Sitting idly in the chair that found itself in the center of the horseshoe table. Egyes twiddled his talons amongst one another, as he waited and watched as the council went on discussing his current situation and listened in on what the lone gryphon had to say about the war party that his own country was putting together against Seren.

“You come to us, an Armsmaster, in charge of the creation and management of the weapons that the kingdom has created,” Grace sat up tall in her chair, as she looked at eye level with the gryphon, “weapons that have slain countless citizens of mine, both fighters, and commoners… veraciously…” she spat out.

The gryphon sat there motionless for a few welcome seconds, as Grace and the others waited for either an answer, or herself to continue. With a sigh, Egyes cleared his throat as best he could, “I only saw to their production, I didn’t use them myself surprisingly…”

“And that makes it all better?”

“Absolutely not, your majesty,” he lowered his head, “when these new weapons were brought to our attention and their practicality was shown, I had tried to push their use to force your own hooves to bend to our will…”

The tension in the room readied to snap like a twig in the fire, as Grace rose up from her seat and glared over at the trespasser on her land, “so you wanted to use them against me to hurt my own.”

“Only as a deterrent… that was my idea, my colleagues had other plans,” he swallowed the lump that started to form in the back of his throat, “I knew you wanted to avoid a fight, so I hoped that we could use them to deter any scuffle from breaking out. Though with the effectiveness of these weapons, others sought to simply use them and take what they wanted.”

“So in the end… you were trying to help?” another advisor asked the gryphon, as he nodded in response.

Grace though sat there in silence, the fact that this gryphon had come to her castle was surprising enough. Though to hear that nearly her entire party that was sent out was wiped clean of the soil, enraged the mare in more ways than she even knew possible, as the broken chair in her office would attest. The only thing that had saved him from being skewered on the spot was Freefalls’ testimony, that Egyes had helped him escape, and even slaughtered his own kind to make it happen.

“So what of these weapons?” she snapped out of her trance as another question to the gryphon was posed, “what did you call them? Where did they come from?”

“Are there more that we haven’t seen yet?” another member added.

Egyes took a deep breath, as he collected his thoughts for the long explanation so he wouldn’t trip himself up. “The smaller ones that are held on our sides are called pistols, while the larger cousins are referred to as rifles… both are deadly accurate, far faster than magic, unless you’re a skilled unicorn. While both require little training to operate, and little to no skill to use…”

“What of the other one that we have in a previous report?” a general asked, as Grace noticed Irons’ report held in his hooves, “this launcher of sorts?”

“That one’s simply known as a rocket launcher,” Egyes spat out, “simple to make, and will leave a large hole in whatever it manages to hit…”

‘Such as a boat…’ Grace muttered to herself, as she rested a chin under her muzzle, “Are there more though from where they came?”

“Yes, your majesty, far more…” he regretted saying. Whether they knew it or not, Seren was going to have a fight on its hands, one that he would now be a part of if they would let him, “many of which are in their early stages of production though. Only the ones I just mentioned could be mass produced, the others require a little more skill to make… and more materials. But the payoff from what I know is far greater, and well worth the price to her…”

“Such as?” the chancellor next to Grace pondered.

Though Egyes started to shake his head, “I know not what they’re called, or what they look like, most of them were done under the close supervision of the one that brought this tech to us.”

“The her you mentioned… hmm?” Grace took note of what the others have missed.

“Yes ma’am… a mysterious mare had made her way to our king,” he started off what little he knew of the one that brought them these gifts, “she showed him and others what she could do, what she could make… and they ate it right up. She was put in charge of production to start things off, but moved on to bigger things as her talons wedged in to our nation…”

“You say she’s a mare, yet give her talons?” an advisor asked, trying to pick apart his words, “that doesn’t add up you know?”

“I know this… but it’s the truth, she is a mare of many secrets, only my once king has seen her without the cloak that she would wear…”

With that final line, Graces’ ears perk up. Recalling what Iron and Free had encountered that one night after finding something breaking in to the castle. Whoever this mare was, regardless if the testimony was coming from a traitor, she had been seen on multiple occasions by separate parties.

Something that caught this mares’ interest.

“I know you all have no reason to believe me, and I wouldn’t blame you,” he started to lean in closer to them, “but I have no reason to betray my own country, just to come here and lie to yours…”

“So why come at all?” Silvertongue posed, as he sat next to his princess, “why come here and risk it in the first place…”

“Because I have seen what ponies are capable of… the kindness they have, and the wisdom they bring…” he took another deep breath, “many years ago, I was in Equestria as a young Armsmaster. Learning about the different types of magic and how they could be used, the equestrians were all too willing to share their knowledge… though as I met some of their leaders, along with my group, and we traded knowledge. The lunar princess saw that I was envious of what you ponies could do…”

Raising his head to look the princess in the eye, Egyes showed the truth in his words, “I envied how you Pegisy could control the weather, how unicorns could manipulate the world around them with just a flick of their horn, how earth ponies while so simple, could withstand so much punishment and keep on going…” he clenched his talons to relieve the old tensions that built up, “though the wise mare saw this, and told me something to calm my nerves… ‘Envy gets you nothing, jealousy leads to disaster.’ Perhaps if she followed her own words, she’d be here right now,” he sighed for a moment of silence. Out of simple respect to the mare in the moon.

“She knew she wouldn’t follow her own advice, but sought instead to help another with their own problems, above her own… sense then I had thanked her for that little word of advice, and I wish I would be able to face to face one day,” Egyes gently stroked the ends of his talon with the other, “it was a simple enough encounter… but one that I saw again years earlier from your own fallen leaders.”

With that he looked in to the twitching eyes of the princess, as she stared right back in to him, “I met your parents when I was even younger as I learned my craft. They had come to the kingdom to visit on a diplomatic retreat, as you know they would do from time to time…”

“Yes…” Grace muttered, clenching back a tear, “I know…”

“I got to talk to them for a brief time, up to that point I had only heard the blatant mutterings of insults from those around me about your king and queen,” he regretted saying in front of the remaining bloodline of the two, “though as I saw them throughout my day, I saw the kindness in their hearts, and what they would do for each other and those around them… something as simple as a please and thank you, a sweet smile to a passing gryphon, or a ‘how are you’ to a total stranger… shed a new light on the first pair of ponies I had ever met.”

With a shortness of breath, he took a moment to finalize all he could say, “the kingdom and the DDR look to take whatever Seren has to offer, this mare though at the heart of it all, looks to wipe the slate clean… and finish any future fight before they even have the chance to start again.”

Silence took over the room as all those present started to look back and forth to one another, muttering their own comments, and keeping them close to ear. Only Grace and Egyes stared at one another, lost in their own thoughts. As Grace muttered a simple ‘thank you’ across to him without a word.

Raising up from her seat, she placed the tiara atop her head as she spoke, “Mr. Egyes, you have taken it upon yourself to jump in to the belly of the beast in hopes of joining us and our ranks, to fight against a kingdom you once called your own… am I correct?”

Nodding slowly, he never averted his eyes from the mare, “yes I have.”

“Good…” she smirked back at him, “let’s keep it that way…”

Iron and Free stood outside the meeting room, in a similar place they had been but a week ago it would seem after their own little mission. Looking over the suit of armor that Free still wore, the metallurgist of the two pondered different additions he could install on his friends’ suit…

If he could pry it from him long enough.

“What about the rocket launcher?”

“No.”

“Strength enhancing gems?”

“Nope…”

“Oh please,” Iron tried to plead with him, “What about a built in healing gem that would close wounds in seconds and keep you from bleeding out?”

“That…” he considered for a moment, “might actually be useful.”

“And what? The others wouldn’t be?”

“It’s not that, just the simple fact that I can’t always rely on the tech like you do most of the time,” Free pointed out, using Irons’ own words against him, “besides, the best defense I have is my speed.”

“Nothing says defense like an explosive…” Iron rolled his eyes at him, but sulked his head down, “though I see your point.”

“Good… now that that’s out of the way,” Free cleared his head a bit, “how many things are you going to add to your own suit? It’s got to be getting mighty heavy by this point.”

“Yes and no…” he tried to explain, “most of the weight is spread across my frame still, so it’s not like I’m pressing my luck all in one spot. Besides, out of the two of us, I’ve always been the stronger one,” he smirked at his companion.

“Strong, capable, talented, and has too much times on his hooves,” Free summed it all up, “yep… recipe for disaster.”

“Only if you’re at the end of my hoof.”

With that the door opened up, though this time the council wasn’t the one to file out at first. Ahead of them all, with doors closing in to let them discuss matters in private. Grace stepped out with the gryphon in tow close behind her. The missing ball and chain around his neck already told Free that they were willing to listen to the one that saved his life, though the smirk on the princess’s face confused him for a moment.

“I’ve seen that look before,” he pointed out, “everything went well I take it?”

“More than expected really,” Grace looked back to Egyes as she beckoned him to step up to her, “Mr. Egyes here will be joining our little cause… though obviously under the supervision of our own…”

“And by supervision I trust you mean me and Free?” Iron asked curiously.

“No… Just Free,” she smirked back at the colt playfully, catching his own expression in return, “after all I can’t have a traitor to his own country in the hooves of one that barely can keep his head…”

“I didn’t lose it when you sent us in to the hornets’ nest last time!” Iron belted out.

“Wait a second…” Egyes put two and two together, “are you two the ones that assaulted the other factory?”

“Guilty as charged,” Iron said proudly, not ever taking in to the fact that he may have put some of the gryphons’ own friends in the ground.

“Well then… Seems I’ll be in capable hooves,” Egyes nodded to him approvingly.

“Staff Sargent Freefall,” Grace summoned him to step up to the plate, “As I just said, Egyes here will be in your care. Take care of him, watch over him, and keep him out of trouble…”

“So everything you asked me to do with Iron?”

“Exactly.”

“Hey! I’m right here you know,” the colt pointed out to them as if he had just disappeared.

“I know you are, don’t worry,” Grace calmed him down, before turning her attention to the new addition to her force, “Free will take care of you, with any luck you’ll be able to help out on other issues that pop up with these new… toys, that the kingdom has acquired…”

“It would be my pleasure…” Egyes bowed politely to her.

With that Grace bid them ado and headed off to take care of other matters on the table. Leaving the gryphon in the care of those that stood by with him. Taking a once look over of the new comer, Iron sized up the gryphon with what he could see on the surface. Strong, tatted up, and clearly a fighter from the scars he could see through the feathers.

“Looks like you’ve seen your fair share of war…” Iron said bluntly.

“Enough to know that it’s never wanted by anyone but the insane,” he fired back without missing a beat.

“Whelp, you saved my friends ass back there,” he put a hoof around Frees’ neck and pulled him in closer. “I say that’s earned you a drink.”

“What did you have in mind?” Egyes asked.

Looking to one another, the colts’ minds melded as one like they have on many occasions, “Elixirs and Edibles.” They said in unison, while trotting past the gryphon that headed up the middle.

“Besides, you were in charge of production you say?” Iron asked as he watched the gryphon nod, “good, then I have many questions regarding how those weapons work… and how they might be matched…”

Far off on a border town the next morning…

Two guards stood their watch as they perched themselves along the borders of an outlying town to the capital. It may have not been large enough to be called a city by most citizens’ standards, though with that said, it had more than enough residence and businesses to call it their own. Taking stock of the surrounding area in the slowly rising sun on the horizon, the pair did their rove on the edge of the town, while they chatted amongst themselves to pass the time anyway they could.

“How would they expect any attack here now?” a gryphon, the junior out of the two, asked his senior, “There’s an army post set up here for just the reason of a quick response, why do we have to have a watch?” He commented about the small base that had been set up during the start of this cold war.

“As right as you may be, we still have a job to do,” the far larger drake looked down and said to him, as they continued to walk side by side amongst the small path that made the outline of the settlement, “Ever sense there was that other attack, the princess has ordered that a constant watch be posted on any and all towns along the border, simply as a precaution…”

“As if the Gryphons would be stupid enough to try an attack in the middle of the day, going head long in to a place that they know would put up a fight,” the guard scoffed as he kicked the dirt with a talon.

As a young member of the guard, he was still naive to how things worked sometimes. The dragon though thought to himself, as he ignored the comment for the most part, “the Gryphons may be too smart to try that sort of thing… though we don’t border the Kingdom now do we?” he pointed out to the youngster, “The DDR are rather hot headed, I would expect them to try something, if anything…”

“That much, I kinda have to agree with ya on,” the Gryphon nodded to him, as he looked off across the wide open fields with sparse trees that made up the surrounding area.

It wasn’t much to look at over all, the flat landscape would have made for easy pickings for Serens’ soldiers should the enemy come knocking at their door. With little coverage, any skilled unicorn, or Gryphon with a cross bow could reach out and touch even the stealthiest soldier that tried to get close in for a fight…

Though the DDR was never known for being stealthy…

“Ahh… Roughbreak?” the gryphon asked to the dragon next to him, standing on his hind paws to tap his counterpart on the shoulder, “what you said about the DDR being hot headed… you may have called it.”

The drake looked over his shoulder and to the field, though when his eagle eyes picked up nothing on the ground. He adverted his gaze to the skies, and there, he saw what the gryphon was pointing out. Airships were nothing new to the drake, having traveled most of the country, and in several others, he had seen small ones used to move passengers across the land that either weren’t capable of flight, or the distance was far too much for them to make it.

Though the several that he saw on the horizon line were different, far bigger than he had ever seen by others. Large enough that even a drake of his size, that had a hard time fitting in to most coffee shops, would have been dwarfed should he fly next to it. Without even having to see it up close, there was one thing that he knew, they were made for business… and business alone.

“Sidewinder,” he called to his cohort, trying to keep his tone as even as possible, “get to base, send a message to the capital, we got company…”