Glorious Dawn stood up slowly, wincing as he got to his hooves. The fight was over, the formation breaking apart as they grouped up, licking their wounds and tending to their injured comrades as best they could while waiting for the healers to arrive. Dawn drew his sword, using the tip of the weapon to prod a nearby griffon that was slumped in a pool of blood. He gave a gentle poke, then a harder one. The griffon lurched upright suddenly, screaming through a shattered beak and lunging forward, pain-crazed and half-dead. Dawn leapt back with a shout. “Surrender!”
The griffon either didn’t hear Dawn’s command or didn’t heed his words, claws flashing as he swiped at the nimble unicorn. Dawn reared up on his back legs, battering aside the clumsy attacks with his front horseshoes. His telekinesis spun his sword in a careful arc, sliding around the thrashing griffon’s gorget and plunging hard into his neck. The griffon’s head jerked, eyes widening briefly before rolling up into the top of his head, and he sprawled forward into the dirt. Dawn withdrew his blade from the griffon’s neck and winced at the crimson streaks staining his blade. He grasped one edge of the griffon’s tattered tabard and cleaned the weapon off on it, shaking his head.
Around him, the ponies accounted for their casualties, voices raising in anger and pain as they discovered fallen comrades.
“Archer! Archer! Celestia damn you, get up!”
“He’s gone, Sole, leave him be. The healers will come to collect him.”
Glorious Dawn searched for his lieutenant, finding Red Roam crouched in the dirt, bandages pressed hard against the gut of a wounded soldier. His voice was calm and full of surety as he spoke to the whimpering pony. “Don’t worry, Grass Seed, you’ll be all right. Th’ healers will be coming, and they’ll set you right.”
“I-It hurts… oh, Celestia, it hurts so bad, Red!” the light green earth pony gasped, tears streaming down his muzzle as he clutched his hooves over Red’s own, helping staunch his own bleeding.
“I know. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing else I can do.”
Grass Seed trembled, panting for breath. Glorious Dawn glanced to Roam, who gave him a curt nod. “We won, captain.”
Glorious Dawn swallowed hard. “That we did… I’ll see to the rest of the men. The healers should be here soon.”
Roam turned back to the shaking Grass Seed. The green pony moaned softly. “Am I… gonna die?”
Roam chuckled. “Nope. You’ll be right as rain, soon enough.”
Glorious Dawn strode away from his lieutenant, looking over the battlefield. A group of earth ponies and unicorns approached, leading three griffons ahead of their prodding sword points. “Prisoners, sir.”
Dawn nodded wearily, his horn giving off a light yellow glow as he withdrew a small notebook, quill, and ink from a pouch on his side. “Names?”
The griffons stared at him stoically, none speaking. An earth pony slammed a forehoof hard into one black-feathered griffon’s side, staggering the prisoner. “The Captain asked you a question!”
“Sage, stand down,” said Dawn, his eyes narrowing in consternation. “You know we don’t treat prisioners harshly.”
“He killed Shimmerspark, sir!” Sage retorted, bristling and shaking in place.
“I’m female, you jackass!” spat the griffon.
“Enough!” Dawn shouted, one hoof stomping the dirt emphatically. “Give me your names, prisoners!”
“Eat dung, horselips,” growled another griffon.
Dawn rolled his eyes. “Fine, you don’t give me your names, I don’t care. You’ll be unnamed, rotting bits of chicken flesh in some dungeon, and no griffon will even know what happened to you. Your families will believe you dead, and you’ll be serving life sentences without possibility of any negotiation for your release.”
The gryphons glanced at each other, growing silent. Dawn continued. “I need your names because Princess Celestia sends a list of captured gryphon warriors and officers to your leaders every month, updating it as necessary. She hoped to utilize prisoner exchanges to achieve some common ground and open up negotiations for peace. So, if you’d rather waste away in some hole in the ground for the rest of your natural lives, be my guests. Take them to the rear and guard them, I’ll—”
“Silvia.”
Dawn paused, glancing to the prisoners. “I didn’t catch that.”
The black-feathered female griffon spoke up. “Silvia Suntalon, of Clan Suntalon.”
The other two gawked at the griffoness, and she glared at them. After a moment, they spoke as well.
“Gerard Berhertz, of Clan Suntalon.”
“Mortos Thule, of Clan Suntalon.”
Dawn glanced to Silvia. “You must be a noble, to share a surname with a clan name.”
“I am third daughter of Clan Suntalon,” Sylvia responded.
“Very good,” Dawn muttered, writing down the names swiftly and tearing out the page before handing it to Sage. “Take this to give to the guards escorting the healers. They should be here soon, make sure the transfer goes smoothly.”
Sage took the page, grumbling, and the group of prisoners and soldiers moved towards the south to await the healers. Dawn turned to look south as well, noting an approaching group of ponies. The healers had arrived, bearing stretchers and carrying bags of potions and strong medicines to tend to the wounded. He broke into a trot, meeting the guard column at the head of the group. “You’re late.”
“There are many more battles being fought than your own, Captain,” responded the soldier at the head of the column, a unicorn mare with pink fur and a cyan mane.
“I have many casualties and injured soldiers, and three prisoners to transfer. Sage Brush will assist you with the prisoners. Who’s the leader of the healers?”
A golden-coated earth pony mare with a crimson mane stepped forward, smiling. “Hello, Captain Glorious Dawn.”
Dawn’s eyes widened, and his ears laid flat. “Amber!”
Amber nodded, “Surprised? You’d better not be upset to see me because something happened to Roam.”
“No, he’s fine… I was just startled. You were promoted?” asked Dawn, stepping forward.
Amber smirked. “Yep. No more triage for me, I’m a bona-fide healer. Small talk later, sugar, lead me t’ your wounded.”