It'd been weeks since Soarin was deployed to the furthest corner of the Crystal Empire. And still there was no word. Rainbow Dash was a mess in her quarters, putting on a brave face for her troops whenever they were near. She'd lost her wing, part of her left ear, and had more scars on her body than most wanted to know about.

She didn't want to lose Soarin.

Secretly, she resented him. Being the stealthiest flier in Equestria proved useful but to Rainbow it just meant he 'd be sent out on the most dangerous missions.

Ponies tried not to gossip but it was hard for her to avoid their whispers.

"No way is he still alive."

"Three weeks an no report? That guy's a Sombra-zombie by now."

"What will the Captain say? Do you think she'll step down?"

"She's hard as nails! Nothing can rattle her!"

Rainbow listened to them all and bit back tears with each passing day. In her nightmares, she found Soarin again, with glowing, unnatural green eyes and a helmet latched over his skull. It'd be her duty, her responsibility, to stop him. But every attempt at removing Sombra's magic-embued armor proved fatal.

On a particularly chilly morning, and after Rainbow caught her soldiers placing bets as to whether Soarin was dead or not, she stormed out of the camp to wander onto the vacant battlefield. The enemy's soldiers weren't in sight but could be buried under the snow waiting for an ambush. Rainbow didn't care.

She let the tears fall, praying no one could see her, and stared into the distance towards Sombra's castle. If Soarin was dead, or a fresh soldier for the tyrant, Rainbow would take great pleasure in ending the dark unicorn's life.

Movement on the horizon caught her eye and every muscle in Rainbow's body stiffened. Quietly, she raised her metal wing and signaled the camp behind her to prepare for battle. They did so without hesitation and gathered behind their captain with spears ready and teeth grinding.

Closer still the stranger got, silently, with bright green eyes. Rainbow remembered her nightmares and wiped away the tears blinding her.

Closer, closer, CLOSER...

"Soarin?" she whispered.

Emerging from the fog, she saw the pale blue pegasus gliding inside the fog. His attention was over his shoulder as if he was waiting for an ambush, too, but once his eyes landed on Rainbow Dash, his mouth curled into a pearly smile.

Uncaring of the inherent danger, he shouted, "RAINBOW!"

She dropped all of her military training, too, and flew out as fast as she could to collide with him in mid air. "SOARIN! Oh, Soarin! You're alive!"

He cupped her face in his hooves to take in every detail of her face. She did the same with him and noticed a new scar stretching from muzzle to ear. Whoever did that would pay dearly though some twisted part of her thought it looked quite dashing.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get word out," Soarin said as tears flowed from both of them. "It was never safe enough for me to--"

Rainbow wrapped her forelegs around Soarin's. "YOU'RE. ALIVE. Right now, that is ALL I care about."

Soarin laughed and pulled her in for a kiss while the brigade let out a cacophony of cheers and little jests. Rainbow knew they didn't have much time and her conduct on the eve of another battle was far from professional. But in that moment all that mattered was his lips on hers and his wings enveloping her in their strong, velvety touch. The invigoration she got from that alone was enough to level all of Equestria.

I've never made a piece regarding the canon MLP alternate universes before! At least, not that I recall... I think I sketched something up once then trashed it? Eh, I'm not sure.

Either way, I've always loved this AU from the show where Sombra was successful in his return and Rainbow turned into a kick-butt war captain! This and the Nightmare Moon AU were the most fascinating to me.

Plus, I don't typically draw Rainbow all that much. She was fun to do along with Soarin! This may sound odd but sketching their manes was the most fun for me!

I'd love to hear what you think! I knew I wanted to do a piece with them in this AU but I went back and forth between this and a darker piece. Let's say, the other idea I had in mind had a different outcome...