The Griffon War

Applejack's eyes slowly opened as light seeped from the window into her room. She rolled over to face the window and snapped her eyes shut as the direct light hit her face. She squinted and blinked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She quietly climbed down the ladder and made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and started splashing water on her face. She had just grabbed the soap bar when Sky Wishes walked in. "Thought I was the only one that got up with the sun."

"Ah grew up on a farm, we get up this early every day." Applejack lathered some soap onto her hooves and began rubbing it into her face.  She passed the bar soap on to Sky Wishes and splashes it away with the cold faucet water. As Applejack walked out of the bathroom the other two girls woke up. Applejack grabbed one of the towels and dried her face off. "Mornin' gals."

Applejack's eyes slowly opened as light seeped from the window into her room. She rolled over to face the window and snapped her eyes shut as the direct light hit her face. She squinted and blinked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She quietly climbed down the ladder and made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and started splashing water on her face. She had just grabbed the soap bar when Sky Wishes walked in. "Thought I was the only one that got up with the sun."

"Ah grew up on a farm, we get up this early every day." Applejack lathered some soap onto her hooves and began rubbing it into her face.  She passed the bar soap on to Sky Wishes and splashes it away with the cold faucet water. As Applejack walked out of the bathroom the other two girls woke up. Applejack grabbed one of the towels and dried her face off. "Mornin' gals."

"Hey Applejack." The two others went about their business. upon finishing, the four ponies heard a knock at the door.

"Comin'!" Applejack called as she made her way to the door. She opened the door to a stallion in his uniform, most likely the senior officer there to tell them that breakfast was ready. "How can ah help you?"

The stallion looked a bit surprised. "Well, I was here to tell you it was time to wake up but it looks like you beat me to it.," he said with a chuckle.

"Looks like it," Applejack continued to rub the towel on her damp face.

"Well, hurry up because breakfast is in ten and I was asked to come get you."

"Do they do that with all the recruits? Sending somepony to lead them to the dining hall?" Applejack asked.

"Yes actually, they did the same with me."

"Alright, well we're gonna be a minute so yer welcome to step in," Applejack said opening the door wider and tossing the towel in the hamper. The stallion stood just inside the doorway as Applejack quickly grabbed her hair ties and brush. He watched as the four mares quickly finished  and were done in, quite literally, one minute.

"When you said a minute you weren't kidding were you?"

"Nope, we can be quick when we need to," Applejack said as she followed the stallion down the long hallway.

The stallion laughed. "Well that'll definitely be helpful when you go to basic training. The sergeant will have you running around like a madpony from the brink of dawn till midnight sometimes."

"Then she's in for quite a surprise if she ain't used to ponies bein' able ta keep up."

"That's for sure," Sky Wishes pitched in.

"She isn't, she's used to complaints so I think you guys are gonna get along just fine." The stallion stopped at the large doors, "We're here."

The doors were opened and Applejack thanked the stallion as she walked over to where her friends were. "Mornin' ya'll," she called happily as she made her way over to the table. She looked at the three other ponies at the table and only Twilight seemed actually awake.

"Applejack, how are you so awake! It's too early." Lightning shield whined as his head dropped to the table to make a point. Fluttershy also looked tired,  her eyes were droopy and her head sagged.

"Applejack is used to waking up with the sun." Fluttershy said as breakfast was put in front of the four ponies.

"It's true, workin' on a farm 'll do that to ya," Applejack said, as she thanked the server and took a bite of eggs. The server smiled as she floated mugs over to the four ponies and filled each with some coffee. She then left some creamer and sugar there for them.

Lighting Shield looked at the coffee and grabbed the creamer and sugar, hastily stirring it into his coffee. He took a large drink of it, "Oh thank Celestia! Coffee!"

The three mares at the table laughed, "Don't get used to it Lightining, there's no coffee at the bases..” Twilight said.

Lightning shield looked at Twilight and then down at his coffee. "I'm gonna die," he stated.

The three mares laughed again and the four ponies dug into their meals. Breakfast was over soon and Twilight went with her brother as Applejack, Fluttershy, and Lightning Shield were escorted to different rooms for evaluation.

Applejack was sitting in a large training room, in one area there was a large circle. Probably an arena for hoof to hoof combat. Another corner had the uniforms and bulletproof vests along with basic medical supplies. Most likely another part of the test. Applejack looked around the large room for a bit more until she heard the door open. "Miss Apple, I will be evaluating you."

The farm mare turned around to see Captain Shining armor standing at the doorway. "Sure, what do ah do first?"

"Listen. The first part of the evaluation will test your combat ability. You will fight an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn. Each will be testing a different part of combat. The earth pony will test your endurance and strength. The pegasus will test your speed and the unicorn will test your ability to plan a tactical fight even if it is in an instant. You are not expected to win any of these fights, just to last."

"She better be able ta last a long time then if she can't win. Which ah expect her to do at least against me," called out another stallion who had just entered.

Applejack looked past Shining Armor to see an orange stallion with a red mane. "Pa!" She called as she rushed over to hug him.

"Jackie! What's up sweetie?" The stallion said as he hugged his daughter tighter.

"I didn't know you had such a good lookin' daughter, Cortland." A pegasus said.

Cortland stopped hugging his daughter and glared playfully at the pegasus, "Don't even think about it Stormy."

"Fine," the pegasus said.

"You are something else you know that Stormy?" A unicorn said.

Shining armor cut in, "Soldiers!" The four ponies stopped and turned to the captain. "Private Cortland, an explanation please?"

Cortland laughed nervously, "Sorry captian, ah haven't seen my daughter in fourteen years. Just got excited I guess."

"So you really are his daughter," Shining Armor stated.

"Yes sir," Applejack answered.

Shining Armor shook his head and smiled. "Well, let's begin the evaluation, shall we?" The four ponies nodded as Applejack and her dad took their places in the arena to begin. "You better not hold back because she's your daughter private." Shining Armor stated.

"Don't worry captain, she's an Apple so ah ain't gonna hold back even a little. She can handle herself plenty well." Cortland and Applejack started walking around in a slow circle and poured all their focus into the battle. Applejack waited for her dad to throw the first hit as they continued to circle each other. It was only a few more seconds before her Dad lunged himself at her and they locked into a battle of strength. This continued for a bit with both ponies attempting to overpower the other. Applejack smiled as she suddenly got an idea and dipped to her right while sweeping her back leg under her Dad's hooves and throwing him off balance. The second he hit the ground Applejack pinned him there.

"That was dirty," Cortland said with a grin.

"Ah know," Applejack said, before she knew it, her Pa kicked her in the stomach throwing her a few feet away. Applejack picked herself back up and lunged at her Pa, landing an uppercut square in the jaw and strong punch to the stomach. Her dad shook his head to clear the blurriness and launched a punch at Applejack's chest. She dodged to the left and he got her right foreleg instead, that would definitely bruise in the morning. Applejack stepped back and spun around. She lifted her hind legs and bucked her dad in the stomach, launching him a few feet in the air before he crashed to the ground. Two hoof marks were on his chest and his breath was knocked out of him, so he was breathing hard. The three ponies watching the brawl looked shocked at the results of Applejack's tactic. Stormy and the unicorn were also looking a bit scared about fighting Applejack.

Applejack and her Father continued on like this for a long time, every time one or the other went down everypony thought it was over. They were sorely mistaken as the two ponies also continued to pick themselves up. Cortland tried to ram into Applejack only to have her sidestep and elbow him in the back, causing him to step out of the ring and end the match. "Alright you two, brawls over. Well, it would be an understatement to say you don't have endurance Miss Apple. You were even able to exploit Cortland's weaknesses,. iImpressive." Shining Armor wrote something down on his clipboard and told Applejack and Stormy to take positions. "Don't forget Stormy, you can use your wings," Shining reminded him.

Lightning Shield was standing in the ring with another pegasus. This one would be an airborne battle, first one to lose control and crash to the ground lost. He was pretty sure about him losing but he didn't have to win, he just had to last. Lightning Shield took to the air along with his opponent and the battle began. The other pegasus flew behind Lightning and tried to ram him from behind. Lightning dashed to the right, flew behind the pegasus and landed a solid kick on his back instead. The other pegasus spun around and landed two punches in Lightning's chest before dashing away. Lightning clutched his chest and took a deep breath before shooting higher into the air and snapping his wings shut above his opponent. Lightning came crashing onto his opponent's back and forcing him down fairly low before flying away. "A bit of an unorthodox method, don't you think?" His evaluator said to a unicorn.

"Maybe so, but it was definitely effective. I'm gonna have to remember that move for the battlefield." Both ponies smiled and went back to looking at the fight.

The two pegasi continued on their back and forth with hits, kicks, and messing each other's wings in attempts to throw them out of the air for a long period of time. It ended with Lightning doing a flip in the air and landing a kick on his opponent's back. At that second he once again snapped his wings shut, leaving his opponent with his full wait to weigh him down. The other pegasus crashed to the ground and ended the battle. Lightning Shield stood in the ring as the unicorn came up. "Begin!"

Applejack stood in the ring facing the pegasus. She took a deep breath and began to plan out what she would do. Ah can't rely solely on mah strength this time. He's probably gonna be in the air most a' the time. Well I do got mighty strong back-legs. That outta make for a rather high jump, better abuse the heck outta that advantage. Applejack smiled as her plan came together. It shocked her how easily it came to her though, almost natural. Sure it was a fairly simple plan, but it didn't need to be showy, it just needed to work. Applejack began moving in a slow circle in perfect sync with the pegasus before he took to the air and dove at her.

Applejack rolled to the side as he swooped back into the air. She crouched down, preparing for the most crucial part of her plan. Applejack launched herself into the air and landed on the pegasus's back, pulling on his wings and causing him to crash to the ground. They both rolled away from each other before jumping back to their hooves and circling each other again. "Caught me off guard there kid, didn't think an Earth Pony could jump that high." Stormy shook his head as they continued.

"Gotta admit, ah didn't think ah could jump that high either."

"Wait, you did that while having doubts that it would even work?!"

"Sometimes ya gotta take a chance," Applejack responded. She launched herself at Stormy, who caught her as they engaged in a battle of strength. Applejack pinned Stormy to the ground and held him there. Stormy launched his back-legs into Applejack's stomach and threw her off. He jumped into the air again being careful too go higher so Applejack couldn't jump onto him. The farmer looked up at her airborne opponent and began thinking about how she could get to him. She launched herself into the air again and grabbed his back-leg. The extra wait dragged him down a bit. Stormy strained to hold them up in the air until an idea came to him and he snapped his wings shut. The two ponies crashed to the ground with Applejack cushioning Stormy's fall when they hit the ground.

Stormy climbed off of Applejack and stood up, looking at the mare on the ground to see if she was finished. "You gonna get up or did I win?"

Applejack took a deep breath and jumped back onto her hooves. "Hardly, yer gonna have ta do more an' that ta stop me." The two ponies continued dueling for an hour until neither could keep going. Both ponies lay on the ground panting.

"Can't believe we did that for an hour," Stormy said between breaths. "How... did you... hold out... so long?!"

"Me an mah friend... Rainbow have... iron pony competitions an'... we always... tie. She's a pegasus... to." Applejack continued panting and coughing.

"Really?.... Me and.... Cortland do that.... as well."

"We'll stop for a rest and continue later, alright Miss Apple?" Shining Armor said upon finishing writing something down on his clipboard.

Lightning Shield took to the air and stared at his opponent. The unicorn lit his horn and rapidly fired a bombardment of magical bolts. Lightning Shield dived and swerved out of them, having only one graze his wing. When the firing ceased he dived at the unicorn, knocking him off his hooves. They rolled around in the ring throwing punches at one another until the unicorn levitated Lightning in the air and threw him a few feet away. Lightning took to the air and dove at his opponent again. This time he did a bunch of fly-by's, each time adding more strength into his thrusts.

The unicorn fired more magic bolts at Lightning trying to ground him. One bolt landed square in the middle of Lightning's wing and he crashed into the ground. Lightning struggled to his hooves and charged into the unicorn before he could launch another spell. They engaged in a short hoof to hoof combat, Lightning uppercut-ted the unicorn and the unicorn responded with a hard punch to the stomach. All the air left Lightning's lungs and he crumpled to the ground, cringing as he held his stomach. The unicorn leaned in to see if Lightning wasn't hurt to badly. Lightning looked up and smiled, before the unicorn could back up Lightning used his back-legs to kick the unicorn in the chest. The unicorn fell a few feet away and jumped to his hooves. "Smart, never thought I'd fall for that one to be perfectly honest with you."

Lightning smiled. "You'll find that I am very good at pretending."

"How so?"

"Years of pranking my older siblings," Lightning admitted with a smug grin.

"I don't know if that's something to be proud of."

"Maybe not, there isn't much honor in it that's for sure. Oh well... I am actually quite proud of the pranks I managed to pull off. That's just one trick among thousands that I have."

The unicorn grinned and charged at Lightning. Lightning sidestepped and the unicorn wheeled around to come back. When the unicorn attempted to punch him behind the head, Lightning grabbed his hoof and flipped the unicorn over his shoulder. He landed on his back and gasped from the strength of the blow. Lightning Shield stepped back and waited for him to get up as he prepared for his next move. The unicorn got closer and punched him repeatedly in key areas. Lightning called upon his years of karate experience and blocked each blow with ease. The unicorn's jaw gaped at how easily his attacks were defended. Lightning used the unicorn's flustered state to his advantage with a roundhouse kick to his face.

The battle continued until neither of the ponies could continue. "Alright you two, we're taking a break. Somebody get Private Dusk and Private Shield some water would ya?"

Applejack gulped her water down and set the cup on the table. Stormy was busy refilling his as she walked over to the ring. "You sure you don't want another few minutes kid?" The unicorn asked.

"She looks ready to me Comet." Cortland nodded approval towards his daughter.

Comet shook his head and followed Applejack to the ring. Stormy leaned over and whispered in Cortland's ear, "20 bits says she only lasts five minutes."

Cortland smiled. "Deal!" He whispered back excitedly. The two chuckled and made their way over to the ring where Applejack and Comet were waiting to start.

Applejack focused and stared at her opponent, waiting for him to make his move. Comet charged his horn and shot multiple magical bolts at Applejack who evaded them with ease. She then advanced and pounced on Ccomet's back attempting to pin him to the ground. He teleported behind her and shot a magic bolt at the back of her head. Applejack ducked and spun around to face Comet. He was charging his horn in preparation for a powerful spell when Applejack remembered something her friend Rarity did when a spell got out of control. Applejack licked her hoof and touched Comet's horn, stopping the spell dead in it's tracks. He stood, dumbfounded at the Earth Pony. Applejack took the advantage to land a few blows on him before he levitated her away  from him and pinned her to the ground. Applejack struggled against the spell and broke free before lunging at the unicorn full force. Their scuffle lasted a good ten more minutes before Comet was able to get the best of Applejack who was currently pinned against the floor. She had worn herself out to much to continue.

"You got me," Applejack said between breaths.

"It took me long enough," Comet said breathing equally as hard.

"Alright Stormy," Cortland said happily. "Where's the 20 bits you owe me."

"You guys bet on the fight?" Comet asked, giving his friends a deadpan look.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Real mature ya'll, could ya let me up now?" She asked Comet.

"Oh, sorry," he answered as he released the spell.

Lightning trotted over to the ring to take his position. He was facing an Earth pony; the mare didn't look like too much. "Alright Shield, no flying. We're testing strength not evasion. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir!" Lightning Shield said as he  spread his hooves apart and got ready to fight.

Lightning Shield and the mare stared each other down for what seemed like hours before the mare lunged at him. Lighting rolled out of the way and immediately went on the defensive blocking each hit as best he could. The mare landed a heavy blow on Lightning Shield's muzzle and a small trickle of blood ran out of it. Lightning Shield stepped away and rubbed his muzzle. Lightning dodged another hit and attempted to hook the side of the mare's face with little success. The mare took the chance to hook him in the chest and bring Lightning to the ground. The hit drove all the air out of his lungs.

Lightning tried to stand up again and locked into a battle of strength with the mare. Se easily overpowered him and pinned himl to the ground. The mare leaned in close to his face and smirked, "K.O." She got off lightning and held out her hoof.

Lightning accepted it and was pulled up. "Geez, your strong. What's your name?"

"I'm Limestone. Limestone Pie, and thanks I try."

"Alright Mr. Shield, I believe I have everything I need. You may leave."

Applejack had just finished her water when her dad came up. "Ya did great kid," He said as he ruffled her mane.

Applejack smiled, "Thanks Pa."

Cortland's friends walked up and joined them. "You are definitely Cortland's kid." Comet laughed and put his hoof on Applejack's shoulder.

"Yeah, I honestly didn't think you could be on par with me," Stormy added.

Shining armor walked up. "Alright, we're done here so lets all get lunch and the base you are to be posted at will be announced afterwards.

Applejack was at the lunch table with Fluttershy Lightning and Twilight. Lightning took another bite of his food and asked, "so AJ, how'd your evaluation go?"

"It went good. You?"

"Same, how about you Fluttershy?"

"Oh it went great. I did amazing on almost everything."

"See Flutters? Ah told ya that ya'll had nothin' ta worry 'bout." Applejack said confidently when they heard a loud booming voice that sounded overlapped with two others.

"ATTENTION EVERYPONY!" the four ponies, along with everypony else in the room turned their attention to the voice to find Princess Luna as the source.

Twilight giggled at the dumbstruck faces of her friends. "Oh boy, the Royal Canterlot voice sure is something huh guys?" The others could just nod in agreement as they tried to process what just happened. Twilight giggled some more.

"Thank you Princess," Shining Armor stated as he rubbed his ear.

"You are quite welcome." Luna stepped back for Shining Armor so he could make his announcement.

"Alright Everypony, I am going to announce where you will all be placed." Shining Armor said in a clear, confident voice. At that moment ten or fifteen other ponies walked in and lined up behind Shining. "These ponies are all the commanding officers of the different bases. They will each announce the names of the ponies on their list. After each name is announced that pony will line up behind their respective commanding officer.

Shining Armor was the last to announce the names on his list. He announced fifteen names in total. "The ponies coming to my base are Starfire Twister, Peppermint Sky, Solar Ace, Sky Wishes...."

"Lightning Shield, Fluttershy, and Applejack." Shining Armor announced the last name and paused. He looked around the room at the ponies who weren't assigned a base. "Those of you not assigned to a base are going home. I am sorry but you did not qualify. you will take the last train and head home. Return to  your rooms and pack your bags, we leave in an hour.”

Proofread by CowgirlVK