Waiting gives a pony plenty of time to think. What you think about depends on who you are and what your life has been like. For me, that meant a little trip down memory lane. Before the moment which changed my life.
"Hey Blitz, come here!"
"What's up, 'Gale?" my husband asked.
"Have you seen Dashie?"
"Yeah. She's at... what was it? Butterfly?"
"I think you're talking about Fluttershy,"I deadpanned.
"Yeah, her,"he said,"Dashie's at Fluttershy's place. Dash said she wanted to show her friend all those Wonderbolts dolls."
"They're action figures,"I corrected.
"Potato, Tomato,"he answered, rolling his eyes. "Though I bet you're happy that most of them are of you."
"Well," I smirked, pretending to flex my nonexistent biceps,"I am pretty amazing."
"Oh, ha ha. Well, Nightingale, if you're so amazing, I bet you'll be able to beat me to the Wonderbolt Academy. I have a class to teach, anyway."
Laughing, I said,"You're on!"
The two of us raced of into the air.
I sighed. Things were so much better before Blitz had died. If that stupid filly, Spitfire, hadn't done that stupid trick, the Fireslam Strike, then maybe he might have lived. Spitfire had been a full-fledged Wonderbolt! She should have known better than to disobey her squad leader.
I could see Chrome Blitz panting. His asthma made it harder for him to breathe in the thin air.
"You need the inhaler?" I asked.
"No,"he answered,"We gotta time the attack just right."
"You'll hurt yourself,"I told him.
"So? I've hurt myself before."
"Yeah, and spent all your time in a hospital after you got hurt."
"Captain Blitz!"a new voice called.
They turned to see one of the newest and most promising recruits, Spitfire, flying up to them.
"Spitfire. What can I do for you?"Blitz asked, regaining his professional air.
"Sir, I was wondering, what if we changed the attack from the Super Speed Smash to the Fireslam Strike?"
"And who would lead the Strike? You?"
"Well, sir, I was kind of hoping..."
"No."
"Sir?"
"No. We're not doing it."
"Someone else could be the leader, sir, it doesn't-"
"I don't care. We're not doing it."
"But, sir! A Fireslam Strike could destroy the whole enemy army! We could win this skirmish with just one move!"
"Yeah! And we could also kill all of our allies, start a forest fire, and destroy any chance of peace with the Hooviets,"I snarled, amazed at how stupid she was being.
"But, Lieutenant, the Smash only encompasses a small area. It isn't exactly subtle, either. If the Hooviets see us do it once, we won't be able to do it again!" she exclaimed.
"Which is why we are timing it so that we will kill the most highest-level officers with one attack."
"But-"
"Nothing doing, Spitfire. We are going to stick to the Smash. Now, go and prepare. We need you on the outside slope,"Blitz interrupted.
She flew off, grumbling. She stopped near another, slightly older recruit, Wind Rider, and started talking to him.
"Well, now that we're done with that, when do we launch?"I asked.
"I don't know. We haven't gotten the signal yet, so...,"he trailed off.
"So what?"
"So, what is Spitfire doing up there?"
"What?"
I looked up to see the younger mare staring straight down at me. She was at least fifty hooves above us and was going higher. Then, I realized something. The Fireslam Strike required at least a hundred more hooves of height to pull off successfully. That must have been what she was aiming for.
Apparently, Blitz had come to the same conclusion. He flew a little higher, and I followed behind him. Soon, though, the thin air around us triggered his asthma once again, and he flew down to a stray cloud we had brought with us for this very possibility. He lay down on the cloud and I went to him.
I kissed his cheek.
"We're on duty,"he reminded me.
"Does that stop me from being your wife?"I countered.
"Well, no, but...,"he tried to think of an excuse.
"Nothin' doin'," I answered,"You need your inhaler."
"Fine, Nurse Gale, get me my inhaler!"he joked.
I walked over to the other side of the cloud, where we had left some stuff like grass jerky, daisy jerky, cupcake jerky, lollipops, a bottle of hard cider, and some medical stuff. I was rummaging through the medical stuff, when I heard a cry. I turned to see Spitfire falling past the cloud. I raced across the cloud just in time to see Blitz dive after her.
She was flailing and as Blitz came near her, she hit him on the back of his head. Unconscious, my husband fell towards the ground.
I leapt off the cloud, vaguely noticing Wind Rider following behind me.
"He can catch Spitfire,"I thought,"I have bigger fish to fry."
I ignored Spitfire as I plunged at deathly speeds towards Blitz. Unfortunately, speed wasn't my strong point. I didn't know how to manipulate the air around me to push myself faster. I reached my hoof out. He was so close, so tantalizingly close, yet I couldn't reach him. I let out a cry of despair as he plunged through a forest of trees. He didn't slow down, and some of the twigs and leaves left bloody scrapes all over him. Then he hit a the broken stub of a branch, where he lay in a precarious balance. I quickly navigated through the trees, agility being my greatest strength. I reached him and carefully but my hooves under his chest, only to draw it back when I felt it coated in blood. I removed it, and stared in horror at the red liquid. Taking a deep breath, I pushed my hoof back under his chest, and flipped him over.
I gasped at the sight that greeted me. His light purple coat was torn apart, revealing snapped ribs. I grabbed his wing and checked for a pulse but there was no rhythmic beat in the veins in his wing. Hoping that it was just a fluke, I put my hoof on his neck and felt... nothing. Absolutely nothing. No beat, no pulse. Just death. Sobbing, I pulled his up and slowly flew back up towards our camp. I didn't care if the Hooviets saw me.
"Let them," I thought,"Maybe they'll kill me too."
The rational part of my brain chimed in.
"If you die as well,"it said,"who's going to take care of Dashie?"
I hated my brain.
Ignoring the argument in my head, I sped up slightly, and soon reached the cloud. I could see my squadmates gasping at the grizzly sight. They were staring in absolute horror at their dead captain.
Ignoring them, I asked, "Where's Spitfire?"
When none of them answered, I yelled, "Where's Airpony Spitfire?"
Shaking, Wind Rider pointed one of his hooves at the other end of the cloud, near the medical supplies. There, Spitfire stood, with a bandaged wing, shivering under my glare.
"Lieutenant, I'm really sorry, I really didn't mean for this to happen,"she said.
"Well, it did,"I snarled, before shouting,"What the buck were you thinking! You were told not to try the Fireslam Strike! Your job was to be the outside edge on a Team Super Speed Smash, not to lead a Lone Fireslam Strike! You know what that is? Insubordination! Going against your orders! Guess what happened because of that? Our captain died! You know what the punishment for insub-"
I was cut off by Second Lieutenant Firefox.
"Captain, we got the signal!"he called.
"I'm not..."I trailed off, remembering that I had just been promoted.
"Okay, Lieutenant. Everypony, you've been promoted one position in the Smash. Airpony Spitfire, you are going to stay here. Okay, lets move."
"Captain, I-"Spitfire began.
"No. Just stay here. End of story,"I said, marching off to the front of the formation.
"Everyone ready?"I called.
"Yes, Captain!"they called back.
"Good,"I said, as I leaped off the cloud.
The door opened, interrupting my thoughts.
"Dashie,"I said, smiling.
"Don't... don't... Dashie me,"she answered.
I raised my eyebrows, and let the smile melt off my face, even though I was secretly grinning like an idiot.
"So, Dash, what's happening? Any new news?"
"Heck, yeah, I've got some news,"Dash answered,"There's only one bit of news I got for ya. Goodbye, Mo- No, goodbye, Nightingale. Goodbye, and good riddance."
She looked emotionally spent. Like this was hard for her. I wished it wasn't so hard for her. It was her confirmation. The last step was complete.
"Going so soon, Dash? What's got you in a hurry?"
"I'm going," she said,"And I'm never coming back. I don't ever want to see you or your disgusting excuse for a face ever again."
She seemed to be gaining confidence. This was good. She needed to be a hundred percent sure about this.
"What? Why?"I asked, feigning to be surprised.
"Why? Why? Tell me, why would I ever want to be around an idiot like you? You... you destroyed my life. I never want to be around you. Ever! Get the heck outta my sight."
"I can't,"I said, showing her my forehooves, which were in chains.
"Good. I hope you die in those."
"So, that's it?"I asked.
"Yes. That's it. Goodbye, Nightingale," she answered, never looking back.
"Goodbye, Rainbow Dash,"I whispered.
When she was gone, and the door was shut, I stood up and raced into the glass wall that separated the visitor's area and the prisoner's area. It shattered. I grabbed one of the shards. I had to work fast. First, I sliced my forehoof, and used the seeping blood to write a message on the wall. Then, I used the same shard and sliced my neck, as deep as the shard would go. The world went black around me.
With my last breath, I said,"Blitz, I'm coming."
Author's Note
And, so comes the sequel to Goodbye...! If there's anything I can do to improve this, just let me know!