Chapter 13: Dealing with Dash

The next day came bright and early, or at least it seemed that way to Shadow. He awoke in his new home, feeling well rested. After getting up, Shadow ventured into his bathroom, and prepared to redress his wound. As he slowly peeled back the bandages on his shoulder, Storm smiled. Instead of a deep red gash in his shoulder, he saw the familiar colour of his pale skin, covered in a thin lining of black fur. Gleefully, Shadow tossed the used dressing in the trash, and ventured downstairs. His glee was slightly dampened, however, as he passed a mirror. He glanced and saw his familiar face grinning back, with it's all too new scar across his eye.

After a moment of pondering on this, his thoughts turned once again to Dash. What was the meaning of that kiss? Was it something or nothing? Shadow had to know. With renewed vigour, he left the house, and began flying toward town. After scouting the city quickly, he found that Rainbow was nowhere in sight.

'Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since two nights ago...' Shadow thought, halting in the air.

Shadow quickly bolted back down to the ground, and landed in the middle of town. He walked rapidly toward Sugarcube Corner. He entered and found Mr. Cake, manning the till.

"Well hello there son," Mr Cake cried gleefully, as Shadow walked in, "What can I do for you?"

Shadow walked up to the counter and stated, "I'm looking for Pinkie, is she here?"

"Oh, no dear," Shadow heard (presumably) Mrs Cake yell from the kitchen, "She left about an hour ago to see Twilight Sparkle."

Shadow quickly thanked the two Ponies and headed off to the library. He arrived to find Twilight and Pinkie, discussing something. They two saw Shadow enter and immediately greeted him.

Upon returning their greetings, Shadow addressed Pinkie, "Where's Dash? I need to talk to her."

Pinkie thought for a moment, tapping her chin with her hoof. After a few seconds, she somehow procured a deerstalker hat and pipe. Shadow stared in befuddlement, unable to comprehend how or why Pinkie acted the way she did.

"Aha!" Pinkie finally said, "She's at…"

The mare paused for effect. Shadow merely sighed and raised an eyebrow questioningly, followed by Twilight rolling her eyes.

"Her house!" the pink pony shouted.

With a sigh, Storm nodded. He bolted off once more, with a dogged determination. He needed to know the meaning of that kiss. Everything depended on it. He arrived at Dash's residence, and knocked on the door. As Shadow waited, his hearted pounded and his mind raced.

'Wait… why am I here…? Oh come on Storm, you know you don't have the balls to…'

Further thought was cancelled as the door opened quickly. Dash stood in front of Shadow, smiling as her Rainbow mane flowed from the wind.

"Long time no see, Storms," Rainbow said happily, "Come in, come in."

Storm walked in, staring awkwardly at Dash for a second before realizing he was staring. Rainbow ran off to do something in the next room, humming.

'Well, she seems to be less... depressed at least,' Shadow noted in his head.

After returning to Shadow, Rainbow explained her cheerful countenance, "Spitfire wanted to talk to me, so I invited her over for a late breakfast. Wanna join? I doubt she'd mind."

Shadow's eyes widened with worry and fear.

'Oh great, now Spitfire's going to try to ruin my life,' thought Shadow.

"Dash I need to talk to you about a few things first, its impor-"

Shadow was cut short by the slamming open of the front door. Storm whipped around, his military reflexes going into action. He stood in a combat ready position, before calming slightly. An enraged looking Spitfire stormed in as Shadow stood up straight and saluted.

"Cut the formalities Hotshot," ordered Spitfire in a condescending tone, "Both of you are needed at the command centre outside of town. Be there in ten minutes."

"Ma'am?" Storm questioned, cocking his head to the side.

Without any further indications or speaking, Spitfire stormed back out, and took off with a heavy wing beat. The two other pegasi watched her fly away, and noted her anger even in her flying.

Dash frowned, and asked, "What's her problem?"

"Long story," Shadow answered, in a semi-angry voice, "Short version is... she asked me out last night and I rejected her."

A surprised look spread across Rainbow's face, but disappeared quickly.

"Why?" Dash asked in a quieter tone.

"That's why," Shadow responded, motioning to the dot in the distance that was Spitfire, "Why would I want to be involved with somepony who's that... angry? She got her call sign for a reason, you know."

"True..." Rainbow muttered.

Shadow turned to look at Dash directly, "That's why I like you; you're pretty cool with anything."

Rainbow blushed slightly, before replying, "You're not so bad yourself. Anyway, We need to go. It's not every day that the Wonderbolts request your help."

Shadow cringed, but nodded. He knew they had to go, but disliked the idea of having to wait any longer to ask Dash about the last time they met. The two pegasi flew off quickly, and arrived early at the base (which was essentially a collection of tents and temporary shelters). A crowd gathered around the main command building. The crowd was a mix of Legionnaires, Aircolts, and various local militia ponies.

Storm sighed. He knew the look on some of these faces; the nervousness and terror that strikes deep before battle. The calm before the storm.

A beckoning hoof from a junior Legionnaire officer called Shadow in, followed quickly by Dash. The tent was set up as a briefing room, with a large map pinned to a board on one side of the room, and a group of chairs in front of it. Storm chose to stand, taking a position behind all the chairs. The only people present were some low ranking officers and noncoms.

After a brief wait, Spitfire walked in, with a heavily armoured unicorn officer. Shortly thereafter, the local mid-rank officers entered and sat down, watching anxiously as Spitfire whispered to the Unicorn. After a few moments, she took a stand front and centre, clearing her throat.

"Listen up, here's the SitRep," Spitfire stated, making sure to send a glare towards Shadow, "We found the source of the incursion. It's a small Changeling Outpost in the Everfree Forest. We're going to strike it hard, and fast. Captain Metal."

The officer, Captain Metal, stepped forward and began:

"The Opposing Force we're facing is heavily entrenched and defended. We think there are about two hundred enemy defenders in the base. Our force is about three hundred, so we outnumber them, but don't underestimate the enemy. The battle plan is as follows: Task Force Alpha will attack from the north, drawing the OpFor out. Bravo will flank from the west, focusing on capturing the outpost itself. Alpha will be led by me, with Alpha's air support being led by Lieutenant Hotshot. Bravo will be under complete command by Captain Spitfire and Lieutenant Treads. Any questions?"

Silence.

"Good, dismissed."

Shadow looked surprised at his sudden command, as a large group of ponies gathered outside. He quickly stormed up to Spitfire, whom was examining charts and maps on a table to the side of the main map.

"Ma'am, why exactly am I leading the Alpha Air Support?" Shadow asked angrily.

He was fine with commanding a squad. A squadron would be nice, but some preparation would be needed. The idea of leading an entire Task Force and having no prep time was not one he enjoyed.

Spitfire, without looking at Shadow, responded, "You're the highest ranking RAF officer, aside from me, and you're the most experienced aviator we have."

With a salute, Shadow turned around. He didn't like this idea but acknowledged it and walked off. He left the small tent and went outside to inspect his troops. The outfit was fairly good, comprised of thirty six pegasi, about half aircolts, the other half militia. Many of his coworkers, including Dash, from the Weather Patrol were part of the outfit, and looked very oddly at Shadow as he paced back and forth.

Finally, Shadow commanded, "Lieutenants step forward, and state your names."

Three aggressive looking pegasi stepped forward.

"Lieutenant Gray reporting sir."

"Lieutenant Mace reporting, sir."

"Lieutenant Iron reporting."

After a quick glance, Shadow stated, "I'll be taking Squadron one. Gray, Mace, you'll be leading Squadrons two and three. Iron, jump in and take command if someone gets downed. For now, you're 2IC of my squadron. Hooah?"

A synchronized 'Hooah' was all the answer that Shadow needed. He quickly motioned for ground crews to begin handing out goggles and combat gear.

"Sir."

Being nudged by a crew member, Storm turned around. A familiar navy uniform was extended to him. Storm quickly stepped aside, and slipped into his flight suit, which had apparently been 'retrieved' by ground crews from his home.

The combat ready Shadow stepped out and looked at the crew in front of him. They were all so happy looking, not like the usual combat groups that Shadow knew.

"Hooves up in five minutes!"

The cry from ground control broke Shadow's trance like state. He walked in front of the force, and stood for a moment, collecting his thoughts.

"Fellow ponies, Equestrians," Shadow slowly began, "Many of you have not been in combat. Many of you have heard of our war, but not seen the plight of the soldier in full. Today, you new recruits will be put through hell. I'm not going to sugar coat it. War is bloody and terrifying. But, we have one thing that many of these so called, 'chrysalids' lack; courage. With courage and determination we can win this battle."

Ground crew began rushing around even faster, as did a large amount of Legionnaires.

"Hubris is the bane of our enemy. As long as we can lure them into a false sense of security, then we will win. I will be damned if I lose anypony on my watch. Equestria is counting on you, and as Pegasi, it's our duty to show the Princess what we can do. It's our duty to show the enemy what we can do. Give 'em hay."

A cheer sounded from the group as were ushered onto one of the runways. Everypony around him got into a launch position. Crouching down, Shadow began to take deep breaths, avoiding the hyperventilation that plagued many a flyer.

"Good speech there, Hotshot."

Looking over at Dash, wearing clear goggles and a militia uniform, Shadow grinned.

Lifting his own goggles up, he answered, "Not my best by far. Thanks anyway."

Returning his polarized goggles to their former position, Shadow tossed his neck from side to side, attempting to relax.

"30 seconds!"

Time seemed to slow down for Shadow. He looked at the people around him. He knew half of them, or at least recognized their faces. His smile dropped off his face as he began to shift into his tactical mode, as adrenaline began pumping. They looked so naïve, smiling in the face of danger. He knew better; many of them may not come back alive, some might be permanently injured.

"15 seconds!"

Storm's eyes were drawn to Dash, her mane flowing in the wind as she prepared to launch. Storm marvelled at her grace for a moment.

"10!"

A sudden realization darkened Shadow's heart.

"9!"

He had yet to ask her about the kiss.

"8!"

What if he didn't make it?

"7!"

What if she didn't make it?

"6!"

He couldn't bear the thought of either situation.

"5!"

Shadow decided quickly what he must do.

"4!"

Under no circumstances should he let Rainbow out of his sight, or at least be aware of her constantly.

"3!"

His heart pounded as he turned forward, ready to spring.

"2!"

The number was always terrible. It seemed like forever. The anticipation of the launch and the battle to come was almost unbearable.

"1!"

The edge of Ponyville came alive with pegasi and unicorns, flying and marching toward their destination. The once peaceful village of Ponyville was now engulfed in the fury of war.