The hooves of the advancing troop sunk into the damp earth several inches as they slunk through the broken wood. Smashed and splintered trees were all that was left of a once lush forest. As their the hooves sucked and popped loose from the waterlogged ground, everypony tried to ignore the faint red streaks visible in the mud. The bodies had been cleared out, but only time and rain would wash away the last signs of the battle that had been fought here. Even as close to Celestia’s camp as they still were, and faced with a broken and scattered enemy front there was an unspoken nervousness.

The group was small. Rainbow had felt that they would gather less attention that way, which would be especially important once they left the south. While they would be less likely to be spotted this way, for now they were still close to large numbers of shells from the earlier battle, and it wouldn’t take many to overwhelm Rainbow’s team. Celestia’s troops would mop them up before advancing farther, but for now it was in their best interest to move quickly and draw as little attention as possible. There were thirty-two of them in total, ten Wonderbolts and twenty-two grounders. Every one of them maintained a deathly silence.

In spite of her own jittery nerves, Rainbow Dash held herself high. She could see the effect that it had. Her troops needed to see their commander confident. She was asking a lot of them, she needed them to believe that she could do this. So, Rainbow pretended that she still had the bravery of her cadet years, and marched forward. They crossed miles of devastated land, watching as the sun sank low, in perpetual fear of an ambush. After almost a full day of near-silent marching, Rainbow called the group to a halt. She signalled her second in command over. Soarin came running over as the unicorns in the group began laying down soundproofing spells.

“What is it ma’am?” Soarin whispered. Rainbow rolled her eyes. With the spells in place, he didn’t really need to stay quiet.

“This spot seems relatively dry. We’re going to make camp here. I want you to take Pinkie, and scout around. Make sure we don’t have any friends nearby that might try and pay us a visit tonight. Ok?” She said in a deliberately loud voice, a hint of amusement entering her voice as she say the larger stallion flinch.

“The earth pony?” He asked, more than a little confused. “Wouldn’t it be a better idea to use scouts that can fly?”

“Tell me Soarin, do you think it’s a good idea to fly right now? You know, up in the air where there’s no cover and nothing to hide you?” The stallion’s silence answered her well enough. “You’re going because you have the best nonmagic-assisted night vision, and you’re Pinkie so that if you get caught, there’ll be somepony there to save your ass. Now hurry the hell up.”

When the camp was fully set up, Rainbow found Maud where she had expected to. There was a large stone in the middle of the camp. It was a mossy, speckled thing. Little flecks of mica glittered on the rocks outer layer.

“Make a new friend?” She called out. The grey mare barely looked up to acknowledge her presence

“We’ve met before.” Maud dryly replied. “A few days ago.” Rainbow shuddered at that.

“You were positioned here?” She asked, to which Maud nodded. Rainbow was about to ask more, but she didn’t have the chance.

“Where’s my sister?” There was no inflection in Maud’s voice, but Rainbow had known her long enough to see through the outer calm.

“With my best scout, they’re surveying the area.” Rainbow responded. “Don’t worry. She’s with Soarin, I trust him to take care of her.” She lied. She didn’t feel like telling Maud that Pinkie was the one she’d sent to take care of Soarin. “I’d have sent you with them, but I need you here in case something happens while they’re gone.” Maud nodded, not saying a word.

The cold night wind sang loudly as the two ponies moved silently through the darkness. The pinkie mare brought up the rear, her distinctive fur covered by dark garments to better hide her. Soarin scanned the trees carefully. they ‘d been out for hours at this point, and he was beyond hungry, but there was still a bit more he wanted to check out before returning to camp. He whispered quietly to the mare behind him.

“See anything behind us?” Pinkie looked up at him in surprise, it was the first time either of them had said a thing in the last several hours.

“Nope.” Came her bright response. She shook her head vigorously to emphasise the point, a now familiar smile plastered on her face. Soarin had no idea how he was supposed to act around this nutball. Ignoring his better judgement, that was telling him to remain silent, he decided to probe a little.

“So, Pinkie….” He began. The mare looked up and smiled, her ear tilting in curiousity. “What made you join the CGF? No offense, but you don’t really seem the type.”

“No offense taken, silly.” Pinkie replied in a bright tone, but Soarin could almost feel the atmosphere darken as she continued. “I joined for Maud. I was….” She stopped. Her ears shot up in alarm. In a blur of pink, she leaped forward, and shoved him down. A sickly green bolt of light shot by where he’d been standing. In the gloomy darkness, a pair of emerald eyes watched. The dark form circled the two ponies.

Soarin rose to his hooves slowly. The shell watched him rise. There was no words, no grunts, no sounds of breathing from within that grey helmet. The mare next to him had tense her body, ready to respond to any threatening movement. Sure enough, the shell came bursting towards them. Pinkie threw herself at it, halting its momentum. She ducked under a thrown hoof, then shot one of her own towards its chest, stunning it.

Seeing an opening, Soarin burst forward and smashed into the armored form. The shell barely budged, and just brought its hooves down on Soarin’s comparatively unprotected skull. The world spun, and the stallion fell to the ground. Through his blurry vision, he saw Pinkie scream in rage. She slammed bodily into the shell, then crashed her hooves into its helmet. Again and again the hooves came down, the air beginning to fill with the sound of twisting metal and cracking bone.

A loud horn blast cut through the camp, and Maud jumped to her feet.

“They’re back.” Rainbow said, tilting her head towards the sound, giving her subordinate the hint to go. Maud didn’t hesitate. The loose earth was thrown into the air as she sprinted through the camp to rejoin her sister. Rainbow followed in the air.

At the edge of the camp, just inside the sound barrier, a small group was huddled. In their midst, a clearly unnerved Soarin, and a Pink mare with a frightening expression and blood-soaked hooves. The scouting had gone well apparently. Maud quickly ran to Pinkie’s side, but Rainbow wanted to have a word with her scout first.

“Alright, alright, everypony get back to what you were doing.” She dispersed the other ponies and walked up to Soarin. “I take you encountered the enemy.”

“Just the one. There shouldn’t be any more to surprise us. Not tonight at least.” He glanced over at Pinkie and Maud, “She uh...she made sure of that.” He paused before continuing, “Do you know about….”

“Yeah I do. It’s not a good idea to make Pinkie mad. Maud will calm her down eventually though, so don’t worry about it.” She walked off, ignoring him as he tried to sputter out a response. “You alright, Pinkie.”

“I’m fine.” She spat. Her shoulders rose and fell with her heavy breathing. Maud ran a hoof through her pink mane, and even as Rainbow watched, she could see the mare calming down. Finally, her blue eyes blinked, as if she waking from a dream. “I’m sorry, Dashie. That was mean. I’m doing alright. Thanks for sending Soarin with me, he was a big help.”

“I’m glad to see you feeling better.” Rainbow looked to Maud, “Get her cleaned up please.” She said, referring to the coagulated blood stuck to Pinkie’s fur. The grey mare nodded. The two mares disappeared over the nearby hill, as Soarin walked up to Rainbow Dash.

“I think I get why you brought them now.”

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. Hope you enjoy it.