The Wandering Soldier

A white pegasus stood guard to the to war room. He had a brilliant white coat and yellow mane and tail. His eyes were a bright sapphire blue. His cutie mark was a half moon and half sun joined together. He wore a black set of armour. He awaited eagerly for the ponies inside to emerge with news of the negotiations. He was approached by a black unicorn with a white mane sporting the same black armour as himself. They saluted to one another.

"Any movement from the commanders" the unicorn asked the pegasus on guard.

"None so far, but I doubt they will remain inside much longer" the white pegasus responded to his equal.

"I hate all this bloody waiting around" the unicorn said knocking a hoof against the ground. The pegasus grinned at him.

"It is not all that bad Divine. The longer the wait the less likely there will be a war" the pegasus said.

"I know Eclipse. I just wish they would decide if we are at war or not" he said groaning. He started pacing around in a circle.

"It is not that easy Divine. One can not simply decide to go to war. Steps must be taken to prepare before fully engaging in conflict" Eclipse said to his friend. The unicorn looked at his comrade. They stood in silence until a third party came along. The new comer was an earth pony. He had a brown coat and dark green mane. He looked at the two ponies present with an eager look.

"Anything" he asked them both. The two shook their heads in response. The earth pony rolled his eyes."I swear they take this long to decide everything" he mumbled.

"You would be wise to not flap your gums in matters you know little of Boulder. It is not up to the commanders to decide what happens. They simply follow the orders of the princesses" Eclipse said glaring at the earth pony. He responded with a snort.

"Last time I checked we were of equal rank Eclipse. Don't go getting all high and mighty on me. Your not a commander yet. And for the last time I told you to call me Earthquake" the earth pony growled. The two then got right up in each others face, muzzle to muzzle. Divine being sick of their constant bickering seperated them with his magic.

"You two need to grow up. You are both Sergeants in the Eclipse Centuria. We are on the brink of war and here you two are fighting like little foals" he said giving each stallion a harsh look. They both just mumbled in response. Suddenly the doors to the war room opened. Three ponies emerged. They were all quite old, but they were once the best soldiers Equestria had to offer. The three sergeants lined up before their commanders and saluted. The eldest of the three stepped forward.

"I am not pleased to bring such grave news. As of now we are at war with the griffon empire. Our messenger came back with the declaration two hours ago. We have been discussing our strategy with the princesses. They have decided to discharge us. Instead you are to lead the Eclipse Centuria into battle" the eldery pony said. The three sergeants looked at one another. They were in complete shock. The second commander stepped forward.

"Each of you was hoof picked to be a sergeant as one day we knew you would replace us. Now that time has come. We three have decided that Shadow Eclipse shall take the role of first commander, Divine Light shall take the role of second commander and Boulder Smash shall take the role of third commander" he said. The ponies looked at one another again.

The third commander stepped forward."This decision is final and shall not be changed unless said so by the princesses for each Eclipse Soldier is picked by the princesses" he said. The three commanders stood infront of the sergeants. Each looked at their commanders and saluted to show that they understood. The elsest then spoke again.

"After the war is over you will be tasked with finding your own sergeants to train. They will then take your place when the time comes. We wish you luck in your new ranks" he said. The six ponies then walked in the direction of the barracks.

***

The six ponies stared at the pegasus in disbelief. There was looks of wonder and awe on their faces. He could only form a small smile as a response.

"I never knew that was how the first griffon war started" Twilight said absolutely intrigued.

"It was not know as the first griffons war to us as we did not know there would be more wars to come" Eclipse said to them."To us it was know as the war of the skies as our army was mostly made up of pegasi and the griffons being creatures that could fly" he said. Twilight was fasinated by all the details Eclipse was telling her. She had many questions for the pegasus.

"What happened to the three commanders" she asked him.

"They were killed in the first few years of the war. They died noble deaths that brought them great honour"  he said a tear almost forming at the thought of his dead mentors.

"And what about your friends Divine Light and Boulder Smash. What happened to them" the alicorn asked.

"They fought many great battles during the war. We were spread quite thin. I do not know what became of them after the war" Eclipse answered.

"How did Boulder Smash earn the name Earthquake" Rainbow Dash butted in. Eclipse's face lit up.

"Now that is a great story. It actually happened in the first year of the war. He had always called himself Earthquake claiming he could create one. Of course nopony ever believed him. Then during a patrol his unit was ambushed. Only 5 ponies survived. All they could tell us was that Boulder created an earthquake that killed all the griffons aswell as all the ponies" he said.

"But that's impossible" Twilight said."Earth ponies can't just make an earthquake happen" she said.

"Indeed. I have no idea how he managed to pull it off, but he did. And that is why we started to call him Commander Earthquake" Eclipse said. Just as he finished his story the train whistle blew telling the ponies that they had arrived in Canterlot. The ponies got up and departed the train. Eclipse looked at the grand city before him. It was very familair to him.

"The castle is at the centre of the city" Twilight said."We'll arrive there shortly. Are you ready to see Celestia".

"Lead on" Eclipse said to the alicorn. They moved forward in the direction of the castle.