bringing up fond memories to her forefront. She was always kind to Rainbow and her friends, even when they broke into her home and accused her of a stupid curse that wasn’t even real.
With that thought, she began to observe the different sets of bands that zebras in Wakanda wore. Many wore different combinations of different colours of the spectrum, many shopkeepers wearing at least one similar colour and others wearing red similar to her doctor. Very rarely did she see any metal type of ring band, and most were bronze or silver. Those she did see wearing gold, didn’t have the number of bands to compare to Deseret or Zecora.
Rainbow sighed, wondering how she went from an impulsive, brash, stupid, arrogant and naive pegasus to somepony who was serious, analytic, patient, and contemplative. She missed her friends. Rainbow found that her train of thought couldn’t stop, so she resigned to let it flow.
She missed Pinkie’s humour and messing around with other ponies for fun. She missed Rarity and trying to hide that fact that Rainbow went to the spa herself. She missed reading Daring Do in Twilight’s castle, and discussing the many nuances of the series itself, somehow out-geeking Twilight. She missed her competitions with Applejack and relaxing with a mug of cider after. She missed Fluttershy’s gentle grace and enthusiasm about her animals.
Most of all, she missed their adventures together. Their arguments. Their slumber parties and Pinkie Pie throwing random parties just to put a smile on pony’s faces. Clenching her jaw to hold back the wave that was threatening to break, Rainbow blinked the mist from her eyes away. This wasn’t the time.
Rainbow had been so caught up in her musings, she had allowed for her body to go on autopilot and she found herself standing beside her troop in front of the majestic doors to what she would’ve guessed to be the throne room. It was an uncharacteristically shiny silver look, made of a metal that couldn’t have possibly been steel as it would be monstrously heavy if it were. Now that she was paying attention, she looked around and saw that the walls and floor were also laced with this shiny metal, and if she really put her mind to it, she swore the metal was vibrating.
The escort nodded at the two guards who were decked out in armour that she considered twice as menacing as Celestia’s own royal guards. Watching them closely as they moved to open the doors, the doors swung with as much ease as Canterlot Castle’s throne room doors, even they they were comprised of a metal that should’ve been incredibly heavy. It didn’t even look like the guards were straining. Just taking their time. Frowning in curiosity and bafflement, Rainbow shook her head and followed the escort inside.
“...but I love you more than anything. You are precious to me and your father, and that is all that matters.” Rainbow began to hear, seeing a familiar face looking forward and shaking.
“I am so very sorry, Deseret,” another zebra said beside who Rainbow assumed to the chieftess and chieftain of Wakanda. “It was not my place to yell at you… yet…” she then looked up from Deseret and gulped, looking towards her parents.
Rainbow Dash watched as the rulers of Wakanda looked up and Deseret turned around to see them. Rainbow could see Deseret’s face brighten with happiness at seeing her alive and well, before smiling graciously at the rest of the troop. Tears were streaming down Deseret’s face, and when Rainbow looked up at the two rulers and who she could only think of to be the daughter, they were just as teary-eyed. The daughter moreso.
“Welcome, honoured guests,” the chieftess said with elegant authority, motioning for the guards to close the doors and the escort to leave them be. “I am Queen Zokara, Chieftess of Wakanda, Mantle of the Black Panthers.” Motioning to the zebra stallion standing beside her, she continued “This is my husband, Lomayan, who helps guide me in all that I do” -she motioned to the filly standing opposite of Lomayan- “And my youngest, Mthobeli.
“And of course,” Zokara smiled, “My eldest, Deseret.”
“Are you okay, Deseret?” Puff blurted out, his hoof hesitating forward before coming back down.
Deseret looked towards Puff before looking up at her mother, awaiting her approval. The Queen smiled and nodded, allowing for Deseret to run up to him. Hugging back, Puff patted the zebra before shaking his head and pushing away.
“I took care of ya, kid,” Puff said, “You never told me you were some sorta royalty.”
Deseret merely looked at him, an apologetic look plastered on her face. “I couldn’t, Puff, I couldn’t. At the time, I’d already done enough to, to… to muddle my family’s name, I couldn’t.”
“What did you do in the first place?” Guffin asked, motioning to the royalty watching them. “Did you steal some bread or something?”
Staring at Guffin for a second, Deseret broke into a smile and giggled. “No, Guffin my friend, not bread. It was something much more important and dire instead. I… I was a fool who thought it would be courtful of me to reveal to this one stallion where metal was as common as a tree.”
“And… it was somepony from the Crystal Empire, wasn’t it?” Ember thought aloud. “And your parents got angry, and-”
“We were pressed to exile our daughter Deseret, you must understand,” Queen Zokara whispered, “If we had the choice, it would not have happened, and Deseret would never have ran.”
“But why are you good now if you had beef before?” Goldeneye inquired thoughtfully.
“I love my sister!” Mthobeli snapped, surprising everyone there. As she realised her folly, she glanced to her parents and bowed her head before biting her lip. “I… even if we were bitter about her betrayal, we will never betray her.”
Rainbow smiled wistfully at her loyalty, thinking back to her own friends. It was such a small thing to Rainbow, but it made her smile. Mthobeli noticed it and looked at Rainbow oddly before realising her expression to be one of appreciation. Smiling awkwardly herself, Mthobeli studied Rainbow carefully before looking away shyly.
“As my youngest put, we should not betray our family even if our family betrays us. For you to come and battle through hell to help save our nation with Deseret, it must’ve been a fuss.” Queen Zokara stated, smiling, gratefully at Rainbow Dash. Bowing her head in respect, Rainbow shot the Queen a questioning look. She merely kept smiling.
“I thank you in behalf of Wakanda, Captain Dash, Wonderbolt, and your entire company. For your help and in bringing our daughter back to her home, there is something I want you to see.” Zokara motioned to Mthobeli, who brightened with excitement and ran to the throne that was situated near the back of the room. As Rainbow noticed she grabbed something from behind the throne itself, she noticed Deseret herself seemed to realise what was happening and a look of awe crossed her face.
Rainbow Dash watched as her gaze jumped from her sister to Rainbow and her sister again before blinking and looking to her mother, who only nodded with a knowing smile. She watched as Deseret gave Zokara a raised eyebrow in response before nodding and stepping away from Rainbow. The troop of friends that surrounded Rainbow sensed the same thing, stepping away from her as Mthobeli approached, something propped precariously on her back.
“As you fought for us with the noblest of causes and naught even a weapon, we saw you use your shield to protect our people and our nation.”
Mthobeli sat in front of Rainbow, bowing low to the ground as she presented a wrapped object, circular in nature. Looking at it for a second as it was presented to her before looking up at Queen Zokara and pointing at it, the Queen smiled again.
“Thus, to replace the damage you suffered in protecting our land, we gift you this in return, made from the most precious metal anywhere to be found.”
Rainbow took the wrapped object in her hooves, surprised by it’s loftiness. Gingerly unwrapping it, she almost dropped it from how shiny it was to her. Gleaming from the sleekness of how well polished and forged it was, Rainbow held it in front of her, examining it from all sides.
A straps were present on it’s concave side for her to hold with her forelegs. A perfect convex shape was on the other side, several rings laid inside the metal that could be painted into any colour she wanted, and a flawless circle in the middle. Breathlessly examining it and blinking unbelievingly, Rainbow looked up at the Queen of Wakanda with words she had no way to say.
Queen Zokara bowed to Rainbow, and everyone followed suit. Rainbow felt her expression growing misty as the Queen met her eyes one last time.
“A shield, for you to always protect, and for you to know you’ll always have our respect.”
Rainbow stared into her shield’s reflection, it’s surface gleaming brightly in the fresh coats of paint she had insisted putting on. It now glowed with two crimson rings and a center painted blue so it looked like there was a silver star in the center. Rainbow had chosen to forgo her actual colours, as she had realised it didn’t actually make for good colour theory. Something she was remembering from her time just hanging out with Rarity.
However boring it seemed then, it was something she longed for desperately now. Alas, she knew it was an impossible dream. If she told others of this, they might just suggest going to said friend. They didn’t know that being thrust over a thousand years back in time crushed any hope of doing so.
She sighed, her eyes sadly looking back in the shield. If Rainbow looked hard enough, she could’ve sworn she even saw her friends’ eyes in the shield, but she knew it was nothing more than wishful thinking. Here, in a world at war and no sign of a quaint little town called Ponyville, all she could do was think. She had a lot of time to do that now.
Of course, missions helped. Missions like this, where she was sent to help labouring nations survive the onslaught of Sombra’s forces. It helped take her mind off of things. It gave her a purpose where she thought she really had none. Zebrica was certainly a step in the right direction, helping one of their more advanced nations. She was making friends. But nopony could replace her originals.
All she did now, she did to ensure the future she knew to be true. A world that one could live in without fear of war. Without fear of some penultimate cataclysm. A world where only the Elements of Harmony were needed, and not an army of soldiers that would die from a simple command: “Protect.”
She didn’t know if these thoughts were after effects of Insomnia’s spell. She wasn’t really sure if they were because of just being alone in an environment that was alien to her, more so than it already was. Maybe it was just her troubled mind as it was. In any case, her memories, her trains of thought, always led back to her friends.
A knock at the door brought Rainbow out of her musings. Setting the shield beside her tattered uniform, goggles, and old shield, she brought her hooves together, closed her eyes, and breathed. After a second, she sighed and nodded softly. “Yeah, what is it?”
Ember Wing poked his head in, smiling as he did so. “We’re just about ready to leave, Dash. The platoon has packed everything up, and we’re just waiting for your go.”
Rainbow nodded, allowing herself a total moment of calm. “Sweet. Uh, why don’t you go ahead and prep everyone for departure. I just have one last matter to deal with. Shouldn’t take too long, especially if they’ll be sending us off as well.”
Ember found this an acceptable answer, and he started closing the door. However, just as it was shut, he opened it again and looked at Rainbow, concern written in his eyes. “Hey, Rainbow, you okay?”
“I’m fine, Ember,” Rainbow said. “I’m just… thinking about a lot of things. Home. Friends. Things like that.”
“You know I’m here if you need me, right?” Ember remarked. “The team is here too. Don’t beat yourself up when we can share the pain, alright?”
Rainbow sighed, gently grabbing her beat-up shield and looking over it with melancholic distaste. “Some things are meant to stay hidden.”
“All the more reason to share them,” Ember said. “Just don’t forget. Oh, and Firefly has been asking how you’ve been too. She really looks up to you, you know?” When Rainbow didn’t give a response, Ember slipped away, and the door shut behind him.
“I won’t,” Rainbow promised, grabbing a writing tool off the side table and staring at the faded script on her old shield. “I won’t forget.”
Rainbow wandered the halls of the royal palace, using her memory to retrace her steps. She knew where she was going. She just wasn’t sure about her action.
She had finally left her room only minutes after Ember had informed her, and she was fully dressed in her uniform. In all honesty, it was probably a violation of Equestrian regulation since her tattered show suit didn’t actually protect her from anything. The only things that could remotely protect her were her helmet and her shield— well, her two shields. That would soon change, however.
Proudly displayed on her back was her new round shield, gleaming brightly and proudly as she walked past smiling Wakandans. They all regarded her with a nod and noted the shield, saying their thanks for helping protect Wakanda. She could only shake her head and say that it was “the right thing to do”, because it was.
Strapped to her leg was her old shield, the punch delivered by Insomnia still fresh in Rainbow’s mind. She glanced down at it, still marvelling at how the battle had turned out. Would she be able to face him off again in the future? Would she hesitate to do what needed to be done?
Rainbow Dash shook her head, knowing that these thoughts would only deepen the trench she was digging for herself. Instead, she focused on what the shield would and was going to represent: Peace, safety, and a promise between two nations. Politically, it was an exchange for the shield Rainbow had gotten, to equate the gifts and strengthen the relationship. Personally, it was for a plan she was forming. A plan that, if it worked, would benefit her in the long run. More specifically, it would benefit her friends in the far future. That, and she felt real bad accepting a gift and not giving something in return.
She only hoped it would work. The first step in a long game.
Stepping up to the doors to the Hall of Panthers, or so the throne room was called, she was blocked by two zebra guards. They wore tribal robes, adorned with multiple coloured bands and special metal rings that set them apart as the royal guard and warriors. Rainbow nodded to them, and they looked at her with a glint of respect and acknowledgement.
“Captain Rainbow Dash,” the left guard said. He raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be preparing to leave Wakanda?”
Rainbow nodded, understanding the confusion. “They’re ready to depart,” Rainbow said. “I would just like a word with the Queen before we get out of dodge. It’s something important.”
The other guard turned to Rainbow, adjusting his grip on his spear. “Are you certain you can’t wait until Queen Zokara addresses your platoon personally? She plans on appearing to you before you truly depart.”
Rainbow blinked at that, but stayed firm in her decision. “If it doesn’t bother her, then yes. I would still like to talk to her.”
“Very well,” the right guard said. “Just know that she is talking with her eldest daughter right, and may not like the intrusion.” With that, both guards slammed the ends of their spears into the ground and the doors slowly opened.
A voice Rainbow knew began to fill the air, increasing in volume as the doors opened more. “Mother, please, I beg you. You said to follow my heart. You know I’ll be fine with all the training I’ve gone through and the schooling I’ve gotten!”
The doors fully opened, slowing to a halt with a soft hum. “Deseret, I’m trying to say that leaving so soon after returning is something you should consider carefully. We’ve missed you. And with the war going on, how do we know that our time is not short if you were to leave? What if you don’t come back?” At that, Zokara finally acknowledged that the doors had opened, and regarded Rainbow Dash with a soft conflicted smile.
Rainbow Dash bowed. “Queen Zokara. Deseret.”
“Rise, Captain,” the Queen mused tiredly, her tone of voice changing ever so slightly. “We don’t actually do that here. How has your stay in Wakanda been?”
Rainbow smiled. “Great! Really great. Every zebra is real nice, and the hospitality is great.”
“Oh?” Zokara said, “Then what brings a mare like you here? You know I plan to address you later, and say farewell with good cheer?”
“As I’ve been told,” Rainbow said. “I just wanted to talk to you for a bit. It’s very important to me.”
“Important, you say, but your tone speaks wonders. Tell me, what could bring your emotions to sunder?”
Rainbow Dash, for all that she had prepared, now stood conflicted. She glanced down at the badge-shaped shield on her foreleg, bringing up the memories of all her friends and family. Closing her eyes and breathing, trying to focus, she heard Deseret’s voice pipe up.
“Come now, Captain Rainbow Dash. We are your friends, and as friends, to betray you would be rash.”
“Yeah, y-yeah, okay,” Rainbow started, before she gulped and composed herself. “I really, really appreciated the shield that you gave me. It’s definitely made of some sturdy stuff… but I wanted to ask a favour in return with a gift of my own. You see, I… well, I’m not from around here, and…”
Zokara nodded. “Take your time, Captain. We will not judge you for the pain you contain.”
“I want to give you my old shield,” Rainbow said. “I know it’s nothing compared to what you gave me, but it has some value for me to it. I know it’s dented, and I know it’s heavy, but it’s what I used to protect you and others for the short time it’s seen action.”
Queen Zokara smiled at that, trotting forward to get the shield and turn it over in her own hooves. “Rainbow Dash, of course we are not offended, such a gift in return is more than our own could be said. What is the favour, though, if I may ask? Surely otherwise you would not have come here to burden yourself with such a task.”
“I want you to take good care of it, as best as you can, and pass it down when your family line continues. Let your children and your children’s children bring it wherever they settle and watch over it until such a time comes where it is asked to be seen by another.”
Queen Zokara nodded, accepting all the terms Rainbow Dash set. “I see, a family heirloom it shall become,” Zokara clarified. “A testament to the bond we and the country have shared, to weathers of time it shall never succumb. A favour as easily doable as this, but I believe carries far more weight, though I have half the mind to ask and all the mind to wonder at this rate.”
“It’s because I’m…” Rainbow began, pausing before nodding to herself. “Well, I’m not from this time. I’m from, from the future And… I know my friends will be missing me. I just want to give them something to remember me by, to let them know that I lived and that I was happy where I was.”
Zokara and Deseret blinked at Rainbow Dash for a few seconds before they both recovered. “The future, you say? Might it be so, that the world does not stay this grey?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow said, quickly understanding what the Queen was implying. “Where I’m from, war hasn’t actually happened since… well, since this war.”
“Then that is favour enough,” Zokara affirmed, a glad smile on her face. “Conflicted, though, as I may be, I now know we will get through these times so rough. If that is all, I shall see you at the borders, Rainbow Dash. We will be there to send you off in a short flash.”
“Actually,” Rainbow said, “I have two more questions.” When Queen Zokara hummed, Rainbow continued. “Does royalty really have to rhyme in front of everyone? Cause I heard you talking to Deseret normally before you started talking to me.”
Zokara winced slightly, but paid her own antics no mind. “Yes,” Zokara said. “Rhyme breeds the creativity and life of the universe. Without it, the royalty would have no inspiration to guide the nation, and thus we match our words in verse. Among ourselves, the spell is broken, for between each of us, we are able to expand the words between us that are spoken.”
Deseret huffed a little, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Cool and necessary, both are true, but annoying? Well, you really haven’t got a clue.”
“I bet,” Rainbow giggled softly.
The zebra queen smiled at the interaction, waving a hoof lightly to get their attention. “And one more question, you said you had. Allow us to take it, it shouldn’t be that bad.”
“Why aren’t you letting Deseret come back with us?”
The question took both of the two zebras aback, neither of them having expected the query. Deseret’s expression quickly turned from one of surprise to one of longing and pleading as she directed it to her mother. Zokara somehow returned to her stoic figure, but it wavered with the thoughts running through her mind. All of this, Rainbow could see from the one question she had asked. In all honesty, she was somewhat confused, as she tried to process the excess information she was receiving.
“Yes, mother, why would you not?” Deseret asked. “These ponies I’ve gotten to know, they are a good lot!”
“Silence, daughter, remember your place!” Zokara boomed, causing Deseret to flinch and stumble back in surprise. Rainbow couldn’t help but wince, her ears folding back protectively. “I’ve met them too, I know their case!”
Another silence dominated the hall as Zokara sighed heavily. Deseret and Rainbow watched as her breathing calmed her composure faltered, hooves going to her head to massage her temples. “Deseret… I-I’m sorry. It’s just… when you left, all we could do was worry. If I could’ve helped it-”
“Mother, you spake of this, and I already know,” Deseret comforted. She moved to hug her mother, draping a hoof over her shoulders and nuzzling her. “But you know just as well as I that it was an experience that helped me to grow.”
Zokara nuzzled her daughter back, holding her dearly. “I love you so, my dear Deseret, and the thought of you gone is what ails me in your stead. Please consider my words, for I cannot handle the thought of-of you dead.”
“I’d stay safe in the company of my platoon,” Deseret tried. “And if I were to help, we could end this war that much more soon.”
“Can this old mare not convince you otherwise? To stay with your family, instead of the chance of your demise?”
Deseret paused for a moment, eventually shaking her head and hugging Zokara tightly. “As much as I love you and the family, mother,” Deseret said, “I cannot stand to sit idly by while the everyone around us suffer.”
The Queen and Chieftess of Wakanda looked into the eyes of Deseret, staring into the determination and the fire burning within her. With a defeated sigh, Zokara nodded her head. Hugging her tightly and her eyes glistening, she turned towards Rainbow. “Very well, Deseret. Your wish shall be granted. Rainbow Dash, I must now ask you as you did me, a favour among friends not wasted.”
Rainbow nodded quickly, seeing where this was going. “Of course, Queen Zokara. Anything.”
Zokara smiled and shook her head lightly. “There is no place for formalities between good friends. Would you take care of Deseret for me, and help protect her until the world’s end?”
Rainbow Dash felt a grin tug at her lips, a faint echo springing around in her mind. Straightening up, Rainbow saluted. “I Pinkie Promise.” Doing the motions, she could feel something bind her down, and the tension in the room dissipated, the wind sounding like the gleeful laugh of a pony who knew what had just happened. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
Zokara smiled and nuzzled her daughter, cherishing her for as long as they were still together. “Whatever you just did, the promise you made, I believe you will hold true. I do not know where you learned such an oath, but I know that it will do.”
“It was something my friend always did,” Rainbow said, a wistful feeling overcoming her as her memories of Pinkie Pie played. “It was unbreakable, and she made sure to let everypony— sorry, everyone knew that.”
“She sounds like a pony worth knowing,” Deseret giggled.
Rainbow’s sad smile was all they needed. “She sure loved meeting new ponies.”
A silence fell among them as they each pondered the words spoken. When enough was enough and the silence grew strained, Zokara nodded to herself and sighed, getting to all four hooves. Rainbow watched as Deseret helped her, but she was capable of doing so on her own. Composing herself and putting on a winning smile, Zokara hugged Deseret one more time and nodded to Rainbow.
“Come along now, Captain,” she said. “I believe there is one more matter we must attend.”
“Well,” Jaydock said, clapping Rainbow’s back ineffectively against her shield, “You look weary.”
“You would be when you’re trying to think about everything that’s just happened,” Rainbow huffed. “I have my own problems to deal with too, you know.”
“Hey, hey, no harm done. Just wanted to know if you’re alright.”
Glancing up at him and her squad, she sighed. “Well, yeah, I guess. Just a lot of things happening so quickly, and on my first mission too. Do you know if we lost anyone?”
“That really isn’t a question you’d ever want to ask, you know,” Ember said darkly, trotting closer to Rainbow Dash. “Even if we escaped with, at most, serious injuries that have already been treated.”
“I need to know,” Rainbow Dash muttered. “I can’t— no, I won’t leave anyone behind.”
“What you say is impossible, Cap,” Puff remarked. “Even the best generals know when casualties are inevitable.”
Rainbow scowled, closing her eyes. “I can do my best.”
“Then your best is enough,” Puff said. “So, any word on Deseret?”
“Last I heard, the Queen said she wouldn’t be letting Deseret come with us,” Goldeneye said. Everyone, Rainbow Dash included, turned to look at her. “It’s not exactly secret when I can find a vantage point to watch them talk in that hall of theirs.”
“Then you didn’t see me talk to them then?” Rainbow asked, prompting the attention to return to her. “Because I was able to convince her to let Deseret come with us.”
“Wait, really?” Puff asked.
“Sounds like it, Puff. Aren’t you listening?” Guffin jibed, grinning. “Keep up, ya old coot!”
Puff growled. “Shut it, Guff.”
“Hey, you basically admitted to being an adoptive father. You can’t fault me for making some jokes about that.” Guffin waved a hoof, glancing to the whole squad. “Eh? Eh?”
Puff huffed. “I’ll make a joke out of you if you keep talking about it right now.”
“So, later then?”
“Why you-”
“Hi, Puff!” A voice called from behind Rainbow Dash, who smirked as she stepped aside and looked behind her. Deseret was trotting jovially towards them, waving a hoof. “Hey, everyone. Looks like we still can get together and have fun!”
“Hey, Deseret,” the squad chorused in unison, their smiles widening as a member of the group was welcomed once again with open hooves.
“How’re you holding up?” Jaydock asked, being the first to hug her. “We know how much you missed your family and vice versa. Everything alright?”
“Never better, Jaydock,” Deseret smiled brightly. “Even though my mother was as stubborn as a rock.”
Guffin was next in line, mussing up Deseret’s mane with a headlock and a noogie. He chuckled as he let go and Deseret huffed with indignation and embarrassment. “Queen giving ya a hard time?”
“She is my mother, she only wanted to protect me… though she eventually let me go free.”
“Provided we take care of you, huh?” Ember asked, a playful grin dancing on his muzzle. They pulled each other close and hugged each other with one foreleg.
Deseret nodded. “Of course, Ember. Otherwise, it would’ve been the end of my adventure!”
“And we couldn’t have that, now could we?” Goldeneye grinned, holding her legs out in open invitation. “Come here, you striped rascal!” They proceeded to glomp each other, both mares giggling to themselves.
Rainbow watched carefully when the zebra let go of Goldeneye and confronted Relda, who had thus far remained the most silent. She watched Deseret grow a soft smile as she trotted forward and held a hoof out, which Relda took. Deseret muttered something softly to Relda, who nodded with a prim glad smile of her own, before they hugged each other. When Relda noticed Rainbow watching them, Relda cast her eyes down, blinking rapidly as she adjusted her headband and hid behind Jaydock.
Finally, Deseret faced Puff, who was looking elsewhere before the zebra hugged him. “I know you had your worries, Puff,” Deseret began, “But we still have so much to do, so much stuff!”
“Ah, you know me,” Puff said, glaring at Guffin who gave smiled sweetly and waved. “I can’t stop worrying about my friends.”
“Well, now I’m here, so stop your worrying,” Deseret ordered. “From now on, we’ll all fight and sing.”
“Of course, Des,” Puff said. “‘Sides, we got your mother to listen to now before we leave.”
True to his word, Rainbow Dash turned around to see Queen Zokara standing on a small rock outcropping that stood above the platoon, her guards surrounding the base of the rocks. Rainbow watched as her gaze fell upon her daughter first, conflict still showing, before it steeled upon Rainbow and they nodded to each other. Finally, Zokara looked out among the rest of the platoon, raising a hoof to catch their attention.
“Equestrians of all shapes and sizes!” Her voice carried from her perch, reaching all the ears listening. “Our tribe thanks you for helping protect our beloved land, and know that your aid was a prize so grand. This, we bless you with success in your endeavours, as you leave and proceed in the most perilous ventures.
“Depart with good intent and strength, that tomorrow your will shall never be bent.” At those words, she paused, looking down once more to catch the eyes of both Deseret and Rainbow, her muzzle twitching with a wistful smile.
“Stay safe, my friends, for the days grow long, and as we grow weary, pray we stray from doing wrong.”
Rainbow Dash gasped as she rolled to the side, nearly sprawling from the force of impact. She instinctively tried to flex her wings, and she was reminded or the umpteenth time that they had been bound minutes before. How many minutes, she couldn’t even tell anymore. Only that she needed to survive. And win, of course.
Rainbow wiped her mouth and grinned. “Got anymore?” She front-rolled and a resounding crack was her response, the place where she had just been now occupied by a thick hoof. She could tell her words irritated him, and she hopped from hoof to hoof. “How long have we been at this, eh? Still haven’t touched me, but I’ve definitely touched you.”
With those words, she leapt forward, a buck coming straight for her. She pushed off his hind leg, somersaulting over his whole body before rolling backwards and kicking both of her own hind legs into his stomach. The impact was enough that he went flying, and hit the ropes of the ring. With one last groan, he flopped to the floor, splayed on his back as he blinked.
“Woah there, take it easy! Come on, Rainbow, did ya really have to do that?”
Rainbow blew some bangs out of her face and quirked an eyebrow. “Well, Jaydock wasn’t exactly going easy on me, Puff.” In response, Jaydock wheezed and lazily waved a hoof. Rainbow pointed to him and shrugged. “See?”
Puff sighed, patting Jaydock as he shook his head. “Ya could’ve been easier on him.”
“That was easy!”
“I think he meant be an easier target.” Ember Wing chuckled at Jaydock’s expense. “You certainly showed how fast you were.”
Rainbow huffed as she started to undo the wrappings around her wings. “It’s not my fault everypony’s so slow. Besides, I even handicapped myself for this round!”
All the while, the cheering of two little fillies finally reached her ears as said fillies ran up to the edge of the ring. “That was epic, Rainbow!” Firefly exclaimed. “You just went woosh and wham and pow and fzzzaow and you didn’t even get hit!”
Skylark nodded vigorously in agreement. “And it looked like you weren’t even trying! Dock was just crash and bang and slam and you never even flinched!”
“Hey, Small Fry, Sky. What are you two doing here?” Rainbow glanced at Ember, who shrugged and smirked.
“What? We come back to Equestria for a small reprieve from the war after saving an entire platoon, as well as protecting a neighboring nation, what better way to blow steam off than to have fun at a boxing ring?”
“They’re just kids, Ember.”
Ember snorted. “Didn’t stop you from bringing them to the frontlines, Dash.”
Blinking, Rainbow tipped her head. “You got me there.”
“But wait, Rainbow!” Firefly said, causing the mare to pause just as she was holding on to the ropes. “You still haven’t gone up against Deseret.”
“Yeah. I heard she’s great at wrestling!”
“And where’d you hear that, Sky?” Rainbow asked curiously.
“Me,” Puff said, puffing up his chest in pride. “Taught her a few things. Course, she’s already got me beat in any CQC, but I was able to get a few shots on her.”
“Why don’t you ask me yourself, Rainbow Dash?” A distinct voice piped up from the sidelines. “I see you have yet to be taken down for doing something rash.”
“Hey!” Rainbow cried, everypony around her chuckling at her expense. “I do not do rash things.”
Ember raised a hoof as he grinned cheekily. “Like leaping off a cloud and doing a whatsit— sonic flash-bang?”
“Sonic rainboom!”
Guffin chimed in, laughing heartily. “Or, or how about facing the leader of friggin’ Hydra in a one-on-one!”
“Okay, okay, fine!” Rainbow grumbled, “You’ve made your point.”
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to see how you’ll make me pay.” Deseret was smirking as she gracefully flipped into ring. Slipping on some boxing gloves, she began to crack her neck. “I hope you’re as good as me in CQC. Surely, I’ll show you how much you do not see.”
“Whatcha mean?” Rainbow asked, starting to hop from hoof to hoof.
“Well, I’ve trained as a Panther all my life.” As Deseret popped some joints and stretched, Rainbow winced. “I guess you can say… I’m as sharp as a knife.”
In that moment, Rainbow saw something change in the air. In one second, Deseret went playful and jovial to deadly and unpredictable. Of course, if Rainbow had enough time, she could probably figure out a pattern, but as it stood, she had no idea what she had just gotten herself into. Tensing up a little, she reminded herself that she needed to relax, else she lock up when her life depended on it.
Deseret still held her smile, shy as it was, staring down Rainbow Dash. They prowled around the ring, Deseret’s smooth and fluid, while Rainbow was cautious and anticipating. In an outstanding flash of black and white, Deseret lunge forward. Rainbow barely had the initiative to dodge to the side before she had spread her wings to steady herself.
So they went back to staring each other down, moving in a circle as everyone around them held their breath. What was more: Rainbow could see the glint in Deseret’s eyes, as if she was no longer just a zebra. Something more. Rainbow licked her lips and blew her bangs back. She would not start sweating now. Finding in herself the incentive to strike first, Rainbow dashed forward.
Deseret gracefully bounced backwards into the ropes, using them to propel herself over Rainbow. Flaring her wings to stop her own collision with the ropes, she spun on one hoof and flapped her wings once, letting them settle back against her sides. Deseret used this moment of recover to her advantage, silently pouncing forward.
Rainbow brought up her hooves as she blocked two powerful blows. She quickly returned them with a roundhouse kick, narrowly missing Deseret but striking close enough that she was put off balance. Flicking her wings, Rainbow torpedoed forward in one smooth motion. Her wings brushed Deseret’s legs, and Deseret stumbled, planting face-first into the ground. A collective gasp resounded around the ring, but Rainbow paid it no mind. Her opponent was getting back up.
Deseret once again stood on fours, her poise clearly showing she did not appreciate her fall. Deseret’s resulting grin was amiable, but Rainbow could see the feral twinkle behind her white teeth. Deseret bounded forward, and Rainbow rolled to the side. Feeling a blow in her side that crunched a part of her wing, she yelped and finished, sliding to a stop just in time to see Deseret’s hoof coming at her face. Rainbow flexed backward, planting her fore hooves into the ground before bringing her hind legs up and kicking Deseret’s uppercut up. Rainbow ground to a halt, quickly spinning around to keep her eyes on the danger of the ring.
Deseret had fallen backwards, not having expected such an unorthodox way of dealing with a punch. Scrambling to get up, Rainbow charged and found her punch get blocked by a hoof. In its stead, a leg kicked her in the gut. Grimacing, Rainbow gripped the leg just as it was retreating. Twisting it, she heard the yelp of Deseret, and her whole body followed her leg. Rainbow almost blocked the other leg in time.
Almost.
The blow left her falling to the ground in shock as she hadn’t seen it coming. Before she knew what was happening, a set of hooves had wrapped it’s way around the crooks of Rainbow’s forelegs and clasped under her neck. Immediately, Rainbow was alarmed by the strength of the one choking her. Already, spots were beginning to form in her eyes. Rainbow needed to do something!
Grunting and struggling as she gritted her teeth and ignored the pressure around her neck, she planted her forehead into the ground. As her vision began to fade, Rainbow yelled as her wings tore from their sides and flapped once, enough for Rainbow to get her hind legs underneath her and flip forward.
The world exploded into colour. Rainbow gulped down as much air as she could, rubbing her neck as she struggled to her hooves. Forcing her gaze forward, she could see Deseret picking herself up from her throw, and already she was moving towards Rainbow again. Coughing once, twice, Rainbow met Deseret’s blow.
She was fast. Almost unbelievably so. A jab here, a punch there, kick from the side, a dodge from her hit. It was one thing after the other, and it was almost like they were dancing. Deseret moved like a cat, with such elegance and grace it was almost mesmerizing. A cat looking for blood, as each hoof came as if bearing a claw. Each kick was like getting winded. Each scratch as deadly as a needle.
Rainbow Dash worried. Where had she learned these kinds of moves? As she moved her head to dodge a hoof, she grabbed said hoof and spun, throwing her weight forward, and eliciting a yelp from Deseret before she was slammed into the ground. Flapping her wings once, Rainbow gained air, and she slammed straight into the ground. Deseret had rolled away.
A kick to her wing was enough to get Rainbow to stifle a scream. She folded her wings in and glared at Deseret. Deseret shrugged. Rainbow jumped towards her. Deseret rolled under and kicked her in the gut, before coming back up gracefully. Rainbow sprawled, rolling until she used the momentum to side flip up. Deseret was already coming, a hoof hitting Rainbow straight in the chest.
Rainbow broke swatted the next punch away, swiftly uppercutting Deseret. Deseret responded with a headbutt that dazed Rainbow. Dodging a swipe, Rainbow spun on her hoof and roundhouse kicked Deseret in her shoulder, and she swung into the ropes. Bounding back, Deseret came at Rainbow’s neck, and they both fell to the ground.
So it was that they found themselves in each other's chokehold, neither willing to yield, and both unwilling to let go of their grip. Tangled in a mess of each other’s limbs and sputtering for air, a resounding bell clang, and hooves all around began clapping. Taking this as a signal, they found themselves nodding to each other before they both released their holds.
The heavy silence that followed was only broken by the thundering of hooves as everyone who had watched had been awed by their speed and precision. Rainbow panted, greedily gulping in as much air as she could to bring herself back into working order. She chanced a glance at Deseret, seeing that she was doing the same.
“Nice one, stripes,” Rainbow croaked out, massaging her throat and pulling herself up. “I thought I was a goner there for a second.”
Deseret winced just as much as Rainbow, grinning mischievously. “I would’ve gotten you there, my colourful friend. I am not disappointed, for it was certainly a surprising end.”
“I’ll agree with you this one time.” Rainbow smirked before shaking Deseret’s hoof and then pulling her into a hug. “No hard feelings, right?”
“Of course not,” Deseret breathed. “But I’ll get you next time. ‘Til then, give it all you’ve got.”
Pulling away, they smiled and began to wave away the spectators. They both rushed to their corners, grabbing their water bottles and gulping down the cool life-giving liquid. After doing so, they exited the ring and were almost instantly mobbed by two fillies leading a squad of baffled soldiers.
“Woah, that was so cool, you just went whack and slam and punch and kick and flew into the air like fwoosh-!” Firefly began.
“And Deseret just dodged and rolled and it was like I couldn’t even see your hooves-” Sky continued, jumping up and down.
“-And then you both just grabbed each other and we couldn’t even tell who was going to win!” Firefly finished.
Sky beamed up at them, grinning widely. “It was so crazy!”
“You got that right, sister!” Firefly shouted, and they began to dance around with each other, striking the other’s hooves occasionally as they sang loudly and off key.
“The Wonderbolt is here to stay! Deseret will bring them pain! We will win the war with might! The future’s filled with hope and light!”
“Okay kids, that’s enough of that.” Ember chuckled, reining in the two hyperactive fillies with his wings and locking them in place. Sky and Firefly squirmed in his grasp, but they soon found their attempts were futile. Still, that didn’t stop them from shouting at each other, trying to get the other to hear their words.
Guffin eyed Ember’s wincing and sighed in amusement. “Honestly, Ember, I’d say let them loose and don’t look back.”
“Or let Deseret handle them,” Puff suggested with a smile, earning him an annoyed glare from Deseret. He shrugged and tilted his head. “Hey, Des, you have a sibling. I’m sure you have more knowledge on how to deal with this stuff. ‘Sides, it’s clear to me now that you were just going easy on me.” Sighing he patted Deseret on the shoulder and smiled. “Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…”
Ember piped in, grinning as he grabbed Puff in a one-leg hug. “Shame’s still on you Puff. You thinking you’re so great and all! Hah!”
Everyone had a good laugh at that, giggles and chuckles filling the group with mirth. After a bout of shoving where Ember and Guffin began pushing Puff around, the fillies calmed down somewhat and approached Rainbow again. The sly smiles on their faces put Rainbow Dash off, and she wondered what they were planning.
“Done messing around, Small Fry?” Rainbow asked, but they only smiled wider. Frowning, she suddenly sensed a rush of wind from above just as-
“Heya, Dash!”
Rainbow backflipped and flared her wings, stopping her momentum in an instant and allowing her hind leg to jab straight into her attacker’s back. She watched the pony crumple to the ground with a groan before Rainbow quickly realised who it was. She furrowed her brows and asked “Sharp Spark?”
A wheeze erupted from the mare’s mouth as she nodded her head. Rainbow frowned, turning her attention to the two shocked fillies in front of her, their eyes darting between the two mares. Relda rushed from where she had been observing, tutting around Goldeneye before the latter waved Relda off and picked herself up.
“Wow, Dash,” Goldeneye gasped. She rubbed the small of her back before stretching, wincing all the while. “You certainly know how to take a surprise.”
“Goldie, what the hay?” Rainbow said, grimacing at Goldeneye’s pain. “Where the tartarus were you this entire time?”
“Up there!” She bobbed her head upwards, a catwalk spreading above the rafters and lights. Goldeneye tried to smirk. “Nice moves, Dash. Nice and limber for an unofficial captain.” She then turned to Deseret and winked at her. “You too, Stripes. You looked like you were dancing! If I didn’t know you, I would’ve thought you were some zebra-cat hybrid or something!” At that, Goldeneye giggled, wincing once more at her back. “Boy, you girls can hit hard.”
Deseret giggled a little nervously at Goldeneye’s comments, but she was relieved to see no one seemed to notice. “So, Sharp Spark, Goldeneye to friends, what brings you to us on this fun-filled weekend?”
Ember nodded, asking her “Yeah, Sharpie, what’s happening?”
“‘Goldie’ is fine,” Goldeneye growled, “You know how I hate ‘Sharpie’.”
“Sorry, Spark, I was just trying to help.”
Rolling her eyes, she smiled patted a pouch on her barrel. “Looks like we’ve got another mission! We’re set to head out tomorrow morning, oh-seven-hundred hours. We’ll meet up at the dock to ship out.”
“Sweet!” Firefly exclaimed, fluttering her wings in excitement. “A mission! Is this your first real one since Wakanda?”
“Ooh! Ooh! Are you going to infiltrate an enemy base and find out their secret plans?”
“Or ambush them while they’re looking for you and make them POWs?”
Firefly turned in confusion at her friend. “What the hay is a ‘pow’?
“A Pee-Oh-Double-Yu is a prisoner of war, Firefly.” Sky rolled her eyes as if it was common knowledge. “See? The letters of each word make it-”
“I’m not that stupid, Sky,” Firefly grumbled. “I know what an acronym is.”
“I never said you were,” Sky argued.
“Did so.”
“Did not.”
“Did so.”
“Did not!”
“Did so!”
Ember rushed up to them, breaking them up before the argument could escalate. “Girls, girls, calm down now! Today is supposed to be fun, so don’t ruin it. It’s probably one of the few holidays we’ll be getting, and I only showed Cap over there the place because it was where I learned how to fight.”
“Hey, Firefly, Sky, just take a chill pill and relax!” Rainbow said. “Besides, Goldeneye didn’t come here just to deliver the message, right?”
“Nah, I came for the entertainment.” Her eyes darted from the glaring fillies to the sweaty hoof-wrapped forms of Deseret, Jaydock, and Rainbow Dash. “Gotta say, not disappointed yet! Who wants to have a go against me?”
“I think I will sit this one out,” Deseret said, trotting to a bench and gulping down a substantial portion of her water bottle. “My fight with Rainbow Dash was a particularly stressful bout.”
“You can say that again, sister!” Rainbow grinned, getting and gulping her own water bottle as well before splashing the reminder against Deseret. “Nothing like some nice cold water to freshen us up!” Rainbow remarked above the loud and shocked yelp from Deseret. Her smile became a little nervous when she saw the glint in Deseret’s eye.
“I’ll get you for that one, Dash,” Deseret smiled evilly, drinking the remainder of her water and capping it slowly. “You might find yourself hoping I don’t do something rash.”
“Hehe, uh, sure, yeah, gotta go bye!” Rainbow said, flapping into the air and rushing to the mare’s lavatory. All the while, the group watched them in amusement, bursting into giggles as Rainbow left ear-shot.
Goldeneye smirked. “Well, one thing’s for sure.”
“And what’s that?” Jaydock spoke for the first time in minutes.
Goldeneye raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Rainbow might be awesome, but she’s got nothing on how terrifying Des can be.”
“Damn right!” Puff proclaimed, and everyone laughed once more.
AK Yearling sat at her desk, stacks on stacks of books littering her already-messy house crowding around her, suffocating her, taunting her. The libraries in Equestria could only do so much, and she had begun searching the more obscure sources of lore and world-maps. If there was something she would be able to do, it was solve a magical mystery. She was an archaeologist for a reason, and an incredibly competent one at that, and she wouldn’t give up.
Absentmindedly, she reached to her right, petting the tortoise that had begun accompanying her a few months prior. It was comforting, having a partner, however unconventional he may have seemed. Tank the Tortoise was surprisingly versatile. Then again, not much else could be expected of the pet partner of the Element of Loyalty. She really let it sink in how lonely her life was that finding the company of a shelled reptilian was more fulfilling than writing a novel about her latest exploits.
Don’t get her wrong, she was still writing what was sure to be the next Equestrian Times Bestseller, but she couldn’t focus for too long before going back to her main focus: Finding anything about Rainbow.
After all, this one map regarding the Frozen North at the time of the Great Crystal War seemed somewhat different from the rest…
Twilight rushed around her library, her mind running a million miles a minute. Papers and forms and fliers flew around as she burst from one table to another. From one map to the next, she pinned and marked and scribbled and scrawled. It didn’t matter that it had already been 6 months since Rainbow had disappeared and there was still no trace of where she could be. Everything was a dead-end. Nothing seemed to make sense. Her weekly meetings with Daring Do, if one could even call them that, were sparse and always brief.
“Spike, where is Applejack now? Has she reported what sectors she’s covered in Appleoosa yet?” Twilight grabbed a bin and began rummaging through it’s papers. “Spike, has Fluttershy responded to our call? Has Rarity reported back on the research she’s been doing?”
In the back of the library, an entire wall of bookshelves had been converted into a technological nightmare. Wires and antennae and radars and radios among other things now dotted the library, thanks to a revival in old tech from the Great Crystal War. Some of the newer tech was provided courtesy of Belle Industries, something that everypony was grateful for, but nopony was completely sure who had funded it or why it was given so freely.
“SPIKE!”
Twilight stopped in her tracks as she looked around. “Where is that lizard?” Frazzled and tired, she used her magic to scan the library, and didn’t like what she sensed. With a glare and a scolding prepared, she marched her way to the corner of the library that Spike seemed to be in. Upon seeing him, however, she stopped and stared.
Sleeping in a pile of scrolls and books alike, hugging a large Rainbow Dash plushie, was Spike. The sight of her by-all-means little brother in such a tired and exhausted state brought to bear the hell she was putting on herself and Spike day-in and day-out since the day Rainbow had disappeared.
With a burst of tears, she collapsed into the heap herself, pulling Spike and the plushie close.
“We’ll get through this, Spike. We’ll find out where she is. We’ll find out what happened. We’ll save her. We have to. Please… I’m so sorry…”
As she sobbed and sobbed until she felt drained, the world was taken from beneath her hooves, and she slipped into the realm of dreams.
Paperwork was terrible.
Of course, Celestia herself only had to sign off on most things as she had an entire committee of loyal and dedicated workers helping her in that regard, it was still a nightmare. Having the bearer of an Element of Harmony disappear without trace was already taxing enough, where she had to alleviate the fears of everypony in Equestria and assure the newspapers that this would soon be rectified. She also had to negotiate the terms and conditions of the search parties everyone, not just pony, had begun to form.
Needless to say, it was a legal disaster waiting to happen. At this rate, every inch of Equestria would be scoured and searched, and there was still no sign of Rainbow Dash anywhere. Her old and tired mind scanned the last document in her pile for the day as she made some final adjustments and signed it off before she sighed and rested her head on the table.
“When will this all end?”
A knock on the door jolted her out of her seat. Sighing a little heavier this time, expecting some official or noble, she prepared herself for the worst.
“Sister? Are you decent?”
Celestia smiled, relaxing into her cushion. “Luna. Please come in and save me from these forms.”
A soft giggle and one entrance later, Princess Luna walked in to see her sister in a state of disrepair. Her mane was waving more erratically than usual and her smile was more strained than she knew her sister thought it was.
“You look as bad as that time I made all your cakes moon pie flavoured.”
Celestia blinked before looking at Luna thoughtfully. “That was you?”
“Oh yes, yes it was. I made sure to shift the blame on Discord, of course, but you looked about ready to swear off cake forever.”
Luna leaned in to hug her sister, and before she knew it, Celestia had locked her into it with a foreleg. Wincing as Celestia’s lips brushed her ears, she heard a soft whisper. “You should watch your back.” They pulled away, and Celestia acted as if nothing but a hug had happened.
“Well, I am pleased to say that moon pies have been banned from any confectionary within a hundred kilometres of Canterlot, and those that do still make them are exclusively for export to other stores.”
Luna gasped with tears in her eyes. “Tell me it isn’t so!”
A smirking Celestia folded her legs and giggled. “I’m afraid it shall be writ in stone for all time and eternity starting tomorrow.”
“Good. I hate them just as much as you do.”
“On second thought, I take it back-”
Luna rushed Celestia throwing her into a pile of pillows. “Nope! You can’t, you’ve already said it!” Collapsing into the pile, they wrestled for a bit before Celestia gave up and snuggled into her sister’s embrace. It was rare that they got moments such as this these days.
“Thank you, Luna.”
Luna shuffled her head a bit farther to look her sister in the eyes. A grin crossed her face before she managed to quell it. “Whatever for?”
“Letting me forget about the present.”
“Oh?” Detaching herself so she could rest her head on her foreleg, she nodded. “Go on.”
Celestia sighed. “Rainbow Dash, missing. Twilight, burning out at the end of every week and passing out for well over twelve hours at a time. Rarity, organising and collating all information to give to Twilight. Fluttershy, using her abilities to create an animal network as vast as Equestria’s lands. Applejack, searching metre after square metre on hoof with a group of Royal Guards to accompany her.”
Rolling face-up to rub her temples and stare at the ceiling, she continued. “Daring Do slash AK Yearling, going above and beyond to investigate where the law is questionable.”
“And Starlight Glimmer?”
“Self-imposed exile. Ripping more holes in time and space to pinpoint Rainbow Dash.”
“So she never forgave herself after her interdimensional battle.”
“No.”
Luna sighed alongside her sister, rolling to stare at the same ceiling her sister was looking at. “It is good to hear your worries are much the same as mine, but you mustn’t let it weigh so heavily upon you.”
“It is the burden of everypony, and it is everypony’s burden to share. I spoke with Starlight Glimmer after Rainbow disappeared, you know that?”
Celestia turned and regarded her sister with a pleading look. Luna happily obliged. “She is crushed, Celestia. The guilt she carries is even greater than my own Tantabus. The nightmares she has of where Rainbow had gone, or what Rainbow would say to her, or even the Element Bearers turning on her is painful, and sometimes I cannot even save her from her dreams as she has locked herself away in a prison of despair.” After a moment, she sighed. “That’s not to mention the Element Bearers themselves.”
Luna looked Celestia in the eyes and frowned. “Celestia, just because you watch over and protect the citizens of our country, it does not mean you have the power to save everypony. You must learn to remember that you are not the be-all-end-all of Equestria.”
Celestia smiled, though the fog in her eyes betrayed her emotion. “I wish it were that simple, Luna. I wish it were that simple.”
Luna sighed. “I just have this feeling…”
“...what?”
“A feeling that the answer we have been searching for has been right under our noses. A memory, or an event… or maybe even a war. It’s a vague memory at this point but…”
“You’re not suggesting what I think you are… are you?”
“I don’t know, Celestia. A thousand years and more is a long time to remember.”
“Contact Daring Do. Perhaps there is still something yet.”
Luna sighed. “I only hope nothing else happens to the rest of the Bearers.”
It was a deadly battle of skill and wits, and Rainbow Dash wasn’t confident that she was going to win. She could not dare to underestimate her opponent, for one wrong move could mean the end of everything she had planned from the beginning. There was no going back. Narrowing her eyes, she did the only thing she could do, and moved first.
Her plan was completely obliterated, however, when her cover was blown sky high. In the blink of an eye, the cloud she had been hiding in was blown to little puffs with two kicks and she was glomped by a pink filly.
“Tag, you’re it!”
“Ah, you got me!” Rainbow cried, before gasping dramatically with a hoof to her chest. Locking her wings, she began dropping like a rock. “I’m dead!” Firefly let go just as she fell, and watched in confusion as Rainbow approached the ground. Her confusion was unfounded a moment later when Rainbow snapped her wings out and swooped upward, letting her momentum and air guide her back up, straight into the path of Skylark.
“Sky, run!”
Skylark shrieked in terror and began laughing as she tried to outfly Rainbow Dash. They all knew that Rainbow was the fastest and most agile of them, and yet she shot past the swerving filly like a bullet. Stopping in the air, Rainbow snickered as Sky crashed into a cloud while she was watching her.
“You need to watch where you’re going, Sky. Situational awareness is key to survival!”
Sky blew a puff of cloud away from her and giggled. “But we’re playing tag!”
“That we are, Sky, that we are.”
Rainbow grinned as she lazily flapped her wings toward the resting filly and lay beside her, staring at the clear blue skies. “I wish we had more time like this, just to rest.” Firefly joined them in short order, taking her place in the triangle of resting pegasi. Then Rainbow tapped Sky with her hoof. “Tag, you’re it, no tag backs.”
Sky pouted, crossing her hooves and looking at Rainbow. “Aww, that’s not fair!”
Rainbow snorted. “Life isn’t fair. I should know that better than anyone.”
A scolding voice approached them, clucking with a chuckle. “Rainbow, don’t get existential with the fillies.”
Rainbow smiled. “They’ll grow up one day, Ember. You’ll see.”
Ember sighed, stepping onto the cloud. “Just don’t grow up too fast, okay girls?”
“Yes, Dad.”
“Yes, Uncle Ember.”
Ember fluffed his wings and laughed. Glancing down to the ground, he raised an eyebrow and collapsed as well. “So, how’s our Captain doing in her downtime?”
“Having two fillies to deal with is worse than raiding an Empire-controlled griffon bunker.”
“You sure about that?” Ember asked with a grin. “I recall you bouncing that shield of yours down the hallway, taking everypony out with one swing. It was the easiest raid in the history of raids, period.”
“You forgot the part when I had to use my shield to save your sorry flank from a spray of bullets.”
“I don’t think that counts.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Whatever you say, pal.”
“Come on, Dad, Rainbow’s awesome!” Firefly exclaimed.
Ember smirked. “Not as awesome as you.” In one swift motion, he lunged for Firefly and began giving her a noogie, chuckling as Firefly squirmed in his grip.
“Dad, stop! Ahhh!” Firefly cried, torn between giggling and pushing her father away. As they wrestled, Rainbow smiled sadly to herself. She envisioned herself torturing Scootaloo with tickles on a cloud just as they were, and thought back to better times. It felt like an eternity away, even though it was only short of a year since she was sent back in time.
“Hey, Miss Dash, what’s bugging ya?”
Rainbow turned to Sky, who was looking at her with a curious look. “I’ve only ever seen Firefly like that when she thinks about missing her mom and dad.” Taking Rainbow’s silence as affirmation, Sky continued. “Do you miss somepony, miss Rainbow?”
Rainbow closed her eyes and imagined her friends, her family, and Scootaloo. Biting her lip and shutting her eyes tightly, she shook her head. “Yes, Sky. Yes I do miss somepony. I miss many ponies.”
Sky hummed in thought. “Do you think you’ll be able to see them after the war is over? Seeing you sad makes me feel sad.”
Laughing, Rainbow turned to face Sky. “Maybe one of these days, Sky. I might see them again someday.”
In the far, far future, Rainbow thought ruefully as a tear rolled down her cheek. I’ll see when I see you.
“On your left!”
Rainbow grimaced as she spun mid-air, just missing Ember as he launched himself at a soldier. She shot her wings out and pushed the other two soldiers she had been fighting into opposite directions as she landed gracefully. Shaking her mane and wiping her brow, she grinned. “Thanks for the save.”
“Don’t mention it.” Ember cleared the chamber in his gun and loaded a fresh round.
Guffin settled down beside him, chuckling to himself. “Hey, hotshot, leave some for us rookies.”
Deseret walked up to Rainbow and hoofbumped her before taking her own helmet off. “Don’t hurt his ego, Guffin. It’s as precious to him as his collection of lucky dice.”
“Hey, my dice are none of your business!” Ember huffed. “Some of them look really cool, okay?”
“Whatever helps put you to sleep at night, bub,” Puff said with a grin. “Jaydock and I bash heads, and that’s good enough for us.”
Rainbow grinned. “Well, as long as we’re all in agreement that Ember’s a softie, we’re good.”
“Oh yes.”
“Most definitely.”
“Of course, and I have no remorse.”
“Eeyup.”
As they all laughed, a chuckle came through their comms.
“You guys murder me.” After a pause, Goldeneye continued. “Oh, and you better hurry in there, they’ve got some reinforcements coming in and I don’t know how long I can hold my nest before I’m found, and Relda is getting restless.”
Rainbow nodded and put a hoof up to her radio. “Got it, Goldie. We’ll be out in five.” She then turned to everyone present and raised an eyebrow. “Alright, let’s take everything we can carry and get going. Some of this stuff looks really important and the ponies at AIM probably want to take a look at this stuff.”
“Got it, Cap,” Ember said with a smile. “You’re the boss.”
“Shut up,” Rainbow retorted, but not without a grin. “I’ll get you back you know.”
“I’m waiting for it.”
“You’re on.”
They quickly scattered, spreading different ways in search of material that could prove useful or interesting. Watching her teammates go, Rainbow slowly approached a table that she saw had been hiding between two large circular discs—what looked to be generators. She quietly sifted through the contents before reeling back in shock and disgust.
It was a grenade. The same type of grenade that had crippled her. That had poisoned her until only her life force was keeping it at bay. What had nearly killed her. And one that was now sitting there, harmless. What was it doing here? Why was it here? And her biggest question was: Why didn’t more soldiers use them?
Though she could guess the answer to the last one. She had seen it’s results for herself.
Quietly packing it safely away, she disregarded everything else on the table. Apart from grenade, it was all things she had seen before, and all things that the ponies at AIM were already analysing and reproducing on their own. If anything, she could take it to use for her own team. Ammunition was sometimes hard to come by, especially when they needed it most. Turning her attention to a map, she… wait, what was-?
CrrzzzackkkT!
Rainbow winced as static fed through her radio. Her ears twitched in pain and she grabbed it in her hooves. “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“G-guys! Insomnia’s here! Get the hell out of there! Oh buck he’s brought his paratroopers! GET OU-”
Rainbow growled, her pulse quickening. Every time they had raided a place, they had been one step ahead of Insomnia. Looks like their luck had finally broken. She yelled into her radio. “EMBER! GET EVERYONE OVER HERE!”
“R-og-er Cap, b-ut you’re br-zzzzkt!”
Sliding the radio into place, Rainbow took a deep breath. This wasn’t going to pleasant, and she knew it. There was no telling what this encounter would be like, so she hoped with all her might that she wouldn’t have to encounter him at all. Silently, she left the room behind, glancing to either side of the hallway. Empty.
Strapping her shield closer, she closed her eyes and focused inwards. Flinching at the sudden sensory overload, she scolded herself to use it more before clanging her shield to the ground. A sharp twang echoed and her ears began swivelling. A mental picture quickly began to create itself. She could already feel the assault that Insomnia was making, their forces beginning to pour in from the only two entrances. Her team members were rushing back, but one was missing-
No.
Rainbow’s eyes shot open. She immediately grabbed her radio and collected herself. There was no use panicking now. “Ember. Guffin. Remand my previous order. We’re converging on the front door. Jaydock has been compromised. I repeat, Jaydock has been compromised.”
“...kkzzzzkt-Cap? What was that? Say again?”
Rainbow growled, looking both ways once more before choosing left and running. “Jaydock, he’s been captured! We’re moving to get him back before he comes before Insomnia! I have a bad feeling we’re already too late!”
“Roger-kzzkt!”
“I hope all of you else got that, because we’re going in blind.” With that, she shoved her radio into its pocket and began bolting. At some point, Deseret must have joined her in stride because she was surprised by her voice in her focused state.
“Your noble spirit has yet to fail me, Captain,” Deseret said, with a tone that suggested a smile. “Let us hope our friend is not yet slain.”
“I don’t know, Deseret,” Rainbow said. “There’s something that doesn’t feel right, and something I saw is-”
“Troubling you?” Another voice joined their group, though it seemed a bit more harried. Rainbow and Deseret consciously reduced their pace.
“Yes, Guffin, it seems we’re in for a treat.” Deseret paused, almost in anticipation. “If as a treat, it means we were to get beat.”
“Let’s not get our hopes down just yet,” Puff said, the sound of their hooves now thundering down the halls. “Jaydock’s a big guy, I’m sure he’s fine.”
Rainbow threw her shield. The whole group screeched to a stop, completely baffled by the suddenness of her action. Rainbow herself was beginning to breathe heavily, her instincts going into overdrive. When the shield made the sound of hitting something and didn’t come back, she turned to the group. The look she had scared them all.
“He’s here.”
They rounded the bend, and sure enough, Insomnia stood there, his henchponies’ hooves pressed dangerously against both Jaydock and Goldeneye’s throats. Jaydock seemed dazed, as if he had just been hit in the head by something hard. Goldeneye was squirming slightly, but the guns pointed at him and the hoof nearly crushing his windpipe was enough to keep him calm. Her shield like wobbling beside Jaydock.
“So, Captain, we meet again,” Insomnia grinned. Gesturing to the two ponies on the ground in front of him, he tilted his head offeringly. “I present to you a simple choice. We allow you to go free at the cost of one of your friends. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me simply taking both of them, or killing you all right now. So for your sake, I’m sure we can come to a compromise.”
Rainbow, suffice it to say, was completely shocked. There was no reason for this. And yet here it was, happening. “Where are Relda and the kids?”
Goldeneye made eye-contact with Rainbow, and she managed to gasp out three words. “Safe. Gone. Teleport.” She choked as more pressure was applied. Rainbow growled.
“Ah yes, the fillies and the medic,” Insomnia said. “Now that would have been something else. To choose between our future, or our own mortality. Who needs a healer, when we could accept death as our own? After all, it is a natural part of life.”
“Nothing you’re doing is natural,” Rainbow said. “Your experiments will come to an end, sooner or later. I’ll make sure of it.”
“I’m counting on it, my dear!” He laughed. “But for now, you must make a decision. A decision between life, death, and sacrifice! Who will it be, oh noble, most loyal Captain? The brains, or the brawn? The sharpshooter, or the shield? The muscle or the minx?”
Gritting her teeth, Rainbow shut her eyes, a million different scenarios running through her mind, but each one ending in a casualty. Unacceptable. There had to be a way. A way to get out of this mess without losing anyone. This was it. The moment of truth. What would happen? Her answer came with the slightest tapping, on the other side of the group of soldiers. It had a rhythm, almost like…
Tap, tap, Tap tap tap. Tap, tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap, tap.
Seven, six, five, four…
A countdown.
She turned ever so slightly to Deseret, giving the most imperceptible of nods. Her only acknowledgment was a turn of her head. It was enough.
“Make your choice captain! I will give you no more time! Three…”
Three.
“Two!”
Two.
“ONE!”
An unbridled shout of rage from all the way across the throng of soldiers distracted Insomnia just long enough for Deseret to pounce forward, bouncing off the wall, kicking Jaydock’s attacker straight in the chest and tackling Insomnia to the ground. Rainbow required no such grace and simply shattered Goldeneye’s soldier with a flying corkscrew kick. The sound of bones, however morbid it may have been, was music to Rainbow’s ears. Immediately, Goldeneye rolled away, shuddering as she sucked in well-needed air and rubbed her throat. Jaydock was helped to his feet by Puff. Without delay, Puff tossed Rainbow’s shield to her and she swiped it in the air before slamming it into the nearest soldier.
“CAP! SOME HELP HERE!”
She could hear Ember’s cry for help above the din of a troop of metal soldiers and smiled. It was only fair to help him when he helped her. With not a second thought, she slugged her shield forward. It slid off and flung true, ricocheting off soldiers successively until it disappeared around the corner, but she could still hear it. Putting it out of mind for the second, she turned to her team and yelled.
“Carve a path out and get those two to safety! Puff, you’re in charge! Guffin, cover fire! Deseret and I will handle them for now!”
With that, she threw herself through a line of soldiers and grabbed Insomnia as he threw Deseret off. Gripping him tightly, she shoved him through his own soldiers before he flapped out of her grip and landed neatly in front of her, in the middle of the whole group of soldiers.
“So, the father came to save the day. I should have been more vigilant! Haha!”
“You threatened to kill my friends for no reason!”
Insomnia smiled. “No! You are very, very wrong. I was teaching you a lesson, my dear Rainbow Dash. Sacrifice is essential when you’re thinking of winning. With no sacrifice, there is no victory. Even the most impenetrable defense will fall if there is no effort to fight back. And fighting means losing.”
“That doesn’t even make sense!”
“Oh, but it does, Rainbow. It does. And you will see, eventually.” His horn glowed a sickly purple looking aura that just felt wrong. “And you will experience it to the fullest degree.”
“Rhyming is for one such as I, demon!” Deseret screamed across the room. “And I think I speak for everyone when I say, begone!”
Rainbow smirked. “What she said.” In that instant, her shield bounced off his horn, hit the ceiling, and returned to her. Sliding it into place on her leg, she grinned wider at Insomnia’s painful shouting. “We won’t experience anything today, pal. Ember! Let’s go!” Slamming her shield into Insomnia, he stumbled backwards, into the waiting arms of his soldiers, who began to rush her.
Ember kicked and flipped until he got a good three seconds of air time. “Got it!” Fighting to make her way to Ember’s side, she barged through a dozen soldiers using her shield as a buffer. They all toppled over, but quickly began to recover. Going back-to-back with Ember, she fluffed her wings.
“How’s that for a save?”
“I saved your sorry asses again, Cap. Don’t steal my thunder.”
Throwing her shield and catching it, Rainbow laughed. “If I didn’t save you, there would’ve been no thunder to steal. So we’re even.”
Ember threw his rifle to the ground and pulled out a pistol. “Fair point. Are we the last ones in here?”
Rainbow looked to where she knew the exit was and saw that the team was almost there. They were having trouble dealing with the soldiers still pouring in from the outside. With a quick decision, she threw her shield, dazing another dozen soldiers. “Deseret, catch!”
The zebra warrior responded in kind, smoothly catching the shield. “Thanks, Captain, you’ll get this back. For now I’ll use it to attack!” And with that, Rainbow turned to Ember.
“Yeah, we should probably get over there too.”
“And Insomnia?”
“That’s why we should hurry.”
Ember nodded, gulping. “Right. Let’s get out of this damn place.”
Rainbow shook her head with a smile. “Good thing the kids aren’t listening in.”
Ember grimaced. “Yes. Good thing they weren’t captured. I don’t know what I would have done if…”
“Think about that later. For now, fight it out.”
“Let’s do it, Cap.”
Feeling good now that she was sure Deseret would manage to get her team out, she fought with fervor alongside Ember, hooves and punches being thrown and taken. Bullets that would have hit her were swiftly dodged, her heightened senses more than enough to predict their flight path. They worked as a team, quickly making it to their exit before a shadow blocked them.
“Here, Captain, your rightful trophy. It does not feel right for such an item to stay with me. Now, let’s retreat to fight another day. I fear anything that may prolong our stay.” Deseret hoofed over the shield and quickly pounced away, her efforts needed in helping the retreat. Rainbow and Ember emerged, impressed to see a majority of the soldiers injured or incapacitated. The rest were standing by, cautious and ready.
“Looks like we’ve got a lot of debriefing to do when we get back.”
Rainbow’s silent gaze lingered for a little too long, before she nodded, hearing the shouts behind her quickly getting louder. “Let’s get out of here.”
As they quickly got lost, Rainbow was certain she could hear the faintest of shouts behind her. And a sick feeling. Like their escape was planned.
Russet turned away from the viewing window, unsure of whether this was right to do. “Yes?” she asked. “What is it, what do you want?”
“It’s been over two years since we’ve been at this, and this is the first time I’ve seen her this down.”
“Trust me, Ember,” Russet said. “This is the worst I’ve seen her, and she was in a bad state before she was a super soldier.”
Ember trotted up to the same window Russet watched through, and sighed. He watched as Rainbow laughed and played with his daughter and his daughter’s best friend. They had really bonded since they first met, and it really was something to see how they acted together— like they were family. However, Ember was a soldier for longer than he could remember, and he could see the way Rainbow hid her pain with her smiles and her laughs and her quick quips.
What that pain was, was still quite a mystery to him. To say that he was clueless, however, would have been a lie. He could see the way she clung to them as her new family. The way she loved the company, the way she loved him and his family, it was real, and it was good. Something had happened to her, something that had broken her enough for her to latch on to the next best thing. In desperation, she found a family.
They had helped her. Now, he hoped, they could help her a bit more. “You’ve known her for much longer than I have. You’ve both been a part of AIM for longer than I’ve known about it. What happened?”
“Not by much, Ember.” Russet returned her attention to the window. “You seem to think my friendship with her is as intense as yours. You are basically family. I am, at most, a best friend. I only know her past thanks to the information I was privy to from Goldheart’s projects, and what she has told me, but there is still a lot I don’t know.” After a moment, she shook her head. “And I don’t think I’m the one that should be sharing this type of information with you.”
Ember nodded. “Right. Of course.”
They gathered their thoughts for a moment. The muffled laughter coming from the room next door was a little distracting yes, but it was a welcome one. “How are Sparky and Jay?” Russet asked.
Ember laughed softly. “She wouldn’t like you calling her that.”
Russet smirked. “Well, when you’ve been best friends with somepony like her for most of your life, I’d be as annoying as I can be too.”
Ember raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? “
Russet nodded, smiling wistfully. “Oh yes, quite so. She lost her accent when she moved away, but we kept in touch through letters. Before the war started, we met up again and had a good laugh. And now? Well, I’m just happy she’s still alive and kicking.”
“Oh no, definitely. She’s a strong spirit.” Ember sighed. “I just wish… well… I wish I could tell Firefly. I wish… there’s a lot of things that I wish for...”
“You’re strong too, Ember,” Russet said, grabbing his hoof. “When everyone heard about Starry Skies… well, we loved her here. She was the best healer we had, apart from Relda of course, and even then… she could always bring a smile to our faces, even those of us who would rather not.”
Ember held her hoof back, squeezing it gently. He smiled softly looked down, his eyes glistening. “Well, looks like we all need a smile right about now. That last mission took something out of all of us.”
Russet nodded, and looked forward. “Let’s hope that whatever Rainbow has to share, it’s going to help us. Here comes Bellum.” Russet brushed her lips on Ember’s cheek and smiled. “You should get your kids. What we’re going to speak about might not be the best for both of them to hear.”
Ember hesitated, almost torn, but he nodded all the same. “...You’re right. I’ll go, go get them an ice cream or something.”
Russet watched patiently as he went and stopped at the door frame. “Russet… I’m sorry. I really shouldn’t. Maybe… maybe another time. But not now.” He moved to leave, but paused. “Thanks. For everything. For getting my sister to watch over my little Firefly. Thank you.”
Russet smiled. “Go get ‘em, tiger.”
Rainbow’s feathery attack was interrupted when the door to her cell received a loud knock. Sighing, she rolled over and set the still giggling Firefly and Skylark on the wooden floor. “Hey kids, looks like work is calling.”
“Aw, can’t we hang out for one more minute?” Firefly pouted
“Or two? Or three? Or sixty?” Sky whined.
“Hey, with all the breaks we’ve been taking thanks to you, I hang out with you more than enough.”
“Okaaaay, fine,” the two fillies groaned, though Rainbow could see that they didn’t really mean it. With a growing sense of dread, she still smiled as brightly as she could before answering the door. She wasn’t all that surprised to see Colonel Bellum standing there with Ember, who looked a bit down himself. He quickly brightened upon seeing Firefly though, so she wasn’t too concerned about him, but she made a mental note to meet up with him later.
“Hey, Cap!” Ember greeted. “Looks like the cavalry’s here. Firefly, Sky, why don’t I get you kids something to eat, huh?”
“Ice cream!” Firefly exclaimed, any sign of despair quickly disappearing.
“Chocolate dipped ice-cream?” Sky asked, hopeful.
Ember chuckled. “We’ll see what I can do. Come on, we can’t get ice cream staying here. I need some cuteness if we’re getting it for free.”
“Dad, I’m ten, I don’t think they’ll-”
“Remember last week?”
Sky poked Firefly in the side. “He’s got a point.”
Firefly nodded, before rushing forward. “First one there get their ice cream first!”
Sky quickly followed, dashing through Ember’s legs. “Hey, no fair!”
Ember chuckled weakly as Bellum laughed. “You got some feisty kids there, Lieutenant. Better chase after them before they break something!”
“I’ll, yeah, I’ll go do that,” Ember said, smiling. Turning to Rainbow, he gave a look of concern.. “Good luck, Cap.” As they both nodded to each other, Ember quickly fled, yelling after his wards. “Hey! Don’t go too far! Firefly, don’t touch that!”
Bellum had one more good laugh staring after Ember before his smile turned into a frown. He entered the room and closed the door behind him. “Rainbow Dash. Yes, I know you’re not actually a captain, so I’ll make away with the titles. You can just call me Bellum.”
Rainbow nodded, moving to the table in the room. Sliding it to the center of the room, she sat in the chair opposite of Bellum. He took his own chair, facing Rainbow with grim determination. Bellum pulled out a map and a notebook before calmly facing her. “Tell me what was in the bunker. In the initial debriefing, you said you saw a map.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Rainbow said. “A map with several pins in it.”
Bellum nodded, writing it all down. “This is a bit redundant, but it’s important.” He nodded. “Continue. Where were these pins marked?”
“Every major city in Equestria, from Canterlot to Fillydelphia, to Vanhoofer and Baltimare. Even some remote location in the Badlands, and the Wakandan nation.”
The sound of a pencil on paper filled the silence in the room. “Was there any indication of any other locations they might have targeted?”
Rainbow nodded. “Yes, places like Saddle Arabia and Maripony, and some cities that I had no idea existed. They were off the map, suggesting that their agendas have expanded beyond native Equestria and any maps we’ve made of the world so far.”
“Hmph. Interesting. We do have maps of the rest of Equus, but they were imported from other places. I wonder…” Bellum crossed something out on his notepad, and underlined something else. Folding his hooves once more, Bellum stared Rainbow in the eyes. “Final question. What do you think these markers were for? “
Rainbow thought back to what she saw. Of course, it was all there. She saw it. Insomnia knew she saw it. And the grenade strapped to her shield said it all. Taking her shield and gently stripping the grenade, she placed it on the table and rested her head on her hooves, staring at it. “I believe he plans to use this on a scale that would level Equestria and the world beyond.”
Bellum reeled slightly, put off by the sudden hazard placed in front of him. Frowning, he gestured to the grenade. “And what exactly is… this?”
Rainbow scowled. “The Wither.”
The sound of Bellum’s chair crashing to the ground did not surprise Rainbow, nor his shouts. “What the hell were you thinking bringing that in here? Look what it did to you! Now think of what this’ll do to the rest of the compound if it goes off! Do you have any idea-!?”
“Yes, I do!” Rainbow shouted back, her chair sliding with a loud groan. “Not just the compound, Bellum! The world! The whole world is at stake, and you’re here yelling at me for bringing it to the one best place we could contain it! It’s a grenade for the Wither! I’ve seen soldiers carry belts of this stuff! Suits lined and made with this stuff! I’ve seen half a valley die from this! I was crippled and brought back because of this! And I might have some immunity to it now, but I can’t say the same for everyone else on the planet!”
“Lives are on the line, the future of Equestria is on the line, so don’t sit here lecturing me about what’s right and what’s dangerous!” Rainbow slammed her hooves into the metal table, her hooves bending the metal like putty.
Bellum held his breath as the grenade dropped to the floor with a soft thud and click.
Rainbow picked it up, marched over to Bellum, held it until he put his hoof out, and placed it in his hoof. “And don’t worry. I made sure the damn thing couldn’t go off even if it wanted too. You should thank Relda for that. She found the trigger. The magic. After she made sure Jaydock and Goldeneye were okay, she worked on this with a surgeon’s scalpel and it put her out for the rest of the trip back.” Rainbow walked over to the door and pulled it open with a silent rage.
“And if you don’t think I’m fit for this war after what I’ve shown you, then consider me released from active duty.”
