Up atop the high crags and stone spires that surrounded the long devastated capital of Gtiffonia, Grissfonston, griffons stood perched, gazing about the landside. They wore armor made of tanned hide, each bearing an emblem of a shield with three stripes, magenta, light pink, and violet, with a golden cup in the center of the shield. Strapped to their sides and their backs were sword and spears, they had looted from their enemy.

The griffons stood atop their perches as they watched a small squad of centaurs move through the valley far below. Sitting atop a large boulder in the valley was their leader, Gabriel. He wore similar armor to them, but with one slight alteration, on his flanks he wore the two small wooden shields that once belonged to Queen Gabby. He preened his wings and buffed his talons against his chest fluff.

As the centaurs grew near, Gabriel gave his wings a couple of flaps, ensuring the flight feathers were properly aligned. Folding his wings up, he gave the centaurs a self-assured glance as the corners of his beak turned up in a cocky smile. "And a good afternoon to you, my good hybrids."

The centaurs formed a circle, eyes up to the sky, as their leader leveled the point of his sword at the griffon perched on the boulder. "You've got a lot of stones to sit out here like that, cat-bird."

Gabriel, his cocky countenance never breaking, pulled a sling and a pouch of stones from within his leather armor. Placing the pouch of stones on top of the boulder, he opened it and pulled one out, giving the smooth, round orb a couple of hefts. "Why, yes! Yes, I do." He lazily slipped the loop of the sling over one of his digits, grasped the other string in his talons, and shoved the stone into the small leather square. "I can share some of these stones with you...forcefully. Unless, all you monkey-ponies meet my demands."

The lead centaur rankled. "And what demands would that be?"

Gabriel began whirling the sling over his head. "The same that they've always been for the past two years: That you and all your brethren lay down your weapons, free all griffons you're keeping in bondage, leave the griffon lands, and never return."

The centaurs leading this band shot a glance skyward. The stories of the pony goddesses leading a great host and slaughtering all their enemies had reached all the way here in Griffonstone. Then there had been the fact that for almost as long there had been no fresh centaur reinforcements. Over this same period of time, the griffons had been getting bolder and bolder, launching raids on slave pens, snatching away eggs and chicks, stealing weapons. Now there was a full-on rebellion. Their numbers had steadily grown over the past two years, meanwhile the centaur's numbers had declined over the same time, not by huge amounts. But now that there were no more reinforcements, every loss was irreplaceable.

At first the centaurs would send out dozens of their numbers to crush or scatter any of the griffons' pathetic attempts at rebellion. But now that they were no longer receiving reinforcements, they could only afford to send out a small number at a time to deal with any sightings had made these cat-birds who were free to be even more brash. The lead centaur studied the skies, looking for any sight of an aerial attack as he thought about the number that had come out to this valley with him. Counting himself, there were five in total. Back before the stories of the goddesses making war, this would have been a scouting patrol. These griffon rebels had steadily attacked the centaurs, their attacks went from once in a while, to weekly, now they were daily, killing only one or two with each attack, sometimes five, but also injuring sometimes up to a dozen. This had slowly and steadily whittled their horde down from tens of thousands to just fifteen thousand. Meanwhile these rebels' numbers grew. This one here had gathered to himself an estimated three thousand, and there was another estimated eight thousand other griffon rebels in their own rebel groups spread out across the canyons, valleys, crags, and spires surrounding the ruins of Griffonstone.

"Eyes down here." Gabriel stood up, whirling the sling over his head faster and faster. "I'm going to need your answer. Lay down your weapons, leave and never come back...or become food for the vultures and ravens."

"The Khan will nev--"

"~Over hill, over dale, my hooves carve a dusty train. And the goddesses guide me ever on and on!~" A baritone voice sang a jolly tune. "~For it's hi-hi-hee as I sing and bring the word of the goddesses on!~"

Gabriel and the centaurs stopped what they were doing to look in the direction of the singing. A unicorn stallion wearing flowing robes and carrying a staff on its back.

Gabriel, the griffons perched in their hiding places, and the centaurs all mouthed, 'What in the of...?'

The pony stopped singing. "Why hello there! I didn't expect to meet anycreature." He gestured behind him with a hoof. "I'd be careful going back that way. I accidentally stumbled across a migration of cockatrices about five leagues back and I tell you what, they weren't too happy to see me. Barely got out of there with my hide still hide. I guess the goddesses work in mysterious ways." the pony cleared his throat. "Ahem-hem-hem. Blech! Think I swallowed too much rock dust. Now where was I? Oh, yes!" The stallion pulled the staff off his back and propped it in a hoof. "Rejoice! For I bring unto thee glad tidings. The goddesses walk among us mortals once again! For those who seek to breathe free and want to live in harmony, they extend the hoof. To those who enslave, murder, and desire mayhem, flee, for they shall purify them with bullet and blade and flame." He paused to look at the creatures before him. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

The lead centaur eyed up the pony. "Leave now, pony, and recognize your betters. or else..."

"Oh, goodness me!" The pony levitated a pistol out from under his robes, pulled the magazine out to check the ammo count, reinserted the magazine, and pulled back the slide to cock it. "And lo, the righteous pony shall find themself beset on all sides by the wicked. But fear not, for they shall know we are the goddesses as we rain our righteous fury upon them!" The stallion leveled the pistol at the lead centaur.

Gabriel quickly spun the sling over his head and loosed the stone, striking the lead centaur between the eyes.

*bang* *bang-bang* *bang-bang-bang-bang*

Gabriel had never experienced anything like this before. There was what sounded like multiple peals of thunder and strange wounds opened up on the other four centaurs, gushing blood.

The pony pulled he new empty magazine from the pistol, inserted a fresh one, and re-cocked the weapon. As he walked up, leveled the weapon at each of the downed centaurs heads and put one more shot into each. Putting the weapon away, he bowed to Gabriel. "I must apologize to you, my good griffon. I have been deceptive." He extended a hoof. "My name is Sun Stone, member of The Fraternity, Order of The Zap Apple, preacher of the second-order."

Gabriel blinked in confusion. "Wha..."

"Your confusion is understandable. But worry not, the plight of the griffons have reached the ears of the goddesses and my order sent me to lend aid." He pulled a scroll, a candle, and box of matches from his robes. "Now would you be so kind as to direct me to your leader?"

That...uh, would be me." Gabriel took the scroll and unrolled it. "Uh...I can't read."

Sun Stone straightened up. "That's not a problem, my good griffon. As a member of The Fraternity, it is my duty to serve the will of the goddesses by aiding those whom seek to breathe free and live in harmony, and by delivering their justice to the wicked. If I may?"

"Huh?" Gabriel was still a bit dumbfounded by this pony. "Oh! Yeah, sure."

Sun Stone unfurled the scroll, cleared his throat, and began to read out loud. "Dear rooster or hen that is leading their fellow griffons in the fight for freedom up in Griffonstone, Griffonia. Know that while we have heard the plights of your griffons, we currently cannot send much in the means of infantry or weapons at this time as we are currently recovering our losses from a major conflict with a most violent war herd. Nevertheless, we still will send you what aid we can. If you agree to accept the services of one of our preachers from The Fraternity, the order at the time of drafting this missive has yet to be decided, please light the candle and place the scroll into the flame. It will send this scroll to us and we will send assets your way as we are able. If you reject the service of our preachers, we will be saddened, but will understand. We only ask that if you reject his services, to please allow him to leave your lands unharmed.

Their most high majesties, Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Mi Amore "Cadance" Candenza, Princess Mi Amore "Flurry Heart" Amicita, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna.

Dictated but not read.

Sun Stone rolled up the scroll. "Do you accept, or not?"

Gabriel quirked an eyebrow. "If I accept, what sort of services do you offer?"

Sun Stone gave a bright smile. "First off, you gain my veteran expertise. I fought against The Brass Legion, New Unicornia, and the hogs, so I know how to dispatch scum with the utmost efficiency and zeal. You do not need worry about feeding me as I can subsist on grass, nuts, berries, flowers, and leaves. My service in The Fraternity has given me the skills to make improvised explosives, improvised incendiary bombs, booby traps, and improvised weapons, as far as what the capabilities of your organization from what I've seen."

"And what of our capabilities have you seen?"

"You've currently got at least twelve griffons watching me. They're not hidden very well as they're silhouetted against the sky. Plus I've been sitting up in those rocks for the past two weeks simply observing." Sun Stone pointed to the top of a bluff. "I know your force, while quite talented with hit-and-run assaults, lack cohesion. Otherwise once those centaurs were distracted by me, they would have jumped them all. I can train you all in that and more."

"You made your point. Give me that candle." Placing a lit match to the candle's wick, Gabriel noticed its odd color, not the normal yellow-orange, but more of a lavender in color. He placed the scroll in the flame and watched as it vanished in a puff of sparkling smoke. "So what's first?"

"I need clay pots, just big enough to hold in a hoof or talon, charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter."

Author's Note

This chapter takes place shortly after the fight against the hogz. I know it's a bit of a time jump, but not to worry, next chapter we're getting into the fight against da hogz.