24th day of Second Planting
452 Years after the Defeat of Discord by the Sisters

“Ow!” Pallas cursed, as Bianca rubbed ointment into a particularly deep cut on her right shoulder. “You could be more gentle.”

“And you could be more careful,” snorted. “I saw what you did. It was stupid. You could have been killed!” She punched Pallas with a hoof, making the larger thestral wince in pain. “If you get killed, I’m going to be very cross at you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Pallas grumbled. Her ears twitched as wind hit the wound there. It had stopped bleeding on its own and faded to a dull ache, but it stung when the air hit it, and there was a sense of something missing that she was finding difficult to shake.

“The other recruits are having a party,” Bianca smiled. “Most of them saw you take down the captain. You should go have fun.”

“And leave you to your difficult job of taking naps to let Luna know what’s happening with our division?” Pallas laughed.

“I mean it!” Bianca poked Pallas’ chest with her hoof. “You’re always training and stuff. You need a break.”

“Fine. I’ll go,” Pallas sighed. “But only if you do too!” She dropped to her knees and got her head under Bianca’s barrel, tossing her into the air as she stood and letting the albino land on her back. The pale thestral blushed at the rough treatment. “You train even more than I do, even if it’s mostly napping with the Princess.”

“It’s not just napping. She’s teaching me to navigate the Dreaming,” protested, though she didn’t try to leave as Pallas carried her towards the festivities. A cheer went up as Pallas walked up to the celebrating group, and mugs of mead were passed to her and Bianca. Pallas settled down near the fire, sipping at the sweet drink.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Zudah said. He was a thin thestral that never spoke about his past. Pallas had seen a brand on his hoof that marked him as a thief, though the stallion let his coat grow out to try and cover it.

“We were just telling the others about how you tore the griffon captain apart!” Wind Dancer said. She was an excitable pegasus, hopping as she circled around the bonfire. “

“And a dozen others!” Zudah said, raising his mug.

“It wasn’t a dozen,” Pallas scoffed.

“More like two dozen!” Wind Dancer exclaimed. “I saw it all! I was right behind you, basically. Until you jumped down to fight the captain.”

“Right behind the biggest meat shield in the army,” Zudah snorted.

“She’s not a meat shield,” Schee protested. She hugged Pallas around the neck. “More like my big sweet meat wall!”

Pallas blushed, looking away, and downed her mug of mead in one gulp. “Not bad. Let’s have another!” She raised her mug, and others followed as another cheer went up. It almost felt like having a family again. A big, smelly, rude family of people who killed griffons for a living.

4 Flowers Blooming
454 Years after the Defeat of Discord by the Sisters

“You hit like a mare!” The drill instructor yelled. Pallas frowned at the ugly, scarred unicorn. She’d gotten even bigger in the last two years. Only a few of the biggest stallions came close to her height. Some had compared her to Luna, though she lacked Luna’s graceful form. The exercise had layered thick muscles onto her frame, though the drill instructor didn’t seem to respect that.

“I am a mare,” she pointed out.

“Oh well, in that case, I’m sure the griffons are gonna take that into account while you’re trying to keep them from spearing your flank!” He screamed in her face. Pallas punched him with a forehoof, her hoof landing with force that sent him completely head-over-heels. Not as a metaphor for love, mind you. She just hit him so hard he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

“Please do not break my officers.” Pallas spun in place to see Luna, the Princess still seeming backlit by the moon, though she wasn’t wearing her armor in camp. The Princess of the Night smiled at her as she approached.

“I-I’m sorry,” Pallas collected herself and tried to salute, her hoof still stinging from the blow she’d dealt to the stallion.

“You don’t need to salute,” Luna laughed. She looked down to the fallen drill instructor, putting him back on his hooves with her magic. He wobbled to one side and fell over again, still out of it. “Perhaps we should leave him here for a moment to come to his senses.”

“Is he okay?” Pallas asked, glancing at the unicorn.

“Do not worry yourself. He was hardly attracting mares with his appearance as it is, and a few more bruises will do little to dissuade the few who are attracted to his other aspects.” She paused. “I am not sure what those would be, but my sister is fond of saying that everypony has something beautiful about them. Perhaps he is good at knitting?” Luna suggested, giggling.

“I’ll ask when he comes around,” Pallas said, smiling a little.

Luna nodded, starting to walk, motioning for Pallas to follow her. “There will be battle again soon. We will be pushing the griffons off of the Isle of Mane.”

“That’s their last stronghold in Equestria,” Pallas muttered. Luna nodded.

“You are correct. We will need as many soldiers as we can gather, as the griffons will fight tooth and nail. Or at least beak and talon.” It was a joke, though Luna was still somber. “It will be difficult, and there may be many casualties. Because of the danger, I will likely be asking for volunteers for the most dangerous parts of the operation.”

“Are you going to ask everyone individually?” Pallas asked.

“No. But I did want to tell you Bianca keeps asking about you.” Luna sighed. “I did not think training a dreamer would be so difficult. It would perhaps be easier if it were not such a time of war.”

“She could come see me herself,” Pallas grumbled.

“Yes, she could,” Luna said. “If she were not in meditation to prepare herself. Her talents will allow me to communicate with her across any distance through the Dreaming. It is a rare gift. Besides, you know as well as I do that she hates going out in the sunlight. Her condition makes her even less suited to the harsh light of day than a normal thestral.”

“She’s definitely special,” Pallas said, without thinking. Luna raised an eyebrow at that.

“Special indeed. Though I do ask you be gentle, as you’ve grown far faster than she, and her slight frame can only take so much-“ Luna laughed as Pallas turned the bright red of an apple. “Ah, your face! I am only joking.”

Pallas nodded. “I just-.”

“Of course you can be as rough as you wish. She is stronger than she appears.”

“Princess!” Pallas yelled. Luna laughed loudly.

“I apologize. I should not tease a delicate flower like you quite so much.” Luna smirked. “I had another purpose in speaking with you. I wish for you to lead the rear guard. Accepting the assignment will come with a temporary promotion to Centurion, made permanent should you survive.”

“T-the rear guard?” Pallas hesitated. It was either a very safe assignment or a very dangerous one. “I’ll do it.” The words were out of her even before she’d had time to think about it.

“I had a feeling you might,” Luna nodded. “As you will be leading the rear guard, you will need to know the strategies we intend to employ. Come.” She walked towards one of the largest tents in the camp, open on two sides with a huge table in the center. Ponies were already gathered around it, and as Pallas approached, ducking her head to enter the tent, she saw a map of the Isle of Mane spread out on the table, with wooden tokens scattered across it.

“So this must be your new favorite among the recruits,” grumbled one of the older stallions. Luna motioned for Pallas to sit at her left side. Bianca was already at the right, smiling and waving to her. Pallas smiled at her before looking around the table at the others.

Luna cleared her throat and quickly made introductions. Silver Tongue was the stallion who had spoken, his mane white with age and wearing the thin barding and ornate robes of a Magi, as if his horn wasn’t enough to distinguish him. He’d carved symbols and sigils into its surface, and they shone with silver traces along their edges.

Next around the table was a thestral, Quel, with a gray coat somewhat lighter than Pallas’, a modest ashen gray that did little to hide the pink scars scattered across his body. He wore dark barding, light, curved wingblades carefully kept at his side.

The third figure was a white pegasus in golden armor. While Pallas had seen the others around camp before, she’d never seen him. Luna introduced him as Captain Morning Glory, member of the Solar Guard, acting as a liaison between her forces and her sister’s.

The last figure, sitting next to Pallas and making her feel small, was a huge, armored figure, clad in night-black plate armor that covered his whole body, his helm fanged and draconian, with blades strapped to his wings that were so heavy they had to make it impossible to fly. With the visor of his helm raised, Pallas could see some of his face, and he watched her with a calculated gaze.

“Hungry Ghost, I haven’t seen you take an interest in anything like that unless you were about to kill it,” joked Quel. “Don’t tell me you’re already thinking of hunting our new friend here.”

“No,” Hungry Ghost said, shortly. He turned back to the map.

“Centurion Pallas Athene,” Luna said. “Here is the current situation. The griffons hold the Isle of Mane for now, and we intend to take it from them. All of their remaining forces are marshaled here, with the sea at their back. It is a dangerous thing.”

“For them,” Quel snorted.

“For us,” Hungry Ghost corrected. “They will fight for their lives like cornered animals.”

“Indeed,” Luna agreed. “They have nowhere left to run. A wise opponent would surrender in their situation, but according to my agents, they have been ordered to hold the island until reinforcements can arrive from across the sea. Their families and honor are on the line, and griffons value both more than life. They will fight to the last warrior.”

“The wise solution is to give them a path of escape,” Silver Tongue said. “They will rout, flee in the only direction open to them, and fall into a trap.” His horn lit up, and the tokens on the board shuffled slightly, falling back on one side and leaving an opening in the center, with a second wave encircling the revealed corridor.

“It’s a terrible plan,” Morning Glory said, dismissively. “We don’t need to do anything except hold them where they are. Princess Celestia is meeting with the griffons to discuss a treaty that will put an end to this.”

Everypony at the table just stared at Morning Glory for a moment.

“It won’t work,” Bianca said, abruptly. “Celestia is trying to stall for time to discuss the treaty, but they’re just stalling for time so they can get their reinforcements.” Luna nodded at Bianca’s words approvingly.

“The griffons want peace as much as we do,” Morning Glory snorted. “You can’t just make wild suppositions.”

“I have seen it,” Bianca said. “Their dreams of conquest and future plans. What they intend to do to Equestria. They consider this only a setback. The griffons will push in from the coast again, and they will keep coming.”

“They rely on their numbers,” Luna said. “While they lack magic of any useful sort, they are predators and fight like the killers they are. Only a tiny fraction of the ponies in Equestria are trained to be soldiers, while every Griffon of age has the training of a warrior. They can afford to drown us in their dead until our own soldiers are exhausted.”

“If they’ve been ordered to hold the island, they won’t take the bait of an easy escape,” Pallas said, thinking out loud. “You said their honor is more important than their lives, right? So they’ll probably keep trying to hold their ground.”

“Do you have a positive suggestion,” Silver Tongue asked, scowling.

“Their backs are to the sea. They probably consider that a defense. Come in at night from the sea, and attack from both sides at once.” Pallas shrugged. “I guess you could fly in, but I think boats would be better. Flying ponies can be seen from a long way off, and if they have to fly the whole way they’ll be too tired to fight against fresh griffon troops. It couldn’t be a large force, but they’ll need to be able to fight without support for as long as possible until the griffon lines are broken. And um… I’m not sure where we’d get the boats…” she trailed off, looking up and only realizing then that the table had gone silent and everypony was watching her.

“It’s a good plan,” Hungry Ghost said, standing. “The Lunar Dragoons will volunteer to attack from the rear.”

“It’s as good a plan as any,” Quel agreed. “But you’re only going along with it so easily because you like being the big damn hero.”

“It is a terrible character flaw,” Hungry Ghost agreed.

“No, you can’t-“ Morning Glory groaned. “Celestia won’t support an attack on their positions. If you squeeze them like that, they won’t have a chance to surrender.”

“I do not intend to give them that chance,” Luna said. Her horn blazed, and the tokens representing the griffons on the map erupted into black flame, charring to ash in an instant. “My sister seems to have forgotten it, but they have hurt our little ponies and they will pay for it. The griffons will be taught a lesson that they will never forget.”