One night in a glade
crinkle
SNAP!
swish, swish
rustle
Fwooosh
The paper lantern hung in the air like a silent guardian in the night strung up between its brethren. The few trees in the area made it difficult to find places to attach the lines, therefore limiting the number of lanterns that could be hung, but the pegasus nevertheless was proud of the score or so that did hang. Two more flaps brought her just high enough to survey the area. The outer decorations had been finished, with the lanterns circling the dusty, but dry glade. The light from the lanterns kept the entire area safe and bright, but it would still take an hour or so to set up the table pro-
“OH!”
She spun around quickly startled by the sudden grasp at her shoulder. She was greeted by sheepish eyes which quickly calmed her panic.
“Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to scare you but, well…”
“Oh no, no, no! It was my fault for not noticing you sooner; I should have been paying more attention. I’m supposed to be a sentry and I failed at my task and Oh no! Am I late? I should have come earlier to set this up and and and-”
A pair of hooves shot out and held the sentry still while the other pegasi brought her to the safety of the ground. She was still wearing her uniform, battered and faded from use, the dull tones matching the gray of her coat. The sentries own uniform was lying in a neatly folded pile on the ground near the small wooden table having been taken off due to its unwieldiness.
“Thank you.”
“-and and … what?”
“We messengers have a reputation to uphold!” the dusk mare puffed out her chest as she continued pacing around the table “To deliver any message anywhere under any condition! No matter the trials, tribulations, or temptations! That’s the motto of the messengers.” The aura of pride suddenly fell away as the messenger fell on her back, using her wings to soften the blow. “Well, we’ll have to change that now.” She began to mumble as the sentry trotted over, “Hah, the mighty pride of the messengers broken by irony.”
“Are you-?”
“Fine,” a mischievous grin appeared on the face of the gray pegasus lying in the grass. With a quick push from her wings, a grab, and a tumble, the two found themselves in a heap next to the table. They managed to disentangle themselves from each other with only the minimum amount of giggling and snorts of laughter, mainly emanating from the now quite dusty messenger.
“Here, let me help you finish with these,” an eye fell upon both the sentry and the remaining picnic supplies scattered on the table. With a small squeak and a nod the pair began to throw the patchwork blanket up and over soothing it alternately with their wing and hooves. Feeling comfortable in the company of a friend and slightly lost in her work the sentry visibly relaxed herself and her demeanor.
“If you don’t mind me asking, you came a bit early tonight and I was wondering why you were free?”
“Well,” distracted by the question the fork in her hoof slipped out and began to fall to the side. Bouncing off the wooden table it flew into the air arcing towards the ground. Both followed the motion with their eyes as it went above their heads, but the messenger reacted faster. Reaching into the air her leg stuck in the seat, tipping them both over towards the ground. The sentry now began moving at the messenger attempting to hop over the table with a small hop, but not quite massing enough power for her back legs to clear the edge, causing her to tumble across.
The fork continued its journey as the pair slammed into each other leaving the messenger underneath the sentries continued roll. The sentry found herself promptly stopped by the earth at her front hooves, and felt the uncomfortable poke of wings in her belly. As she opened her mouth to release a squeak she quickly had to close it again as the fork had chosen to land there.
“Muh, mime chorri… mowh.”
“Hold on,” the messenger began wriggling and squirming out from underneath the sentry’s form. Managing to pop out her wings she scrambled for footing, before turning around to remove the fork from the sentry’s mouth as she got up herself. Thankfully, none of the plates had been tipped in this entire fiasco and the fork was returned to its proper location. Looking down as she dusted the sleek uniform off, the messenger glared at the fork, daring it to try anything.
“Are you alright? Does anything hurt?” The sentry had begun in this time to thoroughly examine the messenger for any sign of injury, and was currently checking one of the messenger’s wings.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” still the messenger held in place as the sentry continued to circle her with an unusual amount of determination in her eyes.
“I’ve wondered this for a while, but why aren’t you a medical assistant? Actually why are you even here? You’d make a great doctor somewhere less dangerous.”
Satisfied with her examination the sentry turned around hiding her reddening face caused by the praise. Looking for a distraction she began organizing all the plates that had been displaced.
“Working in the city was my first choice, and I had applied to work there after my group finished training. But I showed a lot of skill in wilderness survival and so my superiors decided that I was better suited for this position. I mean I’m sure that they were only acting in my best interests and those of the legion as a whole, but…”
“Well, you certainly have more than enough survival skill.” the messenger sat her rump on the ground and patted the dirt, “This is probably the only patch of dry ground I’ve seen for miles, and I doubt that any quartermaster would have let you take that food for this reason.”
“Well, it’s really easy if you pay attention to the animals.” Her hooves slowed down as her thoughts began to drift. “As for why I’m here… well my mother was just barely living through each day back in the east, but when she noticed that I was coming along, well, she had to change something. Around then the legion had rolled in to the area for some reason, it didn’t really matter to her, it was just an opportunity which she took as soon as she could.
“She managed to live through the fighting there and decided to stay so she could see more. It was really difficult at first; I remember having to hide in baskets, because, well, she really wasn’t supposed to have a child with her. Or at all, really. But when I had gotten to be just old enough to take care of myself, she, well, disease tends to take much more.
“This is the only way I’ve ever lived and well, this is my home and family, and I don’t think that could ever change.”
During this time she had stopped moving altogether, simply recounting.
“I’m sorry, you probably didn’t want to hear all that, I didn’t mean to ramble on-”
She was cut short by the messenger raised hoof.
“No, it was fine, I didn’t mean to pry like that, but, thank you for sharing that.” She motioned for the sentry to approach. “Come on and sit down, the sun’ll be rising soon enough.”
They sat together for a while, simply staring at the sky.
“I never did answer your question,” the sentry glanced over with an inquisitive look. “As to why I was early,” the messenger reached into her uniform and tossed out two small objects. Each hit the ground with a thump and a jingle. Looking at them more closely the sentry could make out two familiar insignia, one matching the symbol on the clothes of the messenger and the other on her own uniform almost forgotten on the ground.
“A single message to keep the peace and neither one wants to hear it. Take a break and take a hike. It’d be funny if it weren’t so sad.”
Boom
rustle
A cloud of debris rose in the distance as the lanterns shook.
“So this means that we’ll…” the sentry began.
“Unfortunately."
BOOM
Rustle
“Would you like to stay for the sun rise?”
“That’d be nice”
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
The lanterns shook violently, but they refused to fall. They would remain,
to keep faith,
and to keep promises,
and wait.