"ADRIAN!" I shout as I see the knife sticking out of his shoulder.

"Argh... quickly... pull it out," he tells me. I grip the knife's handle and pull it out. "GAH!" he yelps and grunts in pain.

He quickly heals himself while I stand up, enraged at having the one time I've had in centuries to have fun and relax ruined. My horn glows as I summon my armour and greatsword.

'Luna, we're under attack by gryphons and the assassin, send the guard to the Canterlot Park Pond now!' I tell Luna telepathically.

'We are on our way, sister,' she replies.

My eyes burn with rage as I flap my wings and leap into the air. "I SHALL MAKE YOU REMEMBER WHY I WAS FEARED ON THE BATTLE FIELD A THOUSAND YEARS AGO!" I shout out in the Royal Canterlot Voice for the first time in centuries.

I bring my sword down on the right gryphon who quickly rolls to my right, leaving a small crater where he once stood. I ignore him and swing at the middle gryphon horizontally. She blocks my blade with the gauntlet on her right talon. I jump back as the left gryphon pounces where I just stood.

My horn glows again and I replace Adrian's suit with his armour and stave. He's back on his hooves and stands besides me.

The assassin then speaks up. "I'm sorry, your Majesty, but for our plans to start, you and your pet must be put down. Do not worry about your sister though, she'll be joining you soon enough," he says in a mocking tone.

Adrian 'psst's' at me to get my attention. "Tia, I think I have a way around their resistance. I've been practising a spell called nullify recently, it removes all magical effects in an area around me, barriers, shields and currently in use spells as well. I think these guys are using magic to amplify their resistances to yours and my magic," he tells me. "Although it will also remove any shields or barriers we have as well."

I scowl at the assailants. "Do it," I tell him.

He nodded and I see two orbs orbit his stave, one red and one yellow. If I remember correctly, that's an arcane and shield element. He raises his stave and a faint field of magic expands away from him and hits the gryphons and the assassin.

They glow faintly and a thin field around them shatters and fades away. "What!?" one of the gryphons yells in surprise.

I see Adrian grin wickedly and point his stave at the right gryphon, three red orbs appear and he fires a beam of black and red energy at him, an arcane beam.

It hits the gryphon directly in the chest and to my surprise, he quickly blisters and bloats, screaming in agony. After a few seconds, the gryphon's chest explodes in a shower of blood, bone, and organs. I raise a barrier to prevent us being coated in it.

I look back at Adrian who has a grin so wide, one would think he's gone mad. I look at the female gryphon again and teleport right in front of her. I swing my sword right at her head where she lifts a metal covered talon to block it again, only for my blade to burn right through it and cut off half of her skull with it.

I turn to face the last gryphon and hold my left hand out at him. I quickly gather magic through my horn and to my hand. I fire a large beam of extremely hot flames at him, he tries to fly away but he's too slow and his lower half is caught and instantly burns away. He screams and the rest of him falls into the beam, incinerating his remains.

Adrian teleports right next to the stunned assassin and places a barrier around them both.

More gryphons appear and fly towards the barrier, I can't allow them to interrupt Adrian so I charge at them with my sword raised.

I charge the shield to full strength and swing my sword at the assassin, he leans out of the way and I thrust my stave at his head scoring a direct hit to the side. "Ooof," he grunts from the blow.

He recovers and glares at me. "How did you dispel our barriers? There was no data saying you could do such a thing," the assassin asks me. His voice now sounds distorted and his eyes are all blue with white where his irises should be. His fur is also gone replaced with hard black shell like skin.

I ignore him and channel three steam elements and blast him into the side of the shield. He yells in pain as the steam burns and keeps him pressed against the shield. After a few seconds I cancel the spray and stab him in his left shoulder with my sword. 'Payback bitch,' I think to myself with a smirk.

"GAAAHH!" he screams. I'm surprised when he starts bleeding, his blood is green.

I pull my sword out and he drops to the floor. "You don't need to know how," I tell him and stamp on his head, knocking him out cold. I look outside the shield to see Celestia fighting seven more gryphons. I drop the shield and recast the nullify spell. All seven gryphons' thin shield spells shatter and Celestia takes advantage of it.

She throws her sword and her horn glows. It impales one gryphon then flies off into another spearing both on the blade, she then pulls her hand back sharply and the sword rips out of the two gryphons.

I fire a lightning beam at the closest one to me and it's muscles lock up before falling dead to the floor, smoke rising off it's corpse.

I start getting light headed and my vision blurs... was that knife poisoned? I channel a healing spell slowly through me, repairing the damaged cells constantly. It won't remove the poison, but it will at least delay it.

Luna finally arrives with a contingent of the guard but she runs over to me when she sees me kneeling and healing myself. "Adrian! Are thou alright?" she asks with worry.

I cough and look up at her. "No... I've been poisoned... my healing is delaying it, but I feel light headed. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up," I tell her.

She inhales sharply and turns to the Guards. "Help our sister with these vermin while we take Adrian to the medical wing!" she commands them. They salute and charge at the remaining gryphons with roars of anger.

"Luna... guess who it is," I say and nodded towards the out cold assassin. Her eyes widen and then she scowls at the hooded figure.

"Tis Blueblood's dog, why have thou not killed him?.. Wait, is he a changeling?" she asks stunned.

"I think so, but I wanted him alive so you or Celestia can mind read him later," I reply and cough again.

Luna's horn glows and the assassin's horn now has a ring on it, he's then tied up and muzzled. He then glows and disappears. "We have sent him to the dungeons. Come, let us get thee to a Doctor!" she says and lifts me up.

"Thanks," I mumble out while still healing myself. I start breathing heavily as my mana is starting to go dry... 'Shit, can't hold on anymore,' I think to myself and pass out.

Adrian is taken away by Luna while the guard fight the gryphons. One of them is distracted and I fly up and slam myself onto its back with my hooves where a satisfying snap is heard as I crush his spine. The guards finish him off on the ground as I teleport behind the next one and impale the back of her skull.

The last two try to flee, no doubt to warn the others about Adrian's ability to disable their protections, but I won't allow them.

I take off leaving a shockwave behind me. My mane and tail no longer a calm pink, but raging infernos as bright as the sun as they whip around in the wind. I reach the first one and grip his throat and squeeze tightly as I crush his windpipe and drop his writhing body to the ground where the guards swarm him like vultures.

I teleport behind the last one and grab her by the tail, she squawks as I start spinning her in circles. After about twenty spins I cut off her tail and she slams into a nearby tree. I fly down and land beside her.

She opens her eyes, and for the first time since I can remember, a gryphon is staring at me with fear. "We are no longer your prey, gryphon. From this day forth, we fight back!" I say and behead her without hesitating.

'Luna, how is Adrian?' I ask her. I'm panting from over exerting myself, it has been many years since I've had to fight like that... maybe I should join Adrian in his training.

'He is alive, but he's been poisoned. The Doctors have discovered what poison it is and have administered an antidote,' she tells me.

I let out a sigh. 'Thank you, Luna. Stay with him, we don't know how many more of them there are,' I tell her.

'Don't worry sister, they're going to have to kill us to keep us away,' she replies. I can just feel the anger in her tone.

The gryphons have made a grave mistake this day.

Bit of a short chapter this time. But showing what Celestia can do when pushed to far... Holy crap!

And the Assassin is a Changeling? Uh-oh.