Tenacious Mind sits down on a pile of ammunition boxes that were brought down the previous day, looking up at the sky through the frame of the trench. It's gray for the most part, with little blue holes punched in, and no wind falls on the frost covered dirt. Except for the gentle woosh of the wind through the dirt alley and the sound of her own breathing through her scarf, there's not a sound to be heard. She shrugs her shoulders, enjoying the weight of the armor plates on her shoulders and arms, as well as feel of her grey 'trench coat', as she calls it.
It is the tenth year after the foundation of the Pony Democratic Rule, after Celestia abandoned her people. At least, that's what some people think. Tenacious Mind thinks her departure isn't excusable, but it is justified. If her sibling turned into an evil entity which left her no choice but to banish it, and both on the same day, she would probably leave Equestria too. And still, crippling depression or not, she could have stepped in when the civil war broke out. Should she remain in power, as she had successfully done for so many years, even if she had the power to banish an alicorn to the moon - or kill her, who knew? - or should she be toppled over, so that ponies could rightfully rule themselves?
That's what it had boiled down to, and yet the squabble raged on for months. But, to its credit, the civil war didn't cause any casualties, just a lot of wounded and material damage. She hadn't taken any part in the conflict, too preoccupied with her law studies to get politically involved, and she didn't care much for fighting either, at the time. How ironic.
What day is it? The fifth? Or is it the sixteenth? I think it's the sixteenth. And it is not that cold, actually...
Her thoughts are interrupted when a bird lands in the trench, looking around for a few scraps of food from the troops, maybe a worm if it's lucky. She looks at it with mixed feelings, truth be told. You see the thing is, after the Pony Democratic Rule - or PDR for short - was established, things were well for a few years. Shoot, maybe they were better than the diarchy, she didn't know. She didn't have the time to decide, really.
Because five years after the start of the PDR, the leader of the gryphon nation King Eisern saw an opportunity for power and seized it, instigating an invasion of the pony nation. Quite simply, his thirst for power was the only motive for the war that followed, and that keeps raging on to this very day. Tenacious Mind still thinks it's nothing more than a stupid conflict, and that it can just end any day now, she's not in a hurry. She doesn't know if they're winning or not, or if the griffons are crushing them or not. There are announcements from the generals, but who the heck knows if they're lying or not. Whatever happens, happens; that's her philosophy in life, especially on the battlefield.
Winning or not, battlefield or not, and not a lot of space to think about it. So yeah, birds are not her favorite creature right now.
The bird, a little round red robin, hops around, and it hasn't seen her yet. She feels the weight of her rifle on her back and that of her handgun, on her right breast, which is fixed in her holster. If she's quick enough, she can blow it to smithereens and go on with her day. Her hands feel fuzzy as adrenaline pumps through, and her eyes narrow. She reaches into her coat, and finds what she wants.
After crushing the bread within her palm of her hand, she throws the crumbs at the bird, which flies up in fear before landing back on the ground. It looks at her and cocks its head to the side, which makes her huff with a smile, before it starts picking at the ground. Still smiling, she sets her elbows on her knees, shaking her head out of fatigue and some dark sense of humor. When did she get such violent thoughts?
I think I should ask myself when those thoughts came forward...
That is also a valid question. She grips at the sleeves of her coat, remembering the face of her father as she took it from his grasp. She almost didn't catch it too, since the train was almost out of the station, and she was glad it hadn't snagged on the train car's window. At first she thought it was silly, wearing such a long and thick coat for war, but the others say it looks badass and it's her dad's, so she wears it every day she's at war; hence the nickname 'trench coat'.
Or maybe the war coat would be better. Nah, that's stupid. The battle cloak? The battle coat? You know what, trench coat works great. I'm hungry now; thanks, stupid adorable bird...
Her inner rambling is cut off when she hears some voices coming from the top of the wall in front of her. She feels her muscles slowly unwinding at the same time she sharpens her senses, each one of her moves as delicate yet intensely focused as those of a panther, stepping over the crates that faced her to peek over the edge. She's barely aware of reaching into her coat and cocking the weapon in one smooth motion, letting her muscle memory work while she focuses on her breathing and the storm of thoughts in her head.
Maybe griffs, maybe some of the others. Deep breaths. Focus. Gun is cocked. Holy crap everything might end if I just look over. BAM and there goes the lights and the thoughts, every- shut up, and focus. Mom, Dad, Spark, and Nano; you clever dog. I think I'll go for enchiladas later.
Her eyes look up at her frowning brow, which is almost invisible under her long blue mane.
Huh, that was weird. Well yeah, but I still want enchiladas. Fair enough. Alright, let's do this.
Holding her breath, she lets her line of sight meet what's above the death line. Her left eyebrow cocks up. Standing maybe ten meters away are two silhouettes. One she recognizes easily, the other not so much. One a pegasus, the other a griffin. And they're smiling too, look at that.
What.
She watches them for a few seconds, her mind spitting out whatever reason it can gather for such a view, before the griffin reaches in her pocket and pulls out a fob watch. Neat, thinks Tenacious Mind. The griffin seemed to have a lot of fun, because gosh golly the time just flew by, didn't it? She gives the pony a quick hug, and runs back to her camp. The pony just stands there, one hand held up for a few seconds, before he tucks them in his coat and turns back to the trenches. He's smiling, too. Weird.
She slides back into the trench, walking towards the spot where she knows he'll come back. After a few seconds of silently speeding through the dirt path, she crouches behind more crates and hears him swiftly climb down a ladder, probably looking left and right before touching ground. She counts to five, and smoothly rises from her hiding spot. He's walking down the path towards the living quarters, hands in his pockets, completely unaware of her presence.
Still on point with the stealth. Neat.
She thinks to herself, allowing herself a small smirk, before putting on a stoic face and calling to him.
"Hey, dude."
He doesn't yelp or shout in surprise, but whirls around with a gun in his hand and flicks the hammer back, all in one second. She stands still, completely relaxed. He looks at her with wide eyes, panting with his teeth bared, before he puts the hammer of his gun back and shoves the thing in his pocket, giving a shuddering sigh.
"Mother Nature, Ten, don't scare me like that. What are you doing here?"
I wonder how scared I'd be if I'd been an infiltrator. Probably a lot. It'd be funny if I died of fright before he could clip me. Nah, he'd light me up before I could do anything. That's kinda hot, actually. Heh.
After finishing her little inner monologue, she runs her hand through her mane before giving a heavy sigh. She stares into his eyes, while he picks at his thumb with his index.
"You saw that, didn't you?" he asks, blowing a cloudy breath when she doesn't reply. "Yeah...I have no excuse. Nope."
Her lifts her eyebrows in apparent disbelief, then shakes her head before walking towards him. He tenses up slightly, only to relax when she wraps an arm around his, making them continue towards the quarters.
"Quick Fix, my very virile friend, I would just love to hear what you have to say about that very disturbing sight, but it is way too damn early to deal with this weirdness, and that's coming from me. So yeah, we're gonna get some grub, some coffee, and have just a grand old heart to heart. Does that sound great; yes it does, okay let's go."
"Well sure, but-"
"Hush. Just enjoy the silence."
He was about to continue, when he noticed that it was, in fact, very silent except for the crunching of frost beneath their hooves. He decides to shut up, smile a tiny bit, as he basks in the peaceful atmosphere that surrounds them at the moment. It won't last long after all, but then again it never lasts long enough.