The guard watched as Purple Haze and her squad approached, a bit surprised at the fact that they had managed to arrive so quickly after Celestia had sent them her letter... but even more so surprised that they had come out of princess Luna's chambers. There had been a lot of strange sounds coming from her chambers too, accompanied by Luna's angered shouts about reinstating public executions at which the they had picked up their pace considerably.
"Marshall..." the guard saluted, "The princess is waiting for you inside."
"Thank you." Purple Haze returned the salute before giving the entrance to the audience chambers a skeptical look, "What happened to the door?"
A small grin appeared on the guard's face, but before he could answer there was a loud squawk followed by an even louder smack from inside the audience chamber. Purple Haze deadpanned, "Never mind... I can already imagine."
As she and the others entered the chamber, they were surprised to find Celestia sitting next to an amused-looking old griffon. A few feet to the side, two other griffons watched with horrified faces at what was happening in the middle of the large room. There, seated upon the missing door with a smug look on his face was Scar... and pinned down under the door, there was yet another griffon with strongly ruffled feathers and looking like she had just gone through hell.
"Get off of me! What are you doing?" she snarled from beneath the door.
"Scar pinned featherclaw down..." the gnoll chuckled, "So it wins."
"Alright, alright! I get it! Now get off, you're crushing me!"
The gnoll got off the door and lifted it from the griffon with a chuckle, "Was good effort though..." he spotted Purple Haze, "Hello!" he waved her happily.
"What are you doing?" Purple Haze gave him a scolding look, "You can't just go around and smack down diplomats! You're going to apologize this instant!"
Scar simply shrugged, "Featherclaw asked for it."
Purple Haze helped the griffon to her feet, "You actually asked him to a fight?"
"I may have underestimated him a bit..." she answered as she stood on shaky feet, "Next time will be different though!"
"Sure..." Purple Haze shook her head with a sigh before saluting to princess Celestia, "Princess, Marshall Purple Haze and the Hunter squad reporting for duty!" the members of the squad saluted.
"Thank you, Marshall." Celestia replied, slightly amused by their choice of name, though it did summarize their function quite well, "I am surprised you arrived here so quickly."
"When you asked for our immediate presence, we used Tag for quick transport..." Purple Haze cringed as Celestia raised an eyebrow, "Though I am afraid we disturbed princess Luna's rest while doing so."
"I can imagine." Celestia replied with a dry voice.
Purple Haze turned back to Scar, "Before I forget it, Twilight is going to send Tag here as well. Should be any moment now that..."
As she spoke, there was a flash of light and a small puff as the maul appeared in mid-air above Scar, "Whoopee! Greatness has arrived!" Celestia gave a groan of dismay as the gnoll caught the maul before it could drop down, "Oh, master! You simply can not imagine how lonely I was among all those ponies! No sense for beauty I tell you! It was dreadful! Simply terrible without you!"
"Yes, yes... Scar knows." the gnoll sighed while the griffons watched in utter disbelief.
"Did that hammer just talk?" Vayu asked with a baffled face.
"Is Tag." the gnoll showed her the maul, "Gnoll uses for smashing rats... Would have used for fight too, but door also did well..."
"What is that I hear?" the maul piped up with a mortified voice, "You were in a fight? Without me but instead with nothing to swing but that dreadful door?! Oh, the shame I feel right now is unimaginable! The suffering is insufferable! I..."
"Tag..." the gnoll interrupted him with a tired voice.
"Yes?"
"Shut up."
"Of course, master."
Satisfied for the moment, Scar put the hammer over his shoulder and turned to Vayu, "If featherclaw wants to fight again Scar is ready... but it will use Tag next time."
Vayu swallowed hard as she watched the gnoll lift the terrifying maul with ease, the hit from the door alone had already sent her flying and had made her head spin but a hit from that thing would probably be enough to crack her skull... "I think I'll pass."
The gnoll nodded, "Good."
"If everyone is ready..." Celestia spoke up with a slightly strained voice while Blackbeak chuckled to himself softly, "I would like to continue this meeting."
---
When everyone had settled down and found a seat, princess Celestia continued, "Now, as all of you are aware we have been able to track down all of the Izelim within these last few weeks." the ponies nodded, "Sadly though, we were as yet not able to fully determine what they are planning. It seems they only give their troops as scarce information as possible. We did however, find out that they have a command center somewhere within the griffon empire."
Blackbeak spoke up, "We found them more by accident than by luck, but only after receiving a letter from the princess did we realize the severity of the situation. We don't know yet what they're doing in our empire, but taking account what you found out, it must be something big." his eyes narrowed, "When we dug further into the subject it turned out that griffons had been going missing under unknown circumstances for quite some time now... and the thought that there is a full nest of them somewhere in our home is even more worrying."
Celestia nodded, "And that is why we have come together here today..." she turned to Purple Haze, "Marshall Purple Haze and Scar have proven that they are more than capable of tracking down the Izelim, and since time seems of essence here we have decided to offer our aid to the griffons. Marshall Purple Haze, I wish for you and your squad to travel to the griffon empire as a tracking unit and help them find the Izelim hideout." her gaze traveled to the gnoll, "That is of course, if Scar agrees to this."
The gnoll gave a short and grim nod, "Scar goes to smash rats... will be fun."
"And you, Marshall?"
Purple Haze grinned, "Of course, princess. There's nothing me and my squad wants more than hunt them down." the other members of the squad gave their approval.
Blackbeak nodded, "You'll have the full support of one of our regiments waiting for your word while you're at it. Once you find where they're hiding, the full force of the griffon army will come down on them like a storm." he scratched his chin, "However, we should have a griffon accompany you at all times... it will make things a lot simpler and avoid unneeded conflicts..."
"I'll do it." Vayu spoke up immediately.
Blackbeak gave her a surprised look, "You? Daughter, I am not sure that..."
"I know our lands as good as anyone else." Vayu interrupted him, "And the citizens know and trust me as well. Also, we won't run into any problems crossing the borders between the different territories should we need to as long as I am in their company. The griffon lords would never dare to hinder the daughter of a council member."
"You're right, but still... I don't know if this is the right step." Blackbeak frowned and contemplated her words for a moment, "I will allow it, but only under the condition that you follow the Marshall's command... I don't want you to risk your head and just storm into battle." he turned to Purple Haze, "Is that acceptable for you as well?"
Purple Haze nodded, "I have no doubt that she will help our work... but you should ask him too." she pointed to Scar.
Blackbeak nodded, "Of course... Scar, do you agree as well?"
The gnoll gave Vayu a scrutinizing look, "Featherclaw still needs to learn a lot..." Vayu flinched at the memory of their fight, she had indeed looked like an amateur, "But if Purple Haze agrees, then so will Scar." he gave the Vayu a meaningful look, "Know though that if featherclaw misbehaves, gnoll will teach featherclaw some manners."
"I'll be on my best behavior." Vayu grinned, thrilled at the prospect of going on an adventure with the walking mountain of teeth, claws and muscles.