//------------------------------//
// The Forgotten Soldiers (Chapter 21, Battle for the Rift, Part 2.) 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria: The Blight of Bane. 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

I sat there on the bench of the train station with Sharp Sentry.  My legal status was still somewhere between prisoner and freed, so he was staying with me until the commanding officer that I'd be answering to on the battle field came.  From what I was told, they would have to fill in their squadron on the details surrounding me to make sure I wasn't mistaken for one of the invaders.
The night before, about every academic mind I had come to meet in my time here were working with me to help ensure I knew how to use the device I would need to start the seal for the rift.  It wasn't working all that well though.  I was able to get the seal seed formed on the test portal they made, but it took a lot longer than expected.
A lot of the common ponies in the station were ones from the village that still avoided me.  As could be expected, one or two of the rich ponies wanted to start trouble with me, but were quickly dissuaded by Sharp Sentry's spear point.  When one said they would be back, more guards were called in to ensure nothing happened to me while I waited.


After a while, I found myself looking down to the sleeve of my furs where my recently returned wand was tucked away.  Contemplating on the wand, as well as the new spell I had at my disposal as of the night before, I wasn't feeling too giddy about entering a war zone.
In the distant corner of the station, soldiers were starting to gather and a fashion savvy pony was singing to them to help boost moral.  I couldn't catch many of the lyrics, something about Equestrian pride, but the sheer energy of her voice still brought a tear to my eye.
Right as I wiped the tear from my eye, I heard a pony come close, past Sharp Sentry and the other guards, and sit on the bench next to me.
When I looked over, I saw a pastel blue pegasus that was getting on in years.  He still looked quite fit despite clearly being past the peak of his prime.  But what interested me the most was that the wing nearest to me had absolutely no feathers on it, save for a stubby layer of overgrown down.
"I lost them in a street fight, kid."  The pony answered the question he saw me asking with my eyes.
"What?"  I looked up to his face.  His eyes had a certain wisdom to them that could only come with living with a disability and still choosing to stick with it.  I pressed my amulet and almost apologized, but I could see a smile come across his face, wanting to share the tale.
"A couple of young punks that thought they knew everything didn't like me dating a unicorn about three decades back.  So they decided to try to send a message by pulling out all my feathers on this wing. It was two days after they dumped me out of the city when I managed to crawl back to the hospital."
He waited a moment before continuing, possibly to read my reaction.
"They thought it would scare ponies into behaving the way they wanted them to.  It had the opposite effect though. After I was treated, the city worked to improve emergency medical transport, the punks are still rotting in prison for their crimes and I was made into a hero for a little while."
He leaned back and threw his front hooves in the air as if reading a banner.
"Plasma Wave!  The stallion that still soars!  That's what they called me for about a year or two after the uproar."
He gave a laugh as he put his hooves back down.  "Not literally of course.  But I still lived a full life despite the doctors not being able to get my flying feathers to come back.  Married that same unicorn, the best noodle maker in Equestria I might add, had a high spirited daughter and..."
His face positively lost all of its prior cheer.  In a glum mood, he put his head down and shook it from side to side.
"I'm sorry.  You're probably focusing on the big mission and I'm rambling on about days past like some has been.  You're Moss, right?  The fish-monkey that is wanting to help us end the war?  I'll be one of the volunteers making sure you can."
Tempest, who had been coming up quietly while the stallion was talking, stepped forward and stamped her hoof firmly on the train platform.  "Don't give me that, Plasma Wave.  I've read your file and agreed to you joining the mission on the condition you can keep your head on straight.  I can have a flightless pegasus on my team, but I can't have a distracted soldier."
Other soldiers came up behind Tempest.  Some were older, like Plasma Wave, and some looked scarred like him too.  Some looked like specialized civilians, while others looked like seasoned veterans. One thing that they all shared, however, was that each of them looked like they had led a hard life in some way.
"This team was picked out specifically to keep the package safe without bias, but I need them to perform at one hundred percent."  Tempest signed the papers to gain custody of me as my commanding officer, letting Sharp Sentry and the other guards finally leave.  "Now spill whatever it is and get it over with or go home.  That's an order."
Plasma Wave had tears coming down his cheeks as he steeled himself to comply.  "My wife was pregnant with our second child when an accident happened.  They managed to save her just fine, but the accident forced her to miscarry my unborn son."
Another older soldier came up and let him lean on him for support.  With a sniffle he continued.  "The surgery that saved her life also wound up rendering her infertile too.  The worst thing is, nopony but the doctors, myself, my wife and our daughter knew about the pregnancy.  We were about to announce it at a get together the day after the accident wound up taking him from us.  My wife took it so hard, but it was my daughter that took it the hardest."
He sat back up on the bench, leaned back and let it out.  "He was due to be born around this date that year.  When we were getting ready to bury him, my daughter brought out her special baby blanket and begged us to bury him with it.  She was so looking forward to having a little brother that she still holds dear to his memory today.  Due to a lot of politics that would have arose if the event was shared, the rest of the family still doesn't even know he existed.  My wife and I mourn this time each year."
He sniffled as he let out the last of his tears.  "Now all we have is our daughter, and I'm here to make sure she has the best chance of coming home safe and sound after the war.  I still remember when she used to use that same baby blanket as a wing cover in the winter.  Softest home woven blanket I'd ever seen.  It was a special gift, you know."
He turned to me with the cheer back in his face.
"From what my wife told me, the mare that gave it to my wife as a gift for our new born daughter had made it years prior out of rare materials, just waiting for the right foal to give it to."
Tempest, content with his confession, turned to the group of soldiers with her.  "All of you have some similar story for being here, be it some relative serving in the forces or some other reason to end this war.  If any of you still secretly have a bone to pick with the package, then for the sake of those you're fighting for, act on it only after we finish the mission."
With this message received, Tempest gave the order for some of the group to aid in loading the train and the rest to guard me.
Plasma Wave got up off the bench and took the spear from the other soldier.
As he did so, I said, "That mare that gave the blanket.  She sounds like a nice lady, the kind of pony I might like to meet some day."
He turned back to me for just a second to reply.  "Me too, kid.  Me too."
As the guards got into position and the train was finally cleared for loading troops and supplies, Zecora and Speaks with Talons came walking up to us.
"And what in the world are you doing here?"  I balked her with as much vinegar as I could muster.  Just because she apologized didn't mean I was going to just let her off the hook.  I still didn't like her.
Tempest talked to her for a moment, then looked into the bag Zecora had and finally back at me.
"She's here delivering the supplies you asked Sunburst to collect for you.  An odd collection.  Are these for the new spells?"
I got up and nodded, taking the bag from Zecora without a word.
"Then would you mind giving me and the troops some examples of what we are working with?"
I noticed the station was clear of civilians, save for those in my group, then nodded.
I took the sprig of mistletoe from the bag and held my hand out.  I used my thumb and index to brush the mistletoe across the palm of the same hand and attempted to speak, but nothing came out.
"..."
"And?  What is that supposed to do?"  Tempest asked.
I looked at her in worry.  "It's supposed to make some edible berries appear in my hand, but something is wrong.  I can't think of what the verbal component is."
"Odd."  Speaks with Talons said as he came up.  "Usually, a servant's chanting is a personal request to our master.  It comes naturally in the moment.  My techniques use just a touch of Æther and thus are a bit different from most servants, but for you, you should just be able to call upon our master the same as Zecora, or as the Fey call upon her as their mother."
Right at that moment, Zecora's eyes and mine locked.  We both knew exactly what was wrong.
"But she is not his mother, nor is she his master.  A void has formed in the relation of this caster."
Speaks with Talons's eyes grew wide.  "You mean!?"
"Our master loves you in ways most dear, but to you she means nothing, I fear.  Until you know what she is to you, no more of her magic can you do."
I looked out at the dry patch of land next to the train station.  Near the watering tower for refilling the steam engine was a patch of wet ground perfect for what I needed.
I gave her a brief look, walked to the edge of the platform, raised my curled fingers in an aggressive form and called out "Uro!"
Immediately, a large bonfire came forth right where I wanted it to, scaring everypony on the platform.
I turned back towards Zecora and let go of my mental hold on the fire.  "Well, all the magic I need to call upon her for.  But granted, that is a good chunk of the druid stuff."
I left her in her shocked state and completely ignored her desires to warn me about something.  With a quick glance to Tempest to see if she was going to order me to stop, I showed my ticket to the train master, boarded, sat down out of the reach of Zecora's blithering and called Archimedes from his perch on top the train.
"I think we need to have a chat.  Being wisdom based too, I think it's safe to say that the cleric spells work through you in a similar way to druid spells through the Animus Mundi.  How do I access your magic?  What are we to each other, really?"