"... Excelsior?! What happened to you?!?"
"I'll explain, but Flash Sentry here needs medical attention, he got beat up pretty badly!"
"Where's Lieutenant Vigil?!"
"He's dead, sir! So is the rest of the squad!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"DEAD?!" Lieutenant Captain Shining Armor exclaims in shock as the bloodied and battered griffon Guard Upper Class Excelsior lands near him, the pegasus Guard Upper Class called Flash Sentry sliding off his back to the ground. Flash himself is dazed, badly battered and only half-conscious of what's around him. Several of his unicorn comrades rush to his side, starting to treat his wounds.
Shining Armor's command was still at the campsite of the failed Operation Hornpoint participants, and the "prisoners" are watched by Lieutenant Vanguard as they also join in assisting Flash Sentry, possibly motivated by guilt over their previous actions. The Lieutenant Captain watches in numb surprise, the only conclusion being the nighttime scouting mission he had sent Lieutenant Vigil on after securing the campsite had gone terribly, horribly wrong.
"Vigil had the group fly over the track to Fort Beta, like you ordered us to, and then we started getting knocked out of the sky, sir!" Excelsior begins to report, trying unsuccessfully to shake off the blood stuck to his fur and feathers. "We were ambushed in the air, sir, they must've guessed we were coming!"
"Curse that Troilus!" Shining Armor exclaims, bucking up a bit and stamping forehooves down in frustration. "Hornpoint made them expect another attack, but I didn't think they would be out in force in the middle of the night! I didn't even think there would be enough rebels stationed in Beta to attack Vigil's party after the Hornpoint attack!"
"I don't know if anyone else made it out of the ambush alive, sir, I lost track of everyone else in the confusion." Excelsior continues on. "I found Flash Sentry knocked out of the sky and was able to get him out of the trap, but I saw the enemies dive-bombing repeatedly on the squad members that went down - I can't expect any of them to survive that kind of assault."
Shining Armor gives a grim hum at the thought of the rebel pegasi dropping down at full speed on their fellow ponies, then looks over at the Hornpoint prisoners to think of what they must've suffered through with seeing their comrades and friends falling and being brutally murdered in such a manner.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Shining Armor contemplates the scene, Lieutenant Vanguard walks up beside him and whispers in an ear to be heard over the commotion of the scene: "Sir, I'm not sure we can continue the mission without Vigil's squad. I have the prisoners to manage, and they can still escape even with the horn rings on. Additionally, there's the question of whether Troilus deliberately underestimated the enemy strength as part of his ruse."
"It has occurred to me, yes, but don't forget Lieutenant the rebels have very important prisoners of their own to mind." Shining Armor answers, puzzlement quite clear in his tone. "They should be stretched extremely thin and not have enough reserves to ambush a night patrol - it doesn't make sense for them to have these numbers..."
Shining Armor trails off, and Lieutenant Vanguard can think of no good response, so joins his commander in silently watching the events at the campsite unfold around him. The conundrum that lead to the deaths of Lieutenant Vigil and most of his squad would remain unresolved until the revelation of the existence of the Changeling race provided an answer.
"There's nothing more we can do tonight anyway, everyone should try to get some sleep. I'll think of what to do next in the morning." Shining Armor tells his Lieutenant, who just gives a nod in response. With Flash Sentry's wounds already being addressed, the activity level begins to calm down at the campsite, and Shining Armor settles in for the night...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Several hours pass, and most of the campsite is asleep, only the last glowing embers of the fire being watched by Shining Armor, seemingly unable to sleep due to his normal nightshift schedule despite his activity all the previous day. He has to be wary about intruders, particularly after the fiasco involving Lieutenant Vigil's squad. He didn't want to return to Canterlot without any very important ponies to show for it, but still had to figure out a way to deal with the ex-Hornpoint prisoners. He could only hope they would be cooperative...
A persistent licking sound nearby finally draws his attention. He turns to focus on Excelsior, the red mane and golden fur of the griffon faintly outlined in the moonlight. Shining expected some kind of preening behavior from the griffon at night - like the pegasi, the griffons had to do it regularly to keep flying feathers in good condition. But in this case, Shining noticed that Excelsior was going over the same areas repeatedly and insistently, as if trying to get rid of something that wasn't really there.
"Can't sleep either?" Shining Armor stage whispers to Excelsior, prompting the latter to quickly straighten up and flush a bit around his beak.
"At ease. I've seen worse when it comes to pegasi under my command." the unicorn Lieutenant Captain continues on, chuckling a bit as Excelsior relaxes, though the flush is still visible around his beak.
"These talons... I never thought..." Excelsior mutters, looking down at his forefeet as he flexes talons in and out, guilt beginning to crease the brow on his face.
"You did what you had to do. Just like in fighting Whirlwind." Shining Armor tries to reassure.
"Sir, it reminded me too much of where I came from. I didn't grow up in Griffonstone, remember?" Excelsior points out.
"Oh, that's right, you came from one of those splinter groups that was created when the griffon kingdom fell..."
"Those griffon prides I came from are not like the ones that live in Griffonstone. At least in Griffonstone, a pony with enough bits can get treated properly. Out there, in the wilderness prides, a pony would get raided blind, if not torn to pieces outright!"
"Goodness, not even the pegasi before the Equestrian unification were that bad! These pegasi rebels out there definitely acted more like those griffons..." Shining Armor comments, remembering from Academy classes how griffons in combat would regularly dive-bomb their opponents after knocking them out of the sky, a tactic that pegasi would only employ as a measure of last resort to stop an enemy.
"It's a life I thought I had gotten away from, after Princess Celestia rescued me from slavery and gave me... this." Excelsior states, pointing to the red and gold of his fur and feathers, the result of a "regeneration" process Celestia employed to save Excelsior's life. The red and gold colors were considered by griffons the same way white and purple were by ponies, so Shining Armor knew well what Excelsior was talking about.
"That's why we need to keep fighting, Excelsior." Shining answers, slowly walking over to beside Excelsior.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Excelsior is silent during Shining Armor's walking over to beside him. He can only cock his head in confusion as Shining returns to laying beside him, continuing on his previous thoughts with a smile: "Before you came around, most policy on griffons were based on the ancient history of their conflicts with the pegasi before being driven across the sea. Not only have you come far in the months since Princess Celestia put you in the guard service, but you've proven that a lot of our information on griffons was as lacking as that of dragons. I know now what I'm going to do tomorrow morning, but for right now we both should get some sleep. Commander's orders, Excelsior. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." Excelsior replies, straightening up briefly with a salute.
"Good. Now, let's get to sleep." Shining Armor chuckles out before falling silent again.
Excelsior relaxes, briefly staring out into the moon-lit night, and as he watches his commander settle in to sleep - tired as he was from all the day's events despite his usual nighttime work hours - and realized that Shining Armor represented something important, something that the griffon race in general, and the extreme elements he had been rescued from, was sorely lacking...