The air was dusty and thick as Rainbow Dash trotted through the Pegasi encampment. The combination of the dusty landscape and hundreds of Pegasi taking off and landing every minute had whipped up a thick layer of sand in the air, making visibility hard, sand getting into the mares eyes and throat. She nodded to some guards and entered a large tent, strutting in with intent.

Commander Fleetfoot turned from a map spread across a large table and grinned "Lieutenant Rainbow Dash. I'm glad Soarin agreed to letting me borrow you for a little bit"

She saluted and chuckled "Well, I wanted a promotion so here I am"

"I do need to warn you though, this isn't fun and games" Her face got deadly serious "You may think you're here for a day, kick a griffon in the flank and then return home a war hero. Trust me, thats not going to happen. Kill or be killed, make sure your squad stays alive, and most importantly, this isn't a solo mission, Dash. Stick to the plans"

Dash nodded, licking her teeth and staying serious "I understand Commander. I'm here to do my job and defend Equestria"

"Good. Now, lets talk tactics, shall we? I'm interested to hear your opinion"

Dash smiled and approached the big map with the Commander, but couldn't help but wonder why she was the only other pony in the tent - surely there were other more senior ponies to ask?

Fleetfoot spent an hour talking at Dash about her long drawn out plans, going into the upmost detail. Her plans were very good, but Dash thought she could do better.

"At no point have you taken the dust into account... Its all good and well for you to plan to attack them on the ground, but you wont be able to see who you're attacking. I'd recommend getting Pegasi out there to whip the storm up more, make the dust thicker, then hold back and wait for the Griffons to arrive - they'll go straight into the storm and thats when we surround them, coming in from the skies... They'll never see us coming"

Fleetfoot thought about it for a long moment, nodding slowly "Y'know Dash, they told me you were good, but I wasn't expecting a master tactician" She chuckled "It's an interesting idea. The griffons are predicted to be here at midday tomorrow... I'll send some teams out to get a sandstorm going. Make sure your squad is ready for tomorrow"

Dash saluted and swiftly left, grinning to herself. She hadn't even fought a battle yet and she was outperforming a Commander. She knew she couldn't get too cocky though, she needed the Commanders on her side... She flew to her tent, a small canvas contraption just big enough for her squads roll mats.

"Look alive, I'm back. We need to be up and out at 10am tomorrow, ready to fight. You have tonight to ensure all of your gear is in check, then you'll each check each others. They must be perfect, and I will find out if it isn't as you wont come home tomorrow night" She growled, eyes scanning the group. She was a chilled out leader, getting along well with her group but when she needed to be hard she was the hardest around.

"Yes Boss!" Came a shout from nineteen Pegasi, scrambling about to prepare themselves.

Dash grinned to herself, going to her corner and unsheathing her sword, running her hoof along the blade. It wasn't an attractive tool, but it would do. It just seemed a little clunky to the mare, and she was known for her speed. Now wasn't the time to criticise her tool however, taking a pen and paper from her bag and writing

Dear Twilight and Friends,

The time has come for me to finally get stuck in. I'm currently at the southern front with Fleetfoot after a personal recommendation from Soarin himself, theres even word of a promotion waiting for me when I return. It seems I'll be running this whole thing soon.

I hope all is well in Ponyville and with you lot there, I hope to come and visit when I get some time. Regretfully I don't think I'll have too much of that just yet

from Love Dashie

P.S. Think you could design me a lightweight, quick weapon?

Dash folded the letter and smiled at it, nudging the closest Pegasi "Take this to the postal master, please. When you get a moment"

"Sure thing, Lieutenant" He smiled, trotting quickly out.

An eerie silence held the soon-to-be battlefield, a hard, cracked ground with a thick cloud of sand and dust covering the vast expanse of nothingness. Pegasi had been spread across the surrounding clifftops and at the end of the valley, Dash part of the latter. The idea was to get the Griffons to fly through the valley, then bear down on them in a flaking manoeuvre, led by Fleetfoot but masterminded by Rainbow.

The unmistakable sound of wings could be heard, followed by the expected scout pony landing infront of Dash and Fleetfoot "T-theyre coming" She panted "More than we expected, 5000 at least"

Dash gritted her teeth, trying to control her breathing. She was fucking terrorfied. This was real, not some game. Sure, she'd fought the Changelings and Sombra, but they weren't trying to kill her... Her heart pounded in her chest, glancing at Fleetfoot.

She nodded to the scout "It's no problem. We have the tactical advantage, this'll be over in an hour"

With that, a spear came out of what seemed like nowhere, entering in the back of the scouts skull and working its way through her brain, the sharp end sticking out of her eye socket.

The mare died instantly, but sprayed blood over Dash's face and fell forwards into her hooves, her dead eye staring at nothingness as the limp, cold body was supported by only Dash's strength.

Dash stared blankly down into the dead mares eye the blood warm on her face, tasting it in her mouth and feeling it drying into her fur. Dash was frozen, unable to move or look away as Griffons began swooping, tackling Pegasi from the front line, the sound of armour smashing together mixed with screams of pain and shattering bones echoing off of the canyon walls.

Her ears rang, her blinks slow and ineffective, everything but the mares dead and still eyes blurry. She was quickly snapped out of it, however, a griffon shoulder tackling her into the dust, raising a clawed hand to rip Dash's throat out.

Something clicked in Dash's mind, the mare taking a second to stare up at the Griffon before catching its claw mid slash, twisting it until she was ontop. She had nothing to hoof to quickly use, making the swift decision to bite as hard as she physically could into the Griffons neck, feeing it's windpipe bending and snapping between her ferocious biting. It didnt take long for the Griffon to stop thrashing, Dash panting hard and finally drawing her sword and standing, still very shaky.

All around her ponies and griffons were falling, but Dash had a revival of her hope, seeing floods of Pegasi flowing in from behind the Griffons, the dust storm still thick. It was hard to see a few feet infront of her, let alone across the valley. She stumbled aimlessly forward, swiping at the occasional Griffon and ducking the odd swipe, stumbling deeper and deeper into the dust storm.

The chaos of the battle meant neither side knew exactly what was going on, just focusing on killing the opposite species. Dash continued to fight her way deeper, surprising even herself at how good she was once she got into her swing, but every slash driving another thorn into her mind, and her sanity. The feeling of blood splattering across her fur was fucking with her head, she wanted to be sick, but also laugh...

A gleam caught her eye, turning to look at the source. Stood before her was a big griffon, wearing an intricate headdress. Dash knew nothing about Griffon history or culture, but anything that was that adorned in gold had to be important. If she could take down whomever that was, she was sure she'd make another big step to promotion.

The Griffon noticed Dash approaching, raising an eyebrow and spinning his spear "Really, pony? Very well" He laughed, catching a pegasus out of the air and plucking its wings before crushing it underfoot.

Dash shuddered at the treatment of the pony, but was adamant at taking this... whatever it was... down. She span her sword in her hoof, beckoning him to approach "I'll make this quick for you"

"Hah!" He stepped slowly forwards, grinning "I wont" With that, he lunged at Dash, narrowly clipping her flank, cutting a long cut below her cutie mark.

Dash rolled out of the way, her flank stinging, the adrenaline keeping her going as she parried his neck two lunges, jumping back before suddenly going on the offensive, thrusting herself and using her wings to spin rapidly. She was frighteningly quick, the Griffon unable to avoid her as her sword sank deep into his shoulder.

He yelled, furious at getting hit. He reached down and grabbed Dash, squeezing her in one big claw around her barrel. He lifted the small mare up, holding her infront of his face as he tightened his grip, intent on squeezing the life out of her.

Dash could feel her ribs bending, threatening to shatter as his grip tightened, squirming wildly, finding no release.

He grinned, staring into her eyes "Valiant effort, pony, but not goo-" He blinked, tilting his head. His cocky grin faded, blood beginning to flow from his mouth, his grip weakening before falling forwards, dead.

Fleetfoot raised an eyebrow "What did I say about not going off on your own, Lieutenant! You've got balls to take on the biggest fucker here, though!" The Commander pulled her sword from the dead Griffon. She looked around, seeing Griffons turning tail and retreating, Peagsi chasing them down and taking them out of the sky as the retreated. "Cut off its head and bring it to the camp. Make sure his... jewellery... is on his head when you present your kill to me later, hmm?" She winked, darting off.

Dash didn't know why Fleetfoot had told her to do so, but she didn't argue, getting to work at sawing away at the cold Griffons neck.

Author's Note

Thank you for reading!

Little Dashies first battle! Whooo