Griffinstone United

The Academy had changed... a lot.

In his last visit, the whole place had just been an abandoned building, a couple of the rooms being used. But, now, it had been renovated beyond comprehension. It didn't even look like the same place to Benedict!

Two shining marble fountains were put on opposite sides of a gravel pathway, shrubbery delicately cut so that they all portrayed different scenes, from a claw rising out of the ground to a large pony on their two hind legs. The canopies above blotted out the sun, though the clouds were already doing a fine enough job, making the only light coming from the gap in foliage for the building and the flickering lanterns placed at certain intervals of the pathway.

"How'd you get all this done?" Benedict asked, the pink unicorn with a blue mane who he had been walking with, also one of the professors at the school of magic, answering as sly as possible.

"Well," Sea Swirl (That was her name) said, smirking, "we have been looking into a lot more than the simple magic you've heard about last time. Magic that even we didn't know about in Equestria." She stopped at the building, Benedict doing the same, and gazed upon the building, obvious pride washing over her face. The large brick structure had a hulking entrance and spanned on with left and right wings, the roof of the entrance a large white dome that reflected the light from above. Birds chirped and the fountains spewed out water that returned to the pools below.

Benedict wasn't sure if it had changed, but there were ranks in the Academy. Students were all griffons, but a couple ponies had also joined as learners. Teachers and professors were mostly unicorns, but some griffons who immediately grasped the concept of a certain magic had started to take over. He had read the message while he flied, and it was some sort of emergency that the Academy was going to be active in, and Benedict had already shown his interest in the place.

"Like what?" Benedict asked the cryptic mare as two chatting griffons passed by, both dressed in crimson robes. This obscured his previous understandings of the place, as all students wore black robes or cloaks, and they were obviously students.

They stopped just in front of the building, Sea Swirl tapping her chin with a hoof before responding. "Well, we've learned that earth ponies contain a certain magic to them, one that makes them as strong as they are, and more that we have yet to figure out. We're calling it Geomancy, the magic of earth ponies. I'll lead you to the headmaster, she's the one who called for you."

Okay, so the rankings had changed. Now there was a headmaster, and the change of robe color most likely meant something as well. The grand oak doors creaked open, revealing a clean marble floor that forked left, right, and forward. Torches hung on rough walls of cobblestone, flowing banners filling in the gaps. There were only four, the blank spaces that continued on empty. The first was the same red as the two griffon's robes, the symbol of fire and water smashing against one another painted on the silky fabric.

"What are these?" Benedict asked, gazing at the other flags. The next was a dark emerald background, a smaller flag painted atop that depicted the sun with a field below, crops growing. The other two showed a golden cross with black wings atop pure white and a darker green flag with a large black tree.

"Hm?" Sea Swirl looked up at them, then she grinned, happy to explain. "Well, we're always looking into new fields, but the red flag is for Elemancy, which is our main combat school, as well as the most popular. They deal with fire, water and ice, that sort of thing. The green one is, as I mentioned before, Geomancy, though it's more just a research field, and the white one is our school of Abjuration. Oh, and that one over there is the Skirin Grove. I'm sure you've heard of it, right?" She pointed a hoof at the darker of the two green flags, the one with the tree.

He had, indeed, heard of it. It was a band of mages, which had most likely grown since his last pop in at the Academy, who were masters of magic, some griffons, others unicorns. He didn't know if there were any non-unicorns in there yet, but it'd make sense if there was. All one needed was some proper training and a magical crystal to start learning, so a pegasus or earth pony would easily be able to use magic. Then again, it seemed that earth ponies already had their own magic now. Wonder if there's a magic for pegasi.

"What's abjuration?" he asked, feeling dumb.

The wiser unicorn turned as they walked down the torch lit hall, approaching the intersection. The Academy was relatively empty, with only a couple ponies and griffons passing by. "It's sorta like protection and aid," she said, flipping a hoof half-and-half to show that it wasn't easy to explain. Benedict was satisfied with the answer though. He realized that Gilda had been right; the world really was changing and progressing.

Geomancy seemed interesting, so he'd have to check it out some time. Until then, though, Benedict had to talk to the headmaster about the 'emergency.' They continued down the hall, not turning either way, until there was eventually another pair of large doors. Sea Swirl bowed her head and backed away, leaving Benedict alone.

Here we go. He opened the door just a creak, looking around at the dark room that looked like some sort of study, a long desk set right in front of a large window, filtered light coming from the bright yellow curtains. Benedict took a step into the room, looking around. Seems empty-

Flash!

"Hi!"

"Gah!" Benedict leaped back, hitting the back of his head on a grand bookshelf, making it wobble. His beak opened to yelp as it started to tip over him and he held up his claws...

...but there was never any impact. Instead, Benedict opened one eye and saw a sunny aura mask the shelf, slowly but steadily going back to its original position. Bemused, he looked behind him and saw a yellow unicorn in a small black cloak, a brown mane all ruffled up. She waved, grinning with a mouth full of big braces, but Benedict didn't feel as happy.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, getting up and looking at the unicorn. She flinched as he took a step forward, cringing back.

"I'm so, so, so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you! I just wanted to, oh, ya' know, give you a scare!" She grinned sheepishly, and eventually Benedict stopped glaring at her, and rather stared in confusion. She turned her head, noticing the odd look. "What's wrong?"

"Well," the black griffon said, "I guess I expected something else, kind of like an old guy with a..."

"...flowing beard and one of those cool looking party hat things?" she finished, waving a hoof. "Heh, the griffons who wanted me to run this place expected somepony like that, but instead they got me, Banana Toss, the best unicorn in Griffinstone!"

She speaks so fast I can barely make out what she's saying! "Wait, you're the most magical pony?" That didn't sound right, and she was just so upbeat and happy... It was nothing like what he was expecting.

"Yeah!" she chirped. "I can-"

Flash!

"-teleport!" she said atop the bookshelf behind Benedict, making his eyes widen. "I can float myself around, which takes a lot of effort since your levitating yourself, by the way." The sunny aura from before returned, enveloping her as she started flying around the room.

"Oh, and I can do this!" she flared her horn as a translucent, ghostly banana appeared in the center of the room. "It doesn't really do anything, but, by Golly is it cool, am I right?"

Benedict just gazed, beak dropped open. Eventually, he found his voice. "That, well, that's amazing!" Banana Toss's cheeks turned rosy at the praise. He then remembered that there was an emergency.

"Uh, wasn't there some urgent thing happening?" he asked, Banana Toss immediately perking up.

"Yeah, you're Benedict right, okay, so this is what's happening," she said, not waiting for a response. "So, Griffinstone had some spies lurking in the Red Gear, but they got caught and are tried for treason, so they're getting executed tomorrow or the day after. There's about twenty of them, and they're all in this prison caravan that's heading towards Cobble Claw, so I thought, 'hey, why not flex our muscles and test our magic?'" She looked at Benedict. "Right? You following?"

"Yeah," he said, although he didn't understand parts of it due to her overly-happy super-fast way of speaking.

"Okie-Dokie! So, that's why I'm having a couple of professional Elemantics and Geomancers of the Skirin Grove go there and save them, as well as some of the elite squad griffons that your part of. You up to it?"

"Hell yes I am!" Benedict said. "When are we doing it?"

"Right about," she stopped, looking at the clock on the wall which had just turned to the hour mark, "now!"

***   ***   ***

"How in the world are you guys going to fly with us?" Benedict questioned, looking at the stallion and two mares.

The large red earth pony nodded towards the other two Geomancers, griffons, while the two unicorns did the same. "One of them is carrying Big Mac, and the other is carrying us two," the green one, Bittersweet, said, an Aid, which was someone who practiced in the Abjuration school.

"Eeyup," he agreed.

The pink one, Sunshine Smiles, nodded. She was an Elemantic. The whole thing was still sort of confusing to Benedict.

It was a squad of six elite griffons, including Benedict, with three Geomancers, three Elemantics and two Aids. The plan had been laid out for all of them; four elites would be working with the Elemantics to take out the guards while two Geomancers worked on breaking whatever confinements the spies were captive in, as well as two other elites. Big Mac had volunteered to be the fighting Geomancer. Bittersweet would be keeping the prisoners from harm while the griffon Aid protected the group.

Only one of Benedict's friends from the elite squads that he knew well had come, his name Jared. Unlike Benedict, he favored heavier armor and carried a large hammer. He sat down on the bench with Benedict, looking at the Geomancers with keen eyes. He had a brown coat and cream-colored plumage.

"It's crazy, isn't it?" he said, making small talk as the group prepared. "I mean, years ago, I don't think anyone here would even think of a griffon possessing magic as possible."

"Yeah," Benedict said, stretching. "Times are changing, I guess."

Jared chuckled, "You can say that again, brother." He looked down, silent. There was no other conversation, and tension was hung in the air, being carried with the wind. Their destination was somewhere near Cobble Claw, one of the Red Gear's big cities, up near the north.

Benedict pulled his twin daggers out, flipping them around in his hands, catching Jared's eye. "Where'd you get those beauties?" he asked.

"There's this blacksmith in Griffinstone, near the forest-y part. You know Irvin?"

"Ah, no. I might go see him, though, if he can make something like that." The silence returned. Benedict assumed they'd be leaving after a couple minutes.

Unlike the two griffon Geomancers, Big Mac held no gems. It made sense to a degree; he was an earth pony, and that was where the magic originated. Benedict found himself wondering how much would controlled Geomancy differ from an earth pony using it subconsciously. Maybe they'd be able to hit ten times as hard, or perhaps it wouldn't be anything of a noticeable change. Only time would tell.

The griffon Geomancers started to strap the ponies to them, signaling that it was time to go. Benedict got up, inspecting his gear one last time. He wore chainmail under his cloak, and he had a crossbow inside of the cloak. While he didn't favor bows and crossbows, they were useful at times, so it was always nice to have one when the opportunity arose for its use. Benedict took off, griffons following after him. The last of the group to be airborne were the griffons hindered by the weight of the ponies, but they quickly caught up, Geomancy allowing them to flap their wings faster and harder.

The fourteen only took one break throughout the eight hour flight, stopping on the peak of a small mountain just near the border between Griffinstone and Red Gear territory. By the time the griffon that they had appointed to be a quiet recon had announced to the others that he'd found the caravan, the moon shone brightly in the sky, clouds absent.

Nightfall would mask their attack. The plan was quick and quiet; there would be no witnesses.

Benedict was next to Big Mac and Jared, feeling their breath on the back of his neck, watching the approaching carts from the cover of bush. Just as Banana Toss had said, there were twenty griffons, all of them beat to hell, trapped inside of a large cart, iron bars keeping them from easily flying off. Ten Red Gear soldiers walked along with the cage, but the recon had told of two more flying high in the sky, and there was a rustling in the bushes to the other side.  The canopies of trees would hide them until they stepped out onto the dirt road. The Red Gear would've put more soldiers on duty for this, but it seemed that they wanted to keep this low profile. Fortunately, the secret had slipped from their grasp.

The Red Gear soldiers were like any other; they all donned similar pads of leather and chainmail tops, helmets, and some had metal plates. All of them, however, were dressed with a cloak donning the Red Gear's emblem, three black gears with a sword in the middle on top of a crimson background, and they carried the Red Gear's signature device, of one way or another. The lighter guards, there were six, were armed with the long revolving muskets that the Red Gear were known for, small pouches of their ammunition strapped to their cloaks and belts. The other three that were visible had long spears, and one held a small axe in each hand.

The revolving muskets were build like long rods of metal, wood making up a sort of stock that griffons would put up near their arm. A small trigger stuck out from under it, a revolving wheel at the base of the weapon holding six individual metal pellets enchanted with dragonpowder, spinning as each round was fired so that the next would be available in the barrel.

Benedict looked to his left; all of the elite griffons nodded, raising their weapons, two of them with bows. The musket griffons would be the most dangerous, so they were immediate targets. To his right, Big Mac quietly whispered, "Eeyup," the other Geomancers, Elemantics, and Aids nodding their agreement. He raised three of his claws, slowly counting down silently. Three, he mouthed. Two. One.

In a graceful motion, Benedict dashed out from the foliage in a blur, the two archer elites' arrows hitting the leading musket griffons' heads with sickening thwocks! as they dropped to the ground, wooden ends poking out from their heads. Jared had jumped upwards, dropping his hammer on the top of one musket griffon's head with an audible crack.

Benedict ran on his legs, claws held to either side, each one grasping a black dagger, though they'd soon be stained with the Red Gear's blood. He slid directly under a spear-wielding griffon's legs as he turned in confusion, digging his blades into his thighs and dashing forward, dark red fountains appearing as he fell. The axe pony turned towards him, raising his axes as Benedict got up.

Big Mac had not tried to make himself quiet. He galloped towards one of three remaining musket griffons, sending dirt flying as he screeched to a halt and raised his hind legs to buck the surprised griffon. His head snapped back from the impact, sending him flying into the other side of the bushes, yelps coming from them. Sunshine and her two Elemantics were immediately on the foliage, letting loose a blazing inferno. Screams sounded from the bushes, revealing the hidden soldier's locations as they burned alive.

The remaining musket ponies raised their guns at Big Mac and he whinnied, backing away. There was a flash of green light as the barrels of their weapons exploded in a brilliant light, two small blurred balls of metal zooming towards him. He winced for the incoming barrage, but the griffon Aid had come to the rescue while the other two griffon elites flew over to the cage, raising their shields as gunfire rang out from the skies. There were dull thuds as metal balls dug into the wooden boards of their shields and the magical blue shield that the griffon Aid had created for Big Mac. He opened one eye and saw what had happened, nodding his thanks before going to dig his hoof deep into the first's stomach, making him double over in pain and vomit before getting smacked in the side of the head.

One of the griffons in the sky fell as the archer elites fired their arrows. One missed, but the other had hit home, a musket griffon spiraling towards the ground, an arrowhead sticking out from his neck. The Geomancer griffons ganged up on the remaining musket griffon on the ground, grabbing her head and smashing it against the wooden cart repeatedly, blood and grey matter staining the dirt as they jumped off and started prying at the cart's iron bars, Bittersweet casting a translucent dome around the whole cart so that nothing could get through after the two elite griffons on top of the cart zoomed up at the last airborne griffon.

The Elemantics kept fanning the forest with fire until the screams died out, then spraying a frigid frost over the blazing trees, extinguishing the fire before it spread and did damage to the actual forest, the griffons floating over the inferno as they sprayed it out from their claws, Sunshine doing her work on the ground. One of them, however, plunged into the raging fire as there was the crackle of gunfire in the night air, the musket griffon in the air shooting him down. The two shielding griffons swarmed him afterwards, pulling out spiked maces and bashing them across his flesh.

The griffon Aid flew into the forest, the other griffon Elemantic following him, spraying an ice mist so that the two would be safe from the fire. The Aid emerged with the bloody body of the griffon, setting him down on the dirt and holding his claws over the wound in his chest, a yellow light emitting from his hands as the wound slowly healed.

The two elite shield wielders dashed towards one of the spear griffons, Big Mac taking one on himself with only his hooves, Benedict and the axe griffon circling one another. He stared at his fallen allies in both awe and terror before masking his fear, staring into Benedict's eyes. Then, making a stupid decision, he leaped towards Benedict, axes raised.

"Rah!" he grunted, slicing at air as Benedict easily dodged backwards. Benedict smirked as the axe griffon's eyes lit up in a furious rage. He continuously swung his axes at Benedict, the black griffon easily dodging and weaving. His opportunity finally came when he feinted to the right, making the axe griffon raise both of his axes to the right of Benedict, swinging downwards when he rolled out of the way. Then, as he was readying for another swing, Benedict slid to the left, curving to the right and raising both daggers, planting them both in his side. He cried out in agony, axes dropping and his corpse soon following.

The night was relatively silent as Benedict slid his blades out from the dead's body. Big Mac had easily defeated the metal plated spear griffon, a large dent in the breast plate. The shield griffons had efficiently clubbed the other spear griffon to death, and the fire was extinguished. Their wounded Elemantic slowly rose, clutching his chest as the griffon Aid rushed back over for him to lean on. The bars had been torn off in an amazing feat of strength, leaving a hole large enough for the prisoners to jump out of. The dome vanished and the group slowly came together, the Griffinstone spies' self appointed leader walking towards Benedict.

"We can't thank you enough for your acts of courage tonight," he said, putting a hand on Benedict's bloody shoulder.

"It was nothing," he said, waving a hand.

"Oh, I disagree," he said, taking his claws from Benedict's shoulder. "I will see to it that once we're all safe in Griffinstone, you all get a-"

BOOM!

In an instant, the old man's head exploded like a gore-filled pinata, the treat of bits of flesh and blood nearly blinding Benedict as he jumped backwards, Bittersweet immediately throwing up a large transparent wall.

"Shit!" Benedict shouted, "my eyes!" He rubbed furiously as one of the archer's stared at the figure that dashed away in the night sky, a sniper of sorts. His jaw dropped.

"Guys, that's a dragon!" he said. Murmurs went through the group of prisoners who cringed back from their fallen leader.

"Oh, dear god!"

"A dragon?!"

"I heard them saying something about dragons," one shouted out. They all watched in awe, besides Benedict as the griffon Aid tried to clean his face, as the figure blended in with the dark-lavender canvas of the sky.