//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: The Griffin War // by QuarterNote //------------------------------// To everypony’s surprise, a light drizzle had come out of nowhere to grace the Everfree Forest the night before, and Stout Heart and Rite’s hooves squished on the damp ground as they paced up and down the line of stallions that had volunteered to join the Royal Guard. Stout Heart had counted at least a hundred assorted earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns.   “Right then flunkies!” he barked as he and Rite paced the line. “You have all volunteered for a great undertaking! You lot will have the privilege of making up the new Royal Guard in order to replace the numbers lost at Canterlot! Look to either side of you; these ponies standing next to you may look different than you. They may be a different species of pony. You may not even know their names. But by the time we’re done training you to the best of our abilities, you will all trust each other with your lives! I am Captain Stout Heart. Behind me is Captain Rite! Together, we are going to teach you bunch of feculent maggots how to march like royal guards, how to act like royal guards, and most importantly how to fight like royal guards!”   He stopped short as he reached the end of the line. There wasn’t a pony standing there. Instead, Stout Heart had to look down as he saw Spike standing at stiff attention like the rest of the ponies. Stout Heart closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his face before looking down at Spike. “War is no place for a baby dragon,” he said.   “But my friends got ponynapped by the griffins!” Spike said, looking up at Stout Heart. “I can’t just sit on my butt and watch everypony else put their lives on the line!”   Stout Heart raised an eyebrow. “Do you honestly believe that you’ll be able to contribute anything notable to the Guard?”   “I can try!” the baby dragon replied, glaring up at the earth pony officer. Stout Heart rolled his eyes, then turned to Rite. “Sword.”   “Sword,” Rite echoed, conjuring a hoof sword out of the air and floating it over to Stout Heart. The earth pony guard took it in his mouth, dropping it in front of Spike.   “Lift it,” he said simply. Spike looked down at the sword. It was almost as tall as he was, though thankfully it had a handle so he wouldn’t have to grab onto the blade, thick scales or not. He bent over and wrapped both claws around the sword’s hilt before heaving with all of his strength. He lifted the sword off of the ground, clenching his teeth and growling as he struggled to hold it up over his head. The point wavered in the air before its weight sent it falling backwards, its tip plunging into the soft ground. Spike fell on his back with a yelp, his stubby legs kicking weakly as the other ponies in the line began laughing.   “I’M NOT LAUGHING!” Stout Heart bellowed at them all. The ponies shut up, Spike sitting up as he panted heavily even from the brief exertion.   “So you’re not strong enough to lift a sword,” Stout Heart said. “Can you do anything else?”   Spike shook his head and managed to get back on his feet. “No! I can do something! Give me a smaller sword! Like a dagger or something!”   “Even if you could lift a weapon and use it effectively,” Stout Heart said, “What makes you think that you can keep up with the others? Do you know what Royal Guard training involves?” He lifted a hoof and sharply rapped Spike in his chubby belly. The baby dragon went “Oof!” and his cheeks inflated hugely, deflating as he fell to his knees, nursing his stomach as he began coughing.   “It’s enough that that physique wouldn’t be able to stand up to it,” Stout Heart finished. “I have no use for a fat, weak baby dragon in the Royal Guard.”   Spike looked back up at him, his green eyes narrowed in anger. “I don’t need to run! I can ride on somepony! Just give me a chance!”   “No!” Stout Heart replied. “Go back inside, dragon. You can serve as an aide to Princess Luna.”   “I’m not budging!” Spike shouted back. “You have no right to keep me from trying to help!”   “I have every right!” Stout Heart retorted. “To me, until you prove otherwise, you are nothing but a fat, short, weak baby dragon! I am not going to drag down the rest of the Royal Guard by allowing you to train with us!”   “And for the last time I am NOT-“   SLAP.   Spike’s head snapped to the side, his eyes wide and a dent in the shape of a hoof planted firmly in his cheek, rolling the skin up away from the imprint. Stout Heart glared at the baby dragon, setting the hoof that he had slapped him with back down on the ground. “That is your last warning, dragon. Get back inside before you get hurt.”   Spike growled but started running back towards the castle, tears starting to stream from his eyes. The other ponies in the line watched him go. None of them made a move to stop him.   All but one. Spike had his eyes shut and as such didn’t see the massive red hoof that stuck out in front of him, at a height that would be enough to trip a pony, but on Spike placed itself level with his chest. The baby dragon was clotheslined to the ground, gasping for breath as it was knocked out of him by the impact. Opening his eyes and blinking away the tears, he saw a familiar red shape. Green eyes framed by a burnt orange mane looked down at him, a gentle smile on the stallion’s muzzle before he looked off to his left, at Stout Heart. “Ah’ll vouch fer ‘im,” Big Macintosh said.   Stout Heart scowled as he trotted down the line to where the muscular farmpony was standing, looking down first at the still-breathless Spike, then up at Big Macintosh. “And who are you?”   “Big Macintosh,” the stallion replied simply.   “And you vouch for the baby dragon?”   “Eyup,” Big Mac replied, moving his left hoof out to help Spike sit up. “Ah’ve known ‘im fer a while now. Spike may not be big or strong or even a pony, but he’s got a lot o’ heart. Just give ‘im a chance. Sir,” he added at the last minute.   Stout Heart narrowed his eyes up at Big Macintosh, but sighed. “Fine, fine. If you really think that he can be an asset to us, I’ll let him join up.” He then turned his attention to Spike, hitting him in the belly with his hoof again to floor him, then gently but firmly resting the hoof on Spike’s stomach. “But know this, Spike. You slip behind in any part of the training, and you’re out, understand?”   Spike gulped and nodded. “Y…yes, sir!”   “Good,” Stout Heart replied. He lifted his hoof off of Spike’s belly and walked back to his position in front of the line. “Now listen up all of you! As much as I know that you all probably want to start learning how to use weapons and take the fight to the griffins, we have to make sure that you know everything else first! Weapons come last! Your first lesson will be this!” He turned to Captain Rite and nodded. The unicorn returned the nod, then lit his horn. An aura of green magic surrounded a large boulder on the edge of the courtyard. Sweat began pouring down his face as he lifted it with noticeable effort, the boulder rising into the air and floating over to where Stout Heart was standing. Rite released the spell, dropping the boulder down next to the earth pony captain. Stout Heart nodded at Rite in thanks, then pointed at the rock. “You will all attempt to move this rock! Who wants to be first?”   The ponies looked at one another, a bout of nervous whispering filling the air of the courtyard. Stout Heart glared at them all. “I said, WHO’S FIRST?!”   “Um…I-I-I-I’ll go first!” one stallion stammered, a grey earth pony with a black mane and a trio of four-leaf clovers on his flank.   “Very good!” Stout Heart replied with a grin. As the pony trotted up, he cocked his head to one side. “What’s your name, son?”   “Um…Lucky, sir!”   “Well then Lucky, let’s see if you live up to your name on this.”   Lucky trotted forward, facing the rock and taking a deep breath. He then charged at it with a yell, hurling his full body weight against it. The rock didn’t move an inch, Lucky merely bouncing off of it and landing on his side. Lucky got back up and charged at it again and again, each try having the same result.   “Alright son, that’s enough,” Stout Heart said. “No need to hurt yourself. Next!”   A pegasus stepped up this time, with a black coat, golden eyes, and a two-toned-blue mane styled into a mohawk.   “Show that rock who’s boss, Thunderlane!” another pegasus called, a number of other pegasi cheering him on. Thunderlane gave a cocky grin and spread his wings, starting to flap them rapidly before shooting forward, giving a loud yell as he charged the boulder. Stout Heart stood calmly as Thunderlane sped forward, Thunderlane’s roar of challenge changing into a shriek of panic as he tried to stop and failed. Thunderlane hit the boulder head first, bouncing off of it and onto his back legs. Thunderlane staggered around in front of the rock, his eyes rolling in their sockets as he fell onto his back with a groan, his eyes still spinning and his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The pegasi that had cheered him on groaned, many of them slapping hooves to their faces as most of the other ponies burst out laughing at Thunderlane’s failure.   “Let that be a lesson to all of you,” Stout Heart said above the laughter. “Don’t be too cocky. You may end up like him, or worse,” he finished, nudging Thunderlane’s body with a hoof. “Next!”   Rite magically dragged Thunderlane off to the side as a unicorn stepped up to the rock. He scoffed confidently, his horn lighting up as he prepared to lift the rock with his magic. The glow quickly blinked out as Stout Heart slapped his horn, hard.   “No!” Stout Heart barked. “No magic! You won’t always be able to rely on your magic to solve all of your problems, especially if your horn burns out! This goes for all of the unicorns in this group! No magic on this test! You’re using your own physical strength!”   The unicorn groaned in dismay, echoed by the other unicorns in the line behind him. He took a deep breath and charged forward, slamming his shoulder against the rock and having the same result as Lucky, though this time there was also a loud pop as he hit the rock, the unicorn giving a loud yelp as he bounced to the ground. He got up, sobbing in pain as he nursed his shoulder. He cried out in pain each time he put his weight on the shoulder he’d hit the rock with, as it seemed to have collapsed in on itself. Stout Heart shook his head.   “Now y’see what you’ve done? That’s a dislocated shoulder, I’d reckon. Get over to Captain Rite and have him look at it.”   “B…but can’t he-“   SLAP.   The unicorn’s cheek reacted the same way as Spike’s had to the slap, the unicorn yelping in pain and losing his balance before falling down. He shrieked in pain as his hurt shoulder hit the ground, Stout Heart bellowing into his face.   “NO BUTS!” the earth pony roared. “When you’re a soldier you’re going to get hurt and there won’t always be a medic around to patch you up again! You’re going to have to fight through the pain when that happens! Now get your sorry ass up and get over to Captain Rite!”   The unicorn managed to get back on his hooves, biting his lip to keep from screaming again as he had to brace both of his front legs on the ground in order to get up. He started limping over to Rite, tears of pain starting to roll down his cheeks.   “Next!” Stout Heart yelled.   The rest of the recruits suffered the same results. Pony after pony attempted to budge the rock, but several more injuries, KO’s, and regular failures later, the only two recruits that hadn’t tried were Big Macintosh and Spike.   “Next!” came the shout as Caramel the earth pony staggered away, falling onto his rump, then onto his side as his chest heaved for breath following a spirited attempt to move the rock. Big Macintosh nudged Spike forward, the baby dragon taking a deep breath and charging at the rock. He hit it and began shoving against it with all his might, his feet slipping on the grass as he pushed it with everything he had. Finally his legs gave out and Spike collapsed face-flat on the ground, his face red and sweaty as he rolled over.   “Nice try, kid,” Stout Heart said. He nudged Spike with a hoof, the baby dragon getting up and staggering out of the way to lie down. Big Macintosh walked forward, his face the same deadpan expression that it always was as he faced the rock.   “Alright Macintosh,” Stout Heart said. “Let’s see what you can do.”   “Eyup,” Big Mac replied. He turned around to present his backside to the rock, squatting and clenching his leg muscles before shooting them backwards. His hooves struck the rock with a loud crack, the force of it sending the rock flying a short distance. The other recruits sent up a ragged, tired cheer at the sight, Big Macintosh smiling as Stout Heart walked up to him.   “Well, well, well,” the earth pony captain said. “You’re quite the strong one, aren’t you?”   “Eyup,” Big Mac replied happily, closing his eyes and smiling at the captain. Due to this he didn’t see the hoof coming until it hit his cheek.   SLAP.   As Big Macintosh rubbed the hoofprint his now even-redder cheek was sporting, Stout Heart grabbed him around the neck and pulled him downward.   “NO!” the earth pony captain shouted. “WRONG! Showing how strong you are is NOT the point of this!”   “Then what is?!” a brown, sandy-maned earth pony with a palm tree cutie mark yelled. The other recruits yelled their agreement with the question.   “I’ll let all of you figure it out,” Stout Heart replied with a smug smile. “We’re done for the day. All of you go inside and rest. I’ll see you all out here again tomorrow morning. Dismissed!”   With a chorus of grumbles the recruits began moving back towards the castle, many of them grumbling sourly. Even Big Macintosh’s normally deadpan expression had been replaced with a scowl as he walked over to Spike, who sat up, still breathing a bit heavily.   “Wow…” Spike panted, looking up at the comparatively massive farm pony. “Some training, huh?”   “Eyup,” Big Macintosh replied. Spike got to his feet and the two began walking back to the castle, Spike having to take four steps to each one of Big Mac’s.   “Um, by the way…” Spike began nervously, “Thanks for sticking up for me back there.”   “No problem,” Big Macintosh replied. “Everypony that wants t’ help should get the chance. You just need t’ have that chance.”   Spike nodded. As they entered the castle alongside the other recruits, Spike and Big Macintosh looked up at the sound of clopping hooves. A number of pegasi walked into the castle’s entrance hall, Full Moon and Aileron at their head. Many of the pegasi looked dirty, worn out, and bedraggled. Spike could see Wonderbolt uniforms on several of them. Most of them were stallions, though there were a few mares among them as well, along with a number of pegasi foals being carried on the backs of several of the group. Full Moon and Aileron almost immediately trotted off to find Princess Luna, while the pegasi began to mingle among the Ponyville ponies. Spike turned around at two more pairs of clopping hooves to see Stout Heart and Rite move past the pair, following after their fellow officers.   “Interestin’,” Big Macintosh muttered.   “They look like they’ve been through a lot,” Spike observed, noting dirty coats, ragged wings, and minor injuries.   “Eyup,” Big Macintosh said. He jerked his head in the direction of the small lean-to that he, Spike, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were sharing. “C’mon. Let’s get somethin’ t’ eat.”   Nodding his agreement, Spike climbed up on Big Macintosh’s back as the big pony began to thread his way through the crowds.   ***   Princess Luna had turned the tower into an apt throne room over the past day. Missing chunks of ceiling and wall had been repaired, and the broken windowpanes had also been fixed. Conjured banners depicting a crescent moon over a backdrop of stars on a purple field hung at regular intervals from the walls, and a long, deep blue carpet had been rolled out from the dais at one end of the room to the doors on the other end. Princess Luna herself sat down on a throne on top of the dais, her custom banner on her right, and the banner of Equestria on the left. As the four captains entered the room she nodded to them all in greeting, getting up and spreading her wings to fly over to them. The four ponies bowed as she landed in front of them, waiting for her to gesture for them to stand before rising.   “I am glad to see that you two made it back unharmed,” the dark furred alicorn said, inclining her head to Full Moon and Aileron and coupling it with a smile.   “Thank you, Your Highness,” Aileron replied, giving his princess a second bow in gratitude.   “How went the scouting and searching?”   “Very well Your Highness,” answered Full Moon. “We managed to locate around forty pegasi in the banks around Cloudsdale. All of them are currently in the main building. After we’re done here Captain Aileron and I will begin setting up accommodations for them.”   “Excellent,” Luna said proudly. “Good job, Captain. Now, about the scouting?”   “We saw a number of griffin airships accompanied by squadrons of escorts moving away from Canterlot earlier this morning,” Aileron began, picking up the story. “We don’t know how many enemy troops were on each one, but their headings indicated that they were heading for every city and town in Equestria.”   “Even the ones in the Southern Desert?” Luna asked in surprise, her eyes widening.   “Yes, Your Highness,” Aileron confirmed, nodding. “Should we send out pegasi with evacuation orders?”   “No,” Luna replied, shaking her head. “They wouldn’t get to their destinations in time, and we don’t have that many pegasi to begin with. We can’t afford to risk them.” She returned her gaze to Aileron. “Anything else?”   “The griffins have begun milling operations in Whitetail Wood and the Sweet Apple Acres orchard,” the snow-white pegasus continued. “They’ve also begun digging trenches around Ponyville and are setting up palisades and smaller forts around the town. They are most likely converting it into a forward operations base, or an outpost of some kind.”   “A good assessment,” agreed Luna. “What is their troop strength?”   “I would say around two thousand at present, Princess,” Aileron guessed tentatively. “Many of them are helping in the construction, though there are also a number of ponies that are assisting them.”   “What?!” Luna and the other two captains exclaimed. “Why?” Luna asked.   “They were not doing it willingly, Princess,” Aileron explained. “We got close enough to see chains around their hooves, and griffins with whips were overseeing them. My guess is that they’re using civilians and captured guards from Canterlot to speed up the building process.”   “That’s horrible…” Luna said, her ears drooping. “Why would they do that?”   “Anything to free up more hands to conquer the rest of Equestria…” Stout Heart growled, pawing at the ground with a hoof.   “We can’t do anything about it now, Princess,” Full Moon said, reaching up to take off his helmet to allow his spiky black mane to freely flop forward from the cramped confines of his helmet. “Our primary concern right now should be training to take Equestria back.”   “You’re right,” Luna sighed. “I apologize, Full Moon.” She looked at Aileron for a final time. “Did you see anything that might give us clues as to where Shining Armor is?”   “No, Princess,” Aileron said, shaking his head. “I didn’t see him anywhere.”   Luna hung her head. “I guess it was too much to hope for.” She looked up again, turning her eyes on Stout Heart and Rite. “And what about you two? How did the training go?”   “A great deal of injuries and nothing to show for it,” Stout Heart said, putting a hoof to his face. “I’ve got them working on an exercise, and until they can figure it out I’m not letting them move on.”   “We also had a recruit that we didn’t anticipate,” Rite added. “That baby dragon.”   “Spike?” Luna asked. “Why did he want to join?”   “Believe me, Princess, I did everything I could to try and get him to back out,” Stout Heart replied. “I have no use for a baby dragon in the guard.”   “He has plenty of spirit,” Rite retorted, looking over at his fellow officer. “You shouldn’t doubt him.”   “I don’t doubt his spirit,” Stout Heart replied. “Only the reach of his arm.”   Luna had to fight not to giggle at that. “Captain Rite is correct, though. Give him a chance, Stout. He may surprise you.”   “Hopefully you’re right, Princess,” Stout Heart muttered.