Fredric pressed down hard with both talons on his left leg in an attempt to hide his nervousness. The spasms had started shortly after one of the scouts told them that a company of Equestrians were coming down the road.

“Our ragged band won't stand a chance,” Fritz said, who was one of the few soldiers wearing a decent set of leather armor, even if it was torn and dirty at places. The rest of the gryphons that had gathered around the fireplace owned a mismatch of worn out equipment.

“Shut your beak! We have our orders,” Captain Bernhard growled, pushing his way into their circle. “We’ll stay hidden among the trees, then hit them hard from uphill when they get into position. If they don’t break shortly after we smash into them, we disengage and retreat downhill, the ponies won’t follow us in this thick forest. Afterwards we regroup at camp, understood?”

The band of gryphons nodded, but nobody seemed to believe that the plan would work. Fredric put more pressure on his leg, since he didn’t want the rest of the group to see him tremble. He stared at the offending limb, trying to use all of his willpower to stop the shaking.

“Private Fredric!”

Fredric jumped from the log he was sitting on. “Y-yes, Captain Bernhard?” He failed miserably to stand at attention, but managed to at least salute the old bird. Bernhard eyed him up and down, and frowned.

“Come with me, Private,” he said, putting his talon on Fredric’s shoulder, then pushed him away from the rest of the group. When they were outside of hearing range, Bernhard turned to stare him straight in the eyes. “Listen, kid, I want you to be far in the back when the fighting starts, you come in last and only support us if needed. If things turn bad I want you fly away as fast as your wings can take you. If that's not possible I want you to surrender immediately.”

“B-but, sir.”

“That’s an order.” Bernhard’s talon suddenly grabbed the back of Fredric’s head and pulled him in closer. “Promise me that you won’t try to be a hero and get yourself hurt.”

Fredric's mind raced as he thought about the implications. “Yes, sir,” he answered, not knowing what else to say.

“Good.” Bernhard said, releasing his head, then motioned with a claw that they return to the others. The rest of the gryphons conversed in small groups as the they approached.

“I heard the Equestrian Navy took Hildburg last week,” Fritz said, making the Captain glare angrily at him for bringing up the defeat, then at everyone else. All other discussions soon died out, and a somber silence fell upon the group.

The sounds of hooves that marched in step was the first sign of the Equestrians. Fredric pressed himself hard against the ground, though he wanted to raise his head above the slope to catch a glimpse of the ponies. He had never seen a pony before, but wouldn’t risk it, since some of the ponies could fly after all.

He took a tighter grip of his wooden buckler and cudgel, which was the only gear he had been given. When he heard the bird song of a Rosy Starling, everyone around him took to the air. Fredric followed his Captain's orders and waited to be the last one airborne. It was during the short glide down he first saw ponies. They were marching four abreast in a long line, with golden armor reflecting sunlight into his eyes. It took them only a few seconds to cover the distance, and by the time the first pony shouted in alarm the gryphons were already upon them.

Fredric stopped and hovered in the air, staring blankly at the fight ahead, until he remembered why he was there. He spotted Captain Bernhard wrestling with what must be an earth pony, and noticed the captain was losing the struggle. Fredric flew towards the pair, landed next to the pony, then swung his cudgel at the side of the pony’s gold helmeted head. However, he was surprised when his arm stopped mid-swing. The oddity drew his attention to his arm, which he noticed was held in place by a yellow aura. He caught sight of a unicorn glaring at him, its head was lowered, and the horn glowed with the same color as his arm.

Meanwhile, the earth pony that was engaged with Bernhard roared and tossed the captain backwards, then turned its back on Fredric and smashed a hind hoof into his wooden buckler. The impact was so strong that the shield cracked and Fredric screamed in pain, but he was still trapped in place by the magic that held his weapon and right arm. Another gryphon came to Fredric’s aid by tackling the unicorn restraining him, but as the pony fell over its magic, which still enveloped his arm, yanked Fredric violently off the road, and sent him tumbling downhill. Helpless and unable to slow down his thoughts turned away from the pain, and focused on an image of his mother smiling at him with tired eyes, before he eventually collided with a tree.

Fredric screamed, while his entire body felt like a furnace. He couldn’t move and all that he could see was the roof of a tent. Someone shouted “Medic!”, and a blue pony filled his vision. She wore a white cap with a red cross on it, and had a hypodermic needle in her mouth. Within moments of getting his neck pierced by the needle he lost consciousness.

Fredric woke up again; this time in a very different state. The pain was gone, and he felt incredibly relaxed. He was in a bed, inside what he recognized as a train wagon, though it looked more like a cramped hospital room. Around him were several other beds, and each was occupied by a pony covered in bandages. He didn’t care about what happened around him as he laid there smiling, as his thoughts were filled with happy moments with his family. As the hours went on his dreams turned dark with memories of when his father had passed away, and how long it had been since his sister had left the small farmstead.

Fredric tried to move, but he had no feeling in his limbs or wings, and he could barely turn his head. He became conscious of the sounds around him, of talking ponies, the loud roar of the train, and a strange beeping noise. Trying to speak was met with pain in his chest, and when he breathed he barely got any air. The strange beeping increased in frequency and volume, and the ponies started to turn their heads and stare at him. When the beeping kept increasing someone started yelling. Two unicorns wearing doctor’s coats burst through a door between the wagons. They galloped to him with panicked expressions, and the first that reached him said something while looking him in the eyes, but Fredric focused only on trying to breathe as dark specks slowly filled his vision, while the second unicorn closed the drapes around the bed area.

Summer merrily trotted down the street toward her workplace, she had just returned from visiting the refugee camp outside of Trottholm, and everything had worked out splendidly. The ponies, gryphons, and wildlife that wanted a safe place to wait out the conflict between Equestria and Gryphonstone were all content, and her plan to hire local party ponies to keep them happy had worked out better than expected.

She entered town hall with a big smile on her face, and waved a lively hoof whenever she greeted her co-workers as she skipped through the different halls to her office. Upon her arrival she put the daffodils she had carried into her desk vase, gave them a large sniff, plumped down on the chair, then inspected the lone folder on her desk.

“You sure seem happy today. I take it your trip went well?” Summer looked up to see Sharp Mind standing at the door entrance.

“Good evening, Mayor!” She greeted her boss. “Everything worked out better than expected. Please, come in and take a seat,” she said, motioning him inside with a hoof. Sharp Mind had always been an odd pony, because he had been the only pegasus in recorded history to have been voted as mayor of Canterlot. She liked his classic blue pegasus coat and black mane now that it sported a few strands of gray hairs, as it all matched with his light bulb cutie mark.

“Good evening, Summer. I’m here because I want your help with a special case,” he said, walking slowly into her office. “I’m sorry I have to ask this off you so soon after you’ve returned from the refugee camp.” She noticed the way he moved and the strange tone that he used, it highlighted the importance of this new assignment. He hadn’t acted like this since the day Gryphonstone declared war, and that had been almost a year ago. She glanced down at the folder on her desk, opened the first page, and the first thing she noticed was a picture of a sleeping gryphon in a hospital bed.

“Is it about this gryphon?” She asked, holding up the picture for Sharp to see.

“Yes, it is. We don’t know his name yet, but he is currently in Canterlot hospital, being treated for injuries he sustained after a skirmish with our soldiers a few miles outside the city of Reinhard.”

“I thought all injured prisoners were treated at the hospital in Manehatten?” She flipped the picture and took a better look at the bedridden gryphon. “What’s so special about this one?”

“He was badly injured in the fighting and had also contracted pneumonia, so due to his weakened state the doctors decided that he needed more expert healing magic, from the specialized hospital in Canterlot no less. Therefore, he was put on a medical train with our wounded heading home.” He sat down on the couch in the corner of the room instead of the empty stool in front of her desk.

“This is when things took a dark turn,” he continued, after a short pause. “During transit, one of the nurses changed the bandages around his wings, she had a good knowledge of gryphon anatomy and noticed something different with his feathers. I’m no biologist, but apparently one feather revealed roughly the age of the soldier, it told the nurse that he was not old enough to have entered puberty yet.”

Summer stared at him, then down at the picture of the gryphon, then up at Sharp Mind again. “That means he’s a juvenile!” she said. “He can’t be more than thirteen or fourteen years old, and recruiting someone into the military younger than twenty goes against the Celestia Convention!” If Gryphonstone had knowingly recruited underaged soldiers they were breaking that Convention, and that would mean they’d risked coming under trade embargo from neutral countries, which was something they couldn't afford; the latest information from their capital told of an almost complete halt in commerce.

“If it’s true, then they are taking a big risk indeed,” he said, as if he had read her mind. “This young gryphon could be used as a bargaining tool in the peace talks this weekend. The Gryphonstone embassy will sooner or later find out we have a gryphon prisoner being treated in Canterlot, but I doubt they will know why.”

Summer nodded, and she knew now what Sharp asked of her. “I’m guessing you want me to speak to him, and interview him on how he became enlisted?”

“Exactly, and I want this done before the gryphons or the press hears of it, then report back to me with your findings,” he said, as he stood up. “The doctor told me he will be awake in a day or two, and there are more details you'll need to know about in that file." He pointed at the desk with a hoof.

“Understood, when I return, should I send a copy of my report to the palace?” she asked, while making a mental checklist of the things that needed to be done.

“No need, I will inform the princess when the time comes,” he said, and walked out of the office.

Summer watched him leave, then turned her gaze to the folder once more. She didn’t like how he had called the cub a tool. The situation was tragic, and she herself wanted to have foals in the near future, or at least as soon as she found a decent enough coltfriend. She shivered at the thought of sending a minor to something as horrible as a war.

Fredric felt the sting of sunlight on his face, and with half-open, blurry eyes he could barely make out a pony that was holding up the curtains near the window.

“Oh dear, you're awake,” she said, moving away from the window. “Please, just stay calm while I’ll go get the doctor.”

She trotted out of the room while he tried to make sense of where he was. Flashbacks of a forested hill and a unicorn sent shivers through him. He looked around, while his vision slowly returned to normal with each blink. He recognized that he was in a hospital room, with a huge window filled with various potted plants.

He tried to remove the sheets that covered him up to the chest, however, his right talon was stuck, and he soon realized that he was cuffed to the bed. The left arm was trapped in bandages, held in place by white rope above him. The clip-clop of hooves outside announced that a pony was coming. The unicorn that entered was light-green with a teal mane, and around his neck he carried a stethoscope.

“Good morning, how are you feeling?” the pony asked, while moving cautiously towards his bed.

Fredric looked him up and down, and forgot about the situation he was in, because in front of him was a pony. This had been his first ever opportunity to study one up-close. He kept staring until a light stung his right eye, and brought him back to reality.

“I’m sorry about that,” the doctor said, turning off a flashlight. “You were unresponsive.”

“Where am I?” Fredric asked.

“You are in Canterlot, the capital of Equestria,” the doctor-pony answered, while he read from a chart that he had taken from the end of his bed. “You’ve been in a magically-induced sleep now for five days, and it's been almost a week since you were taken prisoner.”

Fredric had never been further from the farm then Reinhold, which was roughly three hour travel by flight from the farmstead. Even with his limited knowledge of geography he knew he was very far away from home.

“Let us try introductions again, my name is Dr. Quick, what’s yours?”

“Fredric, oh, uh, Private Fredric.”

“Fredric, there are a few things you need to know.”

Summer groaned and crumpled the useless letter in her hooves, then threw it into the garbage bin. This was the third time she received a message telling her that the postal services had failed to get a hold of Safe Practice and Heart Mender, the two doctors that treated the gryphon on the train. The first time she was told that they’ve been relocated to Baltimare, only to be informed a day later that somepony had made a mistake and the doctors were actually in Las Pegasus of all places.

And now it turned out that they’ve been serving as field medics deep in gryphon lands all along. Odds are it would take several days for her to get a statement from them. She could swear some long lost princess of bureaucracy held a grudge against her. The file on the juvenile prisoner had been vague at best, and lacked any commentary from the ponies that treated him.

The mayor had his own problems, just an hour ago a gryphoness diplomat had waltzed into town hall and demanded to know who the unknown gryphon in the hospital was, and why he was there. She didn’t know how the gryphons had found out he was one of their soldiers, because he could have easily been one of the hundreds of gryphons that lived in Canterlot with an Equestrian citizenship. The diplomat and the mayor had spent twenty minutes in the office shouting at each other, until the gryphoness had exited with the deepest scowl she’d ever seen on a gryphon.

She noticed another daffodil had gone missing in her vase, and she hated how she snacked on them unknowingly when she was stressed, because now she would need to buy new ones tomorrow. The clock on the wall told her it was lunchtime, and it would probably be best getting lunch out of the way before she accidentally stuffed herself full of office decorations. She was halfway out of her chair when someone knocked on the door.

“Miss Summer!” The door opened, revealing the young pegasus stallion she had ordered to stay at the hospital. “Sorry for barging in, but I was told to inform you as soon as the gryphon woke up.”

“He’s awake?” So much for lunch. “Good work, Skycloud!" She organized her desk in preparation to leave as soon as possible. "Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Yea, it actually happened three hours ago,” Skycloud said, while scratching the back of his head with a wing.

Summer froze and gave him a glare that demanded an explanation.

“It wasn’t my fault! The doctor didn’t tell me because the gryphon broke down in tears when he learnt of his injuries, he spent hours wailing for his mother and Dr. Quick was so heartbroken that he chose not to tell me until the gryphon had calmed down!”

“Why weren’t you waiting outside the room?” She frowned so hard her eyebrows almost touched, but a part of her was also relieved that she had missed that part.

“Sorry! I had to go outside and flex my wings on the hospital roof, I told the doctor and he promised to inform me if something happened.”

“You spent hours flexing your wings?”

“I may have also have been chatting with one of nurses up there.” His smile was so innocent and coltish that her only reponse was to sigh deeply. The faint red smear on his left cheek was probably lipstick that had failed to wash out. "Dr. Quick said his name was Fredric Bern," he added.

“Fly back to the hospital, I’ll be there shortly," Summer said, as she waved a dismissive hoof at him.

Skycloud made a mock salute and trotted out.

"And no more fraternizing with the nurses!" She yelled, right before the door closed.

She turned back to open her desk drawer to get some pen and paper, and if she was lucky the ponies in Military Intelligence could dig something up now that they had a name. She failed to notice that the vase was now missing even more daffodils.

"Thanks again Nurse Tender Flower," said Fredric, smiling at the nurse. "I'm sorry for crying on your nurses outfit."

"Please dear, just call me Tender," she said, in a comforting and motherly voice. "Don’t worry, I always find it rewarding to help a patient." She turned her head and fished out a small candy bar from her outfit. "Don't tell the doctor I smuggled this in! Chocolate always helps me when I'm sad. You want it?"

Fredric stared at the candy with wide eyes and made an eager nod. She removed the plastic wrapped around it with her teeth, and with a hoof she balanced the chocolate bar over his open beak and dropped it in. Fredric went ‘Mmm’ in delight.

"Someone sure loves his chocolate," she chuckled.

"It's amazing," he agreed, savoring the flavor. "This is my second time eating it. First time was when father got an extra high price on the wheat we sold, he went into the town and bought the family each their own chocolate bar! That happened before he got sick." He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the flavor that was left. When he opened them again he found that Tender no longer smiled, and that her eyes were dull and distant.

"Tender, are you okay?" Fredric asked, worried that he had done something to offend her.

She stared another moment until she shook her head. "Oh, Y-yes dear, I'm fine. I just spaced out for a minute there. I'll just go ahead and have a word with Dr. Quick." He watched her leave the room, and before the door closed he caught a glance of a white pegasus sitting just outside the door reading a newspaper.

The hospital was busier than Summer expected. The patients she could see at the entrance were mainly from the Royal Guard with their visiting families. In one corner an earth pony in a wheelchair told stories to a group of foals, they were seated on their haunches in a half circle around him. With wide eyes they listened to him spin a tale of how he captured three Gryphons during an ambush, and that Celestia herself had given him a medal for bravery.

Summer walked past the reception and into the nearest open elevator. “Top floor please,” she said, to the elevator operator pony who politely greeted her back, then closed the doors and pulled the long lever with his mouth. When the doors opened she immediately found Skycloud reading at a small table placed next to one the rooms. "Skycloud," she called, moving towards him. "Anything to report?"

He looked up from the newspaper he'd been reading. "No ma'am, he hasn't had a single visitor." Skycloud answered, and squirmed in his chair before continuing. "Ma'am, I'm sorry for leaving my post earlier for such a long time."

Summer sat down on one of the empty chairs. "Make sure you don't let it happen again and we're good," she said, in a stern voice. "And please, it's just ‘Summer’ when we’re working together, calling me ‘ma'am’ makes me sound like an old mare."

That cheered him up. "Understood, you can call me ‘Sky’ if you want. That's what my brothers call me." She nodded, and made to rise up from the chair when he interrupted her. "Dr. Quick is in there now talking about different treatments with the gryphon, it won't be long so you may want to wait until they are done."

She sighed, and stayed seated and instead grabbed a copy of The Canterlot Times.

She turned the pages until she found the articles about the war. From what she read the newspapers had caught on that the conflict was almost over. One pony interviewed Commander Stormfront of the 2nd Army, who currently besieged Reinhold. He told the reporter that the siege would probably last two months, then Reinhold’s supplies would run short and be forced to surrender. However, Summer knew from her meetings with the mayor that the city barely had supplies to last a month.

Most of the columnists speculated about what would happen during the peace talks this weekend. Since the war was so short, most thought that Equestria would only annex one or two border towns. In the end, that would be up to Celestia to decide, and she had long ago given up on trying to second guess the princess.

Summer noticed movement in her peripheral vision, and turned to see Skycloud's tail wagging. He stared dreamily down the hallway at a nurse pushing a hospital trolley. She rolled up her newspaper and gave him a good whack on the head. He turned to gave her a sheepish grin, but before she could lecture him the door opened and Dr. Quick stepped out. They exchanged glances, she gave him a nod, then pointed a hoof at the bed with the gryphon, Quick nodded in return and went back inside.

Fredric watched the doctor walk out, and caught sight of a mare standing next to the pegasus. They made some gestures that Fredric didn’t understand, then Quick returned inside.

"Fredric, are you well enough to talk to the important lady?" he asked, hesitating slightly. "You remember I told you that somepony would be here today, and that they will be asking you many questions? If you do–"

"I'm fine," he replied. "I'm a lot better now thank you, thanks to Nurse Tender."

"Okay then, I'll send her in."

Author's Notes:

Thanks to Busstop and Eckaji for helping me with editing.