On the Road to '63

by niBBoi

Nightchild

Snowy winds blew. Boots stomped in the distance. Faint voices shouted far away.

The corporal blew a cloud of icy air from his nostrils and took another swig from his canteen. The wait was getting to him.

It had been a couple hours since the fighting finally died down. Corporal Sun Ray of A Company of the 1st Solar Guard Battalion was scouting a part of the forest when he found a wounded foe lying by a tree. After minutes of tension-diffusing, wound-tending, and reporting, the corporal was ordered to sit around and guard the wounded pony until a stretcher arrived. It was taking a while.

In the meantime, Sun Ray had time to think to himself. What just happened back there? It was just supposed to be a peaceful meeting between the royal sisters with a few armed escorts. Princess Luna had apparently requested the meeting, and Her Majesty acquiesced.

The meeting was tense. There was a dispute between the royal sisters about Her Majesty's current military regime. While Corporal Sun Ray was still loyal towards his post in the Solar Guard and his duty towards his princess and his country, he had to admit that Her Majesty's continuation of wartime operations even when Chrysalis had already been defeated had everyone including the corporal himself scratching their heads.

Nevertheless, Sun Ray and his unit marched out with Her Majesty towards Chestnut Heights in the east of Canterlot where the wooded hills nearby was marked as the meeting spot.

When they arrived, both sides simply stared at each other. Sun Ray remembered eyeing his counterparts and getting a little surprised to find out that they were Lunar Guards. The Lunar Guard disbanded a few years ago in protest when Princess Luna fled after her sister announced her radical reforms for Equestria in the television while sporting a brand new look to boot. No one really much of the protest, and the empty posts the Lunar Guard left in their wake were swiftly refilled with eager recruits, but it seemed like the Lunar Guard had finally come back in support of their princess.

The minutes passed as the royal sisters engaged in small talk. Sun Ray didn't remember much from the conversation as Solar Guards who were stationed at least once in the palace were trained not to eavesdrop.

After a while, the silence came back, and then, suddenly, someone fired a shot, and everything quickly went to hell.

Whether it was a Lunar Guard or someone from their own, Corporal Sun Ray didn't know. What he did know was that his platoon started firing back, orders were being shouted, and the corporal's instincts immediately kicked in.

There were attempts by the royal sisters to stop the firefight with reluctance from both sides flaring here and there, but the situation soon got out of hoof. Eventually, they were forced to leap into action with Her Majesty leading a swift counterattack intending to end the battle with as little casualties as possible.

Although outnumbered three to one, it was apparent that the small but battle-hardened platoon of Solar Guards were much more experienced than their Lunar counterparts, and soon, they managed to overwhelm their adversaries in a lightning assault using accurate fire, quick maneuvers, and magical saturation of the battlefield. A massive inferno had even started which seemed to magically move on its own and proceeded to herd the fleeing Lunar Guard around. In half an hour, the fight was over, and Princess Luna and her troops were sent packing.

Shortly after, Sun Ray's unit was tending to the wounded and searching for stragglers. Miraculously, the corporal's team didn't find any corpses from either side lying in the snow as they waded through the trees. Either the Lunar Guard were quick to drag their comrades' bodies away, or there weren't any fatalities sustained throughout the entire fight.

Corporal Sun Ray stretched his hooves and slumped back down by his wounded Lunar acquaintance. Said wounded pony quickly glanced at him before going back to staring into space.

Sun Ray promptly joined his friend and stared at nothing in particular, letting his thoughts flow once more. If he was honest to himself, he was worried. What happened might very well be the start of another conflict, and a civil war between the royal sisters was the last thing anyone wanted when the war with the changelings had just ended.

A sigh escaped Sun Ray's lips, and he turned to look at the wounded pony beside him. The mare looked cold, and so the corporal quickly reached around for his pack and pulled out a blanket to wrap around the Lunar Guard. A small smile graced the cute mare's lips which signaled her thanks.

Whatever happens, Sun Ray would always be loyal towards his fellow Equestrians. "Child of the night" or not, they were all Equestrians, and Corporal Sun Ray hadn't fought a horrific war against the changelings just to fight the very same people he fought to protect in the end.

Author's Note:

"When the light fades away,

And the night puts me asleep,

Will I ever wake up again?

Will I stay in this twilight forever?"

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/equestriaatwar/comments/14l7lwz/nightchild/