Yesteryear's Tomorrow

by ponybird21


Flame

"Are you coming to the festival this evening?"

"Me? Not so, my wife is too close to labor. I'm not going to leave her side for the three weeks after this last patrol."

"There's no way you got approved for that, Zephyr!"

"Aye I did, we can thank our good ole Commander said so herself!"

"Is it true she's the daughter of the Emperor?"

"Just a bastard from one of his concubines, but ye. Can't ye tell from the crystals? Only royalty has em."

"Tough luck. At least she got an easy way up the ranks."

"Easy? I'll not have ye spitting on our lady's good name! She worked hard, gained respect. Smart, but also brave. A pity she is not a proper princess, she would have been a good ruler. Now don't ye look at me like that, Artic, I'm not saying nothing against the prince. I'm just saying that she would have been a great one."

"Does the Emperor pay you to gossip about your Commander, or does he pay you to stay alert on patrol of the southern borders?" A voice said, bemused in tone. Making the two windigoes turn around in shock.

"C-Commander!" Exclaimed Zephyr and Artic Shine. Their eyes worried, but relaxed when the Commander merely laughed merrily.

"At ease. You act as though this is the first time I've got my fellows wondering about me." The commander smiled.

Standing at easily twice the height of normal windigoes, she automatically seized control and respect from her fellows under her command. Her lanky body was strong, and always sure of itself. The crystals jutting out of her chest and hooves served as a reminder of her lineage, but only a fool would think that her lineage aided her to becoming a Commander. Certainly she was let into the Academy quite easily, but she proved herself that she had earned every scar, every victory, and every promotion.

"Well, any action? If not, why don't you two go relax for a few? I can cover this shift." She offered. Her voice always was comforting. The right amount of power and sternest mixed with kindness and generosity.

"Thank ye very much! If the baby foal be a filly, might we name her after ye?" Zephyr asked, smile wide with unprofessionalism, which the Commander did not mind.

"If you want a true troublemaker, who will cause you all sorts of headaches and annoyance, and get thrown in jail for shoplifting before deciding to join the military, then by all means." She laughed warmly.
"But in all seriousness, I would be most honored. Go on then, Zephyr and Artic. Rested soldiers are efficient soldiers. For the Glory of the Emperor."

"For the Glory of the Emperor." The two saluted before leaving their post, ready to relax and laugh merrily with their fellows.

The commander smiled before again looking out of the horizon. Everyone was accounted for except for three soldiers, who were sent out to gain a sense on the state of the ponies fleeing from their home after the fall. Ah, the bickering and hatefulness really made for prosperous times for the Empire. More land was conquered, more ponies captured to be fed on, it was an elegant cycle that seemed to have no land. It wasn't as if the races would ever unite, not with how foolish and short sighted they were.

However, not all of them had been successfully captured, their hate harvested. Quite a few had managed to flee for another land, an unknown land. The Commander figured that this would be just a little nuisance that they could have wrapped up in time for the Festival of the Ancestors. Besides, she did so look forward to coming home to praise and showers of gifts for her successful endeavors.

Who knows, maybe she could even see Mother again.

She sighed in content, already could practically taste the foam from the mead, before noticing something in the Paradise of white, blue, and purple. Something... Pink.

Pink, wild...

And very, very hot.