A Soldiers Story: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Two Days Later...
Ponyville, Equestria
10:23 A.M

The sky above Ponyville was a bright blue, the crisp wind pushing along white puffy clouds. A passing cloud moved through the perfect sky, before being instantly dissipated by a passing bolt of a rainbow blur. This bolt flew through the sky, demolishing any cloud that stood in its way. Within a blink of an eye, all of the clouds were vanquished, leaving the rainbow bolt to suddenly disappear, revealing a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.

Rainbow Dash looked behind her to view her handiwork. With not a single cloud left in the sky, she smirked to herself thinking, "Heh, I still got it." After the fight in Canterlot, once she had fully recovered, Captain Spitfire had sent her back to Ponyville so she could fully recover. Rainbow used this as an opportunity to not only continue training but also to kick back a little bit with her friends. After all, she knew damn well that they were what she needed right now.

Pleased with her work, she spread her majestic cyan wings and flew off, lazily gliding over the waking town below her. Between the Wonderbolt's most recent performance and the attack on Canterlot, she wasn't around that much back home. "I should go check up on Fluttershy, Rainbow thought as she drifted closer towards the outskirts of town, "I wonder if she has any news about that human?" She looked down at her neck, revealing a necklace that had the letters 'J' and 'L' imprinted on it. Grabbing the necklace with her hand, she let out a sad sigh.

It had been so long since she had heard anything about his condition. From what she was told, he was still in that damn coma, but he was otherwise healthy. Ever since she woke up from her own stupor, she had that moment where he saved her replay inside her mind over and over again. "Why did he do it?" she wondered as Fluttershy's house came into view. While there was no doubt that he saved her because she was hurt, she still felt another hidden motive. Recently, as she thought about what had happened, her thoughts gravitated towards his silver eyes. If he only did it because he had to, then why were those eyes filled with such care and fear, as if nothing else mattered to him except her safety?

Landing on the cottage steps, she pushed off her thoughts into the back of her head. Walking forward, she knocked on the door to signal her presence. After a brief moment, she heard a tiny, "Coming!" as the door finally opened, revealing a yellow pegasus. Unlike her friend, Fluttershy was the definition, besides Rarity, of femininity. Her body was well kept, with her light pink mane combed to near perfection. She wore a simple dress with images of flowers on it, which hid her perfect hourglass frame. Out of all of her friends, Fluttershy definitely had the best bust out of all of them, which was barely held back by her frilly dress.

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow and softly said, " Oh! Good morning Rainbow!"

The cyan pegasus smiled and responded, "Good morning to you too, Flutters!" Looking around the cabin, Rainbow asked, "Hey, can I come in?"

Fluttershy smiled and responded, "Sure! I was just about to have some tea." As she moved to let her friend in, Rainbow mused about her oldest friend. Despite her nearly crippling shyness, Rainbow was one of the very few who was extremely close to the yellow pegasus. Being one of the mare's oldest friends, Fluttershy had no need to be shy when she talked to her friend since the two were that comfortable with each other. As Rainbow continued to think, the two of them walked into the dining room. A hot kettle of water awaited them at the table, with a variety of tea packets to choose from.

As Rainbow sat down at the wooden table, Fluttershy walked into the kitchen to grab two teacups. She then asked, " How was your flight today?"

Rainbow smirked and said, "Easy as always. I was almost able to get back to my record time for smashing clouds."

As Fluttershy walked into the room, holding two teacups, she answered, "That's good news Rainbow! You'll be back with the Wonderbolts in no time." However, she noticed a slight hesitation in her friend's eye, which confirmed what she had already guessed.

"Um, Flutters?" Rainbow asked, with a hint of timidness in her voice, "Is there any news on-"

"No Rainbow, there's no update on his condition," Fluttershy interrupted. It had been like this nearly every day since the Mane 6 had returned to Ponyville. She could tell that Rainbow always had that human on her mind, even if she knew it or not. Her concern was very sweet, but she knew that Rainbow needed to calm down about all of it. Looking into her friend's eyes, she noticed dark bags under them. Concerned, Fluttershy asked, "Rainbow, have you been getting enough sleep lately?"

Rainbow quickly rubbed her eyes, as if she was trying to remove the evidence. "Of course I have! Why wouldn't I sleep?" she responded.

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, bringing out a more motherly but serious voice, "Rainbow..."

Rainbow looked like she was going to stand by her position, but as she looked into Fluttershy's eyes, she sighed as her ears drooped and eyes closed. "No Flutters, I haven't been getting enough sleep," she admitted, hanging her head in shame.

Sighing, Fluttershy softly said, "Rainbow, you need to stop worrying about it. It's not healthy for you."

"I know, I know," Rainbow admitted, "but I can't stop feeling worried about him. It's been two weeks since we've gotten an update." Her breathing grew heavy as she continued, " I can't bear the thought that the human who saved me might be in a permanent coma, or worse." Tears began to well up in her eyes as she choked out, " E-Every time I close my eyes, I see him. Every time I go to sleep, I relive that moment where he saved me. Then I think about him on that hospital bed, b-barely h-hanging on to l-life. W-What if he never wakes up? W-What if h-he's..." Rainbow then began to sob as Fluttershy quickly rounded the table and hugged her dear friend, allowing her to cry into her shoulder. As the two embraced each other, Rainbow choked out in a small, sad voice.

"Why did he do it?"

The two of them stayed like that for a while, as Fluttershy tried to help her friend as best as she could. As Rainbow's tears began to subside, Fluttershy told her, "You can't lose hope Rainbow."

Rainbow looked up at her oldest friend and responded, "Yeah, I know, but I can't help but worry."

Fluttershy nodded as she responded, "That's a good thing. Worrying shows that you care." As Rainbow sat back up, Fluttershy asked, " Do you still have that-"

Suddenly, a knock could be heard from the door, drawing Fluttershy's attention away from Rainbow. She quickly excused herself and walked towards the door, wondering who it could possibly be. Fluttershy opened the door to be greeted with the sight of a purple alicorn. She was slightly smaller than herself but still taller than Rainbow Dash. Her purple fur was covered with a grey sweater and a nice checkered skirt. Her purple and pink hair covered was in a small ponytail, revealing her purple eyes. Her wings were folded onto her back but showed signs of a recent flight.

"Oh, hello Twilight!" Fluttershy greeted as she reached for a quick hug.

"Good morning Fluttershy!" Twilight responded, joining the yellow mare in her hug.

As the two embraced, Fluttershy noticed that her friend was more giddy than usual. She had a big smile plastered onto her face. As the two separated, Rainbow Dash came from the table, greeting, "Oh, hey Twilight. What brings you here?"

When Twilight looked at the prismatic mare, Fluttershy could tell that Twilight got even more excited, "Rainbow! You're just the mare I wanted to see!"

Before things could get out of hand, Fluttershy asked the hyperactive Twilight, "What's going on Twilight?"

Twilight turned to her and explained, " I need everypony to get to the train station as soon as they can!" Turning to Rainbow Dash, Twilight continued with a knowing smile, " We're receiving a very important person today, and I need all of you to be there to greet him."

At first, Rainbow was confused with the use of "person", as she only heard that term when describing her human friends on the other side of that mirror. However, the pieces quickly clicked into place, and her eyes widened with disbelief and a little bit of hope. "Y-You mean..."

Twilight smiled back at her and answered, "As I said, you should get there as soon as you can."

The train station was packed with ponies either going on trips or waiting for loved ones to return. After some time, Twilight managed to get all of the girls together to greet this "human". Twilight looked down at the letter still in her hands as she thought about its contents. When she received the letter this morning, she had initially thought it was about the possible strengthening of the guard in Ponyville. While she was right, it certainly wasn't what she was expecting. Opening the letter again, she read through the message once again

Dear Twilight,

It is my pleasure to inform you that we have finally found a way to get you some proper defenses to Ponyville. While we do believe that you have a sufficient number of guards, the recent attack on Canterlot has called into question the ability of the Ponyville Garrison. As such, we have decided to send in a specialist to properly train the guard. While we were worried about finding the proper pony, it turns out that the answer wasn't that far away.

Two days ago, our resident human awoke from his coma, and after some questioning, we have decided that he is the perfect pony, or in this case "person", to do the job. He'll fill in more information about himself but I'll share some information about him now before you meet him. This human's name is John Lee. He is a Captian where he came from, so he has experience in dealing with training soldiers for proper defense, which is what Ponyville desperately needs right now. As you probably remember, he was the one who brought Rainbow Dash back to the castle safely, so be sure to thank him for that. He'll brief you more about himself if you ask him, although he does have some reservations about certain things.

He should be arriving in Ponyville sometime this afternoon, so be prepared to welcome him to the community. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that you two can be friends.

From Yours Truly,
Princess Celestia

While she was glad that Ponyville was finally getting some proper training, Twilight was still a little bit worried about the human. From what Rainbow had told them, this "John" was a true warrior, something that has never been seen since the Great Crystal War against Sombra, but even then, this human was something more than that. After some quiet debate, Twilight thought, " If the Princess trusts him, then I need to trust him too. I'll keep a close eye on him though, just for safety."

Looking around at her friends, she silently observed her friend's expressions. Fluttershy looked... well, shy as always. Applejack looked rather indifferent since she never really had much contact with the human. Rarity was shining her nails, obviously aiming to dress for success. She had a curious look on her face as if she was wondering what he was like and if he lived up to her high-class standards. Pinkie Pie, as usual, had an excited look on her face, while she was bounding around in place. Twilight knew that she was just being herself, but the pony who was certainly not acting normal was Rainbow Dash

The usual confident mare was twisting in place, curling a strand of hair with her finger. She was looking directly at the train station, seemingly lost in space. She was acting unusually shy, so Twilight decided to ask, "Rainbow, are you doing ok?"

Rainbow Dash appeared to snap out of her trance as she registered Twilight's question, " Oh! Yeah, I'm fine."

Applejack cocked her head at Rainbow as she countered, "Girl, that's got to be one of the most obvious lies you've ever said."

Rarity joined in as she said, "I concur Darling. There's something that is obviously eating at you Rainbow, what's wrong?"

Rainbow Das hesitated to answer for a couple of seconds before sighing and responding, "Alright, you've got me. I'm just super nervous." When the girls gave her a confused look, she quickly added, "W-What I mean is, this is the first time that I'll really meet him. What if he's not who I think he was? What if he's actually a huge jerk?"

However, as she said this, a train whistle suddenly blew in the distance, alerting them of the oncoming train. They watched as the locomotive slowly moved into the station, the wheels hissing from the slowdown. The whistle blew out once more, and the doors slide open. They watched as ponies, both young and old stepped out of the train, mixing with the crowd already at the station. However, there was still no sign of the human. As the flow of ponies slowed to a trickle, Twilight began to think that he must have been on another train.

However, out from one of the doors stepped a large figure.