War Never Changes

The day following the Royal Guard's departure to the Griffon Empire was more than just stressful for the airship fleet's passengers. In the communications room behind the bridge, morse code reports were flooding in from the already deployed platoons, that the war itself was becoming much worse and increasing numbers of attacks from the griffons.

The reports themselves were read thoroughly on the public announcement systems on board, which didn't help the situation at all. Some of the airship's occupants even panicked, and were eventually forced to calm down by using bed straps to restrain them from tearing the ship apart, the sudden intention of two guards.

"Attention all on board, we should be arriving at the designated landing zone around twenty-hundred hours Mareopean time weather contingent."

"Ugh, perfect," Stormfire groaned.

"Still a long way to go Storm," Spear said as he polished his armor with a cloth.

"I know, I'm just wondering what we will have to do first, if we will go straight into battle."

"Probably not," Thunderblast said as he trotted into their sleeping compartment. "They will have to brief us first, which just that would take an hour to do. Besides, if there are guys already out on the field, they won't need to send more."

"Yet," Storm sat on his bed, rubbing a hoof on his achy forehead.

"I wouldn't worry about it right now, Storm. For now, get your things ready for tonight when we land. They may or may not keep us on the ship to sleep," Thunder pulled out some polish and began shining up his weapons, until their steel was like a thin mirror with intentions to use them like any other soldier on the airship.

As Spear polished his armor, he looked up to his bunk mate's bed. "Hey, has anyone seen Sharp?"

"I think he said he was going to the workout room for a bit. Why?" Stormfire continued to rub his head.

"Just wondering. I'd hate to find out he teleported back home in fear," Spear chuckled a little.

"You know he wouldn't, Spear. Out of all of us, he is the one who is looking forward the most to fighting in this war. It's the only action he's really had since the Royal wedding invasion," Thunder turned to Spear, holding a knife he was polishing in his hoof, the cloth in the other.

Spear shuddered a little. "Don't remind me of that, please."

***

Upstairs, Sharpblade laid chest-up on a workout bed, lifting heavy weights with other stallions who were also in the mood for working out. He grunted at every time he lifted the two-hundred pound weights above his chest. The unicorn's arm muscles flexed at every move, which showed off his masculinity bright and clear. As he lifted, his ears caught the sound of what sounded like dogs panting. Sharp glanced to his right, his eyes meeting those of a couple earth pony guards, literally drooling over his workout. He raised an eyebrow, growing a slight glare which was directed towards them. "What are you looking at?"

The guards' pupils shrunk, and they quickly ran off to another side of the room. Sharp rolled his eyes and returned his attention to lifting. He had to admit, sometimes he regretted ever joining the guard, although he couldn't have anticipated how many of it's troops would look him over lustfully. It was embarrassing to say the least, but occasionally he liked the compliments he received by one or two guards every other month, even though he wasn't into stallions. Sharp counted mentally how many times he had lifted the weights.

"Fifty seven...fifty eight...fifty...forty five...what?" He quickly lost track, for what reason, he never knew. Instead of re-focusing, he started thinking ahead about how the war might go once they arrived. Just like any other guard, he hoped and prayed to Celestia herself that they would all return home safe. Although, he knew that wouldn't be the case, as fatalities were already known to have occurred.

Suddenly, there was a loud clank, which threw him out of his day-dreaming trance. After snapping out of the trance, he glanced up to see Thunderblast holding a hoof on the weights Sharp was lifting, and was holding it down on the side lifts which held the weights up, allowing anyone to slip under without being crushed, although it was pressed against Sharp's chest from his size.

"Oi, get off, lightning flank!" Sharp grunted, struggling to push the weights back up as tiny beads of sweat grew on his forehead and cheeks.

"Is that a name you thought of on the fly?" Thunder chuckled, then lifting the weights up with both of his hooves to let the unicorn slip out from under, before setting them back down. "Did you hear the announcement?"

Sharp groaned a little, picking up a cloth and wiping at his forehead. "Who didn't?"

"That's why I came to see if you heard it. This means we have to step up our game even more once we head out tomorrow," Thunder sat on an adjacent workout bed.

"You're sounding too much like a lieutenant, Thunder," Sharp chuckled.

"I still outrank you, but not by much," Thunderblast grinned. "I'm just letting you know, no orders coming from me."

"Well, alright," Sharp cracked a smile in return, but it quickly faded. "I thought I'd get a workout in before we do land. I mean, gotta go out buff as hell, right?" He gave Thunder a playful nudge.

Thunder rolled his eyes while smiling. "Even in a situation, you know how to make somepony smile. Besides, only time will tell who goes and who doesn't."

"Well, its always good to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst, just like in a tornado, you know?"

Thunder nodded in reply, but shuddered lightly. "Of course."

***

"Attention all on board, we are five minutes out. Please prepare for disembarking at once," The captain of the airship spoke over the public announcement system. Almost immediately, those on board scrambled about preparing the ship for landing, and grabbing the things they brought along to ready themselves for walking off the aircraft. By that time, the sun had already set, although it was still a very tiny bit light to the west. The airship descended gradually towards the ground, nearing a shallow forest area which could be seen by the ship's spotlights used for landing safely in the dark.

In one of the sleeping compartments, the four stallions occupying the room slid their military bags out from under the bunks and slung them over their shoulders, but staying put until given the order to disembark.

"You guys ready?" Spear peered between the other three ponies, grinning slightly.

"We're not going to battle just yet, Spear. Remember that," Sharpblade turned, glaring faintly at the white pegasus.

"I know that," Spear rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, take a joke, will you?"

"War isn't a joke, Spear," Sharp stared at Spear with a hard look on his face, mainly of annoyance.

"Not to mention, what you said really wasn't a joke. It was a question," Thunderblast turned, also staring at Spear, but with a half lidded, un-amused stare.

"Pfft, buzzkill," Spear mumbled to himself, rolling his eyes.

Moments later, there was a faint thud, and the entire ship jolted. Next, the engines could be heard slowing down, and soon the only thing to be heard was hoofsteps down the hallways. Stormfire set his bag down and walked back towards the window, peeking out. He didn't see much, but it was evident that they had landed.

"Looks like we're here," He said.

"All on board are free to disembark," The airship captain announced over the PA system. Following the message, the four exited their room and out into the hallway, falling in with the rest of the guards as they made their way towards the exits. Once outside, the soldiers were led a two minute walk away from their airships to a Temporary Operating Base set up just a few days earlier. The base was set up with large and small tents, the larger tents with symbols designating what they were; a red cross for the medical tent, a fork and knife for the chow tent, and a sword for the armory tent, although it wasn't needed at the time.

"ATTENTION!"

Before anything else happened, every one of the guards stood at attention. The instant simultaneous faint echo of hooves clicking together was a brief sound that caught the attention of everypony present. In the blink of an eye, everypony was standing at attention. In front of the massive, perfectly positioned group, walked one of the ponies in command, a First Lieutenant. The unicorn's coat was ice blue, and his silver armor gleamed in the moonlight, as well as the torches placed around the camp which lit the area. Up and down the front row he walked, not taking any time to inspect the guards standing next to him with stoic looks on their faces. Instead, he soon stopped directly in the middle, staring forward at them.

"This isn't training soldiers, this isn't a drill, this isn't a test, this is the real thing. As of five days ago, the Griffons inhabiting this land up and decided to do something they will regret dearly; declaring war on us. Now, I do not have all of the information about our orders, but what I do know is, Captain Shining Armor is in that tent-" The unicorn pointed behind him to a large darkened tent. "-waiting for all of you to join him for briefing. Now get in there and get it over with!"

"Yes sir!" The guards spoke in unison. The first lieutenant walked over to the tent, opening the doorway by unzipping it and pointing for the guards to enter. The group trotted into a single-file line, entering the tent one by one and seating themselves. Inside was extremely dark, but just slightly lit by lanterns. The interior was basic; grey fold-out chairs, then at the back, a projector screen and a projector, which was off at the moment. Shining Armor, however, was nowhere to be seen anywhere in the tent, which worried a few of the guards. As the troops finished seating themselves in the tent, a bright purple flash appeared before them all. Once it faded, in front of them was now a tall, muscular, white unicorn who wore darker-purple armor with golden highlights on the edges, the captain's armor. Instantly after, every stallion in the room stood, clicking their hooves together loud enough to be heard a hundred feet away. Shining Armor then lifted a trimmed hoof.

"At ease fellas," he said, then mumbled, "...for now."

Only the front row could have heard him, and even then it was too quiet to make out anything. Moments after, Captain Armor cleared his throat.

"Now, I am certain you all are aware of what is going on here. Although, you still don't know all of it I am sure. Your squad leaders each know differently, meaning some of you may already be informed. Either way, you will all listen closely. We are here, because the leaders of the Griffon Empire have lost a valuable artifact of theirs, and immediately pointed their talons towards us Equestrians."

"As a result," he continued. "They have taken every single pony, and I mean every single pony, and has either tortured or executed them. This includes those stationed here for extra security. As of right now, it is unknown how many are left out of the known one hundred and seven arrested.. If any are left, it is one of our objectives to form a rescue plan. But, for now, our mission is to liberate the nearby town of Gryffsvale, a city mostly populated by ponies and hippogriffs. Most of it is evacuated, although we have word that there are still civilians in the town. Our other mission, is to find and rescue those ponies and or hippogriffs. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!"

"Hmm..." Shining Armor took a slight inhale. "Another thing I bet everypony here is wondering, why the griffons are attacking hippogriffs. To them, they are considered Equestrians, and you know the rest," he stopped once more, checking to see if everypony in the tent was paying attention, which relieved him to see that no one had fallen asleep on him.

"Lastly, most of you will be still sleeping in the airships as we lack the tents to accompany everypony at such short notice. Besides, I am sure each and every one of you enjoyed your beds on the way here," Shining cracked a faint smirk, but not enough for anypony to see. "Everypony in this room ships out to the Gryffsvale area tomorrow morning. That is all, get some rest. You're going to need it."

In the blink of an eye, he disappeared once more in a bright purple flash of magic, his new location unknown. Soon after, each of the stallions seated rose up and began neatly exiting to return to their sleeping quarters, whether they be a tent, or their airships.

As they walked, Spear trotted up beside Thunderblast, Stormfire, and Sharpblade. "I don't know about you guys, but he seemed kind of off on his briefing."

"What makes you say that?" Sharp glanced over to the white pegasus beside him.

"Well for one, he didn't seem as serious as he usually is back home, and for two, didn't any of you see his hooves trembling like leaves in the wind?"

"Nope, didn't notice any of that. Why does it matter anyways? He briefed us, we deploy into town tomorrow," Thunderblast said.

"It matters because, if he really is scared about this, then we all know what will happen next!"

Sharp suddenly stopped walking, then turned around and glared at Spear. "You know what, just shut up already. You're more panicked about this than Storm, and none of us want to hear your whining!" He snapped angrily, Thunderblast and Storm stopping just ahead and looking back at the two stallions.

"My whining?" Spear stared coldly at the grey unicorn just four feet before him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know very well what it means, don't play stupid blondy."

Thunder and Storm gasped, staring at Sharp for a moment, then turning to Spear, who's face was boiling with anger.

"What...did you just call me?" Spear's eye twitched.

"You heard me."

"Say it again," Spear took a few steps closer, now in Sharp's face.

"Guys, stop," Stormfire took a step closer as well, only to be stopped by Thunder's hoof.

"Oh, what are you going to do, blondy?" Sharp smirked. "May I remind you that you were so jealous of Thunder, you did everything you could to sabotage him, even though it wouldn't get you anywhere? You can't do anything right yourself."

"Graaaah!" Spear let out an angered cry, tackling Sharpblade to the ground and began to violently throw punches at his face. He didn't do much to restrain the unicorn, however, who quickly lit his horn and forced the pegasus into the dirt next to him, then stood up and over him and started doing the same thing in return while still holding him in a blue aura of magic. Spear struggled to escape, just barely managing to remain conscious from Sharp's hard hits.

"Guys, STOP!" Thunderblast yelled at the top of his lungs.

Sharp froze his hoof, which had recoiled back and was about to slam down on Spear's skull, which would have likely finished him, but in the positive sense. He panted softly, then dropped the magical aura pinning the other pony beneath him. Spear weakly stood with shaky hooves after crawling out from under the larger pony, on the verge of completely collapsing and passing out from the blows. His muzzle was bloody, and his eye was beginning to bruise dark blue and purple. The four moved their eyes around, all seeing a few of the other guards watching them.

"What are you all staring at?" Sharp spoke angrily with a faint growl in his voice, and those watching scampered away, hopefully pretending nothing happened. "Get him to a medic," he then began walking back to the airship.

***

"Well, I can't say he's out of commission, but he took some pretty hard hits," the unicorn medic said as he set down a clipboard and pencil onto a table. "Must have been a pretty bad fight he got himself into."

"You can say that again," Thunderblast said. "Will he be okay?"

The medic nodded. "He should be if we consistently give him a sip of a healing potion every hour or so," he stopped. "If he takes it, he should be healed enough by tomorrow afternoon or evening. He only took hits to his head, which will make the healing process easier. If it were more of his body, he'd definitely be sent back home for better medical care. Like I said, he should be recovered by tomorrow, although that black eye won't be going away anytime soon."

"That's a relief ... mostly. How is he now?" Stormfire asked.

"He's asleep, on a heavy medication. It shouldn't last much more than two hours though, which is good for us, because he will have his strength back when he wakes up, which also means it will be easier to for him drink the potion."

"Good to hear. Keep us updated on how he is and if anything changes, alright?" Thunderblast said.

The medic nodded again. "Of course. Although, I don't expect much to change. He's fairly lucky. Now, get some rest you two."

"Yes sir," both Thunder and Storm said in unison, then saluted the medic guard and trotted out of the medical tent and back to the airship they flew in on.

"I wonder how Sharp is doing," Thunderblast walked beside Storm, sighing softly.

"I can't imagine him doing good right now, after what he did. I feel bad for the both of them," Storm replied.

"As do I."

"I hope neither of them have to be sent back."

"I don't think they would do that. They need everypony for this. Just remember, I was resigned and they dragged me to this hellhole."

"That is true," Storm sighed. "I just hope their conflicts don't get us all killed, you know?"

"I hope so too. But, we all must accept our fates, whether or not we die fighting. We're guards for a reason, and our job is to defend our land, even if it isn't physically under attack. Like Shining Armor said, there are ponies that don't belong here, and our job is to get them to safety and do what we can to keep Equestria safe. You do want to protect those who cannot protect themselves, don't you?"

"Of course I do, Thunder. It's just I ... well, I thought being a guard would be less ... action, you know? And knowing my father served in the last Griffon War, this all has me on edge."

"I can see why," Thunder exhaled quietly with some sadness in his voice. "I don't know if my father ever served in any wars. If he did, it's too late to know now. He's long gone, as is my mother."

"I'm sorry man."

"Thanks..." Thunder cracked a faint smile to Storm as he climbed up the stairs, entering the airship.

"No one should ever go through the pain of losing their parents in their foalhood. It's just ... not right. I've always wondered how you dealt with the pain all of these years?"

"Friends. Friends have always been a pain killer for me. Friendship is something everypony should have. I can see why Princess Celestia made her student Twilight a princess, she can be a great teacher of friendship. I've only met her a couple of times, but she seems pretty nice."

"I hear she is," Storm walked beside Thunder. "You know, she supposedly runs a book store or something in Ponyville."

"Library. It's all carved into a tree ... or it was popped up by magic. I don't know the full story, all I know is, it's inside a tree and it is extremely cool. I'm not one to say this, but I'd love to have a house built into a tree."

"Er, no you wouldn't. You don't like bees, Thunder."

"... That is also very true. Nevermind," The two then chuckled and quieted down the rest of the way, soon walking into their sleeping quarters where Sharpblade was laying on his bed, pretending to be asleep. They noticed almost immediately, and remained silent as they removed their armor, piece by piece, and laid down on their beds. As they did, the sounds of stressed breathing came from Sharp's mouth.

"I-I couldn't ... hold myself back," Sharp hugged himself, laying down and facing the wall with his eyes tightly shut. "He made me do it."

The two pegasi sat up, both staring at Sharp with concern. "Sharp, buddy. Listen, we know it wasn't your fault."

"Yes it is!" Sharp's voice began to crack, and a small tear slipped between his shut eye lids. "I beat him into the ground ... didn't you all see how much blood there was on my hooves?"

"Is he ... crying?" Thunderblast thought to himself, then stood up out of bed and trotted up to Sharpblade. "Easy. He provoked you into doing it."

"You think that's the only cause?!" Sharp whipped himself up, getting his muzzle into Thunder's, who backed away. Tears sat in the unicorn's eyes as he resisted himself from going on a rampage.

"Hey... easy, Sharp, we're not trying to be hostile. It isn't your fault."

"Yes... Storm, yes it is," he slowly laid back down, facing away. "Just leave me alone, please."

Stormfire sighed, then laid his head back onto the soft pillow, while Thunder fluffed his until it was comfortable to lay on. Soon after, Thunder reached a hoof out and turned off the lamp keeping light in the room. At that point, only moonlight lit up four squares on the floor from the window.

***

The next morning, a slight jolt forced Storm out of bed. It forced him far enough to the side where had he decided to turn over, he would have rolled off and onto the wooden plank floor. Moments later, the ground jolted again, this time shaking the ponies awake. Sharpblade sat up, rubbing at his eye and peering around at his surroundings.

"Wha...?" He yawned.

Thunderblast's eyes opened wide, and he quickly sat up. Another jolt shook the ground, and he hopped out of bed. "Get up you two, I think we're under attack!"

Stormfire soon shot up, throwing the blanket off of him and jumping from his top bunk. His hooves made loud clops as they hit the hard wood floor, and he quickly moved to grab his armor. "They're attacking us?"

"I don't know, could be!" Thunder said, quickly slipping on the pieces of his armor one by one and checking briefly to make sure it was on right. Afterwards, he grabbed his bag and set it on his bed, then dug through it and picked through the numerous weapons he brought with him, ready for battle. "Sharp, get up!"

Sharpblade grumbled, having already being awake and gearing up, but not as fast as Thunder wanted.

"Hurry up!" He shouted.

"Shut it, I don't take orders from you!" Sharp snapped back, slipping his helmet onto his head.

Thunder stopped and glared towards the unicorn stallion. "Sharp, for Celestia's sake, do you really think now is the time to gripe about who you take orders from? Is that really all you're worried about, or are you still annoyed about Spear?"

"What does it look like?" Sharp levitated a knife into his armor, then grabbed his spear.

"You know what it looks like? It looks like somepony who acts like he wants to be here, but deep down, he wants to go home! It looks like somepony who only cares for himself, and you know what? That is going to change whether you like it or not Sharp, even if it means I have to beat the ever loving hell out of you just to get it through that thick skull of yours! We have bigger things to worry about right now, and I would prefer not to hear you whining out there! You hear me, Sergeant?!" Thunderblast shouted at the top of his lungs, almost resembling a drill sergeant at boot camp.

Sharp shrunk back a little, pinning his ears horizontally and moving his eyes away in embarrassment. "Well... I-I..."

"No, Sharp. I don't. Want. To hear it. Now quit moping around and get your flank out the door with the others! We have a job to do. Do you hear me?"

Sharp stopped, and nodded slowly. "Yes, sir," Sharp had known that Thunder did outrank him by this much, meaning he did have to state his name formally. Afterwards, he sighed and trotted out the door.

Thunder slowly eased his muscles, then looked back to Stormfire, who stared in pure surprise.

"Did you just..."

"Yes, Storm. Yes I did," Thunder panted a little, having being slightly exhausted from the excessive speech. "He needs to know we're here for a reason, and that our job is more important right now."

Storm slowly nodded. "I understand. But, just go easy on him. Remember, he was crying last night."

It was true, Sharp did somewhat break down before they went to sleep. Thunderblast simply nodded in response, and trotted out of their room with Storm close behind. While following the others outside, they turned their heads and watched in shock as smoke rose from the nearby town, with faint explosions to be heard in the distance, before going silent for a minute, and then returning. Soon, the guards stopped in a large row.

"Alright, listen up everypony! The nearby town of Gryffsvale is under attack, and our job is to secure it and it's citizens and evacuate them to safety! If and when you come across an enemy, do not show mercy! May I remind you all, that they dragged us into hell. Now we will extinguish their fire at any cost. We must not lose citizens of our own nation to these brainless sacks of feathers," the Squad sergeant shouted across the massive group of guards, who all stood at attention. "Is that clear?!"

"Yes, sir!" The large group spoke in unison.

"Very well. To Tartarus we go."