Thunder's hoof heavily pressed to the desk of Captain Shining Armor with a paper beneath it. The snow-white unicorn blinked a couple of times, his gaze shifting upwards to the pegasus standing opposite of his desk. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Sir, take a look at this for me, please," Thunder said, sliding the paper closer.
Shining Armor lifted the paper up off of the wooden surface and looked over it carefully, his eyes then widening and looking back up at the pegasus when he finished reading. "Resignation?"
Thunderblast nodded with a serious look on his face. "Yes, sir."
Setting the paperwork back down, Shining Armor eyed the grey pegasus guard carefully. "Thunder, what is the meaning of this? Is something going on?"
Thunder shook his head. "No, sir. But I have determined that my time in the guard must come to an end. For now, that is."
"For now? You plan on returning?" Shining tilted his head slightly. Thunder nodded in response. "Why not just take the leave you have and come back after that?"
"That won't work," Thunder took in a deep breath. "I've been thinking lately. Maybe it is time I try other things. Something in my head has been telling me that I shouldn't be a guard, that that isn't my calling. You get me?"
Shining nodded after a couple of moments of silence. "I do."
Thunder nodded back once. "Unless I find something else I really enjoy, I'm afraid that... I will be leaving the guard," he took the rank pin from his armor and set it down on the desk. Shining Armor's eyes widened a bit more, watching the pegasus take a step back.
"You don't have to do this, Thunder."
The pegasus eyed the captain carefully, then bobbed his head in a gentle nod. "Yes, I do. I'm sorry."
"Thunder, you just received your new armor. You can't tell me you want to quit right now. I... I can't preserve your rank for when you do come back, if you come back."
"Then I suppose I'll start at the bottom of the barrel again," Thunder gave a soft chuckle and a smile, it fading a moment after and Thunder turned to the door to exit the office. "Goodbye, captain." He gave one final salute, then left the room.
Shining's ears pinned back, and he returned the salute after the pegasus had gone. "Goodbye, first sergeant."
Relaxing into his bed after a long day, Thunder sighed tiredly as his muscles eased. It hadn't been longer than three months since his departure from the guard. Despite so, he found himself a career in which involved the same amount of physical activity yet less danger. A security guard at the Ponyville General Hospital. The trip to and from was long and left him staying at an inn in town much of the week. Thankfully, it was now the weekend, and Thunder was home in Canterlot.
He shut his eyes to doze off, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door from downstairs. With a murr and a groan, he sat back up and trotted down the steps, to the front door. Opening it, he noticed a white pegasus guard with just a slight bit of his blond mane hanging out from beneath his helmet, standing in the pouring rain as it roared on the street and rooftops.
"First Sergeant Thunderblast?" The guard spoke.
"Lieutenant Golden Armor. What a pleasure." Thunder tiredly rubbed his eye. "What can I do for you?"
"I do not have much time to inform you, but, the eastern Griffon Kingdom has declared war on Equestria. I as well as many others have been assigned to round up all recently-retired guards and pull them back in for this. All hooves are needed on deck here."
It was then that Thunder's world came to a complete stop.