The Second Griffon War (Casual Thread - All welcome!)

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver


The screaming died down into loud grunts, but Cassian was still overwhelmed by the powerful force that binded his hand to the tree and is now groping around inside him like invisible roots. His back was arced back with his head from all the nerves tensed up. He felt as though his body was on fire. His mind was racing so fast with voices and images, he could nearly go blank. And his heart was beating so fast, it felt like it was about to explode. Still, he tried hard to pace his breathing and power through it all. Yet little by little, the young dragon felt his knees buckle down. Darkness began to surround him.

----

Memories of his past began to haunt him again. Seeing the flames that fateful night. The very flames that changed his life forever. Suddenly the image transitioned into the battle for Ponyville. While many brave soldiers and innocents died, others have lost their home as they were force to watch the flames engulf their town along with the squawks of victory by the enemy who caused it. even remembered not long after the fight, he saw a foal crying to her parents. Innocence of not realizing what was happening, she ask why they had to leave thier home. Only for them to answer that its no longer home. Remembering that brought one thing to the dragon.....anger. The pain of the very same life-shattering experience happened to the very resident who showed him great kindness and welcome he had not felt in so long. It made him very angry. Suddenly, he felt something warm building up. A memory.

(Flashback)

Little Cassie and a beautiful unicorn mare with an amber coat, Autumn colored streaked flowing hair with a braid at the end and golden gleaming eyes staring up at mare in the moon.

"Not everyone needs a hero, a savior or a leader. In the end, all they need is a friend"

"Promise me Cassie. Promise me you will show them that.", she smiled down at the little baby dragon

"I promise, Terra"

The memory ends with Terra craning down and kissing his cheek as a means to seal the promise.

(End of Flashback)

"Promise"

Again her voice was heard. It was broken, but strong, "Protect the Balance"

"Protect the Balance", Cassian repeated the word.

Suddenly, something snapped. Like a chain had been unhinged. Or a doorway unlocked. The image could barely be seen inside, but with in and endless black tunnel, a pair of large reptilian glowing green eyes looked back. Growling began to echo inside.

Then came the images of Forests with rays of light from the sun and the moon, Rivers connecting to the mighty seas, Sandy deserts, Rocky mountains with thundering clouds. All connected in one Beautiful Chaotic Order. Balance

-----



Suddenly, Cassian started to spring back to life. He started growling, not in pain, but in fury and will to stand. His eyes opened glowing searing white as his birth mark. Magical steam started smoldering from his nose and mouth as if a fire starting boiling in him. He heaved and huffed through vigorous growling. Determeined to stand, the young dragon flares out his wings. His growls started to build into a battle cry. But what came was no cry. Bellowing from deep with in came a roar. The roar....of a dragon.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

The sound broke the wind and rubbled through the cavern. The roar's echo was loud enough to escape the waterfall enterance and into the ears of any resident close back. The faint shockwave of power from the roar was then followed by a bright magical green aura radiating from Cassian's body. It was flaring out like fire as it made violent ripples in the pool around the tree and stones around began to float with greenish glowing veins around his body. Cassian unleashes yeat another roof, calling up to the heavens above once more.

"GAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

This one was even louder. His mark suddenly flared into a bright greenish golden light with blue embers searing out of him. The light burst out from his shoulder into a long thick stream of magic fire of gold emerald and azure. The magic sorrunded and tangled the tree into a symbolic formation, reaching from one end of the sanctum to the other. Once the streaming fiery light turned up and over the tree, the end formed in the shape of a reptilian head with horns and formed wings that flared proud and open. The magic turned into the image of Cassian's birthmark. A dragon bound by a scared vow surrounding the symbol of life and balance. The Imbuing Ceremony is complete and now Cassian the Rogue Dragon has awakened.

As the magical dragon fades, Cassain's magic aura did as well. He was finally free from the Tree's grasp before falling back.

Welcome, Cassain

 

[Dreamweaver]

Wylfen Shepard
By this point in time, Luna had both of her scimitars out of their scabbards and was taking a defensive stance. She didn't know what was happening here, but she was more than prepared to defend herself. Cassian proved useful in the Battle for Ponyville, but that did not make him her friend. His behavior right now was off-putting, especially when combined with the beastly roars he was letting off.

But she didn't attack, as he had shown no signs of aggression. She simply waited to see what would happen.

After the roaring had ended and the magical dragon had faded, she approached the dragon and prodded his neck with the tips of one of her scimitar, which slightly poked through and brought a trickle of blood to the surface of the blade. "Are you still with us?" She asked, not really sure if he was entirely there anymore.

Dumbledoof
And when Expellix got to the other side of the fence, he'd be met with a very angry Luna.

Behind this fence was the storage area. All around them were dozens of massive crates, and Luna stood between a crack in them, completely obscured from sight. Between these crates, the guards would never find them and they could plan their next move. The only visible part of Luna was her glowing teal eyes, which were locked on Expellix's own.

A tendril of shadow magic in the shape of a hand, which had been blending in with the shadows on the ground, made itself known by reaching up and wrapping around Expellix's neck. It lifted him off the ground and dragged him closer to Luna, until he was floating in front of her. "If you ever do such a thing again, I'm going to pull your tail off and shove it down your throat. Do I make myself clear?" She didn't wait for a response before dropping him onto the ground rather roughly and motioning out towards the camp. "The whole camp will be on alert now! Do you think the guard will just accept responsibility for dropping that torch and burning dozens of his friends?! He will say it was an Eq-"

She was cut off by a loud cry of, "EQUESTRIAN SPIES ARE IN THE CAMP EVERYONE FAN OUT AND FIND THEM!"

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
He wasn't surprised in the least that he had angered Luna. Accident or not, he didn't think she would be very forgiving of such a mistake. That was made known by her literally lifting him up by the throat to her. It wasn't as if he put up much a fight, no point in it. He couldn't overpower her even if he wanted to. Fortunately, he didn't choke much simply because he wasn't alive and didn't rely on oxygen quite as much, but it was still a necessity.

He rubbed his sore neck and glanced backward to the rest of the camp. "Apologies." He growled out hoarsely. "'Twas an accident. But this turn of events isn't exactly... unusable..."

He murmured that last bit when he took another look out. Griffons were swarming everywhere in search of the both of them. There were two possibilities at the moment, and he figured that either the commanders would now be out of hiding, giving orders, or they'd be trying to stay out of sight as much as possible. Getting around undetected would still be the easy part. Assassinating the commanders would now be a bit more interesting, given that they would most likely have many guards around them now.

He let out a quiet sigh and stepped back. That fire was almost entirely put out by now. "Well, are we continuing with the original mission here still?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
From behind these crates, they certainly wouldn't be found. Not immediately, anyway. But staying here for so long would prove disastrous, simply because the guards were going to search every inch of this camp. They had to move soon, otherwise they were going to be caught. Not that it'd matter for Luna, since she could just leave. Expellix would probably get away too...

But the mission was not to be caught!

Nearby was a tower; one of six, which stood roughly 20 feet tall. This camp was a giant circle, roughly 500 feet in each direction from the central point. These six towers served as lookout points and were manned by six guards at all times. The towers had an enclosed room for the guards, where the lookouts took turns keeping watch. "Give me 10 seconds and then teleport in through the window. Nobody will see the flash with the walls covering us from most angles."

Luna burst into darkness again and disappeared.

With three guards sleeping and the other three awake, Luna easily dispatched the three awake guards before they could mutter a sound, her scimitars going to work beheading them in just a few quick slashes. Before their heads or bodies could hit the ground, her magic reached out to grab them and lowered them soundlessly onto the ground, so as not to wake the three sleepers.

Cyan Hide
After grabbing her wizards hat and cape, which were absolutely necessary for a date, she threw them on and locked the door to her house behind her. Trixie took a minute to look back at the house. It wasn't really hers, it was just a room the Princesses had provided her since her house had been destroyed... But at least it was in Canterlot and made of wood! That's all she needed.

"So..." She asked with a final glance back at the new home before looking around. "Any idea where to eat?"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Starlight shook her head and looked up and down the street. "I haven't been here very long. I know a place that's quite nice for the price, but for a date, I feel a restaurant's more appropriate, and I've heard very good things about Cavallo's. It's an Italian place on the North Terrace. Does that sound okay?"

Starlight was dressed as ponies are usually dressed (nekked) though she had done her hair up and put a carnation flower in it. She looked Trixie up and down. A wizard hat an cape wasn't traditional date fare, butStarlight loved it. It was so Trixie.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix most likely would get away just fine. Even if they did find him, he is very capable of teleporting long distances on his own. His magical power on his own could probably warp him back up into Canterlot without too much of a hassle. This camp wasn't very far away and there's no way they would dare try to follow him there even if they did know where he teleported. They were stupid but not that stupid...

But then again, they did start a war with Equestria. Maybe they were that dumb.

Per Luna's instructions, he waited ten seconds, counting it off in his head. He teleported into the guard tower, and then frowning at the corpses. Those could have been useful, the griffons will notice that there isn't anybody manning the tower. For the sake of being quiet, he resorted to speaking telekinetically to Luna now.

"We can't stay here long. I'm sure somebody will notice there isn't a lookout anymore for long... can you reanimated corpses without heads?" He didn't really know if that was possible. He never tried it and if anybody knew it would be Luna.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Cyan Hide
Try explaining that a wizards hat and cape wasn't normal to Trixie. Try it. See what happens...

She didn't appear to care at all for how she was dressed, instead beaming when she saw Starlight beaming with her dress choice. "Isn't it great? I think the purple really makes my eyes shine. I'm sure the ponies at the restaurant will think so, too!" She grinned, completely unaware that she looked like an idiot in a cape and pointed hat...

"Cavallo's sounds... Fancy, and expensive! Which is really all you need on a date. Leeeeettttt'ssss go!" She grabbed Starlight's hoof and began walking in that direction. Which, considering Canterlot was huge and Trixie hadn't been here since school... It took a while to get there.

Dumbledoof
Luna didn't answer him. Instead she just motioned down at the three sleeping guards with an 'obviously' expression on her face. She knew that not having guards in the tower would prove suspicious and she had left those three alive precisely for that purpose. Were this a bandit camp, she might have left those three alive and simply had them sleepwalk around the tower... But these were Griffons. Any one Griffon left alive could mean a dead Equestrian which would be on her hooves.

Three tendrils of dark magic reached out and wrapped themselves around the sleepers throats. After a brief struggle which last a split second, there was a quiet crack as their necks snapped. Soon after those same tendrils set to work reanimating the corpses, and then there were 3 undead walking around with specific orders; walk around the tower and look like you're doing a good job.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix just shrugged his shoulders. Hey, they had both already made mistakes on this mission. His was relatively worse, sure, but it had happened. Then again... she hadn't cut the head off that other guard she killed. Why not reanimate that one back there? Hindsight is 20/20...

"What's the plan here?" He asked, watching the undead griffons go about their mindless business. "Or are we just improvising as we go?"

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Starlight had given Trixie a few prompts along the way, as she knew where the North Terrace was. Once they reached there, however, they were just as lost as each other, and it took a while to find the restaurant. It was close to the wall, and it's garden overlooked the promenade, which in turn overlooked Equestria.

Starlight entered first, smiled at the doorman, and told him she'd like a table for two in the garden. Considering the state of affairs, most of the upper and middle class had retreated to the central hub, leaving the edges for the working class, and expensive places weren't a working class pony's first stop, so business was, while not dead, not as busy as usual. They didn't even need a reservation, as only half the tables were full.

None of the patrons even gave two glances at Trixie's attire. Some of them gave one glance, caught Starlight's eye, and thought against looking twice. This went double for the staff, who were openly judgemental in their body language, but paying customers were paying customers.

The two were given a corner seat right at the edge of the gardens. Best view in the house! The waiter came and asked if they'd like any drinks before they could even start talking.

 

[Dreamweaver]

@DeathrTrixattle BB (not fixing this typo)
"Improvising." Luna replied abruptly, looking out across the camp and surveying it. There were griffins everywhere. This was going to be extremely difficult. No doubt watches would be tripled until the end of the night and it would be difficult to get around unseen. She'd have to make extensive use of her invisibility and shadow form...

"Everypony has a plan, until something goes wrong. Then there's two types of ponies; the ones who die, because they couldn't formulate a new plan in time, and the ones who don't die. My hope is that you will learn from this experience and be one of the ones who doesn't." After spending a few minutes surveying the land below, she tapped a hoof to her chin and sighed. This was way more difficult with an apprentice along than she could have ever imagined. She had to worry about both their safety. If she was alone, she could creep along as a shadow and take all the time in the world... But he only had the ability to teleport and run. She had to make sure not to leave him behind.

There was a large group of Griffons all going towards a large central camp; presumably where the leaders were being held. It was a 20x20 tent, with a massive clearing all around filled with torches. That rendered her shadow form useless, though she had other ways of getting in. "That's our target. Getting into the tent tent without getting caught is priority. Prepare for a massive brawl when we are inside."

Cyan Hide
Trixie was completely oblivious to any looks she was receiving. She had worn this outfit for so long that it was really second nature to her; she didn't even notice that she was wearing it. None of their glances bothered her at all and she didn't notice them. When asked what she wanted to drink, she ordered the most expensive glass of wine she could find (STARLIGHT WAS PAYING) and sat back with a smile.

"This is... Nice. A long time coming, but nice! Isn't the view beautiful?" She asked while motioning out to Equestria. Thankfully no griffon war camps nor a burning Ponyville were in sight!

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver

For a moment, he felt like he was floating in a river from the relief he felt. Until he heard a regal voice and a slight sharp pain at his side. Cass groans from the cold touch as his claws twitch. "Ngh! Ow!......Yeah I'm still here. And could you stop that?", the young dragon grunted a pregnant tone. Slowly be began to pull himself up into a sitting position. He was sweating and completely out of breathe, yet he still had the energy to make a coy smirk at Luna's scimitar's. "They really suit you. I'd like to meet the smith that made them", he complimented with a strained chuckle which followed into a cough. Normally anyone would get angry when poked by a super sharp blade wielded by a regal moon goddess. But Cass was kind of used to that sort of thing.

"Sorry, I didnt mean to spook you"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Wylfen Shepard
"It's quite alright." Luna said in exasperation, before sheathing her scimitars at her sides and shaking her head. When he mentioned about the 'smith' that made them, she chuckled slightly and shook her head. "You're looking at the smith, and I'm afraid I do not take commissions. Artifacts of such power are not meant for mortal hands."

She scratched her head for a moment before simply nodding. "You look alright now. Not about to go bloodthirsty or anything. Do you feel any different?"

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver

The young dragon casually waved his claw. "No that's alright. I'd rather find or make my own. Though I hope you dont mind if I ask for a few tips if the occasion comes up", he said as he slowly pushes himself back up to his feet. "Though good work, by the way. You're quite an artist. But maybe next time try killing a dragon instead of poking it. They might get the wrong idea, he makes a mischievous wink at her and strains a chuckles again. He was a bit loopy at the moment. But that's just how he acts sometimes when he's exhausted.

"Nrgh...I dont know....I know I feel...different. Like I just ran a marathon around the mountain. And....that was the first time in my life ive ever....roared", he explained. But once he got to his feet, something did feel unsusal for him. "I feel...lighter", he said looking down at his claws. On his right shoulder, his long sleeved shirt was completely singed from the magic that bursted out of him. But that wasnt all that was noticable. His birthmark had changed in color. It turned yellow with a shiny gleam like a jewel.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
"Well then I suppose its a good thing I almost never have a plan! I mean, I already messed up the original one." He said, looking out over the land below. "If we're going to get a shot at those captains... or, well, you can take the shot any way you like, I'm fairly sure nothing here could stop you..." He trailed off. What was the point of him being here again?

Expellix wasn't exactly helpless. If he got into a lot of trouble he could teleport straight back up to Canterlot without it being too awfully difficult. This camp isn't that far away from it. And if he couldn't teleport to Canterlot he most certainly could still get far away from the griffons. They'd have no hope of tracking him in the dark.

He tapped his chin. "Well, I think a distraction might be in order to lure the majority of the griffons away. Either that or maybe we can set a trap. They don't have anything here that explodes, do they?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Wylfen Shepard
"I'm not in the habit of sparing a dragon's life, so don't worry about that." She said with an arched eyebrow and shake of her head. She didn't respond to the wink, besides with a cold stare. It didn't take her long to notice that his birthmark had changed and she pointed to it with a slight tilt of her head. "That's different. Besides being lighter, does your birthmark feel hot or cold at all?"

Dumbledoof
Luna chuckled slightly at his words and shook her head. "I'm not invincible. Although I don't believe this camp has the means to kill me, I have noticed some griffons carrying magical blades. Runeblades, actually, likely stolen from my dead Death Knights. I'm not interested in getting stabbed with those." She said with a slight smile directed at Expellix, before nodding at his next words.

"Explosives? Probably, but you'd have to find them. That would certainly cause a nice distraction, but so would an illusion. I'll leave the choice up to you... As long as these undead are in this watchtower with us, nobody should come knocking. We have time to plan this out. So I'll let you lead from here on out."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix thought for a moment. An illusion would be good as well, but then he wanted to cause some lasting damage. Something beyond just killing a few captains whom would get soon replaced in the morning. But then wasting their stockpile of explosives would also hinder their abilities in the coming siege of Canterlot.

"I'm going to go find their explosives." He decided. "Maybe I can even lead many of the griffons over and blow them all to Tartarus. You can decide what you're going to do, you have far more experience with this than I do." He turned and headed back for the doorway. "If something goes wrong, I'll try to tell you telepathically first and then probably teleport back here or out of the camp entirely if I have to."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
Luna didn't say anything to Expellix; preferring to simply keep quite and salute him on the way out. Hopefully the little bun didn't get himself killed! She was beginning to actually like him. Expellix dying would be quite a disappointment, especially when he showed such potential with arcane magic.

After he was gone, Luna surveyed the land again and decided that her best course of action was to get close to the camp and wait for Expellix to cause a distraction. She burst into a cloud of darkness once again and disappeared off into the night, waiting for him to do something to pull the guards attention away from the camp.

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver

"O...kay. Definitely no sense of humor....sigh.", the young dragon thought and sighed from the princess' s cold stare. Apparantly she's not one for jokes. "I'll figure something out...", he thought to himself.

"Hmm?", Cass responded. Looking on his right shoulder, he was surprised. No longer was his birthmark a dark splotch on his scales. It's now shiny and yellow like a gem deposit on the side of a mountain. He taps it with his claw on it only to here a light chime. "Wow, that's really part of me?", he said looking up at the tree. So far it wasn't the answer he was looking for. Only more questions. However he wasn't upset about ti for some odd reason. "I guess....I passed? When a dragon is imbued, thier brand mark becomes a conduit to access a dragon's magic potiental.....uh?", Cass cuts himself off. "W-ait o.o. I didn't know that before....nrgh?", he winced feeling a slight headache

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix had a bit of preparation to do before he went out. He paused at the doorway after a thought occurred to him. He may not have time to teleport out of a jam on his own, so he did the next best thing. He stored a teleportation spell in his necklace for later use. If he got into deep shit, that's his way out. It would allow him a quick teleport back to this watch tower when in a bind. Or just getting out quickly after he rigs the explosives. He's sure they're around the camp somewhere.

After that, he actually did leave the watch tower. The griffons were still in a frenzy; searching every tent, nook, and cranny for the both of them. Due to the bewitched guards in the tower, though, they had no reason to look there luckily. He assumed that the guards were still acting as if they were being useful... not that a watch tower would see him anyway. They're probably expecting ponies, not some bunny darting around.

That made it easy to get around many of the griffons. It was just waiting until the right time before he would hurry between hiding places in the dark, watching out for the occasional torches that were lit. One griffon nearly saw him and promptly had their neck snapped by his telekinesis and then hidden in the darkness. That was fun. Hopefully they wouldn't notice for a little while.

It did start to get to be a bit more of a hassle as he got closer to where he thought his destination would be. Somewhere near the outskirts. There seemed to be more and more griffons, probably thinking the spies would be hiding near the edges of the camp. Either that, or his goal was closer than he first thought. He could already see the silhouette of a large building... almost like a reinforced bunker of sorts, tall and foreboding.

There was a window high up in it and so he gathered himself and made a jump for it, coming up to just the ledge. His paw whipped out and he grabbed the window sill, hauling himself up and over into the building.

This certainly was a reinforced building, yet he couldn't see for quite what reason yet. Nevertheless, there were griffons patrolling and plenty of them. He apparently had leaped into the rafters of the place, a balcony for watching the backs of the guards below, he presumed. There was one on each side, two rafters directly parallel to each other.

He made a beeline for the darkness. He was going to have to be quick and silent about this. He unsheathed his dagger, eyes narrowing in anticipation as one of them came closer. He lunged, the surprised griffon taking a short intake of breath before they had a dagger nailed right between their eyes. They would have crumpled to the ground but he grabbed them with his magic and gently lowered them noiselessly.

He pulled his weapon free and gripped it with his telekinesis, hurling it at the other griffon who would have seen it. They didn't get to sound an alarm, because as soon as they turned to see what that strangled gasp was, they, too, had a dagger to the head and died quickly and was equally lowered to the ground soundlessly. Carefully, he pulled his weapon free of that griffon's cranium and returned it to himself, floating across the gap between the rafters.

Now he looked down to see why this building was reinforced. Explosives, and a lot of them. Not just explosives as well but molotovs and more. This is exactly what he was looking for. Now to just take care of the rest of the griffons and set about his plan because the ones have not seen or heard a thing yet.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
While Expellix prepared do destroy half the camp in a roaring fireball, Princess Luna was busy with her own plans. She had, by this point, made her way over to the main camp undetected. No guards died during her journey, as she had no wish to kill many of them right now. She was only here for the commanders. Several high ranking griffons were here, all of whom would be difficult to replace for the coming siege. Luna wanted to eliminate them before they could use their expertise to try and bring her city down.

Unfortunately, the entire area around the main tent was surrounded with torches planted in the ground, with guards moving all about. Her shadow-form wouldn't work in the light, it would be too obvious, so she decided to do the next best thing; she dropped her shadow-form and instead used her innate invisibility. It wasn't her preference, simply because even while invisible you can make sounds and be detected that way, but it was better than strolling into the camp as if you owned the place.

Although technically she did own the land they were on. And they weren't paying tax...

She quickly moved closer to the tend, avoiding guards and being silent as she did so. She stopped right beside a guard, close enough to smell him, and sent a telepathic message out to Expellix, "In position. Hurry up."

Being invisible was a weird experience simply because in the back of your mind, you sometimes forget you're invisible. More than one, the guard she was standing beside would look over and she'd have a slight panic attack thinking he saw her, only to realize he was staring through her instead.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Wylfen Shepard
Sensing that perhaps Cassian wasn't feeling at his peak right now, Princess Luna motioned back towards the way they had come with a tilt of her head. "I think that perhaps it would be best if you went home for now and rested. It seems to me that you have been through quite an ordeal tonight, and I believe the best thing you can do right now is go home and process what just happened. Sleep and think it over."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
"Working on it!"

He jumped down to the lower part, landing on the of one of the griffons. With a quick jerk of his neck, he heard a snap and was dead. If Luna wanted him to hurry up he didn't have too much time to be subtle at the moment. That meant just jumping right in and dealing with these morons.

The others heard, nonetheless saw, what he just did to that poor griffon with what looked like his bare paws. Their stupor didn't last long. One ran towards the doorway. Expellix cut him off before he could get out and warn the rest of the camp with a knife throw to his neck. The other three guards came charging at him.

The first one tried to bring their sword down on his head. Such a large and telegraphed strike was pretty useless against him. He sidestepped it easily, their weapon embedding itself in the ground. Magic charged in his palm and he jumped up, thrusting his paw into their face. A laser burst forth, tearing into their head, but not passing all the way through. He had to be mindful of all the explosives currently surrounding him.

The next two came at him at the same time. These two were apparently much more experienced. Their swings, both a maul and another sword, were quick and lethal. He didn't have time for the moment to get a spell off, focusing on dodging for a moment. They swung in sync with each other; when one had finished their swing, the other one was in the middle of their own attack. Soon enough, he got an opportunity by jumping off a wall and over their heads.

He turned his attention to his dagger, pulling it free with his telekinesis, but had to pause when the griffon with a maul swung horizontally at him. He vaulted over it, grabbing the edge of the mace and coming along for the ride on the swing. Now he flicked his wrist, Coldstabby rocketing and sheathing itself in the griffon's throat. He dropped the mace and his face went white with shock, gripping the hilt of the dagger and gurgling with blood spewing out of his beak.

The next was shocked at what just happened, but tried to avenge his fallen brother. Expellix ducked under the blade, grabbing the mace instead now and swinging it over, delivering a powerful strike to their chest. That broke bones and sent them flying backwards onto their back and into a wall, dazed. Expellix quickly delivered the killing blow; a heavy blow to their head while it was against the wall. All that remained was a bloody mess of gore against it.

With that out of his way, he finished off the remaining griffon with a quick braining to the head after retrieving his dagger, re-sheathing it on his back and dropping the mace. With the guards gone and such a ruckus, he imagined somebody had heard and it wouldn't be long until there were reinforcements. That's exactly what he wanted.

"I'm about to set them off, Luna." He said quickly. "Get ready. Oh, and enjoy the lightshow."

He began positioning the different explosives they had laying around, specifically taking a molotov for himself. He would need it to light the fire and cause the fireworks show. He leaped up into the rafters just as griffons burst through the doorway, pouring into the room. Molotov in hand, Expellix grinned. With his necklace glowing, he brandished it.

"A bit late, fellas." He yelled. "Enjoy Tartarus."

Just as they realized what was happening, they all yelled and tried to shove their ways out. He threw the molotov, lighting it on fire and teleporting.

A sudden boom echoed across the valley as a roaring fireball erupted on the eastern end of the griffon encampment. Tons of explosives went up in flames, sending debris scattering far across the area, killing and destroying much while the explosives themselves dealt heavy damage to anything that was near it and then spreading massive fires quickly throughout. Expellix's work certainly paid off in destroying a large portion of the camp and ridding them of many griffons.

Expellix appeared on top of the watch tower roof they had confiscated, watching his handiwork.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
Even from so far away, Luna could still feel the heat from the explosion. And judging by the way the griffin near her had been thrown back onto the ground, he had certainly felt it as well. Judging by the way he was groaning, he had certainly felt that blast; so Luna did him a favor and sunk one of her scimitars deep into his heart before twisting it cruelly. His cry wasn't even heard by the griffin standing 10 feet away, so loud was the explosion that it left many of them with ringing ears.

With that explosion, many of the guards left the perimeter of the tent and nobody would notice her now. Only 6 guards remained; three on either side of the large tent, circling it. Luna needed to act fast and get in there to finish off the commanders, so there was no time to think her plan of attack through, she simply acted on what 7,000 years of combat experience was telling her to do.

Taking her scimitars up in a magical grasp, she sent them spinning out in separate directions around the large tent. In complete sync, the scimitars flew on her command and beheaded the remaining six guards around the tent, before stopping at the opposite end.

While her scimitars did that, Luna calmly strode into the tent, surveying the area inside. She counted 23 guards, not counting the commanders. Her instincts immediately told her not to use magic, as it would draw attention. It would be far scarier for the griffons to come back to find their command tent butchered.

Almost immediately upon entering, she was attacked by several griffons. She was impressed by how fast they responded with everything that had just happened! Not that it'd help.

Six griffons ran at her, swords and axes and maces at the ready. As the leader ran in to attack the Princess, she calmly sidestepped his poorly timed downward slash and backhanded the head from his shoulders, sending the crushed skull rolling across the floor. The next three griffons were not bothered by the sight and continued to press the attack. As the right-most griffin swung his ax at her, Luna ducked under the blow and kicked it hard as it passed, using her strength to tear it from the griffons grasp and send it flying uncontrollably off to the side and into the leg of the middle assailant.

The griffin who she had disarmed was them met with a headbutt, which saw her horn stab through his eye socket and out the back of his skull. A jerk of her head sent the body flying towards the already injured middle combatant, who was having enough trouble standing as it is with his injured leg. The body made him fall backwards. The last assailant tried to take a stab at her, only to have her slap his blade hard enough to break it, followed by slapping his head hard enough to cave it in.

The last two griffons began to back right up. She walked calmly towards them, not even missing a step as she crushed the skull of the one injured griffon trapped under his friends body. When it came apparent that they would have no choice but to fight, the griffons sprung forward...

Only to have their lunge suddenly stop as two scimitars flew in from the entrance behind them. One scimitar landed in each of their backs, severing their spinal columns and dropping them to the ground.

Luna pulled her scimitars out and grinned at the remaining 17 guards, who weren't exactly looking brave considering 6 of their best had just died in under 2 seconds, mostly to slaps.

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver

"But.....sigh....alright",he said in defeat. As much as He wanted to find out more, he was quite exhausted. His body went through a heavy change after all. He walks over to his sword and coat to gather his things.

"So do you know any places that offer lodgings? I'm not going back into a cell again. ", he stated firmly. " Thier service if aweful...", the young dragon scowls remembering when he asked for a glass of water. Only to have a bucket of freezing water splashed on him.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
The remaining griffons in the tent with the commanders were hesitant to even approach the lunar goddess. Watching their comrades be wiped out just like that and so quickly was disheartening. Were these the kind of odds they were going up against in the looming battle? None of them were quite prepared to try and face off with Luna just yet, but they did make a phalanx formation around the commanders. Best try to block her off and protect their superiors, not that it seemed it would do much at all.

On the other hoof, there was a sudden flash of light as Expellix teleported in to join Luna. His fur was unkempt and swept backwards from the explosion he had just dealt and watched. The little psychopath was grinning from ear to ear, quite pleased with him. "I think I did a pretty good job with that one! Maybe I should look for a job in sabotage? What do you think?"

The griffons seemed to come out of their stupor at the sight of the Killer Bunny of Equestria. "Hey, it's that rabbit!" One of them exclaimed.

Expellix turned his attention to the griffons, nodding slowly. Thanks, Captain Obvious.

That seemed to set off the griffons. It was bad enough they were dealing with Luna, but the damnable bunny as well? He was prey, an insult to their proud race! Soon, they were all angry and charged at the both of them once more. The majority went straight for Princess Luna, weapons raised to try and hack her to pieces. Three of them were wielding the runeblades Luna had spoken off before, something she had stated that she did not want to get stabbed by. Best not get stabbed, then.

Expellix brought his dagger out and wielded it in reverse grip at their charge, ready to get into the thick of it himself. The few that decided to try their luck with him would probably have some issues themselves.