A few hours later, it was the dead of night, and Paul was making his way quietly through the streets towards the train station. He was fairly certain nopony had seen him leave, and he hadn’t even seen a single pony on the streets at this time.
When he made it to the train station, however, it was a different story. Even in the wee hours of the morning, the train station still had a decent amount of activity.
Trying his best to avoid drawing undue attention (and failing due to his stature), Paul approached the ticket booth and bought himself a ticket to Manehatten. From there, he could purchase a ticket to his final destination.
With a nod to the pony inside the booth, Paul made his way over to the train and ducked his head as he boarded. With so few ponies on board, it wasn’t hard to find a cabin to himself. As he sat alone he thought about the gravity of what he was doing. He was leaving everypony behind. And if he had his way, it would be far too late before there was any notice of his absence.
For four hours, Paul sat alone, accompanied only by his thoughts. He wondered what would happen to everypony he left behind. Would they find his note? Would they send somepony after him? Would they presume him dead when he inevitably didn’t return?
These thoughts and many others rattled around, almost audible amid the silent solitude of his cabin.
Only when he finally made it to Manehatten did his thoughts stop pestering him. The presence of other ponies pulled his focus back to the outside world rather than into his thoughts. As he looked around he remembered that he only had a short window to find a ride. News of the travel ban would officially make it to railroad and airship services within a few hours.
So with a slight sense of urgency, Paul made his way to the ticket booths again, this time seeking out a much longer journey.
“Hello,” Paul greeted the teller.
With a yawn, the old stallion looked up and through the glass. His eyes widened when he saw Paul. “You’re the one that was on the projection!” he exclaimed quietly. “You’re—”
“Jedi General Paul, yes,” Paul answered. “Listen, I need to buy a ticket.”
The pony nodded. “A-alright, what’s the destination?”
“I need you to get me as close to the Griffon Kingdoms as possible.”
The pony’s jaw nearly impacted his desk. “Are you sure, sir?”
Paul nodded.
The pony shook his head, but he complied nonetheless. “One ticket from Manehatten to Grifville.”
“You’d better make that six,” said a familiar voice from behind Paul. He’d been too focused to notice the familiar auras approaching. He turned around and saw who was standing there.
“…”
Paul was speechless.
“What?” Golden Lance asked with more than a hint of humor in his voice. “Did you really think nopony would notice you leave?”
“Honestly you weren’t even all that sneaky,” Bronze Mace said with a smirk.
Paul shook his head. “You guys shouldn’t be here. You need to go back.”
“Respectfully, sir,” Iron Shield started, “buck you, I do what I want.”
Star Glow just looked at Paul and spoke plainly. “You’re not the only one that’s got a bone to pick with those birds.”
And leading the gang was Shining Armor himself. “Sorry, sir, but… well, we couldn’t let you have all the fun. Besides, somepony’s gotta keep you alive out there.”
“Guys… you can’t come with me. I’m doing this alone.”
“Six tickets to Grifville, sir,” said the teller pony, dropping six tickets onto the counter for Paul to grab. “On me. Give ‘em Tartarus, boys.”
Looking back and forth between his friends and the knowing smile of the old teller, Paul finally spoke. “You aren’t going to give this up.”
“Nope,” came the cocky response from Golden Lance.
Paul gave a long–suffering sigh and hung his head. “Fine. I don’t like it, but let’s go.”
Bronze Wing gave a small cheer while Shining Armor gave a little bit of a huff, handing over a small bag of bits. “Come on, Paul, you couldn’t have held out a few more minutes against us? I was sure it’d take more than five minutes to break you.”
Paul gave a small smile at his words but remained silent as they made their way to the platform.
The track was not unlike most others in the station. Though, one major difference was the train itself. Most trains were at least ten cars long with a very large engine at the front, but this one was much smaller. This one only had three cars and an engine that looked like it might not even make it out of the station under its own power, let alone pulling the rest of the cars.
But that was the only train going anywhere near the Griffon Kingdoms anytime within the next week, so that’s the train they would have to take.
Paul gave it a long look, shaking his head and sighing. Resigned, he turned back to the group. “Alright guys, I’m gonna give it one last go. I’m asking that you all go back to Canterlot, forget you saw me here, and let me do this myself. Please, I don’t want to put any more lives on the line here.”
“Other than your own of course,” Lance pointed out snarkily.
“Sir, chances of us turning back are slim to none,” said Shining Armor.
“And I don’t know about you, sir,” Bronze started with a grin, glancing from side to side, “but I don’t see slim around here anywhere.”
Paul nodded. “I’d figured as much,” he sighed. “Well, let’s get going then.”
The inside of the train didn’t look nearly so bad as the outside had suggested. It was actually a very well furnished and had plenty of room for all six to be comfortable, a necessity for a two–day train ride.
“Alright, guys, get some rest,” Paul said. “The sun’s just about to come up and I know I didn’t sleep last night. The rest of the journey won’t be easy.”
Without any further explanation of what they would actually be doing in the Griffon Kingdoms, Paul sat back against the wall, legs taking up a whole bench of seats, and fell asleep.
After several minutes of silence, Lance turned to Shining, whispering so as not to wake the others that had fallen asleep.
“Captain, what exactly will we be doing when we get there?”
Shining just looked the young stallion in the eyes and spoke plainly. “Lance, knowing Paul, I’d say we’re ending the war ourselves before it really starts.”
<<<==>>>
Paul awoke with the afternoon sun in his eyes and sat up with a groan. Humans were not made to sleep in such uncomfortable positions.
Looking out the windows he could see that they were passing through an unfamiliar mountain range. The peaks were capped with snow while the valleys between were full of greenery, and if he looked hard enough he could faintly make out the glimmer of running water; a stream flowing along the base of the valley.
Paul stood up, shaking his limbs and popping his joints, and began to walk up and down the aisle of the car. He noticed that the rest of the guys were all up, talking amongst themselves in a few small groups.
“What’s next, sir?” Lance asked, looking up at him.
“Well, I thought about this for awhile,” Paul started, “and I don’t think there’s any easy way to get where we’re going. In fact, this train ride is enough risk that I would’ve discounted this plan for any viable alternative. But as you can see, this is the best way for us to get to the Griffon Kingdoms with both haste and anonymity.
“Once we get there, we’re going to have to travel by night and sleep by day to avoid any trouble, so I suggest acclimating yourself as soon as possible. We’ll be walking from Grifville to the Griffon Capital of Griffonstone. I’ve only been able to make rough estimates, but it looks like we’ll be able to make the trek in three days’ time.”
“Sir, what are we doing in Griffonstone, anyway?” Bronze Mace asked.
“We’re putting an end to this,” Paul stated firmly. He missed the meaningful glance Shining Armor gave to Golden Lance. “Diathor wants power. That was always his motivation when I wrote him. But there was always one thing in his way: Palus, the good guy. When he senses me, Diathor will make himself known, and then we can kill him. Otherwise, there’s going to be so much needless bloodshed, all for the sake of Diathor’s play at power.”
He had been pacing up and down the aisle fervently, his cloak fluttering behind him as he stalked back and forth. He turned one last time towards his friends. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not about to stand by and let that happen.”
There was a fierce look of determination on Paul’s face that quickly spread to the others.
“You can count us in, Paul,” Shining Armor agreed with a salute. The other five followed suit, giving firm salutes to Paul.
Paul saluted in return. “Thank you. I’d intended to make this trip alone, but now that the five of you are here with me I feel more at ease about this all. You can all relax until we get to the station late tonight. We’ll be covering as much ground as possible between arrival and sunrise, so make sure you’re well rested.”
Leaving them to keep talking among themselves, Paul went back and sat on his bench. He hadn’t been entirely truthful with his friends. Having them with him was not putting him at ease whatsoever. In fact, it made his gut churn at the thought of it. There was a reason, a very good reason, he had tried to sneak away and do this by himself.
This mission did not have a very high chance of success. Paul was only doing this on the off chance he could avoid all–out war between the two nations, because while their armies might have been small, conscriptions were bound to happen sooner or later.
And besides, assuming this mission was successful, as unlikely as that was, the chance of surviving was so much lower.
He would be literally walking on foot through the enemy’s country for days, then marching straight through their capital to demand an audience with a man most of the population didn’t even know existed. Assuming he wasn’t murdered in his sleep by some bandit, there was a good chance he would either be killed in the city or taken as a hostage and tortured for information.
Now add on the fact that the group was six times larger and contained not only a very distinctive figure (himself) with the rank of General, but also a famous pony who had previously held the rank of Captain of the Guard. This whole operation had gone from a one in a million shot in the dark to needing nothing short of a God–given miracle to work out in the end.
But there was no use in admitting that to the group. They would all need every bit of false confidence they could muster if they were going to get anywhere close to pulling it off.
But until the train made it to Grifville it was just a waiting game. So with a tired sigh, Paul leaned his head back against the wall of the train. And he waited.
<<<==>>>
Far after the sun had set that night, the train pulled into the station and the group departed quickly and quietly while the town slept. They needed to make it very far out into the middle of nowhere by daybreak. Otherwise, they risked being found while they slept during the day.
They made it out of the town without issue, unseen by so much as a single griffon. By sunrise, they were already twenty miles or more away from the town and hunkering down in a small grove about a hundred yards off the main path. Any closer would risk being seen by passers-by; any further would risk losing the road in such thick woods.
Paul was surprised that he didn’t hear even a single complaint among the group. With the pace he’d pushed them he’d expected at least a little whining about sore hooves and legs, but not a single one of them made so much as a whisper of complaint.
Iron Shield volunteered for first watch when they bedded down for the day, allowing the rest of the group to sleep after such a long hike.
Overall, his watch was uneventful. He didn’t hear anything pass by on the road. No caravans, no wagons, not even a single griffon. After two hours of sitting in silence, Iron Shield got up from his spot he moved to Bronze and leaned down to wake him up.
As he did this, his ear flicked. Going on as if nothing had happened, he continued leaning down, placing a hoof on Bronze’s side. There was nothing in his expression that betrayed the thoughts he was having as his ears swiveled around, trying to pinpoint the distinct sound he had heard.
He began to shake Bronze gently, causing said pegasus to sit up slowly.
“Come on,” Iron Shield said to him at a normal voice level. “It’s your turn for watch.”
Bronze got to his hooves and nodded, doing some brief stretches.
“Don’t react to what I’m about to say,” Iron Shield said quietly. “I think we have company. I don’t know who, but they’re good. Very good. I didn’t notice them arrive, but I heard something right as my watch finished. What should we do?”
As Bronze Mace got up from his stretches, he turned to Iron Shield, looking puzzled. “Wait, it’s not my turn for watch,” he said, slightly loud. “I think you need to wake up Shining. I’m gonna lay back down. Wake me when you really need me.”
Shield caught the hidden message and went over to Shining Armor while Bronze laid down and pretended to go back to sleep.
Iron Shield reached down as before, gently shaking awake the unicorn. “Sir, it’s your watch.”
Shining Armor sat up slowly and began to do many of the same stretches as Bronze Mace had just done. If not for the situation, Shield might have found that humorous, but as it was he kept his composure and spoke once more in a low voice.
“Don’t react, sir, but I think we’re being watched. Directly on my five o’clock. I’ve already woken Bronze, he’s pretending to sleep. Orders?”
I took a moment for Shining to collect his thoughts and process the information he’d been given, but he quickly formulated a plan.
“How far out?” he asked in a hushed voice.
“Thirty to forty yards.”
“On my mark get Bronze to go after whatever it is, I want your shield pointed at it in case any projectiles come at us,” Shining ordered.
“Understood. Waiting for your mark.”
Shining nodded and before Shield even noticed the unicorn’s horn glow there was a bright flash as a bolt of magic flew out and struck something. There were two squawks and a faint thump.
“Bronze!” Iron Shield called as he heard the rustling of wings from the direction of the squawks.
Within a second the pegasus was already ten yards out and quickly closing on his prey. For a second or to Iron Shield held up his namesake, anticipating incoming crossbow bolts, but it was soon clear that no such thing was coming, so he ran forward to the enemy’s position.
Clearing brush out of the way, he found an unconscious griffon on the ground. Within moments he heard something falling through the tree branches not far off, followed by another thump. There, just a few yards away was another griffon, and alighting beside the somewhat conscious griffon was Bronze Mace.
“Just these two,” Bronze said. “I didn’t see any others around here.”
“Scouts, then?” Iron Shield asked.
Bronze shook his head. “No, look here, the only weapon among them is hardly anything more than a stick with twine. It’s barely a weapon. These two aren’t military.”
Iron Shield snorted. “Unlucky civilians,” he said. “We’re at least a day’s travel from any towns. These two must be on a hunting trip.”
Bronze hummed. “Probably. Though the question remains of what’s to be done about them.”
“Leaving witnesses that can outpace us isn’t a wise decision,” Shield pointed out. The eyes of the griffon under Bronze started to widen.
“And killing civilians isn’t something we do.”
Both Bronze and Shield turned to see Shining Armor approaching.
“These two will live. And I believe that in return, we would be justified in requesting your silence, correct?” he asked the griffon.
“Yes, of course!” the griffon exclaimed, nodding fervently. “None will know that we have seen you.”
“Good,” Shining Armor said, lifting the unconscious griffon in his magic. “Now, can you stand?”
The griffon made his way to his feet.
“Take your companion and go. We will be gone by the time you return, so don’t bother to come back and find us.”
With that, both griffons disappeared into the thick underbrush of the woods.
“Sir, was that the wisest course of action?” Shield asked.
“No. It most certainly was not,” Shining answered. “But I believe it was the best one I could make.”
Satisfied with the response, Shining Armor and Bronze Mace began to make their way back to camp.
Confused, Iron Shield stared for several moments in the direction the two griffons had gone, then turned back and followed Shining and Bronze.
<<<==>>>
“Paul, get up,” Golden Lance’s voice prodded alongside his hoof. “It’s your watch.”
Paul stirred, slowly sitting up. After rubbing his eyes a few times, he nodded to Lance. “Go lay down, Lance. I’ve got watch now.”
Satisfied, Lance, laid back down while Paul got to his feet and popped a few of his joints.
With a contented sigh, he sat down on a nearby rock and pulled his panic knife from his boot to idly whittle a stick he had pulled off a tree.
The previous night of travel went well. If Bronze had read the stars correctly, the group made it another thirty five miles since their previous camp where they’d been discovered by a pair of hunting griffons.
They hadn’t hit another town that night, and when they’d settled down for the day, there was no noise to signify a nearby town, so they kept their camp just outside sightline of the road, only about fifty yards into the treeline, rather than the hundred of the day before.
Lance had taken first watch, and now Paul was on second.
With no idea what he was doing.
Obviously, he knew what he was doing in regards to being on watch. But in regards to actually completing this mission? Not hardly.
Even now, only another night two away from Griffonstone, Paul didn’t really know what the plan was. Of course, he had his vague idea of “out Diathor and end the war,” but that plan wasn’t exactly heavy on details.
But then again, Paul was a Jedi, and the Force was guiding him, wasn’t it? The idea of going in blind seemed rather stupid on the surface, but just going with his gut would get him places far better than coming up with a plan that wouldn’t survive first contact anyway.
Either way, he had nothing but time right now, sitting out in the middle of some forest on watch, so with nothing better to do, he started thinking through how this encounter would go.