The Wandering Soldier

The two stallions walked from the inn in the direction of the town's train station. Braeburn led while the white pegasus followed closely behind. The train station was on the outskirts of the town. The two stallions walked in silence as they approached the station. Braeburn walked up to the office and handed over some bits to the conducter. He was handed a small golden ticket in return. Printed on the ticket in block capitals was the word Ponyville. Braeburn took the ticket and trotted back over to the pegasus. He gave it to him and smiled.

"Now do you remember what I told ya" he asked.The pegasus cleared his throat.

"I must head to the town of Ponyville. Once I arrive I must locate Sweet Apple Acres where your cousin works. Her name is Applejack. She is a friend of The Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle and will take me to see her. Once in the presence of her majesty I will ask her to bring me to Princess Celestia in Canterlot. From there I shall be able to carry out my duties" the pegasus responded firmly. Braeburn stared at the stallion one last time, memorising his features. Then a loud whistle sounded.

"That will be your train. Ya might wanna get on board" he said to the pegasus. The pegasus boarded the train and found a seat by the window and looked out at the stallion who had helped him so much. As the train started to depart he stuck his head out the window.

"Thank you very much for your help Braeburn, I shall not forget this" he shouted.

The stallion smiled and waved as the train quickly went out of view of the station.

The train moved quickly along the tracks. The Pegasus slowly felt himself falling asleep. He decided it would be best to get some rest before he arrived and closed his eyes. He awoke to the sight of a pink mare staring him right in the face. Out of instinct he lashed out scaring the pink pony. She let out a scream jumped back from the pegasus. She seemed to bounce around the carriage for a bit before coming to a stop. She walked back up to the pegasus with a smile on her face.

"Sorry for scaring you" she said."It's just that this is the last stop and I figured you might wanna get off here". She started to bounce on the spot. The pegasus looked out the window to see a sign in the station saying Ponyville. He turned back to face the mare.

"Thank you for waking me" he said meekly."I migth have missed the stop".

"My name is Pinkie Pie" the mare said outstreching a hoof. The pegasus shook it.

"Pleasure to meet you" he said.

The pink mare stared at him for a second, then frowned.

"Your usually ment to respond with your name when somepony introduces themselves" she said pouting.

"I apologise" he said. He then thought to himself "What is my name again". The pink mare stared at him waiting for an answer."Oh that's right" he thought. He stodd up infront of the mare and bowed."My name is Shadow Eclipse, but I am mostly referred to as Eclipse".

"That's a really cool name" the pink mare as her bouncing started to become more rapid."You know who would love that name. My friend Rainbow Dash. She can tell if ponies have awsome names and I think she would think it's awsome" she managed to say with one breath. As she continued to bounce around Eclipse noticed another mare standing beside her. She had a light yellow coat and a pink mane.

"This is my friend Fluttershy" the mare called Pinkie Pie said as if she could sense Eclipse was looking at her."We just returned from Appaloosa on a friendship mission. We're Elements of harmony you see" she said showing a golden necklace around her neck with a small balloon shaped jewel. The yellow mare stepped forward.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" she said in the most quiet tone Eclipse had ever heard somepony speak."I saw you asleep there and I asked Pinkie to wake you up quietly. I apologise if she was too loud" she said.

"Thank you very much for being so kind" Eclipse said bowing to her also.

"So what brings you to Ponyville" Pinkie asked him as they departed the train.

"I'm looking for a mare named Applejack who lives in Sweet Apple Acres. Do you know her" he asked the mares.

"Well of course we know her silly" she said as if he should have known."She's one of our best friends and also another Element Of Harmony" Pinkie said as she hopped along."We can bring you to her if you want".

"That would be much appreciated" Eclipse said. The ponies set off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. As they walked Pinkie questioned Eclipse about where he came from and why he was looking for Applejack.

"Well it is very hard to explain" Eclipse said looking away from the mares.

"Ooh let me guess" Pinkie said as she drew in a deep breath."You were a soldier for Equestria over a thousand years ago, but after seeing something happen during a battle you began to question whether what you did was wrong or right so you decided to wander the wastelands until you could find an answer to the question and that's why you are here now" she said as she deflated to the ground, running out of oxygen. The pegasus stared at the mare.

"Now Pinkie" Fluttershy said."That's quite a tall tale".

"It is actually all true" Eclipse responded. The two mares stared at him for a moment.

Fluttershy decided to speak."So why do you need to find Applejack then" she asked.

"Her cousin told me she could grant me an audience with Princess Twilight" he said to them.

"We could do that. We were heading there after to give Twilight our report" Fluttershy said."Why don't we get Applejack and all of us head to the castle".

"I do not mind what you choose to do" Eclipse said.

"Then it's settled" Fluttershy said."We will get Applejack and head for Twilight's castle". The ponies continued off down the dirt road towards Sweet Apple Acres.