Honor vs Orders
by
De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)
Commissioned and idea provided by
EDB COMMAND who has given permission to post the story.
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Master Sargent Iron Hooves surveyed the entrance to Shattered Claw Pass through his binoculars. Shaking his head at the mass of boulders and the steep, narrow, rocky sides of the pass, he muttered loudly enough to be overheard, “The Brass are nuts! They really expect the Army to get through there in one piece?”
Sargent Haze pointed out, “At least the boulders and brush will allow us to do an advance from cover to cover. What really bothers me is the Princesses sending us in to help the Empress in this Civil War. It ought to be the Gryphon's business, not ours.”
Remembering some of the slaves that they had freed as the Combined Army took Rebel strongholds, Iron replied grimly, “If I had not seen how these Rebels treat their slaves, I would agree with you, Haze. Thing is, I have seen it. We are on the right side of this mess.
“There goes the Spearhead into the pass. We need to move up!”
Turning to his squad, a mix of ponies and Gryphons, he called out, “Iron's Claws! Advance under cover! Front rank, pick your cover and advance as soon as our cover fire is established! You know the drill!”
The rest of the unit providing cover fire to keep enemy heads down, the front rank scooted forward. Iron was proud of the Gryphons in his mixed unit. They hated ground combat but given proper orders, did it well. They did it even better once they realized how effective it was at forcing the Fliers back.
The second rank, now dodging their way through the broken terrain, were being covered by the rear and first as they leapfrogged past the first rank and took their safe positions. The first and second now providing cover, Iron tapped Haze on the shoulder.
“Our turn!” louder, he called, “Third rank, advance!” Joining their force, the Master Sargent and Sargent worked their way through the rattle and smoke of small arms fire, up past the rest to take the lead positions. Like a well oiled machine, the first rank, now at the rear, advanced through the other two ranks to take the lead. Then the second leapfrogged and it was the turn of the third again.
The rebel fire trying to stop them was not well coordinated. The Rebel contempt of ground action blinded them to its true effectiveness. The cover fire of Iron's Claws was not only keeping their heads down, it was taking out those who got too enthusiastic or tried to take to the air!
Iron's Claws was well inside Shattered Claw pass when the Rebel ambush opened fire. The deafening roar of the Rebel MT81 quick fire cannons filled the pass!
Without awaiting orders, Iron's Claws scrambled, not to retreat, but to better cover from the heavier fire from higher up! Sargent Haze was scanning the canyon walls with binoculars. He tapped Master Sargent Iron on the shoulder and pointed. Iron got it at once. The MT81 nests were revealing themselves by the smoke and flame of their weapons.
“They are in range of our rifles! At least most of them are!”
Iron bellowed, “Iron's Claws! Hit those nests with everything that we have!”
Gryphons and Ponies aimed high and began to fire up the walls at the MT81s that were cutting off the Spearhead. Their return fire reduced the effectiveness of the Rebel fire some.
Seeing the results, Iron sent a messenger around to his pinned down troops. Half kept up the semi random fire upward. The other half waited in silence. When the next nest opened up, they all took close aim and blasted a solid volley of fire at it.
They had the pleasure, for a combat situation, of seeing two Rebel Gryphons tumble from their position! The weapon itself was pushed into view as they fell. In seconds, that MT81 was hit by multiple bullets and destroyed.
The volley shooters went silent again, waiting for the next target!
They did not have long to wait. As they opened up, a grinning Haze observed, “They have to keep shooting or the Spearhead will get out of the trap! When they shoot, so do we! They can't really divide their attack, they haven't got enough good nest positions!”
Iron had his brow furrowed in deep thought. “How in heck did they get those guns up there, Haze? MT81s are too heavy to be flight portable!”
While Haze was pondering that, private Glida, one of their Gryphons, tapped Iron's shoulder and pointed. In heavily accented Equestrian, he pointed up and said, “That is strange. The usual flight Talon is four. Why are there six in that one?”
Iron's binoculars provided the answer in only moments. Each of the six was carrying something fairly heavy. The one in the lead had a spindly object. He hit a ledge, planting his part. The next had a longish boxy thing. He hit the ledge and the two worked for a moment, attaching the receiver to the tripod base. He flew out of the way of the next, with a long object. It proved to be the barrel of the MT81 being assembled as Iron watched.
His tight grin as he figured out how the Rebels were getting around the MT81 weight issue was frightful to behold. He whispered to private Glida, who carried his new orders to the volley fire group.
As the last of the Rebel group was approaching with an ammunition box to complete the weapon and put it into action, he had spread his wings and brake. The volley ripped into him, dropping him and the ammunition the weapon needed to be operational, down into the floor of the pass!
The volley group then concentrated their fire on the nearly complete weapon. It took only a few hits to put it out of action entirely.
Haze had a grin of his own, now. “We got it! Now that we know how to take them, we can fix this mess!”
Iron's sharpshooters were in the process of tearing up the third MT81 nest when a gryphon in the uniform of the Imperial Army Messenger Corps flew up, staying low and zigging to present a difficult target. He landed hard, raising dust and small clods of dirt with his talons. Saluting Master Sargent Iron, he reported, “Sir, it is the order of the High Command of the Combined Army that you retreat at once. The presence of the MT81s have made it impossible to achieve our objective.”
Iron nodded sourly as he watched the Rebel carrying a new weapon receiver, a vital component, tumble from the air! The receiver, the heart of the weapon smashed on to rocks below.
“What of our spearhead?”
The messenger shook his head, laying his crest flat in distaste. “We must sacrifice them. It is necessary to save as much of the whole army as possible.”
“I see. We have just learned how the Rebels are getting the MT81s up there. We have now neutralized three of the nests entirely, their weapons destroyed. I will notify my troops.” Iron let out a long and disgusted sigh.
The messenger left to carry his distasteful order to the remaining front line units.
Sargent Haze shook his head, lips curled in disgust. “We have to retreat and just leave over a hundred troops? Sickening.”
Master Sargent Iron Hooves surveyed the situation. “That is not what I told the messenger, Haze. I said that I would notify my troops. If they are willing, I will lead them in to see if we can rescue the Spearhead.”
“That is a mutiny, Master Sargent. Count me in!” Haze actually smiled for the first time in a while.
When Glida returned from his round of the troops, he saluted, reporting, “We have the entire unit ready to advance, Sir. None of us wants to abandon troops to slavers like these.”
“Thank you, private Glida.” Iron's voice bellowed out over the din of the battle, “Iron's Claws! Advance under cover! Lead unit! Provide ground cover fire! Second Unit! Watch for nests or guns on the move and neutralize!”
Iron's Claws began to rake their way deeper into Shattered Claw Pass.
The Rebels were trying, too late, to set up a solid ground defense. The trapped spearhead was too dangerous to fly over in the attempt to get at the new foe, striking from the rear. Iron watched as gryphons attempting to place themselves between the forces, fell from the air. Some were getting through. While involved in a leapfrog, Iron felt his foreleg driven out from under him. He hit the ground hard. Glancing at the leg, he realized that the bone was not hit.
Struggling up, he limped to cover. Haze was on him in an instant. Ripping away uniform, he examined the wound and pronounced, “Flesh wound, Sir. Gonna slow you a bit. Once I get this wrapped, you can go on.” The wound bandaged, Iron and Haze rejoined the advance.
The enemy was keeping Haze busy binding up wounds. Too busy. Iron called a halt. His war bellow instructed, “Concentrate fire on the first three of any MT under transport! Watch for and neutralize as many ground troops as you can! As bad as the MT81s are, we are taking more hits from the ground troops.”
The scent of powder smoke was contaminated by the stench of blood and spilled guts. Haze was back in a few moments. “Got us as patched up as I can, Sir. We have not lost a single trooper yet. We did a lot of bad damage to some of the Rebels, though. I patched up any that looked to survive. I remembered what you said in mission briefing.”
Iron nodded, adding, “When the Rebels figure out that the ground is where the war is going to be decided, it will get really messy.”
Soon, Iron's Claws reached the nearest of the spearhead troops! An MT81 tried to spoil the celebration. Iron did not even have time to order return fire before his troops were on it. The wounded gunner fell fluttering to the bottom of the pass.
In the lull that followed, the major leading the spearhead approached. He politely raised his crest in greeting as he said, “I am Major Graak. I do not wish to seem ungrateful, Master Sargent, but wasn't there an order to retreat?”
Master Sargent Iron Hooves nodded seriously, “Indeed there is a retreat order, Sir. Shall we comply with it and get you all out of here?”
The Major's crest flipped up as he fluttered his wings in gryphon amusement. He replied, “Sir, that appears to be the best idea of the century! You seem to understand how this ground action works better than I. Will you lead us?”
“Yes, Sir. We are using an advance in force, under cover. It is a leapfrog type of advance. Your remaining force is small enough to make it work. We need to divide the whole force into three parts. The lead and second ranks provide cover fire for the rear to pass through them and find forward cover. They become the lead. They and the old first rank are then the new first and second ranks. They then provide the cover fire while the rear passes through and becomes the first.
“That is it in a nutshell. The details are a pain but we can do it.”
The retreat was interrupted by several attempts by the Rebels to plant new MT81 nests. The concentrated fire of the combined unit left shattered weapons and broken bodies behind. Their retreat was delayed.
“Master Sargent! What is the meaning of this? That is a Rebel trooper that your Sargent is wasting our bandages on!”
“If you look, Sir, we have been recovering all of the wounded that we encounter. It is the standing order of our Princesses that the enemy fallen be treated the same as our own.”
Haze went to retrieve another of the fallen, entrapped in a bush. He was cutting away the branches in the way when a shot rang out. Sargent Haze fell back, bleeding. Before Iron could stop him, the Major ordered, “Shoot!”
A dozen of his troops riddled the wounded Rebel with bullets. Haze rolled to his hooves, bleeding from a shoulder. He stalked up to the Major and spat in his face. “That was not necessary, SIR!”
Shocked, the Major turned and found Iron laying on the ground, bleeding from his right hind leg. Haze, kneeling to check his Master Sargent's wound, snarled, “Major, this was the result of your idiocy! Before you order troops to shoot, be sure that they are not shooting in our direction!”
Iron interrupted Haze's tirade, “How bad is it, Sargent?”
Haze was probing the wound. “Bullet is still in here. There, got it!” He disdainfully dropped the bloody lump of lead at the feet of Major. Returning to his task, he bound up the wound. “Not too bad, really, Sir. Might get a bit of a scar from it. You've lost more blood than is really good. Otherwise you are fine.”
Iron got to his hooves and shuddered all over. “Thank you again, Haze. You are a good medic. Now let me see to YOUR shoulder!”
Haze bandaged, the troops began to advance again. The Major, smarting from both his mishandling of the fallen enemy and Sargent Haze's rebuke, said, “Master Sargent, we have not engaged any enemy for some time. We can make better time marching in formation!”
Iron, limping as he headed for his next cover replied, “Correct, Major. You were making great time, there in the pass!”
It was just then that Haze reported, “Sir, I can see the end of the pass! We have a problem. They have sneaked at least fifty ground troops into the boulder field.”
The Major suggested, “I was not properly trained in this sort of ground operation. We do outnumber them. I do not wish to make any more mistakes. How should we use our superiority?”
Iron regarded the Major with far greater respect. “I understand how difficult that must have been to say, Major. We will split our force before they can properly see us. One group will advance from cover to cover straight onto them. That advance is a feint in force. We will be drawing their attention and fire.
“The second group will swing to the far right, advancing from cover to cover but doing no suppression fire. Our job is simply to keep the enemy engaged until the second unit is in position to take them from the right rear. The enemy will then be caught between our forces.”
Nodding understanding, the Major took the frontal attack force. Iron's Claws, together with a good many of the rescued spearhead, began the sneak off to the right.
The Major's troops opened fire from their present cover while a rank leapfrogged to new forward cover. The heavy return fire from the Rebels showed that he did have their attention!
Maintaining silence, Iron's Claws slipped from cover to cover. Haze tapped Iron's shoulder. “I owe the Major an apology. He is handling that advance really well.'
Iron nodded as they sprinted for the next cover. “It was inexperience, not incompetence. He is a fast learner. He is doing a great job at keeping his temper, too.”
Reaching their objective, Iron's Claws could peer around the boulders of their cover, keeping low. Over half of the enemy force was in plain view from their position. Iron tapped Glida and sent him around to his command with their orders.
They opened up on the exposed enemy, firing aimed shots with deadly accuracy.
Rebels tried futilely to take cover from the new attack, only to expose themselves to the Major's fire.
In only moments Iron's Claws were advancing on the trapped and decimated Rebels. It was a short and bloody engagement.
During the mop up after the battle, Haze got his chance to lay his rifle at the claws of the Major. “Sir, I apologize for my outburst. You are a truly good officer and handled this with professionalism. I have never seen an officer learn an unfamiliar mode of combat as swiftly as you just have.”
The Major looked down at Haze and replied, “If it helps, you and yours risked all to save us. Your Master Sargent being struck by our friendly fire must have been hard. You are forgiven. It is an honor to have such troops as you.”
Iron turned over yet another of the enemy fallen. The gory exit hole, no longer bleeding told the tale. Another one who would never see home. Iron was staggering just a bit. He recalled Haze's comment about blood loss and chuckled. “Blood or no blood, the job is not done! I'll collapse later!”
At the rustling in some brush, between several boulders, Iron turned, aiming his pistol. Seeing that the injured enemy trapped there was unarmed, he put away the gun and said, “Relax, there fellow. We will get you out to medical help as soon as we can.”
The enemy soldier stilled. As Haze approached with the medical field kit, Iron began breaking away branches and wrenching them out of the way. He told the Rebel, “Almost there. We can get you patched and on the way to the hospital in a few moments.”
While his hooves were occupied, Iron caught a glimpse of a talon striking out from the brush! He felt a searing pain in the right side of his face! The drag of claws raking and chattering over bone! Flesh tearing across his eye!
Shock, long delayed, hit. Seeing clearly with only his left eye, he felt his legs going rubbery. With no sensation of falling, he felt the ground as he hit. Fading hearing caught the sound of a shot.
He thought that he heard, “We have one down! Get the stretcher!” He was briefly wondering who it was for. Then darkness took him.
~~ ~~ ~~
The view from the window was spectacular, as were all of the out facing windows of Canterlot Castle. The room inside was spare, compared to most. There were few hangings and no fancy lanterns or sconces. The room was dominated by two large tables. The bigger one had a large map of the Gryphon Empire on it. Placed about on the map were red and yellow markers of different shapes, some bearing tags with numbers or other vital information about the unit the marker represented.
A unicorn General was using a long wand with a hook to move some markers out of Shattered Claw Pass. He snarled, “I ORDERED them to retreat! We need to make an example of him! Break his rank and throw him out of the military entirely!”
Princess Luna tilted her head curiously from her place at the other table. She waited until the General was done with his marker movement. “Come here, General Horshet. I have some questions about this situation. If it helps, I do think that we need to make an example of this disobedient Master Sargent.” She had a hoof on the open file before her.
The General returned to his place at the War Table. In his anger at the mutiny that he had just finished detailing on the Map table, forgetting to dip his horn to the Princess, he demanded, “What do you have in mind, your Highness?”
Princess Luna gave him a stare that would have flash frozen a Polar Bear. In a soft voice, she replied, “I was thinking of following the lead of the Empress. She has just awarded Master Sargent Iron Hooves the Claw of Honor, one of the three highest awards of the Empire.
“As a result of his INITIATIVE, seventy three injured were recovered and are now either back in action or in the hospital. Over one third were soldiers of the Rebels.”
General Horshet interrupted, “That alone is enough to justify cashiering him! Wasting our resources on the enemy is treason!”
Luna slammed down her hoof in irritation! “They are LIVES, General! The whole purpose of the war is to preserve both freedom and as many lives as possible! Glorious Victory is nowhere on the list! Neither is your ego!”
Celestia laid a calming hoof on her sister's shoulder. “Luna, dear, you are correct. Skyglow, the Titan of Life Creation, who created us, did so to save all of the lives on this world. Nothing is more important than living beings of wisdom. What did you have in mind?”
Luna took a deep breath and steadied herself, anger put aside for the moment. “I was going to award him the Luna's Crescent of Mercy for his heroism in saving enemy fallen, even though he was severely injured in the deed.”
Princess Celestia smiled, “Most fitting.
“General, I have a few questions for you, too. What was the source of our new intelligence on the Rebel redesign of the MT81 to make it flight portable?”
General Horshet squirmed under her serene seeming gaze. “Some of the troops spotted the way that the weapons were being transported.”
Celestia froze like a glacier. “I saw that you altered the field reports to remove Master Sargent Iron Hooves from the observation. It took binocular study to verify what the gryphon private Glida noticed. The private brought the unusual flight pattern to the Master Sargent's attention. ONLY the Sargents had the binoculars to verify that the flight pattern was transporting a disassembled MT81.
“That observation made it reasonable for Iron's Claws, only twenty five troops, to risk an advance against potentially murderous fire from the Rebels. They were able to put over a dozen of the flight portable MT81s out of action. They linked up with and saved the surviving troops of the Spearhead.
“Major Graak credits the survival of over half of his Spearhead command solely to the actions of Master Sargent Iron Hooves. Over a hundred lives that YOU abandoned, most of them Gryphon Empire troops. ALL of the combined force, including the Major have proposed Master Sargent Iron Hooves for decoration.
The Major also credits Master Sargent Iron Hooves with revealing a dangerous weakness in Empire military training. The Empress has asked that he be allowed to advise the training of her troops in ground combat.
“In your embarrassment over being shown to have been spectacularly WRONG both in the campaign plan AND in the retreat order, you have been seeking to punish the Master Sargent. I would far rather punish YOU!”
General Horshet swallowed hard.
Luna interposed, “All true, Sister. Still, this is the first serious misstep of this General's career. Let us note it in the record and keep his otherwise good service to Our Crowns. What would you do about Master Sargent Iron Hooves?”
Celestia nodded. “True enough, Sister. Because there truly WAS a direct violation of orders, no matter how well it has worked in our favor, I will withhold the Celestia's Medal of Courage.”
General Horshet smiled tightly but held his peace.
Celestia went on, “I will grant him a special citation for heroism, along with a benefice of gold and award him the Solar Heart for his injuries suffered in our service.”
General Horshet's tight smile became forced.
The Princesses of the Realm bowed politely and left General Horshet to his work of planning the next assault on the Rebel positions.
~~ ~~ ~~
Iron woke, head muzzy. Trying to move was met the sort of resistance that only restraints convey. He heard voices outside of a door that he could not see well.
He shook his head attempting to clear it. His vision focused some, but things did not look right. Nor did the place he was in. It was like no hospital of his experience.
The voices outside crystallized. They were speaking Gryphon. “Why should I be lead nurse? Simple. I speak better Equestrian than any of you. Don't worry about being left out of the nursing team for this hero. You are all very good and will be needed!
“He is stirring! We need to be very careful. He has had to be restrained. Even unconscious, he was trying to carry on the battle and save our troops.”
Three Gryphon nurses entered wearing their yellow nurses caps that had a wide slot to allow their crests the freedom to express so much of their feelings.
One was somewhat larger than the others. She was also a truly stunning example of Gryphon femininity. She spoke in clear but gryphon accented Equestrian. “Hello, Master Sargent Iron Hooves. I expect that you are wondering where you are and what has happened. Do you want me to fill you in?”
Iron found that his throat was a bit sore as he spoke, “Please do, nurse. I expect that since you and the others are nurses, that I am in a hospital.”
“That is correct. You are in the Imperial Eyrie of Healing, number three. You have suffered both wounds and blood loss, along with what we call battle shock. It was a major effort to restrain you for the surgery. We have saved your right eye but it was touch and go. The talon rake fortunately missed the visual parts of your eye.
“I fear that you will carry severe facial scarring near and across your right eye and ear but your vision should be unimpaired. The gunshot wounds were purely routine but caused much blood loss.”
Iron thought over the news for only a moment before asking what was most important to him. “What of my troops? My ponies and catbirds? What about the Major and his troops?” As he asked, he was making an effort to reach the side of the ~ ~ NEST? ~~! Oh, right. Gryphon hospital.
The lead nurse's crest rose in a smile. “They are safe. YOU were the last one to be wounded in the rescue. Major Graak credits you, not only with the rescue of more than half of his spearhead force, he says that you and your troops showed us a vital weakness in our military training and tactics. You are a hero to your troops and, I may add, to the entire EMPIRE!”
Iron looked up at the lovely nurse and shook all over. “A hero? I just did what needed doing. We had troops that we could save. It was no fault of the Brass that they ordered a retreat. They did not know the weakness in the MT81 . . .”
The nurse put a claw gently over his lips. “You had better intelligence of the situation than the Brass. Best not to say what it was, just now.”
Iron subsided. “I get it. Sorry.”
“Don't be. You are just post surgical and low on blood. We were able to address all of your problems but that last one. You are now, and will be for some weeks to come, unfit for combat due to the rebuilding of your blood supply. It is the best that we can do.”
“I do see. Well sort of. My right eye appears to be under a dressing. That makes seeing harder!” They both giggled.
The other nurses of the team set to work, checking Iron out thoroughly. They compared what they found to a chart, converting measurements from those for a gryphon to what a pony should have and then entering the results into a folder.
While they were doing their work, Iron's open eye was working too. He was frankly ogling the head nurse! He was intrigued by her eyes, unusual for a Gryphon, or pretty much any other kind in Iron's experience. They were red and her irises were not equal in size. Somehow, that apparent imperfection made her even lovelier.
The other nurses left to carry out whatever duties were required. Iron impulsively took the lead nurse's foreclaw and said playfully, “As a nurse for a bedridden patient, you are only partly succeeding. Some of me is getting up!”
She gave a throaty chuckle and reached delicately for his indelicate parts. “It seems that you can't keep a good Sargent down!” Her crest rose sharply. Her eyes opened wider and her pupils dilated in fascination.
She quietly told him, “My name is Graysa. It means . . .”
Iron interrupted, speaking quietly too, “Wise Gryphoness. Sort of like a healer or what we in Equestria call a hedge witch. It is a lovely name for a beautiful gryphon.”
Her crest rose in a happy looking smile. Her foreclaw began working Iron's member rhythmically.
He was amazed that the same kind of talon that had ripped him so badly could be so gentle and arousing. She was watching him, crest rippling in amusement while his tension built and built. His release felt astounding.
Before he could say anything, Graysa said, “Consider it a down payment. It is too soon after surgery for more active pleasures. I have some work to do, preparing medication for you. I will return soon.”
Almost puzzled, Iron asked, “Don't you have other patients to tend?”
She turned in the door and said, “Orders of the Empress. We are to have a nurse with you as much as possible.”
As promised, Nurse Graysa returned shortly. Her crest showing a jaunty grin, she poured some liquid into a spoon and pointed it “threateningly” at his mouth. “I do know how bad it tastes. Unfortunately for you, you actually do need this.”
Iron obediently opened his mouth. Graysa was right! It was awful.
The gryphon hospital nest was a bit roomier than a bed stall in an Equestrian horsepital. Graysa sat on the nest side and produced newspapers. She began to read to him. Their accounts of the Battle of Shattered Claw were lurid to say the least!
Iron was giggling at one in particular. It had the Valiant Iron's Claws 25 charging through a murderous hail of shells from the Rebel's deadly MT81 quick fire cannons! Chortling, he commented, “They sure painted that one with a broad brush! Wrong colors, too!”
When Graysa's cheerful giggling was done, she said, “I am filling time for a reason. The Empress was notified that you are alert. She is coming to see you.”
Iron sobered at once. “Why? Sure, I guess that we were news. We just did our duty as we saw it. The whole unit voted to try for the rescue.
“I am curious though, about why the papers are so wrong about how the battle went.”
A new voice, from the room's door answered, “That was my order. I detest censorship but keeping secret what you and your troops discovered about the weakness in how the Rebels are transporting the MT81 parts will save many lives in the near future.”
Graysa had gone to her crouch of respect. “Your Highness. You are earlier than I expected.”
The Empress wore no fancy jewels. The guards with her were in very functional battle armor and heavily armed. They had clearly been briefed because they held back and left the Empress of the Gryphon Empire approach the nest.
To Iron's embarrassment, she gave him, a mere Master Sargent, a crouch of respect. Rising, she said, “I have not come with empty claws. Your heroic and successful effort to save over a hundred of my troops came at a severe cost to you. I hope that this can make up in some small measure for the injury that you got in My service.”
She produced a flat case of fine woodwork. Speaking to Graysa, the Empress requested, “Can we raise his head enough to place the ribbons about his neck?”
Graysa replied, as she put strong but gentle claws behind Iron's head and lifted, “We can, your Highness. He does tire quickly just now. The loss of so much blood does that.”
“I shall be mindful of his present weakness.”
The Empress opened the case. Inside was a medallion of white gold, enameled with red. Embedded in the red, jewel like finish of the enamel was a yellow gold claw. She lifted it from the case and placed the ribbon over Iron's head and settled the medallion on the center of his chest.
“This, Master Sargent Iron Hooves, is the Claw of Honor. It is among our three highest battle decorations. I am not yet done.”
She produced another flat case, similar to the first but a blue so dark as to be almost black. It had the silver crescent moon of Princess Luna set into the wood. The Empress removed the large white gold medallion and set the dark blue ribbon about Iron's neck. That medallion lay alongside the Claw of Honor.
“Your own Princess Luna, for your gallantry in rescuing all of the wounded that you could, regardless of side, has granted you this Luna's Crescent of Mercy.”
The Empress produced yet another case. It was of wood that glowed golden yellow. On the case was Celestia's Sun. Inside, the medallion was of yellow gold inlaid with ruddy red gold in the form of a heart. The Empress set that ribbon about his neck too.
“For your wound, taken in the service of your Princess Celestia, you are granted the Solar Heart.
“I have one other thing, granted from your Princess Celestia.” She produced an ornately framed and beautifully lettered Citation for Courage. She also handed Iron an envelope.
“Along with the Citation for Courage goes this benefice. She has granted you 100 golden bits a year. You may draw that money in Equestrian Bits or Empire Realms.”
She once again crouched respect. Rising, she said, “I hope that we shall meet again, Master Sargent. It is my honor to know that such as you serve me.
“I have one last request, which you may freely accept or reject. Major Graak has informed me that you, through the tactics that you used, revealed a major weakness in the training of our troops. We have seriously undervalued the importance of ground combat. During your weeks of recovery, could you please assist our trainers to understand how that work is done best?”
Iron answered, “Of course, your Highness. I would be honored.” He sort of shuddered. Looking at Nurse Graysa, his vision faded.
He faintly heard, “Do not be alarmed, your Highness. He is simply tired out. One does not lose as much blood as he did and dance the Shehara.”
Iron woke in the middle of the night, to judge by the window. He was ravenous. He was surprised to see Nurse Graysa sitting quietly by reading from a book of a kind that he had never seen before.
He spoke softly, “Aren't you off shift?”
She looked up and nodded, folding her book and wrapping a red string about it to keep it closed. “I am. You slept through dinner. I saved it for you. The others keep trying to take away your tray! I had to guard it if you were going to get anything at all!”
Graysa brought over the tray and uncovered the food. She loaded a fork with clover salad. Iron was about to say something when she stopped him. “Food is important. You saw how fast you collapsed and can see how long your recovery took. For now, let me feed you. Later, you will be able to feed yourself. Not yet, though.”
Iron was practical enough to see the sense of her words. Besides, there was the simple fact that she was far stronger than he was, for now. He opened his mouth. Being fed by Nurse Graysa turned out to be more fun and erotic than Iron had ever imagined. As she turned from tray to him, the front of her uniform proved to be open, granting him exciting glimpses of her feathered breasts. The distraction was sufficient to keep him from noticing the taste of cold hospital rations.
When he had eaten she leaned forward and playfully beak stroked the unbandaged left side of Iron's face. Leaning over him, her uniform fell open entirely. The golden brown feathers covering her breasts became yellow down surrounding her bare nipples. She took his right hoof and gently pulled it into her narrow cleavage. Crest smiling, she told him in a saucy voice, “Stop being such a gentleman! You are not an officer and one!”
Iron grinned back and retorted, “Exercise to help me get my strength back?” He put his other foreleg around her and pulled her close. The beak stroking sort of kiss took only a few moments to get used to. Her body was firm and solidly muscled contrasting erotically with the softness of her breasts under his exploring hoof.
Graysa made a little chirping purr as he responded. Her talented talon played with his stallionhood again. For some reason, he came more quickly than the previous time. She shifted her position and Iron felt her long, slightly rough and very exciting tongue “cleaning up the mess.”
She shifted position on his nest again. He found her lovely form pressed next to him. His hoof, exploring the soft wonder of her feathered breasts, encountered a necklace pendant hidden in the feathers of her chest.
Curious, he pulled it out to where he could see it better. Graysa assisted him in seeing it by lifting up some, trailing her nipples teasingly across his chest. The pendant looked for all the world like some ideogram of Chineighese.
Her crest took a complex expression, both sad, wistful and smiling, all at once. She responded to his unspoken question, “It is a character from an ancient language. I like it because my name of Graysa means Wise Gryphoness and the ancient word is Wisdom.”
Iron sensed from the complex expression of her crest that there might be more to it. Telling it was up to her, though. He let the pendant fall and returned to the more pleasant pursuit of pleasure. Between the interlude and the excitingly exotic female beside him, he was “Up to the challenge.”
She worked his shaft with her talon for a little and then, lust lighting her eyes and crest, straddled him on the nest, driving herself down, taking his full stallionhood deep into her body. She leaned forward, bracing herself with a talon on each side of him. Her breasts tickling his chest again. She started to rhythmically pump herself on his hard shaft, her breasts bobbing against him with each stroke. Iron held her in a strong grip about her muscular waist and helped her action.
She came in a strong almost bucking and shuddering orgasm. She bit her beak tight to keep from crying out in ecstasy. As her orgasm passed, she resumed her eager assault on Iron's very willing self.
He felt the tight slickness of her around his cock, shifting, lifting and driving down, tickling him toward release. It took only a few minutes before she came in another shaking, hip thrusting orgasm. In the middle of her intense orgasm, Iron came too, shooting his sperm into her.
They lay together, beak stroking and nuzzling in contentment. Graysa softly closed Iron's open eye. She whispered into his left ear, “Sleep, Soldier and Lover. Sleep well and dream of something other than war.”
Iron, breathing deeply and regularly, smiling in his sleep, eye twitching in a dream, did not notice when nurse Graysa slipped silently out of the room.
The next morning, wondering if his memory of last night was a dream, Iron was able to sit up and eat his breakfast without help.
The nurses, including nurse Graysa, came in and did the usual nurse things with temperature blood pressure, respiration and, new to Iron, a simple test of hearing acuity. The nurse holding the clicking device told him, “Since one ear has suffered damage, it is important to be sure that the good ear is working properly.”
A doctor came in and all of the nurses deferred to him. “Time for a dressing change, Master Sargent. While we are doing it, you will still have no use of your right eye, so do not be alarmed. For your eyelids to heal in a functional way, we had to immobilize them for now.”
The doctor stood back while nurse Graysa took charge of the actual dressing change. As soon as the bandages were off, the doctor examined the healing progress with a magnifier and expertly trimmed away a bit of tissue. Commenting, “Talon rakes are so nasty! Still, this one is healing very well. I expect that you will be out of the hospital in only another two days. You will be on restricted activity until your blood volume is back to normal. That might be several weeks. We will have to see. We Gryphons have little medical experience with ponies.”
Iron nodded acceptance. “I understand, Doctor. What about my ear? A nurse indicated that it was involved.”
“The talon rake took a piece out of your outer ear. We have no experience with such ear structures, so we sealed the edges of the removed portion. It is already well healed.”
After the doctor left, nurse Graysa approached, crest at a grin. She held the medicine bottle and spoon! “If it helps, Master Sargent Iron, this is a blood strengthening tonic. We cleared it through the Equestrian medical personnel at the Embassy. And NO. Gryphons don't like it either!”
As she fed Iron the tonic, she winked and whispered in a conspiratorial way, “If you sleep through dinner, I may be forced to stay past my shift to guard it and make sure that you get it!” Her crest bobbed up jauntily.
The day was a hospital day. Boring. Except for occasional nurse visits, and they were strictly professional. At his afternoon dose of tonic, nurse Graysa gently laid the side of claw on his eyelid, pulling it down and shutting his eye. She murmured, “Sleep, Iron. Sleep well and be rested when you awaken, this evening.”
It was after dark when Iron woke up. He did feel well rested for the first time since Shattered Claw Pass. Turning his head quietly, he saw nurse Graysa looking at a scroll that appeared to have a painting and some sort of Chineighese or the like characters on it. She was silently weeping.
Iron gave her the time to deal with whatever it might be. In a few minutes, she rolled the scroll, bound it with a red cord and put it away. He figured that he had seen something very private and said nothing of it. Instead, he yawned and stretched.
Her crest immediately went to a smile. “Awake at last, are you?
“And feeling better rested than in a long time.”
“Good. A recovering soldier needs his strength! I saved your dinner again!” Her crest popped up to saucy grin. “Want me to feed you again, like last night?”
With crystal clarity, he recalled all that went with that dinner! Eager, he replied, “That sounds like a great idea!” She promptly opened her uniform entirely, dropped it and stood proudly before Iron. She wore a lingerie that covered everything . . . in transparent gauze! It was a bare wisp of smoke that hung from a lace strand above her breasts, down to just below them, like a skirt, it was open at the lower end. The bottom border had a small fringe whose minuscule weight was all that kept the light fabric in place.
About her hips was another, wider strip of matching lace. Garters hung from it to hose, encasing her legs. A short skirt, exactly matching her top, hung from the lace belt almost to mid thigh. She shrugged her wings up and half spread them.
Her delight at Iron's stunned expression was obvious. She pirouetted slowly around, her tufted tail reaching out to stroke Iron from neck to groin. As she sat to the nest and started to feed Iron bites of his dinner, her tail mischievously feather duster tickled his private parts.
Giggling a bit at her trick, Graysa leaned forward to put bites into his mouth, her reaching foreleg “accidentally” caught her loose top and lifted the fabric away. It hung up in her feathers, leaving her breasts invitingly bare.
Between bites, Iron managed to get out, “I do believe that you are trying to seduce me, madam!” Then he lost it and began to snicker.
Dinner over, Graysa snuggled next to Iron, her tits pressed to his chest, a wing covering him. Her tail continued to stroke him most naughtily!
Mindful of her wings, Iron pulled her into a hug and rolled her to her back. She crest grinned, while lifting her knees to drop the gauze skirt up around her waist, welcoming his hard member's thrust. She did not have to wait!
As he pushed into her firm but yielding cunt, she was hit by more giggles. Without stopping the stroking that he started, Iron raised his eyebrow questioningly.
She filled in, “That tonic seems to be working wonders!”
Iron managed to retain his stroking pace as he joined her in the giggles. Their shared light mood both hid their rising passion and enhanced its release as they orgasmed together.
Iron held Graysa close as he slowly collapsed. She returned the embrace fiercely. She stroked and tickled from the bandages on his head, down the side of his mane and down his back. She held him by legs and wings wrapped about him and beak stroked his face.
“Mission acomplished!” she whispered. “Well done, Iron. Well done indeed.”
She carefully rolled him back to the nest. Getting up, she first covered him neatly and beak stroked his open eye shut. “Sleep well and heal, my General, someday.”
Dressing in her uniform, she softly left the room.
The next morning, Iron was greeted by the usual gaggle of nurses doing all of their needful nurse things. Breakfast, when it came, was uninspired but, like hospital food anywhere he had ever been, it was edible.
Graysa accompanied the doctor. She expertly snipped away the bandages. Nodding in satisfaction, the doctor asked, “Would you like to see how well your eye has healed? I am going to remove the stabilizing stitches now. When I do, open your eye slowly. It will be painful at first.”
He reached for Iron's right eye with fine forceps and small scissors. Iron felt the pulling and tweaking as stitches were removed. The doctor was right. It hurt.
He opened his eye and looked at Graysa. She crest smiled happily at him.
He had to say, “My eye does hurt. Looking at you makes it hurt a lot less!”
The doctor made notes in his folder. Lifting his eyes to Iron, he said, “It appears that you can be discharged from the hospital today. You have friends and well wishers to take care of you. They are already waiting for you.”
Shortly, Haze entered the room. “Sarge! They said you are really weak, yet. We have a trundle for you! We really upset the Brass in Equestria! I will fill you in later, but we are ALL on detached duty! They want us to stay with the catbirds and away from them!” All the while that he was talking he was helping Iron to get into the hospital trundle.
Graysa came in and gently beak stroked Iron before handing him a package. Unequal red eyes twinkling, crest raised in an ambiguous smile, she offered, “Here are all of your personal effects and your medals. It has been such an honor to serve all of your needs.”
~~ ~~ ~~
Sitting in the control chair of her nerve center at the top of the ERIS, Inc. tower, the dragonequis raised her unequal red eyes from the many screens and consoles that controlled so much. Gazing out of the large window, she took in the scene of Equestria spread out before her. Lovely. Easily worth the massive efforts that she and her organization put into it.
One of her screens chimed for attention. Princess Luna gazed out of it at her long standing friend. “Eris! I am so happy to catch you in! I wanted to fill you in on what we are doing to support the Empress against those Rebels.” The Princess of Night chuckled.
“I have had my hooves full with General Horshet! Do you know that he still wants to find a way to cashier that Master Sargent Iron Hooves?”
Rather dryly Eris replied, “I was aware of that. Sort of a personality flaw for a general to put personal feelings ahead of effectiveness.”
“Oh, I do know it, Eris! I had to directly threaten his career to straighten him out. I . . . Dear! Did you lose the pendant that you always wear?
“What? That? No, I gave it to a being that had need of it. I can easily replace it. It is only gold.
“Now, about those supplies that you are sending . . .”
~~ ~~ ~~
Down in a deep valley not too far from the Imperial Eyrie, Iron was met by all of his small command. All twenty five of Iron's Claws, both pony and gryphon, were there. Their cheers at seeing him were not thunderous but they WERE as loud as twenty five throats could be!
He was surprised at who stepped out of the headquarters building. Major Graak saluted him first! As Iron saluted back, the Major said, “I persuaded the Empress to create a special ground combat school. You and your troops will be our instructors. The officers that you train will carry the training to our army.
“After a tactical and strategic analysis of Shattered Claw, our High Command concluded that what you pulled off without losing a single life was not possible by any means that we know. They did factor in knowing how the MT81s were transported. We still could not have done it.
“We hope to greatly shorten the war with your skills to guide us.”
Iron, speaking in front of the whole small command, said, “I heard that you continued to rescue enemy fallen after I was wounded out. That was true courage at its best, Major.”
Major Graak looked down at Iron in his trundle and replied, “I had the best example of the courage to do what needed doing that I could ever hope to find, Sir.”
Haze was helping Iron set up his new quarters. Unpacking the box from the hospital he proudly set out Iron's new medals in a display case. He stopped, puzzled. He had a necklace pendant shaped like an oriental ideogram and a note written in Gryphon.
“What are these, Sir? Some award that I did not hear about?”
Iron's jaw dropped when he saw the pendant. “A nurse at the hospital had it. She said that it meant wisdom in an ancient oriental language. Let me see the note.”
The note read : “Dear Master Sargent Iron, A token to remember me by. As you so well guessed, Graysa means Wise Gryphoness. I gift you with my Wisdom. May it guide you well.”
Haze shook his head. “I kind of have a hobby of non Equestrian writing systems, Sir. That doesn't look quite right. Let me check.”
Shortly, Haze returned with a Chineighese folding book. “I was right, Sir. That is not Chineigese for wisdom. Here, see for yourself.”
Iron took a look and agreed. “She said that it was an ancient language, Haze. This is modern Chineighese.”
“Ancient, Sir? That would almost have to be . . .” Haze trailed off. He left. It was three hours before he got back, a very different fold book in his hooves.
“Ancient is the word for it, Sir. The original X'ibian language was outlawed and replaced by Chineighese characters after the conquest, a thousand or more years ago.
“It does say Wisdom in ancient X'ibian. It has a funny footnote too. You will get a kick out of it.”
Iron took the book and looked at the page. The featured character was the same as the pendant. It was the word for wisdom. The footnote added, “By coincidence, this character was also the name of the famous and legendary Dragon Queen of X'ibia who vanished shortly after the death of Im Farst, first Emperor of the X'ibian Empire.”
Iron shook his head. Graysa, Wise, Wisdom, the Dragon Queen? No. It couldn't be . . .
~~THE END~~
Author's Note
This story was commissioned by EDB Command, on tumblr. It is posted here with his gracious permission.
The tale is set in EDB Command's world, a not too distant future Equestria. Magic and Technology are blending, especially in warfare. Honor vs Orders is early on in the career of Iron Hooves, who, at the time of his blog is a general in charge of the Equestrian Defense Bureau.
Eris is our old Friend Discord in a female form.
