June 10th, 2307 SET.  Apple Harvest Colony

Rainbow flew low over the ground, taking in her surroundings.  At five o’clock in the morning, the sun was just beginning to light the furthest reaches of sky, creating a contrast of pink and purple.  Kinda’ like Twilight’s mane, Rainbow thought to herself.  The near silent whisper of her wings against the complete silence of the town, coupled with the near black sky created an almost surreal feeling to her.  Apple Harvest’s moon hung lazily over the mountains, guiding her towards the center of town with a dim limelight for her to follow.  She found herself starring at the moon, wondering what it must have been like to see the Princess raise the Sun to replace the moon so long ago. I bet it was wonderful... She let the thought hang for a moment, letting herself enjoy a regal moment that was far away from the conflict of today.  She imagined what it was like to see Celestia stand on her pedestal, the glowing sun striking her mane and shining colors over her subjects. Not any more...not after old Equestria fell.

She had been lost in the thought for so long that she found herself face to face with the door to Rarity’s home.  She took a calming breath before knocking.  At first, no pony stirred.  After giving the door a slightly harder rapping, she could hear hoofsteps coming from inside.  The door creaked open slight and Sweetie Bell stood in the doorway yawning.  “Hey Rainbow Dash, what’s going on?”

A warm smile came to Rainbow’s face, “Hey Sweetie Bell, was there a Cutie Mark Crusader Sleepover at Rarity’s place last night?”

“Yeah, there was supposed to be but Scootaloo said she was sick and couldn’t come.  We offered to postpone it for her but she said to go on with it...here comes Applebloom,” she said, pulling the door open wider to show another filly.

“Hey Rainbow, you guys are leavin’ soon, ain’t ya?” Applebloom asked, holding back a yawn.

“Uh...yeah, I was just coming to say goodbye.  Sweetie Bell, could you get Rarity so I can say goodbye to all of you at once?” Rainbow asked quietly.  Sweetie nodded and trotted off slowly.

“I’m so proud of Big Sis’; I mean she’s the first Apple to be a pilot!  You’ll take good care of her, right?” Applebloom asked, eyes full of both concern and excitement.

“Of course I will, I won’t let her out of my sight,” Rainbow said confidently.  At the sound of this, a big comforting smile laid out across Applebloom’s face.  She beamed at Rainbow for a moment, her eyes now filled with only excitement for her sister and her friend.

A yawn from somewhere unseen in the room indicated that Rarity was up and on her way while Sweetie Bell, who was now fully awake, was back in a flash.  “Rarity’s coming, she didn’t want to get up though, moaned something about beauty sleep, so I just told her you were here,” she said with a smile.

A voice sounded from off in the darkness, “Oh, Rainbow Dash, good to see you again dear.  I had hoped you would say goodbye instead of running off like last time, so glad you are here.”  Her voice was layered with drowsiness.

“Yeah...I guess so.  Don’t worry about me this time, okay?  I can handle myself.”

A yawn was the initial reply.  “Oh Rainbow, I know you can handle yourself, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry.  You are my friend and you are going off to fight, of course I am going to worry.  Just do come back and see us as soon as you can.”  She ended by wrapping her legs around her friend, holding her in a tight embrace.  Rainbow returned the hug then turned to the fillies.

“You guys be good while we’re gone, remember, Rarity is the boss of town while AJ and I aren’t here,” she said slyly.  She then pulled them into a hug, “I’ll see ya’ guys later.”

“Bye Rainbow, we’ll see you when you get back!” They said in unison.

She smiled at them, and then she headed off towards Twilight’s.  She gave a final wave, seeing the door shutting behind the three ponies.  She turned back to where she was facing, one down, three to go.  She opted to keep her hooves on the ground this time and began walking.  Her mind was off on its own now, spitting out random thoughts.  After some time she managed to pluck a single thought and concentrate on it; the ships under her command.  While they didn’t have the time to do it on the planet, she wanted to change the color of all their ships to something that represented where they were from.  She would have to take it up with Applejack since they were her ships, but Rainbow doubted she would object.  Dang, we could have had Rarity do that... but that’s something for later.  Her short train of thought had dropped her off at the front door of Twilight’s home.  She knocked at what she thought was going to be a light knock, but the metal amplified the sound much more than she thought it would.

Rainbow heard the pounding of hooves on stairs and the door swung open and, much to Rainbow’s surprise, stood Pinkie Pie.  “Hey Rainbow, come on in!” she said charismatically.

Rainbow stood still for a moment, confused.  “Uh...hey Pinkie, why are you at Twilight’s at five in the morning?”

“Oh, I figured that since you were going around saying goodbye to ponies, I would save you some time by grabbing Fluttershy and coming here to wait for you,” she said, bouncing in place.

“Uh, how did you know I was saying goodbye?”

“Hmm?  Oh, lucky guess.” She held a smile through the short conversation.  Rainbow was going to ask more questions but a voice from the dark building called her in.

“Rainbow, come in and have cider with us!” Twilight yelled from a room out of sight.

Rainbow eyed Pinkie one more time who was still standing there, smiling.  She then lurched forward slowly, carefully feeling her way around the big, empty room.  Her efforts were rewarded when she trotted into the kitchen where Fluttershy, Twilight, and somehow Pinkie were sitting around the table, sipping on glasses.  Spike walked out from behind the counter, carrying a tray with a teapot on it with another cup for Rainbow.  “Hey Rainbow! Here, this is for you!” He set the tray down at the table, indicating that she was to sit.

“Hey, thanks Spike!” Rainbow said half-heartily.  She approached the table slowly, as if not to disturb her friends.  She sat down gently and sipped on the cup.  The flavor made her lips curl up at the ends. Nothing like a warm cup of apple cider to start the day...  

Twilight was quick to break the silence.  “So Rainbow, how long will you be gone?”

“Oh... I don’t know actually.  As long as we’re needed I guess.” Rainbow didn’t offer up much since she really had no idea how long they would be gone.

“You’ll be careful right?  I mean, no pony wants to see you get hurt, I just wanted to say it, if that’s okay,” Fluttershy said timidly.

“Pshhh... of course I’ll be okay! It’s me remember?  I’ll be sure to bring back Applejack in one piece too.” Rainbow added with a grin.  A small grin from both Twilight and Fluttershy gave Rainbow some confidence, but Pinkie started crying for no apparent reason.  Rainbow tensed up instantly, “Pinkie what’s up? Why are you crying?”

“I don’t want to see you leave again!  It was scary the first and second time! I don’t want you to go a third!” she wailed loudly.  The crying began to agitate Rainbow.

“Pinkie! I will be back, don’t worry about it!  I’m the best flier out there, don’t forget that!”  Pinkie stopped momentarily and stared at her cyan friend before almost resuming the water works until Rainbow put a hoof over her mouth. “I Pinkie Pie promise that I will be back, and I will bring Applejack back too, okay?”  Pinkie’s eyes still had tears in them but she nodded, and then snatched Rainbow and the other two ponies up into a tight embrace.  Rainbow tolerated the hug for a moment before getting claustrophobic and began squirming.  It was only after she began to actually try and struggle out did Pinkie let go.  “Listen everypony, I will be back.  Don’t worry, it’s me after all!  Thanks for the cider Twilight and Spike.” She turned and began to leave, “Bye Fluttershy, bye Pinkie! Be back soon!”  She trotted out into the open air and flapped her wings, leaving her friends behind once more.

“I know it’s you... that’s what I’m afraid of,” Twilight said sadly.

***

Rainbow landed gently at the top of the staircase that led to her tower.  She swung the door open and found Applejack, Cottonball, and Sweet Tart standing around a bit of paper.  They were so busy arguing about something they didn’t hear her come in.

“If we make the pilots carry their suits there will be enough room...”

“They won’t have room for their own belongings...”

“This is war; they shouldn’t need personal belongings...”

“I agree with Cotton, they won’t have room for even their own clothes...”

“Gah, fine, ignore what I say then...”

Rainbow still had a slight headache from Pinkie’s crying and she slammed a hoof down for silence.  The three ponies turned to her quietly.  Applejack was quick to start, “Back so soon? No way ya’ could have gone to all four houses in an hour!”

“I only had to go to two, Rarity’s and Twilight’s.  Pinkie somehow magically knew that I was coming to say goodbye so she grabbed Fluttershy and went to Twilight’s place,” she said coolly.  “Now, what are you arguing about?”

“Oh we were discussin’ how to bring the flight suits on board comfortably, what with the hangar going to be so full n’ what not,” Applejack said, looking back down at the paper.

“They will have a flight crew room for all uniforms and flight suits to be stored.  The barracks will have room for your personal gear,” Rainbow said, her mind finally coming back to focus after the jarring goodbye.

“Oh... that makes sense.” Applejack chuckled.  The other two ponies nodded in agreement.  “Oh Rainbow, the Dream just radioed in, they will be here in just a few minutes, should we get everyone into their fighters?”

Rainbow nodded her head, “Yeah, we need to get moving as soon as we can.  We don’t want to miss any of the action, don’t we?” She was becoming herself again, the goodbyes being pushed to the back of her mind.

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Yeah, which would be a darn shame, wouldn’t it.”

Rainbow smirked at her, then she flicked the radio speaker, “Alright everypony, listen up.  This is what you have been training for, suit up and get ready to fly.  The Midnight Dream will be here soon, so we will do this systematically and smoothly.  Sweet Tart’s squadron will be dispatched first.  Just follow the hangar director’s guidelines and this will go smoothly.  Second will be Cottonball’s squadron, and third will be mine.”  She flicked the switch for the last time, shutting it down.  She turned to the other three, a smile on her face.  “Well, let’s roll out!”

***

June 13th, 2307 SET. Midnight Dream Bridge, Hyperspace.

Rainbow stood on the bridge next Captain Sharp Eye.  He was a large blue earth pony with a striped mane that alternated between a light blue and a blue that matched his coat.  His mane was cut short like his tail and the captain’s hat made him look almost stereotypically like a captain out of a picture or something.  The only thing that could have made him look any better would be if he had a pipe or a cigar, Rainbow found herself thinking and it almost made her laugh.

After three days of constant checking and maintenance of their ships, the colonist pilots had run out of things to do.  Some played cards while others slept.  Applejack had opted to take care of some unfinished paper work while Rainbow sat on the bridge, talking with the Captain.  She had found out that while the main gunners’ station was now abandoned, it offered an area for the rest of his gunners a chance to run practice and he had assured her that she would not find a better crew suited for this job.

She was not up at the bridge for small talk this time however. There was a concern to be dealt with.  Apparently, none of the units that were in the engagement zone were returning hails.  While not unheard of, such a large gathering of military units usually demanded communication amongst the ships, especially inbound ones.  All it would take would be a pony who was trigger happy to end their trip as soon as they arrived in-system.  The main concern, however, was that there was no radar contact, friendly or otherwise.  This was unusual, and unusual to Rainbow meant dangerous.  The captain had gone from green alert to orange alert.  This meant that all ponies were to be at their stations, deck ponies and otherwise.  While her pilots needed not to be in their flight suits, they did need to be ready to go.  Exactly what we trained for... she let the though trail off.  She was much more focused on the large read out of the area in front of her.  A large, blank spot covered the area that was supposed to be filled with blue and green blips.  The area that overlapped SS space which was normally red was also grey.  The Captain looked over towards the com station, “alert the crew, one minute until real space conversion,” he said gruffly.  The magenta mare nodded and repeated the statement over the intercom.

Rainbow tapped her personal comm unit, “Cottonball, Sweet Tart, you heard the message.  Be ready for anything, if I come running, you get running.  Understood?”  Two clicks were the response from her radio. Let’s see how fast you can do it under real pressure...

The minute was a slow and silent one, with everypony waiting to see what was going to happen.  She watched the counter count down from sixty.  As it got closer to zero, it seemed to slow down.  As it hit five, she turned her eyes to the view port.  Bright lines became blurs which became stars, a small planet off in the distance materialized.  At first her eyes picked up nothing strange.  A large red light shook her out of her stupor; the speaker started wailing enemy contact warnings.  “Red alert! Red alert! Enemy contacts confirmed!”  Rainbow shook her head and bolted for the elevator.

She clicked her com as her wings carried her, “go now! Suit up! I’m just leaving the bridge, remember, minute and half.  Stay calm but hurry.  I’ll be there in sixty seconds.”  Two more clicks were the response, and she could only imagine how they were feeling.  This was drilled into her, she was ready.  They weren't, but she hoped they would do their best.  It was all she could hope for.

Unlike the last minute, this one went much quicker.  Rainbow was into the flight crew room and into her suit in forty-five seconds, counting the time from the bridge.  She then relied on her legs to get her to the hangar in the fifteen seconds she allotted herself.  She got there in twelve.  She bolted to her ship which had just been fully fueled and armed.  The last of the deck ponies had finished filling and arming the rest of the fighters and were beginning to file out as her pilots began to swarm in. Not bad, a little less than a minute and a half.  She flicked on the power with her hoof and strapped herself in.  She then hit a key and the canopy closed around her.  

She plucked her helmet from the control stick and began to run pre-flight diagnostics.  “Flight control, this is Lancer 1, callsign Bolt.  Comm’s check?”

“Roger Bolt, you’re reading loud and clear, continue with diagnostics, you can take comm checks for your squadron from here on out.”  Rainbow clicked her response.  She had just finished her pre-flight check list when the ship began to groan and shake.

Her intercom roared to life, “Commander Dash? Captain Sharp, we have inbound fighters.  Take off as soon as you can.”  The noise died as quick as it came.  His voice erupted from the overhead speakers this time, “All batteries return fire!”  The small thudding of gunfire stirred Rainbow to move faster.  She was ready to go, but her squadron had still yet to check in.

“Squadron Three, anypony out there?” She asked hurriedly.

“Oh, sorry Rainbow, forgot to check in,” buzzed Applejack’s voice, “But Skips and I are good to go!”

“Alright, anypony else-” she was cut off by Cottonball.

“Commander, my squadron is good to go, permission to take off?”

“Yes, cleared for takeoff, defend the Dream; we will be out to assist momentarily!” Rainbow forced.  A click was the response as the bay doors below the first squadron dropped open and five fighters fell out of sight.

Fifteen grueling seconds later, the other three fighters for Rainbow’s squadron had checked in, but not until after Sweet Tarts squadron had launched.  “Comm’s check, one last time, just click the button.”  Four clicks, four ships good to go.  She switched over to the all squadron channel, “Alright ponies, you thought I was hell?"  The hangar bays below swung open, sucking the ships out into space, "I lied.”