Rainbow Dash awoke to the peaceful sound of wind blowing into the cave. While she felt a bit chilly, she was pleased that she had been able to have so restful a slumber. Looking down at her watch, she noticed that she had overslept! Her initial plan had been to fly over the camp in the morning, thus reducing her chances of getting spotted. It was now high noon, and if she flew over the camp there was an elevated risk of getting spotted and shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

“Looks like I’ll have to delay my fly over until morning,” thought Rainbow Dash to herself.

Reaching into her satchel, she took out the food she had packed for herself. Leaning down, she picked up a loaf of bread with her mouth and began to chew on the food.
Reflecting on the past couple of months of her life, she realized just how truly blessed she was. She was surrounded by amazing friends, her dream of joining the Wonderbolts had come true, and now she had a beautiful daughter waiting for her back home.
“All I have to do is return home safely from this mission and I can go back to living my life,” thought the rainbow colored pegasus to herself.
The thought of death scared her. While she wasn’t particularly religious, she did believe in the Equestrian pantheon of gods and the concept of an afterlife. She wondered if she was a good person and whether she would be in paradise of she got killed while in service towards her country.
Turning her thoughts back to this world, she wondered how her friends would respond to her dying. Certainly they would miss her, she thought to herself. But who would take care of Tank? Or Scootaloo? The thought of Scootaloo being orphaned once again made her shudder. She resolved then and there to never let that happen. She would do her mission and then return back to Equestria. If Celestia ever asked her to go on another secret mission she would politely reject such an offer. Her obligations to her family came first.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash’s train of thought was broken by the sound of approaching footsteps and indistinct conversations. Collecting her possessions, Rainbow dove behind a large boulder in the cave. Holding her breath, she didn’t dare make a noise as the humans entered the cave.
“Накройте вход в то время как я проверяю пещеру для беглеца,” said one of the humans in what Dash guessed was Russian. Not knowing what was being said merely added to her panic. Quietly, she slid her satchel onto her back, moving swiftly but quietly, hoping not to alert the approaching human.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the human being, dressed in military fatigues, walk past her, his rifle raised.
“I’ve got to get out of here,” thought Rainbow Dash to herself.
Jumping over the bolder, she spread her wings out and raced for the entrance of the cave. Seeing three more humans, each raising their rifles towards her, she swung left and then right, hoping to evade their gun fire.
However, just as she was about to zip past the humans blocking the entrance, she felt a surge of excruciating pain race through her left wing. As she fell towards the ground she saw her whole life flash before her eyes, every pain and pleasure she had ever experience being felt in an instant.
Rainbow Dash struck the ground with a painful crunch and her whole world went dark.

Author's Notes:

End of Chapter 18