War Never Changes

Minutes felt like hours. Time seemed to slow down, slower and slower as each second went by. It was almost as if time had just stopped altogether.

"First sarge!"

The grey pegasus, Thunderblast, snapped back into reality. His heart raced, and his eyes darted around briefly, then he stared forward and met the light blue eyes of a white pegasus guard, who had a set of extra armor on his back and was standing in the rain. The stallion had a stern look on his face as he stared back into the darker blue eyes of Thunder, while holding a hoof out to him.

"No, there's no way in hell I'm going. I resigned and that's that!"

"Captain's orders, as well as mine. If you don't come with me, you are at greater risk of being sent to the dungeons under the castle."

"What? What kind of rule is that?! Just send another guard, because I'm not one anymore!"

"First sarge!"

Thunderblast quickly snapped his hooves together at attention, "Yes sir!" and his eyes suddenly widened. The discipline of a soldier in him was still alive and well, and he took the order like he was still in. What he had just done, is the opposite of what he wanted to do. Doing it in front of a guard only made it worse.

"Come on. We are to be in Canterlot by ten."

"Sir... please. Let me stay, I'm not in the guard anymore," the guard just stared. "Please."

The guard shook his head. "I'm sorry. You have no choice, first sergeant."

Thunderblast began to tear up, and his voice cracked. "Fine... I will go."

The guard then nodded afterwards and handed over a wet, brown sack carrying the stallion's armor, which was completely polished, with a helmet replacing the armor collar he had up from earlier that year. Unlike his first set of armor, his new one had the red star from his most recent set.

As guards ranked up, some were lucky enough to receive different colored stars, with the option to keep their original bluish-green armor star. The stallion slowly put the chest and back plate on first as he followed the guard who drafted him to war, out into the cold, hard rain. Afterwards, he fit the hoof guards snug onto his hooves, followed by the helmet. Of course, his mane nor coat colors changed because of a strange occurrence that happens to very few guards.

"Permission to speak sir?"

"Granted."

"When do we ship out?"

"Tomorrow morning, six AM. The Lunar Guard is being left to take care of Canterlot, while we all are being sent over."

"Isn't that a risky maneuver? The Lunar Guard has less troops than us."

"It is, but someone has to stay and take care of it. Shining Armor will also be traveling with us all over there."

"What about CO Otto Tech?"

"He'll be staying. He isn't considered to be a war fighter yet."

"Sir, I've fought along side him numerous times. He's more than worthy enough to fight...not that I'm saying he should go."

"Whatever you say, first sergeant."

Thunderblast did not respond, but instead grumbled some inaudible things which caught the guard's attention, but he did not question him about it. Some time later, the two arrived at the Canterlot palace.

"Is this him sir?"

The lieutenant nodded. "He is, corporal."

The guard turned his head to Thunder. "I will be your escort to your barrack. Lieutenant Golden Armor will be on his way to his quarters for a meeting with the captains."

Thunderblast nodded. "Yes sir, let's go."

"First sergeant."

"Yes, sir?" Thunder turned to Golden.

"I want you to go to the armory first and stock up on weapons and extra armor. We won't have time tomorrow morning to do so, so I suggest getting it done now."

"Yes sir, I will," Thunderblast saluted Golden, who returned the salute and took to the skies towards the castle, while the unicorn and Thunderblast began walking to the armory. "Do you know any more about what's going on over there?"

"No sir. All I know is, they've captured everypony we had over there for security, about eleven guards. Some of them have been executed as well, and the king of the empire refuses to explain what they want or why they are doing this."

"Sounds iffy to me, but then again, they're a bunch of stupid featherbrains."

"That's a little far, first sarge. They've been great allies with Equestria for many years."

"I refuse to believe that. I went on a short vacation over there a couple of years back. Hated every moment of it. Griffons are the most ignorant and rude beings I've ever met."

The unicorn stuttered a bit.

"War with them doesn't surprise me. They're always making a mess of things corporal."

"I... I guess you are right, sir," the guard began to tremble a bit, which Thunder refused to notice.

Minutes after leaving the train station, the unicorn and Thunderblast reached the armory inside the castle. It was a newer armory, filled with rows of shelves of Royal and Lunar Guard armor. The armory was busy with other guards, but not as busy as Thunder expected. Luckily, there was plenty of gear to go around.

As they trotted in, the unicorn split off to grab his own gear in the 'Unicorn Guard' section of the armory, while Thunderblast made his way to the pegasus section. Once there, he grabbed two full sets of armor, this time including golden pads which extended up most of one's leg, and even some silver wing shields, which would be perfect for defending off arrow attacks.

Afterwards, Thunder met back up with the unicorn in the weapons armory. The unicorn picked up a bow, plus many arrows, a knife, and a musket-like gun which fired on unicorn magic, meaning only unicorns could use it. It was a great advancement, but had never been used before by anyone other than it's creator, Sergeant Thunderclap, an earth pony from Whitetail Woods.

Luckily for Thunder, there was another gun designed the exact same way, by the same creator, which fired large bullets shaped like balls, something that would cause damage to one's body, armored or not. It made him wonder however, why they weren't being given rifles like the Equestrian Army was using, or why the Equestrian Army wasn't being deployed at all.

Things weren't adding up, but he didn't think about it. Instead, he picked up the gun, a spear, hoof guards with claws which were mainly used by Lunar Guards, and ammunition for the gun. Moments later, both were finished gearing up, only because they couldn't carry any more. After being cleared, both returned to the barracks, which were full of activity. The unicorn and Thunder split up for the last time, going to their designated barracks. Thunder walked into his, finding...

"Spear? Stormfire?" Thunder's eyes widened at the sight of two familiar stallions.

"Hey, Thunder!" Storm smiled and stood up from his bed. "We had no idea you'd be staying the night with us!"

"Hey, what are you doing back here? I thought you resigned," Spear smiled, but had an eyebrow raised.

"I got drafted back," Thunder sighed a bit, and set his gear on a vacant bed.

"Wow... it must be that bad if they're bringing back ponies who resigned recently," Storm said as he turned to face Spear, who stared back in worry.

Thunderblast nodded and walked over. "So, what are you two up to?"

"Just talking before lights out. The captain wants us to get as much sleep as possible, so we can be ready. We're flying out on airships," Stormfire shrugged.

"Airships? He does know it will take us over two or three days to get there, right? We can get plenty of sleep on the way. Buuut, I won't question that. We are getting up early after all," Thunder shrugged. "Oh well."

"Heh... you sure like thinking more than you should, don't you Thunder?" Spear smirked a bit, then gave him a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Quiet, Spear," Thunder wasn't having it. He was tired, and wasn't in the mood to be joking around, especially the night before leaving Equestria, possibly forever.

"Hey... easy Thunder. I'm playing with you," Spear's smile dropped into a frown.

"I'm not in the mood Spear. This is serious! We only have a few hours, and-"

"Thunder, stop. He's trying to lighten the mood. We're not happy about this either."

"I... ugh!" Thunderblast dropped onto his bed, face down. "I can't believe this crap."

"It'll be fine, Thunder. We'll be back home... eventually."

Thunder slowly raised his head, and stared at the two ponies, now with sadness on his face. "What if though?"

"What if what?" A grey unicorn with an extremely light grey and white mohawk mane trotted out of the barrack's steamy bathroom, rubbing a towel on the side of his head.

Thunder glanced over to the unicorn. "Sharp? I had no idea you were here either."

"I had no idea you were back in the guard," the unicorn folded the used towel, setting it in a small basket next to the bathroom door.

"I am, but just for this. I got dragged out of my house."

"Literally?" Storm stared in shock.

"No. Figure of speech."

"Oh. Continue then."

"It's against the rules to do that, you know."

"What? Being re-drafted? It isn't if there is an emergency. I would think that this is an emergency."

"Well, I guess. It's great to see you again though," Sharpblade smiled and sat on his bed. "Are you staying after this is all over?"

"I already told you no. I plan to return in a few months though, or a year. It'll be a while."

"I see. Why did you leave exactly?"

"Eh... I wanted a break from the guard," Thunder answered honestly.

"Hmm, but why?"

"I guess I wanted to try something new. Something in me made me feel like... well... being a guard just wasn't for me."

Thunderblast stood back up, and began packing his armor into a bag fit to carry sets of armor and some weapons. Minutes later, it was completely packed. Thunder zipped it up, and took off the armor he had on already, and set it on the bag for tomorrow. He then yawned, and stretched. "I'm going to get some shut eye. What about you guys?"

"We dunno yet... we might head out to the base pub and get a few drinks," Spear rubbed his hoof a bit.

"Well, I'm not stopping you if those are your plans," Thunder smiled lightly. "G'night guys," and crawled into the bottom bunk, turning off the lamp on the nightstand.

Instead of going out to the bar, the stallions decided it was time to rest as well, all tucking themselves in no more than five minutes later. Soon, all four of the ponies were sound asleep, each snoring quietly.

Many hours later, the trumpets sounded, waking up the entire barracks and training field. Thunderblast jolted awake at the sudden sound, feeling as if the trumpets were right outside their barrack. He sat up quickly, hearing the sounds of heavy hoofsteps all in sync outside. He stood on all fours, then trotted over to the front window, seeing numerous white, brown and grey stallions of all race trotting in lines, all with bags full of armor and weapons. It was time.

"Sounds like we better get out there with them," Sharp slowly rose from bed, rubbing at his eye. Minutes after waking up, the four stallions staying in the barrack were fully geared up, but with their weapons and extra sets of armor packed away for when they arrived in the Griffon Empire. Spear trotted outside first, Sharpblade, Thunderblast and Stormfire following suit, each joining the long line of guards who marched to the city's airship port, where their transportation awaited.

Ponies gathered on the streets as the entire city ground to a halt when the first guards exited the castle grounds, and through the city. Ponies cheered, while the narrow few sobbed at the sight of the guards, on their way to battle almost halfway across the world. Following a long march, every guard had arrived at the skyport, which was under a planned shutdown until after the last guard airship had departed. Four large airships waited on the tarmac, just outside of the main terminal.

"Well... I guess this is the last time we'll be on the ground for a while," Stormfire sighed a bit, standing just behind Sharpblade, all waiting in line to board their designated airship.

"You got that right," Spear looked down, then back up and around the guards in front of him, attempting to see how long the wait would be. The line was moving quickly, however, until the door shut and the line moved over to the next gate. Minutes later, they were boarded onto the third airship.

The aircraft was massive, and was four floors total, and could carry just over nine-hundred and fifty guards, all having rooms to stay in with four others. Thunderblast and his friends chose an empty room, just so they could all be together as they traveled. The four set their bags down in the room, then trotted up to the main deck to watch the takeoff. The sun was just barely over the horizon when the first two airships lifted off, climbing high above the magnificent capitol city.

Their airship was next, and the four stood on the main deck as it began to rise slowly, with the main propeller on the back of the aircraft beginning to whir to life, eventually making a low roar as it cleared the main control tower's height and started to fly away from the city. Afterwards, four other, much smaller propellers spun to life on the port and starboard sides of the ship, propelling it faster and eventually reaching a full speed of sixty-seven miles per hour. At that rate, they would arrive in two days time, or three depending on the weather.

Thunderblast, as well as Sharpblade, Stormfire, and Spear, all stood on the main deck, watching the city of Canterlot, and Canter Mountain, disappear into the distance, which was still slightly dark.

"So... what do you guys think will happen when we get there?" Stormfire stared, watching the city move away from them.

"Hell will break loose, that's what," Sharpblade replied.

"I dunno about that, but we shall see," Thunderblast chimed in.

"I hope it isn't as bad as everypony says it is. Though, I could only imagine what our boys are going through. You know, the ones already over there," Stormfire motioned a hoof.

"I can't imagine it at all. It's gotta be horrible. They're probably being tortured and beaten by those griffon bastards," Thunder turned to Storm.

"Most likely," Spear sighed. "I hope we can rescue them too."

"It might be risky for that, but then again, we have yet to see," Sharp looked off the edge of the ship, down at the distant ground.

"Well, whatever we're flying into, I will say, there's nopony else I'd rather fight alongside with," Thunderblast grinned.

"Hell yeah," Sharp smirked.

"Hooah," Stormfire chanted.

After watching for a few more minutes, the four went downstairs to eat breakfast, not having any before departing Canterlot. The line, however, was very short, even though there was plenty of room and plenty to eat for everyone. The group sat and ate eggs and cooked manticore, with mashed potatoes as a side, and a small carton of milk. A healthy breakfast, and something to get them started, though they couldn't do much as they waited for their landing in the Griffon Empire, other than work out in the ship's small gym.

***

Many hours later, the airship had already crossed over the Baltimare harbor, and out over the Antlertic Ocean, still on course for the Griffon Empire. As they soared over the city, the ship made a slight right turn, and began flying southeast, now headed directly towards their destination which was still at least a day and a half away.

For Thunderblast and his buddies, it would be a long trip there. But, they were glad they still had time before things took a turn for the worse. By the time the Equestrian coast could no longer be seen, it was already past sunset, and the moon had risen high into half cloudy sky.

The sight was beautiful from that altitude, and the moon's reflection could be seen very well between clouds, bouncing off of the cold, waveless ocean. Inside, Thunderblast and his friends were either laying in bed, or sitting up, mostly talking to each other in the dim room, only being lit by small lanterns hanging off of the side of their bunks. However, Thunder was mostly quiet, and was reading one of his favorite novels, one known to many guards as it was a factual story.

"So then, the private tried speaking, and ended up tripping on his own words and blurting out a bunch of stuff no one could understand. Then I said, "Do you speak English?" And he said "I-I guess not," Sharpblade explained, followed by the laughter of Stormfire and Spear. As the laughter calmed down, Stormfire glanced over to Thunder's bed and stared for a second.

"Hey Thunder, you got anything you want to joke about?"

"Nope."

"Aw come on, you've been quiet most of the day."

"I'm reading."

"Can't you read tomorrow?"

"I could, but that doesn't mean I want to stop now and continue then."

"Thunder, come on. I know you're depressed about this, we all are. But there's nothing wrong with having a laugh or two."

Thunderblast grumbled, then put a bookmark between the pages and shut his book with a loud clap, setting it on the nightstand above his head, between the two wall-lined wooden bunks. "You want a joke? Fine," He sat up. "The Equestrian military. They are the ones supposed to be going over there, not us."

Nopony laughed. Instead, Spear simply raised an eyebrow. "That... isn't very funny."

Thunder grit his teeth in anger. "What more do you want? I'm trying to read! Why don't you ask Stormy something? He has yet to tell a joke," and fell back onto his bed, turning and facing the wall angrily.

Storm blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Sheesh, I'm sorry," followed by inaudible words.

Thunderblast simply grumbled and pulled the blanket over himself, slowly managing to calm down. He felt the situation was too serious to be making any jokes. After he snapped, the other three had stopped joking, and Thunder then felt a slight pain, and sat up to face them. "I'm sorry. I just have a million things going through my mind right now."

"It's fine. We do too, Thunder," Sharp replied.

"Yeah, it's cool. We know you're thinking about your son and wife. I haven't stopped thinking of Blue Night," Storm jumped in.

The others then turned to Stormfire. "Who's that?"

"My...wife?" Storm began to blush, followed by the others snickering a bit. "What?!" he began to blush more until his face was a crimson red.

"Oh nothing," Spear snickered more, and Thunderblast actually began laughing. "Hey, Thundy's laughing!"

Thunder laughed harder, then soon, the entire room was full of laughter. They soon forgot they were even off to war.