Broken Skies

           -Appleoosa, 2 AM Equestrian Time-

           The town and its inhabitants were enslaved, buildings were razed, and Griffons run amok, setting up defenses and obstacles for the impending Equestrian counter attack. Rubble was used as funnels to pull ponies into the kill-zones surrounded with archers, swordsmen sharpened their weapons, and traps were made from small, stealthy caravans sent to help reinforce the area until the King and surplus soldiers could arrive. Not wishing to upset the soon-to-be Emperor High Cloud, they had all strived to gain the most glory for their respective house.

"Ajax, how long do you think it will take for the King to arrive?" Ironwing queried.

"Two to three hours tops, took us at least two to get here. Besides, just worry on defending the town. Why not send a scout to keep you busy?" Ajax replied.

       As Ajax had walked off to do other duties, Ironwing had just sent the scout and was awaiting for him to fly back and hopefully report of any disturbances. He had longed for a bit of action, when suddenly the scout comes panting heavily and scared beyond anything he had seen. A swift hiss of air had gained his attention, but soon after a tragic occurrence.

"Si-Sir! Theres som-" and the scout's head exploded.

Ironwing had gore spattered all over his face. Brain, grey matter, skull and flesh, it just sat all on his face. He was genuinely terrified, nothing he knew had been capable of instant killing a Griffon, nonetheless make one in heavy armor and have the poor sod's cranium burst. He felt compelled to run and tell Ajax of the attack, but he couldn't move. He was locked in place from fear, and two, no three, three figures crouched out of seemingly nowhere and tied and gagged him, dragging him away and into the unknown. He watched as more two legged figures and various ponies draped in dark desert camouflage crept ever so slowly to the barricaded town. The bipeds had odd weapons and armor, strange glowing lights in their goggles, and the ponies crept forwards with standard swords but in similarly colored armor to the monsters. Then it hit him. These weren't from here, they were humans! Ancient prophesies told of their arrival, tugging death, order, and war along with them. If the town's garrison couldn't pull the King from arriving, the Griffon empire was finished. But all Ironwing could do was watch, watch as the harbingers of destruction brought wrath and fury upon the Griffons.

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Screech had dragged off the mythological creature towards the cargo truck. He began to start pulling and pushing the Griffon into the back, slapping the side of the vehicle to signal the go. Act one was finished, now to begin the next phase. Tapping Bullet and Atom to tell them where the next spot of action was, they saw the other troopers, Bullfrogs and ponies to be exact, all on their set path towards the occupied patch of land. Radio chatter began to get slightly more frequent, and conversations between ponies, humans, and Zeen' To warriors was heard.

"Where are we headed?"

"Why are we moving so slow?"

"How come we can't fight them head on?"

Surrounding the town, each soldier got into position. Red beams were seen shining towards various heads of Griffon guardsmen. A pony could be heard, questioning this procedure in a hushed tone.

"What are you doing, are you trying to get us killed?!"

"Stay low, keep quiet. We know what we are doing."

"You know what you are doing?! Those beams will get us spotted! Don't you know anything about magic?!"

The radio had come to life, a man stating the shoot order. In surprise to all of the ponies assisting the Spec-Ops, quick puffs of air had risen and Griffon heads exploded. The equines felt their stomachs convulse, the need to barf arising quickly. A few had already done so, clearly not used to this form of warfare or weaponry. Quickening their pace, the red beams dissipated and the stealthy troopers began to edge into phase three, liberate the town.

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Ajax could feel a slight disturbance in his gut. None of his troopers had returned and Ironwing with his scout report hadn't come in yet. He was a good friend of him, and he worried greatly if he was harmed. Pushing aside those thoughts, he went to check on the captured ponies working on making various Griffon war machines. The hammering of hammers, the grinding of saws on wood, the shouting of slave drivers at ponies, it was all common. However, a distinct shriek from a Griffon guardsman rang within his ear. He knew something was up, but could this be the Equestrian counter attack? Three Griffons were then seen running towards where he heard the scream, so he tagged along. What he saw, truly sent his heart into shock from sheer amounts of fear. Red eyes, odd armor and weapons, and multiple Grifffons with either missing heads or limbs. The rest lay dead on the ground, red, gaping holes exposing their insides and bones. His brain convulsed in revelation. The humans were here! What could the King have done that warranted the reckoning of the harbingers of order? He was ridiculously outmatched, only having tugged along his sword and armor. All he could manage to muster up was a bowing pose to the proposed deities. Shortly after his show of respect, he felt his talons get tied along with him being gagged. He was being dragged to the unknown, only to see a object of metal substance, piled in along with three more Griffon prisoners, one of them being Ironwing.

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Eagle and Harpy had dragged off their Griffon prisoner, so Bison and the three ponies Steel Blade, Iron Heart, and Red Stains were left to converse until the other teams had arrived.

"W-what was that?!" queried Red.

"The first acts of retaliation." replied the Bison.

"That isn't war, that's mutilation!"

"Son, if you were up there," - Bison pointed to the sky - "that would be all you see."

"That's terrible! How do you live with this?!"

"Its war. Its supposed to be brutal, fierce. How we know this? Its humanity's nature. From the dawn of our existence, men fought other men with their bare fists, then they progressed to sticks and stones just so they could kill easier. Thousands of years of infighting, warfare, conflict, you name it. Then came how we advanced so far. Without war, we wouldn't know much about anything else. It made us rethink our actions. Mass killing turned into celebration and rejoice after, and new technologies arose from the things we used to... kill each other. Its just our nature. Can't do much about it."

This left Red Stains astonished. He never knew that a species could have such a dark past, nor could it be so violent. He was taught the ideals of peace everlasting, not blood and gore every step he took on a battlefield. But deep inside, he understood. Swords and spears taught the many underneath them order, which in turn halted anarchy and chaos from rising too highly. But the alien stated something about... humans was it? Many of the ancient religions and prophesies told of their return, but this is where it gets awkward. Different philosophies told of different endings, such as the return and arrival being good, bringing everlasting peace. On the other hand, varied show them as nigh deities of war capable of destroying everything and everyone. Equestria's to be specific, stated they would only arrive in the most dire of times. When destruction was inevitable, blood would be spilled worldwide, and peace would be unachievable. Could this truly be the time?