The New Lunar Republic's Secret Weapon

Upon reaching the Snowy Fortress, I was waved in immediately.  Friend or foe, they wouldn't have turned down anyone who had brought Rainbow Dash to them.  On the way here, I had had to knock Dash unconscious twice more and camp out in a cave for a night, other than that, the trip was uneventful.  Once inside of the fortress I was escorted to my private room.  Being a high rank as I was did have some advantages.  I looked at the badge that I never wore, and so was in perfect condition.  Command Sergeant Major Red Fog.  “Red Fog” of course wasn't my real name, it was a code name given to me by the Drakes.  The name came from a mission my squadron had gone on.   My real name was actually erased from my memory after I accepted the Dragon’s Blood, it wasn't important, but I did wonder sometimes.  The pain wreaked upon my body was too much for my mind and I temporarily went insane.  The things that I couldn't remember after that were my parents, my past, and my original identity.  I collapsed onto my soft bed, not even bothering to wash up after the long trip.  I drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I awoke, I was still tired; I didn’t feel like I could really do anything that required a lot of energy.  I got out of bed anyway, and made my way to the mess hall for breakfast.  Once there, I realized that the base was mostly void of life, there were a few ponies, a diamond dog, and two griffins.  When I walked in, they all stared at me.  Saying nothing, I moved to get a tray and some food.  I got my slop and sat down.  One of the griffins, feathers darkened at the ends, suggesting a high rank, came over, and in a deep voice said, “So you’re the one who captured Rainbow Dash.”  Startled by this, I remembered the events of last night all at once. Continuing to eat my slop, I replied with,

“Yeah, what about it?”  The griffin looked surprised at me.

“What about it?’  You’re a legend now!  She’s been impossible to catch, she's way too strong! Up until now, we thought it was impossible! What we want to know is how?!”  Finishing my food, I told them,

“I got the drop on her, and knocked her out.  It wasn’t actually that hard, I mean, all I had to do after that was pay attention to when she was waking up.”  I stood and began to walk down to the Interrogation room. Leaving the griffin and the rest of my food.

Making my way around the base was easy, as it was near identical to all the others, and if nothing else, there were always the signs. I found my way to the interrogation room in no time, and found that Rainbow Dash was hung up on a wall and was currently sleeping.  I poked her in the stomach with my horn to wake her up.

“Wha- who’s ‘ere?”  She said weakly.  She caught sight of me and all at once seemed to come to life, “Who are you?  What do you want from me?”  She sounded weak, and though she wasn’t completely there, she was lucid enough to know that she wasn’t dreaming.

“My name is Red Fog, though usually I’m just called Red,” I told her.  “You shouldn’t be scared; we aren’t going to hurt you as long as you comply with us.”  She looked at me incredulously and chuckled a bit.

“You really think that I’m going to tell you anything?  I’d rather die than tell you scum anything.”  I sighed, realizing that she wasn’t going to give up her secrets easily.  This put me in an uncomfortable position, as I remembered the stories that an orange Pegasus filly told me about her.  She said that she was her idol, and she wanted to be like her as much as she could.  Scootaloo was older now, and had her own opinion on things, and though she admired Rainbow Dash, she felt that the New Lunar Republic had goals that she found more in line with what she herself thought.  Not because she thought we would win, but because she believed in our cause.  I knew Scootaloo from teaching her how to fly, and now, even with my dragon wings, she was the best known flier in the Lunar Air Force, and Rainbow Dash’s counterpart.  She still admired Rainbow Dash, and would probably hate me if I started cutting on her idol (and I don’t want to lose her favor), so I went with the only argument I could think of, though it was a long shot.

“You remember Scootaloo, right?  Orange Pegasus, purple mane?”  Rainbow looked at me shocked.  “Yeah, you do, don’t you?  Well, let me tell you, we’ve got her too, and because you’re worth so much more, we’ll want you in one piece but her…”  I let the statement hang ominously.  Rainbow looked at me for a second, then threw her head back and laughed.  She laughed and laughed and laughed for a long time, and when she finally gained her composure, she looked at me, chuckling and said,

“That little traitor?  You think I give a flying feather about that little deserting scumbag?  I know she’s in the Lunar Air Force and not some captive you have, I remember the last conversation I had with her,” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling all the way through.  “‘But Rainbow, why?’” she said in a mimicking voice, “’Why won’t you join me in the Lunar Air Force?’  Because I’m the Element of Loyalty, I won’t just ditch my sovereign!”  She grew more vehement with every word.  “You have no idea how hard it was to watch her go, to betray the leader that had given her protection in her orphaned years!  And you want to know the only feeling I had after she left?  Sadness; with her and Fluttershy switching teams, I had to deal with my closest friend and biggest admirer leaving!”  She looked down, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“I realize that must have been hard on you,” I said, “I can’t remember any of my family and most of my friends are dead, so maybe we can reach an agreement.  I know that you agree with the New Lunar Republic's ideals, and don't lie.  You know it too.  So here's the deal.  You're going to disappear, and I'm going to get the Information that I want.  The issue with this will be that you won't be able to live a life of fame like you once did, you'll have to lay low all the time.  I'm not going to trick you into this, because if you do have to be tricked, you probably aren't telling me what I want to know, or at least, not the truth."  All the while, I had been channeling a low-energy hypnosis spell on her, and she began to nod.  Good thing I caught her while she was still half asleep, I thought.  It might not have worked otherwise.