//------------------------------//
// Peyton 3 - The Battle of Canterlot 
// Story: Lost in a New World 
// by KingBrony 
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"Enter formation!" Peyton called out to his Griffon army. The Equestrian shores were coming into view across the horizon. The Griffons slid into multiple triangle formations, with a commanding Griffon at the center of each triangle. Each triangle was layered on top of each other, with each center Griffon being situated a few feet behind the lower layer's center. With about two hundred griffons in each triangle, they looked like a dark mark in the sky to those who would observe them from the ground. The King took the front-most position to take the lead. As they approached land, he raised his claws.

"Take a look at our new home!" He called out. The Griffons roared and cheered in response. The shore grew closer and closer as the remains of buildings littered the skyline. "So this was Manehatten," the king said, looking down at the ruins.

Peyton's wings were stiff as he flew, but he slapped himself in the face to regain focus. He took the center position of the fifth triangle, situated right in the middle of the army formation.

"We fly straight for Canterlot Castle!" King Griff called out as the surrounding fields came into view. Manehatten, once the busiest place of commerce for ponies, faded into the background as the swarm charged ahead. Smaller settlements also came and went, all abandoned due to the meteors that sullied the landscape with craters. Just like how Griffonstone was devastated by the shower.

The only difference between the Ponies and Griffons, in Peyton's mind, was the fact that the Griffon Kingdom still remained in power. When the Sleipnir hatched from the meteors, the Griffons soon found themselves overrun. However, it was King Griff who was able to band everypony together and combat the threat, driving the Sleipnir away from Griffonstone. Many Griffon lives were lost in that battle, but they were able to survive. It did not help that the Sleipnir were actually making their way back to Equestria, their homeland, but Peyton didn't care. The Griffons fought the Sleipnir once and survived - it should not be too difficult to do so again. Especially since they don't know we're coming, Peyton thought to himself. And as aggressive as King Griff was, he knew how to lead. Under his guidance, the Griffons will remain strong as a unit, a swarm in the sky. Peyton respected that about the king.

"Canterlot is coming into view!" Another griffon shouted. Peyton looked ahead to see the familiar mountain where Canterlot was perched. He had only been there once when he was younger, but remembered how extravagant it was. Now, the Sleipnir architecture emerged from the ruins and destruction.

The dark streak in the sky soon lit up as green and red beams shot up from the earth below. Griffons caught in the beams spiraled out of the sky, falling to the abyss below. "Scatter!" Peyton called out. The formation immediately split down the middle before splitting again. The smaller brigades circled in the air, looking for the source of the beams.

Below the clouds, a group of Sleipnir stood tall on a hilltop. The red and green tints circled around them as they prepared to fire another charge. Peyton's wings spread out as far as they could as he began to glide through the sky and out of the way. The sky lit up once again as the beams shot up into the heavens, clipping Peyton's right wing. The griffon felt his weight underneath him as he plummeted to the earth below.

I won't let it end like this! He thought to himself as he straightened out to try and slow his fall. The trees below him, dense and dark, looked like spikes jutting out of the ground, waiting to taste the freshly-caught griffon. Instead, with a flap of the wing Peyton was able to slow his descent, instead brushing through the trees and bouncing off of the branches before finally hitting the dirt floor of the forest.

A burning sensation woke Peyton up. He was suddenly sweating as the temperature shot up many degrees from before. The forest around him looked dry, waiting to catch fire. Peyton looked down at his right wing. It hurt too much for him to be able to fly out. Looking around, the griffon found his spear stuck into the ground. He pulled it out and continued on his way.

Not knowing how much time had passed since the battle started, Peyton hoped things were going well. "Why did they know we were arriving?" He asked himself. "We should have had the element of surprise...Was it the ponies?" The thought of being betrayed by those that asked for their help was ridiculous, but what if it was tortured out of them? Regardless, this was the situation they were in. Invading Equestria and defeating the Sleipnir was already going to be a hefty task. The discipline and speed of the griffons should be enough to counter the raw power and magic that the Sleipnir possess.

As the griffon walked, the trees rustled ahead of him, prompting the captain to jump back and hide behind one of the trees. He heard two voices come out from the darkness: 

"I think one of them fell down here."

"Maybe the fall killed him."

"We need to check and make sure. Don't want any of them left alive - king's orders."

As the voices walked past Peyton, he jumped into action. The griffon jumped right, taking his spear and driving it straight forward. He managed to clip a Sleipnir right on the side. The other Sleipnir pulled out a spear of his own and drove it right for Peyton, but the griffon used his good wing to create a gust of wind and fly backward, pulling the spear out of the injured soldier. 

"Get him!" The injured Sleipnir yelled to his companion before falling to the ground. Peyton jumped back once again, gripping his spear as he faced the enemy. 

Looks like this one doesn't use magic, he thought to himself, noticing that neither the horn nor flank lit up as the Sleipnir fought. 

The Sleipnir began speaking, but Peyton did not know what he was saying, instead lunging forward with his spear in response. The Sleipnir caught the spear with his own and retaliated with his own swipe. The two clashed and clanked.

"I am a captain of Griffonstone," Peyton proclaimed before the panting Sleipnir. "I will not be defeated so easily."

Peyton used both of his wings to fly over the Sleipnir before swiping his spear right through its neck. The Sleipnir groaned as it fell to the ground, dead. The pain in Peyton's right wing returned, throwing him back to the ground. Looking to the Sleipnir he stabbed earlier, Peyton saw nopony there. "Must have got away," He said to himself before continuing on.

As the griffon captain ran through the forest, a great spark of light flashed above him. The trees all around him lit up in flame. Peyton rolled forward to avoid the burning branches that crashed down from above. He truly felt crippled without his right wing, but the captain continued on. He would not die in a simple forest, not today. The edge of the forest soon came into view as Peyton tumbled his way out. As he opened his eyes to see what the battlefield looked like, Peyton was met with a view that he would never forget.