The Second Griffon War (Main Thread)

[Latios]

Galagus, being blind, almost didn't recognize Princess Luna talking to him. But with a quick glance from Flax as he passed over he settled himself. When she finished giving him orders she disappeared just as fast. He didn't even get a chance to respond. But either way, orders where orders. He broght a hoof up to he mouth and whistledvery loud. It was ment to signal Flax. The Phenoix quick dived to his location. The moment Galagus could see himself again though the Phenoix's eyes he dashed back towards the town, making his way to the train station. The bird above knew well to follow. When he made it their he could see some Griffions already attacking. Once again, taking the spark of fire that rested on his horn he ignited the ones in range into flames. Flax didnt really have need of setting up another fire wall seeing as the combatants were coming by air, however what he did instead was keep an eye out for Galagus to allow him to throw many fire balls at the opponents that were farther away.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Starlight winced as she actually thought rationally at what she'd just done. "Sorry, Trixie, I...You know my magic's emotion-based, and a griffin actually choosing to target the weak, sick, young and those who can't fight back....it doesn't put me in a good mood. I don't regret doing that to him at all, but I do feel guilty if I upset you."

Luna arrived, and Starlight almost stopped and bowed, but the Princess' words brought her back to her senses. They were on the clock here. They had to push forward to the train station. "Hello, Princess Luna. Understood," she replied simply, and then charged to the front of the hospital convoy. She was going to clear them a path, and this time she'd follow Trixie's advice and do it quickly. There wasn't time to indulge her emotions. Once everyone's on the train and the front line breaks, then she would let loose.

Three griffins landed in front of them. Starlight fired spells at all three of them turning them all into blocks of ice. When she caught up to them, she stood in between them and let out a concussive blast of magic, shattering all three ice-griffins, scattering frozen red shards across the ground. She turned round.

"The coast's clear for now. Let's keep pushing!" She yelled.

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dumbledoof
Cyan Hide
Dreamweaver
"Oh, the Princess! I've always wanted to meet a princess! Hello!"
Arctic has no reaction at all to watching a heavily armored griffon dying inches from her face, or one having its skull violently and slowly and painfully exploded other than an eerily happy smile, and she trots along, bringing the other orphans and assorted younglings with her.
"Quick time, younglings, quick time! We have to keep moving!"
Raising a hoof, a red-orange flame materializes in it. Arctic throws it to the ground behind the group, and then focuses on it for a second before it suddenly flares up and spreads into a wall of mysterious fire.
"That should discourage the curious! Let's go!"
...
"Eeeee, the Princess saluted me!"

 

[Sinensis]

Tech would nod again to the alicorn as she vanished, knowing any said words would be drowned out by the clashing of metal on metal. With an unexpected shove with his shield at the griffon in front of him, he'd take the opportunity to slice at them and back off, knowing if he hadn't done it they could've took the opportunity to attack while he backed off. And like that, he was out of the front lines, and another pony had already taken his place. With a little difficulty, he pushed back through the tonnes of ponies, noticing the retreat of the Pegasi as he cleared the majority of the crowd.

With realization hitting him like a wall, he realized this gave the griffons the areal advantage over the ponies, and they were already taking full advantage of it over the griffons. Looking back, they were dive-bombing the unicorns. He'd feel a little regret backing out of the front lines, but he'd had his orders. Tearing his eyes from looking back, he would follow the lead of the pegasi, heading through the streets the fastest way he knew to the train station. Turning a corner, he'd stop as fast as possible, ending with a massive wall of fire in front of his face. It was obvious it was magical in nature, but something felt strange about it. Was it worth going through? He'd contemplate for a pause, deciding that it wasn't worth the risk.

Siphoning a small amount of magic from the wall of fire, he'd pause, using telekinesis to push some of the larger dents back out, and headed down a side alley. It was inconvenient to take a longer route, that was for sure but he'd make it eventually. Picking up the pace, he headed through a few alleys, eventually coming back out to the same road further up. Upon looking out, however, he was greeted by two griffons, looking down the road the opposite way of the train station. Great. With concentration he'd toss a ball of energy towards them, continuing the direction he was headed. The ball would pause between them briefly, before shrinking and exploding just as they realized what was happening, leaving them both pretty badly injured, knocked out, practically on the verge of death. Looking the direction they were looking, he could see a few ponies down the road, dealing with their own company. Deciding it would probably be better to wait and join up in a group than to go alone.

 

[Anonmare]

Dreamweaver
Adali heard the sound of the horn and, like everypony and everygriffon else, was briefly transfixed by it. It was a deceptively serene moment in time that belied a moment of true peace. She threw herself back into the action almost as quick as she had stopped and was in the midst of preparing to throw a fireball at the Griffon ranks where her fire elemental had yet to crash through - the sentient being of fire steadily losing ground as the Griffon's grew wise to fighting it and flew above it; keeping out of its reach as they dive bombed it which only made it roar furiously in an incomprehensible language few here would understand.

Of course, Lucian grabbing her completely broke her concentration and the spell for the fireball she had been casting winked out from her horn with a painful fizzle and pop. “Wha- Hey! Don't yank me or I swear I'll kill you where you stand!” She threatened with a sour expression as she gave the fire elemental the standing order to 'Kill the Griffons, defend the ponies and defend the village, in that order.'

It was important to specify.

“Where are you taking me?” Adali demanded to know, not knowing what Lucian was planning and too caught up in the battle to truly think beyond the next moment. The two Griffons that just landed in front of them must've thought they were stragglers or easy prey, unfortunately they failed to take into account that Lucian was a Paladin, the first Griffon's expression had enough time to manage shifting to surprise just before the blade found its mark. The second used Lucian's distraction to swing his own weapon at the Paladin and managed to wing him. Adali endeavoured to ensure the offender would not live to savour it.

At closer range, the ex-devilmancer would have used a Cone of Fire spell to cook the second Griffon but Lucian was too close and would be badly singed, and she didn't have time for anything complicated. “Don't you dare touch him!” She screamed, pulling out the dagger she had been gifted and practically threw herself at the second Griffon's back and thrusted the dagger with her magic to stab as many times as she could whilst wrapping her hooves around his neck from atop his back.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Anonmare Cyan Hide Dumbledoof NevermoreStarsign Wylfen Shepard Sinensis Latios
For now, the fighting between the Equestrians and Griffons was at a stand-still. The griffons couldn't take to the air in large numbers, not without suffering massive casualties from explosive unicorn spells, so most of the fighting was kept on the ground. The griffons had strike teams assembled to assault the train station, specific groups who had been chosen for their aerial ability; it wasn't just a free for all. Some griffons were much better on the ground than in the sky, and likewise only the best could be useful in the sky right now.

As the griffons learned early in the war; one powerful unicorn can easily kill 3 griffons when they are clustered in a large group. As such, they had changed their strategies early on and stuck to the ground most of the time. However, this provided pegasi with the opportunity to flank and attack from above, which resulted in more griffon deaths. The Equestrians were just too versatile for them to really deal with properly.

On the ground they were matched with earth ponies, their physical equals, and now crystal ponies who were even tougher. In the air they had to deal with the agile pegasi, and the explosive spells of unicorns. There was simply no easy way for the griffons to take this war. But they had numbers...

Off in the distance, the train chugged along quickly and got closer by the second. From off in the distance where the train had come from, another vehicle was making its appearance. This one was moving along slower than the train and likely wouldn't be here for 30 minutes, but even at this distance you could make out its shape. It was a massive airship, and it was coming to help aid the train station.


Wylfen Shepard
The griffon that tripped did end up impaling its friend, who let out a scream as the spear drove through his chest and out his back. The one who fell, however, managed to avoid his friends spear and came up in a roll. With his spear lodged in his friend, the lone remaining griffon pulled a mace from his belt and flapped his wings hard, flying at Cassian with a powerful downward swing of his mace.

Latios
The way to the train station was pretty clear, as most of the fighting was still happening in the front lines. However, things would soon get much more intense once that train arrived and as such they would certainly need the help of him and his phoenix. Although nobody really knew him, the soldiers saluted him as he arrived and were more than happy to grant him entry into the train station.

It was a rather small building, only built around one train track but luckily had been constructed of metal. There were a few windows, but they could be easily covered by unicorns. The main entrance, however, was massive and would make for a huge battle site.

Dumbledoof
Cyan Hide
NevermoreStarsign
Sinensis
(This group is getting large, so I will specify who each paragraph is meant for. If there's nobody tagged, assume its for everyone.)

( Dumbledoof ) "We will have many new friends." Luna confirmed with a smile and a nod at Expellix. "But only so many at once. Too many and they make themselves a target for unicorns, and they know that. I expect they will come in waves, which I hope will help our chances of keeping these injured ponies safe." She shook her head slightly at his question. "Plans? No. Not in a place like this. Ponyville is barely defensible as it is. My only plan here is to hold off the griffons for the three days it will take to evacuate everyone. And if we can't do that, at least give the injured a painless death. It's better than what the griffons will do. Then burn the town to the ground."

( Cyan Hide ) Trixie wasn't concerned with Starlight's apology; she was concerned with fighting beside her and keeping her safe. It was a time of war, and Trixie wasn't about to blame her for doing something nasty. As Starlight blasted those three griffons into little icy shards, two more charged in from the left. Trixie could have blasted them, but that was more of Starlight's specialty. The cyan mare took a different approach...

( Cyan Hide ) As the two griffons charged at them, Trixie's horn flickered briefly. The two griffons stopped, dazed and confused, and then looked at each other... And then they started fighting. It was a short and brutal affair as the savages tore into each other with beaks and claws, spilling blood across the ground before they both finally stopped twitching. "Let's move." Trixie said before continuing to run ahead...

( NevermoreStarsign ) Princess Luna was utterly confused as to how she was using magic without a horn, but there was no time to question it. "Yes, yes I saluted you now move it! Quicker!" Although the wall of fire was impressive, unfortunately it was in the middle of town... And griffons could just fly over it. Which they did. Several griffons made their way over, and a group of 20 more joined in the chase.

"Keep moving!" Was Luna's only order. While the group moved, Princess Luna stood her ground and faced the approaching griffon horde by herself. She closed her eyes and called upon a spark of the divinity within herself, summoning it in the form of a spell in her horn. Instead of the usual light blue glow, this time it was a black glow and a small pea-sized ball shot from her horn. When it reached the approaching griffons, it exploded into what could only be described as a miniature black hole.

The 20 griffons chasing them were suddenly unable to fly as they were caught in the event horizon, and were quickly dragged screaming into the abyss... After which point the black hole disappeared. Luna wiped some sweat from her brow and turned around to run and rejoin the group.

The train station was right in front of them all, with guards surrounding the massive entrance.

( Sinensis ) As Princess Luna came running past, she was relieved to see him. "Into the train station!" She replied while pushing him towards it. "Company will soon be here!" And with that she was running again, although she went rather slowly in order to make sure Tech, and everyone else, made it in safely.

Anonmare
"That's enough!" The paladin barked while reaching down to yank Adali off of the now-dead griffon. "You leave yourself exposed! Quick kill and move on!" The older stallion yelled before collecting his greatsword and getting a move on. Off in the distance he saw what he could only describe as a black hole appear, suck up over 20 griffons, and then disappear. "... We are going to the train station! Sorry for not explaining. They need our help more than the front-line does."

Lucian was bleeding quite profusely from his shoulder, but it wasn't slowing him down at all. As they ran he poured a bit of holy magic into it, helping to stem the bleeding but not heal the wound. He wasn't a cleric and couldn't simply heal wounds on the fly; it required immense concentration which he lacked.

Soon enough the pair made their way to the train station. It was a large metal building with a massive open square where doors would normally be. There were crystal and earth ponies standing guard at the doors, unicorns inside the building and more pegasi in the air around the building. Princess Luna and a small group of heroes were arriving there now.

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver

Seeing the next attack from the last Griffon in the trio, he already saw a perfect opening. The Griffon has a mace and Cassian still has the spear from the first one he killed. He stood there letting the Griffon quickly advance to brain him with its blunt weapon. At the right timing, the young dragon points the bladed end towards the assailants heart and thrusts the entire length of the spear. The Griffon end up driving itself into the sharp end of the spear while Cass' thrust drove it in further, skewering the spear through its heart and out it's back. The length of the weapon prevented the Griffon from advancing any further to strike Cassian with its mace.

In that moment, Cass holds his position with the spear to look at the Griffon's eyes with an angry glare. "I don't know why you decided to attack the ponies. But I'm pretty sure it's something stupid. And that's why you Griffons can sometimes REALLY PISS ME OFF!", he growls as brings up the spear over head with a violent jerk. The Griffon flies off the spear and ends up getting chucked off the roof in the processes. This motion made ropes of blood trailing from its body to splash on the side of the hospital building.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

Starlight, Trixie beside her, carried on running forward. Luckily, the way seemed quite clear from here to the guards. Even so, she kept her eyes open and scanned the skies as she ran. She didn't want to wait until and advancing Griffin got within weapon's reach. She saw an advancing group of three coming from the south. She teleported to right behind them, fired one ice spell at each in quick succession while in freefall herself, then teleported straight back to Trixie, as the frozen Griffins dropped straight out of the sky like bricks and shattered on the ground below. She'd already used her ice spell, but Starlight didn't have time for variety or imagination, and if it works, use it.

"I think we're clear as far as the guards now," she shouted as she ran. "Let's slow up just in case the convoy needs us." And after saying that she slowed from full gallop to a fast canter, looking behind her to see how the rest of the group was doing.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Expellix gave a tiny smirk. "Well, not everything does need a convoluted plan I suppose." He said absently, looking back towards the direction of the front lines, and then up towards the fight in the sky. "This is going to be interesting..."

He quickly ran after the rest of the group, keeping a bit closer to the rear of the envoy just so he could watch for any griffons trying to make a sudden move from above. There was only a single one from the back that came at them, but it was on the ground instead of the air. Expellix was nearly trampled, but managed to quickly teleport out of the way and grab the griffon telekinetically, stopping them in their tracks. Their weight gave him pause.

"Damn, has anybody ever told you to lose some weight?" He asked. He kept them there, using his free hand to grab a spear laying in the dirt, broken at the shaft, and then making that griffon swallow it, the point puncturing through their mouth and out the back of their head. They made some gurgling sounds before falling over onto the ground, choking on their own blood. Expellix continued on into the building, mindfully giving the spazzing griffon some wide berth, both to not get blood on him and to not get caught in its death throes.

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dreamweaver
Arctic frowns a bit.
"Oh, uh. Flying. Right. They can fly. Oops!"
Arctic goes around scooping up any stragglers and carrying a few on her back as she hurries along. She's not exactly the fastest around, but managing to more or less keep up with the others while carrying some of the orphaned foals on her back.
"Good work, Princess! Gettem!"
Arctic happily jaunts ahead, not stopping for anything at this point, confident that the Princess will protect them until they reach the train, and thus saving her mental energy.

 

[Assailant]

"It doesn't make sense," Silver murmured as he and his friend entered onto the train station platform. "Why are they coming after Ponyville?"

"It's a war hospital. They want to kill the wounded," Arc said with a grim expression. Silver shook his head.

"Yes, but leaving wounded is much worse for an army than corpses. The Griffons should leave this place alone, it hurts our army far more than killing the wounded." Arc nodded.

"Well, yes, but they're not exactly the brightest." Silver opened his mouth to rebuke his claim, but after a few moments he sighed and nodded. After a few moments, Arc stopped where he was standing. He pulled out a knife and a big mold of clay. He kneaded the clay into the ground of the station until it was level, and then he dragged the knife around in the clay, creating a foreign pattern. After a few moments, Arc stood back up and looked down at his pattern. He observed it for a few moments before smoothing the clay back over in one place and carving something slightly different. He nodded and turned to see the train approaching. Just a few more minutes. Arc looked over the fighting. He'd set up what he needed to... what now... "What do you think?" Silver grunted.

"Shifters scare me a hell of a lot more than these guys." Arc laughed.

"When you're right you're right." Silver pulled out his sword as Arc kneeled to the ground, weaving a spell. Silver seemed to kind of move in an antsy pattern.

"I don't like being stuck here simply guarding the train station, but did you really have to break SO's orders and make that rune ring?" Arc shrugged.

"He said guard the train station, and that's what I'm doing. When that train gets here, we'll be perfect." Arc stood up, his invisible spell having been cast. He then drew five runes in the ground of the station, using an old chalk to draw the circles. He quickly made another set of the same circles around Silver. "Ready?" Silver nodded. The two stepped back, placing their hooves on the rune directly behind them. From the circles, a beam of magic shot out. It curved around the two and each of the beams began shooting at the nearest Griffons, like high velocity javelins attempting to stab through the griffons.

 

[Anonmare]

Dreamweaver
Adali merely took a deep breath and pulled herself free an re-sheathed her dagger, she didn't want it to get knocked away from her. “I was just making sure he was dead.” She explained poorly as she followed after the Paladin. She noticed the black hole -like spell in the distance and frowned, magic envy was a strong trait within her. “The train station? On it.” She replied, she was concerned by his newfound wound but there wasn't anything she could really do for him.

Fireballs and elemental summoning were her forte, not healing.

Quickly the two of them arrived at the train station, a fairly fortified position and it wouldn't be long until Princess Luna fell back to this point which would have practically made this place a veritable fortress with just her alone. The darked-furred of the pair looked down the train tracks and noticed the tell-tale sign of smoke coming from the train, as well as the airship. It was reasonable to say that this station was the keystone to their defensive action here.
She could see Princess Luna amongst the group she was with and she could also see at least ten or twenty Griffons chasing after them, they knew a high-priority target when they saw one. Adali tapped Lucian's non-lacerated shoulder and pointed her out. “We should go help her!” She advised, she fancied herself a powerful mage but even she would concede that Luna outpaced her in that department. She was prideful, not stupid.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Anonmare Cyan Hide Dumbledoof NevermoreStarsign Wylfen Shepard Sinensis Latios
The train and airship were steadily making their way towards Ponyville. At this rate the train would be here in around 10 minutes, and the airship would arrive in approximately 30 minutes. As the two vessels made their way towards Ponyville, horns began to sound in the griffon ranks.

Over the chorus of death cries and clashing steel, Princess Luna's voice rang out; once again magically enchanted to carry across Ponyville, even overshadowing the noises of war. "That horn means that griffon strike teams will soon be taking to the air and coming for the station! Earth and Crystal ponies, hold the front lines! I want all Pegasi from Alpha Squad to retreat immediately to the train station, all other squads pick off any griffon stragglers you find in town and provide support for the Unicorns on the ground! All Unicorns... Make the griffons terrified to take to the air!"

And with that, the army had its orders. Out of the roughly 75,000 Pegasi in the air, 4000 of them came to the train station. That left a large majority to help protect the Unicorns on the ground. The Pegasi would look after the Unicorns, who in turn would look after the Earth and Crystal ponies at the front lines as well as lend support to the train station.

With all present personnel taken into account, the train station had over 5,000 soldiers guarding it. Plus an airship on the way.

Wylfen Shepard
With that griffon dead, Cassian would now be able to focus his attention on the bigger war at hand. The Equestrians were doing a fine job of holding the front lines, but the griffons would now start mounting offensives against the train station from the air. The horns bellowed from griffon lines and a large regiment of griffons took to the air, headed for the train station...

If Cass wanted to help, heading to the train station would be the most intelligent place to start. Right now, up on the roof, he was a sitting duck. If the griffons arrived and saw him there, he was as good as dead. He couldn't fight them all.

Assailant
The few griffons that had gotten into the train station were quickly killed by Arc and Silver along with the hundreds of guards inside of the place. A new group of survivors, led by Princess Luna, was just now beginning to arrive. They brought with them many young children and injured; these are the ponies who the train station guards, including Arc and Silver, had been ordered to protect.

Dumbledoof
Cyan Hide
NevermoreStarsign
Anonmare
Assailant
The 15 griffons that were still following them were not much of an issue, and Princess Luna was in no mood to waste time here. She turned around and fired a black lightning bolt from her horn, which collided with the first griffon and then bounced around between them all. In less than a second all the griffons were sizzling with black energy and they fell to the ground, dead.

The group had much bigger things to worry about.

"I'm heading into the sky. Everybody rest up and prepare for the first true battle." Princess Luna briefly told the assembled warriors before taking off.

( Cyan Hide ) Trixie just shook her head as they arrived safely into the train station. "If I die, buy me a nice coffin okay, BFF?" Trixe said with a little chuckle to Starlight as she knelt down and took this opportunity to rest. It wouldn't be long now until the first major wave of griffons arrived to try and seize hold of the train station.

( Anonmare ) "... Looks like she got them." Lucian said as Luna's lightning took care of the few griffons following the group. Upon being told to rest up, Lucian looked down at his shoulder and knelt down to begin mending it. Here, without having to worry about his martial prowess, Lucian could gather the necessary energy to heal his shoulder. Ever so slowly his wound began to close until finally it was just another scar on his body; one of dozens. He didn't have the power to heal scars completely.

.........
Anonmare Cyan Hide Dumbledoof NevermoreStarsign Wylfen Shepard Sinensis Latios
After roughly 5 minutes of resting, Princess Luna's voice once again breaks through the silence inside the train station. "We've got 2,000 griffons on the way! Everybody take your battle positions, make sure all evacuees are near to the train platform to ensure a fast boarding!"

The screeching cries of the griffin horde was drawing ever closer as their strike group advanced. The bombardment by the unicorns below did little to deter the griffins, despite hundreds of them dying to the magical energy.

 

[Dumbledoof]

The train station wasn't much of a point to defend. It isn't as if these sort of places were exactly well fortified, given the giant gaping entrance that it had right in the front. Unless those things had big metal doors, griffons would be able to just stream in and overwhelm the ponies without simply being able to kill enough of them in the air that the troops on the ground could hold them. That wasn't even mentioning the main bulk of the griffon army... who knows how long the front line could hold?

If he weren't already not-alive-not-dead, Expellix might actually fear for his life. That's a bit of a non-issue now, isn't it?

This was no time to rest for somebody like him, though. He'd already been going around as soon as possible and trying to heal the worst of the injuries for the soldiers. Every pony was needed now to stop the coming onslaught. When Luna's voice rang out, he turned towards the entrance and walked towards it, observing the skyline. A horde of griffons was on the way, plenty of them.

He looked down at his paws and dark energy crackled within them. He briefly watched for a moment before turning his eyes up towards the sky again. Holding his paw out, dark balls of energy began to form around him orbiting around Expellix's head for a moment before they blasted off at the griffons. They exploded upon impact with any single one of them, taking out any that were within a several foot radius of the one that took the hit. More shadow orbs would take the places of those that had already be fired, continuing like this. He was going to help thin out the herd before the big fight got to them, it was better than nothing.

If he got through this, he made a mental note to go find a dagger or something he could effectively wield.

 

[Latios]

Galagus immediately flared up his horn again, the wisp of fire never fading from its tip. He looked out the window to see the incoming Griffions. They were to far away to burn with his flamethrower tactics so he resorted to launching fire balls instead. He wasn't the best shot seeing as his line of sight was not perfect with his horn. But flax did his best to hold still for Galagus to aim. One by one, he managed to hit a few, leaving then screaming towards the ground, quite literally, in a blaze of fire.

 

[Assailant]

Silver looked back just enough to see the ponies arrive. "We're close Arc!" Arc eyed the train and thought to his rune circle he had set up earlier. We're so close... once that train arrives in the station, we'll be set for sure. He had set up some healing runes within the station, but he hadn't had time to make many, nor did he have the supplies. The clay and chalk had to be saved for the circle and combat runes. A few guards could heal at a time, but unfortunately they did not have enough spare runes to help ordinary citizens heal, so they just had to protect.

One of his hooves was ready at any moment to step on the rune in front of him. It was a lightning rune. When you hold the rune, through means such as a talisman or carved stone, they can be devastating. When carved into the ground, however, their use became much more limited. However, there was a good reason it was in front. If a griffon tried to charge at them head on, all he had to do was step on it, and the griffon would be rather easily shocked to unconsciousness or even death.

The two kicked it up a notch, hitting griffons that came close first, but also trying to take down airborne griffons, however far away they might be. It was a strange sight, especially the earth pony casting magic, but the two cared not for appearances. They shot down anything they could with unsettling proficiency and accuracy.

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver
Once again, that same authoritative voice echoed across town. It was informing all the pegasi and unicorn soldiers of what the enemy's next course of action was from the sound of that horn. He looked toward the horizon to see the griffon aerial strikers preparing to mobilize. He held his own well against three griffons, but would defiantly not stand a chance against an entire flock. "Oh shit....", Cass says to himself before leaping off the roof and onto the top of the next building. He land in a quick somersault and throws his weight forward, sprinting across the rooftops of ponyville toward the train station. Which was right now the best place to be if he was going to help any further.

As leaped and vaults over the edges of the rooftops, his ears pick up the sound of screams of anguish in one spot. In the corner of his eye, he sees a small group of soldiers pinned against the allyways between the buildings trapped against a larger group of griffons. They must have been caught by surprise and herded into a small area to be picked off all at once. In the back corner behind the remaining ponies standing, were several injured pegasi. They didnt look like they were gonna last long, so the young dragon quickly acted fast. Cassian leaps in between the ally and fires his hookshot attached to his left arm as the metal barb at the end of the chain latches deep into the concrete surface of a building. Cass swings in, holding up his spear to aim direct at the closest griffon ready to pounce on the next guard pony. The guard was clearly tired and was probably the next to go down. It shut its eyes, preparing to meet its end. That is he heard the sound of something breaking through the wind and the sound of the griffon's gut wrenching squawk from the impalement of Cassian's spear. The guard opened its eyes wide at the sight that his life was just saved by a cloaked figured in a brown coat. Cassian quickly thrusts himself off the Griffon's body in a back flip before it even it the ground. He lands in a predatory crouch with a now broken spear in hand as he stood up on both legs. The chain from his hookshot quickly reals back into his arm under his sleeve with a loud 'clank'. The griffon's were surprised, but clearly showed no sign of fear at his tall figure. Cass looks down at his spear and growls to himself before chucking it to the side. "Shit.....you know you guys, really need to work on your crafting skills.", he insults them as the griffons smirk preparing to strike him down. "Anymore bright ideas?", said one of the guards backing away sightly with his spear up. At that moment, the young dragon spots a flower vase at the corner of his eye and quickly grabs it. "YUP!!!", he answers in a shout as the vase glowed in a green aura in his hand before he spikes it. The green light of magic flashes as Cassian mouths a commanding enchantment in ancient equestrian language, "ENTANGLEMENT!" . Suddenly the flowers spring to life as their roots grew into the size of pythons and began coiling around the entire group of griffons quickly like frenzied serpents catching their prey. The Griffons struggle and tried with all their strength to tear out of their bindings, but the spell was still highly active from how much magic energy Cass put into his spell. Quickly, Cass goes to the injured as the soldiers all stood there with their mouths agape at what the mysterious figure just did. "Hey snap out of it guys. Come on. Can any of you walk?", he says as his words shook them out of her surprised demeanors. Cass quickly spots and lifts an injured pegasus with a broken wing and a large gash across it's abdomen onto his back. "Y-yes. Most of us can.", a solider answered reluctantly. "Okay, take any remaining injured and follow me. The station isnt far.", he ordered as he started leading the group toward the station. To thier luck, they made it past a line of unicorns aiming their horns toward the sky. This provided protection as Cassian guided the injured group toward the station, which was now just up ahead.

Soldiers holding their positions around the station would see a group of soldiers and injured being lead to the station by a bipedal cloaked figure in a brown coat. It was running straight at them with an injured Pegasus on its back. With the group quickly closing in, the pegasus the hooded the dragon whispered into his ear, "What are you?". Cassian didn't know how to answer at first, until only one sentence came to mind, "I'm a Friend".

(Casted my first spell WOOOOO ^^)

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

"If you die, I'll buy you a coffin that will shoot out fireworks on your funeral. Not that I'm going to let you die, BFF." Starlight replied, before closing her eyes and napping where she sat for the little time they could afford to rest. True enough, not even five minutes afterward, Luna announced that 2000 Griffins were approaching. That was a lot, even for this group. Starlight got to her feet, and wandered out of the train station. "I'm not sure how you fight, Trix, but I'm going to go on the offensive and mingle closely with our guests."

And with that, Starlight teleported out, and soon the center of the advancing Griffin horde was awash with glowing lights of lightning blue, fire orange and magical purple, with the occasional charred Griffin corpse rag-dolled high into the air. Starlight really was a force of nature when she got serious, and here teleport-heavy hit-and-run strategy, while she couldn't keep it up forever before eventually needing a break to refuel her stamina, was a very effective strategy for killing a lot of enemies very quickly, the less Griffins made it to the train station, the easier that fight will be to keep out of the target building.

 

[Anonmare]

Dreamweaver
“Remind me to not get on her bad side. Again I mean.” Adali Feuer said as she checked over Lucian's wound herself, she may not be a healer but she did know something about first aid, you didn't go off trying to be an evil sorceress without knowing at least a little bit about basic things like first aid or cooking. It's just common sense really. Still though, from her limited medical knowledge, his shoulder looked like it was healing fine. Though she couldn't say if it was exposed long enough to get infected with anything,

She hoped not any way.

It wouldn't be long until Luna's voice rang out again, instructing everypony to take their battle positions, and she gently nudged Lucian with her foreleg. “I don't suppose I can convince you to go with the evacuees?” She asked rhetorically, knowing that his code or whatever would make him refuse. Paladins were silly. She doubted the Griffons would be so easy for another fire elemental after having adapted to the last one, an air elemental might work but she'd have a harder time casting something non-fire related...

 

[Dreamweaver]

Anonmare Cyan Hide Dumbledoof NevermoreStarsign Wylfen Shepard Sinensis Latios
Luna could sense the tension coming from the assembled soldiers here, including the heroes. She knew that many of them were having doubts, but she had planned for this from the start. She knew that the train station was not defensible by any means, but she had a way to make it defensible. "Remember soldiers, we only need to hold them until the train arrives! I have a special weapon on board that train which will let us more easily defend this station! Hold only for 10 minutes!"

Unfortunately, 10 minutes was quite a while when you're talking about a horde of griffons. But the lunar goddess was confident they could hold off this wave long enough. Hopefully...

It wasn't long until the horde of griffons broke through. Only around 1,200 of them were left, with nearly half of their forces being obliterated by the unicorns before they even got a chance to fight. Despite this, the griffons were not deterred and rushed headlong into the awaiting force of Equestrians.

Before they could even get close to the entrance, the griffons had to deal with the pegasi waiting for them in the air. The pegasi made sure to cover the area above the entrance where the earth ponies couldn't reach. The fighting in the air was chaotic and bloody, with not much strategy going on at the moment. In such a sudden clash, lines in the air were formed, broken and reformed in a moments notice.

A few hundred griffons broke away and took the fight to the earth ponies on the ground. The unicorns, their biggest problem, were hiding behind those earth ponies... So they had to get rid of them first.

For now, Luna lent her support to the pegasi in the air, swatting aside any griffon that got too close much like a toddler would to a toy. Their shattered bodies fell to the ground, dead from her shield bashes and stabs long before they hit the ground.

Wylfen Shepard
Cassian manages to get the group of survivors back to the train station right before the horde of griffons hits. The gravely injured soldiers among them were sent inside for healing or transportation out if necessary, as were the civilians. Any other soldiers who didn't had life threatening injuries were forced to go back outside and help against the swarming griffons.

Dumbledoof
Assailant
Cyan Hide
Latios
The heroes magical assault, combined with the hundreds of ordinary unicorns also firing small spells at the griffons, worked wonders. They were extremely vulnerable to magic while high up in the air and they were killed by the dozen. However, it wasn't enough to outright kill the 2,000.

Dumbledoof
Cyan Hide
Expellix's healing magics were in high demand right now. Everywhere he turned, soldiers were begging for help. Some were missing legs, some had eyes torn out, others had been clawed across the throat... It was a grim scene. These 'survivors' might not even want to live anymore, but the Equestrian military would do its best to get these soldiers home. And the civilians as well.

Trixie just watched Starlight teleport away with a sigh. She wanted to send a telepathic message out to scream at the mare, but decided against it in case she distracted the mare. Instead, she turned to see a friendly face amidst the chaos. "Expellix!" She called out while making her way over to him. The cyan mare stopped beside him and her lightning-sheathed katana sliced upwards, taking the head off a griffon which was dive bombing the two of them. "It's been a while!" She laughed out as the griffon fell dead beside them.

Assailant
At this point, everyone was far too busy to say anything about an earth pony casting magic. Their spells helped immensely to protect the soldiers on the front lines from being dive-bombed too often. However, there were too many griffons for spells alone to combat no matter how useful spells were against these airborne foes.

Latios
The griffons were now crowding around the building and if Galagus wanted to use his flamethrower tactics, he could. He'd just have to be careful not to burn any comrades.

Anonmare
"Of course not!" Lucian retorted with a grin on his lips. "Besides, that'd mean we'd miss all the fun. Do you really want to miss this? Come on, lets go to the front. Stay behind me." Lucian said before leading the two of them out of the building and towards the front where the griffons were dive-bombing earth ponies. Four griffons quickly descended on the two of them, although the first qucikly found his leg missing by a swipe of Lucian's greatsword. He swung for the second griffon but it managed to evade and clawed in on the cheek ever-so-slightly.

----------------------------
Anonmare Cyan Hide Dumbledoof NevermoreStarsign Wylfen Shepard Sinensis Latios
One griffon in the sky made the mistake of getting far too close to Princess Luna. She promptly grabbed him, tore his wings off, and laughed as his screaming body fell 70 feet down onto the ground with a crunch. She looked back at the approaching train and barked out her next orders. "All non-evacuee personnel inside the train station, get out now! Only ponies boarding the train may stay inside! Unicorns form a defensive line around the station, earth and crystal ponies in front of them! Pegasi, cover them from the air!"

The train arrived. It was a thing of beauty. On top of this war-train was a rotating cannon of sorts, which was operated by a crew of 10 unicorns. 2 unicorns would turn the thing, and 8 more would channel magic into its crystals. When overloaded the cannon would fire off an energy beam. It did this just before it arrived, incinerating more than 70 griffons who had been waiting in the air for it.

The train had 3 of these cannons on it, along with several net throwers just in case the griffons got too close. The cannon fired once every 30 seconds.

The train docked, and the doors opened....

And Shining Armor walked out. There was Princess Luna's plan.

She personally went down to greet him and led him into the building. Once all personnel were evacuated, Shining Armor called upon his signature magic and constructed a massive shield. It completely covered the train station and the front half of the train, where passengers loaded in. As long as evacuees were under this shield, they were safe.

But stress upon the shield could break it. So the goal wasn't really to protect the evacuees right now; it was to protect the shield so that it wouldn't break. The more pressure put on it, the harder it was for Shining Armor to maintain.

The griffons understood that. They were doing everything in their power to dive-bomb the shield, some even slamming into it so hard that they died.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Expellix kept firing dark bolts of magic at the griffons until he was sure that he was no longer needed. Of course, he was needed nearly everywhere at the moment; soldiers crying and screaming in pain was the musical cacophony that he was growing increasingly used to. In fact, he was actually tuning it out at this point and focusing on the sounds that were more important. Those being the dying screams of Equestrian soldiers.

He almost literally flew through the battlefield to those who needed his aid at the moment. He hopped between the legs of others or along the backs of them, using his new perches to launch him up and over, though wary and careful of the unicorns' magic. He dared not try teleporting for the simple fact that there was too much chaos; it would certainly help nobody if he accidentally 'ported INTO somebody. He did not want to experience two becoming one, as he was sure no one else did, either.

He was in the middle of healing a soldier whose leg had been taken off. He couldn't replace it, especially not here, but he could at least close the wound for now, whatever good that would do. He paused, managing to keep up the process even when his attention was divided to Trixie ( Dreamweaver ).

"Hello," he managed wearily. When the process was finished, he ushered the soldier back to the train station or to rejoin the fight from a safe point. He did not care which one. He turned, scanning the battlefield for a moment. Soon, his arm started pulsing his black energy, completely masking it as he thrust his paw onto the ground. As soon as he did, a trail of shadows began racing along the ground, jagged, razor sharp black spikes shooting up from it at any griffon that was nearby, eventually spearing the griffon that Lucian ( Anonmare ) had missed, barely missing him in the process. All in all, it took out nearly twenty in its path. The entire spell evaporated in a few moments, leaving behind the corpses.

He turned to Trixie completely now, eyeing her sword and pouting. "I could really use a blade right now. I need something bunny-sized." He hopped up onto her back to get a better viewpoint... and to also dodge a pony that nearly trampled him. "It certainly has been a while, though! Enjoying the pleasant destruction of life around us? I hear its quite something!" He joked.

 

[Assailant]

As the giant shield went up over the station, Arc paused. He turned around and saw Shining Armor casting the spell. He frowned.

"The fuck's that show off?" He yelled in frustration. Silver jabbed him.

"Not now. We've got a job to do." Arc grumbled and cast his rune circle. Over Shining's shield, another shield rose up. Much like Shining's shield, it would break under too much pressure. The upside is that Arc didn't have to constantly maintain the shield... of course, if he wanted to repair it, he would have to pour magic into it, but it would last for a little bit without him putting magic into it. Arc grinned as the shield rose up.

"How'd you like that?" He yelled, this time not directed at Shining but more just a general yell. Silver rolled his eyes.

"Yes, we're all very impressed with you." Arc frowned.

"Yeah? Well... you should be." Silver just ran off to help with the process in any way he could while Arc nodded. "Right. Yeah." He stood over his casting rune, ready to reinforce his shield when it looked ready to break.

 

[Wylfen Shepard]

Dreamweaver
Cassian manages to get the group of survivors to safety. The injured were quickly taken inside while those whole can still fight stayed outside the station, which he did as well. Even though, this was a chance for him to escape, the young dragon had already made his choice to stay at right. As soon as the injured Pegasus he was carrying was taken off his shoulder, Cass was immediately greet with several spearing pointing at his face. This made him flinch as he raised his hands up. "Uh oh", he muttered.

"HALT! WHO ARE YOU?!", one of the guards shouted at him.

"Wait! This guy helped us!", one of the soldiers he helped called out.

"Were not taking any risks! How do we know he's not working for the enemy?!", the guard shouted back while keeping the tip of the spear at Cassian's throat. The rest of the group looked at each other with uncertainty after hearing that argument. After all, his appearance was already suspicious as it is. And appearing in the middle of a war would defiantly raise some questions 'Ugh.....I should have seen this coming -.- ' ', Cass thinks to himself while keeping his hands up.

Suddenly that authoritative voice echoed new other for all non- evacuee personnel to fall in position as the train finally arrives. Unfortunately, a huge hoard of at least 1200 Griffons began to flock in as they prepared to dive in and attack.

"I think you have more important things to worry about", Cassian exclaims as he gestures toward the incoming enemy flocking. The guard growls as he and the group reluctantly retracted their weapons and gallop over to the lines. To their surprise, the hooded Dragon followed them. He stood along side the earth ponies and crystal ponies as he reached for the long bandaged object on his back.

"What do you think your doing?", the same earth pony guard asked through his teeth.

"What do you think? I'm joining in.", Cassian says without a tone of concern as he brings up the long object by the handle, reaching for the buckle that's holding the bandaging together.

The guard couldn't help but snort in mild amusement, seeing how foolish this mysterious figure was being. "Hmph! Its your funeral, kid. Even if you survive, this won't change anything.", the guard states at him in a seriously low tone. But Cassian merely answers back nonchalantly before unbuckling the object," Whatever....."

The moment the buckle unhinged, it makes a loud snap following up with a soft whirling sound from the bandages flying off like chains unleashing a beast from its bindings. The bandages flew away into the wind to reveal underneath was a long thick sword the size of a full grown stallion. The blade was nearly over four feet long with a width that could almost make it look like a piece of rail road track. It was clearly thickened from many hours of smelting and tempering various type of dense ores, which would make quite heavy. The weight of the blade says it all from the way the cross-guard was fashioned. It was made of metal as well and bolted down tightly to support the assembly and balance of the entire weapon. Below the long handle that was designed to be held with two hands, was a large blunt pommel made in the same fashion as the cross-guard. And along the entire blade on both sides were teal runes made of some form of gem ore engraved into the weapon, which wasn't very easy unless you were a skilled craftsman. Overall, the weapon may have a simple design, it was well-made and perfect for combat. The only question is, can it be wielded?

"Sweet Celestia....", he guard's demeanor was blown away in surprise by the sight of the weapon the stranger was wielding. If only circumstances weren't so dire, Cass would give the soldier a 'shit eating' grin after taking that crap from the earth pony.



Cassian stood there staring down at the incoming flock of griffons with very little uncertainty in his jade reptilian eyes and more determination. On guard with both claws holding his sword in a tight grip, he was ready to test out his project. 'Well, I guess now is a good time as any. I didn't think I'd field test it in a war.', he comment to himself in thought.

Once the first griffon was close in range, Cass made the first move. The griffon charged from the ground ready to leap up and thrust it's spear. Cassian quickly charges and leaps in swinging the sword down on its shoulder. Right as he passes by, the griffon's entire arm up to the should flies clean off it's torso with spear still in hand. It took a few seconds for the griffon to realize it's appendage before it was shaking violently on the ground in shock and pain. The next griffon came diving in from the air, aiming it's spear at the hooded dragon's head. After his last swing, he sees the attack and takes a step forward in a twist of his body. In that motion, he dodges the spear's tip and brings up the sword upward in a sideways swipe. He makes a deep blood splatting slice in the griffon's side, causing the griffon to bleed out before it's body hit the ground in a limp tumble. Both of those strike were quick and well coordinated. However....

"Nrgh....smooth as silk. But still a but too heavy.", he says to himself, bring the blade back on guard to see more enemies coming. "Oh well. Better get used to it", he commented before leaping into the fray of battle once more. During the brawl, he took a few cuts and scratches, but was maintaining very well so far. "Wow, that's gotta be the biggest force field spell I've ever seen", he said when a magenta dome appeared around the station. As powerful as it was, those griffon's divebombing into the field weren't gonna make it last very long.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

When Starlight heard the Princess' announcement, she teleported back to the safety of friendly lines, and looked around for Trixie. Starlight was panting and sweating, and she sat down near the train station walls. "I need a minute to recharge, How're you doing?" she asked her friend.

Then the train arrived, and with it, both heavy firepower, and a shield. This was very good news to her. The others would hold until she had rested, and then she'd be good to go for a second volley, but this time, she'd stay here and fire spells at the Griffins; a much more effient use of her magic. She couldn't afford to get tired again. The griffins were already dive bombing the shield, trying to weaken it with everything they had. The stress was on to recover as fast as possible.

 

[Sinensis]

Tech grumbled to himself as he saw the griffons immediately going for the train station and injured ponies. It was pretty hard to believe the two races had been on talking terms not even a month ago, now it was full on war. Shaking off those thoughts, he'd get to work, focusing on the griffons in the air, shooting concussive blasts towards the wing area in the hopes to knock them down for the earth ponies to deal with, rather than giving them the straight shot to the shield. All the small hits will eventually add up, and there is only so much it can take. Of course, he was using the strongest spell he could without using too much energy. He had a limited source, after all, and he didn't want to run out in a warzone. For now he just focused on trying to hit as may of them in the air as possible to stop them from getting to the shield.