Equestrian War Sample

So, this story is a working progress and I would love some feedback! It takes place in an alternate universe, where King Sombra has taken over half of Equestria and a war is raging on. Well, I won't spoil too much, just enjoy the first chapter of this. Chapter One “Be careful out there Cakepop, Colonel Dash is running drills out there, so you stay out of her way!” I remember my mother's familiar voice, comforting me when I was a filly. She was the most relaxing pony I ever had the pleasure of knowing, until she got sent out to help with the war effort down in Base 019 (formerly known as Apploosa, from what I’ve read in those dusty old school books). Gosh, how much I admired Colonel Dash. I still admire her, actually. I really don’t blame her for what she said to me, anypony would. The magical radiation surrounding my home caused me to come out wrong. I don’t know if I count as a pegasus, I can’t even fly. Well, I used to be able to hover when I was a filly but since I got bigger I can’t even get off the ground. My wings are too small and are all twisted, and I don’t have enough feathers. Of course Colonel Dash kicked me out of Air Training (I also read in a dusty book that they used to call it flight school!). Oh great, I’m daydreaming again. I need to get this cake baked. I know it isn’t as helpful with the war effort than making canned food, but sweets are one thing that can keep ponies here going! I must look silly, with flour in my mane. An announcement rang in my ears as I shoved a cake tray into my oven. “PONIES OF BASE014! STAY INSIDE! SENIOR COLONEL RAINBOW DASH IS PERFORMING A SONIC RAINBOOM! PONIES OF BASE014! STAY INSIDE!” Princess Twilight's voice boomed. From what my mother has told me, Princess Twilight has changed a lot since the war broke out. Actually, everyone changed so much from all the stories I hear. Princess Twilight is now so bitter, nasty, mean even! I guess war is a perfect explanation, it can change everything in a blink of an eye. I decided to ignore the safety protocol and peek out of my window at Colonel Dash performing the sonic rainboom. Despite everything, it seems Colonel Dash still loves to perform even until the Wonderbolts disbanded and became the Air Force. It has been a while since she has performed her signature sonic rainboom. It all happened in a flash, and I could barely see her in the sky. Of course I saw the magnificent rainbow, they don’t come around nowadays, the weather team only does basic weather such as rain and snow, but they now spend most of their time in the Air Force. Surprisingly soon, Princess Twilight’s booming roar filled everypony's ears again. “PONIES OF BASE014, THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT! THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT WITH SENIOR COLONEL RAINBOW DASH! STAY INSIDE! STAY INSIDE! THERE WILL BE A CONFERENCE TOMORROW! I REPEAT THERE HAS BEEN AN ACCIDENT, STAY INSIDE!” An accident with Colonel Dash?! Gosh, I can’t help but have a terrible curiosity. With the war I’m sure it was an assassination. My guess would be a Sombran soldier shot her down with magic after they saw the rainboom. I’m sure I will see it in the paper tomorrow, I just have to be patient and wait. I’m definitely sure that it will be the talk of the base for a week, then people will get over it. These things happen all the time, it isn’t anything special. The only reason I said a week instead of a morning is because she’s a senior colonel of the Air Force and of course was a part of the legendary Mane 6 a long time ago. But that was the past, and during war you should only look towards the future. If you focus too much on the past, my mother said that it will only make you sad and you will slow down production and the war effort. Base014 is the main station for soldier training and drills, but I’m in food production. Of course, the Mane 6 are leaders in a lot of the stations. Princess Twilight is, well, princess. Rarity is in clothing manufacturing, which is surprising because from what I hear she was more into frills than practicality, but now she sews uniforms. Rainbow Dash is the Senior Colonel of the Air Force, as I obviously said before. Applejack is in charge of food production, canning apples (yuck, I hate apples, almost everything has been made with apples since the war) and whatnot. Pinkie Pie plans the victory celebrations and failure ceremonies whenever we lose a whole brigade of soldiers to King Sombra. Fluttershy is with the Feral Unit, she trains animals to be rock hard soldiers, but only the dangerous ones. No bunnies will ever be a part of the F.U, but bears, coyotes, manticores, and of course bugbears are the main features of the F.U. I have to be honest though, I don’t know much about the war, despite it raging on long before I was even born. Heck, I’m not even sure how King Sombra returned, but that doesn’t really matter. All that matters is staying alive and helping the brave soldiers fighting in the war. “Hey Cakepop! Did you hear about the accident with Colonel Dash?” My thoughts were interrupted by the deep voice of Junker. “Of course I heard about it, everyone on Base heard it! Princess Twilight announced it!” I pointed out, I swear he could be such an airhead sometimes. But then again, so can I. Junker is tall though, and definitely strong. He looks like a working stallion, and it’s a surprise that he wasn’t drafted, but he works in a junkyard. He enjoys going through trash and making something out of it. Quite gross in my opinion, but it makes him happy, so I can’t judge. His cutie mark isn’t that flattering though, it’s trashed metal surrounded by some rotten apple cores. “Oh, yeah, she did! Do you think Colonel Dash died? That would suck, because then Spitfire would take her place and I don’t like her. She’s much meaner, and my buddy Storm Wing is in that brigade and I don’t like seeing him get yelled at.” I didn’t like where the conversation was going, so I decided to change the subject. Of course I was curious, but I felt it was just cruel to talk about it. “So, uh, Junker, did you make anything new today? I heard you found some old amulet in the dirt, gonna do anything with that?” I asked as I paced around the kitchen, and despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to Colonel Dash. I just couldn’t listen to him ramble on about whatever he found, and frankly I didn’t care. I just wanted to know about the accident, it was a strange morbid curiosity. “So, I decided to take some of this old gold wire I found and string it into a necklace! Neat huh?” He finished off his sentence, and I wasn’t paying attention to anything he said before that. “Yeah, uh, neato. Well Junker you need to leave, my, uh, I have lots of cakes I wanna bake and some food to can, so get out!” I mumbled as I shooed him out. Finally, I was alone. I could finally wait around for any news or even a small update. Before I knew it I was asleep on my couch, and almost like a blink of an eye I was awake again. I rarely dream, so sleeping was like a time jump. Is it really morning? Well, the sun is rising so I could only assume so. I got up and stretched my wings, before opening my door to pick up the paper. There should be something in the paper, there just had to be. I couldn’t believe the headline, it usually was about ration increases or victories, and sometimes even our failures. Gosh, this is the biggest news we've had in weeks. “BREAKING NEWS, SENIOR COLONEL RAINBOW DASH DEAD IN FLYING ACCIDENT, KILLED APPLEJACK IN THE PROCESS.” E N D