Story: "A Soldier in Silver." Chapter one

The commander of the 145^th Brigade of the Equestrian Royal Guards was exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. This night had been nothing short of a disaster, all thanks to one of his own. The scarlet unicorn sighed, looking over the city of Canterlot. The fire brigades had finally put out the flames, but not before several businesses downtown had been destroyed.

All this chaos and destruction to catch a petty thief.  It wasn’t worth it.

Destrier turned from the window to consider the ones who had wrecked such havoc. Charger was young and new to the unit. He had talent that much was evident. His father had been a guard himself; the grey stallion was only following family tradition. The pony in question kept his gaze on the floor, not daring to look at his commander.

Charger had not been alone in causing such chaos; a member of the Pegasus wing had also been involved. Destrier shifted his gaze to Eaglewing.  The white winged pony was awaiting the arrival of his own commander. When the scarlet unicorn turned to glare at him, Eaglewing winced at bit.

Destrier knew it wasn’t his rank alone. It was his appearance. He had lost his right eye in a fight with a chimera years ago. The beast had landed a hard blow to the unicorn’s face, sharp claws tearing through both his helm and the skin underneath. The empty socket had been sewn shut and it was covered by a long angry scar. There were still lighter claw scars to the left and right of the wound, but not as deep. It had also shattered his right hind leg, leaving him with a barely noticeable limp. He had nearly died and there were friends in his unit that had been killed in the struggle with the monster. He was one of the few that survived. His reward was a medal, a higher rank and a nice cushy teaching job instructing new recruits. After all, a member of the Princess’ personal guard was useless in battle if he was blind in one eye.

It was before the princess had decided that her unicorn guards had to be a uniform gray in color and her pegasi guardians had to be white. The troops were a myriad of colors at the time. The unicorn sighed; he was one of the very last of his kind.  Only the earth pony guards were colorful now.

“So…” rasped Destrier, the unicorn in silver armor finally getting his temper under control enough to speak to the duo.  “Would either of you idiots mind explaining the thought processes that warranted using a fire spell on a shoplifter? Or would either of you like to wait until the Princess arrives?”

That brought Charger’s gaze from contemplating his hooves to the furious face his commanding officer.

“The Princess...Princess Celestia?” he asked looking completely aghast. Destrier nodded, wondering if the grey unicorn was feared a long vacation to the moon for this mess.

“He was criminal scum, sir!” interjected Eaglewing. “It’s our duty to stop them!”