Warning:
Implied clop and awkward conversation about it.
Violence
X.X
Rainbow Dash cracked her eyes open as soon as she heard the drill sergeant swing open the door and blew the whistle for everypony to get up. Her body was sore from the event the night before. Remembering it caused a small blush to appear on her cheeks and smiled softly. Last night had been one of the most amazing nights she's ever encountered in her lifetime. It's now safe to say that both she and Star are no longer virgins. Unfortunately Star couldn't stay because, well, it was the mares barracks. And the drill sergeant wouldn't have been too happy to see them cuddled up together in bed. Either way, Rainbow Dash was glad it happened and cherished every moment of it.
"What's gotten you in such a good mood today?" Applejack asked while they were running their morning laps around the field.
Rainbow Dash blushed. "Something happened between me and Star Knight the other day..." she said a bit quietly so that the others wouldn't hear.
"What do you mea-" Applejack then realized what she meant and her eyes widened and jaw dropped. "You did not..."
Dash grinned widely and bobbed her head. Applejack didn't know what to say to that. She was bordering in between shock and joy. She was happy that she and Star did it, but at the same time she was shocked that it happened so soon. "Was he wearing protection?" she asked teasingly.
Rainbow Dash blushed madly. "Applejack!" she laughed. Applejack simply laughed in return.
"What was it like? You know...doing it for the first time?" Applejack then asked a bit quietly. Feeling a tad bit embarrassed about the question.
Rainbow Dash stifled a laugh. "Why do you want to know, AJ?" she asked.
Applejack's face became red. "W-well, uh, I'm just curious. That's all." she replied.
Rainbow Dash shook her head fondly. "I will admit that it did hurt a bit at first." she stated. "But after a few seconds, I became use to it. The feeling was...indescribable. Oh, AJ. It was one of the best nights I've ever had."
"You lucky mare." Applejack grinned. "You planning on telling the others that you're no longer a virgin?"
"Maybe when this is all over." Rainbow Dash replied. "But to me this seems like one of those things that you keep private, if you know what I mean."
"Of course." Applejack nodded. "I just wanted to see Pinkie's face if she found out."
"Ha! Now that's something I would like to see."
Both mares laughed. They were both immediately silenced when the whistle was suddenly blown and Spitfire pointed a hoof at them. "You two! Less yappin', and more runnin'!"
...
"P-Princess..." Dr. Beautiful Breeze stammered a bit. "Forgive me for questioning your choices, but are you sure you wish to send out these rookies in such a dangerous task?" A turquoise colored standing beside her nodded in agreement.
"Yes. These ponies aren't ready for a quest of this level." the turquoise unicorn said. "That territory isn't even marked on the map!"
Cadence tightened her jaw a bit, but kept calm. They have every right to question her about her request, but something in her heart told her that it's the right thing to do. The only thing she can do. "It's only for an expedition, and part of their training to test their willpower and endurance. And besides," she looks over her shoulder and smiles, "They've gone through a lot worse."
Dr. BB and the turquoise unicorn looked at one another with hesitated looks in their eyes, but trusted Cadence's words and nodded in unison. "We'll let them know right away." Dr. BB said.
Cadence nodded. "They are to be escorted to the station and be brought over to the Macintosh Hills. From there...I'm afraid they'll be on their own. Which is why I'm sending both Rarity and Trixie with them. They are the only unicorns who know of the long-distance teleportation spell. But they are to use it for EXTREME emergencies only." She looked over to the turquoise unicorn.
"Yes, Princess." Turquoise nodded.
Cadence nodded. "Good. They are to leave in one hour. The earlier they go, the better."
"Right." Both mares nodded in unison.
...
Surp backed himself against the rock wall of one of the caves just beyond Sombra's castle; covered in fresh scratch wounds and eyes narrowed at the two larger dragons approaching him. Their outlines and glowing white eyes the only things standing out in the darkness.
"Weak!" Ua, his elder cousin, spat at him as he drew closer. His sharp nails scratched against the floor and created small sparks that quickly died out. "Disgrace!" Rith, his own older brother, added bitterly. Both of their claws were stained in his blood. They approached him with sinister and malicious intent in mind. Surp knew no one would save him, because weakness is considered a disgrace in his clan. Even his own brother and cousin felt nothing but disgust towards him now. They had learned of his failure in the pony city, and now desired to teach him a "lesson".
Surp hissed and snarled at his family members. Tail swishing behind him violently as he crouched down defensively and flared his wings, warning them to back off. In order to survive, he had to fight. The life of a dragon is nothing but survival; only the strongest shall live on in this world of shattered peace. Using all of his energy, he lunged forward and tackled his cousin to the ground. There was some hissing and snarling before the younger dragon went for his neck before "tearing" opening his jaws and sinking his teeth into the tender flesh. Ua hissed in pain and dug his claws into his back before ripping down.
Surp winced from the pain, but didn't loosen his grip on his neck. Instead he only sunk his teeth deeper. Rith jumped him from behind. The three dragons fell to the ground clawing and biting one another, with Surp receiving the most wounds out of the three. The trio would've torn each other to shreds if it hadn't been for the intervention of a young adult dragoness; the younger sister of Surp and Rith: Calaun.
The sleek dragoness landed on the cliff outside of the cave and hissed in annoyance when she saw the three fighting. "Enough you fools!" she screeched at them.
"Be gone, sister!" Rith snarled at his sister. His claws wrapped around their brother's jaws and forcing them shut.
Calaun narrowed her eyes and flared her wings slightly. "You have punished our brother enough. He is good enough alive than dead." Rith growled softly before releasing his grip on his brother's jaws. Surp then shoved their cousin off and got back on all fours. Shaking his bleeding body and tending to some of his wounds.
Rith and Ua gave both young adults a dangerous look before taking off into the blizzard outside. Calaun turned her attention over to her second older brother and rolled her eyes. "Fool." she said to him. Surp narrowed his eyes at his little sister dangerously.
"Leave." he hissed.
Calaun would've smirked if she could.
...
Rarity made a depressed sigh after packing the last of her necessities into a small pack. Necessities consisting of: water, protein bars, medical supplies, and a compass. She turned her head over to Trixie, seeing that she had the same gloomy expression as well. They'd only been in training for a couple of weeks until they received the news from their commander that Cadence had assigned them to bodyguard two in-training medics on a mission to the south. An expedition of sorts.
After placing their packs on, both unicorns nodded and left the barracks, and the training grounds, without exchanging a word. The weather was very sunny and humid. Around them, ponies went along with their usual business the best they could. There were still parts of Canterlot that have yet to be rebuilt; remaining as they were since the horrific battle as a bitter reminder to them all. The pony residents were less lively as well. A few of which that were traumatized from the whole thing.
Rarity or Trixie couldn't blame them. No pony could.
They received a few curious glances as they were escorted to the train station. From there they would be taken all the way to the last station near the border to the Macintosh Hills. There they would have to trek through the hills and find...something. They weren't exactly given details as to what their main objective for this trip even is. They were just told to be ready in an hour and be escorted to the train station. Rarity had silently wished she was given time to at least see her friends and say goodbye. Speaking of friends, she hasn't seen any of them since they went their separate ways for training. She wondered every day if they were alright.
The train was already up and ready to go when they arrived. Circular rings of smoke puffed out of the steam engine before dissolving rather quickly. The train doors opened and both ponies walked in, where they were greeted by one of the most joyous surprises of their lives.
"RARITY!" Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy squealed happily once they saw their friend. Rarity's eyes widened and she made a slack-jawed expression.
"PINKIE PIE! FLUTTERSHY!" she cried happily before colliding with them in a tight embrace. Trixie stayed where she was and watched. The trio stayed in that embrace until their lungs screamed for air. "It's been so long!" Rarity gasped. Wiping away a few tears of joy.
"Yeah. It really has." Fluttershy replied.
Pinkie Pie noticed Trixie over Rarity's shoulder and grinned widely before jumping over and embracing the blue unicorn in a tight hug as well. "We can't leave you out, Trixie!" Pinkie Pie said.
Trixie will admit that she felt a bit uncomfortable by receiving a hug from somepony. She awkwardly returned the hug back the best she could without showing her discomfort. "Yeah... Thanks Pinkie Pie..." she said as she patted her back. "Now would you kindly release me, please? I think I'm starting to suffocate here..."
"Oh, right, sorry." Pinkie Pie giggled before releasing her.
Outside they heard the train whistle blow. Stumbling a bit when they felt the train begin to move. "This is it then." Rarity said. "It looks like we've got ourselves a long journey ahead of us." The others nodded silently in agreement.
"But at least it gives us time to catch up now." Fluttershy added with a shy smile. They all laughed quietly.
"Hm!" Rarity agreed with a nod. "Yes it does. Why don't we all find a seat and talk about what's been going on, shall we?"
Pinkie Pie grinned. "Yes please!" she said.
...
Celestia faded in and out of consciousness. Her body felt completely numb to the core. She made shallow breaths as she attempted to stabilize her rapidly beating heart. Her mind completely white and vision almost a complete blur. While she struggled to stay awake, she did sense another presence in the room with her. A living, breathing, presence.
"Daddy?" she asked in an almost inaudible whisper. Still in a complete daze.
There was a brief silence before she heard something shift in front of her and felt something brush against her mane. "Yeah, 'Tia. It's daddy..." Discord said softly just before she slipped out of consciousness once more.
X.X
Well... This took a while to come up with... Good news is, however. My mom is doing better now! We took her to the doctor and now she's doing just fine :)
Northgalus2002: Thanks :) And yeah, I do worry too much. It's a habit, I guess XD
sacob1: Thanks :)
Ms. Moonshoes Potter: XD Well now you know!
dragon born human: Thanks for the review! :D
Wild Heart1997: Your last sentence about Dashy and Star made me crack up! XD
ZeldatheWarriorPrincess: She was more so brainwashed or manipulated into becoming evil again. There is still a bit of Princess Luna in her that remains completely unsure if her decision was the right one or not.
WhoaCreeper: Ikr? ;D
N1GHTM4R3: In complete honesty, I can't think of any Twilight/Sombra chapters as of late XD. Even though this fic was originally supposed to be about them.
Guest: There's more in the future...
It might be some time until the next chapter arrives, but until then, stay tuned ;)!