@The Chaos Hunger  
Wait, what tears? I thought I saw them, too, on my phone, but zooming in, they have a black line on top and the same color as her skin; I think that’s just her eyelids/facial expression, not tears. Well, they would’ve been a nice touch.
 
At first I appreciated how amazingly well done it all is, but it kinda bothered me to see Dash furiously killing a disarmed griffon who seems to be begging for his life. As someone pointed out in the dA comments, though, it’s almost certainly the middle of a battle, so if she hesitated he’d probably just grab the sword back and keep trying to kill her.
 
I still have a higher opinion of the picture, thinking of it, though:
 
A) Well, a soldier killing in war is… An evil brought about by an imperfect world, but not one you can personally blame on the soldier. I hate war, but I revere soldiers for doing what they must and paying the price of freedom; they’re not “killers”, and Dash is just in a Just (note the capitalization) fight. It’s just my distaste for violence is all, I’m a bit of a Fluttershy. But while I ever so much wish things could be solved peacefully, I understand that sometimes that’s not possible.  
_{(Oh, I love roaring rocket and jet engines, but nobody is getting hurt there. Just a display of power used for marvelous feats of awe and wonder)}
 
B) This is a realization I just had, and really makes a huge difference to me: Given the probably-dead unarmored/unarmed pony in the background, being cried over by another unarmored/unarmed, it seems to be pretty nicely implied that this griffon had it coming, and Dash’s intervention may be the only reason there’s a pony crying there instead of two lying down. Don’t dish out what you’re not willing to receive.
 

 
It’s… Kind of interesting, though, to see an endearing, often adorable character you love show this side of herself.
 
…
 
_{Not a good time for a hug? Xp}
 
That would make for an interesting situation, though. Rainbow sees the griffons closing on a small civilian family, dashes in, and goes at it. Intense combat follows with parries, blows, blocks, a stab and Rainbow gets sprayed with griffon blood, only for another griffon to lunge in, she barely dodges, whacks his head with the spear, bashes him to the ground, then finishes him. In the corner of her eye, a blur dashes towards her - she slashes the sword away just in time to be grabbed and tackled through the air, thrown to the ground. The two wrestle until she throws him off, he lands on his back, and this scene happens, quickly followed by Dash getting another spray of griffon blood. She’s heaving, entire body wash with a rush of thrilling adrenaline, scanning for any other attackers. The coast is clear, when all of a sudden, to her parents’ cries, a filly runs out from between two civilians to throw her hooves around and snuggle against Rainbow’s chestpiece; “Th-thank you! We-we were so scared!”
 
What a jarring emotional roller coaster/how emotionally confusing that’d be! What’d it be like to be Rainbow in that situation!?

From the small image on my phone, for a brief moment it looks kind of like the light on Rainbow’s nose is the white of an eye, and the nostril is the pupil. The effect quickly vanishes, but for a brief moment I can make it look like she has really wacky derpy eyes to me, which makes it kind of hilarious with the situation xD
 
No offense, though, the lightning here is absolutely amazing and flawless. It’s a fantastic piece, and with anything other than a quick glance on a tiny phone it’s obvious that that’s her snout. I have to even blur my vision a little to see it differently.
 
 
@The Chaos Hunger
 
Dang. That’s a really nice touch that honestly completely changes my feelings on the entire picture. It’s one thing to kill in battle getting carried away. It’s a whole different matter when pent up frustration, and rage born of indignation at atrocious actions are the fuel.
 
Yeah, and that @Zergpony  
Changes the context quite a bit, too. Not like you can really blame us for being illiterate on a fanfic’s history, though, when just presented with a picture :p
 
That subtle detail with the tears, though, say it all.

@SeraphimDawn  
Note the tears.

Carried away? They broke a truce and ATE the ambassadors we sent to negotiate a peace treaty. Not to mention the ponies they enslaved, hunted for sport and ate ritually during the interbellum period. Learn your history.

Rainbow looks a little too excited here.  
Yep, I can totally see her as a type who’d easily gets carried away in battles.

Wow. Well, they say a picture’s worth a thousand words, and I’ve often taken that to mean that a good piece of art should tell a tale of at least 1,000 words. I can see no less than 10,000 arising from this little beauty. Well done.

Someone’s a dead griffon…

Woah. Take prisoners, my friend…

DONT PISS OFF THE DASH!

Wow, that title.