back in time for dinner

The days were getting shorter and colder the nights were longer and colder. Something was afoot. The fire kingdom had never known cold like this, mainly due to being built near a volcano. But this cold was unnaturally evil. It was no secret a war was coming but nopony expected it. Well, nopony except Zina, the ruler, Brave Soul her husband and finally Thunderbird; a simple sellsword working for the highest bidder.

As he entered his house he saw that the fire was already ablaze, with less of the fire salts than was normal. As he looked around he saw his wife, cooking dinner for herself. Silently he set his bags and weapons down then opening his arms said,  “I said I would be back in time for dinner.”

Not looking back at him his wife replied, “And what part of the godforsaken ‘Bad lands' did you go to?” After this she ran to him and hugged him tightly.

The day passed and was very uneventful. The  entire village was shut inside to keep warm, it was so silent that you could hear a mouse walk along the floor. However, the silence could not last. A knock sounding very urgent on the door caught Thunder’s attention. Slowly he rose from the couch and walked to the door. When it was opened a guard was standing there. No words were exchanged, only a letter, then the guard walked away to the next house.

Once Thunder got back to the couch to rejoin his wife, he looked through the letter. His wife did also.

Several minutes later Thunder dared to speak, “So… we are at war.”

“No Thunder. You are at war. It’s a stallion's war, not a mare's.”

Even more time passed, then thunder tried again. “I have been drafted.”

“I know.”

“There's nothing I can do about it, it’s a royal order.”

“I know.”

For the first time Thunder could remember in ages,he began to tear up. “I will miss you.”

His wife also began to tear up. “And I will miss you… and your stupid honour.”

“I will send letters as soon as possible.”

“You better… be safe Thunder… come back as soon as you can.”

“I will… I will be back in time for dinner”

He wiped away his tears and gave a cocky grin. “How about some noodles?”

His wife laughed, “okay…”

The next morning thunder woke early and began collecting his belongings and weapons. With hesitation he wrote a note in the event of his death, to be delivered to his wife by the army. “If you are reading this, I am most likely dead. Know that I always and will always love you, nothing will ever change that. Your loving husband, Thunder”.

Brave Soul woke up with a lot on his mind, the order he was forced to give last night and the aftermath of a war. The kingdom was struggling as it was and making all the able bodied stallions go and fight would cut the workforce. He only could see one logical thing to do:go to war as well. He waited for his wife, Zina, to get back from addressing all the soldiers and giving them her blessing. “Blessing for what?” he thought, “Getting killed, making colts and fillies grow up with no father? Making wives widows?” Brave was deep in his thoughts and nearly missed Zina walk in. From the look of her face the same questions were going through her mind.

Now the question on Brave's mind was, how do I tell her? I could die out there. Nevertheless he spoke, confident and strong

“Zina, I am going to march with the stallions out there, lead the army.”

Much to Brave’s shock, Zina nodded slowly and in a calm voice, responded

“I understand. Many of them have seen either too few winters or too many.”

Then she walked to her private area to de stress herself.

A few hours later Brave had joined the ranks of the army, posing as a new recruit. Only a few ponies in command had been told of this. He was attached to the regiment that would push forward and gain time for the rest of the army to train, getting somewhat ready for war. Thunder was also attached to this force.

At this point in time Zina was still in her chambers, thinking of a peaceful way to end this war. Despite knowing it was impossible, she, no the kingdom, had to go to war to prevent the much needed fire salts from being taken from the kingdom’s ponies. Everything had grown too reliant on the fire salts for too long. Zina’s ways were taken advantage of and now war.

Her maid came into the room. She too looked sad, distraught even.But her stallion had a duty to do and so did she.

“Princess, is there anything you require?”

She gave a reinsuring smile.

Zina noticed this allowing her to talk to her maid, to talk her mind ,“May I ask you something? You have always served me well. You have always been able to give better counsel than the actual council. Was this war the right thing to do?”.

Her maid looked shocked at Zina. This was not like the headstrong mare, so she decided to play it on the safe side.

“Permission to speak my mind?” Zina nodded, “I feel that the kingdom has been taken advantage of for far too long, I know that you would have tried to find a non-violent resolve. But, if I may ask why did you order all the stallions to fight?”

This knocked Zina slightly back. It was true that the kingdom had always been taken advantage of and it was true she tried to find a non-violent resolve. After a while she replied.

“I did that to show the kingdom is not weak. We are outnumbered ten to one, by doing this it gives us the best chance we could have. Besides,” She was then silent for about a minute and then she spoke; more confident than before ,“besides, the king is fighting too. He is worth ten of an ordinary soldier. I understand your concern for your husband… and you have my word that, if anything was to happen to him, you can have as long as needed away from here,”She smiled, but also with tears in her eyes.

The maid nodded before exiting the room.