When Pond opened her eyes again, she found herself in a hospital bed being attended to by an earth pony medic. She tried to sit up, by a jolt of pain forced her back into bed.
“Swordsson general hospital? What happened? I was just at the front! Can anyone tell me what happened!?”
The pony walked over and began administering some kind of drug to Pretty Pond.
“I’ll tell you everything if you promise to remain calm! You’re a very brave, possibly very reckless unicorn! I can’t have you lunging out the window, back to the front, before you’re patched up again!”
“I promise, just please tell me what happened? Did we win?”
The earth-pony sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
“My information is limited, but it seems that the attack was a success, despite a few casualties. As you may or may not know, the Reformisten is preparing to cross the river soon to attack us here, so we’ve been trying to undermine them for weeks. Your squad performed well.”
That hardly answered Pond’s question. She wanted definitive answers and the small details, not something that was so brief and vague!
“Can you please tell me more? I went down in the middle of the firefight and… one of our enemies had this strange gun… do you know anything about that?”
“No, I’m afraid I do not. You’ll have to ask your comrades later. I’m sorry.”
And with that, the Earth pony finished administering drugs and trotted off, leaving Pretty Pond to stew in frustration in her hospital bed for a couple of hours.
Just when Pond was about to punch herself silly from frustration, the door to her room swung open. A couple of brilliantly-uniformed ponies marched in and took position on either side of the door, where they proceeded to announce
“His grace, the Vaideva!”
And in walked the pony, the myth, the legend: Golden Morning.
He was a bit shorter than Pretty Pond had expected, but he was every bit as handsome as the propaganda posters made him out to be. He strode forward with a proud, neutral smile before sitting down on his haunches by Pond’s bedside.
“I must admit, after reading your after-action report, I couldn’t help but wonder what drives ponies like you and I to fling ourselves into danger so often.”
Pretty Pond’s eyes were wide open. Of all the hospitals of all the places in Longsword, he was here! He was visiting her one-on-one! She wanted to squeal her
“Isn’t it obvious, my Vaideva? I believe the answer is friendship, the purest form of magic there is!”
“Well, yes, that’s the simple answer. Everyone in the armed forces across all nations is motivated by strong desires to protect friends and families from the invader. However, a few of us go even beyond that. A few creatures throw themselves at danger with faith and fury that inspires those around them, and carries them to victory. I think you are one such case, and I think I owe you this…”
Golden Morning brought out a small bin in his hooves, and opened it to reveal two combat medals. The Silver Star and the Violet Heart. He took them out of the bin and pinned them onto her tattered uniform. Pretty Pond could feel tears of happiness and pride welling up in her eyes.
“I was informed that you were desperate for information regarding your squad’s victory over the Reformisten. Shortly after you passed out from pain, the remaining Reformisten surrendered. We lost one knight and one Pegasus, Hansel and Smokey Haze. Another two Pegasi injured, Swift Bolt and Arctic Meadow.
Furthermore, we recovered some interesting and spectacular weapons from the Reformisten. Weapons that can harness the power of magic and channel magical energy, regardless of the user’s powers or lack thereof. We have sent these weapons to military intelligence for further analysis and perhaps even adaptation.
The main goal of your night raid was to slow down the Reformisten’s war preparations, but this was also the first test of my new ISO commando units, and your performance exceeded expectations. You have done your Vaideva proud.”
His face was the most reassuring tone you could imagine; It felt like honey to Pond’s ears. She was expecting the Vaideva to be grandiose and overly prideful, going off all of the propaganda about him being the child of destiny and a literal son of the gods. Yet, that was not the case. He seemed to be the most down-to-earth pony once you got to meet him face-to-face.
“My Vaideva, I have to ask you something…”
“Of course, my child…”
“I see magic fading more and more from the world. Where mages once directed the courses of battles, now we are only support soldiers in the age of firearms. And you see all these new and terrifying weapons… magic… in the hands of ordinary soldiers. Even my healing spells are being slowly subsumed by medical advances, defense gives way to enchanted armor.
What place do we have in this world, my Vaideva?”
Golden Morning smiled down on Pretty Pond and placed one hoof on her shoulder.
“Pond… there will always be a place for magic in this world. Take a look at the application of magic and technology, you will see that both of them are two sides of the same coin: creatures wielding power over nature, and bending it to their will to serve the needs of the people.”
That gave Pond a small amount of hope and a lot of insight. Still, she wasn’t entirely confident.
“I… I understand my Vaideva. I’m still worried about what the future may hold for gifted unicorns like me… if there even is a future?”
“All creatures have a place in the Naujoji Grifonija. Magic and technology will continue to march into the future side by side, just as the creatures of the frontier shall do the same. We will all stand together as one, arms linked against the wind, or it’s everycreature for himself.”
Pond just stared up at Golden Morning as he loomed over her bed. They clasped their hooves together, and tears were running down Pond’s face.
The Vaideva then got up and went to the door before turning back to look at her.
“One last thing before I go. Your faith and willpower are comparable to my own. If you would like, I could have you reassigned to my personal honor guard. I could use a skilled mage such as you in my security detail.”
“With the utmost respect, I must decline, my Vaideva. My place is at the front with my comrades, with my friends. That is where the future of magic will blossom for all of us. Thank you for your insights and your wisdom!”
Golden Morning gave her a warm smile and nodded.
“A wise pony once told me that a long time ago. Friendship is the purest form of magic.”