Into the Mouth of Hell

AUTHOR’S NOTE: The terms “Griffin Kaiserdom”, “G.K.” and “Griffannia” are interchangeable.

___

“Anypony got any idea t’why Twilight invited us t’her place?” Applejack asked the four ponies walking with her.

“And in such bad weather, this water is absolutely destroying my mane!” Rarity said, sounding slightly outraged. It was indeed raining, quite heavily. The weather pegasi said it would be cleared up tomorrow but for now, the ponies had to just grin and bear it.

“Ooh! I’ve got an idea! Maybe she’s figured out how to sustain Equestria without rain!” Pinkie Pie began jumping up and down excitedly.

“I…I don’t know Pinkie, in Cloudsdale they always said that wasn’t possible…not that I’m arguing,” Fluttershy noted meekly.

“Ah think it’s somethin’ else, she usually don’t summon us like this for nothin’, and with Spike too, Twilight must be too busy to get us ‘erself.” Applejack sighed. “We’ll jus’ have t’see.”

It wasn’t long until they reached the tree library. Applejack knocked the door, and it was a good few seconds until Twilight opened it. She greeted the four ponies in front of her with a smile.

“Girls! It’s good to see you,” Twilight glanced left and right, then gestured back. “Come, inside, now.”

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie trotted (or in Pinkie’s case, hopped) into the library one by one. Twilight closed the door after them, muffling the sound of the rain.

“Twilight, what the hay is goin’ on?” Applejack swiftly asked. She glanced around the library and noticed it was a bit of a mess. Twilight’s saddlebags lay by the stairs, half-packed.

“Girls, I wanted to just tell you all…I’m leaving,” Twilight hung her head low.

“WHAT?!” the four ponies said in unison.

“But why, Twilight?” Rarity was the first to speak.

“Something’s came up, I need to go south,” Twilight said quickly.

“What’a y’hidin’ from us Twi?” Applejack questioned, trying not to show her irritation.

Twilight groaned. “OKAY, I’ll admit it. I’ve been looking into the more recent actions of Celestia and her government and well…none of it adds up.”

Applejack was about to interrupt, but Twilight went on.

“Say what you want about the war but, military expansion? Radical tax increases? Magical surveillance? Plus, she hasn’t been answering my letters very passionately recently.”

“That does seem fishy, fishy as…a trout…” Pinkie said, narrowing her eyes. Rarity tried hard not to facehoof.

“But simply why must you leave us because of this Twilight?” Rarity questioned.

“I have an idea,” Twilight started. “And I’m going to find my first lead, which could take me all over Equestria at this rate.”

Applejack laughed heartily, resulting in some odd looks from the others, except Pinkie Pie who joined in out of impulse with her high-pitched giggles.

“So y’were gon’ go on some big adventure without US? What a classic!” Applejack said through her laughing.

“Frankly, I’d be honoured to join you Twilight,” Rarity said. “Even if it gets a bit…rough.”

Twilight smiled. “I didn’t expect…thank you. Thank you so much.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes lit up and she let off an over the top gasp and started jumping up and down on the spot excitedly. “WE’RE GOING ON A ROAD TRIP! At least I think it’s a road trip, it could be an off-road trip, could we do an off-road trip Twilight? Could we? Could we?”

The other four ponies laughed, Pinkie being Pinkie as usual. However, it wasn’t long until Applejack spoke up.

“So Twi, what exactly is this hunch of yers?”

“I’ll explain when we leave, should be the day after tomorrow,” Twilight replied, optimism in her voice.

“It could get complicated.”

***

Mountains and cliffs rose at every turn, the high altitude landscape making even Rainbow Dash, a pegasus, quite dizzy. Snow powdered the top of the mountains giving them the appearance of rocky puddings, forests of evergreen covering the ground at the feet of the hills, where rivers flowed, forming valleys and reservoirs. It was quite the sudden break from the small eastern sea that had to be crossed to reach the land of the griffins.

And to top it all off, Rainbow Dash was seeing all of this from a blimp, painted in grey and white camouflage in an attempt to blend in with the mountains it was flying by. She had questioned why a nearly all-flying force like the Pegasi Corps would need blimps, but then realised that simply flying such a distance would not only take too long, it would also be incomprehendably tiring, and all the equipment required could not simply all be held by pegasi soldiers.

Despite the vehicle being armed with gating guns, it was not for use in battle, as a stray sword stroke at the balloon could spell death for all those in the blimp, and a gunshot could result in explosion; plus, it was not the most aerodynamic or small construction. It was meant for transport only.

“Beautiful, isn’t it Rainbow?” Onyx Scarlett said, revealing she was next to Rainbow Dash, also looking off the port of the airship. The two pegasi were both donned in silver armour with the black capes of the Omega platoon flowing behind them in the wind of the high altitude. Neither wore helmets, which would have been over-the-top outside of battle, and both the red mane of Onyx and the many-hued mane of Rainbow were blowing in the wind theatrically.

“It’s somethin’ alright,” Rainbow Dash replied, not taking her eyes off the mountainous landscape. “You ever been to the Griffin Kaiserdom?”

“Once, actually,” Onyx replied, “Before the war started the news agency often sent me here to report on various things, such as the acts of the Himmelsupreme terrorists.”

Rainbow recognised the name of the organisation that had killed her parents.

“Oh,” she replied, still looking away from Onyx.

“Are you okay?” Onyx asked, tilting her head quizzically.

“It’s nothing I’m just,” Rainbow gritted her teeth, “Tired from last night.”

“Is this about finally going into battle? Because I’m scared too,” Onyx said, putting a comforting wing on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“Dashes don’t get scared,” Rainbow retorted, before taking a more sincere tone and looking over at Onyx. “Well, maybe I’m a little nervous.” Her ears drooped.

“Well we’re just getting to base, once we’ve had some time to rest I’m sure we’ll be fine,” Onyx sounded like she wasn’t so confident in her words.

“Y’know what Onyx? You’re right, it’s probably just this travelling getting to me,” Rainbow Dash remarked, looking down off the ship again. “Are blimps always this…dizzy?”

“Yeah, they are,” Onyx said, giving a small smile in Rainbow’s direction. “Did you see Rusty?”

Rainbow gave a devilish grin, “Yeah, I saw him,” she looked over to the other side of the blimp, where Rusty Chop was vomiting over the starboard side.

“Ah can fly m’self!” Rusty proclaimed before throwing up some more, making Rainbow Dash giggle.

“What a loser,” Rainbow remarked.

Onyx simply nodded in reply, still looking at Rainbow Dash, watching the way her messy mane flew in the wind. Rainbow looked over at Onyx again.

“I think we’re here Onyx,” Rainbow said, pointing forward.

Shaking her head a few times, Onyx looked in the direction Rainbow was pointing and saw a surreal sight. They were entering a valley, the ground of which was covered in a huge encampment, rows of tents going out for long distances. Ponies like ants could be seen moving around between them, some lined up, moving in formation. Onyx guessed the army must be set up down there. She also saw a small section of tents far more refined and stable looking than the others. There was a blue fire burning there, symbolising that this was the unicorn camp.

Of course, they were not going to either of these. The blimp was heading towards one of many camps on outcrops from the cliffs bordering the valley. This particular camp had black tents, and a flagpole with three flags displayed on it. The first flag being the flag of the royal sisters of the Equestrian Principality; the second flag being the flag of the pegasi, not so different from the flag of old Pegasopolis; and the third flag was the silver ‘Ω’ over the black background to symbolise Omega platoon. This was the camp for Omega troops, the high-ups of the Pegasi corps, and, as Rainbow quickly began to realise, the Wonderbolts.

She didn’t know if they had been mobilised for the war, the military actions of the Wonderbolts were more than often classified; but they had been having less and less shows in Equestria. Rainbow wondered if she would get another chance to meet her role-models, she found herself having to conceal her excitement.

“Omega! Mobilise!” Commander Thunderstorm bellowed, and it wasn’t long until Rainbow, Onyx, and even the sickly-feeling Rusty had arranged themselves into lines. The blimp began to slow down and grind to a halt, just a few metres off the outcrop holding the camp. A rather old-looking pegasus stallion not dressed in any protective armour, threw a rope to the outcrop, where it was caught by a soldier and tied around a rock to give the blimp an anchor.

“Troops! Abandon ship!” Thunderstorm bellowed once more. The pegasi soldiers left the blimp in neat lines, landing orderly on the rocky mountain, including Thunderstorm himself.

“Alright troops, I currently have war business to attend to, I suggest you find your tents and get some rest for today, you’ll be needed soon,” Thunderstorm began to walk off in another direction. Most of the pegasi began to walk off in other directions to find their lodgings in the camp, but Rainbow was left behind. Instead of going to find where she was sleeping, she decided to go a different direction.

What is the Commander up to?

***

“Is she coming?” Thunderstorm said anxiously to the Colonel pegasus at his side.

“Sir, General Thora isn’t known for her punctuality,” the Colonel replied.

“Hey, don’t expect I didn’t know that, we military leaders are often forced together,” Thunderstorm remarked. “It’s just; I’m a little dark on the situation out here at the moment.”

“HURRY UP GUARDS! IT’S A NEW DAY!” a gruff female voice echoed throughout the canyon.

“What was that?” the Colonel said, fear in his voice.

Commander Thunderstorm simply smiled.

“Oh she’s coming alright.”

A hammer suddenly appeared, coming up from underneath the cliff and smacking the rock, almost smashing it. With the hammer came a dusty-coloured pony with a cream mane, a red cape flowing behind her, complimenting her bright silver armour. She was climbing up the vertical cliff as if she were a mountain goat, not a heavily armed earth pony. When she had reached the top, she walked over to Thunderstorm as if she had just climbed nothing but a staircase.

The Colonel was almost too shocked to speak. “H-how…”

“Trust me, it’s easier than it looks,” Thora said, her blocky grey hammer hanging from her mouth by a thin leather strap.

“Good morning, Miss Thora Mjölna,” Thunderstorm said calmly, still smiling. “I see you took the longest route possible.”

“Fashionably late,” Thora replied with a wink. “Anyway, we have a war to plan out, and thankfully Archmage Pretentious has a cold today, so we can discuss it over some cider.”

“Sounds like my kinda planning session; come, I’ll show you to the war room,” Thunderstorm said, leading her to the large black, blue, brown and red striped tent in the centre of the encampment.

Damn, you could cut that sexual tension with knife it’s so thick, Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She was nearly about to leave until she saw Thora’s escorts just beginning to dust themselves off after climbing the mountain. One was your average earth pony soldier, powder blue in colour with a dark blue mane and donned in dull steel armour. The other was a white unicorn, dressed in purple armour with gold linings and a chalcidian helmet with a blue and light blue striped crest. He also had a shield-shaped pendant with a familiar looking six-pointed pink star decorating it, and held a spear. Something about him seemed familiar to Rainbow Dash, and then it hit her.

“Shining Armor?”

Shining turned around. “Rainbow Dash?” He began to walk closer. “It is you then! Good to see more familiar faces around here!”

Rainbow blushed; they had barely had much time to talk before, even at his wedding. She was surprised she was considered familiar.

“Wait, shouldn’t you be guarding Canterlot?”

“Half of the guard were sent out here to the G.K. to help in the war. Symbolic really, just to show Celestia’s presence. Reassuring the troops, I suppose,” Shining replied. “I volunteered to guard the General; it felt more satisfying than lounging around with a bunch of wine-tasting unicorn operatives.”

“Mmhm,” Rainbow said, glancing down at the rich-looking unicorn camp on the valley ground. “You seem right for the job, you did just scale a near vertical mountain to, er, ‘protect’ the General…come to think of it she doesn’t need protecting does she?”

Shining nodded. “She’s more competent than most of the military put together. Hay, she’s always hoof-wresting her troops, which just breaks all of our tables.”

Rainbow Dash smirked “Heh, sounds like fun down in the army camps.”

“More fun than the unicorn camp I guess, how’s the Pegasi corps treatin’ ya?”

“It’s alright I guess,” Rainbow replied. “Everypony seems cool, even the Commander once you get used to him.”

Shining Armor snickered. “Good to see you’re alive anyway; welcome to Toothless Valley, Private Dash.”

***

Onyx was tired. Just around two hours ago she had arrived in the camp, and only around seven hours before that she had left a dark, disturbing and dangerous rainforest. Now she was getting a well earned rest.

And she couldn’t sleep.

So much had happened, so much was happening; she found herself awake, scribbling the events of recent times in her journal. Some information was personal; other tidbits were to be used again in her journalism. The pencil was near broken from were she had held it in her mouth for such a long time.

Looking around the small tent, she saw Rusty Chop, fast asleep in his top bunk, snoring like a dragon. In the bed below him lay Bleue Pearl, who had fallen asleep too, but was much more silent, face turned to the canvas.

On the bunk above her, Rainbow Dash was supposed to be getting her rest; but despite her notorious laziness, she was nowhere to be found; but Onyx soon heard the sound of the canvas tent flaps getting pushed aside. Looking up, she saw Rainbow Dash, slowly trotting in, thinking everypony was asleep.

“Good afternoon, Private Rainbow Dash,” Onyx addressed her formally, making Rainbow freeze. Onyx chuckled at this, but began to ask a question. “But seriously, where the hay were you?”

“Just lookin’ around,” Rainbow Dash replied, trying to sound casual. “Found an old friend.”

“Really?” Onyx piped up. “Who?”

“Just Shining, haven’t spoken to him in months.”

“Wait,” Onyx was suddenly rather ecstatic. “You mean Prince Shining Armor is HERE?”

Rainbow Dash smiled awkwardly. “Um, yeah! I er…guess he is important!”

“That’s it, I can’t sleep. You get your rest, I’m off to find Prince Armor,” Onyx jumped out of bed suddenly and started galloping away out of the tent.

Rainbow Dash smiled. She was happy to see Onyx excited for once, but for now, Rainbow could only think about her bunk, and how she was going to get a nice long re-

“PRIVATES!”

Rainbow nearly banged her head again the bars of the bed upon seeing Commander Thunderstorm in their tent. She quickly jumped off the bunk bed and stood, giving a salute.

“Commander!”

Thunderstorm couldn’t hide a grin.

“Good to see somepony’s awake. Some of our lookouts have gone dark; I need you to do some recon with Private Scarlett and that bozo on the top bunk.”

He gestured at the still asleep Rusty Chop.

The commander grew impatient, and started to poke Rusty’s mattress with his spear.

“I SWEAR TO CELESTIA PRIVATE, ONE MORE INSUBBORDINATION AND YOU’LL NOT EAT FOR A WEEK!”

This managed to wake him up, albeit surprise and shock him heavily.

“Now ARM UP, your mission starts in TWO MINUTES.”

***

Speed.

Rainbow Dash had forgotten the meaning of the world, having gone so many hours without flying through the sky, but now she remembered it as she felt the air move around her like it was parting way for a Queen.

Onyx was managing to catch up, but Rusty lagged behind a little; still very tired from being forced to wake up.

“There it is,” Rainbow Dash pointed at an arrangement of four rocks. “The lookout post is just beyond there if the commander was right.”

“You’re takin’ authority very quickly Rainbow,” Rusty Chop remarked.

“Hey! We’re not a flock led by a Sheppard, we’re a unit; that’s how we operate,” Onyx said to Rusty.

“Interestin’ analogy, an analogy broke when one of us gits a promotion,” Rusty smirked. “Anyhow, what exactly should w’do here?”

Onyx halted flight and moved towards the cliff for cover, Rainbow and Rusty copying this action.

“I have an idea,” Onyx started. “You two should move along the cliff until you’re close enough, then charge in.”

“What about you Onyx?” Rainbow asked. “Overwatch?”

“Indeed,” Onyx replied, checking the sights on her bolt-action rifle. For a moment she looked its side. The rifle was made of polished wood and steel and had a long curved bayonet. Embedded into the steel was an inscription saying:

TROTCHESTER BOLT-ACTION

Made in: Stalliongrad, EQ

Pointless, but worth noting later, Onyx thought to herself, before looking back at the two more physically able pegasi in front of her.

“We should go now, wind’s on our side,” Rainbow Dash noted, seeing the wind was blowing towards them. She didn’t know if griffins had a particularly good sense of smell, or for that matter, if they’d be able to catch their scent on the wind, but she definitely knew that she and the other two pegasi smelled very bad. The only one of them who had a shower since leaving the rainforest was Rainbow Dash, and it was more a hose-down to remove the blood. She still reeked of sweat, and the excitedly fast flying to the outpost didn’t help.

Onyx nodded back, and flew up to the cliff, landing softly in the snow. She began to slowly move in on the outpost to get a better look.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Rusty Chop flew along the cliff and up to the formation of three rocks. Hiding behind the main rock, Rainbow was about to risk a peak around, but then she heard something.

“Wir sollten darüber Bericht zu erstatten Hambeak bald, wir haben zu weit gegangen.; was, wenn wir angegriffen werden?”

An unseen voice spoke behind the rock, speaking in a language Rainbow Dash could not understand, but she recognised the language of the griffins.

Rusty looked agitated, very much ready to attack, but Rainbow Dash shook her head at him. She didn’t want to go until she was sure Onyx had a good position on the cliffs close to theirs. It wasn’t long until another voice was heard, a deeper, richer, more experienced voice.

“Wir nähern uns Zahnlos Tal, unserem letzten großen Verlust. Vielleicht finden wir die wichtigsten Pony Lager, und dann können wir einen Überraschungsangriff zu arrangieren. Wenn wir Glück haben, die pegasi immer noch nicht organisiert werden, dann können wir den luft Vorteil.”

What the hay are they saying? Rainbow thought. She had known Gilda, and she had heard Gilda speak a little Griffanian in front of her, but she had never managed to pick up a word. She would be useful right about now… Rainbow thought, feeling a little regretful that their friendship had to end on such bad terms.

Rainbow dared peek around the rock for a split second, and caught a glimpse of approximately five or six figures. She was outnumbered, but that was hardly an excuse to give up. Looking over at the edge of the cliff, she saw Onyx about fifteen metres away. It was time to go. Rainbow Dash nodded at Onyx.

Onyx knew that this signalled the attack, aligning her iron sights on one of the griffins. She was aiming at who she assumed was in power judging from their conversation, and indeed, her understanding of the griffin language. Her target was an older griffin, grey in feather colour with a scar along his face. He was speaking to one of the five griffins under his command, on what was obviously a scouting mission. One of the griffins was pulling a gold armoured pegasus away, about to throw the body off the cliff. The dead pegasus seemed to have been near-decapitated, and her blood stained the sparse alpine snow.

“They did that, they’re monsters, they’re the enemy, come on Onyx, shoot! Shoot!” Onyx told herself under her breath. She was starting to wonder why she had joined up; was it to kill souls like this unsuspecting scout? He was a life, just like her, and she was just…going to end it?

Rainbow was now looking furious at Onyx. She mouthed two words. DO IT.

Onyx sighed, lined up her sights, and fired.

Rainbow flew out from behind cover in a serenely beautiful twirl, moving her sword in her mouth and slashing across the neck of one of the griffins she heard talking, killing him instantly. Quickly, before the other griffins could even respond, she began to engage another in battle, ducking the clawed swipe of the creature and stabbing it in the chest, gravity causing blood to gush like a waterfall, painting Rainbow Dash’s sword red.

Rainbow felt something solid hit her helmet, and she fell to the ground; suddenly very vulnerable to the griffin above her, about to mutilate her with its claws. However, it wasn’t long before that fear was alleviated by Rusty Chop’s hooves bucking the creature away and again against the ground, crushing its eagle-like skull.

Rusty quickly bit on the handle of his revolver, pulling it from its sheath on his leg and moving his tongue in the trigger position. Pony-designed revolvers were generally fired from the mouth, and Rusty looked like no stranger to its usage. Turning around to one of the approaching griffins, he shot it square in the beak, the bullet creating a large hole in the creature’s skull.

“Coo-ee! Did’ya see that Rainbow? A got him in one sh-“

Unfortunately, in his cocky moment, Rusty did not notice the last griffin sneaking up behind him and he received a clawed blow to the face, three bloody scratches staining his muzzle as he fell back in the snow.

Rainbow saw this, and began to run towards the griffin, sword at the ready, just like that tiger back in the rainforest.

Then the griffin exploded.

Rainbow took a few seconds to gather what she was seeing. The griffin was in two bloody halves, it’s flesh smoking, most of it cauterised. Above the body she saw a familiar unicorn.

“Bleue?”

“Charmed,” Bleue Pearl replied calmly, turning to the country stallion he had saved. “You should be a little more careful Chop.”

“Hey, how was ah supposed to know that there’d be some griffin else still left?” Rusty replied. “My thanks t’ya anyways Bleue, but ah didn’t know you’d be joinin’ us.”

“I tagged along,” Bleue said dryly.

Rainbow was watching the conversation with some curiousity until she felt a presence behind her.

“He gives me the creeps that Bleue,” Rainbow said to Onyx.

“Tell me about it, I got lost in a bloody jungle with him,” Onyx replied, smiling slightly. “Sorry about being so useless there.”

Rainbow remembered Onyx’s hesitation.

“We’ll talk about that later. First we gotta see if anypony posted here survived.”

“I don’t think so,” Onyx said, pointing at the body of the silver-armoured pegasus she had seen before.

“Armour’s shiny, this mare was in one of the regular divisions, not special forces,” Rainbow said, looking at her own dull silver armour.

“The helmet crest is blue, so she’s probably from Iota platoon. If that’s true, then that spear over there was probably hers, considering the leader of Iota is so, um, spear-crazed.”

Onyx looked shocked. “Rainbow, I didn’t know you knew so much about the corps…”

“Not just a pretty face!” Rainbow Dash retorted, then she shrunk back. “Also had far too much time doing nothing while we were training, looked up this stuff, and thought it would be, er, useful.

Onyx smirked. “Didn’t see you as much of a reader.”

“I…um…dabble,” Rainbow almost tried to hide behind her fringe as if she was Fluttershy, but that just made Onyx giggle.

Daring Do, this is all your fault! Rainbow thought to herself.

“Anyways, we should bring this body back. I think we can carry it,” Rainbow said, returning to the subject at hand.

Onyx was about to say something but then they heard something.

A squawk. A cry of pain.

“Rainbow? Onyx? Come over ‘ere,” Rusty’s voice called.

The two mares turned around immediately to see what the matter was, and saw Rusty and Bleue standing over the body of a griffin. It was the leader of the scouting mission, grey-feathered and scarred. His helmet was no different from that of the other griffins, black with a single spike on the top, it was safe to say he wasn’t awfully high in the ranks, but at the same time, his face showed experience.

None of this experience of course, could make up for the fact he was lying on the ground, bleeding out from Onyx’s rifle shot which had hit him in the hip.

“Verdammt…Bitte…helft mi; ich gebe,” he gasped, in shock from the pain.

“He surrenders,” Onyx said, lowering the rifle she was pointing. “We should take him in, ask him questions. Bleue, can he survive?”

Bleue was quick to scan the wound. “He’ll survive; we’ll have to get him back quick, if we can get him back that is. I’m afraid I can do little without medical supplies.”

Rainbow Dash had not spoken yet, and frowned. “Onyx, I’m sorry but, we can’t bring him back, they’ll be sending out a search party for us if we don’t come back soon, and we already have to carry a dead pegasus lookout. I mean c’mon.”

“But he’s going to make it Rainbow!” Onyx said, now very flustered. “We can’t just leave him!”

“No,” Rainbow replied, closing her eyes. “We can’t leave him, he’s not going to make it.”

“Was machst du da? Nimm mich gefangen! Ich gebe!” the griffin seemed very agitated.

Onyx gulped, she trotted slowly over to the griffin, and looked into his glazed eyes.

“Es tut mir leid,” Onyx said to him softly. The birds’ pupils dilated in shock.

“Nein! Nein! Ich gebe!” The griffin started to cough up blood.

Rainbow Dash drew her blade against the neck of the griffin.

“Nein...ich kann nicht sterben…”

The snow was again stained with blood and feathers.

***

It had been a few hours since the re-taking of the outpost. Rainbow Dash was now telling commander what they had encountered, griffin scouts who had gone too far.

“Too far for their own good!” Rainbow Dash grinned.

“From what you’ve told me, that’s a remarkable job you pulled off there Private Dash,” Commander Thunderstorm said with a grin of his own.

“If you don’t mind me sayin’ Commander, I think this means we aught a move up soon,” Rainbow noted.

“Good observation Private!” Thunderstorm again replied in a tone that reminded Rainbow Dash a little too much of Cheerilee. “I’ve gotta say Dash, you’ve improved since I met you. You used to be so disobedient, so rude, and if you don’t mind me saying er, ‘block-headed’, but you’re a true warrior now Dash; smart, brave and loyal. Your parents would be proud.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Rainbow Dash replied in a snarky fashion.

“Was a shame about Private Airwaves,” the Commander referred to the dead Iota pegasus mare by name.

“Well, these things happen Commander, it’s a war, ponies die,” Rainbow Dash replied with remorse.

“A good mindset for one so young Private Dash, dismissed,” the Commander said, returning to the war room, or ‘war tent’ as it was now being called more often.

Elsewhere in the camp, Onyx Scarlett sat by the cliff, looking out at the earth pony camp below, the ant-like soldiers moving from place to place in neat little lines and formations. She was thinking, and what she was thinking about made her sigh.

“Greetings,” the voice of a familiar, deadpan stallion appeared behind her.

“Hi Bleue, is this really the right time?” Onyx asked, turning around to the unicorn.

“You seem like you could use some company,” he said, sitting down next her, their hooves almost parallel to each other as they both looked out to the valley.

“I’m just…worried,” Onyx sighed.

“There’s not too much reason to worry,” Bleue Pearl said nonchalantly. “The war may as well be won. The griffins have poor tactics and training, and we have numbers on our side.”

“It’s not the bloody war,” Onyx replied, scowling slightly, then her face muscles began to relax once more.

“It’s…Rainbow Dash.”

Bleue turned around. “Really? Let me guess, her newfound ‘attitude’?” His accent slipped, as he started to divert into something that sounded more foreign than the usual upper-class Canterlot accent.

“Well…yes,” Onyx said. “She’s suddenly so much more...efficient, ruthless, and dare I say tactical? Back at the outpost she was analysing the body of the soldier we found, and managed to guess her position in the corps immediately.”

“And?”

“She’s not herself Bleue!”

“Are you just jealous she’s better at your job?” Bleue said, smirking slightly.

Onyx blushed furiously. “No I am not!”

“Don’t worry, I believe you,” Bleue said. “Continue with what you were saying.”

Onyx looked back at the valley, and spoke again. “Well, it’s not just that Rainbow Dash has gotten smarter about war, it’s also…well, you saw what she did to that griffin.”

“She’s just confused,” Bleue said. “I could see she was hesitant about it, but she probably wants to live up to her world-famous parents.”

“Hey, maybe she wants to live up to the commander,” Onyx commented, which gave her an odd look from Bleue.

“The commander doesn't seem to me like the sort of pony I would willingly suck up to.”

This made Onyx smile, glad to see another pony that agreed. “Him and Rainbow are getting closer though, some weird father-daughter thing going on.”

“That would surprise me,” Bleue said. “Anything else bothering you Onyx? It can’t just be that.”

“Well…” Onyx wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about this with a much more experienced soldier, but she had little to lose. “I’m not sure I can do it.”

“What?”

“Kill.”

There was a silence. Bleue looked down at the unicorn camp, where his colleagues were firing bolts of energy at targets.

“Understandable, you’re new blood,” Bleue replied calmly. “But at one point you’re going to have to realise, that what ever power that manipulates this world gave you marksponyship skills for a reason: to protect your nation, and your friends.”

“I suppose,” Onyx shrugged.

“You need to understand this; it’s the only way to cope. Some ponies can kill without too much remorse, like me, or even Rainbow Dash or Rusty Chop; and this is because they have realised this; that the deaths of the griffins they slay save so many more ponies.”

Onyx chuckled.

“What?” Bleue questioned.

“It’s just, you’ve never been so personal since we met,” Onyx said, looking at him. “What’s your story anyway? If you don’t mind me saying, you seem so quiet.”

“It’s nothing,” Bleue Pearl replied, looking away. “A stallion may have his secrets.”

“Hmph,” Onyx snorted. “It’s just, now I hear you talking at length, your accent seems so…dirty. Are you really from Canterlot?”

“I…” Bleue sighed. “Merde; no, I’m from Prance. I moved to Equestria a while ago.”

“Why hide it?” Onyx asked.

“The Equestrian military is not so tolerant of migrants,” Bleue replied, darkness in his voice. “I would rather you did not go spreading this little fact around.”

“I promise,” Onyx said sincerely. “Now come, it’s getting late, we should get some more rest, and get cleaned for that matter.”

***

“Rainbow Dash! Fancy seein’ you back ‘ere!”

Applejack smiled at Rainbow, before bucking the tree she was under, causing the apples to fall into their buckets.

“Heard about what you did out there, tough call, but it had t’be done. Wait, Rainbow? What is that?”

Rainbow Dash heard a harrowing squawk behind her. Blood was emerging from the soil around her hooves, and a feathery body clawed out from behind a tree, a slash across its neck where Rainbow’s kopis sword had struck the griffin’s gullet.

“Rainbow Dash? How could you do such a thing? He surrendered!” Applejack turned around, now speaking in a familiar Trottingham accent.

The griffin spoke gibberish, before standing up. The creature was rotting rapidly, but it continued to walk towards Rainbow Dash until it was but a burnt skeleton with flesh hanging off it. The blood that covered the ground was now at Rainbow’s neck level, turning Sweet Apple Acres into a macabre swamp…

***

Rainbow Dash awoke immediately, breathing heavily, her feathers lined in sweat. Looking around she saw nothing of importance, simply the darkness of the tent. She lay down again, but before going to sleep she put on her loyalty necklace and grabbed her sword, holding it to her chest.

Now nothing could get her.