The Second Griffon War (Main Thread)

Anonmare

When the preparations for battle had begun, Gunnolf had donned his armor. It was quite easy to wear for him, considering that it was extremely light. He was strong enough to carry much more than this without noticing it very much. On the plus side as well, it didn't hinder his movement as much as he thought. He didn't doubt Luna's ability to smith things, not that anybody ever should. She had created a masterpiece of armor for him. He was quite ready to join the fight.

It had taken multiple ponies just to suit him up, considering his size and thus the size of the armor. It was light for him, heavy for them. It was made out of ironwood and a thin layer of lunar steel over the top of it. It provided great defense without overloading him in the slightest. The plates covered the front of his forelegs and his chest, protecting them from frontal attacks. Getting past his fangs and claws would be difficult for most griffons. Even if they did, he was more resilient to attacks than normal, though not quite so much as to be impregnable to them. Due to a lack of a mane, he wore a simple helmet, leading into plated armor on his back.

Very light pieces of armor were placed over the top of his tail. Being made of lunar steel made them quite durable still. His paws also have shoes on them, which he found to be the single most uncomfortable thing to wear. It's far easier to craft shoes for a pony than him. It only protected the bottom of his paws, strapped simple to the top of his paw and ankle. It would really suck if he stepped on some broken metal or splinters and was stuck with an arrow shaft in his paw for the rest of the time, not to mention dangerous. They didn't hinder his claws much, which were sharp and ready for tearing.

He sat at his position, staring into the tunnel and his ears pricked, alert for even the smallest sounds. He was easily one of the biggest things there, if not the largest. Nobody wanted to face off against a giant feral wolf looking for blood.

Station 3

Cyan Hide

Expellix had chosen his station to be at third train station. He wore nothing except for the bandages still wrapped around his torso slightly, the necklace that Luna had given him transformed into a choker around his neck. Having a necklace hanging around loosely would be detrimental to him in a fight, not to mention it could fly off. It was a gold band wrapped around his neck, a small sapphire stone set into the middle of it on the front, a tiny glow coming from it. This was one of Luna's gifts when he became her apprentice, and probably one of the more useful ones. The second he got was a weapon.

It was a simple dagger, enchanted with cold. It gave off a faint aura and was sheathed at his hip. It was a dagger for ponies, but it might as well have been a full-fledged sword for him. To be honest, the purpose of it was getting into the weak points of armor, which would not be difficult at all considering how shoddy the griffon army's gear is. He was small and fast enough to be able to easily get past defenses, cut somebody's throat wide open, and then escape back to safety before the rest of them really knew what had happened. He was by no means a master of the weapon but he was learning with the help of Luna.

Not only that, but his magic had improved by an impressive degree. He hadn't gotten any more powerful, sure, but he did get something even better; the training helped him manage his magical abilities better. Being able to cast without using quite so much of his stamina was amazing. There weren't any stronger than him magically on the field save the Princesses themselves. That was a feat in itself.

He hung around near the back with the other unicorns, on a high vantage point so he could survey the fight.

Between Stations

Starstreak, on the other hand, was busy at work in a place they had designated for her to do what she does best; engineer. Her skills on their own earned her a reputation among those of science as somebody who was literally able to make anything related to engineering. You gave her a general idea of what you wanted, she'd get it for you. Tinkering was her specialty. The only guidelines she had at the moment was just to make sure nothing exploded. Easy!

She glanced around her workstation. Currently, she was working on one of the flintlock guns that had been brought to her at her request. There was something missing...

She turned around. "Where the buck is my arcane amplifier and crystal!? I asked for that like five minutes ago!" She yelled.

The other ponies, those who were acting as assistants, jumped and one or two began scrambling to get what she asked for. She sighed and shook her head, turning back to her station and putting her goggles back over her eyes, resuming work.

Assailant · Jul 31, 2017

Between Stations

Nurse Redheart groaned as she heard the yelling. She was... tense, to say the least. Her home had just been destroyed, and it wasn't out of the question to say that she was a little on edge.

As a result, when Starstreak yelled for her crystals, Redheart turned to her with a bit of a glare. "Excuse me, inquiry from a lowly nurse," she said in annoyance. "Isn't this supposed to be a medical facility? Why are you crafting weapons here?!"

Dumbledoof · Jul 31, 2017

Between Stations

Starstreak turned away from her once more, shutting off the soldering she was doing. She gave Nurse Redheaet a withering look for a moment, but then it changed into a surprised one. She tilted her head, and then pointed back behind Redheart. "... Hospital is back that way." She said politely. "This area has been designated for weapons creation and development. For obvious reasons, I'm sure. On a side, I work some of the more specialized equipment."

Assailant · Jul 31, 2017

Between Stations

Redheart frowned. "Then why have I..." she thought for a few moments. "Weapons R&D?" She thought on that. "I was assigned for workplace accidents," she said in a resigned sigh. "Poor briefings." She rubbed her temple with her hoof and groaned. "Apologies for yelling, I'm just... stressed out. Not used to war."

Dumbledoof · Jul 31, 2017

Between Stations

Assailant

Star gave a nod of understanding. "I do know what you mean. I'm usually given very vague descriptions of things people want built and then am left to figure out how to do it. Not very fun." She scratched the back of her head with her talons. "I'm Starstreak, chief engineer. I work directly under Princess Luna. And don't worry about it, it's understandable to be stressed out. I am, too, I'm just really good at dealing with it."

Wylfen Shepard · Aug 1, 2017

Cyan Hide

Station 3:

At first the young dragon thought of aiding Princess Luna and the others positioned on Station 1. But knowing full well that Princess Luna has made a full recovery and is aiding by more powerful fighters by her side, he decided to dish out some battle tactics of his own. His concerns were now directed at the guards at the other stations and decided to aid the front lines in Station three to balance out forces of power to keep the enemy at bay.

While also helping to keep the flow of battle stacked against the enemy, he can also use this as an opportunity to make use of his newfound abilities and strengths to keep himself moving in case the other stations need aid. During his stay in Canterlot, he gave more time in preparing for the next fight against the Griffons rather than sightseeing. For the past three weeks, he's been sharpening his new skills and breaking in his newly agile and maneuverable body thanks to the Sacred Tree. And any other free time of rest went to aiding and helping the sick and injured to speed thier recovery for the battle. He made time to go out and gather herbs and resources on quick raid outside the city with being detected. While there have been one or two scuffles with some Griffon scouts, he always came back in one piece with plenty of spoils.

Thanks to his aiding efforts, a good portion of the guards and refugees have grown to trust the young dragon little by little. And that's not including all the moments of friendly sparring matches with the soldiers and letting the foals play with his tail, which he didn't mind much.

Now he makes his way to the front lines of Station 3 with his sword which he now named Iron Cloud, his bow, a quiver full of arrows and his handy tool to widen his field of battle the Hook Shot. He decided to leave his coat behind, since there was no need to wear it anymore now that the ponies have seen his face. And there's also the fact that this fight will be a messy one, so he need nothing holding him back. Walking toward his position, he still received wary glares from the guards. But there were others who were smirking in delight that thier tall scaly comrade will be fighting by thier side.

Avedon · Aug 2, 2017

Dreamweaver
Avedon found himself once more on the battlefield, a dire situation for others but a pleasant boon for him. There was no longer any need for caution or chains of command. He always thrived leading from the front and now, there was no excuse keeping him from it. If Canterlot was breached, Equestria would fall. As simple as that. He trusted the orders he had set and his sub-commanders. Now, he simply enjoyed a cup of tea as he awaited his reinforcements

Cyan Hide · Aug 2, 2017

Assailant

"Oh," replied Arcus. "Carry on, then, but you two should really get into ranks once you're finished. The fighting could start any second."

The mare saluted back to Silver, and to Arc, when it dawned on her that Arc didn't salute or address her as sir. Not that Arcus really wanted to be saluted and called sir, but she did believe that you should treat Officers with that level of respect. One day, she would actually get used to being an Officer. This was what she had always wanted, after all.

"What's your name, Unicorn?" she commanded instead of asked.

MegMath13 · Aug 2, 2017

Between Stations:

Dumbledoof
Raindrop had figured that this was going to be a bad idea but she couldn't pretend not to care about the city. She had grown up here even if the Pony that hatched her wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't like confrontation and looking around she spotted Nurse Redheart and Starstreak. Maybe even though she wasn't suppose to be here they would let he help them. "N-Nurse Redheart, Starstreak, is there anything I can do to help?" Came the voice of the small dragon.

Sinensis · Aug 2, 2017

Station 2

Cyan Hide ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

With the large amount of guards at the standby for the incoming battle, It would be pretty hard to stand out, especially as each and every pony was preparing in their own way, talking, you name it. Sitting at one of the walls of the entrance, however, was a peculiar, robotic blue pony, mostly trying to avoid any strange glares or questions, getting ready for what was coming.

Tech was repairing his side from the previous battle he had been in, using a welding torch of fill in and smooth over the large scrape. Of course, this didn't exactly stay flush, but it would work to thicken the weaker part of his chassis that had been struck before. As well as focusing most of his attention on this, he also made sure to look up every now and then to see what ponies around him were doing or if anyone was approaching. Glancing up, he saw a few familiar unicorns he had assisted before, a blue and a pink one, but he chose to ignore them in favor of finishing repairs on time. He kept a mental note of where they were so he could talk to them once he was done, if they didn't notice him.

Dreamweaver · Aug 2, 2017

Princess Celestia

NevermoreStarsign @Taykillz
Princess Celestia at the moment was not present, but also wasn't simply doing nothing. She was up in Canterlot, making sure that every building had been evacuated. Although Canterlot city should have been evacuated days ago, the fact was that some ponies would rather not leave their homes and had to be forced out. Princess Celestia and a large group of guards were making sure that no such ponies had stayed behind.

All ponies had been evacuated out of the city, and into the mountain. Near the very top of Mt. Canterlot was a safe haven for ponies, complete with food, water, and bed rolls for sleeping. It was where the civilian populace was expected to wait, and could fit hundreds of thousands of ponies in its massive chambers. It was a mountain after all.

Princess Celestia would appear later. For now, Princess Luna was the armies only leader.

And just like every other battle; the fighting wouldn't begin until Princess Celestia lifted the Sun into the sky.

Station 1:

Latios
Along with station 1 was Princess Luna, Avedon, Gunnolf and maybe 50 other special forces troops. So in total the 54 of them would be holding this station. Considering Gunnolf was a 20 foot tall (or more) wolf... Galagus should probably make sure he didn't accidentally burn him.

Station 1:

Latios
Princess Luna, Gunnolf, Avedon and Galagus all sat watching out of the cave. While Avedon drank tea, Luna was chugging wine like it was candy and tossing the empty bottles out into the darkness to see if she could hit anything. Every single time it was just a resounding smash of glass and no cries of pain from any griffons. Disappointing really.

With the sun not yet up, that meant her night vision was active and she could see perfectly out into the darkness. "I keep missing my throws..." She mutters to anypony who might be listening. "They're out there, I see them, but I just can't seem to actually hit one with a bottle..."

That's when the bottle came flying back and hit Avedon's cup of tea. Now the griffons will truly pay...

Station 2:

Cyan Hide

Sinensis
Trixie absolutely didn't see Starlight's gesture or spare a glance at her, nor did she notice Tech in the crowd. She was to busy being annoyed by some stallion who was hitting on her. The prick!
----
Lucian, however, was right beside Applejack. The two had met and talked for quite some time at Luna and Celestia's wedding, so it was nice to see a friendly face! Adali wasn't beside him, instead being in the unicorn rows. Lucian was a unicorn too, but he was also a paladin and stronger than most earth ponies. His place was on the front lines. "Hey, don't worry too much. At worst you die slowly but eventually the pain passes, at best you live! There's a nice grey area in there for 'not much suffering at all while you die'." He said to both Applejack, and the mare she was trying to calm down.

Station 3:

Cyan Hide
For the first time ever, Arcus and Aurelia would actually be fighting side by side rather than just talking about it. Upon hearing Arcus' voice over the murmurs of nervous Equestrian's, Aurelia looked back and waved at her. There wasn't much else she could do, considering Aurelia was on the front lines. The front lines were almost entirely made up of night guards, and that included her. They were the most highly trained after all.

... It was about at this time that one of Aurelia's superiors came over and ordered her to change positions. He wanted her over with Starstreak (

Dumbledoof ) for 'protection purposes' as he put it. Though she knew the truth; there were maybe 12,000 bat ponies left in the world and they didn't want to lose more of that race.

With a salute to Arcus and a frown, the pat ponies made her way over to Starstreak.
....

Wylfen Shepard
With Aurelia gone, that left Arcus, Silver, Arc and Cassian as the only 'heroes' left to defend Station 3. Surely they'd be able to handle it! Soon the Sun would be rising, and the war would begin in earnest once again.

Between Stations:

MegMath13
"Looks like I'm here now. Dead bat ponies are bad news, I guess. I'll be... Hanging around if anypony needs something stabbed. Stabbing is sort of my profession." And with that, she looked down at the newly arrived tiny dragon and arched an eyebrow. She opted to not ask the baby dragon if she was good at stabbing things, and instead motioned towards Redheart. "Do you think you could find a use for a small dragon in your medical dealings, Redheart? I'm sure an extra pair of hands never hurt."

Elsewhere:

Cyan Hide
The most crucial elements of this fight were currently inside of Canterlot Castle. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor.

It was their shielding that would keep the fight on the ground. As long as those shields were up, no griffin or dragon could possibly break into Canterlot city. By himself, Shining Armor had been able to mostly protect the ponies at Ponyville. With Cadence's considerably stronger magic complimenting his own, the two of them should easily be able to keep up these shields indefinitely...

There were about 15 night guards all around them for protection, just in case something did happen.

Assailant · Aug 2, 2017

Between Stations:

Redheart nodded. "Yes, a helper would be great. I anticipate a large number of wounded, so any aid I can get is great." This wasn't the official medical station, of course, but she very much anticipated some ponies being wounded and not having time to get to the medical station, so taking the next best thing and coming here. Plus, as they spoke, this camp was trying to craft advanced weaponry, which could easily go wrong. She had all of her medical supplies set up, so it was only a matter of time.

Latios · Aug 2, 2017

Galagus's ears perked up as he herd the bottle return. He had been laying on the ground alone just listening to Luna toss several bottles into the cave for several hours now and he was actually finding it soothing. The rhythmic clanging was definitely kept his mind off things. However once the rhythm was broken he was quite suprising. His head lifted from the ground with a jolt as he tried to hear just what happened. When he couldn't he quickly let out a loud whistle calling in Flax who was circling around in the sky. Even with Flax's eyes he couldn't see what was in the cave. But there was definitely something so he took the time to use Flax to gather a flame to prepare for what lay in the dark.

Dumbledoof · Aug 2, 2017

Station 1

Latios

Gunnolf sat silently next to Luna, watching her chug the wine and then hurling the bottles into the darkness. Like her, he had his own night vision. It might not be quite up to par as her own but it was well enough that he would have been able to see just fine into the darkness as well. That's the main reason he was simply staring at them, particularly any that decided to make eye contact with him. Every time, they eventually looked away when he caught them in a staring contest. It both amused him and made them nervous.

"Might I suggest aiming for the wall?" He wondered out loud to Luna. "Perhaps the glass shards could ricochet and hit one. A nicked ear is better than nothing at all."

Station 3

Cyan Hide

Expellix continued sitting. Actually, he continued sitting and scratched his ear.

Between Stations

MegMath13

Assailant

Starstreak turned her head in the direction of the little dragon, opened her mouth to say something, and then saw Aurelia. She only gave a tiny smile and leaned over to give her a light nuzzle when she was close enough. "Hello, Aurelia. Welcome to my cobbled workshop." She said.

At this point, one of the assistants finally came with what she asked for. "Arcane crystal and amplifier, Chief Starstreak?" They asked.

She gave a quick nod and took them carefully. "Thank you," she said, trying to keep the exasperation from her voice. Really, they were trying. "You can go back to your other duties now."

Starstreak turned back to her work table, intent on turning this flintlock rifle into a laser gun. "I don't have any need of an assistant myself besides getting supplies. No offense, but I wouldn't trust any of you to deal with this kind of thing I'm trying to do. Very dangerous work. High chance that this will explode in my face."

Assailant · Aug 2, 2017

Redheart turned back to Starstreak. "I figured," she said with a coy smile. "That's probably why I'm here, after all."

Wylfen Shepard · Aug 3, 2017

Cyan Hide

Assailant

Only the sound of silence and nervous murmuring of equestrian soldiers were in the air. And just below the mountain, hordes of griffins were soon to be upon them. While some were afraid, a few others hardly had any fear left to worry about death. One of those fearless souls was the Dragon Cassian. Waiting to prepare to get in position, the young dragon decides to take the moment as opportunity to sharpen his sword, Iron Cloud. Leaning against the wall on his haunches, he makes delicate yet firm strokes, grinding the whetstone down the edge of the blade. "Man....barely even a month in this land and I'm already caught up in some deep shit", he silently chuckles to himself. While working on his blade, he took the moment to let his eyes wonder to see a few familiar faces he might know. Much to his delight, there were quite a few bat ponies around, which fascinated him since he was a hatching. He always wanted to meet one but he never thought he'd be fighting along side them in a war. Among them was one of higher command known as Aureila. He recalled Princess Luna mentioning her once. And that she was one of the night guard's top fighters. Unfortunately she already left to take care of a few things. "Huh, maybe next time", he thought to himself, hoping he'd have a chance to ask her about her face once this battle is over. Then there were a few colt's from the right in Ponyville. Arcus and Silver. "Huh, quite a small world", he commented upon seeing them.

Avedon · Aug 4, 2017

Dreamweaver
Avedon was enjoying the quiet before the storm. Sitting right next to the blue princess with what passed for a happy smile for him. The air was heavy, like a brewing storm.

"Well Luna, maybe if you learned some calm and patience. There's no point in poking at them now. We'll all be face to face soon enough as warriors. Let them think of home now on the eve of the storm...Many of ours, and certainly most of them will never make it back to have anything more than those memories. We can fight, we can even kill without being crass or-"

The bottle crashed into Avedon's right hoof hoof, shattering the cup of tea and splattering his commissarial coat with its contents. As his hoof recoiled from the blow it fell into his coat and instantly drew out a pistol before all the shards of the glass bottle had even hit the floor. His shoulder locked in perfect matching trajectory to where the bottle had come from. Crack. The violent light held nothing compared to the gleam of rage in his golden eyes.

"You filthy half-bred mongrel birds! I'll split each of you open until every drop you're spilt on my coat is matched by blood from your torn carcasses! I hope you all have children because when I'm done running your bodies into the ocean I'll be personally scouring your homeland to find them, gut them, and stuff them full of their father's feathers to make a cute little griffon plush for my daughter!!!"

Theeeere was the Avedon Luna knew and loved....He sat back down and began reloading his first pistol. Tail snapped in the air behind him as one of his men came to prepare another cup for him

Dreamweaver · Aug 4, 2017

Latios
Station 1
Judging by the scream off in the distant, it was fair to say that Avedon's shot had found its mark. And what a shot it was! Considering the horrible range and inaccuracy of these flintlock pistols, it was incredible that he managed to actually hit something. What skill! Or luck. Or both.

... Probably both!

Just as Luna was about to comment on that, she went silent. She seemed to be elsewhere at the moment, listening to someone speaking although none of the assembled soldiers could hear anything. A brief moment later she snapped back to reality and nodded. Playtime was over, which was evident as a flash of her horn teleported the shards of glass and wine bottles out of the cave.

"Prepare yourselves. The Sun will be rising in just a few moments." She spoke while her horn lit up again, much brighter this time to the point that it was blinding, and the Moon began to set. From the other side of the horizon, the Sun began to climb...

MegMath13
Between Stations
Seeing as how Starstreak had basically told her assistants to fuck off, Aurelia saw now as a good opportunity to get her hooves dirty. She came up close both the hippogriff and the doctor, wearing her usual black leather uniform and with her daggers strapped to her sides, and nodded towards the equipment assembled here. "I'll help with anything. Although, Redheart, I'll have more use for you. I've stitched a large number of wounds in my time so I can help relieve some of the pressure on you. Expect... A lot of patients."

The Battle for Canterlot

Sinensis
It was at this point that the Sun began to creep over the horizon. With the first rays of sunlight hitting the land, both armies once again went silent. The Griffons silence, however, felt nervous. The realization that they had to capture a mountain was devastating, especially when the Equestrian's had been putting up such an amazing defense already without a stronghold.

The Equestrian's were just confident. They were confident that they could hold this position. Most of the Griffons dragon allies had been killed in the Ponyville battle, and there should be no issues with holding the Griffons here. The Griffons also didn't have much supplies, which helped the ponies immensely. They'd only have to hold them for a few weeks at most. The Griffon King foolishly expected this mountain captured quickly.

The silence in the air lasted for only a moment, before the war cry of 700,000 Griffons filled the air, followed shortly thereafter by 400,000 Equestrian's.

The Griffons charge was meant by a wall of finely crafted Equestrian shields. There was a resounding crash as the Griffons ran into the wall, pushing the Equestrian's back for several feet in a loud clamor of clashing metal. And then dead silence rung out for a brief second, and the Earth Ponies in the front ranks threw their shields up and launched the assaulting Griffons back with their superior strength. Dozens of Griffons died at each entrance during that initial clash... With not a single lost Equestian.

Latios
Station 1
Things were slightly different at Station 1....

Mainly because there was, at most, 100 soldiers here. Gunnolf took up pretty much 3/4 of the cave, leaving Luna, Avedon to hold the rest of the entrance with support casters and fighters behind them. The wave of griffons that hit them was just as large, although with those three there the Griffons didn't manage to push them back even a foot.

After the initial clash at Station 1, the group would finally be able to see their enemies and look them in the eye. There was about 50 griffons in each rank, leading back for as far as the eye could see.

Dumbledoof · Aug 4, 2017

Station 1

Latios

With the battle cries of the Equestrians, Gunnolf released a bellowing howl with them. He turned his head to the sky momentarily, letting it ring out for a few moments before he snapped his head back down. The griffon army was charging at them, he could see that clearly. They were all so tiny compared to him that he was amused. The arrows and spears would probably be what he needed to watch out for the most.

With that in mind, he stood resolutely as they charged at him. As soon as one was close enough, Gunnolf lashed out with one of his paws and smashed the first couple griffons in the line back. It was a broad swing and it didn't hit them all, but the first couple griffons were sent flying into the walls of the cave, or were caught by his claws and probably received a nasty gash from it. He'd spent all day sharpening them for this occasion; not too much, mind you, but they were honed appropriately for hitting targets so small. If they kept trying to move forward, they would be met with another broad sweep of his paws and if they didn't dodge this one, would also meet the same fate as the ones before.

There was a tinge of excitement in Gunnolf's eyes now, though. He'd been complaining about not having anything to do... he'd finally gotten his wish. He almost felt like he was back in the Everfree Forest, the adrenaline rushing through his body as he defended himself from whatever creature attacked him. It happened extremely often and he won most of his fights or escaped when the odds were too much. They reminded him of the prey he would hunt. His blood was churning and his senses were alive.

This was going to be fun.

Station 3

Cyan Hide

With the charging of the griffons, Expellix stood up from his vantage point and surveyed for a moment. Now his night vision wasn't that particularly great compared to some others, but he still had it. He could faintly see the griffons coming, only to smash into the Equestrian front lines. They held resolutely. He didn't cast at the moment because he didn't want to accidentally have some friendly fire, but when the Earth ponies threw the griffons back, now was the time.

He focused his magic, dark energy building in him. He channeled it through his paw, an black orb of magic coalescing and growing larger quickly. Once he deemed it was at a respectable level of energy, he hurled it at the griffons. It hit one of them directly in the face, and then turned into electricity and arced from that target like a conduit, electrifying the griffons there. The first griffon hit died on impact, while the few others that were hit by the initial burst of electricity were electrocuted to death as well. However, as it chained between a few more, it grew weaker until eventually it sputtered out. Regardless, a good amount of griffons were either just died, were badly burned, or suffered some annoying injuries to deal with now.

After that little fiasco, he began throwing quick dark balls at the griffons. These were just normal energy balls, nothing too fancy or special, but they did their job well. It would be like taking a hammer to the face by an Earth pony for them, which probably would not be pretty for anybody to get hit by. It probably was not particularly lethal, but it was something that you couldn't not take notice of when one hits you, especially due to their shoddy armor.

Between Stations

MegMath13

Starstreak was working quickly, attaching and moving the different gizmos and whats-its to the gun. "I don't think there's much you could do to help me, love," she said, glancing back at Aurelia. "Unfortunately, this isn't your area of expertise, you might hurt yourself. Like you just said, Redheart is going to need all the help she can get!"

She turned back to the gun. This was going to take a few minutes before she had this all situated correctly to try a test shot from this. If it worked, she would have just made Equestria's first laser rifle! If not, well... back to the drawing board. This was going to take quite some time to perfect if she predicted how this kind of technology would work correctly.

Cyan Hide · Aug 5, 2017

Dreamweaver

STATION 2:

Starlight made a mental note to track down whoever was hitting on Trixie after this was all over. That meeting would be one that stallion would never forget, and have nightmares about as he wore a constant strained fake smile in public to hide the ceaseless mental horror.

Speaking of horror, it was right about now the Griffins charged, and Starlight began to prepare herself to start casting. Once they clashed with the frontlines, she looked over to calculate her trajectory, and then cast a couple of fireballs to rain down onto the Griffins from above. With any luck, the fire will spread, what with the Griffins being so close together, and having feathers, which were very flammable.

---

"Well, ain't you sportin' a fine bedside manner," Applejack spat acidly at Lucian, but right that moment was when the Griffin lines charged. "We,," shouted the southern pony. "Time to nut up or shut up!"

Applejack didn't have a shield, so when the first Griffin approached her, she threw her empty hipflask at it's face, and while it was reeling from that, punched it so hard, she snapped it's neck. Grabbing the Griffin's body, she used that as a shield instead. A metal shield may be tougher material, but trying to cut through a corpse of your friend is still harder. When the rest of the Earth Ponies charged, AJ dropped the body and went out, all four hooves swinging. She got a few cuts and nicks but no Griffin she faced stayed alive/conscious for long enough to land a wounding blow.

STATION 3:

Arcus had sadly waved back at Aurelia. She knew how much it sucked being babied and left out of battles due to how 'valuable' the higher-ups thought you were. She returned to her ranks and awaited the arrival of the Griffins. She didn't have to wait long. Unfortunately, right now, the job of the Pegasi was simply to brace, and kill and Griffins that try flying over the top. Thankfully, the charge was already being repelled. That ought to hurt the morale a little, but they will come back. Arcus drew her sword and stayed at the ready.

Latios · Aug 5, 2017

With the large wolf being in the way of much of the cave, Galagus's was forced to use other tactics to take out the Griffion foes. A uncontrollable flame would cause lots of friendly fire so instead he was forced to focus his flames in steady bursts.

Avedon · Aug 9, 2017

Dreamweaver
Avedon set his cup down and stood up, eyes piercing into the darkness without hint of any emotion one way or the other. He spoke, not loudly, he had no need to. His voice resonating in the small cave to his men behind and beside him with a steely certainty in each word even as the sounds of the onrushing griffons grew louder and louder.
"Men. There's no time for speeches. Your commander and god fight with you. That should tell you all you need to know about our support of you, and the importance of this battle. You will not take a single step back before us."

He didn't pry his eyes from the front nor say anything else. But Luna'd know her commander was just waiting to fight beside her at her lead. The first think Avedon saw from the cave was a glint of steel, a spear aimed right for his throat by a well-armored shock-griffon. Avedon's sword flashed as swiftly as the griffon appeared, throwing a powerful upswing to his sword enough to pry the lance upwards above his head. He had to tilt his head to the left to keep it from impaling his hat, barely catching it with his ear around the rim! The griffon continued his charge, momentum carrying the massive beast with all the weight of his armor straight into Avedon. The air went out of the earth ponies lungs, the entire battle going silent for a single moment as he heard nothing but a quiet void where his bones strained and the force of his foe echoed again and again in his organs, lungs refusing to work. What air Avedon did have was poured into a primal war-cry, fighting through the charge as the griffosn beak snapped at Avedon's neck again and again. The collar and frills around it catching in its mouth constantly while Avedon';s hooves dug into the ground with support from the men behind him. Withstanding the charge he turned the momentum around on the shock-trooper and hoisted him up just enough to slip the muzzle of his pistol against the beasts chest-plate. CRACK! Barely audible in the class of the battle around him but the bullet pierced straight through and Avedon heaved the armored soldier back into his own troops with a powerful kick.

Avedon quickly glanced side to side to assess the situation up and down the line, a quick horizontal slash of his sword keeping the enemy directly infront of him at bay but to his left the situation was more dire. A griffon had broken through his allies defense and was aiming a killing blow. Avedon flipped his gun upside down and broke it in half against the griffon's temple, the soldiers eye rolling into its own socket. As his sword reached the end of its swing he took a large step forward from the line, bringing it into a thrust to surprise and pierce the throat of the griffon before him, while the dazed one on the left found his head grabbed by Avedon's now empty left hoof and pulled back with him as he stepped away from the thrust, personally shoving the beast's beak down on the fallen soldier's blade, the tip piercing out the back of it's head.

The fallen soldier rapidly began to pick himself up, shaked and dazed, not sure what had just happened or how he was alive. Avedon flashing him a small smile as the initial charge broke and battle liens began to properly form, turning back ahead of him.
"Good job lad, you killed that one. But that sword is Equestrian property. Rip it out of that damn chickens head or I'm have you flogged for losing it!"

Avedon turned to Luna. Now then, at last...

Assailant · Aug 9, 2017

Station 3

Silver was like a dancer, sliding around the Griffons and slaughtering them where he could. He moved quicker than many Earth ponies could, in truth due to his rune, dodging around their spears and swords, countering with swift, decisive blows, and stabbing between the chinks in their armor. Occasionally he would miss or falter but was quick to recover and fight on. "Arc! How's it coming?!"

"Funny you should mention that, it just finished." Arc put some chalk back into a saddle bag as he looked down at the rune circles he had made in the ground, not unlike back in Ponyville. He stepped a hoof back, forming spears of energy in the air as he launched three at three different griffons. One was caught unaware, being stabbed. He was not killed, but he was mortally wounded. He would succumb to his wounds regardless. The other two noticed and blocked the spears, and rushed Arc. Silver shouted a warning at him, but Arc was prepared. He leaned out of the way of their spears, nimbly avoiding them as the Griffons landed on the ground, missing their charge but prepared to keep up the offensive. However, before they could, Arc stepped onto another rune as it glowed with a red light. Tendrils of fire whipped out of the ground and grabbed at both of them, yanking them to the ground. They struggled and screamed under the burning but were kept to the ground, unable to escape. Arc nodded. "You all are much stronger than Shifters, but that makes you much slower and bigger targets." Soon, the screaming stopped as they perished, and Arc kicked them out of his circle of runes. "Easy."

Between Stations

Nurse Redheart had yet to receive any patients, but even so, she was making herself busy. She patrolled around camp, keeping an eye on things to see if anyone was breaking proper safety procedures. She also was showing her assistants the ropes, briefly explaining what each of the medical supplies was for and how to use them, as well as very rapidly going over pony anatomy and common battlefield wounds. It was incredibly rough, and most ponies would be horrified at the thought of operating with only the knowledge she was giving, but she hardly had a choice. A bad doctor was in some cases better than no doctor. These ponies would die without assistance, so anything is necessary.

Dreamweaver · Aug 9, 2017

Station 1

Avedon
Princess Luna was to Avedon's right, holding the front line beside him. She had thought about saying something to the soldiers assembled behind her, but in the end Avedon said it all well enough and she didn't have much to add. These soldiers were the best of the best, although nowhere near as good as Avedon and Luna herself, she knew that they didn't need a pep talk.

As the wave of griffons slammed into them Luna braced herself and, at the moment the first griffon was about to slam into her, lunged forward with a shoulder check to the heavily armored griffon. His armor collapsed under that blow and he was thrown back, taking out the next four griffons behind him. None of them died, but being hit with a 300 pound launched griffon certainly left them dazed.

With the initial charge easily broken by herself, Avedon and Gunnolf Luna drew her twin scimitars and engaged two of the griffons that were now charging her. The giant warhammer held by the griffon was easy for the nimble goddess to dodge; moving at just the last second to ensure that he over-swung, while retaliating with a dainty slash of her own. There was almost no power behind that swing, but there really didn't need to be. Her heavily enchanted blade cut through his armor at the armpit and straight upwards on an angle separating one half of his body from the other.

The second griffon met a far worse fate, as it managed to jump over its dead friend and tackle Luna almost to the ground. After a moment to get her bearings, Luna eventually got on top during the grapple and ended up tearing the griffons head from its shoulders with her hooves, before tossing it out to the griffons in front of them.

The next two griffons charged at Avedon, one wielding a greatsword and the other two daggers. The one with two daggers flapped its wings and launched itself at Avedon with a crazy bloodthirsty look in its eye, snapping its beak angrily as it sailed towards his neck.

Seeing as how Avedon broke one of his pistols, Luna took this time to pop another into existence and drop it on the ground in front of him! Pre-loaded, of course.

Dumbledoof
Gunnolf was wreaking havoc on the front line of griffons. None of the flying fiends really knew how to deal with him, having never encountered anything like him before. Each swipe of his paws sent several griffons flying; not always dead, but always at least hurt. No amount of armor could help against such a massive and powerful swipe. Much like a mace used against armor, his paws made their armor collapse where it hit... Or his claws simply cut through straps on the armor and made it fall apart.

The griffons weren't stupid, though. Rather than continue running at him hopelessly, they shifted ranks and sent their spearmen to the front. Their spears were of average length, about 8 feet, but that put them far enough away to avoid his swipes much easier while making stabs at him where the creases of his armor were.

Latios
Griffons weren't well known for being flame-resistant. Galagus' fire burned through the griffons front line like a wildfire in a forest; seeping through cracks in armor and catching the fur and feathers underneath. Soon enough more than 10 of the griffons were screaming, with their body on fire but trapped underneath hard steel armor.

Princess Luna