A field of flowers. A soft breeze blew through the trees of the valley below. Star Grazer stood atop the top the grassy hill. A pink petal fell from a nearby tree landing into the reflective pool of water by the cottage down in the valley. Birds could be heard chirping through the whispery wind. The air carried the scent of freshly baked bread and a mare was attending a garden by the cottage. She was a Pegasus and wore a frock that covered most of her body. The dress was blue. She knew that was his favorite color. A dirt road winded through the valley toward a distant town. Lily Pines. A small suburban town lying some distance from the city of Maycomb, Whinnysota. The state belonged to Equestria but it was not very heavily influenced by Canterlot’s politics.

The mare turned around and waved at him from down below. He couldn’t see her face and she was saying something to him. He couldn’t really tell. He strained to hear. He tried moving down toward the cottage but his feet wouldn’t move. A strange force was keeping him in place and he felt compelled to stay where he was. The wind blew in his direction and he heard something faintly in it. Between the sound of wind and trees rustling, a small whispered voice of the mare.

‘I love you’

Star Grazer woke up with tears in his eyes. He wiped them away before a sharp pain hit his head. It hurt really badly and he felt horrible. A hangover… Just what he needed… He slowly got up and groaned. Barry was snoring calmly across the tent, much to his misery. He just wanted every noise to just stop. With another groan he slowly removed himself from the bed and looked toward the tent opening. It was either really late or super early. He walked outside being met with a blast of cold wind.

Cold, hung over, and shivering he decided to take a walk because what the heck. He walked aimlessly through the camps sea of tents. A few ponies were still up and roaming about their business. After about ten minutes of aimless walking he thought he would check in with Shining Armor. Seeing as he is one of two subsidiary officers to him, Jason, and Rainbow Dash.

Though it was dark outside Shining Armor’s tent was bright with light. Star Grazer took a deep breath. He always felt uneasy talking to people of authority. It made him feel small. He readied himself and made some deliberate noise on the tent flap before entering. Shining Armor was sleeping. He sat at a desk with his head down breathing evenly. Star Grazer was unsure of what to do. He decided he would just turn out the light and be on his way. He quietly walked up and reached the desk. He reached for the small lamp. As soon as he touched the lamp Shining’s eyes went wide. The big stallion jumped back and tackled Star to the ground effortlessly pinning him to the ground. At the realization of who it was he let him go.

“What are you doing here officer? Why are you sneaking around?” An annoyed tone lay under his sleepiness.

“Ah-uh-I-I was ju-just tu-turning off your lamp since you we-were sleeping… Sir!” Star Grazer couldn’t help but stammer.

“Jeez. You caught me off guard. Also I wasn’t sleeping… I was resting my eyes.” His darted shifted back and forth before continuing. “Anyway I'm almost positive that wasn’t the reason you came here. Why are you here?”

“Well sir, I wish to inquire on the success of the mission at Windforge and what our next assignment will be.” Star Grazer calmed and straightened himself to a rigid form and saluted.

“At ease, the city is currently devoid of threats and Jason and I will be discussing a plan for the city. Your next assignment will come just be patient. Feel free to clean up around the camp like before, it really was getting dirty!” He chuckled lightly and Star nervously smiled.

“Uh yeah sure.”

“In all seriousness there isn’t much to be done at the moment. Be on guard in case of any attack and keep doing whatever you are doing. You have proven to be worth your merit, now all you have to do is keep it.” He winked at him and walked back to the desk and yawned. “Whenever you want to leave you can go ahead. I’m going to get back to work.” Resting his eyes is more like it! Star Grazer left the tent and was pretty sure he heard the whack of Shining’s head hit the desk.

Star Grazer stayed up and walked around camp until the sun rose. The fall air reminded him of his country home. He missed that place so much. He dreamed of one day starting a family there with Cherry… He remembered buying it years when Cherry and him were good friends and prospective roommates. She was practically in love with the house. The area was much to Star Grazer’s liking and they both could easily get jobs in the nearby town. It was going to be a surprise for her birthday before she went and got an apartment in Canterlot and insisted on him moving in with her. The owner of the house wouldn’t buy it back from him so he lost out on about 40,000 bits. Now it just sat in the small valley gathering dust…

Star Grazer turned the corner and saw Jason and Rainbow Dash walk into a bulky protected tent. That is where they are keeping the griffon prisoner. Hope he gives out some good information. The sooner he gets out of here the sooner he can sort out his life. Star Grazer meandered toward the tent flap and peeked his head in. The guards pony looked at him for a moment, looking toward the distracted Jason and Rainbow Dash, and shooed him away. He smiled and walked away from the tent.

With nothing to do and a whole day to do it, Star Grazer walked back toward his tent. He searched around for Light Dasher, seeing no sign of the bubbly Pegasus. He stopped at the small fire pit and sat himself down. It was there that boredom ensued. He picked up a stick and began trying to break the large clumps of ash apart.  He began to get annoyed as this one chunk of ash wouldn’t break apart. It was really strange looking. It was like somepony made an ash ball around a small object or something. He used the stick to pull it closer to him and tried to dust it with his hoof. Some ash fell away and revealed a dull metallic sheen. Intrigued, he continued to wipe away the debris from the object. Star Grazer was dumbfounded at what he was looking at. It looked like it was made of metal. It was just a small circle with a hole in the middle. Some jewels tried to sparkle through the dull ash. Some lettering on it read ‘Green Bay Pa-‘. The rest of the lettering was singed away. He worked away at the ring polishing it up and making it shine for a solid hour before Light Dasher and Fluttery flew down and landed next to him.

“Whatcha' got there?” Fluttery smiled

“I’m not sure. It looks like a ring but it is waaaaaaaaaaay to small.” He handed the ring to Fluttery. Light Dasher cocked her head to look at it.

“Green Bay Pa-…” Fluttery carefully announced the words.

“It doesn’t look like anything made by ponies. I found it in the fire pit.”

“Well I think it’s pretty!” Light Dasher giggled when she said this.

“Do you want it? I don’t exactly know what it is but you can have it if you want.” Light Dasher’s face went wide.

“Really? Thank you!” She pulled Star Grazer up into a hug. After she let him go Fluttery handed her the ring and they flew away. Star Grazer was confused at their sudden departure.

“Did I miss something? Was it something I said?” He pondered this for a moment before looking up at the sky. The sun was descending toward the horizon.

Star Grazer aimlessly walked around more before being approached by Barry. The stallion was sweaty and seemed to be in a rush. As he got closer he could hear his exhaustion as he gasped for air. Once he stopped in front of Star he held up a hoof and began to catch his breath.

“Hey… Star… We gotta' pack our things…”

“Uh… ok. Why are you so outta breath? You’re a pretty fit guy, that little distance shouldn’t have winded you.”

“I’ve been working all day! Unlike SOMEpony!” He gave Star a menacing glare. “Anyway, Shining Armor is placing a detail in Windforge and you are going to be heading up toward some other new place.”

“I'm assuming you are on the detail.” Star Grazer said solemnly.

“Eyup. They need the tent to pack up so be ready to leave by at least tomorrow.”

“Alright can do.” Star Grazer turned around and began to walk.

“Hey!”

“Yeah?”

“It’s been nice. You’re a great officer and leader!”

“Thanks!” He yelled while continuing his walk.

“Don’t let Light Dasher whip you too much!”

“What!?” Star didn’t receive an answer. Barry was laughing and trotting away in the direction he came. Light Dasher must be up to something. He made a mental note to remember to investigate all these weird references to Light Dasher.

Next Chapter: Reality and Fatalities Estimated time remaining: 17 Minutes