A Philosophers Quest

by looks28

Chapters

• Check up and go!
• A Dash of Cider
• A Hectic Day
• Sergeant Shining Armor
• A Case of Blue Blood pt1
• A case of Blue Blood pt2
• Light Dasher: The Killer Mare!
• Sitting 'Round the Campfire
• Big Bad (Emotional) Blueblood
• The Filler's a Lie
• Oh Captain, My Captain...
• Welcome to the Team
• A Loud Bang and Yelling
• A Turning Point

Check up and go!

"Sorry about that, I was in a hurry."

"No problem, I wasn't exactly watching where I was going." A Rainbow mane Pegasus said, helping him up.

Oh man! I don’t have time for this! I’m going to miss it! I can’t miss it! Star Grazer looked at his watch. Oh pony feathers! This is my only chance! I have to make it to the train! Rainbow Dash passed him his scrolls.

"Sorry again ma'am."

Star Grazer continued to run in the general direction of the square. He ran through crowds of what looked like multicolored blurs to him, charging full speed for his last chance, his last hope, of ever seeing her again. He finally made it to market square, sweat dripping off his white coat. He noticed a group of earth ponies chatting idly by a fountain.

“Hey! You wouldn’t happen to know where the train is do ya’?” he asked, gasping for breath as he took a big gulp from the fountain.

“Uh...yeah it’s just over there. Just past the library…” The ponies pointed toward what looked like a giant tree.

“Thanks I owe you one!” He ran full speed toward the tree, noticing the scroll and book sign in front.

Mental Note: Random tree in Ponyville turns out to be library

He continued to hoof it as fast as he could possibly go and faster toward the train station. The watch on his hoof read 1:30 so it must be at least 1:40 now! I’m not gonna' reach the train in time! No! I can do this! Let’s go! COME ON GRAZER! He noticed a purple blur as he passed the tree house library place. Must be the librarian…gonna’ have to talk ta’ her later on… Now is not the time to be thinking!

Star Grazer steps onto the platform and reaches into his saddlebag, throwing a hoof full of bits at the ticket Pony. He leaped over the gate and dove onto the train, slamming his head against the other side of the cart, as it begins to whistle down the track toward Canterlot.

“Uh, are you ok sir?” Several passengers were staring at him from their seats as he fumbled with a saddlebag of scrolls.

“It’s ok! I’m fine everypony! No need to panic” He sighed as a gray unicorn in a blue uniform walked up to him.ugh my head hurts I don't have time for this!

“Ticket please!”

“Uh hehehe…see funny story! The thing is sir!-“ in that instant he bolted for what he assumed was the back door. He opened and slammed the door shut in time for the unicorn to smack into it. Star held back a snicker as he tiredly ran from one cart to another. If I keep this up I might have to consider trying for the race team! Star Grazer reached the final cart and realized the mess he made of all the other train carts, snickering some more, he jumped onto a small platform on the side of the cart and hopped onto the roof.

“Ah pony feathers! Where did that guy go?” The unicorn looked cautiously around the back end of the cart.

“Must have jumped, poor guy couldn’t have just told me why he hopped on?”

Star Grazer face hoofed as he gingerly trotted along the cart. He manages to find some leverage as he propped up against the saddlebag. All right, if I’m correct this train is heading for Canterlot. The news says that it got hit pretty badly by them Griffins. I hope everypony got out ok… I hope you got out ok… Lost in thought the stallion laid back on his saddlebag, a tear fell from his blue eyes as the wind blew his mane. His glasses quivered a little in the gust and he adjusted them on his face.

“Please be ok. For Celestia’s sake, Please be ok!” the sound of his voice quickly fade away as the trains engine blares its whistle. It almost seemed surreal to him. Once he was an average astronomer working at the Canterlot Library. Now he is a pony on a quest. It sounded so familiar to him… He felt like he read this somewhere… maybe in that one book from Lebart Flights? Who knows… it’s like a wind of change is blowing over him. Hope that change is good.

Star Grazer woke up from a surprisingly comfortable nap to see the structure of Canterlot Castle looming in the near distance. He noticed several moving dots all over the castle that he assumed were workers fixing the castle. The train continued to whistle along the track as he prepared himself for departure. The saddlebag was all packed, he had his glasses, the scroll he needed was in his hoof and he jumped off the train when it slowed into the oncoming platform.

“First order of business, find a place to stay.” He stated to no pony in particular.

He walked around the rubble of the Canterlot square and found what he was looking for. A sea of beige tents speckled with a variety of colored ponies going about their business of repairing the city. Ugh, more crowds. I hate crowds. They make me dizzy… He stumbled a few times but was able to make his way across the busy pathway towards a rather large and opulent tent.

Upon entering, the smell of fancy cologne and sweat rushed into his lungs. Star Grazer's face twitched and he walked into the room of Canterlot Elites. The snooty ponies looked at Star Grazer with first contempt then recognition. They all walked over to greet and brag to their fellow Elite.

“Star Grazer! I dare say you are looking quiet resplendently if I do say so myself!” Star Grazer turned around to see the familiar face of Prince Blueblood and Fancypants coming toward him.

“Blue! Fancypants! How good to see you both! I see you survived the griffin attack” Star Grazer noticed bandages on Fancypants’s hoofs and upper neck. “What happened? Are you badly hurt?!”

“No my good man! I was a part of the fight! I have to say, it was a thrill! So there we were, faced with total defeat and despair, when none other than Rainbow Dash and a Changeling of all creatures devised a brilliant plan to-“Star Grazer placed a hoof on Fancypants’s back.

“As much as I’d love to hear your new adventure, I'm looking for someone! Do you know if Cherry made it out ok?” A look of despair came across both Fancypants and Blueblood.

“Cherry… She was fighting alongside me the whole time. She had volunteered when we were in the caves…I couldn’t stop her and she. She is gone! She didn’t come up in any of the rubble but we don’t know where she is. The Captain of the Royal Guard thinks that the griffins took some prisoners.” He looked toward the spot where there once was a scholarly earth pony.

“Well Fancypants, looks like he is off again.”

“Yes…Indeed”

A Dash of Cider

As much as I do enjoy Fancypant’s story I can’t waste time right now. Star Grazer walked through the camp taking note of ponies selling food and supplies for the work ponies. I’m going to need a new saddlebag. That little escapade across Ponyville did a number on this one… He looked at the heavily damaged tan saddlebag. Part of the strap that kept it on his back was ripped and there were several dark brown stains on the sides of the bag which he assumed was mud. The scrolls and papers in his bag, now crumpled and possibly unreadable, were loosely hanging out the torn flap that covered the bag. first things first! I need a place to stay. He trotted up to a crème colored Pegasus with an orange mane that flowed flawlessly in the wind. The mare was placing something on the ground and just begun to take off before taking notice of Star Grazer and landing a few steps away.

“Hello miss! Would you happen to know any place I could stay? I just came in.”

“There aren’t exactly places to stay besides the Elite’s Tent. If you want go to the guard house and buy a tent there to set up.” Her voice was strong yet gentle.

“Do you mind showing me to the guard house? As I said before, I’m new around here. Still don’t have my bearings.” He chuckled nervously as he took a step closer to the Pegasus.

“I have work to do… but I guess I can help you.” She gestured toward him to follow her.

Star Grazer was rather puzzled at the beauty of this mare he walked with. Her orange mane waved back and forth as she walked. Her wings were folded to her sides. It was now that he realized she wasn’t entirely a crème color. She had a sort of transition in her coat. For the most part she was crème but her coat towards her legs and hoofs were a more brownish color. He was walking behind her when she turned around; suddenly stopping in her tracks, giving him a menacing glare.

“I don’t think looking at my backside is going to help you find a place to stay!”

“Oh! I’m sorry! I wasn’t staring! I was just uh…” He began stammering and blushed.

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Just keep walking.”

Minutes passed in complete silence as they walked through the camp. They eventually walked past what Star Grazer assumed to be a makeshift bar. It was several tents sown together to make a rather large canopy, not as large as the elite’s tent but large enough, that was draped over several supporting poles. Inside were ponies drinking cider, some more than others, and having a good time. He examined the kegs of cider at the back carrying the Apple Family logo. The actual bar was made of empty crates with the same logo. He noticed the mare staring longingly at the bar as they walked past.

“Um… Miss? Do you want me to get you a drink?” Star Grazer blushed a little when the mare turned around. Her mane settled in just the right way as the sun made her hair glimmer brightly… He felt as if he was going to melt. The pure beauty of this mare was astounding! How could a creature so fair exist in Canterlot and not be part of the elite?! Why is she being tasked with manual labor?

“Hm? Oh! Yeah sure! I would love that” Her expression turned from that of annoyance to one of delight.

They walked up to the “bar” and waved over the bartender. The brown coated unicorn walked over with a glass and rag in his magical grasp.

“What can I get ya’ both?”

“Do you have sparkling water?”  Star Grazer received a quizzical look from the bar pony.

“Look kid. This here, this is a bar. What can I get ya’?” The bar pony seemed annoyed as he scratched his stubble.

“Two Ciders, hard, don’t wipe and spice it.” Star Grazer was dumbfounded by the mare’s request.

“A’ight have it out in a sec.”

The pony came back with two considerably larger mugs then those the other ponies were drinking from. They were filled to the brim and foaming over. There seemed to be something inside it that seemed out of place in the cloud of caramel colored foam on top. They were passed their drinks as Star Grazer pulled a pouch of bits out.

“On the house kid, stick with this mare here! She knows her way roun’ here.” The bar pony said that a little too matter off factly, much to the annoyance of Star Grazer. The Pegasus simply laughed and began to gulp down her drink.

“So, what is your name? You agreed to help me and I don’t even know you!” She reluctantly turned away from her drink to respond.

“Names Light Dasher! What’s yours kid?” Star Grazer became more agitated at this. He didn’t like being called a kid. My face is youthful is all!!!

“I’m Star Grazer, astronomer, at your service!” He did a slight bow towards the Pegasus causing the mare to blush.

“Hmm… a gentlecolt! Well you look like one of those preppy Canterlot peeps so I guess it makes sense…” Her eyes trailed away to a particularly large barrel of cider behind the bar as she thought of this.

“Yeah. Hehehe… I’m considered Elite. I don’t really like many of those uprights though. Besides my friend Fancypants and Prince Blueblood I don’t know many of them.” He could feel the cider taking effect, as he struggled to not slur his words.

A single drink turned into a long night at the bar as the two were seen laughing and having a good time. Star Grazer had never drunken so much anything in his life. That third cider really doesn’t like me right now… Star Grazer proceeded to run to the back of the bar and upchuck into a trashcan the bartender brought him, almost on cue. When Star finished he looked over to see Light Dasher guzzling down her twelfth mug of the stuff. The ponies jaw dropped as he passed out on the floor next to Light Dasher’s spot.

“Hey Light! It’s almost the next day! Go on and get your friend here home before he makes a mess o’ ma’ floors!” The bartender helped a drooling Star Grazer to Light Dasher, where she proceeded to put a wing out for Star to hang onto.

It was an odd site in the camp. A crème colored, orange maned, strongly built Pegasus supporting a very scholarly looking stallion. To most ponies at the camp it was the other way around! Light Dasher looked up at the now black sky. Nightmare night was four days away. She didn’t exactly celebrate it but she enjoyed being different for a change. Guess I better stick with this guy… He’s gonna’ need help if he is gonna be round here! She chuckled to herself as she walked them over to an empty patch of grass on a hill. She rested Star Grazer down and took the worn saddlebag off his back. She nearly dropped it from the sheer weight. Jeez! What’s an astronomer or whatever carry anyway! She gently placed the beige sack onto a dry patch of grass and took off towards the guard station.

“Light Dasher. Construction team. I would like an extra tent please!” The white Canterlot guard stared at Light Dasher’s id papers then peered up at her. His white face never losing the same focused and serious expression.

“Very well Miss Dasher! Tents are in a pile at the back. I trust you will not take more than one?” His eye began to twitch as a small grin began to appear on his face. “Ah who am I kidding? Go ahead light! Haha!” Light Dasher smiled and thanked him. He is a nice stallion. Too bad he got way to touchy.

She flew over to the back to see an organized pile of tent bundles wrapped up and sorted by their color. Why it really mattered the color of the tent she didn’t know so she grabbed the closest one to her. An odd ball tent, it was blue with a bunch of strange patterns on it. They looked like a weird white lined connect the dots to her. Light simply shrugged off the thought and flew back to where Star Grazer was quietly resting his head on a rock. She noticed something in his hoof that looked like a picture frame. I shouldn’t be nosy… and yet! She glanced to the left, the right, behind her, and around the hill they were on. She carefully slid the dark brown picture frame from his hoof.

The picture was of a mare. She looked to be in her teenage years. She was rather beautiful. Marefriend possibly? Maybe his sister? Light Dasher placed down the photo and began pitching the tent. After a few minutes of fumbling with the tents support frame she managed to place the final stake down. She looked over at Star Grazer, his head lying on a rock. A pointy and rough rock… Doesn’t that hurt? Oh my… She gingerly stepped around him and slowly pushed him over into the tent. When she was content he was thoroughly under the canopy of protection, she took off and gathered clouds into a pile above the hill. She sat down on the cloud looking at the moon. She shivered a bit as the weather ponies blew in the fall chill. I wonder what his story is? We talked for hours but he never said much about himself. Canterlot isn’t the ideal place to be right now… hmm… So much going on ever since that changeling attack. She let out a yawn of exhaustion. Guess I should sleep… Need my rest before work tomorrow. With that final thought she placed her head on the cloud. Releasing a sigh of content at how comfortable the cloud is. Light Dasher soon became Heavy Sleeper.

A Hectic Day

Star Grazer woke up with a dull, numbing pain on the side of his head. He opened his eyes slowly to see a cloth like structure on top of him. He stared at this dark item over shadowing him for a minute before realizing that he was inside a tent. He began to sit up and just as he did so the dull pain became a hammer to his brain. OH SWEET CELESTIA THAT HURTS!!! Wait! Why think that?

“OH SWEET CELESTIA THAT HURTS!!!”

Light Dasher leaned over from her cloud bed looking down at a cringing white earth pony. She watched as his body rhythmically twitched to the beating of his heart. It looked to her like he had a pretty bad hangover. She figured she might as well bring him to the infirmary.

“Hey! Light weight! Up here!” Light Dasher smiled as she saw the look of pain and rage across his face. She yelled that a little too loudly. She decided to speak in a calmer tone of voice. “Hey! If you aren’t in too much pain, I can take you to the Doc’s tent. He cures hangovers all the time!”

Star Grazer made a motion for her to come down to him. She flew down and realized why he was in so much pain. The rock he laid his head on left a pretty big welt on him. She made sure to keep her mouth shut about her dropping him last night… Combined with a hangover, it must be excruciating for him. She tried not to show any sign of worry as she helped him up.

“Hey… Light Dasher? Did something happen last night?” She turned her head in confusion.

“What do ya’ mean kid?” he shot her a look and repeated his question.

“Did anything happen last night?” She stopped. Slowly turned her face toward him and tried to hold in her guilt.

“NO! Nothing happened! You got drunk and passed out! That is all!” Star Grazer winced at piercing pain.

“No? Ok… please stop yelling in my ear…” Light Dasher saw what looked like a tear roll down his cheek.

“Oh! Sorry…” She nervously giggled and continued walking him toward the distant, standalone, and tent.

After about 5 minutes of walking in silence they reached a red tent located on the outskirts of the camp. Light Dasher proceeded to carry Star Grazer to the white earth pony in green scrubs. Without even glancing there way, the nurse pony gestured toward a flap to the left of her. She then proceeded to pick up a clipboard from a desk behind her and right down something.

They stood in the room which was barren, save for a hospital bed and a strange machine in the corner that had wires and a bag hanging from the top. The ground was covered with tiling that was strangely clean and obtrusive compared to the grass floor off the “lobby”. Star Grazer lifted a hoof to his head and jerked it back at the sting.

“Hey Light?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are we here? You kind of just helped me up and walked me over here…” Star Grazer walked over to the bed where he proceeded to lay down.

“Well I know the Doctor here and he knows how to get rid of hangovers in a snap. I mean if you can call what you have a hangover. It looks more like you were hit by a train…”

The two were interrupted by a noise coming from the flap of the curtain. Some talking was heard and a figure began to move to the curtain. It flipped open revealing a gray unicorn with a monocle and a suit on. From what Star Grazer could tell, the suit was a part of the Petit Cheval collection. He gazed at the stallion with utter confusion. The unicorn took a short glance at Star Grazer then turned sharply around staring at the tent flap.

“Hello! I’m Dr. Gustaf Udo Ulf! Slight swelling of the forehead and poll, pastern and ergot are slightly bent, your crest seems to be fine but shoulders and withers are too muscly and could cause damage in the future. You also seem to have a displaced fetlock on your back right hoof…” The pony stopped and took an overly dramatic breath. “Oh! And you have a hangover…”

Star Grazer was aghast. He didn’t even look at me save for maybe 2 seconds! How in Celestia's name did he do that!!! He continued to stare blankly at the unicorn as he began to walk out the flap, door, thing. “Wait! Aren’t you going to help my hangover?”

“Already have lad! I also got rid of that lump on your face. I don’t think Pegasus “dig” guys with purple welts!” Star continued staring until the soft patter of hoofs on the ground dissipated. He looked over to a smiling Light Dasher and stood up. After taking a few seconds to collect himself he opened the flap and proceeded to exit the tent.

Star Grazer needed a way to find Cherry. He knew the only way to do that was to enlist with the Equestrian army. He wasn’t much of a fighter. Not to mention the fact that he had very little in the way of muscle and could barely handle a mug of cider… In no way, shape, or form was he fit to be a soldier. My common sense tells me not to join the army… my heart says otherwise… Ok let me rationalize the pros and cons again. Wait! Why am I doing this? The reason I travelled so far from Manehatten was to enlist! I don’t need too! Well I do… I’m risking my life, but it’s for my loved one. Ah, she is much stronger and tougher then you! She isn’t even your marefriend! She is just your longtime pal who couldn’t give a flying feather if you liked her! But I LOVE her! No matter…

Light Dasher stood by watching as Star Grazer paced back and forth. His face was spastically changing expressions with each turn of his hoof. He has been like this for a good hour now. I’m probably fired from my job now… I pretty much skipped the whole day yesterday and now today as well. All well! The pay was dirt anyway! A smile broke across her face. Light Dasher wasn’t sure why but she felt a need to stay with Star Grazer. He seemed lost in this big place called Canterlot. Sure half of the city is destroyed and only now does the main castle resemble its former glory, but! The place was still big. Just the refuge and construction camp was pretty big. At least ten to twenty acres large! Possibly more! Why was she even hanging around with this guy anyway? Sure he was kind of cute in a goofy way but he is definitely not her type. He would be all right if he didn’t do that weird thing when he talks. Those big words confuse me sometimes… I swear he makes them up! Also those glasses are a little too big for him. I kind of understand his cutiemark but its…I don’t know. Plain? Hmm… What’s his story anyway? He keeps checking his saddlebag. Why am I worrying about him?

Light Dasher sat there thinking for a few more minutes before deciding that Star Grazer should stop pacing, or at least move places, the grass was completely trampled. She walked over to him. He didn’t seem to take notice of her or, if he did, didn’t care. She reached out a hoof in front of him when he turned around shocking him a little. He stared at her hoof then looked to Light Dasher worriedly.

“You gonna' tell me what’s up? Or am I just gonna’ hang here and watch you trample grass?” She moved her hoof from his chest to his back rubbing t gently.

“I have some stuff going on. I know how to fix it… but I'm scared to do it… I don’t know. Right now I'm confused. Shoot! I have only known you a day and your being so nice to me! Why?”

“I'm a nice girl is all!” She smiled at him and a small grin broke across Star Grazers face.

“Thank you. I'm going to go do what I should have done already!” And with that he turned around and full sprint ran toward the camp, only for him to return not a minute later to Light Dasher. “Do you mind showing me were the sheet is to sign up for the army?” He chuckled nervously. Light rolled her eyes.

“Sure.”

She led Star to the large billboard near the Elites tent at the center of camp. I don’t remember this billboard being here before… Was I really in that much of a rush? Light Dasher leaned against the board and looked around at the  neighboring tents as Star Grazer ripped a small leaflet from the notice.

Report to the Guards tent northeast of this billboard. There talk to the guard about applying to the Royal Equestrian Guard, Army Division. Join the fight against those who oppose the princess!

Star Grazer nodded to Light Dasher and they trotted along at a brisk pace to the guard’s tent.  By now the day was half over. For a fall day it sure was nice weather. The duo made it to the tent 10 minutes later. Light Dasher was noticing a lot of things for the first time. Being that she only came to the guard’s tent at night she never really got a good look at it. It was actually relatively tall compared to the other tents. Not as tall as the Elites tent but tall enough. It was a royal blue color with white trim leading up to the top of the tent. It almost looked like it had two floors. She was snapped out of her mild trance at the absence of a white earth pony by her side. She quickly followed opened the flip and trotted inside. The room in the tent was strangely lit. There was light filtering through but in some areas light wasn’t shining through. Maybe a spell was cast on the tent? Star Grazer was already at the desk in the far right corner of the room talking with a pony. He seemed to be explaining the paper work he was pulling from the ground next to him. Light Dasher stared at him while he filled out the paperwork in rapid succession. He never did explain why he was applying again. You know. Maybe I should apply. If this guy has the guts to apply for army why shouldn’t I? Ah I guess I will. Why not? Someone has to watch him. She chuckled to herself and walked over to Star Grazer and the guard.

“Hey kid! Slide over I'm signing up with ya’.”

Star Grazer and Light Dasher began their training next day. Star Grazer one sidedly argued at Light Dasher about joining the army. She would merely shrug and or laugh at his fail attempts at convincing her otherwise. He had his reasons and she had hers after all. The guard began touring them through the basics of being a guard then left them in the barracks.

Day 0:

Same Night of Signup, 3 Days before Nightmare Night.

Dusk

The Barracks were one of the few places the Griffons were unable to capture. The building was in near perfect condition save for how old it was. A black pony apart of the lunar guard escorted them to the barracks. According to him the captain of the Royal Guard has become a lot meaner and stricter I training ever since the invasion. The Lunar guard opened a tattered brown door and let the two in. What they did not expect was how full the room was. It looked as though all the bunks were taken. Some ponies were actually lying on the floor. Star Grazer gingerly stepped around the sleeping earth ponies and unicorns making his way toward a small open corner. He accidently stepped on an orange unicorn’s tail and was punched in the arm rather forcefully. He finally made his way to the corner were a tired Light Dasher was waiting. Too tired to even look shocked or annoyed he placed his saddlebag down, which in all honesty he wasn’t sure when he got it, and fell down and slept.

Sergeant Shining Armor

Day 1:

2 Days before Nightmare Night

0530 Hours

Star Grazer walked through the pastoral meadows of Manehattan’s suburban outskirts. The crisp spring air blew across his face. He skipped along happily, the smell of Delilah wafted from the rolling hills as he wondered on that bright sunny day. A small river that ran past Manehattan flowed into a modest little pond tucked just out of sight of the city. The birds chirped and the animals roamed, as he skipped to the still face of water. He looked in and saw his reflection. A handsome fellow one might say! Toned muscles shaped the denim jacket he had over his white beater. Star Grazer looked up at the sun but strangely enough it wasn’t all that bright. Probably the shades he had on. He continued to view himself in the reflection when a white unicorn pony with a blue mane and bright shining armor stood behind him. Star Grazer stared at the comforting yet menacing face for a while before feeling a sudden dull pain in his stomach. Star Grazer fell over into the pond and began to flail his arms in panic.

Star Grazer opened his eyes to see the same face glaring down at him. He looked behind the armored stallion to see the barracks devoid of ponies. He slowly began to stand up when he was shoved back down by this pony. His sea blue eyes gazed deeply into Star Grazers dark cerulean eyes. The stallions jaw was a chiseled iron vice. It slowly opened as Star Grazer anticipated the pony to begin to speak.

”DOES THIS LOOK LIKE CLOUDSDALE TO YA? ARE WE MILES HIGH IN THE SKY? ARE YOU GOING TO SIT THERE AND LOOK LIKE A MULE OR ARE YOU GOING TO ANSWER ME? HAY FOR BRAINS! ARE WE IN FUCKING CLOUDSDALE?” Star Grazers ears rang as he attempted to stand up, slipping on the wet cobblestone. A bucket was lying next to the stallion.

Star Grazer was very tentative before speaking. “Uh… Hey? Why are you yelling?”

”THAT’S CAPTAIN TO YOU! PRIVATE! BUT AS OF RIGHT NOW! YOU CAN REFER TO ME AS SERGEANT! SERGEANT SHINING ARMOR! NOW GET OUT THESE BARRACKS AND GO OUT INTO THE YARD YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!”

0800

”GET YOUR BLANK FLANK UP THAT HURDLE! YOU! QUIT SLACKING! FASTER, FASTER! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE! LIGHT DASHER, WHO GAVE YOU PERMISSION TO REST? 10 WIND SPRINTS AROUND THE YARD! STAR GRAZER, SHINGLES KEEP UP WITH HER OR NO FOOD FOR YOU! COLT SHOOTERS!”

Star Grazer knew that training was going to be tough. He expected the trainer to be rough. What he didn’t a expect is a stallion who instills more terror than a Manticore. He sighed, or well would have, if he wasn’t breathing so heavily as he sprinted after the Pegasus flying in the air. He looked over to his left seeing the entire compound they called The Yard. It was a large oval shaped space with four obstacle courses set up, one for each pony type and a coop exercise. This was his first day in training and he already wanted to quit. He was infracted for asking for breakfast. Those showers smelled like raw sewage… the raw sewage I slipped in was nothing compared to those showers… He looked over to his right to see an exhausted green unicorn attempting to keep up. To Star Grazer’s dismay he collapsed prompting Sergeant Manticore to yell at him and Light Dasher to do five more sprints.

0900

”Attention!” everypony in the barracks quieted and looked at Shining Armor. ”I said, ATTENTION!!! Everypony snapped to a salute at the realization of what he wanted. Star Grazer was a little late on the matter and got a feeling he was going to regret it. YOU! FOUR EYES AND BLUE EYES! FRONT AND CENTER! He was right…

“Yes sir?” Shining Armor glared at him making him cower a little. Suddenly the armored ponies face turned from one of intense anger to that of kind gentleness.

“Hi, Private Star Grazer right? I think we got off to a bad start. Lets start over by introducing ourselves to our fellow ponies hmm?” A smile broadened across his face. He turned Star Grazer to the group of Colts and two Mares in the small musty barracks. He was about to speak before being interrupted. “Allow me!”

“Everypony! This is Private Star Grazer! Does everyone see him?” Nods were shared around the room. “This here is a star pony. Tell me Star! How tall are you?”

“uh… Im four hooves tall sir.”

“Huh. I think you set the record for Equestria’s Tallest Foal Sitter! Tell me. Are you educated?” Star Grazer perked up at this question.

“Why yes actually! I studied at the college o-“

“WOAH! I didn’t know they let Hay for Brains here into college! Shoot! If I didn’t have this Royal Guard thing going, I would have tried college! Maybe then I wouldn’t have to deal with pinheaded ponyfeathers like you lot! Now then!” He pushed Star Grazer making him stumble and fall on his face… literally, causing some small cuts to bleed out. “Aww… Look at that! The little filly got hurt! Do you all see this pony?! That is an example of what you DON’T want to be in this guard!”

At that moment Star Grazer snapped up, back hoofing Shining Armor in the chest making him fall back a bit. He completely turned around to face Shining only to have a hoof jammed into his nose. He saw a string of blood fly in front of him as the white pony galloped toward him. Shining placed a blow into Star Grazer’s side. The adrenaline rush Star Grazer got kept him from feeling pain as he pounced Shining Armor grabbing hold of his left hooves. They both fell over and began tossing blows at each other’s sides. Shining Armor managed to land a solid punch to the nose again and was released from Star’s grip. Star Grazer slammed a hoof down on the ground, spinning himself around swiping at Shining’s legs causing him to fall over. Star Grazer gets up and places a hoof down on Shining’s throat, gritting his teeth and heavily breathing. Shining Armor smiled at him which enraged Star Grazer. He almost finished Shining off but looked down to notice a blade at his neck.

“Very good. Very good. That was very impressive Star Grazer. I didn’t expect that sweep at all. However you need to utilize the resources around you.” He turned toward the large crowd of ponies at the barracks. “That, everypony, is not what you want to be in the Royal Guard… You want to be like him in the Equestrian Royal Army! Good work, Corporal Grazer.”

2200

Star Grazer was exempt from the rest of training for the day. Much to his dismay the other ponies became resentful. He never really did have time to talk with anypony anyway. The rest of the day, after the fight, was spent having Star Grazer fitted with a jacket that had the Equestrian Royal Symbol on it. It also had a strange badge on it he had never seen before. Shining Armor explained that the new ranking system and badge came from the changeling. Star Grazer got the feeling Shining Armor admired the changeling more then he puts on about.

Star Grazer was constantly shot resentful looks as he began preparing to go to sleep. He began unpacking his things, being that he never had time to do so the night before. He placed the picture of the beautiful mare next to his saddlebag that served as his pillow. He took out his parchment, ink, and quill and began writing down the events of his day. I hope cherry enjoys reading the adventure im having! She will be so proud and happy to know she has a Colt like me! He sighed as he finished writing up his final thoughts. He looked around the barracks. The day seemed to go by quickly. Almost as if it hopped from what place to another… Strange… it’s like the days are starting to merge together… At this thought he shuddered. To have to go through a day like today everyday would be a nightmare!

Star Grazer yawned and felt he should probably get some rest. Never know what life is going to throw at you! He smiled at the wall and laid his head on the saddlebag, allowing his thoughts free rain.Tomorrow will be a piece of cake!

A Case of Blue Blood pt1

Day 2

1 Day before Nightmare Night

0500

Light Dasher hadn’t talked to Star Grazer much at all the past two days. They seemed to go by all to quickly. That only left the night in which she is too exhausted to even consider it. The showers were actually quite large compared to the barracks they slept in. Light Dasher stood there sticking her head in the stream of hot water. The warmth trickled down her mane and washed the sleepiness of the morning away. The water felt good against her coat. She hummed a small tune as she began to wash her mane. Peeking out the corner of her eyes she noticed two stallions staring at her flank. She almost peaked with fury before catching herself. A sly smile broke across her face.

“Oh, boys!” She said in her most seductive voice. The stallions acted as if they didn’t notice her until that moment. “Why don’t one of you come over here and keep me company? Hmm?” A tall blue coated stallion rushed over to her, nearly slipping a few times. She giggled causing him to turn a reddish color.

“Hey. What’s up?” He leaned against the wall of the shower making sure to avoid the knob to the showerhead he stood under. She dropped the brush she had and bent down to pick it up, raising her flank in the air in a slow arching motion. The stallions were having an increasingly hard time controlling themselves. After picking up the brush she walked over the the stallion. She gently picked up his hoof as she stared deeply into his eyes. The stallions face burned fire red through his blue coat as he heard a squeeking noise. For a breaf moment he saw a wicked smile break across the mares face before intense cold washed over his body. He jumped and ran out the showers screaming like a little filly.

“Anyone else want a look?” A wicked smile was still painted over bitter anger. Everypony except Star Grazer averted their eyes. Star Grazer was too busy laughing to do so. She ignored Star Grazer and flicked her wings at the other ponies as she proudly walked out of the showers with a grunt.

0823

Shining Armor called the ponies to attention as he strolled through the barracks. He drilled the ponies on proper military eticate and after a few hours of practice it seemed that they got it. Shining Armor was glad that changeling came around. His weird new methods seemed to work a lot better than just complimenting the soldiers when doing good and encouring them to do better. “I called you all here for a reason! The special task force Team Green Bean will be overseeing the training up until mobilization. The Overseer is among one of your ranks watching you all individually. He or She will be watching you. Don’t mess up” The air seemed to shift in the room to something a little more stuffy. Nervous glances were shared among the soldiers as they shifted in their spots awaiting for that blissful moment to be set at ease. “Now then with this in mind, id hope that you woiuld put forth your best effort during training sessions! No more slacking off and falling behind. Being tired is no excuse!” He shot an accusatory glance at Star Grazer.

Silence filled the partially lit, stone room. The air, still stuffy and hard to breath. It was almost as if everypony was holding their breath. Waiting for something to happen, anything to happen, to break the silence and thickness in the room. Shining Armor walked to the door and quickly turned to the ponies, taking a long look around at all of them.

Soldiers! FALL IN

1415

Who is that pony? Which one is he? Why is this bothering me so much?!?! Light Dasher was in a tizzy, sitting at the mess hall table. Star Grazer sat across from her munching on some lettuce she didn’t want in a annoyingly bored way. She took the Daffodil and Daisy sandwhich in one hoof gesturing to Star Grazer if he wanted some. He nodded his head and continued to stare at his lettuce and munch on some from time to time.

“Hey Star Grazer you alright bud?” She craned her head.

“Yeah I just made a sad realization though…” He took a bite of lettuce and grimaced. It was rotting…

“Whats on your mind then? Training is tough and all but it aint all that bad.” Star Grazer chuckled at how off topic that last sentence.

“Hmm… I don’t know… It might affect some of the goings on here. You ran or…er, flew, 20 straight wind sprints then won a spear training match against that particularly big fellow.” Referring to a largely built stallion, he noticed the gesture and glared at him causing Star to recoil in fear.

“Ah who cares just tell me.” She nonchalantly took a bite of her sandwhich.

“Well…” Star Grazer leaned in toward her and spoke in a hushed tone “There is no ‘overseer’ pony in our group.” Light rolled her eyes then feigned a shocked look.

“Oh my goodness… It’s the end of the world!!!” Chuckling, Light Dasher went for another bite of her sandwhich. To her dismay, she ate it all. “It really is the end of the world…”

Now Star Grazer was the one who rolled his eyes. “Well yeah. No omnipotent pony in our midst.” She looked at him with a very confused expression. “All knowing.” She relaxed.

1600

CRACK!

“OUT!”

The referee at the sparring circle was obnoxiously loud for the small stoney cubicle that jutted out toward The Yard. Light Dasher was unstoppable. As soon as the whistle blew she was no longer a pony. She was more like a deadly snake. A simple, side jump and swipe, duck and jab, or a jump and smash to “kill” her enemy. She ws as graceful as she is deadly. She broke more than 12 ‘spears’ across ponies bodies.

“Come on! Give me a real challenge all these ponies are good for is breaking sticks” She blew a piece of her mane out of the way and began twirling the stick around. She looked around the room at the remaining ponies who weren’t to injured to continue sparring. “How about you?” She pointed to a ragged stallion with a a white coat and a short dirty blonde mane. Not dirty as in dark, it was actually dirty…

The stallion quietly stepped up to the raised circular platform and was handed a spear. He stood on his end of the circle, looking at Light Dasher unattentively, much to the chagrin of Light Dasher.

“ARE YOU BOTH READY?” The referee’s voice boomed in the room.

Light dasher nodded and grunted at the stallion. “You ready?” She asked with an intensity, opposed to the stallions feeble yes in response.

“FIGHT!” The whistle blew.

2021

Light Dasher woke up on a hard lumpy bed. The room was made of cobblestone on all sides. T Celestia’s seal could be seen hanging from the walls on either end of the rectangular shaped room. She was at the very far edge of the room. A long row of beds were against the wall, some occupied with injured ponies. One pony in particular to her left a few beds down had blood stained bandages across their face and chest. After a few more furtive glances toward the bloodied pony she realized she was in the infirmary.

She attempted get up from the bed. A wave of dizziness overcame her and she fell back down with a thunk. These beds really are uncomfortable… I can see why its not recommended you get hurt. She made another attempt. This time she got on her two front hooves shaking off another wave of dizziness. What happened anyway? She was now on all four hooves and walking toward the door. The wooden door creaked open as she pushed it open to find Shining Armor and Star Grazer talking to a stallion. Upon closer inspection it was that stallion she had sparred earlier. Why would he be-? Her thoughts were cut off by a flashback.

3 hours ago

“FIGHT!”

Light Dasher yawned as the white coated pony rushed toward her. She was caught off guard by the ponies speed and hopped to the side to avoid a jab to the face. She had fumbled with the spear as he turned around for another pass. She picked it up in time to block a downward strike. She ducked under a swipe and pulled up in a fighting stance, slightly more winded than she would prefer. The white blur hopped side to side making several faints toward her. She fell the trap each time and barely dodged jabs and swipes left and right. She parried another strike and smacked him clear across the face with the weapon.

“HIT!”

They both stopped and went back to their respectful positions. She looked up from the ground to see his sky blue eyes. Under the cool blue she saw a sea of anger rise and fall toward her. She merely chuckled at the sight. A poor little filly who cant handle being beaten. She made a gesture toward him, mimicking that of a crying foal. He nearly lunged at her before the referee blew the whistle again.

“FIGHT”

This time prepared, Light Dasher jumped in place. Her opponent, confused for moment, gave her the chance she needed to finish him off. She flapped her wings and propelled herself toward the stallion. He side stepped and swung at her grazing the tip of her wing. She turned around and went in for another assault. She jumped when a bolt of some sort whizzed by her. She landed with a thump and looked up to see that his horn was glowing. She rolled to the side as another bolt shot at her. She rolled constantly out of the way. His bolts were becoming more and more accurate as they came closer and closer to her body. She kept dodging them and dropper her spear. She  ran toward it only to have it blown away by a mystic light purple blast. She watched him with a look of contempt that he gladly returned.

“Your not bad.” A mix of anger and playfulness mixed into her words.

“Hmph! You have comparable skill as well.” The stallion spoke with an air of super imposed superiority.

“Make it easier for yourself and just quit. You are good but you don’t have skills like mine.” She smiled at his reaction. It was pure sugar on the cake of frosting. He nearly lost it.

“You dare compare yourself to me?! Let alone, think yourself better then me?!” She snickered.

“What if I do? Your not as good as me!”

With that final statement the stallion rushed Light Dasher. She merely jumped out of the way and gently tapped him on the back with the spear. The referee raised his hoof to Light Dasher.

“WINNER”

To the surprise of her and everyone else the stallion rushed at her again. This time making a direct hit straight into her chest. She doubled over in pain as she looked up to see him leap into the air above her. She rolled out of the way and gave him a shove. He barely moved from the push however. It felt like she was pushing a stone wall. He grabbed hold of her hoofs as he pulled her closer to him. He managed a few good hits with his “spear” to the chest before she squirmed out and began running.

They stormed out of the sparring room and into The Yard. He threw his “spear” landing a few hoof steps away from her. She quickly spun around and dropped to pick up the stick. He was rushing at full speed toward her. She waited. She waited. A few more seconds… Then she jumped out of the way for him to fall over some training equipment left out by the others. He faceplanted on the ground as she began to pummel him with the stick. He was looking pretty bad before she noticed that his horn was glowing. She had a hard time dodging the big rock that was above her head as it fell.

A case of Blue Blood pt2

The Canterlot gardens pristine hedging could be seen from the balcony he stood on. He sipped on his zap apple juice as he stared out into the starry night sky, as beautiful as ever. Probably the most beautiful thing he ever saw. Someone within the opulent building had coed for him to return inside. He turned around to find an old graying mare in a mauve dress that over accentuated her flank waving to him. As he walked closer to the elderly pony, the strong smell of perfume burned his eyes and nose. After years of attending and hosting parties one would think he would be used to this! The old mare simply smiled and gestured for him to return to the indoors. He did not wish to return inside however. He wanted to return to the moon. The quiet Canterlot gardens and the crisp cool air of the capital of Equestria. He did not wish to go back to the pungent smell of perfume, cologne and wine. The pony gestured to him again when she realized he was still outside.

He walked inside the ballroom. It was spectacularly lit and many colorful decorations hung from the ceiling. The room was a mass of colorful suits, dresses, and hats. He began to walk through it. Staying true to his routinely habit for parties, he simply mingled with ponies as he made his way through the large crowd in a half circle. He ended up a few feet away from where he originally entered the crowd and simply walked back to the balcony. He stood there and looked up at the starry night sky and the giant white circle that is the moon. The night was just so quiet and peaceful. It was moments like these that made him feel like the life he led meant something. His moment was only broken by a sudden movement behind him. He turned around to find a rather large tuft of brow feathers in front of him. He remembered a yellow claw slap him and throw him across the balcony.

It was calming. This sensation he felt. It was surreal. He felt even more at ease then he did looking at the moon. What was this feeling? Why did it end so soon? Why was he on the ground in a daze? And who was calling his name?

“Blueblood?  Blueblood! Wake up! I know you can hear me!”

Prince Blueblood mumbled as he rolled over in the bed. A flat wall of pain rolled over him and he immediately perked up only to find more pain and, strangely enough, soreness. He looked around. He was inside a cobblestone room. The Canterlot Royal Seal hung from the walls and beds were lined up beside him to his left.

“Good you’re awake! For a second there I thought I killed you…” The mare to his right was smiling and chuckling to herself as she leaned against the small end table.

He looked over to see Shining Armor switching his gaze between himself and Light Dasher. That’s her name right? Light Dasher? Ugh… What idiots she must have for parents to name her that! The look Shining Armor kept giving the two of them was all too familiar to him. It was a look of disapproval and resentment. A look that he hoped to never give his child if he ever became a father.

“So please explain to me something. How is it that you two acquired such skills hmm?” Shining Armors gaze landed on him. The question did take him by surprise. Light Dasher shifted slightly and cleared her throat.

“Well I learned spear fighting when I had made particularly fast friends with an ex guard. We had a little thing going on at the time. He was a cute little colt. He was from Las Pegasus! He also had this really cute flank that woul-” She blushed and looked away as Shining Armor took in this information, slightly blushing himself.

“very well. How about you?” Shining Armor adjusted himself on whatever he was sitting on.

“I don’t know… this maniac mare attacked me and I simply reacted. I never learned how to fight. It’s so… barbaric!” he said the last word with particular disdain. Shining Armor was taken aback by this but quickly regained his composure.

“Fine but listen ok. You two are fellow protectors of Equestria. If we begin to fight each other before fighting the enemy, we will be destroyed before we even get in the fight! I don’t want another incident like this to happen again. If it does I will be sure to tell the ponies down in the sewage wing to take a break. Do you understand?” He glared at them both as they nodded their heads in confirmation. “I said. Do you UNDERSTAND?”

“SIR YES SIR!” They managed to say that in near unison. Much to the pleasure of Shining Armor. He quickly stood up and walked out the wooden door, slamming it shut with his magic. A thick silence filled the air as they waited for the clop of his footsteps fade away.

“huh. Well all righty. Hey sorry for going off on ya’! I'm competitive and well… you were being a snob and a show off!” She chuckled and began to walk toward the door when she heard the sound of cloth moving.

“Me? Being snobby? Showing off? I'm Prince Blueblood! I will not tolerate being talked to in such a degenerate and offensive manner!” He began walking up toward her before feeling a stinging sensation across his face. She had slapped him. “Now you dare hit an injured colt?! I shall have you thrown in the Canterlot dungeons! You will rot in those shack-“ Another slap to the face quieted his rant. “Why YOU!” He quickly stopped himself as she raised her hoof to slap him again.

“Good. Now then, you can stop being an uptight little filly and get back to training!” She tilted her head to the side and smiled. She won. Now she is rubbing it in his face.

“Yeah… so if you are done slapping my friend, can we go Light Dasher? Dinner is almost over and they are serving MLP sandwiches today!” They both jumped at the sudden intrusion of the third pony propped comfortably on a pillow with a book. They both were wondering how he had been there. “You coming? Or am I eating alone?!” He chuckled as he put the book in his mouth pretending to eat it.

Light Dasher laughed and flayed her wings in response. “Just one sec, this pony here is your friend? Wow! I didn’t know fillies could have friends!” Blueblood attempted to hide his anger with a smile as he nodded his head. “All right then! Let’s go grab something to eat!”

And so the trio began their training together. Blueblood often clashed with Light Dasher and Star Grazer would always have to break it up. The trio, though possessing differences, were inseparable. Training quickly flew by and before anypony knew it Shining Armor announced the mobilization date to be tomorrow.

“Hey Blue?” Prince Blueblood was fiddling with the strap to his chest armor, this gear check was annoying him.

“Yes Star?”

“Why did you join the guard… or, well army?” Star Grazer walked up to him and began to tighten the strap Blueblood was fiddling with.

“Star Grazer… We have known each other since we were little fillies but in all honesty I don’t want to talk about it…:

“But it’s not like you! No offense, but you are definitely the type to sacrifice your life for another…” Star Grazer’s words stung him.

Blueblood vividly remembers that day. It seemed so distant yet it was as fresh in his mind as when it happened. The guards face as he begged him to stay. The way his eyes looked. The guards curse as he ran away. The griffins around him and the same guard he left for dead. It was all too fresh and painful for him to recall. He almost let loose a tear when Light Dasher came over to him. She placed a hoof on his back and patted it gently.

“Ah Twinkle! Leave Widdle Pwince Blueblood alone! He doesn’t wanna' talk about it!” She laughed at the look they both gave her.

“I told you not to call me twinkle! Just call me Star!” He pouted before breaking out in a fit of laughter as well. Laughter must have been contagious because soon after the three of them were on the cobblestone floor laughing at what seemed to be nothing.

The Next Day

Mobilization began today and the trio of ponies walked up to the large forming crowd of soon to be soldiers. Shining Armor was on a pedestal on a make shift stage. Speakers were set to each side of him and three large boxes stood next to him. The equipment that had previously occupied the yard had been moved and the yard strangely enough looked cleaner. After days possibly weeks of being trampled on the grass turned to dust. Yet they were standing on soft luscious grass. Shining Armor cleared his throat.

“The past few days, possibly weeks, for you have been hard and grueling. You have worked, sweated, even bled together. Now you are going to be doing the same thing. This time it’s not for a simple hoof bump. Not so that you will have to scrub the sewage drains. No… It’s for your fellow ponies. The people around you have become your friends. You all have formed bonds with each other that should never be broken. The Greyhens have attacked our glorious city. They have threatened our princess! If this angers you stomp your hoofs!” Very few stomp their hoofs. Shining Armor continued. “They have threatened your friends! Your family! I don’t know about you but that enrages me!” A large group began to stomp their hoofs. Shining Armor sighed hoping he didn’t have to pull this card to get them all motivated. “Worst of all, if the griffins win this war, NOPONY will PAY YOU!” With this the entire crowd was in an uproar.

The microphone was turned off and Shining Armor waited for the roar to die down. He used his sergeant voice for the last time.

”ATTENTION!”

HUT!

COMPANY MOVE OUT!

SIR YES SIR!

Light Dasher: The Killer Mare!

The sun shone brightly through the small pockets of light the forest allowed. The shade of the leaves casted eerie shadows on the ground below, contrasting the hole of light it surrounded. The forest was darker than the briefing Shining Armor gave stated. The procession of ponies marched nosily through. The clanking of armor, weapons, and supplies echoed through the woods. The large buggy groaned and moaned across the dirt road. Woodland creatures could be heard roaming the forest. Some occasionally came across the large group and simply went through or around them. Star Grazer, Light Dasher, and Blueblood were at the very back of the line. The army travelled in four smaller groups. They were tasked with protecting the equipment and supplies at the very back. It was boring…

The trio found different things to amuse themselves with. Star Grazer was somehow holding a book with one hoof and still walking, Light Dasher was hopping up and down using only her wings, and Blueblood complained about his mane. Star Grazer peered up occasionally to avoid a pebble or drift into the buggy. Star Grazer walked toward Blueblood who had stopped to pick up the comb he dropped. He almost tripped on a rather large rock in the road as he drifted toward him. Blueblood dusted the comb and looked over at the now approaching Star Grazer.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

They stood their staring at each other with dull expressionless faces. The Buggy, being pulled by two muscular stallions, crept by them with the rest of the troupe. They turned their attention to Light Dasher who was still hopping around in the general direction of the army. She had stopped for a moment and lowered her head to look at something. Her flank rose up and twitched. She looked up and noticed Star Grazer and Blueblood staring at her.

“Why are you guys staring at me?”

“We're bored…” Star Grazer was impressed by his excuse.

“Same… Why couldn’t we stay in Canterlot a little longer! They were throwing flowers at us!”

They all remembered the sendoff they received from Canterlot. A large crowd had formed at the front entrance of the castle.  When the troops rolled around from the back of the castle they went up in a roar. Cheering ponies surrounded the army as they marched in formation. Some had new sets of golden armor and silver spears which glistened in the sun. A few ponies broke formation to say goodbye to loved ones. The crowd was buzzing with energy as they marched north past Canterlot. Blueblood received several kisses from mares he didn’t know. Light Dasher had said her goodbyes before they left so she simply waved to her friends. Star Grazer simply watched the whole thing as he marched with the others.

The trio quickly broke from their reminiscence noticing the distance placed between them and the back of the line. They quickly dashed up and continued to think of that moment. It was so surreal and amazing! It felt good to receive that kind of a treatment. It felt so long ago to them though. It almost as if it happened years ago. In reality it happened about 5 hours ago.

The Sun was now at its apex in the sky and it bore heavily down through the small patches of light. The forest was eerily quiet. They noticed a lack of wild animals and the shadows seemed darker than they were before. Star Grazer quickly ran up toward the front of the group and raised a hoof in the air. Everypony in their group stopped and looked around. He gestured to them instructing them not to make noise.

The soft patter of grass being stepped on came from the surrounding wood. At first it was very faint and very few. The sound grew louder and louder. It sounded almost as if it was coming toward them. They stood there listening as it began to grow louder and louder. It is definitely coming toward us and whatever it is, it’s big…

Star Grazer quickly moved to the cart and grabbed a spear from the back of it. Many of the other ponies did the same. He carefully walked up to the forest edge. He peered through trying to see what lies in the dark. Nothing could be seen… A black blob moved in the shadows. He followed the shadows movements until it came out a few steps in front of them in the forest.

It was a family of bears. The cub hid behind what was assumed to be the mother bear and the father stared at Star Grazer and the group. It looked back to the forest and they quickly ran across the road to the other side.

“Huh… Guess it was nothing then. All right let’s move out!” Star Grazer looked to the forest one more time before trotting with the rest of the group. The black blob was still there.

Star Grazer had assigned a few more ponies to guard the carts and moved the carts toward the front of the group. He received a salute and the ponies did as they were instructed. I could get used to this! He smiled to himself as they continued their march. Occasionally he would check the carts, chat with the guards, or twirl a spear around. He stopped twirling when he flung the spear in the air and almost skewered himself to the ground.

Light Dasher had a strange feeling about the woods. She constantly glanced at it trying to see what lay hidden in the shadows. I swear I saw something move in there!

“Hey Star?” He turned around to face the worried mare.

“Hey. What’s wrong? Is there trouble?” He hopped into a ready stance as he awaited the news.

“I think there is something following us in the woods…” Her voice quivered a bit as she said that.

“Hmm… Alright I can check again.” Star Grazer picked up a spear and stopped the group. He pulled two other ponies to come with him as he walked into the wood. He peered into the black that was sparsely interrupted by small speckles of light in the distance.  He heard the patter of grass again. This time it was much louder than before. There is something following us… Ponyfeathers! We have the supplies, if we don’t get this to the rest of the army in time they could be in trouble… He stepped even more so into the wood. He felt around for a while until he reached a hole of light. He stood in the small overgrown clearing were the light shone on. It was evident that something or someone was here. He looked around to see a trail was cut through a bush. He turned around and looked back to the cart and his friends. Light Dasher stared back worriedly. She probably couldn’t see him. He turned back to the bush.

The bush was rather large for the forest it was in. It was a little taller than Star Grazer and was four times as wide as him. It stood between two deep-rooted trees. The bush grew yellow buds that leaned toward the sun. It was the large hole however that intrigued and worried him. It looked as though something had cut swiped at it. Several clippings of the bush were on the ground. The clippings seemed to land to one side, almost like it was cut In a sweeping motion. He slowly followed the sweep to the tree next to it. He was terrified at what he found.

Three claw marks were gashed across the tree bark. The tree hadn’t started to leak sap or heal up. It was fresh. He snapped toward the guard ponies he brought with him and the distant cart of supplies

“Everypony get to the cart, NOW!”

“What’s going on sir? Is there a problem?”

“We’re being ambushed”

They all galloped to the cart. The scene before them was gruesome. Two ponies lay dead on the ground. Star Grazer had very little time to take in what was happening as he dodged a swipe from his right. He fumbled with the spear as the griffin continued its attack. He dodged another swipe and placed a solid hoof on the griffin’s beak. It seemed unaffected and continued its assault. He dodged another blow and returned it, this time landing a hoof in its throat. It staggered back and coughed before Star Grazer bucked him in the face. It staggered back and fell as a spear thrust through its side.

Star Grazer was astonished as Light Dasher pulled the spear from the griffon’s body. Blood was splattered across her mane and she had a feral look on her face. She stood on top of the griffon for a few more seconds insuring its death then lunged off onto another. Star Grazer collected himself and examined the situation.

There had to be five or so griffins. They were not armored and had bandages on them. They must be the stragglers from the attack on Canterlot… Star Grazer quickly glanced around locating Blueblood who was at a stalemate with a griffin. Star Grazer readied his spear and let fly with all his might into it. It screamed in pain and Blueblood pushed it off to him. He finished it off by bucking the spear straight through it, silencing the screaming beast.

Light Dasher had finished the last one quite gruesomely. She was locked in combat dodging swipes and placing quick jabs at it. This griffon was much larger than the others and was heavily scarred and cut. It was slow and cumbersome compared to Light Dasher’s nimbleness and cunning. She dove under the griffin, appearing on the other side to place a spear in its rear end. It howled in pain as she yanked the spear with a string of blood dripping from it. The griffin collapsed from its sheer weight as it breathed heavily into the grass, dirt, and blood. Light Dasher ran up onto its back and jumped, placing the spear in the base of its neck. The griffon let out a sigh and a gurgle before releasing its final breath.

Star Grazer and the rest of the troop stared In shock at the brutality, finesse, and efficiency in which she took down the griffon. All except for Blueblood who whimpered by the cart rubbing blood out of his mane. She stood on top of the griffon with a feral look in her eyes. She was breathing heavily and grunted as she wrenched the spear free of the body. She stepped down and walked to Star Grazer. The blood drenched mare stood a few steps away from him. A wave of nausea washed over him as the scent of blood filled his nose and lungs. At that very moment her face turned from one of pure animal rage to that of the normal happy go lucky Light Dasher!

“Well. That’s over with!  I'm going to go check and see if there are any more griffons around.” She smiled and wiped some blood from her mane before trotting toward the cart. Everypony stared in awe and fear at the beautiful killer mare that was Light Dasher.

Sitting 'Round the Campfire

“Uh… Light Dasher?” The mare turned around and began walking backwards in front of Star Grazer.

“Yeah? What’s up?” She tilted her head to the side and crossed her eyes for a brief moment.

“Uh…” He hesitated and Light Dasher squinted her eyes suspiciously. “Uh… Are you alright?” She giggled at this.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t I be alright? We took down that group of griffins, no sweat!” She was relishing the memory of victory.

“Well I mean, you did take down that giant griffin by yourself… you also had this terrifying look in your eyes. A few ponies hear noted that you were “feral” and “insane”. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t going too…” She glared at him as he began to retreat. They both stopped and she took a step closer to him. He steeled his resolve and began to speak. “I just want to make sure you don’t… uh… Hurt yourself! Yeah that’s it! Hurt yourself…” A faulty smile crossed his face. Light Dasher stared into his eyes for what seemed an eternity. She suddenly perked up and smiled.

“Ok!” She turned around and continued walking.

Note to self: Don’t piss off Light Dasher. Also reassure the troops she was not going to kill them.

They had to climb uphill to reach the way point were the rest of the army is expecting them. The trek was hard especially for the stallions pulling the cart of supplies. They grunted and snorted as they used all their strength to climb up the steep hill. The cart groaned as it slowly ascended the rocky path. An hour passed before they reached the top of the hill. The hill overlooked a small clearing in which the other groups were waiting.

Star Grazer led them down the side of the hill to the small camp where they were greeted warmly. Star Grazer instructed his troops to go ahead and relax. They did so without complaint. He walked over to the officer’s tent. Several high ranking ponies stormed out of the tent.

“Corporal Star Grazer reporting for duty, Sir!”

“At ease corporal. You know you are late. We will be heading off in about an hour. What kept you and your troop?”

“We were ambushed by griffins’ sir. It seems that they are stragglers from Canterlot.”

“Well I see you have managed yourself…” Star Grazer swore he saw him roll his eyes.

“Well in all honesty sir, we had casualties and would have had more if we weren’t saved sir.”

“How many dead and wounded corporal?”

“Well sir two are dead and one is wounded. There were five griffins there. One was particularly large but one of my troops took it down…” He shuddered at the memory.

“Who? Corporal. The point of a briefing is to tell me everything you know!” Shining Armor seemed annoyed and furrowed his brow as he looked over the map that lay on a makeshift table.

“Light Dasher, sir! She single handedly took down two griffins, one of them was the large one.” Shining Armor turned to look at Star Grazer. His face showed he was not amused.

“Very well. What do you recommend we do?” Star Grazer looked at him quizzically.

“Sir?”

“What should we do about Light Dasher?” Shining Armor stared at Star Grazer. It made him feel uncomfortable.

“Um… Sir? I'm not sure what you mean.”

“Well. She has proven herself both in training and in combat. From your report she excelled and far surpassed any expectations previously stated. So it’s your call. Should she be ranked up to Corporal and command the troop with you? I need new ranking ponies who can do their job right! I feel she can do that. How about you?” Star Grazer was at a loss for words. That must be why the officers stormed off…

“Oh! Well if it were up to me then yes I would allow her to rank sir!.”

“Would you be willing to share command on your troop with her though?”

“Well yes of course!” He smiled at Shining.

“Good! You and Corporal Light Dasher will be taking the Food and Weapons cart with you this time. Also you will lead in case another ambush is waiting for us up the road again. Be ready to leave in one hour and take your pick of five other troops. They will be your commanding team until further notice.”

“Sir yes Sir!”

Star Grazer told the story of what happened in the tent to Light Dasher. She paced back in forth as she listened intently to the tale. When Star Grazer finished she looked up.

“So I'm a Corporal now?” She had an intense look on her face that said she was serious.

“Yeah. Same rank as me. We also have to co-command a group of five or so ponies to travel with the carts ahead.” She rubbed her chin then turned away from him.

“Do you know what this means?”

“No…” Should I be worried… I feel I should be worried right now…

“Well do you want me to tell you?” So this is how I die huh? A crazy, unpredictable, and seemingly emotionally unstable, mare is my end? You know, it almost seems fitting.

“Y-Yes…” She turned around to face him. Their eyes met and he saw what he thought was a twinkle.

“It means… We celebrate!” Star Grazer breathed a sigh of relief as she skipped toward a large brown tent that was pitched in the far corner. She returned a few seconds later with two considerably large mugs and a smile. Star Grazer dead panned.

“You can’t be serious? We have a mission to go on in less than thirty minutes!” Her smile wavered as she attempted to pass him the mug. “We have to be on watch for enemy activity Light Dasher!” She gulped down the entire mug and sighed.

“That’s why I got us both apple juice with cinnamon sticks!” This pony is crazy… Huh, but you know? I like it! Star Grazer smiled and accepted the mug and drank. The sweet, tart, liquid rushed his taste buds with a wave of sensational cinnamon spice.

“Whoa! This is good! Where do you learn to make these drinks?”

“My granny was a chef in her hay day cooking for the homeless shelter. She earned her cutie mark that way!”

“Huh. So she is a good chef and she taught you your skills?”

“Eyup! The recipe is originally for a, what she called, “Bit Friendly” Jam. For a cheap jam it sure was good! All I do is water down the recipe a bit or add more juice.”

“Well that is certainly interesting. I'm not much of a cook myself though. The best I can make is a splendid cup of tea!”

“You should make some tea for me one day! I’d really like that!” Star Grazer blushed and tapped at the dirt.

“Yes of course! Gladly.” He looked up to her. She was blushing too.

This stretch of forest was a lot brighter than the previous. The trees were spaced farther apart and the road was coated with freshly grown grass. Small bushes and weeds grew to the side of the road and small flowers bloomed in the trees. It was a very pastoral scene. Star Grazer decided on staying with the group they had. Light Dasher wanted to remove Blueblood but was denied by Star Grazer.

“Why does he have to come?” She whined as she carelessly fiddled with a spear.

“He is a good friend of mine and it would be rude to take everyone w had before except him…”

“But he is annoying and fussy. Just another Elite! No offence.”

“None taken, but he is my friend. Please respect him as such.” He sighed and trotted up ahead. She looked down at the ground and sighed. This was going to be a long walk.

It was around evening when they stopped at the second waypoint. Star Grazer’s group did not encounter any sort of trouble save for a rabbit that refused to leave until Blueblood gave it a carrot. They set up the three tents that they had and built a small fire. Blueblood used his magic to keep the smoke from rising too high. The seven of them sat around the warm fire. Star Grazer looked up to the stallion across him. He had a red coat with a black mane. He wasn’t actually muscular but well-toned. The pony looked at him.

“Hey.”

“Hey. You know I never got your name. Actually I never got anyone’s name here for that matter.” The red coated stallion spoke up.

“I'm Baron. Ruby Baron, my friends call me Barry.” He smiled then shivered as a gust of wind blew in. He shuffled closer to the fire.

“I’m sure you know but I'm Star Grazer. How about you? What’s your name?” Referring to the orange Pegasus mare next to Baron

“I'm Fluttery, it’s nice to meet you.” She smiled and waved a hoof at Star Grazer.

“Nice to meet you how about you…” The other two ponies had gotten up and left for the tent.

“I'm Light Dasher! I'm sure you knew that but yeah, I'm light Dasher!” she waved at Baron and Fluttery.

“So Baron-“

“Barry” He corrected Star Grazer.

“So Barry… Why did you join the army?”

“Well it all started with the griffin attack…”

The five them talked, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company the whole night. It was like a scene from one of Star Grazers adventure books. This is nice. Just sitting by the fire, talking with new friends, is this what it is like to be normal? The night soon turned to day. The five hardly got any sleep and evidence of it was on their faces. The sun was just rising when they decided to sleep only to be awaken by the arrival of the army an hour later.

“Listen Star Grazer, it’s good that you were getting to know your troops but this is a war we are in. I hate being strict and mean but I can’t have you slacking off. At any moment we could be attacked and if you are too tired you’re as good as dead! Don’t let this happen again. That is all dismissed.” Shining Armor seemed very tired. Almost as if he hadn’t slept all night himself.

“Oh my goodness is he all right?!”

“What is that thing?!”

“It’s coming toward us!”

“Move! Move! Move! Get the civilians to safety!”

"The warning is true...

Big Bad (Emotional) Blueblood

“Hey Fluttery, what do you call a horse who lives next door?” Fluttery lazily turned her head to Light Dasher.

“What?”

“A Neigh-bor!” A burst of laughter came from the group of ponies.

“Light Dasher you’re so funny! I'm glad you are our leader!” Star Grazer loudly cleared his throat and they all laughed.

“Hey Barry, why did the pony stand behind the mule?”

“I don’t know why?” He looked behind him toward Light Dasher.

“He wanted to get a kick out of him!”

The whole group erupted into raucous laughter save for Blueblood. Blueblood stuck to his own devices the entire journey. He didn’t eat with the others and didn’t sleep with the others. He tries his best to disconnect himself from the group.

Were in the middle of a war and they are telling jokes! This war shouldn’t even have happened! This is idiotic… Why did that pony have to be right…?

“The warning was right… Everypony Get inside, NOW!” A meager defense was set up at the door of the ballroom. Fancy Pants was assisting injured ponies inside. The entire of Canterlot was in chaos! Blueblood remembered the claw, the pony that jumped, the pony that begged, and the pony that lived.

Blueblood snapped back to reality when the others were out of sight. He galloped up the winding road. The trees were less of a forest and more of a sparse wood now. The hardened ground, dusty and hard, kicked up as he caught up with the soldiers. They still joked and laughed, much to the annoyance of Blueblood. Several more hours passed before they reached their final resting place.

“All right, here we are!” Star Grazer pointed toward a parched landscape interrupted by patches of grass and weeds. The area was surrounded in dense wood with the sun beginning to set overhead. “Whelp! Let’s make camp and wait for the others!” The group moaned and began to unload the cart.

Blueblood was unpacking the larger tent material when a wild smiling Fluttery appeared. Her smile soon faded once she saw Bluebloods grim expression. It could possibly be annoyance...

“Hey, Blueblood right? I'm going to gather firewood wanna' come?”

“No.” She frowned.

“Well I was just being polite. Star Grazer said to come with me!” She huffed and walked toward the woods. He stood there un amused. “What are you waiting for?”

“For Star Grazer to tell me to do so. I'm working; I don’t have time to play any of your silly games.” She turned around squinted her eyes at him. She examined him attempting to find any trace of vulnerability so that he could lighten up. She eventually gave up and decided on dragging him by his mane.

“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! That hurts! That hurts! That hurts! That hurts~…

Blueblood muttered to himself as he began gathering dry twigs and leaves for the fires. Fluttery told Blueblood that they had arrived at the campsite a few hours ahead of schedule despite their long march through the woods. His ear twitched as he heard a twig snap behind him. He quickly turned around finding fluttery gathering near him. Letting out an exaggerated sigh he continued gathering.

He walked into a clearing where many birds seemed to have gathered. The tiny twittering creatures did not flee at his presence; they merely acknowledged and stepped aside. He bent down and let a pretty blue bird land on his hoof. He admired the birds grace and poise. It certainly stood out among the rest. It was a navy blue color with silver wing tips. It also had a silver spot where its beak is. The bird coed at him and gently tugged his mane. He chuckled and a smile broke across his face. This… this is nice. The animals singing a delightful tune, the mauve sky above, and me away from everypony and everything in the world…

A loud rattling sound came from behind. The birds fled in a flurry of flapping wings. His special little silver winged bird took off. He reached out to it but it kept flying away. Blueblood turned around to see fluttery caring an unusually large bundle of sticks and dry material. She smiled through the sweat on her face. She was panting and slowly walked toward him. He stared at the mare stunned by the odd appearance. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and looked into his eyes. They stood there locked in each other’s gaze in the middle of the woods. She caught her breath and opened her mouth.

“Hey… Blueblood, I'm thirsty!” Her eyes rolled to the side as she began to fall. He caught her and gently placed her on the ground. He wiped her mane away from her face. Did she just die? Huh… He began to walk away before stopping a few steps away.

Blueblood! What are you doing?!

Walking back to camp…

You can’t just leave her there!

Why not? She hasn’t done anything for me, besides, she was sweating and it will dirty my coat.

Have you learned nothing from Canterlot?! Did that guard not teach you anything?! Are you really that much of a cowardice, good for nothing? You left that guard-

OK! I know what I did… me. Fine… I’ll help the mare.

Good, I'm glad that you now listen to me. Maybe someday in the very far and distant future you will finally be liked by somepony!

Are you sure you are my conscience?

Just go help her! Look she is waking up.

Blueblood opened a saddlebag that Fluttery was carrying. She groaned as he shuffled through the bag. He found a half full canteen and opened the topper. He opened the mare’s mouth and reproached a little as he poured the clear liquid into her mouth. She swallowed the water and opened her eyes. She lazily looked over to Blueblood before she closed her eyes again and sighed.

She has to be dead for sure now! The mare began to quietly snore. Blueblood deadpanned and removed the large bundle of sticks from her back. He struggled with the knot she tied to herself and had to resort to gnawing the string off her with his teeth. He hoisted her onto his back, ensuring that she stayed secure. He untied the stick bundles from his side to allow her more room. He then began heading back in the direction of camp.

The rest of the army came and had already settled in by the time Blueblood came back, Fluttery in tow. He brought her to the infirmary where an off gray earth pony helped Fluttery onto a stretcher and into a curtained off area.

“It’s a good thing you got her here! She was severely dehydrated and has a minor case of heat stroke. Well heat stroke is not minor but she will be fine.” She smiled at him and walked into the curtained room. What is up with ponies smiling at me? Stop smiling at me! There isn’t anything to be happy about! Yes there is! Think about the bird! No! The bird flew away!

Blueblood mentally argued with himself in the infirmary before being asked to leave a few minutes later. He agreed and walked around the camp, observing the other ponies and their nightly business. The stars were very well visible despite the several campfires that spread throughout the camp. He asked a unicorn stallion where the officer’s tent is. He pointed the direction and gruffly thanked the unicorn.

“Does that guy have any fun?” Blueblood perked up as he walked by a campfire.

“Yeah seriously, all he does is do what he is told then disappears until someone calls him again! He is just too weird.” Blueblood creeped closer to the fire and the ponies surrounding it. He didn’t recognize any of them, probably from a different part of the army.

“To think, he used to be a prince.”

“Well he is still a prince, a stuck up snobby prince, but a prince.” The group laughed. Blueblood had a difficult time silencing his rage.

“Did you hear about what happened with him during the attack on Canterlot?”

“No what happened?”

“He was attacked by a griffin and a group of guards saved him. They escorted him to a safe zone but were cut off by more griffins!”

“No way! What’s next?”

“The guards fought while ‘Prince Blueblood’ quivered in fear I heard.”

“Yeah that sounds like him.”

“That’s not the best part! All the guards were killed except for one and he was hurt bad. The guard saw Blueblood and motioned for the spear at his hoove. Wanna' know what he did?”

“No, there is no way…”

“He turned tail and ran! He left that pony for dead!”

“That hoofless coward! I'm assuming the guards dead?”

“No. The guard managed to fight off the griffin and escaped. I heard that Blueblood got an earful later and had his flank g to him.”

“It’s what the boneless pony gets! So what's he doing in the army anyway?”

“I don’t know but he surely aint' gonna' like it here!”

Blueblood stepped out from the shadows of the tent and into the light of the fire. The group of ponies fell dead silent as he examined each of them and their faces. “Never have I ever wanted to hurt somepony more than now. Luckily for you colts, I'm on the same team as you…” A smile broke across the face of the story telling pony.

“You weren’t gonna' do nothing! You’re a weak little fill-“ A hoof went straight into the pony’s muzzle knocking him out instantly.

“Anyone else?” They all shook their heads and inched away from him. “Good.”

Blueblood knew that he wasn’t exactly a good pony. But he never knew it was that bad…

The Filler's a Lie

Fluttery

The sun shone through tan tent wall. The orange Pegasus mare slowly righted herself in the hospital bed. Her head throbbed and her mouth felt dry. With a shaky hoof she picked up a glass of water from the table beside her. She steadied it with her other hoof as she enthusiastically drank. She found a pitcher of the colorless liquid and downed cup after cup of water. After sating her thirst she turned and slowly tried standing. Ok, one hoof, two hoofs… At the third hoof she fell with a loud thud garnering the attention of the earth pony. She helped her up and sat her back down on the bed.

“You really shouldn’t push yourself. Take it slowly.” The mare grinned and picked up the pitcher that fell on the floor.

“What happened? Who are you?” The mare placed the pitcher on the table.

“I'm Nurse Redheart. I am the head nursing pony for The Equestrian Royal Army.” The nurse gracefully bowed and they both giggled.

“Well why am I here Nurse Redheart? I was gathering firewood with Blueblood!” The nurse put a hoof on her shoulder.

“He’s fine. Actually if it weren’t for him you might be dead… He carried you here from the woods. You had a heatstroke and severe dehydration. I'm actually surprised you woke up today. It’s only been about a day. Most ponies either sleep or pretend to sleep. I feel kind of bad when I have to kick the fake injured and sickly out…” She lamented at the thought and helped fluttery to her hooves.

“Hmm, well thank you Nurse. I'm going to go find Blueblood and thank him!”

“Ok dear. Just don’t push yourself and try to drink more water.”

“I will thanks! Good luck!” The nurse smiled and waved at the now exiting Fluttery.

Fluttery was astonished at how quickly the camp grew in one day. A field of tents scattered across the once barren clearing. She wondered through the sea of pitched cloth. She walked by a considerably larger tent compared to the rest. The slit to enter flapped in the gentle breeze allowing her a glimpse at Shining Armor reading at a table. She knocked on the tent. Realizing that the tent was not going to make a solid sound she knocked her hoof against the side of a support. Shining Armor opened the flap, he was the apple of every mare’s eye. Perfectly chiseled jaw, pearly white teeth, gorgeous mane, and the perfect mix of muscle, definition, and coat! He truly was a catch fitting for the Princess of Love.

“Yes? Come in, I’m not busy.” He gestured inside.

“Uh, that’s fine. I just wanted to know where the troop tents are.” She gulped nervously and quickly saluted.

“At ease, the troop tents are right behind you… all one hundred and something… Looking for anything more specific?” He raised an eyebrow and gave a small grin.

“Well I'm looking for my friend. Prince Blueblood?”

“Ah, yeah Blueblood was with your group right? The first ones here yeah? I think your tents were pitched down that way.” He pointed toward a cluster of tents.

“Ok thanks! Uh… I mean, thank you sir!” She saluted again and went rigid.

“Calm down, it is only formal conversation. Good work on scouting ahead by the way. Make sure to tell the rest of your troop that.”

“Ok!” She quickly hugged Shining and trotted off toward the cluster of tents. Hah! Told you I could touch Shining! I can’t wait to see the look on your face Light Dasher. She snickered to herself upon reaching her destination.

The cluster of tents turned out to be two enlarged tents and several personal tents in an oval shape around two central campfires. The sun cast a bright glare off of a spear that lay against a box of weaponry. The two large tents contained sparring circles and training equipment. Why they needed more training was uncertain but it was here. She walked around the oval, peering into the tents individually.

“Nope, nope, nope, that’s not him… uh uh... nope, nope, oh hi Barry! Nope, nope…~”

After checking and rechecking the tents her savior could not be found anywhere. She contented herself with sitting in an empty tent and staring at Star Grazer jab air with a spear. I’ll just wait for him to come here. He has to sleep sometime… I have to sleep sometime… why am I so tired? Oh yeah! Heatstroke… gotta ‘ stay awake, its only midday, stay up stay up. Her head slammed against the ground and loud snoring immediately followed.

Star Grazer

Star Grazer wiped sweat from his brow. He had trained and practiced nonstop since the sun rose. Ever since the attack on the cart he has felt weak and vulnerable. well no more! I will be strong! Brave! Valiant! A true prince to my sweet cherry princess! A gladiator in the arena of love! A true visionary in the quest to romance!~

Star Grazer fantasized his dream of saving the damsel in distress for a few minutes before taking of notice of the loud soring coming from across the way. He looked over and saw fluttery taking an obnoxiously loud nap. He shook his head and chuckled returning the spear to a box of weaponry nearby.

Star Grazer walked through the camp aimlessly. He walked by some ponies setting up a game of prodder. They swapped tales about home and the mares that waited for them. A few minutes go by and everypony went all in. It seemed Star Grazer’s quiet and cool demeanor was suspicious. Thirty five bits and a silver pocket watch lay in the pot. Star Grazer stared at the pot then all the ponies. He put in ten bits. His eyes darted from side to side as each one placed down their cards. He held his cards close to him and sighed, placing the cards down.

Star Grazer’s pockets jingled with the extra money. He let out an unmasculine giggle as he stared at the detailed design of the pocket watch. It was an antiquity. A true piece of pre-equestrian work, it was created by the Earth pony faction before the unity under the reign of Celestia and Luna. The carving on the face was the depiction of the first farmers in Equestria. The carving was well intact and was buffed to a brilliant sheen. That one pony sure did lose out on a treasure! He let out another squee of joy before returning the watch to his vest pocket.

He walked by another group of ponies playing prodder. He considered winning their stuff as well before a fast moving object captured his attention. A cream colored blur soared a few hooves above the ground and speed by him. He heard a mashed up “Hi Star Grazer!” before the blur disappeared past a bend of tents. What the hay was that? He shrugged and continued his idle walking.

The rest of the evening was spent winning prodder games and meeting new ponies. This is just like home! Only I'm earning money for it! he managed his way back to the tents and supplies that his group had set up. By then it was about around sunset and all the ponies were either in their makeshift beds or distracting themselves. Star Grazer, out of pure amusement, called everyone attention. They begrudgingly got up and ordered themselves in front of him.

“Alright it’s been a bit of a lazy day for us so to prevent Shining from coming at me, we will be doing hoof jumps.” They all groaned and all got into an open stance. “On my mark, ready, Go!”

They all lifted their front hooves and pushed down against the ground lifting their back hooves. Then they slammed down their back hooves keeping the opposite hoof set in the air. They repeated this exercise for about five minutes.

“All right that’s good! Thanks for that. Now get some rest were gonna’ need it for tomorrow.” They simply grumbled and returned to their activities. Ahehehe they are going to hate me by the end of this war…

Blueblood

Blueblood was furious. He stomped through the camp looking for Shining Armors tent. He reached the tent in time to catch Shining Armor walk in. He stomped up to the stallion. Shining turned to see the raging blueblood come up to him. His smiled turned to a frown as Blueblood walked past Shining into the tent. Shining sighed and followed him in.

“I’m guessing there is a problem?”

“You think?”

“Just because you are a princess does not gain you special rights! I'm your commanding General and will be treated as such!” Shining opened a drawer and rummaged through its contents.

“Humph! I hardly think your fitting of that title!” Shining went still. Slowly turning to face Blueblood, he placed a box gently beside him.

“Really now, why is that?” He said through gritted teeth.

“Seeing as one pony went through the entire camp and scamming ponies in prodder, a crazy mare was doing stunts and flybys all day, the whole fiasco with that one mare and the heat-stoke or whatever, and the whole camp basically did nothing at all today! It seems to me you are hardly fit to run an army!” Shining Armor pondered his statement. He then turned around, picking up the box and handing it to Blueblood.

“What is this?”

“it’s your prize, Blueblood.”

“What? My prize… what? Why did I win a prize?”

“You are changing. Talk to Star Grazer.” Shining Smiled

“What? I’m so confused…” The floor began to melt and Blueblood started sinking in.  He panicked and burst out of the tent. He stopped dead at what he saw waiting for him outside.

A tall unicorn stallion stood resolute and strong. His slightly graying clean cut beard made his only more masculine in identity. A length of blonde mane waved in the breeze of now empty grass field. Blueblood took a step forward. The stallion’s eyes snapped toward Blueblood. He coward I fear at the menacing glare that this father figure gave him. He turned around and ran away.

He ran and ran into a black nothingness. the world around him melted away and was replaced by memories, memories he long cast aside. A specific memory came into view all around him. He was at Canterlot castle. He heard screaming ponies and saw guards fighting griffons. Only the griffins had pony faces. No, the griffons were actually ponies, the guards were killing ponies! He saw a guard fly back against a wall. He ran over to him, blood gushed from the three claw marks on his side. The guard begged Blueblood for help. Blueblood stared at the guards face. It was a face of terror, of fear, of weakness. He begged for help. Blueblood picked up the spear at his feet, lifted it to the air, and looked down at the guard once more. He plunged the spear into the guard. A splatter of blood flew from the spear wound. Blueblood looked at the guards face again. It was his face.

Blueblood woke up in a cold sweat. He checked his body, then ran outside of whatever enclosure he was in. the bold campfire was reduced to small embers surrounded in ash. Light Dasher was sleeping soundly across from the fire. He looked into each of the tents. Everypony was soundly sleeping. He ran over to Shining Armor’s tent. He hesitated before but burst through the flap. Shining Armor quickly got up from his cot, pointing a spear to Blueblood. Shining Blinked and lowered the spear.

“What the actual fuck Blueblood?” Shining Armor leaned against the cot and folded his hooves.

“I… I had a bad dream…” Silence filled the tent as Shining Armor processed what Blueblood said.

“You scared me out of bed, and nearly got stabbed, because you had a bad dream? You know what? Don’t answer that. You caused enough trouble today or… yesterday.”

“Wait, what happened?”

“I'm guessing you forgot already? You yelled at Star Grazer for playing prodder with the other ponies, you distracted Light Dasher when she was moving clouds to hide our position, Fluttery had to return to the infirmary because you refused to talk to her. She followed you almost the entire day. You didn’t even show up when I called all troops for briefing!”

“Oh… I…”

“You what, being your normal self? Yeah you are! Why did you even bother joining the army?”

“I had made a promise to somepony…”

“Get out of my sight! You disgust me! When the sun rises you will report to the north lookout point, alone!”

“Yes Shining.”

“Excuse me?! That is SIR to you!”

“Yes sir…”

Oh Captain, My Captain...

“Good. I trust that you can get it done?”

“Yes sir! I’ll get my team on it!” Star Grazer saluted Shining Armor as he walked out the tent. Outside, the cold morning air lay crisp and fresh on the camp grounds. The ground lay damp and soft under his hooves. The camps calm quiet was broken by the shuffling of hooves. Star Grazer waited in front of the tent as the shuffling came closer. Light Dasher turned the corner first followed by Fluttery, Barry, Blueblood and another stallion.

“So what do we have to do?” Fluttery inquired, tightening the saddlebag on her back.

“Our mission is to scout out the town. We will skirt the forest edge, marking any weak spots in their defenses. Blueblood, you will be making a map of the area so our pace is determined by you.” Blueblood groaned and nodded, shifting in the light armor he was wearing. “Don’t attack anything unless you are certain you can kill it! Our mission is to scout, not kill the griffins, at least not yet. If everypony is ready lets move out!” The small group let out a cheer and followed Star Grazer into the forest.

The five of them were quickly plunged into the dark of the forest. Star Grazer insisted on travelling through the thicker parts to avoid detection. They ambled their way through thick bushes and large ferns. The sounds of rustling foliage filled the forest as they approached the town. It was a quaint little place. The cobblestone buildings and thatch roofed houses reminded Star Grazer of home. He stopped for a moment and observed the town and its griffin inhabitants, going about their daily lives, unaware of the equine eyes watching over them. The stallion charged with taking notes walked aside Blueblood with Fluttery and Light Dasher in front of them. Star Grazer and Barry scouted ahead for a good vantage point. Upon finding one, Star Grazer signaled for the rest of the group to come.

“Ok guys! We can see them but they can’t see us. Blueblood, did you start on that map?” Blueblood scowled at Star Grazer. “I’ll take that as a no…” Why do I even consider him my friend? Well… I am also friends with Light Dasher… and Fancy Pants… I should really reconsider my friends! He confirmed with himself and looked out toward the town. Windforge. Its quant. Has a nice ring to it, Windforge, wouldn’t mind living in a place called that. Cherry is awaiting me in that town. Let’s hope I have the strength to save her…

“Hey Star Grazer, I’ve finished this portion of the map. Do you want me to include the dock on the river as well?” He pointed toward… well, a dock on the river.

“Yeah. Shining wants as detailed a map as you can draw. It surprises me though.” Star Grazer rubbed his chin.

“What?”

“Apparently you are the only one who is able to draw well. Out of all the ponies we have with us. After all it is an army that we travelled with.”

“I don’t know. I don’t think it was for that reason I was selected to do this job.” Remembering the night before Blueblood scorned Shining Armor for that.

The rest of the morning was spent travelling all around the edge of the town. The group met no resistance and was able to take some steady and solid notes on defenses. The guard shifts had an off time of about 1 hour in the mornings. The main entrance is always heavily guarded and smaller side entrances were guarded as well. Under Shining’s orders, Star Grazer ran through several scenarios of how to capture the city.

It was about midday when Star Grazer instructed Blueblood to pack up. He grimaced as he saw Blueblood’s hoof. It was a sickly purple color and throbbed rhythmically to his pulse. He has magic! Why didn’t he use it? Star Grazer knelt down and helped pack the ink and quills away in the saddlebag.

“Thanks Star.”

“No problem Blue.” He picked up his spear and began walking toward camp. “Come on guys, let’s go back.” Everypony nodded in agreement and trotted along with him.

The next few days were quiet and dull. A letter came through to Shining Armor late one afternoon. After reading the letter Shining’s face went pale and he rushed into his tent. He hadn’t come out of the  tent for hours either. Rumors of Shining going insane spread through the camp. Star Grazer put a quick stop to it by placing a counter rumor of Shining’s planning phase. Of course Star didn’t know what was happening either so he took it upon himself to visit his leader.

“Oh Captain, my captain!” Star Grazer caroled as he poked his head into the tent. The tent was a mess of scrolls, papers, maps, and books across the ground. Shining Armor sat at his desk, hand coursing through his now mussed up hair. He looked up to Star Grazer and quickly gestured for him to come closer. Star Grazer gingerly walked through the sea of parchment to Shining Armors side.

“Sir, are you all right?” Star Grazer tilted his head.

“No. We have a situation. These griffons… have hostages.”

Star Grazer stood patiently aside Shining as he briefed him on the situation. The griffons have a small group of ponies’ hostage. Judging from the way the letter is written and the current situation, the ponies are most likely inside the town. Assuming that the griffons are unaware of their position several forms of attack can be comprised. Shining Armor and Star Grazer contemplated several scenarios for a solid hour before fatigue washed over Shining.

“I think we are on to something. I’m going to have to call in Team Green Bean in order for any of these plans to work. You will be briefed on your next assignment ‘yawn’ when you are needed. For now, you are free to do any work around the camp as you please. Just don’t cause any trouble and keep Blueblood in check.” They both chuckled as Star Grazer waded through the parchment sea again.

“Well good night sir!”

Star Grazer woke up the next morning in a daze. He felt groggy and disheveled. The sky was a still shade of gray. About dawn… He slowly got up and walked through his tent. The tents his troop were supplied were slightly smaller than the rest. Large enough to hold 2 ponies and their stuff but small enough to not allow too much hoof room Star Grazer carefully walked to Barry’s cot nudging him awake.

“Mmngph. What? Is it breakfast yet?” Barry rolled over onto his stomach and scratched his flank.

“No. I think it’s too early.”

“Then what you go and wake me up for!” He grunted and rolled away before Star Grazer could reply.

Star Grazer stared at the stallion some more before turning about and walking out of the tent. The air was crisp and clean and a low fog filled the land. The ground was soft and moist with the dew of early morning. I wonder if all the mornings are like this. It sure seems like it. He smiled and walked toward the campfire. The small circlet of rocks, tinged black from flame, was still warm from the night’s fire. The embers in the wood were long since dead and gray ash was left in its wake.

He turned around when he heard a yawn and a slight shuffling from behind him. Light Dasher had just woken up and was stretching by her bed. She looked up at Star Grazer and yawned out a tired ‘good morning’. She finished her stretching and walked over to Star Grazer.

“Hey. Why are you up so early?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.” They both giggled.

“Well obviously I just woke up. Why are you out here?” She tilted her head in curiosity.

“I don’t know if I should tell you this but I trust you. There is a hostage situation. If this is true then were going to be fighting again soon…” He trailed off in thought.

“Okay then? That is why we are in the army… to fight? Hence, Army. What really is on your mind?”

“Hmm well did I tell you why I joined?”

“No. But I get the feeling you’re going to tell me!” She leaned in closer to him.

“Fine, sit down and I’ll explain.” She plopped down at the very spot she was in cause enough for a face palm from Star Grazer. He pointed to a log and they sat down.

I’ve known Cheery Grove since I was a little filly. Her coat was of the most beautiful light rose colored coat. Her mane is a light pink with white highlights. She kept it short and made curls that progressively became bigger toward the back of her mane. Her tail was also stylish and cut short to accent her mane. She has the cutest laugh and the nicest smile. She always smelled of cherries hence the nickname ‘Cherry’.

She used to always be happy. She was brave, bold, and daring! She had a way of brightening my day when I was down. I became Elite when I proved myself capable at the University of Equestria. I excelled at the top 5 percentile of my class. I graduated early and was awarded the Equine Prize for my discoveries in theology and philosophy. Cherry was so excited for me. I used by good standing with the university to make Cherry a recognized Elite as well.

She enjoyed the luxury of Elites alongside with me. I worked at the Royal Canterlot Library. I had a few opportunities to see Twilight Sparkle before she did her amazing feats in The Magic of Friendship. Cherry and I did many things together. We often visited the Canterlot gardens and I would show her the constellations in the sky. She would tell me about her day of work at the small café she worked at. We’d go and dance and at the Canterlot parties. Sometimes, much to my dismay, I’d attend her when “hanging out” with her Canterlot friends. It normally wouldn’t bother me if they weren’t almost all stallions.

Something changed however. One day she stopped smiling, stopped attending parties, working at the café, stopped being Cherry. It was about 2 months ago. She was living as a roommate with a stallion down in the town portion of Canterlot. She sent me a letter inviting me to dinner with her roommate at his place. The kind gentlecolt  am, I graciously agreed and prepared for the dinner.

The dinner was fine, normal. Slightly awkward for me seeing as I sat between her and the stallion. They would have conversation across from me and play games that made me very uncomfortable. It was when they tried to play hoofsies that I asked to be excused to the bathroom. I heard a lot of noise and Cherry screaming so I ran out. She was gone. The door was open and the stallion and her were both gone.

I informed the police and went on a desperate search for her. The first day was fruitless. No sign of her was found. The second day, police found a waft of her mane. They used it to track her back to a weird building in the poorer district of Canterlot. We found her in the back, shivering, and cold. Her eyes were blood shot and looked slightly emaciated. Her body was covered in welts and bruises and she recoiled when I tried to touch her. It was then that I noticed the red and white liquids near her flank…

“From that day she has never been the same… She distanced herself from me and eventually stopped talking all together.”

Light Dasher wiped tears from her eyes. She hugged Star Grazer and quietly sobbed into his shoulder. Star Grazer was dumbfounded and simply patted her on the back.

“Uh… are you ok?”

“You’ve been through so much!” she had difficulty choking out the words.

“Um… I haven’t really been through anything traumatic in my life but Cherry certainly has…” his angst showed through his confused expression.

“Ok. Tell me then, why did you join the army?” She wiped a residual tear but continued to hug him.

“Well I had heard she was still in Canterlot when it was attacked. I was going to return to Canterlot but that warning cloud thing showed up so I stayed in Fillydelphia with my family.”

“So now you are looking for her? Like the hero in fairytales?!” Her eyes sparkled. “AWWWWWWWWWWW!!! That’s so romantic!!!” She squeezed him or more strangled him.

“L-L-Light… Da-shh-er… Cant… breath…” She let go of him and smiled.

“Sorry. That is just so romantic! I wish I had a stallion like you to come save me!” Her face reddened through her caramel coat. Star Grazer stared at her for a moment confused before he made the realization, blushing himself but smiling.

“Ha! Doesn’t surprise me! Look at me! Mares are falling head over heels for this face. Come on look at that chiseled jaw!” He struck a pose glamourizing his small frame. Light Dasher fell, rolling on the floor laughing out loud. Star Grazer followed suit. They laughed and laughed until Barry threw a pebble at Star Grazer yelling at them to keep it down. Their laughter died down to giggles and lied in the grass smiling at each other.

“I think I understand now. You know something? I like you, not in that way but I do like you. You were quiet and stuff when I first met you. You had this weird accent and I felt the need to watch over you. That is the reason I joined the army. I don’t know why though. I guess I'm a natural mother.” She winked at him and he chuckled a bit. He stuck his nose up in the air and looked down at her, taking an obnoxiously loud breath.

“Well thank you mother! May I go and play with my toys in the foyer now?” He imitated a privileged rich kid’s voice.

“Hmm yes. Why certainly darling! Go on and play with your toys!” Light dasher imitated a privileged rich woman and turned her snout to the sky.

“Thank you very much! I am indebted to you!”

They burst out in a fit of laughter again. Only pausing momentarily when Barry got out of the tent and stomped into a spare tent grumbling along the way. This only fueled the duo into more laughter and jokes lasting all throughout the day.

Welcome to the Team

Shining Armor paced back and forth. A solid line of where he paced could be seen below him. He glanced constantly skyward with a look of anticipation. He muttered under his breath looking around at the ponies passing by, worried expressions on their faces. Star Grazer and Light Dasher were walking by Shining Armors tent when they saw the white pony pacing about. Star nudged his crème companion and they walked over to him.

“Hello sir? Are you alright?” Light Dasher waved a hoof at him when he didn’t respond.

“Um… Shining? What’s up? Is it that thing we discussed earlier? I thought we had come up with a plan for the hostage situation at town?” Star Grazer knelt down his front legs and looked closely at the dirt line under Shining Armor. “You have been pacing for at least an hour…”

“Wow Star! How did you know that?”

“I am a scholar. I know a lot of useless information. The ground under Shining is firmly packed indicating pressure on the area. The piles of dirt around the packed area tell me that he has not deviated from this spot and about how long he has been in the area.” Light Dasher, impressed by his knowledge, nodded her head and smiled.

“That is actually pretty cool! I mean it is dirt but still cool!” Star Grazer blushed.

“Ah it’s nothing really… Wait! We are getting distracted. Shining what is going on?” Shining Armor glanced up at the sky again as a chariot touched down. The two royal guards pulling it let out a sigh of exhaustion as they relinquished their load. Shining perked up and quickly glanced at Star Grazer and Light Dasher.

“Hey get outta here! I have important business to attend to!” Shining barked at the duo. They walked away and headed for the mess hall. Barry and Fluttery were already there. A small crowd formed a half circle around the two and large piles of food lay in front of them.

“Uh… Barry? What’s goin’ on?” Barry looked up at Light dasher for a split second before returning to the hay fries and celery sticks.

“Hey what’s going on?” A pony from the crowd swatted Star Grazers hand away and hushed him.

“Come on dude! They are in an eating contest. We received too much food that could spoil so we set up this contest. I have four bits on the red one.” The two ponies sure could eat a lot. Three plates lay empty by each of them. Two more plates full off smoked apple patties towered over the now depleting Zap apple sandwiches.

“Sweet Celestia! How much extra food did we get?!”

“Apparently a lot…” Light dasher replied blankly.

The food eating contest lasted thirty minutes with a stale mate of 10 minutes. The stalemate consisted of a bloated Fluttery and Barry waiting to swallow food and take their last bite. It was the most suspenseful moment of no ponies’ life. It was a close match and everypony almost missed it. The winner who took the last bite.

After Fluttery won the contest by a single celery stick, the four of them slowly walked around camp. Auburn leaves covered the ground and the autumn breeze gently swayed the trees. With each gust a new leafy layer coated the landscape. The weather transitioned quickly from when they first arrived.

Star Grazer took it upon himself to help some ponies clear the main walkways of leaves. Light Dasher soon joined in cleaning, removing leaves from the tops of tents. Barry and Fluttery, too bloated from their earlier meal, watched the two ponies work.

“Hey Fluttery?”

“Hi Barry!” She smiled.

“You think something’s going on between them two?” Barry pointed to Star Grazer wiping leaves that landed on Light Dasher’s back.

“I don’t know. They sure are good friends though!” She examined Star Grazer rubbing her chin thoughtfully.

“Yeah. Well whatever. How about you?” Fluttery quickly turned to look at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Anything between you and Blueblood? I saw you drag him into the forest. You don’t have to tell me I'm just curious.” His passive expression eased her tension.

“No it’s fine. We are friends… or at least I think we are friends. I consider him a friend but he seems to hate me.” She turned to the floor, toying with a few leaves.

“Ah forget him! He hates everybody. If it makes you feel better I don’t hate you! I actually like you.” She turned to meet his cheery gaze.

She struggled to grasp for words and she managed a quiet “thank you” and hid behind her mane. Barry simply laughed and patted her on the back.

“No problem. What are friends for?”

Star Grazer swept away the last of the leaves from the ‘road’ and looked to Light Dasher who nodded in confirmation. She dropped the last of the leaves she carried into the pile they made off to the side. They stared at the leaf pile that was as tall as them. Star Grazer extended his hoof, receiving a hoof bump from Light Dasher. Star Grazer let out a sigh.

“Don’t ask me why because I don’t know. What shall we do?”

“Well I guess we should check and see if Shining needs anything. Seeing as we are in the military and we haven’t done much in the way of… military stuff and all.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

The two trotted over to the now familiar tent. As they approached low murmurs could be heard from within.  They slowed their pace as words could be made out. They crept closer to the tent pressing their ears to the side. Silence filled the tent and they leaned in closer.

ATTENTION!

Light Dasher jumped, wildly flailing her arms and smacking Star Grazer. She fell into him and quickly put a hoof over his mouth, her leg hit him in a place. Shining Armor turned looked around the corner, frowning at the stumbling duo he considered proper officer rank.

“Oh good! You are here! It saves me the trouble of finding you. After all you have work to do.” His frown turned to a small but wicked grin.

Light Dasher had a hard time standing still. Her body was tense all over. She glanced at the other potential candidates uniformly in line to her. She nudged Star Grazer and leaned in to say something. She was hushed by him and followed his hoof pointing at Shining Armor. He was trailed by a sky blue Pegasus and a changeling. Rainbow Dash and Jason… I don’t know why but I think there is something going on between them two…

They stopped a few hoof steps away from them. Jason was talking with Rainbow Dash. She tossed him a bag and he slipped out a paper. Whatever the paper was made him let out a long sigh and slipped it back in the bag. Jason picked up another paper and looked over the ponies. He looked at Star Grazer and Light Dasher for a slightly longer time and called for Shining. They conversed, with Shining Armor gesturing to them a few times. Light Dasher tilted her ear to try and hear what they were talking about. The only thing she was able to pick up was ‘be up to the challenge’. Must be talking about Star Grazer. I'm up for any challenge.

Jason passed something to Rainbow Dash and she flew away somewhere. Jason and Shining did more talking. The ponies in the line were getting a little antsy. They began gossiping among each other.

“I heard that the Changeling is Rainbow Dash’s colt friend.”

“Yeah I know. I heard that they like to get it on a lot… if ya’ know what I mean!”

“No way. A changeling and a pony? That can’t happen.”

“Shining Armor also likes Rainbow Dash I heard.”

“No way that isn’t true. He is married to the princess of love!”

“I heard that she don’t give him a lot of love… If ya’ know what I mean!”

Jason walked towards the group and all conversation ceased.

“Listen up!"  Jason started.  "These are your weapons, as far as I'm concerned.  I'm dividing you up into two teams, and your objective is to capture a small ruin out in the forest.  Your ability to work as a team and your judgment as an individual will be weighed, and ponies will be cut from the team.  I will not tolerate lone wolf tactics, even if you do somehow capture the ruin all by your lonesome."  He paused.  "You're probably wondering why this is such a hard mission.  Well, I've got the rest of Team Green Bean out there, defending the ruins.  If you get hit with one of these sticks, you better call yourself out.  Cheating is just going to make you that much weaker in war, and if I see it it'll make it much harder to get on the team.  Understand so far?"

“SIR YES SIR!”

“WHAT WAS THAT?!?”

“SIR YES SIR!!!” Light Dasher noticed Jason chuckle a bit. I think he is milking his position a bit much. She muled to herself. A pile of sticks were placed in front of them.

"Alright, you're going to be in two teams, going for the same goal.  Feel free to help each other out, or sabotage the other team.  Just know that being on the winning team doesn't ensure you a place on Team Green Bean."

"Now," He continued, "This is a map of the area. Your objective is marked, along with the path you have to take to get to the area in which I want you to start." He smacked his fore hooves together. "Okay then," He started walking down a path, further into the woods before gesturing for them to follow. "I'm guessing that none of you needed to hide much in whatever you were assigned to do." He stopped in the middle of the clearing, which was carpeted in short grass. "Find the pony in this clearing." They shifted uncomfortably. "Go ahead, look around. Betcha' can't find her."

Light Dasher did as instructed and walked out towards the clearing. Several other ponies began searching the grassy area as well. She heard a few ponies complaining that there is no pony in the clearing. She would have agreed if she hadn’t heard something move near her. She cautiously walked over toward it, examining the grass trying to locate the source of the noise.

Dash!  Come on out!"

Light Dasher paused before she heard a shuffle in front of her. A blue blur came into her view before letting out a yelp and putting her guard up. She fell backwards and cringed before hearing Rainbow Dash’s laughter. She offered a hoof between fits laughter.

"You shoulda' see the look on your face! Priceless!" Light Dasher muled and accepted the mares help up. Light Dasher turned around seeing Jason and Shining Armor laughing as well. Humph! Whatever… I wasn’t scared… She surprised me is all! Jason calmed himself down and cleared his throat.

"So what did we learn there?" Jason asked. A pony raised their hoof.

"Surprise is important?"

"Sure, but more importantly, the combination with a good hiding place and timing. And planning." He paused, clapping his fore hooves together. "So without further ado, let's get to work here. The sooner we're done, the sooner you can get to sleep to prepare. Get out your maps and start off now, and I'll blow the whistle after I check to see if Team Green Bean's ready. Anything you want to say, Dash?" She nodded and stepped forward.

"You gotta play this like it's war. I know he's said that, but I have something to add. If you get hit with the end of the spear, assign a sharp end now, by the way, play it like you got hit there. Limp if you get hit in the hoof, don't walk at all if you get hit in the shoulders, hips, thighs or biceps, and basically act incapacitated or dead if you're hit in the chest, throat or head. Drag injured ponies to safety, throw them over your back, anything to get them out of there. And you have to bring back that flag or take out everypony else to win." she paused, trying to think of something else. "I think that's it."

"Yeah, I can't believe I forgot that. Now stealth. You saw what she did. Remember, be resourceful, be smart, be silent. And use your resources to their fullest." He looked around at the ponies. "Go ahead, start off on your ways, but listen for the whistle. You have to get to the staging area first, though. Now go go go!" Light Dasher quickly found Star Grazer and the rest of their group and bolted off into the forest.

Star Grazer led the way with Light Dasher at the back. The few ponies that were with them followed in a single file line. Star Grazer quickly and quietly knocked away branches and thicket forming a faintly noticeable trail through the forest. He kept them toward the edge of the forest line, close enough that they can see things that were close but far away enough to not be seen.

They continued in silence for what seemed an eternity before thinning tree revealed a large open field. A small ruin lay in the middle with a flag protruding at its top. No sign of Team Green Bean could be found which unnerved the group a little. The sounds of a fighting could be heard faintly. Star Grazer called them close and spoke in a hushed tone.

“Ok. We’re going to need a distraction… I know almost for a fact that Team Green Bean is hiding like Rainbow Dash is. Anyone have any ideas?” A young stallion slowly raised a hoof.

“I’ll be the distraction.” Star Grazer stared at him quizzically then shook his head. “Hey don’t worry. After all this is only a test sir.” Star Grazer nodded and he ran out of the trees. The pony was quickly subdued by a member of Team Green Bean and slowly dragged away into a bush.

“Ok we now know the location of one enemy. There seems to be some scuffling over on the other side of the ruin so we are going to wait it out. When the other team comes out from the forest I want us all to charge in a triangle shaped pattern. ‘In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity’ you know!” He was given a round of quizzical looks. “I read that in a book I found.”

Star Grazer and his group waited in the dark. The area was still and quiet only to be broken by the sound of fighting and brush rustling in the distance. After a prolonged moment of silence a few ponies from the other team travelled loudly in the open. Star Grazer raised a hoof and stood rigid and ready to pounce. He threw down his hand and galloped out of the wood.

They charged at the confused ponies taking down two of them. Star Grazer ducked under a jab and clashed ‘spears’ with somepony. A swipe from the pony made him jump back into Light Dasher. They fought back to back until a loud blaring noise startled them to a stop. Jason let the whistle fall and began to speak.

"That was good, I'm pleasantly surprised you all did that well after a start like that." Light Dasher and a few other ponies blushed. "But there was obvious room for improvement. None of you took the threat of being followed seriously enough, you all figured that you were the one several moves ahead of the others. I like to keep my strategy simple. Never underestimate the enemy. Overestimating is fine, it means you're ready, for sure." He paused. "Now, there were some parts I liked, like the formations and the bait trap thing you had going across the clearing. But here's the thing, you need to be more resourceful. Getting in the tree is a good example." Star Grazer gleamed at the formation part.

"I guess while we're at it,"  he continued,  "you guys need to take out all the threats first, then get to the objective, especially when it involves going out into the open like that.  That flag's not going anywhere.  And don't be so obvious about where you're going, trick the enemy, make him think he's got you pinned.  Don't enter into fights that you don't think you'll win."

"Okay, round two.  Same drill.  Go!"

Several ponies knelt down in exhaustion. They ran through the exercise two more times before Jason walked around and gathered the sticks from them. Jason placed them in a cart that no pony remembered being there earlier. Jason pulled the strange tablet that he constantly referred to and sighed, switching it out for a clipboard. He stood in thought for a moment before clearing his throat to speak.

"So before I send two of you away, I'd like to state my gratitude for you going through all of this, even if it turned out to have no gain.  Even if you don't make it onto the team, you still have bragging rights for being selected, and you should be proud that your skills are this well-toned.  Now without further ado, the ponies on the team are as follows, in order of score.  Breeze Glider, Light Dasher, Star Grazer, Dusk Sky, Dull Shine, Rain Flurry, Wood Work, and Blueblood." Jason did a double take at the board

"Did you just say Blueblood, Jason?"  Dash asked.  "Cuz it sounded kinda like you did..."

"I did, it's right here on the sheet."  Jason showed her the clipboard.  "So maybe one of them's joking?"  He turned to the ponies.  "Which one of you is Blueblood?"  He put air quotes around the last word.

Blueblood tentatively raised a hoof. “That would be me.” Jason walked over to him and examined him closely. Light Dasher could tell he was feeling anything but a little nervous.

“What happened to you?”

"I wanted to actually do something with my life, and your stu- war seemed like a good enough cause."

"But what made you change? If I remember, you were one of the ponies on the sidelines in Canterlot. You know what, I'm not going to question it. Welcome to the team." He turned back to the group. "I should have probably said this earlier, but the two that didn't get on, you can be alternates if you want to." They nodded, still looking a little downtrodden.

Light Dasher: Well this will be interesting.

Star Grazer: Wow! Team Green Bean! Funny to think about but I'm inside a force to be reckoned with. WooHoo!

Blueblood: What have I gotten myself into…

A Loud Bang and Yelling

A loud bang and yelling woke Star Grazer from his slumber. He got up and began to stretch looking around. Light Dasher was already up and Blueblood had trouble staying asleep. Star Grazer walked over to the white coated stallion, well not so white any more, and nudged him with hoof.

“Come on Blue, we gotta' go.” He only received a muffled groan and the prince rolled over on his side. Star Grazer tried nudging him again this time receiving more of a response.

“Mmnmnn… What?” Blueblood turned to Star Grazer with lazy eyes.

“We have to get ready. We have been accepted to Team Green Bean remember?”

“Ugh… Fine!” He was shocked at how fast Blueblood got up and perked awake. They looked over to a stretching Light Dasher.

“Guess we better go.”

“Can we at least eat something?” Blueblood pouted and made a puppy dog face.

“Um… Stop that… Let’s just stop by the mess hall before going.” Blueblood was happy to oblige to Star Grazers request. He smiled and trotted toward the mess hall.

“Well are you two coming?” Star Grazer noted a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice.

The trio quickly trotted up to the mess hall where a few ponies were already eating. A few congratulated them on their entering Team Green Bean while some resented their success. Star Grazer and Light Dasher shared a large and dry hay cake with apple juice. Blueblood received a piece of bread a paper cup of water and a hay cake to the face. Blueblood ordered a bowl of Honey Almond Polenta, Mango Mimosa and a small slice of Gateau au fromage de framboise, raspberry cheesecake. The chef simply threw a hay cake in his face and gave him bread and water.

They walked and ate in general silence and made their way over to the ‘Armory’. Being that there are weapons and armor around almost every part of camp it wasn’t entirely necessary to have a tent dedicated to it. The medium sized tent, compared to the living tents, had neatly organized armor and weapons of all sorts. Spears with several varying tips and shaft styles hung from a rack on the wall. Armor plating neatly stacked in the middle according to type; hard cloth, iron, iron plating, and the new steel armor. Star Grazer noticed a couple of the Steel pieces missing and shrugged this off. Most likely the rest of the team suited up already. Light Dasher occupied herself with the large selection of deadly spears while Blueblood looked through disappointingly small collection of cutlery. Blueblood picked up a dagger sheath and tied it around his inner hoof. He checked to see that he could move and such before placing a recently sharpened dagger in the sheath. Light Dasher tossed them all spears reserving the spear with a three pronged head on it. They all wore the Steel Armor and had one little extra something with them. Blueblood had a secret knife; Light Dasher wore the hard cloth armor under her Steel plating, while Star Grazer cast some strange magic somehow.

“Hey, did you just magic?!” Light Dasher and Blueblood gawked at him as the small glow of white magic slowly disappeared from his hoof and armor.

“Yeah I did. It’s the same as Unicorn magic but it takes a lot more energy from the user.” Star Grazer caught his breath before continuing. “I can cast the same spells as any other Unicorn but it takes almost twice the amount of energy. The spell I cast on the armor simply makes it lighter and a little stronger.”

“How in Celestia did you learn this?!?!” Light Dasher put a hoof over her mouth after hearing ponies groan in the surrounding tents.

“A lot can happen in a library with eight months of free time...” They continued to stare I awe. Their trance was snapped when Star Grazer left the tent making a flapping noise. They snapped on the rest of their gear and left for Shining Armor’s tent.

Shining Armor was idly chatting with a pony while the others stood casually in a rough line. Star Grazer took a place in the line with Light Dasher and Blueblood in tow. About five minutes rolled by before talking could be heard from outside the tent. Two shadowy figures came up to the entrance and opened the tent. Rainbow Dash and Jason walked through the flap ushering Shining Armors attention.

"I got some stuff for you guys, take a look."  Shining Armor trotted over to the opposite end of the tent, opening a couple of boxes and pulling out some loops of fabric.  "We didn't really have a good way of marking rank or team until a whole bunch of these came about an hour ago.  Let me just find the right... Ah!  Here."  He handed them a couple of fabric loops each, both with a couple of stars on one side, a dull white to the contrasting black.  He dug around in another box, coming up with a loop for both of them, the same black, sporting a green bean pea pod instead.  

"Rarity designed these?"  Jason said with a smirk.

"Key word designed, we had these mass produced in Canterlot since a few days ago.  These green bean ones were the last type to be made."  Jason finished sliding the loops up to his shoulders.  

"A little weird, but I guess it works.  Especially seeing as we don't exactly have any cloths to put these on as patches."

"Yeah...  Anyway, you're ready to leave?"  

"Yup, wait, can I leave some stuff here, just in case?"

"Sure, go ahead."  Jason pulled out the strange square tablet and a pad of paper, handing them over to Shining.

"Protect those with your life.  I'm a little serious, those are irreplaceable."  Shining sighed and gently set them in an empty drawer.  "So we're waiting for the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, they should be here-- there they are."  The original members of Team Green Bean came into the tent with their dark grey armor. The new recruits followed behind. The rest of the ponies that didn’t have on armor did so and before long they all shuffled out of the tent.

Star Grazer felt a little proud seeing as his trio was prepared. They helped the other recruits of Team Green Bean with their armor and weaponry. Blueblood had some trouble tightening a strap on this one colt’s armor so he bucked it in frustration leaving a small but painful lump on the pony’s side.

The moon was slowly setting past the horizon and Shining Armor appointed Star Grazer and Light Dasher join commanding officers of their group. Shining ordered them to all to form a line once Jason began to walk over toward them.

"I'm sure you know the plan by now, and considering how many times we've gone over positioning, I'm sure you know that too.  But remember that it's not just your lives on the line, but the ponies we're trying to save.  Be patient, and don't enter a fight if it has the potential to draw attention.  You saw how it was in the forest today, act the same as a predator, weed out the sick and the weak, in this case the stupid and the isolated.  Whittle down the forces until there's nothing left."  He sighed.  "This is your first mission, so don't underestimate the griffins, and definitely don't overestimate your skills."  Jason tossed Light Dasher a pad of paper and a pencil.  "Watch for the signal, and then go loud, take out as many griffins as you want.  And remember to act as a team, it's your strongest asset."

"SIR YES SIR!!" He heard a couple groans from a nearby tent.

"Try not to wake up all of the ponies in this camp." He sighed again. He hated having part of his plan resting on forces he couldn't control. "Now move out, get into position. I'll see about getting you code names if this works." They saluted a final time before trotting outside, grabbing their weapons and small ration bags of food as they went.

Jason turned to the bunks. "Team Green Bean, you ready?" A quiet set of nods responded. He quite liked the solemnity.

"Then let's go kick some ass!" Dash yelled with a corresponding hoof pump, drawing a few laughs. Eravel was the first to move, jumping off the top bunk and buffeting the air with his wings to cushion his landing. He made sure his leather armor was still secure before he grabbed the bow from its place against the wall, throwing it and the quiver over his back.

"Well, let's get going.  We have some hostages to rescue."

Light Dasher felt edgy. This was their first mission and griffons could be anywhere at any moment. The trail they took was a slowly becoming less steep making it easier for the flightless to traverse the trail. A little while passed before trees became more abundant on the trail and the trail dispersed. A tree line emerged and the entire group was looking out over what was supposedly a dock. The “dock” was in horrible disrepair and the water, from where they were standing, looked murky. Jason raised a hoof and said something to Eravel the Griffon. He pointed to a Griffon guard walking along the “Dock”. The griffon took his bow, carefully placed an arrow on the string. He aimed and shot true sticking the arrow in the griffin’s eye. Light Dasher, with everyone else, stared in awe.

Dash lead their portion of the team down toward the docks while Light Dasher and Star Grazer kept topside. Blueblood was surprisingly quiet and sullen. They waded through the edge of the woods passing a road with two griffons watching. Light Dasher raised a hoof and they all stopped, observing the enemies movements. They seemed to be standing guard. Light Dasher tapped a mare on the shoulder motioning to take out the closest griffin. A shared nod and a flurry of leaves before it was over. The mare caught the closest griffon by surprise and jabbed her spear straight through the griffin’s throat. He let out a hushed gurgle and slowly crumpled to the ground. Light Dasher charged up to the other griffin. He raised his talon to block the pony but was taken by surprise when she jumped onto him. Before he could react she hopped up into the air and used all her wait to drive the spear into the griffin. Upon landing she jerked the spear forward, wrenching a large bloody gash into the griffin. The griffin fell toward Light Dasher. Once she confirmed that no more enemies were nearby she dropped her predatory stare and motioned for the group to come.

Once the group got over the initial shock they crossed the road and made their without much trouble. They reached a patch of dense forest that overlooked the town square. After confirming they were in the proper position Star Grazer appointed some ponies to watch.

“Ok guys. I need the axe. Who has it?” A colt came forward with the gleaming wooden handled blade. “Thanks.” Star Grazer immediately began chopping a particularly large tree down to an inch before hearing a loud crack. The tree tilted and began to fall with increasingly loud noise. The team moved out of the way as the tree started turning toward them. I'm so glad I thought of the tree thing! Way better distraction then Light Dasher’s random yelling!

The tree landed with a resounding thump and all was quiet for a second. Insuring that no griffon nearby would notice them Star Grazer led the team down the hill toward a large bunch of bushes towards the main entrance. Several guards were looking toward the disruption. A guard got a little too close to Light Dasher and she quickly skewered him and placed him down into the water.

None of the other griffons noticed the lack of a comrade and they were beginning to lose interest in the noise. Star Grazer quickly pointed to a rotten wooden deck that extended the whole length of water. The deck was laden with rusty nails and sharp splintering chips of wood. With a significantly large portion of the deck missing from the outer end it was no surprise there were no guards present.

“Ow!” A mare stepped on a piece of jagged wood and was quickly hushed by a white coated hoof.

“Do you want the guards to come?!” He spoke in a hushed but angry tone.

“But it hurt…” She pointed to the reddening wound on her tan hoof.

“A spear in your chest is going to hurt a lot more!” she replied with a quiet humph creeping along the deck.

They reached the main entrance were Star Grazer took care of the guarding Griffon allowing his troops inside. The evidence of Team Green Bean was clear. Three griffons lay dead in the alley way. Banging noises could be heard in the direction of the town hall .Light Dasher examined each griffon closely and thrusted her spear into the bodies as they passed.

“Light Dasher they are the enemy but respect the dead!” Star Grazer scolded.

“I'm only making sure they are dead.” She stated matter of factly.

What lay before them at the town hall square shocked them. A sea of gore and death cover the open square. Several of the living griffons weredown from the rooftops a. Some of the griffons took notice and began to attack them as well.

The griffons surrounded them at the exit of the alleyway and Light Dasher readied herself for a long fight. She was ready to pounce before Star Grazer stopped her. He looked at her with the same feral look she dawned on her face. A particularly larger griffon stepped forth and smirked.

“The one that kills the pony in the vest will get an extra loaf of bread!”

At this all the griffons immediately pounced on them. Star Grazer ducked under the swipe of a claw as fighting insinuated around him. He charged toward the large griffon catching him by surprise and shouldered him. The griffon was slightly placed off balance but managed to catch the spear in his talon, breaking the wooden shaft. He smirked at the enraged Star Grazer and took a step forward. Star Grazer tossed the broken spear and ran a circle around the griffon. He made a sharp turn before hitting a wall and slid into the griffon’s leg knocking him to the ground. Star Grazer jumped on top of him and pounded on the griffons face. He pulled the pony off of him and threw him into a dead griffon.

Star Grazer quickly stood himself up and looked around him. Light Dasher and the rest defended against twelve other griffons. Light Dasher ducked under a spear retaliating with a spear thrust of her own letting out a spray of blood from the wound. Light Dasher quickly looked up and made eye contact with Star Grazer before pointing at something. He looked to see the large griffon hurling himself toward Star Grazer at full speed.

Star Grazer ran but was still hit with the heavy force. He went flying into the ground landing by the broken spear shaft. The splintered wood was sharp and he picked it up. The griffon looked at him with confusion then let out a chuckle before barreling toward him again, spear in hand. Star Grazer charged as well.

For a moment the world seemed to stand still. It seemed surreal in nature. Everypony was still and the only things moving were him and the griffon. It was either him or the griffon that was going to die that day. A bloody means to a violent end. They were getting closer and closer. Soon the sound of battle faded out altogether. Star Grazer closed his eyes. A spray of warmth, something gave out. A cracking noise, and then the sound of hundreds of hoof steps. Star Grazer opened his eyes. The shaft drove straight into the griffons face, right between the eyes. The griffon’s eyes looked at the shaft then at Star Grazer before slowly rolling over and going limp into eternal slumber.

A Turning Point

Star Grazer was panting heavily as the fatigue of battle caught up to him. His legs quivered from exhaustion. His head felt like it was swimming. The world around him became foggy. He blinked his eyes and he was a lot closer to the ground. Blinking again Light Dasher helped him up. The world started becoming clearer. He saw a plethora of ponies from the Equestrian Army at the town square. Shining Armor as well! It was then that Star Grazer remembered something.

“Cheery Grove!”

Star Grazer bolted straight into the town hall. Nurses were taking care of the injured while others talked about the battle. Star Grazer glanced around desperately. A particularly large group of ponies surrounded one corner of the room. Star Grazer immediately pushed his way through the crowd heralding complaints.

Nurses were trying to get near a dirty rose coated mare. Her mane was bloody and the pink was recolored to a more sinister blood red. Her face was one of utter shock and fear. Her eyes darted between the surrounding ponies. She swung a spear she picked up faster and faster as nurses tried getting closer and closer. Her eyes fell on Star Grazer and locked onto him.

“Stop! Get away from her!” The nurses obliged as he came to her side. She looked up to him and raised a hoof toward him. He went to grab it but she pulled away. She suddenly got up and used the shaft of the spear to push him back.

She fell on the floor and looked up in confusion her eyes showed the same helpless fear that he saw all those years ago but her face was different. She was scowling at him, a look of pure hatred that burned his very soul. Star Grazer started to get up only to be pushed back into the surrounding ponies. Some colts came to subdue her.

“No stop!” The colts stepped back and watched carefully.

The angry mare walked up to him and threw the spear down onto the ground. She knelt down and put her face next to his ear. She spoke in a hushed tone that resonated of her old happy self.

“Let’s chat in private.” Star Grazer simply nodded and they walked out the back of the Town Hall. Star Grazer looked behind him seeing Light Dasher talking to Jason as the mare closed the door.

The two stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. Star grazer opened his mouth but was cut off by the mare.

“So, joined the military have we?”

“Well yes. I’m an officer and a proud member of Team Green Bean.” Cheery Grove wiped blood and dirt from her face and mane.

“How is everyone?” Cheery Grove’s smile was simply a mask on top of her emptiness.

“My family is fine. Your little sister is fine as well. Last I saw her she was styling ponies’ hair at a salon. Are you all right?” Star Grazer tried to smile and managed a slight grin. Cheery Grove did not seem amused.

“Oh me? I’ve been great! After the attack of Canterlot I was dragged away with this group of griffons. They seemed nice enough. They would feed us; did I mention they captured more than one? They would feed us literally crumbs from their rations and throw us in rivers or streams when we were thirsty. The trick is to put your hooves to your mouth and open it before you hit the water. It seems griffons are really into ponies. I was a particular favorite for them. You know there was one griffon who I actually took a liking to…” Star Graze’s face was solemn but stoic.

“Yeah that griffon was named Orgfird. He was really nice. He told me he didn’t want to hurt me. He told me all about his home. He had a very troubled childhood under that dictator like king. His mom died giving birth. He asked me about my life and I told him everything. He promised that he would take me away from here or die trying. The griffons talked about a changeling a lot. Named him Jason? Yeah, well Orgfird was stabbed by that changeling. His blood is what is all over my mane. I guess he died trying.” Star Grazer’s eye was beginning to tear up but never wiped a single tear.

“Want to know something interesting? Throughout the whole ordeal, I thought that you would’ve come. I guess you did technically but the horror is still there. Do you want to know what hurt the worst though? It was when I was first taken. I yelled for you to come help me. You never showed up. When that one colt pinned me against the wall and did what he did… I knew you were never going to come. I gave up. I didn’t care about what happened or anything. You were never there before and you were never here for me now. Just go away. You always used to ‘checkup’ on me before the attack. Don’t. I don’t want to see you ever again. I hope you never think of me again. I hate you. Ok? Just go away. When it comes to evils you are dirtier than I am.”

“NOW JUST HOLD UP!” Cheery Grove turned around to see Light Dasher standing at the backdoor. Star Grazer wiped his eyes and looked up.

“Light Dasher! Were you eavesdropping? Go please!” Star Grazer looked at her through watery eyes.

“I’m sorry Star but I have some words to tell this little cum dump.” Cheery Grove looked at Light Dasher like she was her mortal enemy.

“Excuse me? What did you just call me?” Cheery Grove walked up into Light Dasher’s face.

“I called you a cum dump. That’s how you treat yourself! You blame Star Grazer for not being able to save you in time? He tried all he could and you aren’t even grateful for what he did! The whole reason he joined the army was to find you! He has been obsessing over you this whole time! Possible even before we met! Star Grazer is the nicest, kindest, selfless pony I know! If you can’t see that, then you are no better than the griffons and ponies that did what they did to you.”

Cheery Grove, astonished by Light Dasher’s words, took a few steps back from Light Dasher. She looked to Star Grazer then to Light Dasher. She looked between the two then completely crumpled. She fell down to the ground and bawled on the ground. Star Grazer picked her up and held her. Light Dasher soon joined the embrace. She cried for an hour in their embrace. Her wailing lowered to a quite sob and she began to stand up. She wiped fresh tears from her eyes and walked to the door. She looked back at Star Grazer and Light Dasher. Star Grazer didn’t know that would be the last time he would see her.

Star Grazer was quiet and sullen on the trip back to camp. Light Dasher was caught off guard when Blueblood came up to Star Grazer and kissed him on his left cheek. Light Dasher went wide eyed and stared at Blueblood as he walked away and Star Grazer had a slight smile.

“What was that?! Are you two? You know…”

“No… It is a way of Elites conveying their sympathy. A kiss on the left cheek is something that is done during funerals or sad occasions of the like. It's a sign meaning a turning point. A hope of change for the reciever.” Light Dasher seemed to understand and extended a wing onto Star Grazers back. He startled by the sudden touch but accepted its warmth and comfort. He leaned into Light Dasher as they walked into camp. It was his turn to cry.