I had learned that the entity that Twilight and Vinyl referred to as a “chopper” was actually some kind of armored mechanical bird that carried ponies from one location to another. They were also sometimes used to rain fire down on the enemy, however due to the military’s limited resources they couldn’t afford to build more of them, so they rarely risked them like this.

They would load them up with a flammable liquid and drop ignited globs of it onto the enemy in the midst of battle. The only problem is that it completely destroyed the land around them as well. It was reserved as a last resort.

These devices apparently were built some months after the war began which would explain why I had never seen them before.

Vinyl apparently had been piloting these beasts for several years after she was taken off of active combat duty. She was the one who piloted the chopper that saved Rainbow Dash back in the day.

This particular chopper however was being piloted by Octavia; she was fairly quiet as she focused on getting us from Canterlot to Cloudsdale. Accompanying us for this trip was Twilight, and Rainbow Dash; whom hadn’t divulged even a word of information about her conversations with Twilight and Luna over the past few days. She apparently only wanted to see us off, but wasn’t ready to speak with us yet.

“So you and Pinkie Pie have some kind of thing?” Twilight attempted to break the silence.

I shook my head.

“Really, I heard from Fluttershy that she saw the two of you kissing,” Twilight giggled.

“Pinkie isn’t exactly the kind of mare that makes much sense, so it’s hard to explain her intentions. All I can say is that there’s nothing romantic between the two of us…” I explained.

Twilight nodded.

“Out of all the time I’ve known her, I’d have to say that I agree on her intentions being hard to explain. She’s certainly a character that’s for sure…” Twilight smiled.

Vinyl scoffed.

“What’s your problem?” I asked.

“I just can’t talk about that pink disease without wanting to slit her throat and watch her blood drained,” Vinyl replied plainly.

What a shining example of a model citizen.

“What’s your deal with Pinkie? You don’t seem to like her very much…” I commented.

“What was your first clue?” She remarked.

I should have expected that kind of answer from her.

“She isn’t bad looking though…” Vinyl added.

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“You’re a pervert…” Twilight said.

Vinyl turned to her direction and gave a gentle kissing gesture in Twlight’s direction. Twilight only responded by rolling her eyes a second time.

“You’re not so bad yourself, maybe if you got some sunglasses to cover that thing up…” Vinyl smirked.

“Fuck off,” Twilight scolded.

Vinyl snickered and leaned back into her seat. It was amazing how she not only displayed nothing but disrespect for her commanding officer, but was the only one as bold as to point out her eye again and again. We all obviously noticed it, but no pony wanted to be the one to address the elephant in the middle of the room. I had to admit though I was curious about her eye myself.

“I’m serious though, you should consider getting an eye patch or something, it’d draw less attention in the long run,” Vinyl continued to tease.

“That’s a lot coming from a pony that hides behind sunglasses all the time,” Twilight replied.

“Sticks and stones, One-Eye, sticks and stones,” Vinyl retorted.

“That’s enough Vinyl. If you don’t knock it off then I’m going to personally kick your ass.” Rainbow burst out.

All fell silent. We weren’t expecting for Dash to say anything at this point.

“Eh, not even worth my time anyways…” Vinyl waved a hoof in a carefree manner.

I decided it was best to change the subject to something I was more curious about anyways.

“So what’s the deal with you and Pinkie Pie?” I asked.

Twilight and Rainbow both gave me a look of disapproval. Apparently I had asked a very taboo question to the worst possible pony.

“Why did you let her come back Twilight? You should have let me blow her head off the moment we saw her…” Vinyl said.

“Are you questioning your commanding officer?” Twilight threatened.

Vinyl didn’t seem too intimidated by this threat.

“Who’s going to stop me?” Vinyl smirked.

“I am, now shut up Vinyl before I throw you out of this chopper,” Rainbow Dash scolded.

Vinyl grew a disappointed expression.

“I could almost understand Twilight’s sappy forgiveness approach, but what has me really concerned is how you’re so damn attached to her Dashie… Why are you protecting her?” Vinyl questioned.

Rainbow Dash only gave her a cold stare.

“Can it.” She barked.

Vinyl gave up and stood up. She announced she was going to “go bother Octavia for a while,” and entered the part of the transport called the “flight deck.”

“What am I going to do with her Rainbow? She’s getting worse and worse, and I know that the day she finally does lose it I won’t be able to control her,” Twilight sighed.

Dash didn’t respond. Twilight took her silence as the end of the conversation.

Curiosity guided me to follow Vinyl into the flight deck. I had suspicion that Twilight and Rainbow Dash needed to talk without my presence anyways.

I found Vinyl fiddling with the radio trying to get some of her “tunes” playing, with Octavia trying to stop her while piloting at the same time. Ultimately Vinyl was winning the little spat between them, and Octavia sat in frustration.

“Vinyl Scratch?” I approached her.

She turned around in her seat and shot me a look.

“What were you arguing with Twilight and Rainbow Dash about?” I asked.

Vinyl smiled and gestured for me to sit down, and of course I obeyed.

“Let me tell you a little story Flare…”

All were silent as they watched anxiously for the expected “guest” to arrive. Some had arrived early just to ensure that they would make it in time to see her. Generally the groups did not enjoy being at this particular kind of event, however this time it was widely accepted among the group that this would be the exception. Many were eager to watch what they considered “the right thing.”

Twilight wasn’t exactly too thrilled to be the one overseeing this event, however due to the circumstances she was required to be present, though she and Vinyl Scratch both would rather be out on the battle field as the biggest battle of their lives took place only a few miles away from their location. Looking over at Vinyl, Twilight could tell that she yearned to be out there fighting; it was exactly that reason that Twilight was always concerned about her though.

All heads turned as the sound of chains slithering across the floor followed by a group of hoof steps ringing from the hallway near the entrance. The anticipation in the room heightened at least ten times that of what it was in only a short few seconds. Every pony leaned their heads in to try and get a better look at the entering group.

Four of the royal guard stood around a pink mare that they were escorting inside. On her hooves were two sets of shackles, being held on both ends by the royal guards. A face devoid of any and all emotion rested on her. There wasn’t sympathy, remorse, or even sadness in her; she felt nothing.

The guards fastened her chains down to four hooks in the floor and locked them in place. The crowd began to murmur whispers between each other at the excitement.

Taking their positions around the mare the guards stood in salute to Twilight, who approached the pink mare.

She took a deep breath and let out a sigh before she began.

“I am Twilight Sparkle, the chosen servant of the throne, and primary general of military affairs. I am here to oversee this event because this has been deemed an event of the throne. The princesses could not attend as they are preoccupied with military affairs and thus I am standing in their place,” she explained.

The mare just stared at her blankly without a word.

“Do you have any words before we begin?” Twilight asked.

A smile grew on the shackled pony’s face.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” she said plainly.

Sighing, Twilight nodded.

“Very well, then we turn this over to Lieutenant Vinyl Scratch.” Twilight walked off to the side.

Adorned in her respectable military uniform, Vinyl Scratch approached the center of the room between the audience and the detained mare. Her voice then boomed throughout the room.

“Pinkamena Diane Pie. You have been tried and found guilty of over twenty seven counts of murder, an unknown amount of illegal medical practices, and crimes against pony kind itself. You have been deemed a threat to society and your punishment…” She paused.

“Is death…” The crowd started murmuring again at those words.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself before this punishment is carried out and you atone for your crimes?” Vinyl asked.

Pinkie grew yet another smile.

“No crimes have I committed, everything I have done, was done for pony kind. You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and if I must be the scapegoat for progress, then so be it,” Pinkie stated with pride.

Vinyl hated how she could think herself as a hero, or a scapegoat. Giving a gesture to the guards around her they started to connect wires from the ground all around her body, and lastly placing one in her mouth onto her tongue.

“We will carry out the means of your death sentence through the means of magical current. You are currently hooked up to a battery that will send a lethal amount of magical energy through your body until you are dead.” Vinyl smiled.

“I regret nothing.” Pinkie spit.

Vinyl approached her quietly and leaned into her ear before whispering.

“I’m going to enjoy watching you cook…”

Pinkie responded with silence.

Vinyl stepped away and gestured for the switch to be thrown. That short second between throwing the switch and the effect to start seemed like time froze in that room. Nothing but dead silence filled the air followed by the sound of shocking and magic sparking.

Pinkie’s body started convulsing frantically as sparks and jolts shot off of it. Biting her lower lip she refused to let out any screams or sounds of pain.

Twilight turned away, unable to watch. Vinyl however stared in awe with a sinister grin on her face.

“Burn you bitch… Burn…” Vinyl nearly whispered.

The crowd was speechless; they weren’t sure how to react. They should have been ecstatic that a criminal was getting what she deserved, but they were more or less mortified by the sight of her being killed in front of them. Executions weren’t common in Equestria, and the princesses along with Twilight had always preached against them. With the social reform violent crimes like this one had dropped significantly as well. They had been able to avoid civil war for so long only to jump into war with Trixie.

Pinkie’s suffering would only last a brief moment however. Through the tall windows looking down on the room ponies could see a black pillar of dark energies strike down from the sky, tainting the ground around at an alarming rate.

A thick blackness encompassed everything that stood in its path, as it spread like wildfire.

The shockwave from the blast shattered the windows and caused glass shards to rain down, every pony ducking to keep them from getting in their eyes and every other orifice as best they could. A support beam for the building gave way and came down like thunder.

“Every pony clear the area! Vinyl Scratch come on with me, we need to get in the chopper!” Twilight instructed.

“But Pinkie-“ Vinyl protested.

“Forget her; I have a distress call that was issued directly to me. We have a pony that needs rescuing right now!” Twilight barked.

“Fuck them, besides who issues a distress call to the general?” Vinyl replied.

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied.

Vinyl nodded.

“Well, then what the fuck are we doing here? If Dashie issued a distress call she must be in some serious trouble that shit has never happened before…” Vinyl said.

The two darted out of the collapsing building, leaving the tethered Pinkie Pie to her fate. After fastening themselves into their air lift Vinyl peered over at Twilight.

“What?” Twilight questioned.

“Do you think that building will crush her?” Vinyl asked.

Twilight sighed and turned her attention to the collapsing building out the window as Vinyl started the engine.

“Knowing Pinkie Pie, it’ll take more than that to end her…” Twilight replied.

“That’s an interesting story…” I said to the mare.

Vinyl just nodded and levitated a cigarette to her lips. Taking as puff she let it sit on her lower lip as she spoke. There really was no such thing as manners to her.

“Yeah, and now Twilight is letting her off the hook with this amnesty bullshit. Worse part is that pink cunt has got Rainbow Dash believing her bullshit too,” Vinyl said.

“I don’t think it’s like that,” I responded.

Vinyl gave me a curious face.

“Rainbow Dash has survived out there in the harsh ruins for over six years on her own. I’d imagine it’s pretty lonely out there. She probably just forgets about what Pinkie has done because it’s easier to have a friend out there than to not have one…” I explained.

I had no idea if I was even close to correct to be honest. Rainbow Dash never divulged if she was lonely or not, and she never said a word about Pinkie’s past, but it was the best guess I had. It was entirely possible that the two only co-exist because it’s easier for survival as well.

Vinyl sighed and took another drag of her cancer stick before nodding.

“You’re probably right, I mean as tough as Dashie is, she’s only a pony…” Vinyl smirked.

She’s only a pony. Those words stuck to me. Vinyl was right; Rainbow Dash was another pony like me, or Vinyl. It was always odd to think of her on such a equal level, but if I forgot that she was a war hero, and “the miracle” all that was left was an unfortunate mare caught in the middle of a war she had nothing to do with.

“You know she lost her sister right…?” I questioned.

Vinyl nodded.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that story once or twice. Trixie’s goons killed her right in front of Dashie, made sure she watched as it happened too, disgraceful,” Vinyl answered.

“Where do you stand in all this?” I asked.

Vinyl gave a light chuckle and took another puff. She blew out a ring of smoke and smiled.

“Didn’t they tell you? I’m the voice of Equestria, kid. If you stay close, you may be able to live long enough to see that for yourself,” Vinyl replied.

I had heard stories about the mare being a radio host before the war. Twilight mentioned that Vinyl used to speak against the ruling body and promote revolution to the general public. She had become a real threat to the crown as she had a majority of Equestria listening to her. That’s where she earned the title of “the voice of Equestria.” She was always rebellious, even before the war.

“Try not to distract the pilot too much,” I warned as I took my leave.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight fell silent as I re-entered the passenger section. Clearly my hunch about them wanting to carry on private conversation was correct.

Trying to ignore the awkwardness of the situation I stood near the open passenger door.

“Hey, here’s a question, how exactly are we going to walk on clouds?” I broke the silence.

Vinyl’s voice resonated from behind me.

“I’m curious about that too,” she added.

Turning around I noticed Vinyl coming out of the cockpit. She was at least decent enough to put out her cigarette before entering.

“We discovered a long time ago that a pegasus is able to walk on clouds because of small traces of magic within their feathers. We also discovered that if we put an enchantment on these feathers that they would retain this magic indefinitely even after removal. So as long as a pony carries one of these feathers, they may walk on clouds.” Twilight smiled.

Twilight seemed to enjoy explaining things.

“I did one up on that though…” Twilight added.

She levitated two metallic looking feathers on rope necklaces to us. Vinyl Scratch and I both placed one around our necks. Vinyl shot Twilight a confused look.

“What are these?” She questioned.

“Well, I decided to make them more permanent with an alchemy spell. The feathers are coated in a layer of gold that will keep them from degrading.” Twilight answered.

I stared at the sparkling yellow feather in awe.

“Thank you Twilight,” I bowed.

Twilight shook her hoof in a modest gesture.

“Thank Rainbow Dash, she was the one who graciously donated the feathers,” Twilight said.

My attention turned to the bored looking Rainbow Dash sitting next to her. She remained silent and didn’t even look in our direction with the mention of her name. She stared out the window with an uninterested look on her face. I could only imagine whatever Twilight and her were talking about earlier had put her off.

I looked back out the passenger door and sighed.

A loud crack was heard throughout the entire vehicle and pushed it to the left. Everypony fell either out of their seat or onto the floor, everypony except me. After I had realized what was happening I noticed there was nothing under me to catch my fall.

I was taking a dive to the earth that was thousands of feet down below. Looking up to the chopper I saw Rainbow Dash standing at the doorway, and taking a nose dive after me.

It didn’t take the speedy pegasus long to catch up with me. She flapped the only wing she had to pick up enough speed to pull me close to her. I wrapped my front hooves around her neck as best I could and held on tight.

Dash grabbed a pull chord on some sort of backpack she had grabbed and tugged it viciously with her mouth. She gave it three or four tugs before cursing and giving up on it.

“Shit…” She hissed.

“What are we going to do!?” I screamed over the wind.

Dash closed her eyes and began to take inhale then exhale. She appeared to be trying to calm herself. When her eyes finally opened she turned to me.

“Get on my back and hold on tight!” She instructed.

Dash tore at the straps holding on the bag and ripped it off of her, tossing it into the air. I replaced it upon her back holding on for dear life. With only one wing she couldn’t even get herself to the ground safely, let alone a colt that was probably around the same weight as her.

The moment I was on her back and turned her body and went for a full on nose dive towards the ground, flapping her sole wing furiously.

“Alright kid, we’re going to need a lot of speed to pull this off, so just hold on. You may hear your ears pop, so just try and stay with me alright!?” Dash hollered back to me.

I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.

Dash had a look of extreme concentration on her face.

Listening carefully I was able to make out her talking to herself.

“Come on Dash, you can do this… You’ve done it before…” She told herself.

I noticed that our velocity was picking up very quickly. I could hear a crackling noise all around me.

Before I knew it I heard an ear shattering crack. Looking down in front of me, I saw a burst of light and colors spray from every direction in front of us. I couldn’t believe what I was witnessing.

Dash used the burst to change directions and hurl us in a 90 degree angle above the ground; instead of hitting nose first we slid and tumbled across the dirt and dust. My body ached at each bump we hit.

After we had stopped rolling I stood up and gazed at the sky. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing; a rainbow.

“I can’t believe it…” I nearly whispered.

“A SONIC RAINBOOM!” I burst out into a cheer.

I had never thought I’d see one in my lifetime. I had heard of Rainbow Dash performing them before, but never thought I’d get to see one, especially as close as I just had.

“Rainbow Dash you’re amazing!” I yelled.

Dash picked herself up from the dirt and gazed at the sky with a shocked expression. She seemed far more surprised by the feat than I was.

“I did it… I actually… Did it…” She stuttered.

“You were incredible!” I complimented.

Dash approached me quietly. I met her eyes with my own and waited for what she had to say. To my surprise she said nothing, instead she pulled my head into her chest and held me there tightly. Dash stroked my mane softly, and I felt a wet spot appear on my head.

“Flare, I thought I had lost you…” She finally spoke.

I said nothing.

“Flare, when you go to Cloudsdale promise me something…” She said.

“What’s that?” I asked.

She turned my head up to face her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Don’t die. Please Flare, don’t die on me… Stay close to Vinyl Scratch, and don’t do anything too risky…” She choked.

“Rainbow Dash, I…” I started.

“I got you involved in this Flare. I’ve had a lot of ponies die for me, and I don’t think I can take one more. Please Flare; promise me that you’ll be careful…” She shook me.

I smiled to her.

“I promise,” I replied.

Dash nodded and pulled me back in for another embrace. I had never seen her this vulnerable before.

“Rainbow Dash! Flare!” The familiar voice of Twilight called out behind us.

“Twilight!” I yelled back, still tightly held by Rainbow Dash.

Twilight, Octavia and Vinyl Scratch came out of a clearing, the three of them awestruck by the rainbow in the sky; they appeared just as shocked as Rainbow Dash and I.

“Something hit the chopper, and we had an engine failure. Fortunately Octavia was able to bring us down with us still intact, though I can’t say the same for the chopper…” Twilight explained.

Something hit us?

“What hit us?” I raised a brow.

“After assessing the damage, it looked like it was an anti-vehicle round. It ripped right through the engine and came out the other side…” Twilight bit her lip.

That meant that some pony was trying to kill us.

“You think it was Trixie?” Rainbow Dash chimed in.

She had released me from her grip finally.

“No, this wasn’t a normal bullet. We found traces of magic left behind where it penetrated, not dark magic either, some kind we’ve never seen before. Our U.M.S.A.’s have nothing on it, we’ll have to check the database back in Canterlot, but we’re certain that if it is Trixie she’s got her hooves on some new toys,” Twilight said.

“Could there be somepony else out there that wants us dead?” I questioned.

“No clue, but I take a look at the sky,” Twilight smirked.

The five of us looked to the heavens. The dark ominous clouds had dispersed from the point where the sonic rainboom took place. We were actually able to see clear sky, something I had not seen in seven years.

“The sonic rainboom is so powerful that it repels the darkness, I bet our friend Trixie would like to see this…” Twilight smirked.

A lowly grunt made a series of hissing noises while he pounded upon the water facility where his master was residing currently.

“Hold on! I’m coming, I’m coming…” Came an annoyed female voice from behind the door.

An agitated Trixie exited with a towel resting on her wet mane. She growled at the peon and marched to her usual spot in the center of the room.

“This had better be worth interrupting me during my bath…” Trixie scolded.

Her minion made another series of hissing noises to which Trixie responded with a smirk. Throwing the towel off of her head she spun in her chair and commanded the others in the room.

“Well what are you waiting for!? You heard him, we have an incoming message from Twilight Sparkle, put her through! It looks like she’s finally giving up,” Trixie demanded.

Three of her peons worked some controls near the center of the room and a screen appeared before Trixie with Twilight’s face.

“Twilight Sparkle, it’s nice to see you again…” Trixie smiled deviously.

“Likewise,” Twilight replied.

“I take it you’ve finally come to your senses and decided to surrender?” Trixie spoke.

Twilight shook her head.

“No, I just thought you’d want to see something,” Twilight answered.

Trixie grunted to show her discontent.

The view was then shifted on Twilight’s end to show the sky. Trixie noticed that there was a multi-colored light spectrum radiating from a central point. The view then shifted down to a familiar Rainbow colored mare, then back to Twilight.

Trixie’s jaw dropped.

“That’s right Trixie, a sonic rainboom. You know what that means? It means that Dash still has it, I’d be worried if I were you.” Twilight tormented.

“Put Rainbow Dash on!” Trixie demanded.

Twilight sighed and handed the call over to Rainbow Dash.

“Ah, Rainbow Dash, nice to see you again…” Trixie smiled.

“Fuck you Trixie, what do you want?” Dash hissed.

“Rainbow Dash, you and I both want the same thing… You want the fighting to end, and I don’t wish to kill you all if I don’t have to. The darkness will make us complete Rainbow Dash, it will destroy our barbaric tendencies, it’ll bring us into the utopia we’ve always dreamed of,” Trixie explained.

Dash rolled her eyes.

“Forget it, I’ll never join you,” She replied.

“Why not Dash? Didn’t you join the resistance to put an end to senseless death? My master offers just that, the end of self destruction.” Trixie lectured.

“There’s no point. We would only end the violence by taking away our free will. If we are going to live in a world without violence, then I want it to be a world that we chose, and not one that was forced upon us. We have nothing left to discuss Trixie, don’t forget my promise.” Dash ended the transmission.

Trixie leaned back in her chair and exhaled.

“They always want to do things the hard way don’t they?” She sighed.

Levitating a photo of Rainbow Dash in front of her, Trixie began to study it. A smile played her lips as she ignited the photo.

“Then die…” She said.

“So how exactly are we getting to Cloudsdale now? The chopper is gone, and none of us can fly…” I pointed out.

Twilight bit her lip and looked up in thought.

“They could go through the mines…” Octavia spoke.

“There was an old teleport beacon down there… It might still work…” Twilight pondered.

Vinyl scratch took a step forward.

“Sounds like a plan, what about you three?” Vinyl asked.

“We’ll get back to Canterlot on foot. Don’t worry; we’re more than a match for any savages out here.” Twilight drew a blade.

Vinyl laughed.

“Do you even know how to use that thing? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a fight One Eye! I mean with Rainbow Dash you’re pretty safe, but I don’t know how much trust I’d put in you in a fire fight,” Vinyl teased.

Twilight rolled her eyes.

“I was trained by Celestia herself in the royal combat style. I think I’ll manage just fine,” Twilight barked.

Rainbow Dash placed her front hooves upon my shoulders and turned my attention towards her. I focused on her intently.

“Listen Flare, the mines have been abandoned since before the war. They used to use the teleport beacon down there to transport diamonds to Cloudsdale. The whole mine was closed down because of a bunch of bandits kept raiding it and a couple of gas explosions. I haven’t been to the mines in years, but I doubt it’s very safe. Stay close to Vinyl Scratch, and don’t try to be a hero Flare.” Dash instructed.

I nodded.

Rainbow Dash pulled me in for another hug, I returned it this time.

“Come on lover boy, we got some fun to have!” Vinyl yelled.

Dash and I released each other. Looking at her, I shot her a smile, which she returned.

“Good luck,” Dash said.