All Battlefields are Different
All Battlefields are Different
A battlefield can change any species for good or for worse. Whether it’s two foals fighting over a toy or two countries at war, it would change them. Everypony lost friends in fights and brothers in battle, but sometimes, a ray of light shined through and formed bonds that ponies knew wouldn’t ever be broken; in the current life or after.
The aftermath of the war was what each griffon, pony, and zebra yearned to see. They knew many would perish and coffins would align the borders of the sea; they knew nothing would be the same. They knew this, but they believed it was better to see the end than live through the beginning. The warriors that replaced the earth and flocked the skies even wished for the end of the five-year nightmare.
Day Foster, as sentimental as he was, cared for the injured as they only talked of the terror that reigned over their land. It was not an assigned duty, but his personality that made him take on this task. However, one injured stallion he had to care for was his best-friend— they were practically brothers at this point— Rising Glory. Both had joined the army to fight, but Rising hadn’t been lucky in the to-be last battle of the war and had taken a fatal wound to the side by a stray arrow.
Day galloped over to his injured friend, ducking as arrows whizzed over his head from the current battle. Checking over the wounds, it seemed that he wasn’t going to make it. His face had been burned, part of his mane singed, and his eye burned off only to have a seemingly black hole where it should’ve been. An arrow had pierced his left side, nearly skinning the bottom of his heart, and it deepened its metallic tip to the feather. Part of his foreleg looked to have been blown off by cannon fire; pieces that remained partially intact were riddled across the dirt and grass, sitting in a puddle of blood.
Rising turned his head to have a last look. He spat out a mix saliva and blood while he formed his last words. “Don’t…*cough* try anything, Day. I *cough* know these words will be my last…” Rising heaved between short speeches, “Please... take care of my daughter. Don’t let her know... about me.. ‘till the time is right…*cough* She cannot know the crimes I’ve committed…”
Day nodded, tears began to streak down his face, running down and collecting at his chin then dripping on the bloodstained ground. “I swear to the Princesses, but why? You’ve done valiant acts, not crimes.”
Rising Glory grinned, “I wish old friend, but not even the Princesses would believe you. Now, “ a sigh rattled throughout his body and out his mouth, “I’m off to meet Honest.”
Day Foster had shed tears twice in that whole war, but he hadn’t known sorrow compared to what he experienced at that moment. Day collapsed next to his comrade and sobbed, even as the arrows and cannon balls impacted around him into the ground.
Precious Foster was a curious mare, she never knew who she had gained it from, but one day her curiosity changed her life. She had always felt out of place in her town, she obviously was as she was living in the Griffon Empire. It wasn’t that, it was that she never seemed to be ‘connected’ to her parents: Day and Jolly Foster.
Whenever she asked about what her father did in the war he would always find a way to change the subject, whether it was by changing the subject or simply denying her the information he would never tell her.
Or if she asked about why she had a completely different look from her parents. Her tan coat and brown and tan striped mane and tal was completely different from her father’s grey coat, black mane and tail, along with her mother’s white coat, grey mane and tail, along with a long list of other differences.
Today was the day that she would discover her roots. And why exactly secrets had been kept from her. But before she did anything rash, she needed accomplices to help her in her dire time of need.
After grabbing some of her breakfast to eat on her way, a growing mare had to eat, Precious galloped to the entrance of the house. Then gave her parents, who were sitting in the living room, a quick goodbye and set towards her friends’ houses.
Precious trusted only two of her friends with her top secret mission. A pegasus by the name of Mist Rider, who was located two houses to her left, an easy trek at her skill. The town had a small population of approximately one hundred pegasi, griffons, and a small amount of other species. All the roads were dirt, with grass that sprung up in clumps along it.
Grass was usually a scrumptious snack, but afterwards being trotted on for so long it had most definitely lost its taste. Precious glanced around at her tiny town, the houses all were of a different style. Some had more than a few stories, others only had one. But the largest difference of all the houses was the style.
Mist’s house had two stories, the outside had a dark blue coating and a slightly old wooden style, with a simple front porch. Precious trotted up to the large door and knocked her forehoof against it a few times to notify them of her presence.
After only a few seconds of patiently waiting, the door opened to reveal a stallion with a short dark blue mane and tail, with a light blue coat. Looking at the guest he quickly realized who it was and welcomed her inside his abode.
“So, Precious, what’s up?” the stallion went left into the room with a table, couch and two chairs. Obviously, it was the living room.
Precious sat down on the chair to the right of the table, while Mist sat across from her on the opposite chair. “I’m gathering a team-“ Mist raised an eyebrow, ”I want to get you and Egil and go search my parents’ room for some stuff."
Mist tapped his chin, contemplating. The adventure would be a great way to expand his experience. On the other hoof, his friends and himself usually would get into trouble in them. Especially in the past few explorations. Lets just say having a battle with Discord, Ahuizotl, and Daring Doo in the attic isn’t welcomed by the parental units. Grounded for three week with no outside interaction, no Daring Doo reading, and no comics! Three weeks!
Mist nodded and grinned, “I will. However...” he trailed off for dramatic suspense.
Precious cringed, this didn’t sound good. “However?”
“You’ve gotta go to the Hearths Warming Eve dance with me.”
“But, but…” Her cheeks warmed as she considered the deal. This is a predicament. She liked him and all, as a friend, but she never considered going somewhere like that with just the two of them. As friends, maybe, but she wasn’t so sure if she wanted to do it as something more than as friends.
Mist looked at her, recognizing that she was at a standpoint, and said, “N-not as coltfriend and marefriend, but as, like, some good friends or whatever.”
That was…unexpected. “Uuh, s-sure. That’s really all you want to get you to come along?”
Wind nodded and responded, “Yup. Just give me a few moments and I’ll grab my stuff.” He began to ascend the stairs, but stopped. “But I need some help since I don’t know what to bring.”
Precious giggled , “I think you’ll be fine. I’m not even sure we will find anything.
Wind walked back down and joined Precious at her side, opening the door for her to exit he yelled behind him, “I’M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE MOM, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME!”
A faint reply came from the second floor, a feminine voice, “WHY WOULD I?!”
“GLAD TO HEAR THAT!” Wind closed the door behind him and continued out to the road, next to Precious.
The duo walked down the road, passing griffons and ponies alike, to Egil’s house. His house wasn’t far, but was still a small journey. In fact, it was the neighborhood next to their own. Egil’s neighborhood, Griffondor, had made its position in griffon history.
The History of Griffondor was short as it hadn't had much time to grow. A small, but prestigious town founded by griffons became a quaint neighborhood for them and other walks of life after The Great War. The citizens of this town were mostly older than the industries out in the midlands, as most of them had gone to fight in the war. All of them shared a particular interest that allowed them to conform to one another’s culture: peace.
Each of these fellow ponies and griffons wanted to have a place where they can relax around one another and live life the way it was meant to be lived. Because of this, the two different races were able to befriend one another, and the griffons happily allowed the ponies to stay in their town and become apart of their political matters; they wanted both perspectives to create a happy median. Despite the recent war that ended, they accepted each other with open arms and managed to obtain the ability to live amongst each other through that cold bloodshed.
This was when was decided to be built. Ponies and griffons alike came to the area to start a life with each other. The settlers set up camp and began to build the only town in Equis that had griffons and ponies living in one place.
Precious and Wind’s neighborhood Calmare was only made up of ponies, but in a few years it was set to combine with Griffondor. This would put the town on the map. It would also bring more citizens to enlarge the town and give it a real chance at becoming a capital for ponies and griffons to arrive, leave, and meet. The small towns would make their small impact on Equis’ history.
Taking a left on the intersection they had arrived at, the duo found their location. A (description of Eil’s house.) After knocking the wooden door a few times, the door opened to reveal a large griffon, twice the size of the small pegasi.
He glanced down to see the the ponies, and his face lightened once he saw who the ponies were. “Ah, Precious. Wind. Come in, Come in.”
After situating themselves in positions in the living room of the house, the griffon answered the question that hadn’t been asked, “If you both are wondering where Egil is, he went on an errand with his mother to gather food for dinner tonight.”
Precious shifted to a more comfortable position on the time-weathered chair, “Oh, well when do you think he might be back?”
“I think in…” Egil’s father swished his tail in thought. “Maybe about ten minutes. They left awhile ago and I expect with Egil’s patience that his mother didn’t have time to browse or get anything other than what they came for. He may be slightly older in age than you youngsters, but he still hasn’t given up on youth yet.”
Wind chuckled, “Ah, sir, you needn’t worry. He still has plenty of that youth with him, especially in strength. In fact, it will most likely be there for longer than expected.”
Precious glanced over to Egil, what is he talking about? Could it be…no. He may still have a grudge with him, but not enough that would ruin their friendship, let alone get him in trouble too.
Egil’s father raised an eyebrow, “Oh, how so?”
“Well, you see, this one time we were around the p-”The front door creaked open loudly, but fast at that and a male voice resonated throughout the hallway next to them, “WE’RE BACK!
A griffon appeared in the doorway, “Hey dad, me and mom got the stuff yo-“ He glanced over to the occupants of the room, “Wind! Precious! What’s up?”
Egil’s father answered for them, “Well, son, your friends were just about to tell me a story that you’re apart of.”
Egil glanced suspiciously at his friend, “Oh? You were? I bet father would be glad to hear of our adventures.”
“I bet he would. I mean this one is pretty good. And it just so happens to have you as the main character!” Wind’s grin only fueled his suspicion.
Egil walked over to the couch his father sat on, shifting his position until he became comfortable. “Do tell.”
“Once we were walking down the street, about to go to get Precious, and this runaway carriage that’d been detached from its drivers had careened toward us. I only had time to get the old mare in front of us out of the way. He stood there, in front of the carriage and thrust his arms out, then he totally stopped it dead in its tracks. It was pretty cool, I wish you could’ve seen it Precious. It even impressed me, and you know how hard it is to do that to me.”
Precious still looked at Wind with suspicion. Sure, she had heard about it from them and it’d been in the paper so Egil’s father would most likely know about it. So why tell him about it?
Returning to the present Precious, got up from her seat. She began to walk towards the front door and gestured for her friends to follow. “Well it was something, even though I didn’t see it. But we can’t waste daylight on this mission, so I’ve gotta take your son and Wind.”
Egil’s father got up from his seat and walked towards the kitchen, “Well I’ve got to go and help Egil’s mother with the groceries. I hope you kids complete that mission of yours with flying colors.”
Precious said goodbye and exited the house, her friends followed closely behind. She then turned to them, “Alright, shall we continue to our situation spot?”
Wind chuckled and saluted, “Yes, commander. Sounds great, when do you plan to leave?”
“We leave immediately Captain Runner.” Precious continued walking toward their destination, but turned to Egil, ”Now, Sargent Egil, I bet you’re wondering why I selected you for this mission.”
Egil shrugged, “I guess, I mean I would’ve thought it was because of us being friends. But taking into account your act, I’d say my talents.”
Precious scoffed, “Act, Sargent, this is no act. This is my true personality. I am General Glory, the infamous General who crushed --- in the Battle of ---. The one who commands whole armies with the flick of a hoof. Do you understand Sargent? If so, follow me and you will be rewarded with spoils beyond your imagination!”
Wind turned to Egil and whispered: “Just go with it, it’s Precious, what’s the worst that could happen?”
Egil raised an eyebrow.
Wind sighed, “yeah, yeah, it is Precious. But hey, you never know, it might be fun!”
Egil shook his head and began walking toward Precious, “let's (redline without the quote thingy) just get this over with already.”
The trio walked to Precious’ house, chatting about miscellaneous things. The scenery changed from houses of great stature to ones that were less showy and more modern in a sense. They had returned to Wind and Precious’ neighborhood.
Precious stopped as they arrived in front of her house and turned to her friends. “Alright men, our mission is about to begin. And so is the debriefing.” Precious got comfortable on the lawn in front of the house and gestured for her friends to do the same.
“Now, I have explained the bare minimum to Wind.” Precious nodded to Wind, “But I have not explained it in it’s entirety. This mission may not be dangerous in a sense of harm to ourselves but dangerous in the sense that...” Precious paused to take a deep breath and look around at her companions.
“That we may never see the light of day again if we are caught. Punishment will be swift and the enemy will show no mercy. Both of you can never falter from the duties that I am about to bestow.” Precious began with Egil.
“Egil, once we enter the domain of my [insert the word I can’t think of here] you must distract them with monologue that is ad infinitum so I am able to sneak past with a quick hello and excuse to go to my room. But instead I will actually be advancing toward the abode of my parents.”
Precious turned to Wind. “Wind, you will be my accomplice for the next phase. As I search the area for any evidence you’ll guard the hallway. A whistle will do for a warning. If Egil fails you will be the last line of defence between the possibility of being caught or getting, at the very least, a warning.”
“Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal, ma’am.”
“Yeah.”
Precious got up and galloped to the house, “To battle!”
After her friends caught up Precious opened the door to see her family were in the living room to the left of the door. Precious gave a quick hello and rushed up the stairs. Wind quickly followed behind, while Egil’s muffled voice could be heard once Wind and Precious reached their desired destination.
Lets hope this all goes according to plan, Precious thought as she entered her parents’ room. It was a quaint room, a small nightstand held its ground at either side of the bed. The wall to the right was the closest to the door while the bed took up most of the room to the left of the door. A dresser was also located to her left aligned against the wall the door was on across from the bed.
Precious cautiously gained ground toward the nightstand on the right, the one closest to her, and after stopping in front of it she began to investigate the three drawers it held. After finding nothing that seemed to be of value Precious moved on to the next nightstand.
Her efforts looked fruitless as she reached the last drawer, she began shifting through the clothing. But instead of hearing the rustle of the clothing, she heard a crinkle. If this is it...ugh, it’ll be so cliche.
Precious shifted the clothing to both sides of the drawer to see a photo, slightly crinkled because of her and the countless times the clothes had been taken and put back into the drawer.
She picked the photo up gingerly and inspected it. It was a picture of a family, all pegasi. The baby filly at the bottom, in between what could be deduced as her father and mother, looked a lot like her. Too much so that it could be considered a coincidence. Precious flipped the photo over to see it was labeled with their names.
Honest Glory, Rising Glory, and Precious Glory.
Author's Note
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you liked it, go ahead and tell me in the comments. If you didn't, we'll go ahead and tell me in the comments. If you all want more, I would be glad to know.
-Till the next one
