A Soldier in Silver Chapter 8

                                                           ~Six years prior~

At least it was a cool night. That was about all Destrier could find appealing about working security for the Grand Galloping Gala. Other than that, it was boring. He shifted from hoof to hoof waiting for someone to relieve him from his post, so that he could walk the perimeter of the castle. His battalion had volunteered to work the party. Commander Winterborne had chosen his best troops for the task personally, twenty in all. Then he assigned some of the group to appear in civilian attire and mingle with the guests, while others would wear their full armor. Destrier had been chosen to appear in his armor. He didn’t mind.

Silverbolt appeared on schedule, nodding to the scarlet pony as he took the position near the front gate of the castle that Destrier vacated. Destrier wouldn’t have to return to the gate this night. He was now on patrol along the interior of the grounds.

He had been on watch for about twenty five minutes when the doors from the ballroom opened and a mare stepped outside. She didn’t notice the guard in the shadows, letting out a sigh and standing still for a few moments, with her head thrown back and eyes closed. It was like she was trying to calm herself down, taking deep breaths. He wondered if she was upset about something.

Then she opened her eyes and let out a soft gasp. She ran to the edge of the balcony and threw her forelegs over the rail, placing a foot on the lower rung. Destrier was never so shocked in his life. She was going to try to take her own life? He couldn’t allow that!

“Don’t do it!” he commanded sharply, startling the mare. Her foot slipped off the lower rail and she looked at him with wide eyes. Seeing that he had scared her, he spoke more gently. “He’s not worth it. They aren’t worth it. Not one. Don’t let them make you jump.”

“Jump?” she said, looking at him with confused expression, her forelegs still draped over the top rail. Then she smiled and laughed. “Oh no, darlin’ there ain’t a one of them there stuck up, drown-if-they-are-caught-in-a-sudden-downpour ponies that I would be willin’ to jump for.”  

“But…You looked upset and then you ran to the edge…” he said feeling stupid.

“I’m tired. My feet hurt. Makes me out of sorts. I’m on my break, so I thought I should get some fresh air; it’s awful stuffy in there. Then I saw a shooting star. I guess I’m still a foal at heart; I rushed to make a wish. Silly, ain’t it? Look, there’s another one!”

Reassured, Destrier spent nearly an hour talking to the mare and watching the meteor shower. He usually wasn’t quite so open normally, but there was something about her that put him at ease. He found that liked her. She was really cute, what with her black and white mane, gold and white painted coat and deep brown eyes. He could have spent all night just talking to her, but that was not to be.

“Honey!” called a brown mare with a deep strawberry red mane that was leaning out the door, “Breaks over, I really could use some help.”

“Be right in, Cocoa,” Honey said, giving Destrier an apologetic look. “Duty calls. Cocoa will be fixin’ to kick my tail if I stay out any longer. It was nice talking to you…”

“Destrier.”

“Destrier...I like that. It suits you. Have a good night.”

“You too, Honey.”

She smiled and went inside. The glass doors closing behind her as she rejoined her friend in serving the patrons who attended the Gala. He watched for just a moment longer and then went on his way, hoping to look her up in town on his next leave day. He would learn that she wasn’t from Canterlot after spending all of the day looking, and had already gone. He had no idea where she was from. He was going to try Ponyville next week. 

It was three days later when a small flea-bitten circus came to Canterlot.

                                                         ~Current day~

It was definitely Honey. Her mane was longer than he remembered, but it was her. From her pretty brown eyes to the swath of white on her right foreleg, it was her. Destrier stared down at her, shocked to see her again. She was looking up at him with curiosity, and slightly tilted her head to the left as she gazed at him but he was pretty certain that she didn’t recognize him.

He knew that he looked different, what with his disfigurement and the fact that he wasn’t in the highly polished golden armor that the Royal Guard wore on special occasions like the Grand Galloping Gala.

Maybe it was better this way.

“How can I help you Gentlecolts today?” she asked, her soft twang inflecting her words. Of course she would have noticed Charger and Eaglewing standing behind him. Yet neither of them spoke up. How typical this was becoming. He was going to have to do everything.

“Uh… yes. We’ve travelled all the way from Canterlot and were wondering if there were any rooms to let.” Destrier inquired, “Also, there’s an old friend of my companion Charger here that is said to work here; a pony by the name of Wildflower.”  

He had turned slightly when he spoke as to indicate the gray unicorn behind him, gesturing with his hoof for the colt to step forward. In doing so he completely missed out on the look of surprised recognition Honey-better known to all in Ponyville as Honeycrisp- gave him.

While the little paint mare hadn’t remembered Destrier by appearance, she did remember his voice. In her opinion, there hadn’t been any stallions that could make her skin feel tingly all over just by talking to her. Just one did- the tall handsome scarlet unicorn in the bright gold armor. Destrier had “the voice”, rough and gravelly when barking out a command, yet deep and husky when he spoke in more soothing tones. She could listen to him read the History of Equestria from start to finish and thoroughly enjoy it, as she had told Cocoaberry time and again.

When talking about her encounter with the Guardian at the Gala, Honeycrisp always mentioned his voice and the effect it had on her. When asked why she wasn’t married to that guard pony, Honeycrisp’s answer was simple: After learning of the circus tragedy in Canterlot she had gone back and enquired after her scarlet guard, and had been told that he had died fighting the Chimera that had gone berserk.  Saddened by losing a new friend, Honeycrisp never went back to Canterlot again.

Now, there had been a crimson coated Pegasus Guard named Firefall that had been killed by the creature. Foolishly he baited the maddened beast, showing off to his comrades as he dipped and dodged about the Chimera’s two heads and lethal claws while completely ignoring the third head, a serpent that acted as the creature’s tail. The snake head caught him on the left foreleg above the knee, the sharp fangs driving in deep into his flesh, its paralyzing venom acted almost immediately. Firefall fell limply to the ground in front of the creature, which in its fury tore him to pieces. 

It was he that the exhausted Pegasus Guard had been thinking of when Honeycrisp made her query about a red coated Guardian pony and got the terrible answer.

Honeycrisp was so glad her guardian was still alive, she almost hugged him. Almost, until she noticed the expression on all three of the stallions faces when Wildflower came out into the foyer, looking curiously at the males. Honeycrisp rolled her eyes and stepped back so that Wildflower could get a better look at the young gray unicorn.

Destrier hadn’t quite seen an earth pony as stunning as Wildflower. The cornflower blue mare with the long braided lilac mane caught him by surprise. He heard a swift intake of breath next to him, and knew that Charger’s parents might have been right for taking their son away from Ponyville. Had the colt been able to watch her blossom into this beautiful pony, he doubted Charger would have left her side to join the Royal Guard at all.

Wildflower leaned slightly to her left, glancing at Charger’s flank. Then she smiled widely and gave the colt a hug. “Charger, it is you!” she said, deep green eyes tearing up. “I remember when you got your cutie mark, you were so proud of the lightning! I missed you so much!”

“I think that they may need at little alone time so that they can catch up.” Honeycrisp said briskly. “Would you like to see your rooms?”