“It’s been six years since the Changelings first attempted to infiltrate Equestria, taking a visiting Alicorn Princess from the Crystal Empire hostage in an attempt to marry into our royal hierarchy. After that plan failed, their attacks only became more frequent, and with the addition of chimeras and goblins to their forces, more powerful. After it seemed that our nation could endure no more, necessity gave birth to invention. With the advent of guns and bullets, we found new ways to defend our country. Including, of course, our elite aerial army, The Valkyrie Squadron.”
-An exert from Commander Spitfires speech to the new recruits, six months ago.
The Arian-Equestrian War part one
Ride of the Valkyries
By Flying Frog
For most of her life, Rainbow Dash had been unshakably confident. As far back as she could remember, she had rarely ever doubted her own abilities, regardless of what was standing in her way. After all, most ponies wouldn’t expect the only Pegasus in Equestrias history to pull off the legendary Sonic Rainboom to have any room in her heart for doubt.
And yet, in the last year, several small incidents had brought her abilities into question, causing that notorious sense of confidence of hers to waver. And maybe that was why, standing in front of Princess Celestia, with all of the eyes of the Military Council piercing into her soul, she couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. Nothing could bring a high spirit down like the disappointed stare of a superior.
She'd been summoned by the Military Council only minutes ago, and her reaction to this had been... unbecoming. The page they'd sent for her, in fact, was probably still crying over it. A nervous young Earth Pony who had probably only been employed at Equestrias primary military base for the better part of a week had delivered her the message, mere seconds after the painful, drawn-out death of one of Rainbow's most valued team-mates.
The blood on the proud Major's sky blue fur was still fresh.
Later on, she would probably feel guilty for the way she’d conducted herself. But for now, she had another, more serious matter to focus on. She knew exactly what the council wanted.
For starters, there was the fact that three of her fellow soldiers were now dead.
Having left her equipment behind outside of the operating room, Rainbow Dash stood frozen like a statue, eyes still red from her flurry of angry tears, waiting for Princess Celestia to begin the inquiry.
"Major Rainbow Dash," Celestia began, as calmly as if she were ordering lunch. "Would you please recount for us the details surrounding the Valkyrie Squadrons latest mission?"
Rainbow stared back coldly. After everything that had just happened to her, and to the rest of the Valkyries, she wanted nothing more than to leap across the room, land next to her and bite the jugular right out of her royal neck. Everything that had happened, without exception, could have been avoided. And they both knew it. "Where should I start?"
"At the beginning," Celestia replied, from her throne, which was elevated above all of the other seats in the room by a set of stone steps. "What were you doing at 13:43 when the alarm was set off?"
I’d like to ask you the same question, Rainbow Dash thought to herself, smart enough not to talk back during an official military inquiry. "I was having a private conversation with Commander Spitfire."
"About what?"
Rainbow Dash flushed, at the Princess’s immediate insistence on hearing about what she’d just called a ‘private conversation.’ Not having much of a choice, she opened her mouth, but quickly found herself unable to form words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm sorry, Dash, I just don't think it's a good idea." Commander Spitfire's bright orange-and-yellow mane, much longer and softer than it had been in our younger days, is tied back in a bun as she tells me this. She's sharing her feelings with me about a decision I recently made... A serious decision, and one that's been eating me alive inside for weeks. She grunts once as she struggles to close the base’s heavy steel door behind us.
Beyond us, out in the field, Private Scootaloo and Private Poundcake are sitting together in the grass, enjoying the ten minute break that I've given them. Obviously, they're too far away for me to hear what they're saying, but knowing them, they're probably comparing stories about their respective families. I've overheard them have such conversations before, and while Poundcake may not pick up on it, it's always a sore subject for Scootaloo.
I don't usually give such generous breaks, but I've been looking for an excuse to talk to Spitfire since this morning. She's the only pony I've told about my decision. The only pony I know, for certain, will give me an honest, unbiased opinion.
"And why do you say that?" I ask her, although I think I already know what her reasoning is.
Spitfire places her hoof on the door, which now separates her from all the paperwork she’d just done to bring Sergeant Cloudchaser and Lieutenant Commander Fleetfoot back from their respective homelands. She turns to me, trying to hide her concern with a soft smile. "I know you think you're doing the right thing by passing the torch, but do you really think you’re old enough to retire?”
A faint gust of wind blows through, causing her few untied strands of her mane to sway with it. I feel a chilly breeze through my fur, but I’m used to it by now. When you live on a base out in the middle of the ocean, the wind is seldom ever warmer than this.
Unfortunately, even when you get used to things, they can still change. Several joints in my body have been growing stiff, and Spitfire knows it. I know it still bothers her, just as it has ever since she first figured it out. I’m still capable of flying just as fast as ever, but with my reflexes the way they are now, and an old injury in my right wing that’s been bothering me lately, it’s become too big of a risk. Sometimes, I’m even too afraid to keep up while training the new recruits. "I need to start moving on," I soberly repeat to her, averting my eyes from hers. "If I stay on much longer, I'm going to become a liability. They're... well, they’re better off without me."
Spitfire tilts her head, her soft smile still firmly in place. She walks towards me, and gently places her right hoof on my shoulder. I may not act as chummy with her as I did back when we were privates, or as friendly as I do with some of the other ponies in my squadron, and the majority of our conversations usually involve military business. But I’ve always felt a strong connection to her. I trust her like nopony else.
"I don't know, Dash. Maybe I'm just being selfish. But just because your field capabilities are becoming limited doesn't mean you have to leave us completely. There are jobs in the higher ranks that you'd be perfect for."
I don't want another position in the military. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I'm slowing down, and getting tired of this place altogether. Or maybe it's because I can't handle the idea of sitting behind a desk while everypony else flies off to fight the bad guys.
I move her hoof off of my shoulder, as gently as it'd been placed there. She gives me a somewhat goofy smile. But there’s an understanding in her eyes that let’s me know she’s not just flattering me. “I wanted to quit once. You pulled me back, remember?”
If I had forgotten what she was talking about, the scar on her back would have reminded me. It was a memento of her husband, Blaze. She received that scar in the same battle that had cost him his life, and despite the protests from the base’s medical staff, she’d decided to keep it.
I shake my head. That was three years ago, and a completely different situation. "My mind's made up," I tell her, trying not to dwell on her disappointed expression. "There are other things I want to do in my life. I-"
Before I can make a joke about getting married and having a few foals, a shrill, pulsing alarm goes off from inside of the base.
We're being attacked.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I’d rather not discuss that," Rainbow Dash answered, as her memory of the conversation flashed in her mind. “It’s not relevant to the matter at hoof, anyway.”
Princess Celestia nodded, showing a spark of understanding. “Very well. Continue.”
She swallowed, as the next part of the story came to her. "Since Cloudchaser and Fleetfoot were still on vacation, and Mourningsong was still asleep from her 12 hour turn on the night shift, we decided to make due with the soldiers that were available."
Celestia sat silently for a moment. In front of her, Rainbow noticed five folders lying on the table. She wondered, for a moment, what they could be.
"You took every available Valkyrie with you?"
Rainbow nodded. "Yes, your Highness. After the alarm sounded, we were informed of the situation. While I was collecting my equipment, I was even told of how your scouts provoked our enemy."
"Hmm." Celestia paused, cautiously. Around her, the other members of the council who had been quiet up until now were murmuring amongst themselves. "Never mind that. Out of the eight Valkyries that departed, only five are recorded to have survived. Were there any specific factors that put you at such a harsh disadvantage?"
"Yes, your Highness," Rainbow responded. After the cold way that Celestia had worded that question, her right fore hoof dug into the polished marble floor so hard that either one of them could crack at any moment. "With no real intelligence available, we had no way of knowing how powerful our enemy was."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do you see it yet?" Wildfire asks from beside me.
"Not yet," I tell her. We're close enough to hear each other, without any interference from the wind as we rip through it. My eyes may be able to see great distances, with a range even more impressive than some of the other Pegasi I know, but I still can't make out the Changeling just yet. The one that’s being called a “Marenobog.”
Wildfire sneers, her nose wrinkling up indignantly. “What was the scouting team doing this far out anyway? If they went out past the approved borders, Princess Celestia hear about it."
That would explain why they ran into trouble, at any rate.
"Calm down, Wildfire." Spitfires voice comes from just above us. She soars down between us, having temporarily split from her partner of the day, Blossomforth. "We're still quite a ways away from the location they gave to us."
At this moment, we're flying in pairs. Since she won't get along very well with anypony else, Wildfire is with me. She's sometimes clingy with me, but I'm not bothered by it, as we have been known to work quite well together in the past. To my left, and about ten feet below me, Scootaloo and Poundcake are flying close together. It’s strange, seeing Poundcake look up to Scoots the same way the former Crusader used to idolize me.
Soarin and Thunderlane are also together, behind us, and a few hundred feet to our right.
It's an old strategy that Spitfire and I picked up in our years of fighting. If you can manage it, you have everypony pair off, so that we can cover more ground without having to worry about any surprises. It comes in handy when you don't know what you're up against.
The trigger below my chin starts to bob up and down, warning me to slow down just a little bit. The harness around my waist is meant to hold it and my guns both firmly in place, even at regular flying speeds, without getting in the way of my head or wings, but even modern technology has its limits. Although I’m widely known for being fast, I’m not the only pony here who could easily cause the whole thing to break apart by being careless.
My mane is tied back just like Spitfires, but it doesn’t matter. We’re all wearing special helmets and goggles to keep our manes out of our eyes. Back when the Valkyrie Squadron was first established, we just fought wearing Wonderbolt uniforms under our gun harnesses, but those tight body-suits were anything but practical for combat. They had offered no real protection, and were better for form than function.
"What about you, Blossom?" I ask the pony following Spitfire, as she comes into hearing range.
"Give me a sec, Major!" She closes her eyes, putting that special ability of hers to work. Future sight. It’s limited in its uses, but very reliable in situations like these. After a moment, she opens them again, her voice sounding nervous- even scared. "I don't understand. All I can see is darkness. I don't know what that means."
"Don't worry about it!" I shout back, a little annoyed. Has it actually vanished, in anticipation of our attack? But I guess that wouldn’t be a bad thing.
I shift my weight to my left side, slightly changing direction as we break through a flurry of clouds. This time, as I see further, I can make out a vague black shape against the horizon. It's difficult to tell its size, or even its form, from as far away as I am. But aside from a Changeling creation, what else can it possibly be?
"Enemy sighted!" I call to my nearby comrades.
I hear Spitfires voice. "What class?"
Even as I strain my eyes, I can't make out any other details about it. The only thing that appears odd is its height. If I can believe my eyes at this distance, it looks like it could be over two hundred yards from bottom to top. "Not clear," I shout back, as I tuck my forelegs in, and move my hind legs as close together as they'll go, reducing wind resistance. My speed increases, while I do my best to ignore the rattling complaints from my equipment. Like a good partner, Wildfire follows suit.
As we come closer to it, and our angle of perspective changes, I begin to make out its features. To my surprise, it looks almost like the shadow of a tall horse. It has a discernible head, a long neck, and four legs stretching all the way to the ocean below. I can't see any facial features, but the closer I get, I can actually see defined muscles on it's body.
I relay these details to Spitfire.
"Scootaloo and Poundcake," she calls at the top of her lungs, so all teams can hear her, "move out and approach it from the north. Thunderlane and Soarin, from the south. Stay mindful of your speed."
Distantly, I can hear several voices responding with "Right!" one after another. They don’t seem to realize that the last comment was aimed at me.
"Rainbow. Wildfire," she continues, "We're going to join you."
I'm only half-listening to her, as I'm still attempting to take in the form of this strange “Marenobog” thing. I can’t imagine why they would shape this creature in our likeness, rather than their own.
"Wake up!" I can hear this call from behind me, but it isn't Wildfires voice. I turn around, to see Commander Spitfire flying close behind me, with a distinct look of concern. "Are you still awake?"
I nod, as I notice Wildfire and Blossomforth watching us carefully. "Yes, Commander. What's the plan?"
"The other teams will confuse it from both sides," she explains to me. "When its guard is down, the four of us will move in, search for a weak spot, and destroy it."
It sounds like a simple enough plan.
"You guys can go ahead and search," Blossomforth offers, as Wildfire nods in agreement. “I’ll stay back a bit, and try to foresee its attacks in advance for you.”
"I thought you said all you could sense was darkness," I point out. "Your abilities may be blocked."
"That had to be the distance," Blossom counters, sounding sure of herself. "If I get in close, I know I can be of use."
"Fine," Spitfire agrees. "When the time comes, take Wildfire with you, and-"
Our conversation is cut off by a sharp, panicked scream. Recognizing the voice, I look over, to see Poundcake beating his wings, struggling to keep his composure. Behind him, I catch the fleeting sight of a red energy bolt, fading into the distance. I gape at the Marenobog, wondering where the attack could have come from. It has no visible weapons. It doesn’t even have a horn on its head. But now that I think of it, that energy bolt looked the same as the kind that a Chimera, a type of creature that’s only ever been seen on the Changeling side of a battlefield, could shoot from its mouth.
My question is answered before I can ask it, and my voice catches in my throat. As I stare at it, I can see it firing its energy bolts from its very skin, as small holes are randomly opening up and firing at both attacking teams, who are doing the best they can to dodge these shots. It looks like it’s gotten much worse in a matter of only seconds.
In fact, both teams seem to have given up their formation, now more intent on evading their enemy as attack after attack comes closer and closer to them. It’s aim is off, but getting better.
I grit my teeth, and prepare to ask Spitfire for a new plan, when I see the Marenobog turn its giant head towards me. I can't see any eyes on it, but with a creepy sensation across the surface of my skin, I can tell that it's staring right at me.
It opens it's mouth, and inside of it, I can see nothing but red. I’ve fought enough Chimeras to know what it's going to do.
"Move!" I call, as I roll to the side, the bright red blast just barely missing me. I can feel the heat off of it, especially on my singed tail.
Below me, Wildfire shares my reaction. She was already flying just too low to be in range when the shot was fired, so it hadn’t been hard for her to dodge it.
I'm about to ask Spitfire if she's okay when a scream of agony erupts into my ears, almost deafening me. It's filled with so much pain that it actually reminds me of some of the worst battles I've ever fought.
The Marenobogs mouth has yet to close, and the blast has yet to dissipate. And Blossomforths right hind leg has been engulfed in the blast.
Before my petrified eyes, I can actually see through to her leg. I almost wish I couldn't, because what I'm seeing is causing my stomach to lurch. I can clearly see her fur burning, her flesh melting away, and her muscles blackening and disappearing.
Within a moment that seems to stretch on for hours, her leg has been burned away to the bone, and then disappears completely. Only then does the blast finally die out.
Even out in the open air, I can still catch the nauseating odor of burning flesh, and I'm unable to tear my eyes away from the blackened stump that's been left behind. It’s been cauterized from the heat of the attack, but not enough to stop the bleeding completely.
The three of us are too stunned to react, for what seems like the longest time. Luckily, when Blossomforth finally stops screaming, and her eyes begin to close, I'm the first one to break out of my stupor. Her wings stops moving, and the unconscious mare falls from the sky.
She doesn't fall far before I catch her under her forelegs, the weight of her body dragging me down with her for a few yards before we come to a stop.
"Wildfire! Get your flank down here!" I call. I lift Blossomforth up so that I can support her a little better. I check her pulse. She's still alive.
My partner is almost instantly by my side, trying her best not to stare at Blossom's wound. "Y-Yes, Major?"
"Remove it!" I tell her, motioning with my eyes to the gun harness on Blossom’s body. It's useless at this point, and it's only going to be an inconvenience to us.
"I got it!" She flies below me, to her comrades belly, and unfastens the harness with her teeth. She stares at it as it falls into the ocean, probably unsure as to whether or not I want her to salvage it. I take a quick look above us, to brace for another attack, but I’m relieved to see Soarin and Thunderlane drawing the Marenobogs attention to them. If this thing really is a Chimera, as I’m beginning to suspect, it’ll be a few minutes before it can use an attack like that one again.
"Listen carefully, Wildfire," I tell her, still not sure of what the rest of us are going to do from here. "I want you to take her, and retreat from the battle. Take her back to the base, and standby for further instructions. Do you understand?"
She stares back at me, hesitating. Knowing her, I can tell she's afraid of leaving me to die. "But... Major..."
"We don't have time for this!" I bark at her, and she moves away a little. She probably doesn't even know she's doing it. "This is more than just a career threatening wound. If you don't take her back to a medic right now, she is going to die here. Do as I say, and don’t ever question my orders again!"
I shouldn’t have said that as harshly as I did, but this is not the time or place for her to start acting sycophantic towards me. I can’t give her any leeway to argue. She's taken aback, but nods, putting on a more serious expression. She takes Blossomforth on her back, balancing her better than I ever could. "I understand." With one parting glance, she heads off in the direction of the base. But I can tell that with the extra weight, her flying is going to be labored.
Above me, I see Spitfire signalling for Soarin to come over to us. "Lieutenant Major Soarin!"
"Yes sir," Soarin answers.
"I want you to help them get back to the base as quick as you possibly can. After that, I want you to return to the battle. Do you understand?"
"Crystal clear, Commander."
Soarin leaves the battle, following after Wildfire, and fades off into the distance with her. Without a partner, Thunderlane begins to take heavy fire, so I shut what’s just happened out of my mind, and fly over to aid him.
I can still smell Blossomforths burning flesh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Flight Officer Blossomforth was maimed in battle by a powerful cannon blast," Rainbow Dash continued. She motioned to the blood stain on her fur, and hung her head, unable to lift her gaze from the ground. "I'm sure you already know this, but she died on the operating table less than ten minutes ago. I was watching through the window when it happened."
Princess Celestia nodded. "I’m sorry. I was informed."
A silence followed, as Rainbow remembered the agonizing two and a half hours that Blossomforth had been suffering in the operating room. Through some oversight, there had been no anaesthetic left after treating the surviving scouts, and since doctors were understaffed, Rainbow Dash herself had begged to help out. She’d been watching, helpless, when the pretty young pegasus finally succumbed to cardiac arrest.
Under different circumstances, she might have lived. Or at the very least, she would have had the luxury of dying peacefully.
"Our surgical specialists did the best they could with the available resources," Princess Luna commented. Up until this moment, Rainbow Dash had been too preoccupied to notice her, sitting on the side of the room with a few high ranking generals. "Unfortunately, as the surgeons have told me, she woke up and started struggling, which reopened her wound. By the time she was calm, she had lost too much blood."
Rainbow Dash grimaced, as another thought occurred to her. Is that why her future sight had been blocked? Was she seeing darkness because she was seeing her own death?
Princess Celestia cleared her throat. "Moving on. Can you please explain for us the circumstances surrounding the death of the young private?"
The young private? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. You put us on the front lines to die for you, and you don't even have the decency to refer to us by our names, even in a situation like this?
She bit her tongue, to keep herself from saying something she shouldn't, and lowered her head. "I'm sorry, but I didn't see the actual shot."
Princess Celestia nodded, and motioned for her to continue. "Tell us what you did see."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can't see the Marenobog showing any signs of weakness. I keep expecting to see some glaring flaw in the way it’s moving, something we can exploit, but even though we've been attacking it non-stop for a full minute since Soarin and Wildfire left, it still hasn’t appeared to me.
"Spitfire!" I call. Off to my far right, my my old friend is having as much trouble as I am trying to aim in-between dodging attacks. "We really need a new plan!"
In the last minute, it's been attacking us relentlessly,but at least my theory from earlier has proven true. It's used it’s energy cannon only three times, once nearly killing Thunderlane... If I hadn't been nearby to pull him out of the way, he'd have been a goner. If it could use that attack non-stop, we’d all be goners.
"It's not giving me time to think of one," she calls back. "I hate to think of it, but we may need to retreat and regroup."
But we can't do that. A monster with this kind of destructive power should never be left to its own devices, not while we still have even the slightest chance of actually destroying it! Especially not after it’s been provoked!
A few more moments pass. A smaller shot passes through the space between my legs, missing me, but reminding me just how vulnerable I am in my state.
"Umm, I think I have an idea," pipes up a familiar, sort of scratchy voice from beside me. Scootaloo is at my side, with Poundcake next to her.
"Yes, Private?"
She explains her plan to me. She's no military strategist, of course. Her plan is reckless, it's dangerous, and it's so simple that a foal could have thought of it. Not only that, but it’s asking something of me that I’m not even sure I’m capable of anymore. It could only be conceivable as a last ditch effort, but unfortunately, that's the kind of situation that we're in.
"All right. Go ahead with it."
Commander Spitfire nods. "It's worth a shot."
Scootaloo, Poundcake, and Thunderlane fly closer to the Marenobog. At the same time, Spitfire flies closer to me. "This had better work. It's the only real shot we have. Are you sure you can handle it?"
I swallow hard, running the plan through my head. “How about you? Do you think I can really fly at top speed like she wants without injuring myself again?”
She reluctantly shakes her head, echoing my own thoughts. “You can try falling,” she offers, and I instantly wish that she’d only been joking. We fly up and away from the battlefield, never taking our eyes off of the behemoth.
When we're far enough away so that we're just out of what we assume to be the Marenobogs regular attack range, I detach my gun harness, and hand it over to Spitfire, hoping I won’t need it again. We're still close enough for its laser cannon to hit us, but if it uses it at this distance, we'll see it coming with enough time to dodge.
Just like Scootaloo wanted, the three of them are rapidly circling the Marenobog, perforating it with their weapons. But even with all three of them attacking it at a number of different points, and concentrating heavily on those points, it still refuses to waver, turning its head this way and that to try and blast them all out of the sky. This is only slightly different from how we’d been attacking it before. Can it really have the effect she wants it to have?
I grit my teeth as I hear Spitfire next to me, asking me to share my thoughts. What am I supposed to tell her? That in a moment, all three of them are going to die, leaving us the option of either going in ourselves or running away and admitting defeat? That I'd had faith in Scootaloos plan, even though I'd known in my heart that it couldn't possibly work?
"Commander, I—”
I’m cut off as a white bolt shoots below me, and it’s not coming from the Marenobog. I immediately recognise it. "Soarin!"
He stops just under us. "Let me get in on this action, and see if I can make a difference."
That means Wildfire and Blossomforth are home safe. That means I can stop worrying about them, knowing that Blossoms life is going to be saved, and Wildfire's not going to be harmed. Knowing this lifts my spirits, and looking over, I can tell it's doing the same thing for Spitfire.
I quickly inform Soarin of the plan, earning a raised eyebrow, followed by a look of concern for my well-being. But he doesn’t argue, as he joins the other Pegasi, circling the Marenobog at different angles and firing at it as tirelessly as it’s fired at us.
It’s with all four of them, concentrating their efforts, and aiming most of their bullets at its neck and head, that the beast finally rears up, howling in what I can only assume to be pain. Flailing its front legs in the air, I know that it’s finally time.
"It’s now or never! Do it, Major!"
That's all it takes. I give Spitfire a confident nod, hoping it’s believable, and fly up past her, ignoring the dull ache of my joints as the air pressure around me changes. I hesitate only for a second, wondering if I’ll even make it down to my target without passing out and dropping like a stone into the ocean.
Without any room for doubt, I tuck in my wings, and begin to fall, going into a nose dive that rapidly begins to increase in speed as I alter my wind resistance. I slice through the air like a bullet, as I get closer and closer to the Marenobog, and I can almost see the mach cone forming at my sides.
At that moment, I can feel more than my bones start to ache. There’s that strong pain coming from my right wing. I’m reminded that if I try to stop myself too quickly after this attack, I know it’s going to break. From this angle, I’m heading straight for the Marenobog, and then the ocean.
I’m going to die.
As I finally close in on the target, and my transition is almost complete, I don’t have time to think. My timing, for all that I’ve worried, is perfect. I crash through the Marenobogs upper body, finding surprisingly little resistance, and then through the other side, leaving one of my weaker Sonic Rainbooms behind me, but it’s enough to tear the horrible behemoth in half.
I don’t have time to turn back, and see the Marenobogs body collapse into the ocean. The water is coming at me too fast, and I’m in no condition to come to an abrupt halt. I do the only thing I think I might be able to do... I slowly stretch my wings out, wishing I still had a trigger to bite down on as the pain in my right wing sears throughout my body, and attempt to glide back up. I can alter my direction, but there’s no way I can pull up fast enough.
I close my eyes, waiting to feel my body crash into the surface of the ocean... But instead of water, I feel a strong pair of forelegs wrap around my body from below. I open my eyes again, to see Spitfire staring intensely ahead of us, guiding my hopeless nosedive back up to the air. I almost cry at the thought of it, being saved at the last minute by her. Had she flown down there while I’d been up high? Had she been anticipating my weakness?
We finally come to a stop near the other Pegasi as they celebrate. Soarin is high-hoofing Thunderlane, and Scootaloo flies towards Poundcake, a big, jovial smile plastered over her face.
Down below us, the Marenobogs body is slowly sinking under the surface of the water. Spitfire, who's hovering next to me, looks proud of herself. Even when things were seriously hectic, she hasn't once been less focused than this. I've forgotten how much I admire her. “Thank you.”
Thunderlane flies over to my, my harness in his grasp. Spitfire must have passed it to him as she rushed to intercept me. I take it, and re-equip it, giving him a grateful nod as he returns to Soarin for a well-deserved brohoof.
"I don't feel right, knowing I'll have to praise her for piecing together such an amateurish plan," she comments back, accepting my gratitude with a shrug. Thankfully, we’re talking too low for the others to hear us.
"If it makes you feel any better," I offer, "We can just do the good-cop, bad-cop thing again. You praise, I ridicule. Would that work better for you?"
She chuckles, and soon starts to laugh for real. It's not something either of us do often, but I join her, relieved to have gotten our unit out of this fight intact. I try not to think about the kind of rehab and conditioning Blossomforth will have to go through if she ever wants to fly again, but if that's the worst thing to happen to us, than we've been fairly lucky tonight.
"You see? Even if you’re not as spry as you used to be, you're still useful to us. You don't have to leave us at all."
I nod. Maybe she's right. Maybe there really isn't any reason for me to leave all of this behind. At the very least, I do enjoy the feeling I get after a victory.
I hear a sizzling sound, followed by the scream of a much younger pony, and my heart sinks all over again.
My gaze snaps towards the direction that I last saw the four of them. I never saw what happened, but I can see Privates Scootaloo and Poundcake falling headfirst towards the ocean. It's impossible to tell which one's been hit, as they're both falling at the same speed, but my question is soon answered as Scootaloo moves closer to her much younger friend, and catches him out of the air. Poundcakes helmet falls off of his head.
I stare at them, unsure of what to think, and unsure of what to believe. The only pony to ever make the team at such a young age, and with such flying colors that he had been able to join us without even finishing the full recruitment class, has just fallen from the sky like a discarded rag doll. It isn't until I hear Soarins frantic voice that I'm able to take action.
"Commander... Major... Pound's been shot! I think he’s been killed!"
Suspicious, I turn and growl in the direction of the shot, and what I see stops my heart. Off in the distance, I can see over a dozen yellow beasts heading for the battlefield. They’re chimeras. As always, they’re each fused so perfectly that I can’t even begin to tell what poor creatures the changelings had combined into them. Since Poundcake was shot, I have no doubt that they were the culprits.
The major job is done. We've destroyed the Marenobog, and we're all beat from it. We don't have enough in us to fight this many new enemies, even if they are the right size for us. With one soldier dead, and one soldier maimed, we can't even afford to try. There's only one thing left to say.
Commander Spitfire takes the words right out of my mouth. "All units, retreat!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rainbow Dash hung her head, and answered Princess Celestia’s question. "I didn't see what happened. All I know is that he was shot in the head by a unit of chimeras, and died instantly. A retreat was called for soon afterwards, when we realized how outnumbered we had become."
Princess Celestia glanced over to her left. An envoy from the Crystal Empire stood up, levitating a document in front of her.
"We were able to secure a statement from Private Scootaloo," Chief Nebula informed her. "Would you like to hear it?"
That’s odd, Rainbow thought. The last time she'd spoken to Scootaloo was on the runway, and her fellow Ponyville alumnus had been hysterical. She had barely been able to get two coherent words out of her. "Yes, Chief."
Chief Nebula looked down at the document. "In her own words. 'It was Poundcake who really suggested our winning strategy to me. I was congratulating him, when a hole appeared next to his eye, right through his goggles. I could see through it, until it turned red and began to leak.’”
Chief Nebula exhaled, clearly upset by what she was reading. "She broke down at that point, and we were unable to get any more information out of her."
From the half-witted way that the statement had been made, Rainbow Dash was beginning to feel even more worried about Scootaloos mental state. She'd been disturbed, that was understandable, but how badly? A Pony as sensitive as her, as tough as she pretended to be, witnessing her best friend killed in front of her eyes like that could only be so stable afterwards.
"She was obviously in shock," Princess Celestia summarized, carefully. "Once it wears off, we're going to try to get her into therapy to help her come to terms with what she's seen. And... Private Poundcakes family is being informed of what happened as we speak."
Rainbow swallowed, and nodded. "Yes, your Highness."
There was another long silence in the room. And the sheer amount of these awkward pauses was starting to make her uncomfortable. She couldn’t begin to imagine what the point was to all of these questions. They probably knew all of the answers to the questions they were asking her. They were just sitting there, making her relive all of these events, none of them more than a few hours old, that she just wanted to forget.
The silence was broken by a knock on the door. An older white Unicorn stallion, by the name of Shining Armor, walked in. Twilight Sparkles older brother. "Your Majesty. We’ve gone ahead as planned." He backed out of the room, at Celestias nod, and Rainbow Dashes eyes narrowed. "What was that all about?"
Princess Celestia answered for him. "The remaining chimeras have retreated toward their country, and another team of our scouts are heading into the battle site to search for and recover Commander Spitfires body. They should have it secured by morning."
Rainbow Dash tried to respond, but her retort was choked out by a familiar lump in her throat. A lump she'd trained herself, over the years, to repress. Very few things could break a soldiers resolve like the sight of a superior officer losing theirs. It didn’t exactly buy faith from the higher-ups, either. And Celestia had just brought up the one thing she’d been forcing herself not to think about.
Not now, dammit. I can't remember that now. I can't lose myself in front of my superiors at a time like this.
She tensed her body, and struggled against the oncoming tears that were threatening to openly damage her credibility as a Major. They can't see me cry...
And they won't.
Calling upon all of her will, she summoned the strength to swallow her tears back, and steeled herself. She was a Major of the Valkyrie Squadron, the proudest unit in the entire Equestrian military, and the ponies she worked with weren't her friends. They were expendable troops, just like she was. "With all due respect, your Highness," she replied, her voice still a little shaky, "they won't find it."
"Hmm," Celestia replied, as she stood up from her throne. With her shadow out of the way, Rainbow could finally read the headline of one of her folders. "Well, we're sending them in anyway, as a formality."
The headline was sticking out of the folder, haphazardly. It must have slipped out a bit by accident. All she could read was "Firefly, Cloudsdale, age 15."
Are they already considering new recruits? She interpreted, as the anger from before welled up inside of her, compromising her ability to reason. Are we that disposable, to the point where they can just replace us within a day? They can just send in new recruits to die, and expect it to continue like this, replacing dead soldiers with new ones, until the changelings and their allies could finally be convinced to leave us alone?
"This is your fault," she growled, as Princess Celestia was preparing to leave.
She froze, and looked over at her. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"You know what I said," Rainbow shot back. She wasn't raising her voice, but her tone was as cold as a changelings heart. It was a good thing she hadn’t brought her harness to the inquiry with her. "You sent those scouts way outside the approved borders, which is why they found that thing. They weren’t acting on their own, were they? And after what it did to them, you had to send us in to kill it. Because of you, it killed a bunch of your scouts and my soldiers, and you’re just gonna sit there all safe and treat them like they’re nothing to you? If you ever belittle my friends like this again in front of me, I will feed you your own horn!"
Her words of dissent, as unexpected as they’d been, brought every single pair of eyes in the room directly upon her. Lesser ponies and Alicorns alike could do nothing but gawk at her, save for one.
"And if you ever speak to me like that again," Celestia responded, just as coldly, "I will relieve you of your position and send you back home to Cloudsdale without a second thought."
Rainbow Dash stood there stubbornly, her fury burning inside of her. She and Celestia stared daggers at each other, neither of them willing to back down, as other members of the council started to pass glances at each other, waiting to see who would make the first move. Princess Luna looked as though she could intervene at any moment.
Despite her fury, it was common sense that got the better of Rainbow Dash. "I apologize, Princess."
The Princess turned, to give her undivided attention to the seasoned soldier. Her tone, deadly serious as it was, did not let up. "I understand how difficult this must be for you, which is why I’m going to let your outburst slide. Now, according to the official reports, nopony will be held accountable for what happened today. Yes, it may have been short-sighted of us to attack an unknown variety of chimera without waiting for intelligence. Just as it may have been short-sighted of you to send two of your best soldiers away to tend to a lost cause, when their presence could have easily prevented two other key losses. Mistakes were made on both sides, and both sides equally regret their decisions. Is that understood?”
“Yes, your Highness.”
“Tomorrow at 7:00, a memorial service will be held for those who were killed today. My scouts as well as your soldiers. Promotions will also be announced, to fill the holes that have been left behind. Aside from that, things around here will continue on unchanged. Understood?”
Rainbow nodded, her hooves shaking. “Yes, your Highness.”
Celestia bowed slightly, and motioned towards the door, giving her her cue to exit. “You’re dismissed, Commander Rainbow Dash.”
Taking her leave, and trying not to look too eager to do it, Rainbow Dash left the inquiry feeling as if a monster was about to burst from the pit of her stomach. News of a token funeral, and even the news of her own abrupt promotion, had done little to alleviate the pain. At this point, she was unsure if anything could make it go away.
Reaching the Valkyrie Squadron bunks, she passed by Scootaloos room, and could hear hysterical crying on the other side of the young ponys door. She placed her hoof on the doorknob, but decided against inviting herself in. She was in no state to be comforting anyone.
She continued on down the hall, trying not to think about the empty rooms she was passing. It wouldn’t do her any good to dwell on them all over again. It wouldn’t bring them back, and it wouldn’t give her any satisfaction.
Finally, she made it to her own room, at the end of the hall. She went inside, and stared at the nurse’s hat sitting on her dresser. Next to it, her gun harness had been set down carefully, and folded neatly.
With the feeling of safety that came from her own room, her final memory from their battle flooded her mind, uninvited, and replayed in her head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With my comrades alongside me, I fly away from the battlefield, looking over my shoulder as the smaller Chimeras continue to pursue us. We’re carrying dead weight, and they’re as fast as we are. We don’t have a prayer.
Below me, Scootaloo’s flying sloppily, her concentration beyond broken. It’s a wonder her gun harness hasn’t broken yet like Thunderlanes did a few hundred yards back. She’d insisted on flying alone, but I’m still watching her like a hawk, waiting for an excuse to swoop down and grab her like a foal.
Ahead of us, Thunderlane and Soarin are carrying Poundcakes body. We should have left it behind... Spitfire and I both agree on that... But if we’d made that sacrifice, Scootaloo would have definitely tried to stay behind with her friend.
Another blast shoots by me, singeing more than a few strands of my tail. We can’t evade their attacks forever- even if they don’t shoot us down before we reach base, they’ll just attack and kill us when we reach the runway. I've seen Chimeras do bolder things than that before. The way they’re created and trained, they’re even more suicidal than we are.
“They’re gaining on us,” I call to Spitfire, over the increasingly loud rattle of my guns.
“I know that,” she calls back to me. “Ah... I... Look, whatever happens, don’t leave them. Get them home safely, and take care of them. They’re going to need you now more than ever.”
I feel a chill, and it’s completely unrelated to the cold air whipping past my legs. “Commander, what are you talking about?”
I look up, and see her wink to me. She breaks formation, and heads back to the Chimeras.
Behind me, I hear gun fire. I want to turn around, to fly over and fight right there alongside her. But instead, I follow her order, while screaming for her.
Once we’re out of range, I take a look behind me. I can see her tearing the Chimeras apart, as they do the same to her. They’re using their claws now, instead of their energy bolts. I only see it for a few seconds, and it’s one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever witnessed.
I can’t bear to see any more. I can’t handle the shame of knowing that I can’t save the life of the mare who’s already saved mine. I turn my attention back to the sky ahead of me, thinking only of the survival of my subordinates. The base is finally coming into view.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With a cloud of steam that rushed out into the room, fogging up her one window, Rainbow Dash ambled lifelessly out of her shower, her fur finally clean again, and collapsed into her bed.
As the sweet scent of the pink mane nestled silently on the pillow next to hers invaded her lungs, that horrid lump once again appeared in her throat. She hugged her own pillow close to her face, as all of the tears she’d been fighting back erupted inside of her. She wept unhindered into its wrinkles, as the images of the day flowed over and over again through her mind.
She’d given the council the strong, emotional fortress they’d wanted to see. Early tomorrow, she’d give the entire military the passionate and reliable new Commander they were hoping to see. And after that, when it was finally necessary, she’d give Scootaloo the big sister she needed to see.
But for right now, alone in her room, with nopony but the one she loves around to judge her, and no expectations to fill, she’d give herself the puddle of tears that she needed to see.
It was the only thing that could make her feel like herself.
Chapter End Notes:
First and foremost, this story is based on another fanfic that I did almost two years ago. As popular as that story was, I never really liked how my writing somewhat broke down towards the end. I like this version a lot better, especially now that it’s been so heavily edited, and not just because it involves My Little Pony.
I’ve had numerous people take a look at it, and they’ve all given me their generously honest reviews, so I can only hope it’s up to par. But if not, there’s always room for improvement.
If you’ve read it all the way through, then I’d love to hear what you think of it, whether your thoughts are positive or negative, so please, leave me a comment.
