Another Point of View

As the griffons moved almost effortlessly forward, they soon only faced heaps of dead bodies as their only real challenge. Many of the griffons on the left and right flanks found their advancement completely unimpeded as most of the ponies had fallen back to their makeshift headquarters to regroup and try to break free.

True to his word, Ray led the push in the center of the line, making his way directly through the strongest of the pony’s defenses and straight to the enemy headquarters. As before, nopony got even close to touching him, and with maniacal laughter Ray began to explore the different horrendous spells he now had at his control.

It was almost as if all Ray had to do was think of how he wished his next victim to die, and Sombra’s horn did his bidding. One pony found his legs ripped from his body before his head was crushed in, almost as if a one ton boulder had been dropped on him. Another pony was set on fire, and despite his comrades trying to extinguish the flames the fire would not die until the pony did first.

Once Ray reached the barricaded doors, Ray blasted away the meager fortification and began to wreak havoc once again. His elite guard followed their ruler obediently, but the regular soldiers froze as they realized that almost all the ponies present were wounded, lying helplessly on cots or on the ground as medics and nurses tended to their wounds.

Before any of the griffon officers could speak up, Ray had already slaughtered another six ponies who had been closest to the breached door. Looking back angrily at his soldiers, Ray yelled out his orders. “Kill them all! Finish them all and kill them!” he shouted before turning back to continue his slaughter.

The elite guard spread out and finished off any pony that Ray had missed, but the soldiers were much more hesitant to obey their leader. One griffon sergeant tried to back out of the killing spree but was startled as a pony missing half of his face struggled to grasp his talon.

“H-help m-m-me!” the pony managed to gasp.

The griffon recoiled in horror as blood from the pony’s face dripped onto his claw, but the pony wouldn’t let go. Suddenly, the pony let out a bloodcurdling scream in pain as his stomach was ripped open, his organs spilling out onto the floor and soaking the sergeant with fresh, hot blood. Completely caught off guard, the griffon looked around wildly, only to find Captain Ray standing behind him, smiling his twisted smile.

“Kill him.” Ray commanded.

The griffon was too shaken to move, but he saw Ray’s horn begin to glow.

“Kill him. That’s an order.” Ray said again.

The griffon sergeant nodded, looking down reluctantly at the pony at his feet. The pony no longer had the strength to move and grovel for help, and with a single thrust the griffon thrust his spear through the pony’s chest, puncturing the heart and finished off the pony.

Nodding with satisfaction, Ray wordlessly moved on to continue his rampage. Left alone, the sergeant looked down at his victim. The pained face frozen on the deceased pony burned itself into the griffon’s mind, and with gentle care the griffon shut the pony’s eyes before turning to leave, hoping to never have to set foot in this city ever again. However, before he could escape, one of his soldiers ran up to him. “Sarge, what do we do with the survivors here?” he asked somewhat in a panic.

Looking around, he saw that Ray had left the area as had the elite guards. All that was left was a handful of griffons, most of them ones under his care, and all around them were countless bodies of the Royal Guard ponies. A few cries signaled that there were a few survivors, probably barely enough to be counted on both claws, but as the griffons found those survivors they found most were beyond saving, even with magic. One pony was missing all his skin, another seemed to be melting like ice, a third turned inside out yet somehow still alive…

“Kill them all, as quick as you can.” the sergeant said.

“But…” the soldier began to reply.

“Do it.” the sergeant interrupted. “These ponies are beyond saving, we’re doing them a favor by putting them out of their misery.” he said.

The griffon soldier nodded with some uncertainty, but as he approached the skinless pony he was horrified at what he heard.

“Kiiilllll mmeeeeee.” the pony begged. “K-kkiiiilllllll mmmeeeeeee.”

Almost dropping his spear in horror, the griffon hurriedly thrust his spear through the pony’s exposed heart, finally silencing the pony and giving him peace. Shaking from the experience, the griffon turned back to his sergeant who nodded grimly.

“Let’s get out of here. There’s no reason for us to stick around this tomb.” the sergeant said. All of the griffons followed him out, leaving the dead in silence.

By the time the sun began to sink below the horizon the griffons had begun to start packing up all their supplies in preparation to leave the city. At first glance it may have looked like the griffons were giving up and returning to their homeland, but a closer look at the entire city would reveal the truth; the griffons were headed home because they no longer had an enemy to fight.

Every pony in Los Pegasus was dead.

Back in the command post, the griffon officers were completely baffled by Ray’s decision to abandon the conquered city. “Sir, I still don’t understand… why are we completely pulling out of this city? We’ve won, we can now rebuild it and claim it as ours. There’s no way the ponies can mount an effective counteroffensive after their losses here.” one of the lieutenants said.

All eyes were on Ray as he looked out on the devastated city. Almost every building had suffered damage, but nothing that would take more than a few months of repair. The city could become the largest and most profitable city in the Griffon Kingdom, not to mention the conquering of Vanhoover could be easily accomplished now that it was isolated from immediate help. However, Ray had other plans on his mind.

“No.” he said. “We leave this place now. Tell the soldiers they may do as they wish, but at sunrise we leave immediately.”

All the officers were stunned by Ray’s decision. Not only was he giving up the city they had just conquered, but allowing the soldiers to run freely would result in uncontrollable looting and destruction. “But, sir…” the lieutenant tried speaking up again.

The angry glare Ray shot at his officers caused them to immediately go silent. “You fools, we’re not here to take over some rundown city! We’re here to show these weak, pathetic ponies my new power!”

The other griffons looked nervously at one another. They had been excited by the prospect of having a city outside the grips of the cold north and possibly being able to live and work in a warmer climate, but now hearing that Ray had no plans of occupying the fallen city raised many questions and caused severe doubts over their ‘victory’.

“But our casualties… what did they die for?” one of the second lieutenant’s asked.

All the other griffons held their breath, sure that Ray would lash out at his bold question. However, their leader instead broke out in a twisted smile. “Their sacrifice shall not be in vain. When all is complete, I shall have a monument built for all the griffons who sacrifice their lives for me.”

All the officers nodded, still not satisfied with Ray’s explanation, but who were they to question their leader. “So we shall begin construction when we return home?” another officer asked.

Ray’s grin widened. “No… we have only begun.” he said cryptically. “Dismissed!”

Saluting, all the griffons left to inform the griffons under their command of the new orders. However, before one certain officer could leave he was stopped by Ray.

“S-sir?” the nervous commander asked.

Ray looked at him sternly. “Before you go, I believe there is still one matter you have yet to take care of.”

The griffon thought hard about what Ray meant but drew a blank. “Um…”

Ray increased his grip on his subordinate. “I believe there’s still the matter of one of your soldiers who needs to be brought to justice for the crimes of desertion. A certain griffon named Thunderbird.”