A/N: Wow, I'm alive! And this fanfic is still a thing! I'm as shocked as you, honestly...
Chapter 9: Improvising
The Great Equestrian War
Operation: Gather the Herd, Day Three
Time: Approximately 10:30 PM
Location: On the southern fringe of the White Tail Woods, Equestria
Date: March 29, 1007 CYP (Celestial Year of Peace)
The Operation progresses. This is, without a doubt, one of the most trying things I have encountered in my military career-no, my whole life! Still, we are making good time. Tomorrow, my party and I should have broken free of the White Tail and be in the plain that separates the woods from Ghastly Gorge. From there, it is a straight shot to San Palomino Desert. That plain with be the most dangerous part of this trek, seeing as it is so wide open you could spot a pony from ten klics. I guess that works with us there as well as against, though.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the party has been discovered. So far, I have no proof, so there's no need to alarm the civillains. Something just doesn't seem right. I'm worried, though. If we are attacked, they will just get in the way. I wish there was another way, but they can not wield any kind of weapon. I've tried everything, including axes, swords, and war-hammers. Nothing. If they can't learn, then if the griffons or changelings find us, it will be slaughter. I will never forgive myself if I am responsible for the death of one of them. Well, I suppose we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, I will simply hope that we go undetected.
"What are you doing?" asked Rainbow Dash.
I looked up, and saw her gazing across the small fire I had decided to risk. "I'm recording a log of the operation. I do this almost every day."
She smiled and asked, "What have you named this 'operation?'"
"Operation Gather the Herd."
"Nice name."
"Thanks." A thought struck me. Is it true? "Have you really performed the legendary Sonic Rainboom?"
"Yes!" she beamed. "I have done it three times."
"Amazing. Someday soon, could you do it again?"
"Of course! Why?"
I did not answer right away, instead saying, "I, of course, studied the Sonic Rainboom briefly during flight school and later in the Royal Guard's academy. There was some speculation that the Rainboom could be used as a method of attack. How it would work is hotly debated, due to the fact that nopony had ever witnessed one."
Rainbow Dash looked intrigued. Before she could say anything, however, Princess Twilight trotted over, nodded to Dash, and asked, "How would that work?"
"Well, the primary theory is that it would work similar to a shockwave of some type, disorientating, stunning, and knocking enemies out of the sky."
"That makes the most sense."
"The next theory is that the blast would interfere with or even disable some types of magic, similar to a type of disrupting wave."
"Alright...so it could, for example, strip the Changelings of their disguises or stop, say, the Alicorn Amulet?"
"Yes, hypothetically. It could be a great weapon."
Rarity trotted up with a set of needles in her magical grasp. "Did I miss anything?"
"No, not at all. We were just discussing a way to help you ponies. I want you to be a help if fighting breaks out. For instance, Twilight here is skilled in advanced magical spells. Seeing as I am a Pegasus, I could no more teach spells to her than a stone could fly. Thus, I have pointed her to a resource of advanced combat spells. Rainbow Dash could wield the Sonic Rainboom against airborne enemies, and possibly even against ground-based magicians."
"Now, the question is what to do with you. As far as my records show, you are reasonably proficient in the magical arts, but not enough to fill the role of a battlemage, like Twilight here."
"I would ne-"
I raised a hoof, cutting the Unicorn off. "You do not possess the speed and agility of Rainbow, nor the strength of Applejack." I could see that my remarks were starting to anger her, so I defused the situation. "I must say, I admire your creative spirit, though I don't see how that could help us in battle."
Somewhat mollified, Rarity pulled six or so pieces of cloth from her nearby tent, bringing a dozen needles to bear as she started to stitch them together. Intrigued, I watched carefully for some time. I watched so intently, I almost missed it.
"Listen closely," I whispered softly, just loud enough for the Princess and her two friends to hear. "Keep doing whatever you were doing a moment ago. The camp is being watched."
"Are you sure?" Princess Twilight said.
"I've been having suspicions for the past day, but now...now I have proof. Rarity, laugh like I just said a hilarious joke."
"What?"
"Do it! Now!" I snapped, my impatience overflowing. She started slightly, then gave a half-hearted laugh.
...That will have to do, I thought to myself, watching for any sign of movement. There! Right as Rarity's laugh started to fade, a small darting motion. I reached for my sword carefully, trying not to betray my motion or intent.
Apparently, I didn't move slowly enough.
Out of nowhere, there was a fluttering of motion as...something...leaped out at Twilight, banishing a large, pointy object.
I pulled out my sword and batted the object aside, returning with a blow to what looked like the creature's head.
Two things fell to the ground: a head, and the body of a griffon.
"It's as I feared," I muttered. "Princess, clean up that body, if you will."
Looking very shaken up, she nodded, then cast a spell. With a flash of light, the body vanished.
"Okay. Listen up," I said. "I had my suspicions, but now, they are confirmed. I don't know what the size of the force is, or if there are changelings with them, or anything else, but somepony knows that we're here. And they are clearly not friendly. Now the question is thus: knowing this, what do we do from here?"
Both of the ponies looked incredibly shaken up. Twilight was biting her lip and her wings were quivering, while Rarity looked to be on the verge of tears. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash looked ready to tackle the next threat that showed its ugly head.
"Hey! Are you listening?"
They started, then refocused on me.
"Good. Now, wake your friends. We strike camp immediately and set out. If we can make it to the Buffalo Nations, we can ask for an escort back. But first, we have to get there."
Two days later…
"There's the desert," Rainbow Dash observed.
Indeed, the San Palomino Desert was less than two kilometers away. It looked bright and hot and as unforgiving as stone from where we stood.
Nervously, I glanced over my shoulder. Ever since the attack two days ago, I was certain that our enemies where just behind us. However, no matter how many times I looked, I didn't find any trace of any pony, griffon, changeling, or otherwise.
"Let us press on!" I said, leading the way into the desert.
As we neared the desert, the temperature rose steadily. Soon, despite still being outside the desert, my throat felt patched, so we stopped and dug out our limited water rations. As we greedily drank from the canteens, something caught my eye.
"What…" I asked myself, as I spotted something out of place in the sky. Not a cloud, I thought. It's moving too fast to be a cloud...not to mention against the wind.
There was only one explanation. "Griffons! Hide!" I half-yelled, half-whispered, pushing the other ponies into whatever cover I could find. All six of the civillains managed to get into some form of cover, but I was left out when the griffons spotted me. Quickly, I attempted to compose my face as they swooped down to land beside me.
At least they didn't attack me on the spot, I thought grimly to myself. There was five of them, one short of the average size for a scouting patrol.
Or an assassination party, my paranoia added.
Each one of them was in the half-armor and the leather cap favored by the Griffon Empire's Air Force. This half armor had most of the entire body covered in leather, with small pieces of chainmail protecting the core body. This allowed for a moderate amount of protection while not seriously inhibiting the movement of the wearer. They each had a spear slung over their back and a sword belted on their waist, much like my own equipment.
"Good day to you, fine sirs," I said, opting for diplomacy over force.
The griffon I presumed to be the leader spoke, in heavily accented Equestrian, "Hullo to you as well, sir. Have you seen another of our party around? We lost track of him in the White Tail Woods."
I suddenly flashed back to the ambush at the Woods. Trying to keep my voice level, I said "No, I can't say I have." Of course, my voice faltered at the word have.
The leader looked at me, suspicion forming in his eyes. "You're lying," he observed. Behind him, I saw his companions started to reach for their weapons.
"So what if I am? You have no right to be here. This is the territory of Equestria. We aren't over the border just yet," I shot back. "Attack me here and now, and I can guarantee that Equestria won't stand for it." My patience running out, I started to reach for my spear, dropping the sheathe on the ground.
"You're bold. Very bold," responded the leader, seeming mildly impressed. "You must be either very brave or very stupid to challenge me and my four companions like that."
"Those two are not mutually exclusive," I replied, hoping to get them to relax a little.
The leader started to laugh. "Oh, and you have a sense of humor too. How touching!" His mirth dying down, he said, "Now, this is how this will work. Tell us where our companion is, and you may go. If you refuse, we will kill you. Very slowly. Very painfully."
I smiled evilly. "You want to know where your companion is? Okay. I don't know about his body, but his spirit is currently with whatever god presides over your afterlife!"
"You lie!"
"What would I gain from lying?"
"Then die!" snarled the leader, and he ripped his sword from its sheath.
I grabbed mine as well and took to the sky. Wielding the sword in one hoof, I quickly shrugged my spear off of my back and grabbed it with my other hoof.
The five griffons unfurled their wings and leaped into the sky after me. Remembering my training, I nose dived at them, my spear ready to impale the lead griffon.
He swerved to avoid me, but one of his subordinates wasn't so lucky. With a sickening crunch, I felt my spear drive home as it lodged itself in his cranium.
One down, four to go, I thought grimly.
Dropping my spear - for there was no way I'd be able to get it loose - I swung my sword at the closest griffon's wings. Missing by a hair, I was forced to quickly change my focus as I was attacked by the other griffons.
Now, here's the thing. Griffons and changelings alike are awful at fighting in the skies. In the case of griffons, their wingspan is too large and they are too bulky to be efficient in air combat. In a word, they're way too clumsy for battle in the air. Almost no amount of training can overcome this. Think of it this way: we pegasi are dancers, and griffons are giant stone pillars with wings. While, yes, they are very much stronger than your average pegasus, what good is strength if you can't hit something?
I dodged and weaved, striking only when I thought that there would be no backlash. Soon, I had given and received quite a few nasty wounds, including one on my wing that kept throwing off my balance.
One after another, the griffons fell to my sword. I caught the second griffon off-guard when I swooped around him and clubbed him over the back of his head with my sword. Screaming, his wings crumpled and down he fell.
Unfortunately, my luck was starting to run low. While I had dispatched two of my opponents, there were too many to keep track of at one time. If only due to blind luck, one was bound to hit me.
WHAM! Stars exploded in my vision as something rather solid, maybe a spear shaft, connected with the back of my head. I think I even passed out for a very brief moment.
Regardless, it must not have been long, for when I came to, I was still pummeling to the ground. Frantically, I flapped my wings, trying to slow my dangerous descent.
It worked, but only partially. Instead of breaking every bone in my body, I simply bruised every square centimeter that I knew I had, and a few that I didn't know even existed in a pegasus.
Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, went every nerve at once, and I really felt tempted to just pass out again.
Not today, you lion-headed birds! I thought as I, with supreme effort, got to my hooves.
Just in time, too. I barely managed to parry the blade of Head Ugly #1 before his sword ran me through. As they landed to continue the fight, I felt slightly woosy.
Must have...hurt something...important, my brain managed to deduce, in between pangs of pain. Trying my best to focus my thoughts, I parried another attack from Head Ugly #2, managing to strike just as he let his guard down to attack a second time. Screaming, he collapsed.
Digging real deep for the last shreds of strength I had left, I turned to face the last two other two uglies, only to find them both holding both their swords at my throat.
Cursing under my breath, I threw my sword to the side and raised my hooves.
"Well fought, pegasus," said the griffon leader, looking honestly impressed. "I didn't think anypony in Equestria still had any fight left in them...very impressive."
I spat at the ground in front of him.
His smile twisted at that, and the weapon he was holding pricked me in my neck. "The creature still has fight left in him! Very unusual for a pony of Equestria. Very odd."
He probably would have said more, but the opening was taken from him with a yell, as the former Element Bearers broke their cover and attacked. They were poor, sloppy, uncoordinated, and awful at fighting, but that was all I needed,
Getting my pain in line, I quickly ran over to my blade - wincing with every step - and snatched it up, unfolding my wings partly in an attempt to give myself more speed. It hurt, but it worked. As I grabbed it, I turned around as swiftly as possible and darted back to the griffon soldiers, were, with the help of the Element Bearers, we dispatched them swiftly.
Panting, I lowered my sword. While some speech or words were most likely desirable for the occasion, my body, beaten and battered, had other plans now that the adrenaline was leaving my blood.
I felt my eyes rolling up into my head, and my strength leaving me. Before I knew it, I had hit the ground, unconscious.