Fluttershy's cottage, Ponyville outskirts, 0600 hours (no ongoing operations)

Dash woke up that morning to a surprising feeling- or rather, a surprising lack of feeling. She glanced down at her chest, noticing she was no longer held tight in Fluttershy's embrace. Looking over her shoulder, she caught no sight of owner of the bed she now lay upon. She did, however, have a pretty good idea of where said pony was, hearing the scamper of little paws dashing across the floor downstairs.

She got out of bed gently as not to disturb herself from her still dreary state of consciousness, and let out a deep yawn as she stretched her wings. Slowly, she walked over to the window, as though silently wishing that by walking slowly time would stop for her. Gently, she grabbed the curtains of the cottage's window and pulled them open, recoiling immediately as the bright sun shone right into her eyes. Note to self, remember to tell Princess Celestia that the sun doesn't need to be at full brightness at... She shot a peek over at Ponyville's clock tower in the distance, giving silent thanks to her unnaturally incredible eyesight. ... six o'clock in the morning. She turned around and began to walk towards the stairs, only to suddenly realize the first thing that was wrong that morning. Why am I awake at six in the morning?

Giving up searching for such answers, she resumed her walk, albeit with slightly more determination in her step. She was, after all, a soldier, or rather, airpony now, so she assumed that she'd better start acting like it. Complaining about waking up this early for once around ponies who had been doing it their entire professional lives was no way to make friends, if the novels she read were any indication of the truth. After all, they got published, so they had to be at least somewhat accurate, right?

As she neared the bottom of the staircase, she caught sight of the source of the noises she had heard earlier- the animals, every single one of them, were back at Fluttershy's place. She had told them only one night, after all. Rather than continue to mentally complain, however, Dash decided to try to have the morning enter a more positive note in her book, smiling as she caught sight of the caretaker, who was flying around between the living room and kitchen, trying to get the meals ready for all the animals. She smiled even brighter when Fluttershy began to fly over to her, and her smile was accompanied by a slight blush when she planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Nice to see you, too, 'Shy." Dash said as she herself kissed the cheek of her lover. "How'd you sleep?"

Truth be told, neither of the two had slept particularly well for the same reasons. Worry, however, would not serve either of the mare's purposes. Part of the reason she'd woken up so early to feed her animal friends was, in fact, to take her mind off of that worry. Be it as it may that it failed miserably, seeing her marefriend's smile that morning was all Fluttershy needed to justify her sudden elation. "I slept fine, Dash," she lied. "And I have something for you." She extend a hoof towards the middle of the living room.

"And what might that be?" Dash replied, following Fluttershy's hoof, suddenly finding her heartbeat quickening as the excitement began to boil over in her veins. As such, she was completely crushed when there was nothing exciting in the center of the living room. Rather, there was a clothes rack, with but two garments hanging from it- a navy blue jacket with several small, gold plates adorning it in various locations, and a white cover, emblazoned with a gilded representation of the symbol for the Equestrian Air Force on its front above the brim.

"Twilight had these sent over sometime last night with this note." Fluttershy began flying back over to Dash, somehow having gotten over to the clothes rack and back before the ever-attentive pegasus even realized she'd moved.

That's an Equestrian Air Force uniform, Dash thought to herself, silently hoping this was some kind of sick joke Luna was playing on herself, hoping she would wake up at any moment. A second passed, then two, and nothing happened. She didn't wake up, and she didn't hear any of the Princess of the Night's famous laughter, a tell-tale sign of when she was playing a joke on somepony. This is really happening...

She took the note in her wing and opened it up, instantly recognizing the flawlessness of Twilight's magical writing. Slowly, her mind began to process that the letter was written in cursive, and her eyesight adjusting accordingly.

Rainbow Dash,

I needed to say this, and it seemed more appropriate to do it in a way that could be deemed private, rather than giving some kind of speech in front of all our friends at the station. I am sorry, just so you know. I know that you had big plans for last night, and it was never my intention to ruin that for you. I won't bother asking if you'd prefer I waited, because I already know the answer. But I really do believe that it's better this way. It wouldn't do to have her waiting for that, would it? Last time I checked, she was oblivious to your intentions.

Yet, I digress. I'm writing to you rather than waiting to see you sometime later today to invite you to Pinkie Pie's send-off party for the soldiers here in Ponyville. For a pony like her, she seems to be handling this idea pretty maturely. It starts at noon, ending at three when the train leaves for Canterlot. Show up in uniform, would you? I know you hate this idea, but that uniform is the entire idea of the party. I'm sure it would mean a lot to everypony.

Your friend, Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. I'm not your commander until we reach Astral Harbor. Please continue to consider me your friend.

Dash was abruptly pulled back into the land of the living by the sound of her marefriend's gentle voice, only barely loud enough to hear. "What does it say?"

Met with Fluttershy's jade eyes as she looked up, she understood what Twilight meant. She had such an innocent soul, if there ever were such a thing. She didn't deserve that kind of pressure on her, especially not while Dash was away for what very well might be months on end. "Nothing important," Dash replied, her voice dropping its usual tone to match Fluttershy's volume. As far as the cyan pegasus was concerned, she hadn't lied. Nothing in that letter was of any consequence until noon that day. "Just an invitation to a party Pinkie's throwing at noon today." She shot a quick look at the jacket in the center of the room, then looked back at Fluttershy, as if refusing to acknowledge its existence.

Of course, the sun and stars be damned if Fluttershy was going to let that happen. It wasn't the uniform that made a soldier- it was a drive, or in Dash's case, an overabundance of paperwork. "Are you at least going to try it on?"

The cyan pegasus' eyes almost- almost, mind you- shuddered at the idea of actually wearing it. She was more than content to simply allow it to stay where it was and never bother her again. Go bother somepony else, would you? she mentally screamed, as though somehow that thought would make it grow wings and fly away, never to be heard from again.

To her surprise, and not a little concern for her sanity, it did no such thing, but rather resigned to taunting her. Can't go bother somepony else, Dash. See the nameplate? I was made just for you. Get over it.

"I'd really rather not." The statement was met with no amount of understanding, every last ounce of any semblance of clarity devoured by uncertainty and confusion. There was a sudden tension in the room, a kind of feeling deep inside the pit of Dash's stomach that made itself known by way of a knowing that Fluttershy wasn't about to let it go. Worry though she may for her marefriend's safety, she had a responsibility to Dash to help her get accustomed to her new future. "We have six hours before I technically have to do anything with it, anyways."

"Really, Dash? Procrastination? What would Spitfire think if..."

"You do not get to use her name. Not here, not anywhere, not now, not anytime."

"I was just going to ask what the Captain of the Wonderbolts would think is she caught you saying things like that..." Fluttershy countered, now firmly planted on the floor and recoiling away from the harsh noise that had become Rainbow Dash's voice at the mention of her mare- er, ex-marefriend. Really, she'd meant nothing by it. She wasn't even aware it was still that sensitive of a subject.

Suddenly, the yellow one noticed Dash staring blankly at the ground, eyes closed, a tear beginning to well up between her eyelids. "I know, 'Shy. I'm... I'm sorry I freaked out like that." She turned her head around as if to look at the door, despite not moving an inch otherwise, as though she was ashamed to even hold her head in Fluttershy's direction. After all, it was Dash's fault she'd snapped, it was her fault she'd put off reality for so long. And here she was, trying to give the single most innocent pony in Equestria part of her punishment for it. Disgusting, Rainbow Dash. Just disgusting.

For all her wallowing, though, she was met with a most unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome, response- Fluttershy being Fluttershy. "It's ok, Dash. I shouldn't have brought it up..." she replied, her own head mimicking the other mare's, staring off into the distance to the other side of the couple.

That picture right there made Dash just about as happy as anypony would be under her current circumstances. "You really want me to try it on, 'Shy?" She was met with a nod in return, suddenly faced with bright jade eyes looking right at her. It wasn't to say that Fluttershy's head had simply teleported into place; it was simply to say that Dash had no recollection of the space in between looking away and looking right at her. "Fine, then, I guess. But only for you, you hear me?"

As she began walking away towards the clothes rack, she heard Fluttershy's voice behind her calling, "Until noon today, that is." She shot a glare back towards the base of the staircase, now noticing the note the other pegasus held in her hooves. Dash rolled her eyes and re-began her progress towards her worst nightmare. She was met with yet another small note resting gently atop the hanger, and added it to her ever-growing list of things about her friends that she may need to know some day- Twilight REALLY liked sticky notes.

Welcome to the Air Force, Second Lieutenant Rainbow Dash.

Second Lieutenant? That can't be right. Suddenly, those war novels became much more helpful than Dash would have preferred anything book-related to be- it meant that she would have to admit Twilight was right. Books actually did usually have an answer, more often than not the right one. Officer's rank, officer's bars, but no officer's education. I'm not an academy graduate... Then it clicked. Wonderbolts Academy, right. Taking it off the rack, she gently draped it over her back, for some reason wanting to keep it professional looking. She was no Rarity, but she could certainly understand the term "presentable" when it served her own agenda.

Slowly, she turned her head over her shoulder. Fluttershy took the hint and said ever-so-softly, but loudly enough to be heard, "Remember, it's for me. Plus, if it doesn't fit, we'll have to talk to Rarity about getting it so it does."

"Why Rarity? Everypony knows you've got all that freaky knowledge of sewing in that brain of yours." Dash rebuked, knowing full well that the timid mare wouldn't feel comfortable doing any adjustments herself. Without any response, however, she took the jacket off her back and got ready to put it on. It was also the first time she'd took the time to really feel the uniform- it wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing on earth, but then again, she'd been "flash-dressed" by Rarity in the middle of a flight before, and could have sworn that whatever stuff came out of that unicorn's mind was purely for looks, never to make the pony wearing them comfortable. It might not be so bad, after all.

Ponyville, 1200 hours (no ongoing operations)

Curses, Fluttershy. Remind me how you got me to do this? Of course, it would have looked extremely suspicious to say that out loud, so Dash was forced to keep her discontent to herself. As the two walked through the streets of small, old Ponyville, Dash's mind was barely able to comprehend the number of soldiers, sailors, and airponies that lived in the town. Given its, well, pathetic population, it shouldn't have been possible for there to have been that many of them. Of course, the more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible, if not likely. After all, it wasn't so small a village that the pegasus mare knew everypony's name, let alone their backgrounds.

That didn't make it any more bearable, walking through Ponyville for four hours in that Celestia-forsaken uniform. Not that Dash of all ponies enjoyed using the goddess's name in vain, but come on. She knew for a fact that she would never need to wear that thing for more than a couple of hours at a time, not four. Not once did she complain though, at least not since the two had left the Boutique, anyways. She'd complained quite a bit during breakfast. But no more- after all, there was a party going on, and sour moods worked like no other to ruin the mood.

Stepping into Sugarcube Corner, however, the couple found it surprisingly almost devoid of ponies, apart from the Cakes, glimpsed though the saloon-style doors at the back of the shop. There was, however, a low, beating noise coming from the back, sounding like it might have been outside. While they were in the process of wondering why they hadn't heard it from outside, however, Mrs. Cake's voice called out to them from the kitchen. "Hello there, girls! Party's in back if you're here for that." She came though the doors to the kitchen, a platter of small pastries on her back. For the life of her, Dash would never understand how she did that. However, she settled on it being "like Pinkie Pie- you just don't ask". "If you're not, can I get you two anything?"

"No thanks, Mrs. Cake," Fluttershy replied. "We actually are here for the party." It wasn't until then that Mrs. Cake actually turned to face the ponies who had come into her store. Seeing Dash in dress blues, her jaw nearly hit the floor. That was saying something- she did live and work with Pinkie Pie, of all ponies. Of course, living and working with Pinkie Pie had taught the earth mare how to pick her jaw up off the floor very quickly, and just as suddenly she put on her friendly smile. After all, this was Rainbow Dash she was seeing. She should have been to busy either napping or training for the Wonderbolts to have even considered the Air Force.

The two pegasi walked through the shop's back door out into the yard behind the small building and came to the answer of why they hadn't heard the noise. Somepony must have complained about it, because Twilight had erected a large-area soundproofing spell around the yard. There was a small stage set up towards the back, edging the wall of the spell, and atop it was a DJ's table and Ponyville's very own Vinyl Scratch working it. The song had been switched, however, and Vinyl looked bored beyond belief with the slow, formal dancing type music she'd been requested to play.

"Dashie, Fluttershy! You guys made it!" Pinkie Pie didn't quite shout at them, as not to ruin the mood of Equestria's heroes having sharing a dance with their special someponies, but it was loud enough to convey the excitement in her voice.

Fluttershy was a split second from responding before being pre-interrupted by Rainbow Dash. "Wouldn't miss it for the life of me, Pinkie, but," she shot a quick glance to Fluttershy, who was now swaying gently with the soft beat of the music, then looked back at the pink party pony. "Could you give us a few minutes? 'Shy's really liking this song, and I'm not about to let my last three hours with my marefriend go to waste"

"Oh, I get it!" Pinkie nodded her head in an almost violent fashion before turning around and walking back towards the food table, seemingly intent on speaking with Twilight for some reason or another.

Dash turned back to said mare, and quietly asked over the music, "May I have this dance?"

Fluttershy hid behind her mane, as she usually did when confronted by those kinds situations, but held out her hoof and nodded anyways. Dash took it in her own, and not quite dragged Fluttershy out to the makeshift dance floor.

Pinkie had, for her part, found her way over to Twilight, and both now stood watching the couples swaying to the music. With no warning at all, the pink earth pony turned to Twilight and asked her, not loudly enough to be heard by anypony else, "Have you ever noticed how out of character Dash acts when she's around Fluttershy? It kind of freaks me out, Twi."

Eyes widened, the alicorn looked down at her confused, and said without mimicking the tone, "I'm not even going to ask what that means." She shoved her hoof into the now opening mouth next to her, and continued. "I gave up asking means I really don't want the answer, Pinkie." She withdrew her hoof and began walking to... somewhere.

Pinkie Pie just tilted her head to the side. Maybe nopony else saw it, but she knew what was going on, and it confused her beyond belief. "What is with everypony all of a sudden?"

Ponyville train station, 1500 hours (no ongoing operation)

Three hours passed without incident. The party got more upbeat as time went on, much to Vinyl's delight. At about two thirty, though, it died down as ponies began to migrate from Sugarcube Corner over to Ponyville Station. Dash was one of the last ones there, having been one of the last ones to leave the party. The party was comfort, familiar. It made sense she would want to stay there, but Twilight's reminder had gotten her up and over to the station. Not being there means dishonorable discharge. Dishonorable discharge means the Wonderbolts would never even think about accepting me, Dash thought to herself as she trotted towards her inevitable fate.

As the station drew into view, Dash was met with a most welcome sight- all of her friends- minus Fluttershy, who was at her side- had shown up to see her off. Or maybe it was to see everypony else off. One could never be sure about things like that. There was Rarity, and lined up next to her were Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and... Is that Zecora? Haven't seen her in forever.

"There ya are, Dash!" It was Applejack's voice calling out to them from the lineup, her unmistakable accent more of a signal than her lips actually moving. As Dash and Fluttershy drew nearer, she trotted over to them, now walking by their side, and started speaking again. "We all came to see ya'll off. Even got ya some gifts to keep yer company out there." With that, the farmpony reached into her saddlebag with her mouth and pulled out a rather large glass of cider- the hard stuff, not the pansy stuff she would give the foals. Dash was a bit of a lightweight, but that was no reason why she couldn't have some of the fun brew. Slipping it into Dash's saddlebag, she said to her, "That's for if ya need ta' take yer mind off something later on. Or if ya need to remember home. Either one works, Ah suppose."

They finally reached the loading platform, and Dash replied, "Thanks, AJ. That means a lot, actually." The liveliness in her voice from the party was gone, replaced with a mixture of depression and dread. She turned to the other ponies assembled there and said, "AJ says you girls have got something for me?"

While the others simply nodded, Pinkie Pie's face became redder that normal, not out of embarrassment, but out of rage. "Applejack! You Pinkie Promised you wouldn't ruin the surprise!"

Ignoring the looks of confusion from everypony else, the tan pony responded simply by saying, "Ah didn't tell 'er, Pinks. Calm down."

With that, Pinkie Pie's mood did a one-eighty. "Oh. Okie-dokie, then!"

Meanwhile, Dash had walked off to speak with Zecora, who seemed to be getting impatient. "Hey, Zecora. Feels like I haven't talked to you in forever."

"Indeed it does, Dash, my friend. We must find time to 'hang' again." Dash tried her best to suppress a small giggle at Zecora trying to do the whole "cool talk" thing with her, and was only barely able to hide her amusement. She smiled, though, and the zebra continued. "I'm sure you have things to do, so let me present this gift to you. I have with me this mighty brew, to stop the pain when it ensues. You'll think clearly until the day is done. A spoonful a day and the battle is won!" Zecora now wore a massive grin across her face, obviously quite proud of herself for brewing such a powerful potion. And for such a powerful potion brewer, that was saying something.

"Wow," Dash replied. Though she would never admit it, her amazement for the amount of talent that went into mastering potion brewing or the arcane arts never really ceased to grow. "Thanks, Zecora. That sounds pretty useful, actually."

"No need to thank me, Rainbow Dash! I'm happy to help with your appointed task."

Dash walked over to Rarity, who seemed to be in a much better mood than the zebra was originally. "What about you?"

Rarity reeled back. "Rainbow Dash, manners!" Seeing no response from the pegasus, however, she let it go. "As for your gift, I actually resigned to helping dear Fluttershy with hers."

Rainbow turned around and was met with the sight of her marefriend stretching over her, putting something around the top of her ear. With her wing, she reached up and grabbed it, then pulled it in front of her eyes. She was met with a small ring, the kind newlywed unicorns would wear around their horns. "It's beautiful, 'Shy, but there's a problem. I'm not a unicorn."

Fluttershy just giggled, but soon realized it was a legitimate question. "Well, since you're not actually allowed to wear jewelry while your out there, a lot of soldiers wear rings like this around the chain of their dog tags. It seemed kind of awkward picturing you with a hoof ring dangling from your neck is all." The shy mare came back to the ground, and looked deep into her marefriend's eyes. "But you have to promise me one thing, Dash."

For Fluttershy, Dash was more than prepared to promise the world, and would happily die trying to get it. Well, maybe not happily, but willingly. "Anything at all."

The statement was not met with words, but rather a kiss, planted firm on her lips. Not a sweaty, passionate kiss, but a gentle, loving one. Several seconds later, Fluttershy pulled away and whispered into her marefriend's ear, "Remember me."

Dash smiled, wrapping a hoof around Fluttershy's neck and softly nuzzling her. "You'd be too hard to forget, anyways."

She was just about to go in for another kiss when the conductor suddenly shouted out his famous "All aboard!" She sighed and stood up, making sure to add, "I love you," in a gentle whisper to her lover's ear.

Just as she got through the doors of the train, she heard Fluttershy calling out behind her. "I love you, too, Rainbow Dash." The doors closed, and the train took off towards Canterlot. She glanced down at the small vial of potion and smaller ring next to her dog tags and immediately felt the pain of leaving. It's going to be a long war.

Author's Note

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A thousand words accomplishes much less than they think it does.
Credit for Zecora's speaking part goes to Rough_Draft at http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Rough_Draft
I encourage you all to go read his stories!

Sorry for the slow updates, I really do try to work on them more often, but I get distracted so easily! As always, your criticisms are most welcome, be they constructive or destructive, friendly or explicit, et cetera. If it is destructive, however, please stop being a jackass. I won't delete your comment, but it's still not nice.

Also, I wonder how long this pattern of my chapters getting progressively longer is going to go on. It'll probably end next chapter, anyways.