//------------------------------//
// Battle 
// Story: Victory 
// by Zeck 
//------------------------------//

	Flicker huddled around the fire, trying to pull her cloak closer. It wasn’t particularly cold, and sitting close to the fire was managing to banish even the smallest hint of a chill from her body, but she couldn’t help it. She wanted to snuggle deep into the cloak and vanish. She wanted to be back home, safe in her own bed with a fully belly and nothing to worry about.
“Like that’s going to happen,” she said as she stared into the flames.  She watched as they danced in a chaotic rhythm that always ended with the tips vanishing in the evening sky. At least, she assumed it was evening. The forest was so overcast with trees that she had a hard time telling if the sun was still up.
Her stomach growled at her and she decided it was evening after all. Clearly her body had decided it was dinnertime.  She dug into her saddlebag and rummaged around. All she found was a single apple. She briefly debated whether she should share it, or perhaps only take a few bites and save the rest, but her stomach decided against those options. 
Besides, if she didn’t eat it soon, she probably wouldn’t get a chance to.
The unicorn bit into the apple and closed her yellow eyes as the juices and flavor flooded her mouth. This was the first real food she’d had in two days. The band of soldiers she had set out with had packed plenty of supplies, but on their first night in the forest, they had been attacked and nearly all of their food had been eaten. 
“Stupid bugs,” Flicker mumbled as she recalled seeing countless winged insects swarm out of the trees and devour nearly everypony’s food in a matter of moments. And that had only been the start of their problems.
Monsters roamed this forest. Creatures that defied logic and nature. The ponies had been prepared to battle any griffons that had followed them, but not the terrors that had awaited them in the forest. Giant serpents dwelled in the rivers, some of them with more than one head. Creatures that looked like they had been mashed together, both large and small, had attacked the party on several occasions. She still shuddered at the thought of watching one of her fellow unicorns turn to stone simply from the stare of one of the forest’s beings. 
Even the trees were against them. Pieces of them had broken apart and formed wolves which had decimated the pony force. By the time the griffons had finally found them, their number had been reduced by nearly half. The battle had been vicious even by the war’s standard, but the ponies had suffered the loss in the end.
“And for what?” Flicker asked as she took another bite of the apple floating in front of her. She looked at the five cloaked figures sitting around the fire with her. “Well? Nothing to say?” The figures continued to stare silently into the fire, the shifting light hiding their faces in shadow. 
Flicker heard a twig snap somewhere close by.  She briefly hoped it was just a piece of wood snapping in the fire, but she knew her luck wasn’t that good. It was time to get started. 
She took a deep breath, trying to fight the urge of how utterly stupid she felt right then. 
“So what should we do?” she asked, looking around the circle of figures gathered at the fire. “We’re down to just the six of us. Seven, assuming that pegasus comes back.” She twirled her hoof in the air as she took another bite of the apple, trying to savor every second. “What was his name again? Endless Skies, right?”
Another twig snapped, and this time Flicker listened carefully. It hadn’t come from the fire. She was certain it had come from behind her, and very close. She fought the urge to spin around and fire a blast of magic into the dark forest. 
“But let’s be honest,” she continued instead. “He’s a pegasus. I’ll bet he took off as fast as he could the moment he thought he was free and clear. You can’t count on their kind for anything when it counts. Oh sure, they like to brag about how they’re a proud race of warriors, but that hasn’t stopped the griffons from utterly crushing their armies.”
Flicker winced as she spoke the words. Not because she knew that Current was listening, or even because she believed she was speaking ill of the dead. She was certain Endless Skies had died fighting. Well, almost certain.
No, she was wincing because a small part of her believed the words. Even after fighting alongside pegasus and earth ponies in dozens of battles, or even just working together in harmony in Equestria for several years, a part of her mind was still stuck in the old ways of thinking. It was screaming at her to get up and run, that the other five ponies weren’t going to follow the plan and had left her to die. 
Worse, a growing part of her was starting to believe it. She looked around the fire, her eyes looking past the five cloaked figures and into the forest beyond. Were they still there, like they had promised? Or had she been a sacrificial piece, left behind while the other five had moved to a different location to try and set up a better defense?
Just like what we did with Endless Skies…
Flicker felt guilty about the fact that the pegasus had been sent on a scouting mission, even though everypony knew the truth: he had been used as a decoy in order to lure the griffons away and buy as much time as possible. The fact that he had willing volunteered, knowing full well that he was going to be bait, did little to ease her guilt. 
Flicker swallowed and pressed on. She couldn’t dwell on Endless Skies’ fate. She would very likely be sharing it in a few moments anyway.
“Still,” she said to the figure to her left, “at least the pegasi know how to fight. Earth ponies can’t fly and they certainly can’t use magic. What good are they on this mission? Sure, that cook made great food, but then he went and got himself killed by that…what did Starswirl call it? A Manticore? The only thing they’re good for in this war is being frontline troops to delay the enemy while we unicorns do the real fighting.” She turned up her nose at the last few words, trying to capture the arrogance that her tribe had been known for among the other tribes. She closed her eyes and took a final bite from her apple, and then floated the core into the flames and watched it burn.
The figures around the fire said nothing to her remarks. They simply continued to stare at the fire.
I hope they know I’m not serious, she thought as she watched the core turn black. That thought scared her even more than dying. The idea that the last remnants of the band would abandon her because of something she said, thinking that she hated them all, was unbearable. She had to fight the urge to shout out that she didn’t mean any of it.
Another twig snapped, terribly close this time, and Flicker had to fight the urge to jump. She was fairly certain that the noise had been deliberate this time, and as she strained her ears, she thought she heard the sound of wings flapping.
Hoping against hope, she asked without turning around, “Is that you, Endless Skies?”
“Was that his name?” a voice asked. Flicker felt a tear run down her cheek. She didn’t recognize the voice, and that likely meant that their number had been reduced to six.
Slowly, she looked around at the figures sitting around the fire, taking note of where all the weapons were. She took a deep breath and then turned around, fully expecting to catch an arrow in the chest and a sword through her stomach.
“Oh, it’s the beasts,” Flicker said as her eyes fell upon the griffons behind her. “I would offer you all something to eat, but I’m afraid we’re dangerously low on food. Some sort of insect devoured most of it.”
“They’re called parasprites,” a griffon said as he stepped forward. For a moment, Flicker thought he was wearing a hood, but then she realized it was because his head feathers were black. That, combined with the fact that he seemed to be a few sizes larger than a normal griffon, made Flicker believe that she was speaking with their leader.
“Parasprites, you say?” she said, careful not to make any sudden movements less the griffons mistake it as a threat. Every second she was alive was another second that this crazy plan came closer to success. “Disgusting creatures. Ate most of our food on the first night and we’ve been running on rations since. I just ate my last apple myself.” She licked her lips. “Best I’ve ever had, let me tell you.”
“Yes, we noticed,” the leader said. “You were rather unkind to offer any to your...friends. I’m certain they must be hungry too.”
Flicker blew her orange mane up and let out what she hoped sounded like a cruel laugh. “You’re kidding, right? I am a unicorn! As if I’d share my last meal with those brute pegasi or filthy earth ponies. I am not some lowly commoner.” Flicker had to force herself not to smile as she ran her hoof down her yellow neck. She had heard the stories from other soldiers, about how griffons liked to try to get ponies to turn on each other. She hoped that she could lure this griffon into a false sense of safety and then—
“Nice try, unicorn,” the leader said, practically spitting the name at her. “But the last pony who played that trick took one of my archers with him. We will not fall for it a second time.”
So much for that. “Well, it’s good to hear he died fighting at least. One less griffon we have to worry about.” She braced herself, preparing for the worst and satisfied that she had managed to get in a slight jab. She was also happy to hear that Endless Skies hadn’t abandoned them, even though it had meant his death.
“He died a warrior’s death, I will concede to that,” the leader said. “But enough about that. Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?”
“I’m ready if you are,” Flicker said, readying her magic to pick up her weapons and fight. 
“You can’t be serious,” the leader said, throwing his head back in a laugh. Flicker felt her flesh prickle as she watched that hideous beak click with each laugh. “The six of you against all of us? You must know that I have archers trained on each one of you. One word and all of you will be dead before you can even cast a single spell.”
“Can’t blame me for trying,” Flicker said, still not releasing her magical grip on the weapons. She knew her horn was glowing is yellowish color, and she was positive that the magical grip on the sword next to her was visible to the griffons, but she hoped the light of the fire masked the other items she was grasping. “Besides. How do I know you’re not bluffing? I only see two archers. No matter how good they are, there’s no way two of them can kill all six of us fast enough.”
“So there are only six of you left,” the leader said with a grin. 
“Well, there are six of us here, as you can plainly see,” Flicker said, quickly covering her mistake.  She waved her hoof behind her, indicating the cloaked figures around the fire that had said nothing so far. 
“Indeed.” The leader said, eyeing her intently. He was smart, Flicker had to admit. If he took just three steps forward, she was certain she could kill him before he saw it coming. However, he wasn’t coming any closer, which meant that he would be able to see any attack coming with enough time to block or dodge it.
Still, that also worked to her advantage. As long as he and the rest of the griffons stayed back, the figures around the fire remained cloaked in shadow and the constantly shifting light from the fire made it impossible to see their faces. That was why Flicker had chosen herself to be the bait for the trap. She was the only one who could keep the griffons back far enough for the plan to work. 
“Very well, pony,” the leader said. “Here they are.” The griffon raised one of his wings and Flicker went stiff with horror. She had fully expected that to be the last thing she ever saw before she was pierced with arrows, but it didn’t happen. 
Instead, six more griffons stepped, or flew, forward. Each one had a drawn bow and was aiming at Flicker and the other figures. Eight. Eight archers. Assuming the lead griffon had been foolish enough to reveal all of them. She doubted that very much, but she knew there were at least eight. 
“Okay, I believe you,” Flicker said. “So, what’s next? If you had planned to kill us, you could have easily shot all of us from the cover of the forest and not revealed yourselves. If you had wanted to taunt us and then kill us, I’m fairly certain you’ve accomplished the taunting part. And yet we still draw breath. I must admit, I am curious as to why.”
“This.” The leader waved his talon around, indicating Flicker, the campsite, and the rest of the forest. “Why are you here?”
Flicker shrugged. “It seemed like a good camping spot. We needed to rest.”
“That is not what I meant, pony,” the griffon said, showing the first sign of true anger. “What is your kind planning? Why did such a large force come into this cursed place? A dangerous power sleeps here. Are you ponies fool enough to believe you can control it? It will destroy you all!”
Flicker sighed. She could see that the plan was coming to its end.  Lies, diversions, and general stalling would no longer hold this griffon’s attention. Still, she had one last trick up her sleeve.
The truth.
“All right, you caught us,” she said. She smiled as the griffon leader blinked once in shock, at a loss for words.
“Explain,” he said darkly.
“We came into this forest because one of the most powerful unicorns, Starswirl the Bearded, claims that there’s a weapon deep in these woods that can turn the tide of the war.”
“You are fool,” the griffon said, “There is a power here that your kind cannot possible fathom, let alone control.” Flicker wondered if he was correct because she saw genuine fear in the griffon’s face for a moment. Not the fear that comes when facing death, but the fear of something standing behind death. Like looking at a monster, and then seeing an even bigger monster looming up silently behind the first one. His reaction would certainly help explain why everything in this forest was so hostile and…strange.
“Perhaps,” she said, ignoring the look. “Speaking of the forest, is this were you beasts came from? I mean, your kind is a mix of different animals, and everything in this forest is a mix up of different animals.” She stopped for a moment and tilted her head, pretending to think. Then she kicked the dirt with her hoof. “Is that like stomping on holy ground for your kind or something? Are Manticores like your kind’s cousins or something?”
“The only reason you still breathe, unicorn,” he spat the word again, this time sending actual spit through the air, “is because you are giving me more information. If you are all finished, your death is assured. If you have more to share, you keep breathing. Your choice.”
“Apologies,” Flicker said, kicking the ground deliberately one last time and locking eyes with the griffon as she did. “And thank you for confirming that this entire adventure and all those who died wasn’t for nothing.” She smiled as it dawned on the griffon’s face that he had just let slip something important.
“As I was saying,” she continued. “We came here looking for some sort of weapon. Only Starswirl knows what it is, and he wasn’t about to tell any of us. Said it was too dangerous for any pony to know because then a griffon might find out and try to stop us. Guess that didn’t work out too well.”
“What is this weapon?” the leader said darkly, his eyes narrowing.
“It appears you’d be more familiar with it than me, judging by your reaction,” Flicker said, tapping herself on the chest and acting hurt. Still, she suddenly felt as though she and the griffon were talking about two different things. “All I know is that it has something to do with some prophecy in one of Starswirl’s books. Clover the Clever would probably know what it was too, but she’s busy fighting on the main front.”
“So you’ve all been sacrificed for some ancient unicorn’s dusty books?” The griffon shook his head. “That’s almost enough for me to take pity on you.”
“No thank you,” Flicker said, her voice hardening slightly. “I’ve seen your kind’s pity.”
“What was the plan here?” The leader asked. “You set up camp in an obvious spot where you had to know we’d find you. You light a roaring fire that is painfully visible, and you sit around it without placing traps or lookouts or anything. I’d be concerned that this might be a trap, but only six of you against all of us? Don’t make me laugh.”
“I hate to make you laugh, but you’re right,” Flicker said with a grin. “This is a trap. You’ve fallen for it pretty bad too.”
“How so?” the griffon asked with a chuckle. “A single unicorn and a random amount of earth and pegasus ponies?”
“What makes you think I’m the only unicorn here?” Flicker asked as she tightened her magical grip on her weapons. 
“Because you’re the only one who has readied any magic,” the leader said as he pointed to the other figures behind Flicker. “Your kind is the biggest threat in combat. I ordered my soldiers to target any unicorn first. A foe who can decimate an entire unit with a magical blast from a bone in their head is not to be taken lightly.”
“A good strategy,” Flicker said, taking a twisted sense of pride in the fact that her enemy found her to be such a threat. “But pegasus ponies are the warriors. They’re the best fighters out of the three tribes.”
“In the air,” the leader replied. “On the ground, they are not much better than an earth pony. If any one of your friends suddenly take flight, my soldiers have orders to shoot him before he can flap twice.”
“You don’t think highly of earth ponies then?” Flicker asked.
“On the contrary, earth ponies are my favorite,” the leader said with a grin. “Inept on the battlefield most of the time, and thus easily captured. But their strength! The mines can get ten times more work out of an earth pony than a unicorn or a pegasus. Any griffon that brings back an earth pony slave is paid handsomely. I’ve become quite wealthy because of that.”
“You know, I was supposed to keep you talking for as long as possible,” Flicker said, clenching her teeth so hard that they were starting to hurt. Her magical energy was building up to the point where it would explode if she didn’t do something. This…creature saw her and the other tribes as—
No. He saw ponies, all ponies, as nothing more than slaves. Tools to be used until they broke, and then tossed aside. He would suffer for that. Flicker would make certain.
“That was the whole point of the trap,” she said through clenched teeth. “We’re supposed to delay you for as long as we can. Starswirl and…the others have already found the weapon’s resting place and just need time to get to it. Every second I was able to keep you here was a second longer for him to complete is mission.”
“What?” the griffon said, his eyes growing big with anger. 
“I was not finished!” Flicker shouted, stunning the lead griffon into silence and making several others jump slightly. “You’re right. Earth ponies are terrifyingly strong. Pegasi are frighteningly dangerous in the air. And a unicorn, fully prepared and ready for battle, can hold off a force ten times her size. Multiple unicorns can hold off armies. Yet you only see us as slaves. You make me sick. I will rip you apart before this fight is done.”
“I doubt that,” the leader said, regaining his bluster. “Your pegasus ponies are grounded or dead. You are the only unicorn present. And an earth pony’s strength means nothing if they can’t get close enough to use it.”
“Oh, but they can,” Flicker said. Her voice went cold and she stood up on all fours, raising her sword in front of her. “Have you ever seen what happens when an earth pony kicks something as hard as they can? I’m sure some of you beasts have. It’s not pretty, is it? Shattered bones, ruptured organs, I’ve even heard tales of limbs being torn off. And a pegasus in the air is fast. One who has mastered the art of air combat is truly a horror to behold if you are his enemy.  Two of you could be dead before you even knew he was there.”
The griffons were getting nervous now. Flicker saw the archers’ eyes darting between her, their leader, and the figures behind her. Several griffons were backing up slightly, watching the trees sometimes but mostly focusing on her and the figures behind her. Good. She’d gotten to them. That would make them jumpy.
“Enough!” the leader said. “Kill them. Kill them all!”
Flicker raised a shield around herself and heard two arrows bounce off of it and then she heard the sound of others whistle by her and the sound of their impacts clinking off of metal. 
“What a coward,” the leader said after the sort volley ended. Perhaps there really were only eight archers in the group.  The volley had been awfully short. “I know you could have raised that shield to save all your friends, yet you only protected yourself.”
Flicker just narrowed her eyes more and grinned.
“Sir!” one of the archers said. “Look!” He pointed toward the figures behind Flicker and the unicorn smiled as the leader’s eyes went wide with horror. She knew what he was looking at. The figures behind her were still sitting perfectly still, with perhaps an arrow or two stuck in them, but most of the arrows were probably broken on the ground. 
“Surprise,” Flicker said as she used a quick flourish of magic to yank the cloaks off of the five figures, revealing them to be nothing but stones that had been stacked up to look like a pony sitting. “You ever seen what happens when something kicked by an earth pony hits a griffon’s head? It looks like this!”
“Sir, what—” The archer griffon’s sentence was cut off instantly as a rock smashed against his head. He sank to the ground, most liking dead or dying from the blow. The other archer standing close to the leader looked as his fallen comrade, then up into the forest and caught another rock straight in the face. His head snapped back too far and Flicker thought she saw pieces of the griffon’s face go flying off, but she couldn’t be sure. She was sure he was dead though.
Two down, six more to—
Two griffons dropped their bows and began clutching at their throats, an arrow sticking out of each of their necks. A third suddenly found himself pinned to a tree by a spear lodged in his stomach. He looked down at it in shock for a moment, and then his body went limp. That left just three archers. If those three could be taken out in the next half second, Flicker could finally make her move.
As if Current had read her thoughts, a dark green flash streaked through the night. One archer fell to the ground, clutching his shoulder and screaming in pain. His wing hit the ground a moment later, along with his bow, which had been sliced in half. The next griffon gripped his throat as a red dash opened along his white feathers. He struggled to stay airborne for a few more seconds, then fell to the ground, slowly choking on his own blood. 
The final archer screamed in shock and pain as two blades were driven into her stomach. A lone pegasus flew before her, lifting her into the air for a moment and then tossing the corpse off the blades and to the side. The pegasus looked back at Flicker, nodded quickly, and then was gone nearly as fast as he’d appeared.
“After them!” the leader shouted, and Flicker heard the rustle of bushes and the snapping of twigs as her fellow ponies took off into the forest, with the griffons giving chase. “I will deal with her.”
“Are you sure you wish to fight me by yourself?” Flicker asked. She raised the rest of the weapons she had carefully positioned around the stone figures earlier. Axes, swords, and spears rose into the air around her, all of them encased in her glowing yellow magic. “As I told you, a prepared unicorn can hold of a force ten times her size. And not only am I prepared, but I’m a soldier. I know how to fight.”
Flicker took deep pride as she watched the black feathered griffon struggle with the implied insult of him being too weak to face her on his own against his desire to continue living.
In the end, his judgment won out over his pride. Made sense, she decided. He was a leader of soldiers. He hadn’t gotten to be that way by being dumb in combat.  Then again, he had been foolish enough to reveal his archers’ locations, so he wasn’t that bright.
“Seven of you, with me,” the leader shouted, and Flicker saw the seven closest griffons break off their pursuit of her comrades and carefully surround her, their weapons drawn
She took comfort in the fact that not a single one of them had a bow. If they wanted to kill her, they’d have to get close. And she was going to make that very, very difficult to do. She slowly twirled the sword in front of her with her magic and smiled at the lead griffon.
“Let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” she said.


*                                        *                                        *


Spinner had kicked a single rock and then took off into the forest. He hadn’t even stuck around to see if he had hit his mark. As soon as the other ponies had launched their attack, he had followed suit and vanished deeper into the cursed woods. He had no idea where he was going, no clue what his plan was, and no thought in his head other than one.
Run.
And run he did. Flicker had been right in the fact that earth ponies were the strongest, and right now he was using that fact to his advantage. A pegasus might be faster in general—especially in the air—but on the ground and dodging trees, roots, rocks and who knew what else, an earth pony was unbeatable. 
And yet the griffons were somehow keeping up. He could hear them behind him, letting out birdcalls and yelling random threats at him. It baffled him that they were able to keep pace, but they did have one advantage over him. They could see in this darkness. He had to peer ahead as hard as he could to avoid crashing into a tree or tripping on a root, but the griffons’ eagle eyes allowed them to see extremely well. Or maybe not. Did a griffon’s eyes work as well at night? Were they nocturnal creatures?
It didn’t matter. All that mattered was staying ahead of them. All their archers were dead, wounded, or their weapons broken, so he didn’t have to worry about taking an arrow in the back, and the thick trees prevent them from really opening up their wings and getting the drop on him. If he just kept running, he’d stay alive. The griffons might be able to keep up with him for a bit, but there was no possible way they had the same endurance as an earth pony. 
He wasn’t a coward. He kept repeating that phrase to himself like a mantra as it fueled his steps. Running had been the plan. They were to wait in hiding near the campsite until the griffons found them. After that, Flicker would try to lure out as many archers as she could, and then they were supposed to strike fast and hard, removing the griffons’ long-range attack capabilities. After that, they were all supposed to take off into the forest and split up the remaining enemy force. If they were caught, they were supposed to take as many as they could with them. If they managed to lose the pursuers, they were supposed to attempt to circle back to camp.  Running and stalling the griffons for as long as possible was all part of the plan.
So why did Spinner feel like a coward as he tore through the dark forest as fast as his hooves would carry him? 
Because he wasn’t running for the sake of the plan, and he knew it. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew he was running for his life. He had regretted coming on this suicide mission the moment they had set foot in the forest three days ago, but it had been too late to turn back then. The only reason he was still alive, when so many other brave ponies were dead was because he was a coward. When the first griffon attack had come, he had been too terrified to move. He had fought them before, but this forest had gotten to him and nearly shattered his mind. The creatures that lurked within the woods were not natural and had abilities that were beyond even unicorn magic. This place was twisted in ways he couldn’t begin to understand, and it had gotten to him.
He had spent the first attack huddled on the ground, and had felt nothing but relief when the corpse of a pegasus had landed on top of him, hiding him from the rest of the fighting. 
Then the fighting had ended, and when he heard that the unit was moving out, his fear had made him cry out for help because he hadn’t wanted to be left alone in the forest. When he had seen that only himself, five other soldiers, Starswirl, and the two cloaked figures with him were all that remained of their force, he had slowly dissolved into a state of panic. He’d been fighting that panic over the past few days, but he could tell it was a losing battle. 
Now that panic drove him, forced his hooves to carry him faster and further from the campsite. The fear provided energy to his limbs that had been lacking ever since most of their food had been eaten, and even as his stomach roared at him and his head felt light from lack of nourishment, his body continued to press on. He would run all the way out of the forest if he had to. He would reach its edges and collapse there, and if the griffons were still behind him, he would gladly face them there, but not in this forest. Not in this twisted, evil—
Spinner’s hoof caught on a rock and the dark blue earth pony crashed across the forest floor. His armor bit into his body as he rolled across dirt and upturned roots. The sound of metal hitting stone rang in his ears as his head hit a rock and threatened to make his vision go dark. He felt pain race down his neck as a wound opened on his chin and blood began to soak his blue coat. He finally came to rest against a tree and closed his eyes as the panicked energy left his body. What replaced it was utter exhaustion. 
“Ow…” he said as he lay in the dirt, his head still ringing slightly from the impact. He groaned and picked himself up. He felt weak and his legs barely managed to keep him upright. His stomach growled at him as it threatened to devour itself. Fight was hard work. Running for his life was hard working. Doing it on an empty stomach was proving to be nearly impossible.
“I’ve got to keep moving,” Spinner said as he forced his hooves to start moving again. “I can’t let them catch me.” He managed to stagger a few steps before he was able to break into a gentle trot, but it was nowhere near the speed at which he was traveling before. For a brief moment, his mind offered the thought that perhaps he had managed to lose his pursuers and he could find a safe place to rest and perhaps even something to eat.
That thought was shattered when he heard the sound of a sword being drawn from its sheathe.  Spinner frozen instantly. Damn! How had they managed to keep up so well?
“We’re only going to say this once,” a voice said. “Turn around slowly and surrender.”
Spinner turned around, expecting to see at least two dozen griffons behind him. To his relief, he only saw six.  Under better circumstance, he would have half a hope that he could get out alive, or maybe even best them all. But trapped in the forest, exhausted from lack of sleep, and barely able to stand because of hunger, he knew he was staring death in the face.
Or worse, his mind thought as he recalled what that leader griffon had said to Flicker before the fighting had broken out. Spinner shook his head. He was not going to be captured and taken to the griffon kingdom to die a slow, painful death. He’d rather die a thousand times in this cursed place than suffer that fate. Okay, maybe not a thousand times, but still.
Spinner made a choice right then. He looked down at his right front hoof, and then his left. Both of his weapons were still attached to his hooves. He looked up at the griffons and narrowed his eyes, then brought his right hoof to his mouth. He bit down on the latch on his armor that kept the circular disk attached to his foreleg and the weapon fell off and landed on the ground. 
“You’re kidding, right?” one of the griffons asked with a laugh. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
Without breaking eye contact with the griffon who had spoken, Spinner repeated the process with his left foreleg, only this time, he caught the ring on his front hoof and let it hang there, gently spinning it in a circle. 
“What do you think?” he asked, struggling to ignore the growing pain of hunger in his stomach. Oddly enough, the fear had all but disappeared. He was still terrified of the forest, but he had pushed it to the back of his mind, where it would sit and whisper to him until this battle was over.
“I knew earth ponies were dumb, but you’re pushing the limits of what I can believe,” the griffon said. “Chakrams can only be used by unicorns. If that’s all you have, then we’ll be making a nice profit off of you.”
“What’s your name?” Spinner asked, trying to sound intimidating but failing because of his hunger.
“Hersah,” the griffon said, “but you’ll soon be calling me Mistress.”
“And what makes you so sure of that?”
“There are six of us and you only have two of those little toys,” Hersah said as she indicated the chakrams with her sword. “Worse for you, you can only throw one at a time. And if you miss, that’s it. You don’t get a second chance. Even if both of them connect, there’s not way you can take down all of us. Make it easy on yourself and give up. I promise to treat you like a nice pet.”
“Come and get me,” Spinner said, twirling one of his chakrams slightly faster on his left hoof.  “It shouldn’t be too hard for you to beat me. Like you said, I can clearly only throw one at a time, and by the time I get the second one ready, I’m sure you’ll have closed the distance.”
“You’re fun—whoa!” Hersah twisted her head to the side as Spinner sent one of his chakrams flying past her head. It sank into the trunk of a nearby tree and Spinner felt a small tug on his hoof. “Well, what now? Two shots, and you missed one.”
Hersah took to the air and started to slowly advance, her sword pointed straight at Spinner’s chest. The pony did his best to look terrified, which wasn’t all that hard to do because he was nearly scared out of his mind. But he managed to maintain control and simply waited for Hersah to fly a bit closer. 
“That’s it?” Hersah said as she flew to within a few feet of Spinner. “You’re not even going to try and fight back? Maybe you’re not worth—ARGH!” Hersah collapsed on the ground, her sword falling from her claw and her other foreleg clawing at her back. She tried to flap her wings, but they refused to answer. Terrified, her eyes turned up to Spinner’s.
“You’re right,” the earth pony said as he glared down at the wounded griffon. “Chakrams are a unicorn’s weapon. They can wield and throw several of them at a time with their magic if they’ve trained enough. Better still, they can use their magic to bring them back. Like I just did.”
“But…but how?” Hersah gasped, the fear growing in her voice as Spinner continued to glare at her. “You’re…you’re and earth pony. You…don’t have magic.”
Spinner stepped forward, bent down, and patted Hersah’s neck. She winced with each touch, and Spinner had to admit that he got a small amount of pleasure out of watching the griffon squirm. “This is going to hurt a bit.” He put is hoof through the hoop that was lodged between Hersah’s wings and pulled.
Hersah let out a scream that was half eagle, half agony as the disk came free from her flesh. Spinner watched as the blood flowed out of her and then looked at the dark red fluid on his ring. It dripped down on the griffon’s white neck as he held it over her. He watched as her eyes flicked between his face and the weapon coated in her blood, and each time a drop of blood landed on her neck, she blinked. It would be so easy to just cut her throat right then. Her wings were useless, and he was fairly certain she wouldn’t be able to walk for a while. Killing her would put the odds closer to his favor.
“Simple,” Spinner said as he swung the chakram once, splashing some of the blood from it onto the ground. “Wire and thread. See?”  Spinner bit down on the armor on his front left hoof and found the nearly invisible wire that connected his chakram to his hoof. He pulled with is teeth and the comforting sound of the wire extending rang in the air. “Unicorn weapon smiths forged the wire for me. Used some of my blood and their hair in it, as well as the chakrams themselves. I can’t control them nearly as well as a unicorn can, but I’m still brutally effective with them. As you no doubt know now.” 
Spinner looked up and noticed that all the other griffons were still staying back, their weapons drawn but not raised in a threatening manner. He looked back down at the griffon that lay at his hooves.“You’re going to want to get that looked at,” he said. “Of course, I can’t help but notice that none of your companions have come forward to help you either. Some friends. Maybe I should just kill you then?”
“No!” one of the griffons shouted.
“Please,” Hersah said at the same time, and Spinner was surprised to see a tear falling from her eye. Did these beasts actually have emotions?
“I’ll make you a deal, Hersah,” Spinner said, leaning down to whisper to the griffon but not taking his eyes off of the other five. “Tell your…friends, to give me something to eat, and I’ll let them take you out of here. If they hurry, you might be able to fly again.”
“Rasa, give this pony some of those apples you have,” Hersah said instantly. One of the griffons removed a satchel he was carrying and tossed it to Spinner. It landed right next to him and two apples fell out. He wasn’t a big fan of the fruit, but right then, they looked delicious.  He bent down and picked one up with his mouth, eating nearly the whole thing before he raised his head again to check on the other griffons. None of them had moved. He ate two more apples before taking the satchel and slinging it over his neck. He reattached one of his chakrams, but left the other one loose just in case.
“Okay, I’m going to back away and you can come get her,” Spinner said as he chewed another apple. “Try anything and—”
A howl tore through the forest and Spinner froze. The apple that was in his mouth dropped to the ground and he found that it was impossible to make any part of his body move. He’d heard that howl before, on the first night they had spent in the forest. If there were more then—
The howl was joined by another howl, and then another. Soon the entire forest was echoing with the sound. Spinner looked to the five griffons and noticed that they were rooted to the spot as well, their heads whipping back and forth as they tried to spy where the howls were coming from.
“We…we’ve got to get out of here,” one of them shouted and took flight, flying into the darkness of the forest.
“No, wait!” Rasa called after the griffon. His called was answered by a blood-curdling scream and then nothing. Moments later, a low growl came from behind Spinner and the air began to reek. He spun around and backed toward the griffons. He only stopped when he nearly tripped over Hersah, who was still laying on the ground, bleeding. He felt her claw close around his hind leg and he nearly kicked her head off in surprise.
“Please…don’t leave me to them,” she begged. Spinner had half a mind to kick her anyway and take off, but he knew it was already too late. Her scream earlier had been what had attracted these creatures, of that he had no doubt. And even if he tried to run, he would only suffer the same fate as that other griffon. If he wanted to get out of this alive, then he’d need to…
“Listen up,” Spinner said, barely able to believe the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Form a circle around Hersah. We fight back to back. Temporary truce. Agreed?”
“I won’t stab you in the back until this is over,” came one answer.
“We survive this, and I won’t stab you in the back at all,” said another.
“Deal,” Rasa said.
“None…none of them, will harm you, pony,” Hersah said weakly. “You…have my word.” Spinner bit back the reply that would have shown how much that meant to him. Right now, he’d need all the help he could get if he wanted to survive this. He was about to ask the fifth griffon if it agreed to the truce, but it was too late.
The first Timber Wolf leapt out of the woods and came charging at Spinner. He screamed and swung his free chakram as hard as he could. The ring connected solidly with the wooden monster’s chest and it howled in pain before breaking apart into pieces of wood. Spinner yanked his foreleg and the chakram came spinning back, landing nicely around his extended foreleg.
“You’re pretty good with those things, pony,” one of the griffon’s said.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Spinner brought his right hoof to his mouth and quickly undid the latch on his other chakram. It crashed into the dirt and his heart began racing in his ears. Dozens of glowing green eyes were looking at him from every direction in the forest. This was it. It wasn’t going to be hunger or even griffons that ended his life. He was going to be mauled to death literally by the forest itself. 
Still, he wasn’t going to go without a fight.
Spinner took a deep breath, his dark blue fur pressing against his chest armor as he inhaled, and pushed off the ground with his front hooves. He took a single step back to balance himself, careful not to trip over Hersah, and flicked his right front hoof. The other chakram sprang up onto his other foreleg and he began spinning it viciously. 
“You’re kidding,” he heard Rasa say from behind him. 
“Nope,” Spinner said. Earth ponies were at an extreme disadvantage in combat. They had no magic to hold weapons, and no wings to free their front legs for use. As such, over the past two years, more and more of them were learning how to fight standing on their hind legs. It wasn’t easy, but Spinner had trained for many months to learn the form, and he was fairly competent at it now.
Two more Timber Wolves jumped toward him. He sent one of his chakrams out in a sweeping arch, decapitating one of the beasts and lodging it firmly in the side of the other. He allowed his body to continue on in a spin and brought his left foreleg around in a back sweep, sending his other chakram straight out to catch a third Timber Wolf square between the eyes. To his relief, the head split completely in two and the rest of the body fell to the ground, motionless. Four down, countless more to go. 
Spinner whipped his forelegs and both his chakrams came flying back to him. He looked to his right and saw a Timber Wolf leaping toward one of the griffons. The feathered creature wasn’t going to be able to avoid to attack in time, so Spinner twisted his body and forelegs in another whipping motion, sending both of his weapons straight toward the beast. They splintered the creature’s side and it vanished in a howl of pain and a rain of wood. 
What would my commanding officer say if you could see me now? He had just saved the life of a griffon, and he was fighting to save the lives of all the ones around him too. He had shown mercy to one that was bleeding as his hooves. War made ponies do crazy things apparently. 
Spinner nearly threw up as a Timber Wolf’s breath blew in face. The stench was overpowering and made his eyes water and his head swim. He choked back vomit and turn to his right just in time to see jaws opening to bite his head off. He froze, waiting for the brief moment of pain before death, but at the last second the Timber Wolf exploded.
“We’re even now,” one of the griffons said. Spinner just nodded and recalled his chakrams again. Maybe he would survive this. Maybe he wouldn’t end up as a corpse to feed the foliage in this cruse forest.
“Ah! No! Get off!” Spinner whipped his head to the right in time to see the griffon that had just saved his life being dragged away into the trees by two Timber Wolves. He flung both of his weapons at the creatures and managed to severe the leg of one of them, but it was too late. The griffon vanished into the woods and let out a final scream that was quickly drowned out by more howling.
“We have to get out of here!” one of the remaining griffon’s shouted as he shoved another Timber Wolf back with his shield and then plunged his sword into its chest. “We stay here and we’re all—” He was cut off as another beast jumped and caught him in its mouth, nearly biting him in two as it bit down and ran off with the griffon’s body. 
“Rasa, we have to go,” the second to last griffon said. “If we leave Hersah, it should buy us enough time to get away.”
Spinner waited to hear the protest from Rasa. Another Timber Wolf lunged at him and he did a set of twirls and spins that not only destroyed the first Timber Wolf, but also destroyed two others in the whirlwind of circles. 
“Rasa, please…” Spinner heard Hersah beg as he spun another chakram out, knocking a Timber Wolf on the head and forcing it to back away a few steps. 
“Rasa, leave her!” the griffon shouted. “Look! They’re already starting to regenerate. We need to leave, now!”
Spinner’s eyes darted toward the nearest pile of shattered wood and his blood ran cold. It was moving. It was twitching violently and slowly pulling itself together with wisps of green magic. He watched, horrified, as the wood reassembled itself into the terrifying shape of a Timber Wolf. It barked at him and leapt forward. What was wrong with this forest? 
Without thinking, Spinner sent of his chakrams crashing into the beast’s midsection. Once again, it exploded into a shower of wood, but an instant later Spinner’s outstretched foreleg felt like it was on fire. He screamed as a Timber Wolf bit down on him, crushing his armor and sinking its wooden fangs into his flesh. He slammed his other chakram down on the beast’s head as hard as he could and it fell away in pieces, but the damage was done. Unable to maintain his balance because of the pain, he fell forward and caught himself with his one good foreleg.
“I’m sorry, Hersah,” Spinner heard Rasa say. The earth pony looked over his shoulder just in time to see the last two griffons take flight and vanish into the forest. How…how could they just leave her like that? Leave him?
The sound of crying snapped Spinner out of his disbelief, mainly because it was a sound that did not belong in the middle of a pack of vicious Timber Wolves. The earth pony looked down and saw the wounded griffon curled up in a ball, her wings covered in dirt and blood and her feathers caked in filth. She was shuddering violently and had her claws over her eyes while she shook her head frantically. She looked pathetic. 
Every rational thought in Spinner’s mind was screaming at him to do what the other griffons had done. Leave her as a meal for the Timber Wolves to buy himself time to escape. She would do the same to him. She would probably do the same to her own kind if Rasa and the other were any indication. Plus, she had killed how many ponies during the war? And how many more did she sell into slavery, or keep as her own little pets? She deserved whatever this forest had in store for her, and worse.
“What…what are you doing?” Hersah asked.
“I don’t know. And shut up,” Spinner said as he knelt down and lifted the wounded griffon with his muzzle. He flipped and rolled her, none to gently, along his neck until she was draped over his back like a feathery saddlebag. His right foreleg burned as he put weight on it, but he forced the pain from his mind. He tried to pull his chakram back, but the thing refused to move. He looked at his wounded leg—struggling to ignore the open wounds, flowing blood, and crushed armor that greeted his eyes—and saw that the wire to the chakram had been snapped. It was supposed to be unbreakable by normal means, but Timer Wolves were made of magical energy, and that threw a lot of supposed fact out the window. Probably for the best. He doubted he could use the weapon anymore with his foreleg in the condition it was. Still, he hated to leave the chakram sitting on the forest floor.
A roar behind him quickly reminded him that he didn’t have time to dwell on such thoughts. Spinner looked back and sent his other chakram spinning out. Indescribable pain shot up through his body as all his front weight was suddenly placed on his wounded leg. He nearly collapsed under Hersah’s weight, but he managed to stay standing and recall his remaining weapon as it drove back another Timber Wolf.
He caught the ring weapon in his mouth, careful not to bite down on the razor edge, and took off straight ahead. He swung his neck as he pasted another Timber Wolf and the chakram in his mouth slammed into the creature’s head, shattering it. He felt part of the weapon cut deep into the roof of his mouth and it suddenly became difficult to maintain his grip on it as the blood and spit mixed together to make the ring slip around in his mouth.
Leave her! Leave her and run! The thought kept repeating itself over and over as Spinner tore through the forest, struggling to carry the wounded griffon and ignore the pain that shot up through his foreleg every time he took a step. The sound of the Timber Wolves barking and howling behind him drove him forward and gave him a strength that only blind terror could bring. With every step, he feared that his body would give out, and each time that fear came up he had to beat down the thought of tossing Hersah from his back and running off.
It wasn’t until he felt the tapping on his flank that he suddenly became aware of the fact that the Timber Wolves had grown silent. He slowed to a trot and then came to a complete stop, straining his ears to hear any sound of the wooden creatures. All the while, Hersah continued to poke him in the side with one of her talons. 
“Would you stop that?” Spinner hissed as he strained his ears to hear the Timber Wolves.
“They’re gone,” Hersah said, her voice weak. “They…they dropped off a while back. There’s…a cave over there.” The griffon raised her claw and pointed to a cave.  Spinner hated the idea of going into a dark cave in the middle of this forest during nightfall, but he figured it was probably the safest place to hide if the Timber Wolves came back.
Unless it was a Timber Wolf den, in which case he and Hersah would be dead within seconds of entering. 
“Alright,” Spinner said. “Guess we need to patch ourselves up anyway.”
“I’ve…I’ve got some…bandages in my pack.” Spinner looked over his shoulder as he walked toward the cave. Hersah did not look good. Her body looked like dead weight across his back and her eyes were fluttering close. If she hadn’t just spoken, he would have thought she was dead.
Why do I care? he thought. He looked at the wound that ran down her back. It was deep and was still bleeding, turning her brown feathers to dark red. He had done that to her. He had meant to kill her, and the only thing that had saved her from having her spine severed had been the fact that she had been wearing armor and he had misjudged her distance when he had struck. So why in Equestria did he care if this being on his back lived or died now?
“Stay awake,” Spinner said as he entered the cave and gently set her on the cold floor. “Where are those bandages?” She weakly pointed to her bag and Spinner dug through it until he found some bandages, what he hoped was a healing cream, and Hersah’s canteen. He soaked the bandages in the green liquid and dumped some of the water on his wounded foreleg. He used the rest to clean the dirt and dried blood from Hersah’s wound, and then did his best to wrap both their injuries. The griffon moaned in pain several times, but she didn’t protest.
“Better?” Spinner asked as he pulled the last bandage tight with his teeth. 
Hersah said nothing for a moment, then her eagle eyes slowly opened. She blinked several times and then sat up as fast as her injuries would allow. She quickly looked around the cave until her eyes settled on Spinner with a hard look.
“Why did you save me?” she demanded.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Spinner said, his anger beginning to remind him why he had tried to kill this creature earlier. “Next time I’ll leave you in your helpless, pitiful state to be ripped apart by beasts that can’t die!” He glared at her until she looked away and hung her head.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I’m just…”
“Just what?” Spinner asked, still feeling his anger burning. “Just not used to seeing mercy? Showing it? Do griffons even know what that is? Your friends back there were pretty quick to abandon you, so I’m guessing kindness isn’t a common trait among your kind.” Spinner was about to chew into her more, but his mind stopped as he heard his words. He had done the same thing. He had told himself that he had been following the plan when he had fled into the forest, but he knew that was just to make himself feel better. The truth was, he had abandoned his friends and comrades just as the griffons had abandoned Hersah.
Not this time, he thought. After I’ve healed a bit, I’m heading back to the campsite. Maybe Flicker and some of the others are still there. If not, well…
“Pony, don’t move,” Hersah whispered.
“My name is Spinner,” the earth pony said. “Not pony. And if you think you’re in any condition to—” He stopped when he saw that Hersah wasn’t looking at him, but behind him and up. Way, way up. And the look on her face was one of sheer horror. 
Carefully, Spinner turned around.
What greeted his eyes was confusing at first. He thought he was looking up at the night sky. Dozens of stars glittered before his eyes and swirls of cosmic dust flowed among the twinkling lights. It was a beautiful sight to behold, and for a moment he considered just laying there and looking up at the purple sky and its diamonds.
But there were several things wrong. First, he was inside a cave, as his brain was quick to remind him. As such, he shouldn’t have been able to see the stars. Second, the stars were too big, and too close. He could see them too clearly and some appeared to be bigger than his entire head. Finally, he noticed that the stars were moving back and forth. They never moved far, and they always returned to their original spot. The sky appeared to be…breathing? How was that possible?
“What in Equestria…?” Spinner squinted and tilted his head, suddenly wishing he had both of his chakrams still. As he stared, two massive yellow eyes with blood red pupils flashed opened, and the starry sky before him peeled back to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth. A roar unlike anything the Timber Wolves could do split the silence in the cave and nearly deafened the pony.
“I really hate this bucking forest,” he said. 


*                                        *                                        *
	

Great. Just great. Quickeye jumped over a fallen tree, landed, and spun around to face his pursuers. He used his magic to string one of his few remaining arrows and let it fly. Without waiting to see if it hit anything, he turned and continued tearing through the forest, trying to keep up with the other two ponies ahead of him. 
He briefly wondered why he was trying to keep up with them. They were useless. There was no other way to put it. They were both earth ponies. They didn’t have a pegasus’ ability to fly, and they didn’t have a unicorn’s magic. Quickeye had seen a few earth ponies in his time that he might have considered soldiers, but the two mares running ahead of him were not. 
But it was too late to turn back now. After the initial attack, which Quickeye admitted that both of the mares had showed some impressive skill, he had bolted just as the plan had called for. Without thinking, he had ran after the two mares, his mind deciding that there was safety in numbers. And perhaps that was true. If the griffons had to split their focus between three ponies instead of just him, he might be able to get out of this alive. 
As he ran, he glanced at his quiver to take stock of how many arrows he had left. His chances did not look too good. He had seven arrows left, and he was positive that there were more griffons chasing him than that. Well, he was a unicorn, and as Flicker had said, a prepared unicorn could hold off dozens of griffons.
Too bad he hardly considered himself prepared. His skill in combat lay in his keen brown eyes and his skill with a bow. Levitating multiple objects was not something he could do well. Simply holding his bow, stringing an arrow, and then pulling it back far enough to let it fly took nearly all of his concentration. He had tried to learn how to fight like other unicorns—magical blasts in most cases, or even wielding multiple weapons like Flicker had several times during this mission—but he had never been very good at it.
But no pony could match him in the skill of the bow. None. Arrows went exactly where he wanted them to every time, and he could fire double the amount of any other unicorn in the same amount of time. He had managed to take out two of the griffon archers moments before, and would have continued if it hadn’t been for the fact that these two earth ponies had taken off into the forest. And for some reason he simply could not fathom, he had chosen to follow them. 
He shook his head at the foolishness of the thought. He could have killed that griffon leader if he had stayed. It would have taken a second at most. Between his archery and Flicker’s mastery of levitation, the two of them could have destroyed that griffon and possibly every other griffon there. But no, he had taken off after these stupid earth ponies and followed Flicker’s horrible plan of splitting up. They stood a better chance of surviving if they stayed—
A tree branch smashed into Quickeye’s face and tore into his flesh. Leaves filled his mouth and he closed his eyes as he pushed the branch aside. His hoof caught something—a root, a stump, a rock, he didn’t know—and he fell forward, crashing onto the forest floor. He felt his magical grip on his bow break as his chin hit the dirt and knocked the air from his lungs. He looked up and saw his weapon laying out in front of him. Not good. The griffons were no doubt right behind him.
As if to prove him right—the universe seemed to love to do that—a screech sounded behind him. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes went wide as a griffon came charging out of the forest. It jumped into the air with its spear and dove toward him. He rolled to the side just as the weapon plunged into the ground where his chest had been moments before. 
Not good, Quickeye thought as he scrambled across the ground to escape the griffon. He heard another screech as he managed to finally get back up on his hooves. Definitely not good. 
He reached out with is magic and smiled as his white aura surrounded his bow and then it came flying toward him. He pulled another arrow from his quiver and strung it while his bow was still lining up along his eyesight. The second he felt everything settle into place, he released the part of the magic in his mind that was drawing the arrow back.
The arrow was strung on his bow one second and then the next it was imbedded deep in the griffon’s neck. Six arrows left now.
Quickeye didn’t even wait to see if the griffon was truly dead before he got ready to run again. He knew he had hit a vital spot, and if the shot hadn’t killed the griffon outright, the creature would be dead in a matter of moments.
Another griffon screech echoed behind the brown unicorn and he knew it was too close. Without thinking, he spun around and pulled out another arrow. His hooves slid across the dirt and he had to adjust his aim to compensate for his continued motion as well as the griffon that was now flying straight toward him. Still, he had plenty of time. He estimated that he had two whole seconds before the griffon was within striking distance. 
Quickeye released the arrow as he continued to slide and grinned as it sank into the griffon’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure if that was a kill shot, but he knew that that griffon wouldn’t be able to chase him anymore. Five arrows left. 
As the griffon fell to the ground and Quickeye began to turn away, he saw another griffon come flying at him, much faster than the first two. He pulled another arrow and strung it, but his time to aim had been cut in half. He let the arrow fly, but the shot missed—much to his embarrassment and disbelief—and sailed past the creature. 
The griffon swung an axe, aiming to take off Quickeye’s head. The unicorn ducked and felt the wind from the blow pass dangerously close over his mane. He went completely flat and rolled across ground twice, wincing as parts of his armor bit into his sides. Still, he made sure to keep track of his bow and came up in a crouch, each of his four legs bent to keep him low. He rotated his bow so that it was parallel to the ground and strung another arrow in a heartbeat, then let it fly straight toward the griffon’s chest.
To his dismay, the griffon brought its shield up at the last moment and the arrow sank into the wooden shield. Not good. That left him with four arrows, and he had already wasted two of his shots. Why had he followed those worthless earth ponies? He would have been better off if he had stayed with Flicker, his own kind, and—
“Hey, feather head. Over here!” a voice shouted. Quickeye, as well as the griffon, both turned to look at the voice. That proved to be a mistake for the griffon.
The two earth ponies Quickeye had been following were standing side be side. One of them threw a spear as hard as she could, and Quickeye was reminded of one of the few advantages that earth ponies had over pegasus and unicorn ponies. 
The griffon blocked the thrown spear with the shield again, but the power behind the throw was so strong that the shield was knocked out of the griffon’s claw. The griffon looked down at the shield in shock, then back up at the earth pony pair and made ready to attack them, but it was already too late. Quickeye had strung another arrow and had already released it. It sank into the griffon’s exposed side and the creature fell to the ground, clutching its side and screeching in pain.
“Get up Quickeye!” one of the earth ponies yelled at him. The unicorn was surprised that the earth pony knew his name, because he had no idea what either of their names were. He stood up and turned to look to make sure no more griffons were about to come charging out of the forest after him. He was disappointed instantly.
Three more griffons came charging at him, two on the ground and one in the air. He figured he could hit two of them before they reached him. He reached for another arrow with his magic and…nothing. He couldn’t feel his magic wrapping around the smooth shafts of his arrows. Panic rising, he looked down at the quiver slung on his side and saw that it was empty.
“How?” he asked as he continued to stare at the empty quiver. He was supposed to have three arrows left. He had made a mental note of it when he had been running. Where could they have gone?
Quickeye suddenly remembered the spill he had suffered minutes earlier. Between that and rolling to avoid getting impaled, it was very possible that some of his arrows had spilled out. He had been in such a panic that he had failed to actually check to make sure they were still there.
“Quickeye, look out!” one of the earth ponies yelled. The unicorn looked up as the three griffons closed on him. His eyes grew wide as he realized he was moments away from death. All because he had been dumb enough to follow two earth ponies who…where now standing in front of him.
What?
Quickeye’s mind struggled to keep up with what his eyes were seeing. Just as the griffons were about to close on him, a red blur appeared in front of him. His mind barely managed to register that he was staring at the flank of one of the earth ponies before a turquoise blur came flying in, vaulting over the red pony and up into the sky. What happened next defied everything that Quickeye had come to believe about earth ponies. 
The red pony had stopped for the briefest of moments to allow her partner to jump off her back and then had become a blur of red again. He saw flashes of purple as her mane swirled around her head and her tail whipped around. Her armor clanked loudly, as if it was being hammered like a drum as she spun, dodged and danced around in furious motion before his eyes. He wasn’t even sure what she had done, but one moment the two griffons on the ground had been seconds away from impaling him, and the next they were laying on the ground ten feet away, clearly as baffled as Quickeye was as to what had just happened to them. 
It was then that Quickeye noticed something very strange about the pony standing in front of him. She was standing on her hind legs. Not only that, but she had a pole resting on her shoulders and seemed to be using its weight to keep herself balanced. Quickeye had heard stories that some earth ponies had figured out how to stand on their hind legs for extended periods of time, or even fight standing that way, but he’d never seen it in action before. If every earth pony could learn to do what this one had just done, then maybe they wouldn’t be next-to-useless in this war after all. 
One of the griffons was starting to pick himself up and Quickeye realized that the red earth pony wasn’t moving to stop him. He was about to say something, to yell at her to not let him up, when the third griffon came crashing down on top of him. Both of the feathery creatures tumbled to the ground, their limbs, armor, and weapons becoming a tangled messed. 
Moments later, the turquoise pony landed next to the other earth pony, her own armor pinging slightly as it settled back on her body. An orange silk wrap hung around her neck and seemed to flutter in the air for a brief moment before it too settled on her back, clashing wildly with her aqua blue mane and turquoise coat. She stood on all four of her hooves for a moment, then she too stood up on her hind legs, the scarf spilling down her back to reveal three yellow diamonds in its pattern. Quickeye could not believe what he was seeing. Maybe these two earth ponies deserved more credit than he was giving them. After all, they were still alive when nearly everypony else had been killed over the past few days in this wretched place. 
“Quickeye, are you okay?” the turquoise pony asked without turning to look at him.
“Get your head on straight,” the red pony said, not too kindly.  “You almost got yourself killed.”
“Excuse me?” Quickeye said. “How dare an earth pony talk to me like that!” The red pony turned around and Quickeye was suddenly wondering if it would really be the griffons that killed him today.
“Look, unicorn, we could have left you to die—”
“But we didn’t,” the turquoise pony said in a much kinder voice as she rested her hoof on the red pony’s shaking shoulder. “And we wouldn’t either. We’re all in this together. Right, Twirl?”
“Right, Sea Tide,” Twirl said as she bit her lip. “Sorry, Quickeye.”
“Apology accepted,” Quickeye said, then quickly added, “I’m sorry too,” before things got out of hoof again. He still needed these two if he was going to make it out of here alive, and his odds were looking slightly better. These two ponies could fight better than most earth ponies he’d ever seen. Twirl was apparently highly skilled with spears and other pole weapons, and while he hadn’t seen what Sea Tide had done in the air, the fact that she had sent a griffon crashing to the ground meant that she was good at, well, something. 
They were also both rather attractive in their own way, a thought that Quickeye instantly smashed. They were earth ponies. There was no way he—
“Look out!” he shouted while is mind was still reeling from his previous thought. The other griffon had managed to stand up and was now flying straight at the three of them, his sword raised above his head. Quickeye did the only thing he could think of. He swung his bow with all his magical might at the charging enemy.
The bow slammed into the griffon and instantly snapped in half. Quickeye felt a part of soul break as he watched the weapon fragment and the string go limp. He had had that bow for years. It had become an extension of himself, and he had just sacrificed it for a pair of earth ponies. What was wrong with him?
It worked though. The griffon stumbled in mid flight, and that was apparently all the time Twirl and Sea Tide needed to react. Sea Tide reached up with her front hooves and wrapped them around the pole Twirl was holding. The red pony swung the pole like a club and Sea Tide went flying forward. She tucked into a ball and spun through the air, then just before she hit the griffon, she straightened out. She looked as though she was laying on her back as she kicked her hind legs out. She caught the griffon square in the head and his neck bent back at a horrifying angle. Sea Tide’s forward momentum slowed the moment her kick connected, but she still had enough to push the griffon back and down, forcing him to do a sort of half backflip. She landed with her hooves still firmly planted on the griffon’s face, smashing it into the dirt. There was no possible way he was getting back up.
“Where did you two learn to move like that?” Quickeye asked, baffled. These ponies were doing things on the ground that he had only seen pegasus ponies do with wings.
“Practice,” Twirl said as she set one end of the pole on the ground, wrapped her forelegs around it, and leaned against it to support her weight. “Lots of practice.”
“She’s being modest,” Sea Tide said as she fell forward onto her front hooves and began trotting back over to Quickeye and Twirl. “She taught me how to fight like this, and she learned from pegasi who—”
“Can we tell my tragic backstory when we’re not fighting for a lives please?” Twirl said, anger once again dripping from her voice. There was something driving this pony, but Quickeye wasn’t sure he wanted to know what it was. She was dangerous on a completely different level. 
“She’s right,” he said, glad to divert the conversation away from a clearly touchy subject. “We need to get out of here before more griffons show up.”
“But what about Flicker?” Sea Tide asked as she turned to look at him. “The plan was to split up, divide their forces, and then regroup if possible.”
“Listen, Sea Tide. The plan has gone out the window.” Quickeye gestured toward the griffon she had just smashed into the ground and the other two who were still laying on top of one another, either dead or out cold. “We’ve done all we can, but you knew this was a long shot when you joined. Starswirl said as much. If we want to live, we need to get out of here.”
“Living was never the intention,” Twirl said darkly. “We’re buying time for Starswirl and those other two to finish whatever it is they’re doing. If not a single one of us makes it out alive, but he’s able to find whatever it is he’s looking for, and then it’s all worth it.”
Quickeye could not believe what he was hearing. Didn’t these earth ponies get it? Starswirl had sent them off to die so that he could escape with those two fillies. He wasn’t looking in this forest for some ancient weapon. In fact, he very well could be aiding the griffons. He had called for fifty of the best warriors in Equestria and lured them into the most dangerous place in their new homeland. Now most of those warriors were dead, and for what? Some crazy unicorn’s undying belief in some ancient prophecy that was the symbol on the Equestria flag? Did they not see how utterly insane that was?
He was about to point that out when he heard the all too familiar sound of flapping wings. He prayed that it meant that Current had come to their aid, but he knew the odds of that were slim. Slowly, he turned away from Twirl and Sea Tide to look around the forest.
They were surrounded. Over a dozen griffons formed a loose circle around the three ponies, and each one had a weapon drawn and ready. No archers though, so at least that part of the plan had worked. 
“I don’t suppose telling you to surrender will change anything,” one of the griffons said. 
“Depends. You throwing down your weapons and letting us place you all in bindings might go a great deal toward making that surrender happen,” Sea Tide said with a smile.
“Didn’t think so,” the griffon said. “Kill them. Start with the unicorn. You heard what the captain said. They’re the biggest threat.”
No! Quickeye backed up out of reflex and immediately bumped into Twirl. He didn’t have his bow. He didn’t even have a weapon. There was no way he was going to survive this. There was no way any of them were going to survive this. He watched hopelessly as three griffons charged him, raising their weapons and readying to cut him down on the spot.
Just like before, a flash of turquoise appeared before his eyes. Sea Tide stood firmly between him and the three griffons, once again on her hind legs. She didn’t have a weapon either. What was she thinking? The griffons would kill her and then move right on to him in a matter of seconds.
Sea Tide apparently had a different idea. As the first griffon closed on her, she twisted her upper body out of the way of his sword thrust. As the griffon’s foreleg overshot the mark, Sea Tide hooked her foreleg around the griffon’s outstretched limb and bent it upward. She twisted then, snapping the griffon’s bone and causing him to drop the sword at Quickeye’s hooves. After that, Sea Tide slammed her free front hoof into the griffon’s face and it made a sickening thud as the blow connected, then she brought one of her hind hooves up into the griffon’s stomach. The impact caused him to double over, at which point she reached down with her mouth and yanked his shield from his other foreleg, then slammed her elbow joint down on the griffon’s neck. 
The body went limp, but instead of letting it fall, Sea Tide hurled it at the next closest griffon, causing him to trip and fall as his companion’s body crashed into him. The whole thing had taken less than three seconds, and Sea Tide had just neutralized two griffons without a weapon. 
“Use those,” Sea Tide said as she spit the shield out of her mouth. It landed next to the sword she had twisted out of the griffon’s claw moments earlier. Quickeye looked at them for a moment, then picked them up with his magic. Close combat weapons were not his specialty. Still, he had learned the basics when he had trained to be part of Equestria’s army, and he knew how to at least use a shield to block and a sword to cut. It was better than nothing at all he decided. 
The third griffon flew at Sea Tide as fast as he could, but the earth pony leapt into the air and spun, bringing one of her rear hooves around in a devastating kick that connect with the griffon’s head. He hit the ground and skidded to a stop a few feet away as Sea Tide landed. 
Maybe Quickeye would make it out of here after all. Sea Tide had just taken down three griffons in a matter of seconds, and that was nearly a third of their number. He just had to pay attention, remember his training, and let Sea Tide and Twirl handle the real fighting. 
He looked over at Twirl and saw that one griffon was already on the ground, crawling away from her with a wing that was clearly broken. The others had stopped their reckless advance and were now eyeing her carefully, aware that they had underestimated their opponent just as Quickeye had.
“Behind you!” Sea Tide shouted and Quickeye spun around just as a griffon brought an axe down. Without thinking, he pulled his captured sword out in front of him, catching the axe on the shaft and stopping the blade mere inches from his face.  His mind could feel the griffon pressing down on his weapon, trying to overpower his magic and finish the job, and he could tell that the griffon would succeed if something didn’t change fast. 
“Get…off!” Quickeye poured all of his magical strength into shoving back against the axe. At the same time, he remembered the shield he was levitating as well and slammed it into the griffon’s chest. The creature staggered back a step and then used its wings to fly back a few more feet, clearly expecting a counter attack.
Right! Suppose to press the advantage, Quickeye thought as he recalled the basics of combat. Using a sword and shield felt so foreign to him that he had been surprised that he had fought off that first attack. He smiled, more to himself and his own luck than as a taunt to the griffon, and then brought the shield in close to his front and held the sword further out. 
“Forget the unicorn,” one of the griffons shouted. “Kill those two earth po—argh!” The griffon was cut off in a grunt of pain, whether from Sea Tide or Twirl, Quickeye didn’t know. He refused to take his eyes off of the griffon before him.
“You’re new at this, aren’t you?” the griffon said with a smirk. Quickeye swallowed, but remained silent. “They can handle your two friends. I’m going to cut your head off myself.” With that, the griffon flew at him again, swinging his axe with such speed and ferocity and Quickeye found himself stumbling backward, trying to dodge and block all the attacks.
Remember your training. Look for an opening and strike back. The griffon’s axe came down again and Quickeye brought his shield up to block it. Only this time, instead of using the shield to catch the full impact of the strike and risk having his concentration shatter, he blocked the blow at an angle and used the shield’s leverage to push the blow to the side. At the same moment he stepped forward and thrust the sword toward the griffon’s chest. 
For a brief moment, Quickeye thought the sword strike was going to connect, but the griffon flew aside and the sword passed through air. Quickeye didn’t make the same mistake twice though. This time he pressed his opening, twisting the sword with his magic so that the thrust became a side-sweeping cut. The griffon brought his own shield around and blocked the blow. He shoved the sword back and Quickeye charged him, slamming his shield into the griffon’s midsection. The blow winded the griffon, but Quickeye didn’t stop there. He continued to run forward, pressing his shield against the griffon’s stomach with as much magic as he could muster.
The griffon hung onto the shield as he tried to regain his breath, but Quickeye wouldn’t have it. He slammed the griffon into the nearest tree, crushing him between the shield and the trunk. The griffon let out a small gasp of air and Quickeye pressed the shield one last time with his magic, then pulled it away, allowing the griffon to sink to the ground. Without thinking, he brought his sword around and plunged it into the griffon’s chest. It sank half way before he withdrew the blade, now coated in blood. 
“I…I did it,” he gasped, suddenly realizing how winded he was. Close combat was certainly not his specialty. 
“No! Let me go!” Quickeye spun around at the sound of Sea Tide’s voice and took in the battle at a glance. Twirl was still on the ground with two more griffons laying unmoving close by. The one that Sea Tide had broken the foreleg of was still laying where he’d been tossed, conscious again but clearly in too much pain to move, but the one she had thrown him into was nowhere to be seen. The other she had kicked in the head was still unconscious or dead. That left only seven griffons that he saw. Another griffon was charging toward him, and six were still surrounding Twirl, trying to get close enough to kill her. She was looking tired, but she showed no signs of giving up. 
So where was Sea Tide? 
“Twirl!” Quickeye looked up and his blood ran cold.  Two griffons had Sea Tide by the forelegs and were carrying her straight up as she struggled in their claws. That wasn’t a good sign. He’d seen them do this before to earth ponies. They carried them up into the sky and then…
The griffons released their grip on Sea Tide and the pony began plummeting toward the ground. She screamed and Quickeye wished he had his bow. He could have easily shot both of the griffons out of the air as the hovered, waiting for Sea Tide to smash into the forest floor. That would at least avenge her.
“Quickeye, catch her!” Twirl shouted. “Please!” Quickeye brought his gaze back down to the red earth pony as she smashed her pole against the head of one of her attackers. The griffon collapsed on the ground and Twirl brought one of her rear hooves down on his spine, hard. He would not be getting back up. 
The world seemed to slow down then. Twirl’s spinning motions with the pole became a slow dance of destruction. The griffon charging Quickeye slowed to the point that Quickeye could easily see the beating of the creature’s wings. Sea Tide’s aqua blue mane and tale became rivers as they flowed around her body while she gracefully fell to the earth. 
Without realizing what he was doing, Quickeye began moving. He charged the griffon coming toward him, still in slow motion, and brought his sword around. The griffon parried the blow easily, but Quickeye slammed into him with his shield, batting the feathered beast aside as he passed. His eyes returned to Sea Tide and he felt his magic leave his shield and sword. He focused it around Sea Tide, slowing her fall even more, until she simply hovered in the air, surrounded by his white glowing magic. She looked around for a moment and then caught his eye. Tears ran down her cheeks as she smiled at him, but the look on her face quickly changed from joy to horror. 
Quickeye looked at her with a perplexed expression. He didn’t understand. Wasn’t she glad that he had just save her life? He could have escaped into the forest after he’d killed that griffon, but for some reason he couldn’t quite fathom, he had stayed to help her and Twirl. So why was she—?
Quickeye’s eyes went wide as his chest exploded.


*                                        *                                        *
	

Geralt had never wanted to come here. He had grown up hearing the horror stories of the griffons’ birthplace, and why they had left it behind all those years ago. True, the vast majority of the continent was beautiful beyond compare, but the one place where the griffons had come from held too many nightmares for them to want to stay.
Then the pony tribes had come down from the north and began settling in the land. They had named it Equestria and called it home, building villages and beginning to work the land. And Geralt, and many others like him, had been fine with that. The griffons rarely visited their homeland and, as far as he knew, none of them lived anywhere near it. In fact, most griffons didn’t even know the place was their birthplace, and since the luscious land was simply being left alone, the fact that the pony tribes had moved in hadn’t been cause for concern in his mind.
The King and his Council had felt differently. They had claimed it was an unwarranted invasion, an attack on their sovereign rights that could not go unanswered. But Geralt knew the truth. The King, and others like him, hadn’t seen the ponies as equals, or even as neighbors. All they saw was a new source of labor to work the mines, support the kingdom’s industry, and in some cases, a new source of food. Geralt had never tried pony before, and he never intended to no matter how good it supposedly tasted. The thought of eating something that had once been able to hold an intelligent conversation made him sick. 
And so the raids had started. Griffons back home that opposed the raids were branded as traitors, and their numbers dwindled over the years until they either fell silent or were no more. Geralt belonged in the former camp, he supposed. He didn’t like the idea of taking beings from their homes and families, but he was a soldier and he did as he was ordered, less he was tried for treason and killed. Still, he had turned a blind eye more than once to a pony’s escape, or his fellow griffons’ underground activities. He had once even stumbled across and entire pony smuggling camp where griffons helped enslaved ponies escape back to Equestria. He had waited three days before reporting it, and by then everyone involved had long since packed up and moved.
No, he had carried no ill will toward the pony tribes, and would be perfectly happy to let them live out their lives in peace.  He wasn’t like Captain Tyar, who took sick pleasure in the killing and tormenting of the creatures, or others who saw them as nothing more than tools to be used until they broke. He was just a soldier fighting a war, even if he wasn’t in full support of it.
He had kept feeling that way, even as he lost friends on many battlefields over the course of the years, even as he had followed Captain Tyar into the very heart of this cursed forest to stop the ponies from unleashing some sort of weapon, even as more of his friends had died around him in the woods. 
He had bore the ponies no ill will right up until that pegasus had impaled his sister, looked her in the eye, and tossed her corpse aside like a piece of trash, then flew off like a coward. 
As Geralt and ten other griffons flew and ran through the forest in pursuit of the pegasus, one thought kept pounding through his head:
I will kill you!
How far was this coward going to run? He had waited until they had all let their guards down, and then struck. Worse, he had gone after griffons who couldn’t possibly defend themselves against such close combat. Geralt had insisted that Sera be an archer so that she would stay out of the main fighting, but this pony had gone straight for her. He could have killed Captain Tyar, or any of the other griffons in the area, but he had killed the last three archers, including his sister. This pegasus was going to pay dearly for that. His death would not be a quick one, and it most certainly would be painful if Geralt had his say. 
He just hoped that this cursed forest didn’t kill that flying rat before he did. 
“Geralt, maybe we should turn back,” one of his companions said. “We’re getting rather far from the captain now, and you saw that unicorn.”
“Captain Tyar can handle himself,” Geralt shouted as he flew under a branch. He caught another glimpse of light off of the pegasus’ armor ahead and pressed his speed further. Besides, if the captain gets killed, I think the world would be a better place for it. 
“But…you know where we are, don’t you?” the griffon replied. Kyrama, Geralt believed his name was. “If the stories are true, we shouldn’t be here.”
“Look, turn back if you want. I’m not letting that monster get away. He—” Geralt stopped as he flew into a clearing in the middle of the forest. It wasn’t beautiful in any sense of the word. In fact, it was even worse than when they had been move through the trees. Without the canopy to cover everything in shadow, the moonlight showed just how ugly the forest truly was. Twisted and rotting trees, sickly colored leaves, bushes that looked more like sores growing out of the ground, and moss and growth that hung from everything like decaying flesh. 
Was this truly where griffons had come from? From a forest that twisted and mixed everything together, giving rise to new creatures unlike any others in the world? The thought made Geralt’s feathers ruffle, but only until his eyes fell on the lone figure in the middle of the clearing. Then all thoughts vanished from his mind, save one.
The green pegasus hovered in the air in a position that made him appear to be standing on his hind legs. His front hooves hung at his side, and Geralt could see the blade attached to each hoof. He did not hold them like Geralt held his sword, but instead the blades appeared to be part of his actual armor. 
“My name is Flowing Current,” the pegasus said in a calm voice. Geralt looked around and noticed that none of his companions were moving either. Something about this pegasus was…unnerving. Geralt had expected to chase him down, not find him waiting for them. 
“Oh no,” one of the griffons whispered. “It’s him.”
“I have killed two hundred and six griffons in the span of this war. Seventeen alone in this forest. I have gravely wounded over twice that many.”
“One was my sister!” Geralt shouted, anger seething inside him.
“Yes,” the pegasus said calmly, infuriating Geralt even more. “The final archer. She looked like you. I am sorry, but such is war. If you all do not wish to become just another number to me, turn back and go home.”
“My sister is not just another number!” 
The pegasus brought his front hooves up and crossed them over his chest. “So be it. Come.”
“Geralt, we really shouldn’t,” Kyrama said. “I’ve heard stories about this one. If he’s half as good as they say he is, it’s going to take more than us to—”
Geralt screamed, drew his sword, and flew forward in rage. He raised the two-clawed sword high above his head and brought it down as he closed on the pegasus, meaning to cleave him in two from head to tail. 
Current simply flew to the side a bit and Geralt’s blow hit nothing but air. A moment later, a sharp pain cut through his side as the pegasus slashed at him. Geralt flew away, clutching his side with one claw and holding his sword with the other. The wound wasn’t very deep, but it stung. He looked down at his side and saw that his feathers were already darkening with blood. 
“Go back to your kingdom, griffons,” Current said calmly without even looking in Geralt’s direction. “This is your last chance. Attack me again, and this forest will be your tomb.”
“We’ll see about that!” Two griffons flew forward, each drawing their weapons and readying to strike. Again, Current remained perfectly still until the last possible second. As the first sword strike came in, the pegasus blocked the blow with one of his hoof blades. He slammed his head into that griffon, and then flew over the blade as the other griffon attempted a thrust at his midsection. As he cartwheeled over the first griffon, he swept his other blade up, cutting a deep gash along the griffon’s face before he plunged the blade into the griffon’s neck. He was dead before he hit the ground.
Current stopped his cartwheel halfway through the air and then dove after the second griffon. The griffon turned around, ready to defend himself, but the pegasus was too fast. The second the griffon completed his turn, both of Current’s blades sank into Geralt’s companion, piercing armor, feathers, flesh, and organs. Current placed his hind legs on the corpse and pushed, sending himself higher into the air while removing the body from his blades. 
“Two hundred and eight,” Current said, glancing down at Geralt. What was this pegasus? His speed back there had been faster than anything Geralt had ever seen, yet he and the other griffons had been able to keep up with him in the forest. And he had easily just dispatched two of Geralt’s companions in a matter of seconds, yet he had barely wounded Geralt himself.
“There are nine of you left,” Current said as he hovered back to his original spot. “If you want any hope of defeating me, you must all attack at once. Not all of you will survive, so you must ask yourself: Am I willing to die for my friends so that they can live?”
Geralt looked at the other griffons. He saw a mix of fear, hatred, and determination among their faces, but none of them looked as though they were about to turn and run. That was good. There was no way this pegasus was going to be able to take all of them. So long and he died in the end, Geralt didn’t care if a single one of his comrades was still standing.
“You heard him,” Geralt said. He pulled his claw away from his wound and struggled not to let the pain show on his face. It was easier than he though. His anger was still roaring in his body, dulling his senses to anything but the green pegasus in front of him. “He can’t beat all of us at once. Attack!”
Geralt, Kyrama, and all the other griffons rushed toward Current, screeching and snapping their beaks as they closed on him. Part of Geralt’s mind wondered why the pegasus continued to remain where he was and showed no sign of fear, but at the moment he didn’t care. All he wanted was to separate that pony’s head from his shoulders.
Just as the first griffon closed to striking distance, Current began to move. He moved to the side to dodge a sword thrust, then blocked another attack with both blades from above. Geralt saw his opening as the pegasus’ back was turned to him, so he charged in, meaning to run the pony through. He was met with a swift kick to the face that sent him staggering back. He shook his head to clear it and opened his eyes just in time to see the pegasus loop out of the way of three more attacks and three griffons crash into each other as a result. Two more griffons came at him from above, but one of them dove in faster for the kill than his partner. As a result, Current deflected his blow and sank one of his blades into the griffon’s stomach, then let him drop down onto the griffons who were coming up from below after untangling themselves from their crash.
“Two hundred and nine,” Current said as he closed on the other griffon above him. He started slashing wilding, using a combination of kicks and blade sweeps to drive the other lone griffon further up into the sky. 
“Argh! Someone get him off of me!” the griffon shouted as he used his shield deflect three rapid strikes from the pegasus. Geralt soared into the air, but he was helpless as he watched Current spin and slam his back hoof into the griffon’s stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Current raised his blades and swung them down and Geralt was certain he was about to lose another member of his party. 
“Back off!” Kyrama shouted as he flew in and blocked the downward strike with his sword and shield. He pushed the blades back and charged forward in the air, slamming his head into the pegasus’ stomach. He then brought is sword down, aiming at the pony’s exposed neck. For a moment, Geralt thought the fight was about to end.
Current rolled in the air, avoiding the killing blow just in time but still taking a strike across his face. A deep gash opened on one side of his face as Kyrama’s sword swept across it. Current looked down and Geralt met his eyes for a brief moment before the pegasus turned back and began fighting again. 
Geralt reached the fight and swung his sword, once again aiming to cleave the pegasus in two. Current blocked the blow with both of his blades, and once against started to cartwheel over the sword. Only this time, he twisted half way and kicked out, slamming both of his hind legs into Geralt’s chest and causing his vision to go black and the air to shoot from his lungs at painful speeds. He coughed and struggled to hold on to his sword and stay in the air, waiting for the killing blow he knew had to be coming any second. He forced his eyes to focus and made himself raise his sword in a semi-defensive stance, but he knew it wouldn’t do any good. Not against someone like this pegasus.
As his vision cleared and he realized he wasn’t dead, Geralt looked ahead. Kyrama was fighting Current alone. What had felt like a lifetime of pain had apparently only been a few seconds. Geralt shook his head to clear it, then, ignoring the throbbing in his chest and the shortness of breath, he charged forward to aid his fellow griffon.
He didn’t make it.
Current deflected Kyrama’s sword strike, then moved in close. He wrapped his right front hoof around Kyrama’s neck and pulled him in so close that the two appeared to be almost hugging, then he plunged his other blade into Kyrama’s stomach. Kyrama froze, his mouth open in a silent cry of agony. His sword fell from his claw as he struggled to raise his head to look into the pegasus’ eyes. When their eyes met, Current pulled the blade out and stabbed it in again, then allowed Kyrama’s lifeless body to fall to the ground below. 
“Two hundred and ten,” the pegasus said as he turned his gaze to Geralt. Geralt noticed that one of Current’s eyes was closed and blood was flowing freely down his face. Kyrama may have tipped the balance in the griffons’ favor before his death. Geralt wasn’t about to let that sacrifice be wasted.
“Get up here,” he called to the remaining six griffons with him. They all flew up to his position and settled in behind him, one of them still nursing his cheek from when the pegasus had kicked him in the head. “No matter what it takes, we’re bringing this monster down. Kyrama blinded him in one eye. We can use that.”
“Monster? Current laughed, showing the first sign of emotion since the fight had started. “That’s amusing, coming from your kind. The horrors your race has inflicted on the three tribes are beyond description in some cases. And you have the nerve to call me a monster.”
“Shut up!”
“Make me.” Geralt was left speechless with that remark. Current was a top-notch warrior. The fact that he was one of the few ponies remaining alive after spending three days in this forest supported that assumption, and his fighting skills proved it to be true. Yet he had just used a phrase that Geralt hadn’t heard since he had been a child in school. What was wrong with this pony?
“Let us see if you will make your comrade’s sacrifice worth it. I am wounded, but I will not flee. I did not want to flee in the beginning, but that is what Flicker decided was our best hope for buying time. So, come. I am certain I can buy more time by staying here and fighting than I could by out flying all of you.”
Geralt got ready to order the attack, but he didn’t get the chance. Current charged forward first, going into a corkscrew charge with his blades out front. One griffon flew in front of Geralt and blocked the dive with his shield. Or, at least that had been the intention. Current’s speed and the spinning maneuver shattered the wooden shield, and the blades kept going until they both sank into the griffon’s shoulder. He screamed, but then fell silent as Current slit his throat and allowed him to fall from the air.
“Two hundred and eleven,” Current said as he continued to press forward. The other griffons moved to attack and Geralt moved with them, slowing the pegasus’ advance and forcing him to go on the defensive. The pegasus dodged and parried attacks at a staggering pace, but the griffons had figured out his pattern now. When one struck and missed or was blocked, another quickly moved in before Current had a chance to counter attack. The battle became a deadly dance in the air of steel, feathers, and blood. 
Occasionally, Current would manage to land a glancing strike, cutting across a griffon’s chest here or clipping a forearm there, but Geralt noticed that he and his fellow griffons were landing blows as well. He smiled as the tip of his blade caught the edge of Current’s back hoof and a small trace of blood appeared on the pony’s green coat. They could win this. They just needed to keep pressing him and watch one another’s backs. This pegasus was skilled, possibly the most skilled Geralt had ever seen, but he was just one pony who was running out of energy, fighting on an empty stomach if that unicorn had been telling the truth, and sorely outnumbered. He might be the greatest warrior to ever come out of the pegasus tribe, but overwhelming numbers could counter that easily.
Another scream tore through the night as Geralt watched the pegasus sever another griffon’s foreleg and then kick him back, leaving the poor soul to crash to the ground below in agony as he clawed at his bloody stump.
Maybe this wouldn’t be as easy as Geralt thought, but he was going to make sure this pegasus was dead, or he would die trying. And he was going to make sure his comrades died trying too if they had to.