Blood and Shadows

Operation: Endgame

Location: Canterlot, Illesia

Date and Time: September 26, 2037. 3:12 Hours

Subject: Rainbow Dash

Objective: Wipe out the main Elite force, and turn the tables of the war

Silence.

Silence is what I like the most, it allows me to think. Now, things weren't exactly silent, as the helicopter blades made sure of that. Thanks to the mute button, there was no more chatter on my radio.

Silence.

Throughout my career as a soldier, silence was my ally. When I was silent, I could take out an entire base without raising alarm. It was one of the few skills I could apply in this world of violence, but this mission calls for a loud and proud attack.

Silence.

My teammates sat across from me, staring at their feet. I had no idea what was going through their minds, but I didn't really care at the moment.

BZZZZZ!

The red light on in the helicopter turned green, and I jumped out the side of the chopper. I flapped my wings once to slow my descent, and landed with my rifle pointed at the enemy. I held the trigger and cleared as many as I possibly could. I was now a part of the war-zone. The war-zone was a place of life and death. Those at the handling end of a rifle were given life, those at the receiving end were given death. I could practically hear the Equestrian national anthem playing in my head as Elites hit the ground left and right. In the war-zone, there was no right and wrong, just living or dying. I had been here many times, not to Canterlot, to the war-zone. There were no rules, just live or die, and I didn't like it one bit.

I decided to avoid the fray, and ran to cover in a nearby building. Rubble littered the floor, and holes scattered the walls. Dust was kicked up, and gunfire sounded all around me. I had been in fights like this, so I tuned out the gunfire. Other than that, it was silent. I set down my rifle and sat beside it, resting my back against the wall. I had almost hoped that a brick would fall down, and bash my skull in...almost. I had come so far, and now here I was, fighting another suicide mission. It's funny how things work that way, no matter how hard you try, it always seems that you end up in the same place. Here I was, staring death in the face again, me and death had become quite the pair of friends over the years. I always managed to escape his friendly embrace, but he knew I would be coming back, only to nearly reach him once more. There was some video game Soarin had me play with him one time, what was it again? Fallout: Equestria I think? At the very beginning of the game, a man starts speaking, and his first and last words were: War never changes. I had just thought of it as some cinematic thing at the time, but now I could see what he was getting at. Life, death, destruction, pain, agony, etc. These were all things that came about with war. These were the things that took my friends from me.

After some quiet sobbing over my past, I finally gathered enough strength to stand up. Suddenly, a grand piano began playing a particularly sad song. I looked over to the corner of the room, to find a young boy playing Silent Night on a black wooden piano. Such a fitting song for so many people dying. I regrettably trudged outside, and opened fire, listening for the boy's song in between bursts. Many screamed in pain around me, bullet holes covering their bodies. I moved from cover to cover, shooting my way through Elites. We made our way through the courtyard, and approached the main castle. Bodies of Elites scattered the ground. I had to sit down for a moment, I decided to let the others handle the castle guard and eliminating the new king. I realized I was out in the open, and this was no place to mope. I quickly headed back, through the battle scarred wasteland, and made my way back to the building where the boy was playing Silent Night. He was still at it, tears streaming down his expressionless face. I looked around, and saw two people laying on the ground in a loving embrace, they must have been his parents. Then I realized it, the two people were Elites, and the boy was too. I knew a little bit of piano, so I approached the boy. He stopped playing, and turned around to face me with a pistol. His hands were shaking as he pointed it at me, tears streaming down his face. I cautiously reached out, and pushed the sidearm down, and sat beside him. He turned around, full force crying now, and I began to play his song. I wasn't too good at piano, but I could play Silent Night. Me and the boy hummed as the song rang throughout the broken structure. I felt like I was reliving a scene from a movie, as death surrounded me and this strange boy. I didn't understand the Elites, nor did I care for them, but this boy had lost his parents, his two closest family members. My parents died when I was young, and I never knew them. My only family were my friends in Ponyville, but they were gone now. Back at base, I learned that Twilight had witnessed Fluttershy and Rarity dying, which meant me and her were the last two of the group. Although I had so much reason to hate the Elites, I felt for this little boy.

Silence.

The only sound that could be heard for miles, was me and the boy, playing our song.

Silence.

That, and the gunfire that rang throughout the city.

Silence.

The boy shuffled around, facing me.

Bang!

A piercing pain bit me in my side, and I fell to the ground. The boy, holding the gun up, started to cry again. He had the same fire in my eyes, the fire when I first joined the Wonderbolts. That's when I realized it, we were no better than the Elites. We were doing the same thing to them, that they had done to us so long ago. But why? Why were we doing this? The sounds of victory reminded me why, as trumpets rang from outside. The boy dropped the gun, and ran away, through a hole in the wall. We had done it, we had taken back Equestria, our homeland. Wonderbolts ran in the room, and began performing CPR on me, as blackness crept at the corner of my eyes.

Funny how things work that way, here I was again, dying. I wasn't Rainbow Dash, the real Rainbow Dash died so long ago, in the invasion. I was the hollow shell, who was left as a tool for the Equestrian Republic to use. It seems that man from Fallout: Equestria was right: War never changes. I had served my purpose, I had taken back Equestria. My purpose was served, and I had become the monster that I so loathed.

Funny...funny how...things work that way...