Oskar shook Swift Bolt’s hoof and saluted the soldiers on their way across the river. It was in the dead of night, about two in the morning if Oskar’s watch was accurate, and the sneak attack was now underway. All across the Griffking river, small squads of night raiders would be making their way over via flight (good luck swimming across the mighty griffking without a pair of wings or some winged friends to help you out) and would begin probing the Reformisten defenses, trying to find gaps in the line where they might not be defending very closely.
Within an hour of the departure of the expeditionary force, Oskar was back at his usual post, scanning the opposite bank of the river with his binoculars. He could see the Reformisten flags on the far side, but he had totally lost track of where his commandos had gone. Pretty Pond was the only one in that party without wings, so Oskar had figured that she was getting a lift to the other side via the pegasi. The remaining soldiers at their posts here were essentially forced to stay awake just in case the Reformisten were thinking the same thing. Everyone knew that war was coming, it was now a question of who will strike first.
Scarlet Beetle was looking over the trenchline she had designed for the ISO and was thinking about how she could improve it.
“All good earthworks need an emergency-escape trench…”
She scanned the trench and thought about where she could make any possible improvement. She found one spot in particular that would be ideal… if she had some better engineering technology besides shovels and a keen sense of earth-pony instinct. Soon, she began to wonder if earth-pony magic would be necessary at all in a few years from now. A Reformisten Griffon with some handy mining equipment could probably make a trench just as good as any Earth pony.
“Yeah, well, we’ll always be superior to them in at least one aspect!”
“Superior to them? You mean us?”
Beetle spun around and suddenly realized she had said that out loud within earshot of a griffon squadmate, von Teufel. She had been watching this particular griff for a few days. He was rather odd.
“Oh! Von Teufel! I didn’t see you walking up right there. I’m sorry, I was talking about griffons and earth ponies…”
“It’s fine. I take no offense. I’ve said the same exact thing about ponies in the past, I think we all have, and a little snarky comment here and there is far preferable than constantly walking around on eggshells.”
That made Beetle smile. A griffon who not only understood his place, but also didn’t mind some casual racism every now and then? He was suddenly far more appealing now that he was speaking Scarlet Beetle’s language. He was just starting to shrug and walk away when she stopped him.
“Hey wait a minute, birdbrain… can we… can we spend the night together? I actually want to talk to you some more…”
“Sure thing, pone, you want to head back to the sleeping den?”
“No, that’s way too close to Oskar… actually, let’s head over to that grove of trees over yonder…”
And so they went that-away. Beetle wasn’t entirely sure how griffons were like as boyfriend material, but she had been curious about that question for years. It was a huge taboo in Dusktalon’s Longsword, and now that he was gone, and especially with Golden Morning running things, the love laws were all abolished, and she was secretly very grateful for that.
Pretty Pond had been carried to the far banks of the Griffking by two pegasi. Upon landing, they immediately began sneaking their way up to the Reformisten positions. Pond was hanging back from the other knights and airborne commandos. It felt weird to be the only person in the unit besides Scarlet Beetle with no wings, but she was already something of a heroine amongst all of them for her proven bravery (although if she was being honest with herself, she was heavily motivated by the fact that Radiant Flash had his life on the line).
Swift Bolt swooped down from above her, landing close by, where he immediately asked another pegasi, Arctic Meadow, to pass along the Communist banner of the old partisan uprising. Pond wasn’t sure why they brought the thing, but she figured she was about to see why. The two pegasi unfurled the flag together and then flew back up above to the top of the banks. That would put them right at the Reformisten line! Surely they had some kind of night watch out on patrol tonight?
Before she knew it, the entire squad came back down to the banks of the river and hustled about on the river’s edge, beneath some large rocks. Swift Bolt apparently had ordered a Communist flag to be brought along with them, and as he explained…
“Yes, before anybody asks, we’re using the old Communist flag to bait the Reformisten. We’re going to wait until just before sunrise when griffs usually are up and about, and when they see the flag and leave their trenches to go get it, that is when we strike!”
Pond was wondering about how this plan fit into the probing attack, but nobody bothered asking Bolt any questions about this plan, only a murmur of agreement and one comment about how Swift Bolt is everypony’s favorite Sergeant (she thinks a griffon said that).
Oskar had been waiting for hours to see anything through his avian eyes, or at least hear something with his acute hearing, but there was nothing coming from the other side of the Griffking. Radiant Flash was sitting close by, cleaning out his gun. Mythic Vision and Erik were both manning their posts on opposite sides of the trench from each other with Oskar in the middle, in his usual spot. A short distance away, Scarlet Beetle and Von Teufel were passionately making love to each other amidst a grove of trees. If Oskar were his old Reformisten self, he’d have gone over there by now and whipped them until they put their pants back on. They probably thought that Oskar wouldn’t see them or hear them at this distance, but the knight-captain saw everything that happened within a kilometer of his position at all times. His senses were sharp, even by griffon standards.
Well, he could see and hear everything except for the whereabouts of the squad. And that made him worried.
“Would be a real shame if the Reformisten stumbled upon us here tonight. They would just find a small handful of us at our posts and those two lovebirds over there.”
“You know, that’s funny private Flash, I always figured you would be the one who couldn’t keep his pants on at the frontline. Swift Bolt and I actually bet money on you. Looks like he owes me.”
Radiant flash snorted and rolled his eyes. Oskar finally diverted his attention from the Griffking for once and allowed himself to start snacking on rations. The sun was going to be up in a few hours, and there was no further point in waiting around for something to happen.
“Knight-Captain, can I ask you something?” Radiant Flash spoke up.
“Of course you can, Flash. Just call me Oskar.”
“Do you have family at all? Maybe a wife and a few chicks waiting for you somewhere?”
“Yes… yes I do. Four chicks, the oldest is probably almost done with primary school by now. Why do you ask?”
“I’ve thought about starting a family of my own, but I’ve also heard that our Vaideva is encouraging more and more interracial couples to promote his new, utopian Longsword. I wanted to get your advice on the matter.”
“I thought you were madly in love with Pretty Pond? What exactly do you want my advice about?”
“Well, yeah, but you see after this war with Hellquill is over, and if we’re both still alive by the end of it all, I think there’s going to be a lot of griffon orphans who lost fathers to ‘those damn pony swine in the South’ you know?” (Flash doing his best Wingfried impression). “I’m not sure if I should raise some foals of my own, or perhaps adopt some griffon chicks and show them some love from equine parents.”
Oskar thought about what Flash had said. A dark part of him still felt that ponies and griffons shouldn’t mix with each other for the sake of purity. Another part of him, the seed that Golden Morning had planted, gave hope for a better world where both races had transcended tribalism. Oskar still wasn’t sure if it was even possible, especially after the long history of enmity between the two species. How on Earth would one begin to evolve past tribalism? It was the most basic instinct inherent in all creatures. He had to search his memories back to the day he was awaiting the firing squad when Golden Morning stepped into his cell and outlined his grand plan for Griffonia before formally inviting Oskar to leave his past behind and to join him in this crazy quest.
It would take the strongest personality, the blessings of the gods, and totalitarian social engineering in order to accomplish this goal, but damnit, if there was anypony who could pull it off, it was Golden Morning. Oskar knew that the Vaideva’s plan involved the conquest of both the West and the East. It seemed absolutely insane, but the only alternative was everygriff and everypony slaughtering each other for reasons of petty hatred and vengeance quests. No, there was no alternative. The victory of the Violet Revolution would be achieved, or the mindless mass-murder of all creatures on Griffonia would continue forever.
F-O-R-E-V-E-R.
“Oskar, you going to answer my question?”
The griffon snapped out of his flashback and turned to look at the actual Flash sitting beside him.
“I think you should do both, Flash. Also, can I ask you a personal favor?”
“Of course, Knight-Captain!”
“If I die in this conflict, can you promise me that you will find your way to Beakstadt, where my family lives, and take care of them to the best of your ability?”
The pony looked at Oskar with an anxious look on his face. For the first time, Flash appeared to have something worrying on his mind.
“Oh… OH! So that’s why you’re constantly scanning the horizon?”
“Well… uhhh… it’s one of many reasons, yes.”
“Hmmmph. I can’t promise you anything, but if worse comes to pass, I’ll do my best.”
Oskar never thought he would be grateful to a pony, but the words formed in his beak,
“Thank you Flash. I mean it.”