1056 AD, January 11th

The Fracture droned and glowed with its nauseating presence for all about two seconds before the Wisp Knight stepped in and was swallowed whole as the anomaly winked out of existence.

“Oh…” Rainbow Dash wiped her eyes and looked around. “Did he give up?”

Vzzzt

“DIIEE!!”

“Nope!!” Rainbow Dash cried as she awkwardly dove to the side. The Wisp Knight plummeted past her and landed back on soil. “What?!” She looked up and back down, cursing. “Aw, seriously?! They can teleport now?!”

“Heh – evens the playing field, eh, Dash?” Gilda laughed breathlessly.

“Playing fields are tipped like you wouldn’t believe!”

Rainbow Dash flew to the Wisp Knight’s left side as it howled and swung its weapon up at Celestia, who hovered back out of its reach. She went in and stabbed at the back of its knee, but the monster wasn’t even fazed, and it almost tore her head from her shoulders when it turned to face her with a backhanded swipe.

“Hey, over here!”

Alessio swooped in from behind and smacked the knight upside the helmet with the axe part of his halberd, enraging it enough to try and go after him by throwing out the skull.

“Diavolo!”

Vittorino came in next and landed a hit of his own, and by the time the knight reeled its weapon back in and turned, Celestia bombarded it with another salvo of fireballs. Blind from the flashing fires, the knight ripped into the air again and slinked into the Fracture.

“It’s teleporting again!” Gilda shouted over the hungry roars of fire as it ate away at the greenery. Rainbow Dash saw her fly through the smoke, looking around with a spear clutched in her talons.

“Be on your guard and don’t stop moving!” Celestia cried. “It might try to attack from above again!”

Rainbow Dash instinctively looked up, and for a brief moment was relieved that there was no falling suit of armor before that relief was replaced by paranoia. She frowned and started flying around the area, casting furtive glances this way and that.

‘Ah crap – where the hell are you gonna pop out from?’

It already tried attacking from above, so if it had even the slightest hint of strategic planning, then it’d try attacking from a different angle. Fortunately, she and everyone else could fly, so by default they had the advantage on mobility and speed; it shouldn’t be too difficult to keep out of its range.

Vzzt

The air tore open several yards on her left and the monster dove out, flailing and whipping the skull around in a full circle. It almost caught her, and it came close enough for her to pick up the nauseating stench of rot and death; there may have been a few maggots that poked their heads out of a bit of flesh near the eye socket.

At least they were having a good time because Alessio wasn’t.

He managed to dodge the skull, but the knight stretched out its right hand on a tendril of smoke to snag his hindleg and yank him down with its sheer weight. Rainbow Dash swore she heard a crack as she darted in to the griffon’s assistance.

“Hang on, dude!”

The knight and Alessio hit the ground at roughly the same time, but only the former got back up immediately, completely unaffected by the fall and more pissed than ever. It took hold off the skull with both hands and raised it high above its head with a guttural growl. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and took off the training wheels.

“DIIEE!!”

Flashing by in a blur of multiple hues, Rainbow Dash swept Alessio out from what was undoubtedly certain death.

“Jeez!” She rotated them both so they went back up in the air, briefly looking over her shoulder to see the knight wrench its club free from the dirt and pounce away as a jumbo-sized fireball was sent down. “Hey, you okay?!”

“My leg is broken,” Alessio calmly stated without a hint of discomfort. “Thank you for the assistance, but my wings and talons are still able – we must return to the fight.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded. She turned to look over her shoulder, grimacing as the knight threw a tantrum and started swinging its club all over the place, seemingly just as upset at the ground and the air as it was with them. “Faust, look at it go. How the hell are we gonna get close?”

“Your night princess commands frost…” Alessio gave a slight twitch as he flapped his wings and moved away to hover on his own. Rainbow Dash admired his resolve. “She will be the one to turn the tide of this battle.”

The knight slashed at the ground and went through another Fracture. Rainbow Dash sighed irritably and stayed close to Alessio; he might be able to shrug off a broken leg, but even the slightest injury could completely throw off your flying – she knew that from personal experience.

Fortunately, the knight decided to reappear close to Celestia instead of continuing after Alessio. It flashed in a few metres above her and swung, but Celestia dodged out of the way and grabbed the skull with telekinesis.

The knight fell but with the spinal column still clutched in one hand, it jerked to a stop in mid-air, suspended and swaying as the princess made a strained face from the sudden pull of its hefty weight.

Rainbow Dash suddenly spotted a dark dot flying across Ponyville towards them. She cupped her hooves around her mouth and shouted, “Yeah, you got it, princess! Luna’s almost here, so just hang in there!”

Celestia looked at her, affronted.

“Uh… n-no pun intended!”

The Wisp Knight roared and pulled at the spine like that would make gravity come back. It did make Celestia wince and sweat from the effort of keeping her hold, but Luna was past Ponyville’s barricade by now, and she was close enough that Rainbow Dash could see her mouth set in a tight frown and her horn glowing as she prepared a spell.

She looked pretty badass.

Rainbow Dash whooped as Luna sped straight at the flailing knight like she was in a joust. “Get ‘em, princess! Get ‘em!”

The Wisp Knight twisted sections of its armor until it was facing Luna and swiped at the air a split-second after Luna fired off a twinkling ball of ice from her horn.

The Fracture swallowed the spell whole and it was only with quick reflexes that Luna managed to pull back in time, a panicked grimace spreading on her face as the white light seemed to stretch out a little to invite her in.

She flapped backwards, but the knight dove through the Fracture to grab her, never mind the fact that it had nothing to push off of to achieve that momentum.

‘Huh – yeah, good one,’ Rainbow Dash swore under her breath as she propelled forwards. ‘Talk about physics when there’s some creepy asshole literally flipping reality.’

Luna landed on the ground with a crack that sent chills through Rainbow Dash’s body. She lifted her spear and aimed for the back of the knight’s helmet, but it pounced off of Luna and dove through another portal.

“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash snarled. “This is stupid! It’s just gonna keep teleporting everywhere!”

“Urgh…” Luna rose from the dirt and lifted herself into the air, rubbing at her chest. “Quite a welcoming…”

“Are you okay, Luna?!”

“Fine, sister…”

Rainbow Dash looked to her right, where Celestia was gathering the skull and spine into a tight ball. She turned and gave it a quick blast of magic that sent it sailing high into the sky where it would hopefully fall somewhere in the Everfree.

At least they wouldn’t have to worry about that thing now.

She ascended alongside Luna to where the griffons were flying around in a tight formation, talons flexing around their weapons as they searched for where the jagged tear of light would appear next.

“They can teleport now?” Luna grumbled.

Celestia nodded with a dark grimace. “This one can. It has no weak points as far as we can see either. No missing limbs, no ruptures in its armor – nothing we can exploit.”

“It has no weapon anymore, so that’s something.” Rainbow Dash said, looking over her shoulder.

She had a sneaking suspicion that the knight would come out from behind, although how it managed to know where they were despite being in the middle of teleporting was beyond her.

Hell, maybe it wasn’t even teleporting; she wouldn’t be surprised if the knight just went into a ghost-form and floated around the area. It wouldn’t be the strangest thing to-

Rainbow Dash saw a visual distortion on the ground a few yards away.

“Hey, there! Over there!” She jerked her hoof at the spot several times as the distortion grew into a glowing fissure of light. The knight was stepping out of it, a tall dark shadow against the Fracture. “Er, ah, t-ten o’clock! Ten o’clock!”

“I have it!” Luna swivelled in place, reared back, and then rocked her head forwards to blast a stream of frosty wind.

The shadow took a step back in surprise and rolled to the side. The wind blanketed the grass in frost, turning the blades of grass white and sharp with cold.

“Aha! I continue to remain warm and content!”

Rainbow Dash froze when she heard the voice. ‘Wait… what?’

She looked again – really looked.

“Uh, guys? I think we have more company…”

Rising up from where he – it sounded like a ‘he’ – had ended up after rolling, the armored monkey-dude dusted off his arms and looked up at them. They were a fair distance away, but Rainbow Dash’s could easily see the intense scrutiny in his mismatched eyes and the hard line his lips formed. He looked a lot like the Wisp Knight, at least in shape and form, but on a smaller scale and with a bit more ‘liveliness’ in appearance.

Gilda flapped alongside her and sharply inhaled. “It’s them.”

“Who?”

“The guys that attacked Canterlot.” Gilda scowled and her grip on her halberd tightened.

“Seriously?”

Rainbow Dash heard the griffons and princesses approach, too, as more figures came out of the Fracture. These must have been the Rouge Knights that had been stirring up trouble all over Equestria.

Ponyville had been lucky enough to avoid being targeted, but Rainbow Dash had heard enough stories from the Wonderbolts when they came through with news to know how they literally appeared from thin air and start rounding up ponies, mostly unicorns.

Regardless of age.

She clenched her teeth and swallowed anxiously.

The Rouge Knight that had first stepped through matched her glare evenly. In his right hand, a long glaive tapped against the ground from either anticipation or boredom; the three other knights that came out after him had their shields and weapons up – featureless helms making their faces unreadable – so she had to guess the tapping was from the former.

The helmless Rouge Knight sniffed and shifted his weight to one leg. “… Greetings, horses.”

…

Rainbow Dash made a face and, just like everyone else, turned to the princesses.

“…” Celestia shared a look with Luna before turning back, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I-”

Vzzt

“DIIIEEE!!”

The knight popped out of a Fracture directly in the middle of their group, swinging wildly in all directions as it fell forwards.

It was by pure luck that everyone managed to get away without being grabbed; the griffons were nimble enough to dodge while Celestia and Luna had thrown up arcane barriers in front of themselves, and the knight’s claws bounced off.

Rainbow Dash flew back, but one of the monster’s claws nicked her across the face, and she felt blood well up against the torn flesh; two drops sailed off and fell to the soil.

She ignored the slight sting and glared down at the Wisp Knight as it landed on the ground on all fours. It craned its faceless helm to stare up at her, plumes of smoke pouring out from crevices too small to take advantage of.

She saw its left gauntlet start glowing again, and prepared herself for-

“Damien!!”

The shout rang clear over the fields.

To Rainbow Dash’s astonishment, the Wisp Knight turned as well, still crouched like a dog.

The dark smoke that wreathed its body suddenly pulled back within the armor, and only the tiniest of wisps curled out, almost hesitantly.
Rainbow Dash blinked owlishly, looked to her side to see everyone else staring with just as much confusion, and then looked back again.

She watched as the Rouge Knight – the one with mismatched eyes – strode forwards, seemingly unafraid of the creature that still towered over him by a few inches despite being crouched.

The Wisp Knight silently stared at him.

“Damien…” The Rouge Knight repeated, stopping when he was a few yards away. He looked… sad. “Damien, do you remember me? Knight Enforcer Caed?”

The Wisp Knight silently stared at him.

“Do you remember when we argued for three days straight over who was fastest with their weapons?” ‘Caed’ gave a small smile. “We had all of our knights involved, didn’t we? We sparred with them spectating, but the matches always ended in a draw, and no one could say for certain who was fastest.”

The Wisp Knight silently stared at him.

“… We jested with one another a lot, didn’t we? I made light of that ridiculous moustache you insisted on grooming night and day, and you were fond of mocking my speeches and interests,” He gave a short laugh. “Personally, I think you were just jealous; the knights love my speeches.”

The Wisp Knight trembled and uttered something like an airy snort.

“But… the truth is… I respected you. You were one of the strongest warriors I’ve ever had the luck of fighting alongside. More than that… you were everything the Old Tales said that a knight should be – honourable, loyal, chivalrous… and willing to fight for those that could not defend themselves.”

The Wisp Knight silently stared at him.

“I’m…” Caed lowered his head, clenched his empty fist, and looked back up, pained. “We were… lost for a bit after you were killed by the enemy. And then… put into that prison. The knights lost some of their resolve, especially the ones that you had trained personally, and it was a while before they recovered. Yes, you had that much of an impact on them. Do you remember any of them, Damien? Do you remember Leon? Nathaniel? Sybil?”

The Wisp Knight groaned, a sound like bending metal, and dug furrows in the dirt with its claws.

“I can’t imagine what it’s like in that suit or how it twists your mind… but please, for the Rouge Knight Order’s sake… for mine… please try to remember. Try to come back. I do not want to hurt you, I really don’t want to…”

The Wisp Knight rocked back onto its heels and clutched at its helmet with another metallic moan.

Caed took another step closer, empty hand reaching out. “Damien… do you remember me?”

The Wisp Knight scrambled forwards, stumbling and staggering until it was on both legs and stretching out its arms, black smoke surrounding it like a miniature storm until its form was barely noticeable beneath the thick miasma until…

Caed moved forwards faster than Rainbow Dash could process.

A shower of sparks and a horrible ripping sound filled the air as Caed blurred past the Wisp Knight, both hands clutching the long hilt of his glaive.

The Wisp Knight remained silent as an ugly gash in its waist bled smoke.

Caed blurred back the other way.

The Wisp Knight remained silent as it collapsed to its knees, smoke billowing from two gashes that seemingly just appeared in its back.

“Caed…”

Caed turned, now standing in front of the kneeling knight, and swallowed hard. “Goodbye, my friend.”

Rainbow Dash winced as the glaive’s blade pierced through the knight’s helm and the body fell apart like a shoddy jigsaw puzzle.

‘Whoa…’

Caed pulled in his weapon and laid a palm against the impaled helm for a moment before tugging it off and dropping it amongst the rest of the pieces.

“…”

One of the other Rouge Knights stepped forwards, reached out, paused, and drew the hand back. “Knight Enforcer?”

“I am fine, Esther. Damien has… He is at peace. It is a day to be happy.”

He didn’t look happy.

The knight, ‘Esther’ – sounded female – finally turned to look up at her, the griffons, and the princesses. “Knight Enforcer? The horses and griffons?”

“Hey, we’re ponies!” Rainbow Dash called out.

Esther leaned in towards Caed as if she was whispering; Rainbow Dash was too far away to hear anyway, and the helmet blocked her lips from view so no lip-reading.

On a whim, she looked back at the princesses again. Celestia and Luna were already talking between themselves in hushed tones.

‘Yeesh…’ Rainbow Dash allowed herself a moment to just breathe and relax. The situation was still tense, but at least the Wisp Knight had been dealt with, so they weren’t in any immediate danger. ‘Out of the frying pan and into another… less heated frying pan.’

“Hey, Dash.”

“Uh?” Rainbow Dash blinked and turned. “Oh, Gilda – hey. Crazy stuff, huh?”

“Tell me about it,” Gilda let out a tired breath. “This creep was tougher than the other one that appeared at the library.”

“Hey, that reminds me…” Rainbow Dash turned further and scanned the griffons hovering by, still on guard. “How’s Alessio? His leg’s jacked.”

“Still flying, so can’t be that jacked,” Gilda answered with a shrug. “Don’t worry about it; griffons are tough. He just needs to keep off it for a few weeks or something,” She perked up suddenly and looked off towards Ponyville. “Jeez, about time…”

Rainbow Dash followed her gaze and saw Luigi flying over towards them with Marquees Aldo at his side. Both had their weapons out, but lowered them when they noticed that the Wisp Knight was no longer a threat. Still, they watched the gathered knights below with caution and wary familiarity.

“Fastest flyer, eh?” Gilda jested.

Luigi flushed and mumbled something about ‘ditzy pony interference’.

The marquees frowned deeply when he saw the weapon in Gilda’s talons. “Gilda, why didn’t you leave? You could have been killed.”

“Hey, I totally helped out a bunch the last time one of these monsters attacked, so why wouldn’t I stay to help again?”

“I don’t like you getting in the way of danger.”

“She handled herself pretty well,” Rainbow Dash interjected, mostly out of sympathy because she knew exactly what it was like to have an overprotective dad. Out of love, sure, but there came a time when daughters needed to do things for themselves. “And anyway, her thick head makes her a super-good brawler.”

Gilda nodded proudly. “Exactly!” Her grin turned into a scowl a moment later. “Wh-?! Hey!”

Aldo gave that infamous ‘Disapproving Dad Stare’ and shook his head. Also disapproving.

“Ponies! Griffons!”

Like everyone else, Rainbow Dash turned with slight alarm at the unfamiliar tone that, for some odd reason, sent chills down her spine. The Knight Enforcer had approached them when they weren’t looking, but still kept a cautious distance.

Though that probably couldn’t be helped seeing as they were still a few metres in the air.

“I am Knight Enforcer Caed, leader of the Rouge Knight Order,” Planting the pommel of his glaive in the dirt, Caed slapped his other forearm across his armored chest. “Earlier, I was almost struck by a ball of ice: did you intend bodily harm or was it bad aim?”

“I…” Luna furrowed her brow. “Neither! I was trying to hit the Wisp Knight.”

“So you did not intend bodily harm on my person?”

“No. The Wisp Knight was teleporting through the use of Fractures; when that one appeared…” She gestured with a nod of her head to the glowing anomaly behind the knights. “I just reacted.”

Caed scratched his chin and narrowed his eyes. “That makes sense. Very well – since you did not intentionally try to kill me, I will not intentionally try to kill you either. So I apologize in advance if at any point my weapon stabs you without my permission or knowledge.”

“… Uh… I see?”

“Thank you for understanding, talking pony,” Caed dipped his head respectfully, a gesture that surprised Rainbow Dash. “Now, we must take our leave. I bid you fare-”

“Wait, what? No! I mean… wait, what?” Celestia grunted in confusion and shook her head, holding both forehooves out. “Don’t go just yet! I wish… We wish to speak with you.”

“Speak?” Caed echoed with a curious tilt of his head. “About what?”

“…” Celestia looked at Luna with a ‘is he serious’ expression.

Luna shrugged in response before turning to Caed. “Perhaps why you are attacking our settlements and taking ponies?”

“Ah, I see,” Caed nodded with a tone of enlightenment. “Yes, you are not in alliance with the one called ‘Empress Nightmare Moon’, so it is only fair you understand our reasons for attacking. Knights!”

He turned in place and the three knights accompanying him straightened with a clatter of shifting armor.

“We have faced off against equines for near three months, but I implore you to set aside your valour and combat expertise so that we may parlay with this group without unnecessary incident. They are not allied with our enemy, so keep your weapons at your sides, and if you get struck by a stray iceball, bear in mind that it may have been an accident or the result of bad aim!”

Rainbow Dash saw Luna shake her head with a sigh out of the corner of her eye.

“Are my words clear to you all?”

“Yes, Knight Enforcer!” The three knights chimed, slapping their forearms across their chests.

“Ponies and griffons!” Caed turned back to them. “As per your desire, we shall parlay. However…” He raised one of the slender digits on his hand – ‘fingers’, Rainbow Dash sometimes heard Spike call his claws. “I ask that one of my knights be allowed to gather Damien’s… th-the Irregular’s remains and return through the Fracture to dispose of them.”

“… Very well.” Celestia nodded.

“Thank you, Miss…?”

“Celestia. Just Celestia, if you don’t mind.”

“Thank you, Celestia.”

Caed made a gesture with one hand and the knight in the middle of the trio moved forwards to gather up the Wisp Knight’s armor. Some were larger than his torso, but they lifted them ease and marched back to the Fracture.

“If you don’t mind…” Celestia began as she slowly descended. “I would like for us to talk here, in this field. Your presence may cause a panic amongst the village.”

Luna gave a subtle gesture that told everyone to follow her sister’s lead. Rainbow Dash hesitated before gradually floating back to the ground.

She didn’t like being grounded when there were hostile forces right across from them, but they hadn’t attacked so far and Caed seemed genuine in them just talking.

But again, these guys were the ones attacking Equestria and kidnapping ponies.

However nice they appeared, she just had to remember that morbid fact to know how she really felt about them.

“That is fair,” Caed nodded. “It is invigorating to be out here,” He said with a grandiose wave of his arm and a deep inhale. “Ahhh… We do not have air like this back home. Nor do we have grass like this.”

“We don’t have grass, period.” One of his two remaining knights said.

“Would you excuse us for a second, Caed?” Celestia called while motioning for them to draw in close. “We’ll talk with you in a minute, but we must quickly tie up some personal issues of our own.”

Caed waved at them, distracted by the grass. “By all means.”

Rainbow Dash arched one eyebrow at him before she was drawn into the tight circle of her friends.

“Well, this day went from zero to one hundred fast,” Luna sighed. “I certainly did not wake up expecting to meet and converse with the beings that have been launching assaults on Equestria’s cities.”

“This easily beats some of the more unexpected and stressful political parties that dropped by back home,” Aldo grumbled, his hard gaze suddenly settling on his guards. “Alessio, what is wrong with your leg?”

“It’s nothing; just a fractured bone.”

“That is not ‘nothing’; Vittorino, escort him to the hospital.”

“Marquees, I am fine.”

“That was not a suggestion.”

“I… Yes, Marquees.”

The two griffons left and Rainbow Dash moved to the side to better fill in the gap. “So… what are we going to do?”

“First, I must ask that you leave the talking to me, my sister, and Aldo,” Celestia answered with an apologetic look. “I mean no offense, but…”

“Nah, nah – I got ya,” Rainbow Dash nodded with a sheepish grin. “I’d probably get upset and say something dumb.”

“You are passionate and firm in your beliefs; it is an admirable trait, but this sort of situation requires… delicacy,” Celestia’s lips set in a tight frown as she briefly raised her head to look over at the knights before ducking back down again. “Aldo, you say these knights simply attacked with no warning?”

The marquees nodded. “They certainly did not seem interested in any sort of negotiations back in Canterlot. We had to fight our way out. It is odd that now they are suddenly passive, and I am very interested in this business with Nightmare Moon. How do they know we are not allied with her? Why do they consider her their enemy, but attack other settlements regardless?”

“We must find out… providing they are willing to explain. Caed seems to be reasonable, so far.”

“The knights he is with hold him in high regards and with much respect,” Luigi interjected. “You could see it in their body language and their tone.”

Luna nodded. “He is right. And the title ‘Knight Enforcer’ is clearly a high rank amongst their kind. Caed is likely an important figure in their ‘order’.”

“Perhaps…” Celestia looked over at the knight again. “Even their leader.”

Rainbow Dash turned her head as well.

Knight Enforcer Caed was on his hands and knees, gauntlets removed.

“This grass is so soft and vibrant!” He exclaimed giddily, like a colt in a candy store. “Esther, Markus – come feel!”

“…” Rainbow Dash turned back, stone-faced and with her eyebrows arched. “‘Kay, just gonna pretend I didn’t see that.”

“He single-handedly defeated a Wisp Knight, so eccentrics aside, he is clearly a formidable opponent,” Aldo said. “It would be wise not to antagonize him.”

“… Rainbow Dash, Gilda.”

“Uh, yeah, Princess Luna?”

“What’s up, princess?”

“I believe you two should go back to Ponyville and inform everypony of what’s transpiring,” Luna said. “Tell them that the Wisp Knight has been dealt with, but they should remain within the barricade while we speak with Caed.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash frowned worriedly. “You sure you don’t want us here in case…?”

“I don’t believe it’ll come to that,” Celestia sounded pretty confident when she said that. “Whatever the reason they decided to come here to Ponyville, it doesn’t seem to be for fighting us.”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t so sure about that; she didn’t trust these knights as far as she could throw them.

She craned her neck to look back over at them and grimaced.

On the other hoof… one of them was in pretty bulky armor. The shield they were carrying was also freaking huge; like they had ripped a sheet of metal from a building and insisted that everyone call it a shield.

Well, she didn’t trust them as far as she could throw them in her imagination.

But she did trust the princesses.

With that in mind, Rainbow Dash nodded and flapped her wings to ascend, slowly, so that it didn’t startle the knights; she still had a weapon, after all. Gilda followed suite.

“I’ll be watching from the barricade, so if anything goes wrong, I’ll be here in a snap.” She told them.

“Yeah, totally.” Gilda agreed.

Rainbow Dash went higher and made the trek back towards Ponyville. She ignored the uneasiness of leaving her friends alone and kept her gaze straight ahead, only looking to get one last look at the knights as they faded in the distance.

“Knight Enforcer, please stop doing that.”

“Where is your sense of adventure, Esther?”

… She shook her head and turned back.

“What a weirdo.” Gilda murmured alongside her.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “What a dork.”

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Guardian Shield - a large rectangular shield the length and width off an average human being. The face bears the heraldry of the Rouge Knights. The sheer weight of this hunk of metal makes it unwieldy to anyone lacking incredible strength, which suits the muscular men and women of the Guardians just fine. The shield has excellent resistance towards physical attacks, extreme temperatures, and now, magical assault.

Whereas Blade Winds focus on trading protection for speed and power, Guardians trade speed and power for protection. In addition to their shields, their unique plate armor is even tougher and heavier than the standard Rouge Knight armor set. Because of this, many Guardians prefer to act as bulwarks and stand in front of their comrades to weather blows that would be fatal to anyone else.

There was once a civilian who protected her three children from enemy opposition by using a piece of wreckage from a destroyed vehicle to rush through a hail of bullets and clobber the three soldiers into submission. She perished soon after due to several wounds, but her children told of her heroic deeds, and Knight Enforcer Caed emblazoned her name in the Memorial Archives without hesitation.

When her children were grown and strong, they joined the Rouge Knight ranks as the first Guardians.

Note 2: Much like pegasi, the bones of griffons are hollow but very tough, a necessary evolution due to their weaker Aura - colloquially known as 'Spirit' in griffon terms - and tendency to capture prey via divebombing with talons bared and sharp beaks ready to bite down.

Griffons may have once shared a common ancestor with manticores, though they are more closely related to common eagles. Due to these similarities, the manticore and eagle have a place in griffon society as noble and powerful creatures, and there are even two cumulus-ball griffon teams named after them.

The teams are not that good.