Verdant gave a yawn as he slowly started to awaken. Glancing around in the dark, he found himself on what looked like a cerulean log while massive dark blue strands were all around him.

His memory started to return as wakefulness returned to him. He had been using the base of Swiftsword’s horn for the past three days since he and the rest fellow soldiers were afflicted by poison joke.

While Verdant had been reduced to the size of a pea, Swift’s horn had grown to an absurd fifteen feet in length. Hat Trick had lost all the feathers on his wings while Winter Gem had gained several hundred pounds of muscle and had grown taller than their captain and Iron Forge and become a ball of cobalt colored fluff.

Lastly, the squad’s captain, Magic Barrier, had been turned into a mare by the plants and was trying to deal with the troubles caused by estrus.

Verdant yawned once more before grabbing onto one of Swift’s hairs and sliding down it, skidding to a halt on the soft ground. The minuscule earth pony was feeling nature’s early call and dashed over to a nearby bush to answer it.

Once his business had been tended to and the plants watered and fertilized, Verdant started the trudge back to where his fellows were still sleeping when he heard something rustling in the bushes.

The young stallion paused as he looked towards the bush, praying that whatever creature it was would be something like a small bird or a rabbit, something that would be a threat to only him and not his sleeping comrades.

The green pony’s face turned white as snow when from the bush crept an absolutely massive griffin with a black coat that might have been taller than even Princess Luna, a mare that even before his encounter with poison joke was nearly twice Verdant’s height.

“Everypony, wake up!” Verdant screamed at the top of his lungs, which to those in the camp might as well have been the squeak of a mouse.

The earth pony bolted towards Swift as quickly as his puny legs could as more griffins emerged from the bushes, pulling chains and dark rings from the bags around their waists.

“Now,” the obsidian griffin whispered as she and the others pounced Verdant’s comrades, quickly wrapping chains tightly around their bodies and slamming the dark rings on the unicorns’ horns. The troops could barely awaken before they could see they had been captured.

“Well well well,” the lead griffin said as the five were laid against some trees before additional chains and locks bound them to it. “This was quite the surprising catch.”
Verdant swallow hard and tried to remain out of the sight of the enemy troops. Even in the early morning darkness, he could see at least ten griffins, not counting their massive leader.

With a wicked grin upon her beak, the leader lifted Barrier’s chin, forcing the charcoal unicorn to look her in the eye.

“I am Brigadier Grimhilde LeGrande. You will tell me what you’re doing on this island or you will deeply regret it.”

“Magic Barrier,” the unicorn growled at gargantuan griffin. “Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard. Two-three-eight-zero-three.”

“Hmm,” the faintest trace of a grin formed on Grimhilde’s beak. “So, this must be a military exercise of some sort. Though it is rather curious...” Her eyes roamed over Barrier’s form and the rest of her captives. “I had been told Captain Magic Barrier was a stallion. I assume there’s poison joke on the island?” She took her talon’s off her chin and shoved the unicorn hard against the tree.

“Magic Barrier,” the captain groaned defiantly, trying to force whatever magic she could muster into her horn. “Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard. Two-three-eight-zero-three.”

“Save your breath, Barrier.” Grimhilde chuckled at the unicorn’s straining. “You’re merely wasting both of our…” the words dyed in her throat as she saw glowing cracks start to form in the ring. Acting quickly, the griffin struck Barrier with an incredible punch, breaking her concentration and dazing her.

“More rings, now!” Grimhilde bellowed as her troops raced over, once nearly stepping on poor Verdant as he carefully crept along the ground.

In a matter of seconds, layers of additional horn rings had been placed on Barrier as her eye began to swell.

“Rather impressive, Barrier,” Grimhilde whispered as she stalked up to the mare once more. “Perhaps you’ll have a better use than just a meal.”

Several of the griffins licked their beaks at the mere mention of food.

“Magic Barrier, Captain of the-” Barrier started once more, only for Grimhilde to interrupt with a yawn.

“Spare me your ‘good soldier’ speech, Barrier. It grows rather tiresome.” Grimhilde started to eye the other cadets when she spotted something by the base of a bush. Much to Verdant’s horror, it was him.

The shrunken stallion tried to rush into the bush, but his felt a sharp pulling on his tail and his hind legs no longer touching the ground. In a matter of seconds, the giant of a griffin was holding the tiny equine up to her golden-yellow eyes.

Grimhilde chuckled darkly as she gazed upon the speck of a stallion. “My, I’ve never seen a pony quite this small before. What is your name?”

“V-V-V-Verdant Range,” the green equine swallowed before putting on the sternest and most intimidating face he could muster with his minute size. “Cadet. Three-six-two-three-seven.”

“Another disciplined soldier. Fascinating.” The grin on Grimhilde’s beak grew wider before casting her eyes towards the other captives. “But I wonder if the rest are as stern as you and your captain.”

“Swiftsword. Cadet. Three-six-two-one-eight.” The cerulean mare barked from her place by the tree, her horn bound by both a ring and a rope.

“Allow me to give you all an ultimatum.” Grimhilde lifted her talons up, making Verdant dangle above her upturned beak. “You will tell me whatever I wish to hear or I will bite your comrade in half.”

Verdant was shaking when Grimhilde slowly opened her beak, giving the terrified pony a gander as her slick, humid mouth, her thick tongue that was the size of a whale to him, and her uvula that dangled over the dark tunnel that lead to her stomach that turned many a pony before into her meals.

The shamrock stallion screamed and struggled as the griffin lowered him down, lower and lower. He could feel the warmth of her breath as he grew closer to his doom.

Looking to the side, Verdant saw Barrier and Swiftsword keeping up the same stern looks towards the griffin as before while Gem and Hatty looked on in fear. The blue bundle of fur that was Forge was shaking about, his face hidden behind his coat.

After what felt like an eternity, Grimhilde stopped lowering Verdant down right a the edge of her beak. Before he had a chance to adjust, the earth pony saw the edges of her giant beak closing in around him. The bird of prey’s golden beak kept coming closer until Verdant felt her lower beak start to graze his belly.

“Stop!” a scream came from the blue bundle. “Please, I’ll talk, just don’t do it!”

Grimhilde’s eye shifted toward the unicorn as one of her underlings brushed the fur around his face aside, revealing his sniffling, tear soaked face.

Verdant felt the beak drop away from his and the talons on his tail lifting him upward.

“Cooperate and I promise not to bite your friend in half. Understood?” Grimhilde glared and opened her beak wide before lowering Verdant once more.

“Forge,” Barrier growled at the stallion on the far side of the tree. “If you talk, your career in the guard is finished! Do you understand?”

Forge gave a hard swallow, his gaze shifting from his captain to his dangling friend. He took a breath to steal himself. “We were here to practice our survival skills when we encountered poison joke and found ourselves like this. We searched the island, but were unable to find the ingredients needed to cure us.”

“Interesting,” Grimhilde’s eyebrow cocked. “I assume you attempted to contact Princess Luna through your dreams?”

“Yes, yes we did!” Forge squealed as he struggled within the chains. “Please, I beg you, keep your promise!”

“Very well, Mr. Forge,” Grimhilde’s eyes shifted from the bound stallion to the one dangling above her. “I am a hen of my word and I shall keep it.”

Verdant felt the world drop around him as Grimhilde let go of his tail, making him drop into her disgustingly humid mouth with a splat against her colossal tongue before her beak slammed shut around him.

The four cadets gasped in horror while Barrier looked away at the sight of Grimhilde swallowing. A small bump was briefly visible in her throat before it disappear into her chest.

“N-n-no…” Forge was stunned while the dark griffin licked her beak. “You said-”

“I said I would not bite him in half.” Grimhilde held up a talon as she sauntered over to the prisoners. “I have upheld my word and now thanks to you, I know that more ponies will coming here to try to cure your little group. This will mean even more meat to feed my people.”

“Oh Faust…” the unicorn stallion wheezed as his eyes slammed shut, clearing away some tears. “Verdant… I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, your friend’s still alive, dear Forge,” Grimhilde chuckled as she raised his chin up. “I can feel him struggling inside me. It tickles in a most delightful way.”

The towering hen pulled away and reached into her saddlebags, pulling out a bright yellow apple. “Still, I am a gracious host and I will provide him with a last meal.”

Grimhilde tossed the apple back, snatching the whole apple in her beak and swallowing it down, leaving a much larger bulge in her throat as it traveled down.

“Now, with that enjoyable experience done, we have work to do.” Grimhilde pulled an about face, staring down her troops. “Sorae, Eule, search the island for any sign of poison joke, gather them up and burn them in a campfire. Kramurx, Hemd, prepare a bath of cure for some of ourselves and our prisoners.”

“Why would you want to cure any of us, you monster?” Barrier growled at the great griffin, who answered by giving him a swift punch to the eye.

“I am no monster, Barrier. I am a hero.” Grimhilde growled as she gave a burning glare to the charcoal unicorn. “I perform my duties to feed the rightful rulers of this world.”

The griffin took a deep breath to rein herself in and straighten herself out. “Besides, curing Swiftsword and the white coated one will make them easier to contain while we’ll have easier access to Forge’s meat.” A dark grin crossed her features as she cupped Barrier’s face in her talons. “As for you, I have some very special plans once you’re cured.”

Her vile chuckle came to the squad’s ears once more as she pulled away. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have something I wish to tend to in my tent.” Grimhilde craned her head away to face her remaining troops. “Continue to set up camp and keep watch over the prisoners. Do not interrupt me unless it is urgent. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am!” The griffins saluted before Grimhilde spread her obsidian wings and took to the skies as Celestia’s sun began to crest over the horizon.

After a few moments of flight, she landed at the a small campsite that had been set up the night before when the griffins arrived. Slipping into her tent, Grimhilde flopped onto her back, landing on a soft blanket atop some straw.

She gazed down at her belly as she not only felt the frantic, ticklish movements of the pony within, but the apple being churned about alongside him.

“Yes, keep struggling, my little pony,” Grimhilde whispered as her talons stretched down her body. One rested atop her belly as she rubbed while another went to her nethers. “Keep moving, for soon you will be a part of me.”

Light was cut off around him as the massive griffin’s beak slammed shut with Verdant Range trapped within. He didn’t have much time to think as Grimhilde’s tongue rose up, tossing him to the back of her throat. The disoriented stallion tried to reach for her uvula, but it was just the tiniest bit out of his reach before the griffin swallowed him down.

Fitting for a griffin whose exterior was a veritable mountain of muscles, her insides were much the same, if a bit softer, as the powerful muscles of her throat squeezed him down, nearly crushing the life from him as his ears were overwhelmed by the thunderous sound of her dark heart beating.

While it felt like hours for the suffering stallion, it was mere seconds before a valve opened below him, unceremoniously dropping him into the griffin titan’s stomach.

Verdant grimaced and groaned as he struggled to his hooves. Despite her mouth being pitch black, he found himself able to see within the griffin’s fleshy inner chamber. Thick walls pulsated all around him in time with her heart, while a lake of steaming and bubbling juices filled most of the room.

The trapped pony swallowed at the sight of some unidentifiable meaty slabs floating in the boiling pool. He didn’t want to imagine what… or who Grimhilde’s previous meal was.

Verdant turned to the wall and let fly a series of strikes while he tried to scale the slick surface, hoping beyond hope that he could somehow make it back into Grimhilde’s esophagus.

I can’t touch those juices! Kuni might not have digested me, but this griffin is a pony eating, killing machine! I’d be fat on her ass in an instant!

A powerful and dark chuckle echoed all around Verdant before a booming voice came from above.

“OH, YOUR FRIEND’S STILL ALIVE, DEAR FORGE. I CAN FEEL HIM STRUGGLING INSIDE ME. IT TICKLES IN A MOST DELIGHTFUL WAY.”

“I’m going to make you wretch until you die, you giant evil bitch!” Verdant exclaimed as he pounded even harder into the stomach’s wall, still only tickling Grimhilde’s belly.

“STILL, I AM A GRACIOUS HOST AND I WILL PROVIDE HIM WITH A LAST MEAL.”

“Wait, what?” Verdant pounding ceased as when he heard a loud gulp from above. In a matter of seconds the top of the stomach opened wide above the shrunken stallion, dropping a large yellow apple on top of the pony, sending him and the giant-sized fruit tumbling into the acid lake.

“No! No! Help!” the earth screamed as he splashed about in the stomach juices. “It burns! It burns! It… feels like hot water…”

The tiny pony looked around as he floated, seeing that despite how warm it was in the griffin’s stomach acid, it felt just like when he was having a hot bath back home.

“Is her stomach just that weak or…” Verdant trailed off as he looked around him, seeing the meat chunks and apple were both bubbling and dissolving in her juices.

“How’s this possible?” the shamrock stallion swam up onto the apple’s surface, just as the hen barked an order at her troops, making him slam face first into her walls. “Urgh… how is it that a monster that eats ponies for a living can’t kill me? This should be impossi-WHOA!”

Verdant’s stomach lurched as the stomach all around him bounced about. From the pace of the bobs, he guessed that Grimhilde was flying.

“This sucks…” Verdant’s face was a deeper, more-sickly shade of green from the griffin’s flight. “Keep this up and you’ll be getting some second-hoof food from me, you vile beast!”

The poor pony found himself launched forward, crashing against the stomach’s wall when Grimhilde set down.

“Sure, just keep tossing me around,” Verdant’s tone dripped with sarcasm as he looked up towards clenched sphincter to Grimhilde’s throat. “I love being tossed around like a salad. Please ma’am, may I have another?”

Grimhilde seemed to answer by flopping onto her back, spinning Verdant’s world about and making him splash down against the shoreline of the stomach acid.

“I was kidding, you bastard!” Verdant growled as he let another series of blows out to strike her stomach walls.

“YES, KEEP STRUGGLING, MY LITTLE PONY,” Grimhilde’s whisper loudly echoed around the chamber while Verdant kept punching her insides. “KEEP MOVING, FOR SOON YOU WILL BE A PART OF ME.”

“Not a damned chance!” Verdant screeched as he glared upwards. “Captain Barrier’s going to escape, capture your underlings, make you barf me up and then shove his horn right up your-”

The green pony was drowned out by Grimhilde letting out some loud pants coming from above. Her body shook about, with the source of the movements seeming to come from her hips, judging from the waves striking his back.

“What in Faust’s name are you…” Verdant looked back in confusion until the griffin brigadier’s pants grew into loud moans.

“Eww, you’re masturbating!” Verdant’s face became greener once more. “The thought of me struggling and digesting inside you makes you horny?! You’re a really sick griffin!”

“YES! YES!” Grimhilde’s pants grew louder as the waves within the stomach splashed about at a fevered pitch, tossing Verdant to and through; under the acid and above, crashing from digesting food to stomach wall and back again.

With a loud pant from above, the movement of the griffin’s body suddenly stopped, turning to stomach’s stormy sea into a placid acid lake. The calm allowed Verdant to catch his breath as he floated in the stomach juices on his back.

“Seriously,” Verdant huffed, looking up the puckered sphincter to Grimhilde’s throat that he floated under. “Can you get any more twisted than getting your jollies off from the thought of eating whole pony and feeling them digesting inside you?”

The stallion of the stomach soon received an answer when the valve opened up, dropping a mass of a clear, sticky goo upon him. Verdant sputtered and coughed, trying to clear the stuff from his mouth and nose. He noted the strange substance had a smell and taste similar to the fish Barrier had served them for dinner the previous night.

Verdant groaned and rolled his eyes at the realization of what the griffin had just swallowed. “You’re just trying to make me throw up now, aren’t you?”

The puny pony’s entire world shook from Grimhilde rolling over onto her belly before raising up. When the room finally stopped spinning from the griffin’s sudden movements, Verdant had found himself on the far side of her stomach, floating towards a lower orifice that was starting to open up.

“Well,” Verdant sighed as he casually floated closer to the open sphincter. “At least the intestines are a bit safer than in her stomach.”

Once he passed through the open orifice, Verdant found something quite unexpected. Rather than entering a small intestine, he found what appeared to a second stomach. But this was much different than the last stomach, for this one not only had thicker walls that pulsated about and instead of chunks of digesting food in the acidic lake, there were rough rocks in that moved about by the pulsations of the walls.

Verdant paled at the sight before him as he drifted closer towards the stones that were the size of great boulders to him. After a moment of being shocked into silence, he recalled a brief lesson on griffin anatomy Barrier had taught the cadets before teaching them how to strike certain points to deal critical blows to one of them.

“Since griffins don’t have teeth to mash up their food, they need to swallow rough stones once in a while that are stored in a sort of secondary stomach called a gizzard.”

“Okay, Verdant,” the pony took some quick breaths in an attempt to calm himself and prepare for the rough journey ahead of him. “You can do this. You’ve got to get out of here, free your friends and kick this stupid griffin’s flank! Go!”

Verdant starting swimming through the juices, moving as fast as he could while avoiding boulders being tossed about by the gizzard’s movements.

A pulse caused a rock from below Verdant to suddenly rise up and toss him through the air, making him bounce off the gizzard’s firm, muscular wall before he fell back down onto another stone below, briefly driving the wind from him.

Wincing as he pulled himself off of the rock through gritted teeth, he eventually managed to make his way to the gizzard’s back end, with the sphincter clenched shut tightly before him.

“I’d better get a damned medal for this crap,” Verdant grumbled as he bobbed against the acid’s surface.

Verdant had tiredly traversed a long way through the griffin hen. After hours of pulling himself along miles of intestine, he could tell from the smell and some of the things laying around he was nearing the end of his terrible journey through Grimhilde’s body.

Turning a corner through the foul-smelling tunnels of her bowels, he came across a sight he never thought he’d consider beautiful before. Ahead of him was a large log of the griffin’s waste that was being pushed through the tight tunnel.

With a joyous grin on his face, Verdant bolted down the bowel, making it halfway to the end just after the last of the waste was expelled. Seeing the ring of flesh starting to close, Verdant charged as quickly as his ant-like legs could carry him.

Verdant grit his teeth and took a leap to try to make though the closing ring; to his delight, he made it through, feeling the back of his hindlegs barely scraping against the fleshy hole.

The shrunken stallion scrunched up to ready himself for fall, but that was halted when he felt the griffin’s anus close tightly around his tail, making the pea-sized pony dangle helplessly from between her buttocks.

As Verdant dangled, he could only stare down at Grimhilde’s vulva, tail and the pile of feces directly below in a small pit that the hen was covering with some dirt.

To the minuscule pony’s relief, Grimhilde had started walking away from the mess she’d left. The force from her steps shook Verdant and caused his tail to slowly slip out of her tight anus, causing Verdant to tumble towards the ground below.

Before he could hit the ground, Grimhilde’s movements caused Verdant to land in the fluff of the titanic griffin’s tail. The small stallion clung tightly to the beast’s tail fur, trying to remain concealed within the bunch of fluff.

From what he could see, the massive griffin was approaching another hen with snowy white coat and an shiny black beak.

“Status report, Private Eule,” Grimhilde barked, making the smaller griffin salute.

“Ma’am, we have successfully searched the island and burned every poison joke plant and prepared a cure bath.”

“Very good, Léonie,” Grimhilde patted the soldier on the shoulder. “Have you taken a bath after handling those plants?”

“No, ma’am,” Léonie replied as she set her foreleg down. “I wanted to wait until after reporting to you and asking to be relieved before doing so.”

“I admire you commitment, soldier. You’re relieved for the night. Dismissed.” Grimhilde nodded before she and Léonie pulled a swift about face.

The sudden shift was too much for Verdant as he was sent flying from Grimhilde’s tail before crashing into something that was oddly soft that he found himself squeezed against. Pulling his face from the soft surface, he saw that he was pinned between two massive snowy orbs. Just above him was a tightly clenched hole and a long white, furry tube that draped down over the globes he found himself between.

“What is with me ending up in griffin butts today? Am I cursed or something?” Verdant groaned before glancing down, seeing the massive pillars of the griffin’s legs as she walked along, causing her huge, fleshy cheeks to uncomfortably rub against him.

Things quickly grew darker when one of the hen’s giant claws loomed over the bountiful buttocks, the towering talons soon sank into her flanks, giving her rear a scratch.

The movement of her walking and scratching caused one of her cheeks to pull away. Verdant barely managed to grab onto a few strands of her flank’s fur to keep himself from falling to the ground below.

The oblivious hen soon let go of her flank, causing the cheek Verdant clung to to slam into the other, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Léonie gave her rear a shake before clenching her cheeks closely together, trying to rid herself of whatever was causing that damnable itch, but to no avail.

The snow-coated hen sighed just as she arrived at the lip of the bath her comrades had dug. “Well, hopefully this will taken care of this accursed itch.”

The sound of something large and heavy being tossed away reached Verdant’s ears. From what he could tell, the hen had tossed her saddlebags into a nearby bush.

The hen slowly made her way into the cool waters, the sound of her talons breaching the surface drew the shrunken stallion’s attention.

With his eyes focused downward, Verdant soon saw her hindlegs enter the water. The tiny earth pony let go of the griffin’s powerful plot and quickly slid down her cheeks before falling into the open air with the ocean sized bath hurtling towards him.

Verdant’s dive below the water went completely unnoticed by Léonie as she waded towards the center of the water.

Below the water’s surface, Verdant saw things were starting to shrink around him as the bath’s brew began to restore him to his former size.

The growing pony was suddenly slammed against the dirt walls of the bath by Léonie sitting down in the bath, making a powerful wave before she layed further down into the small pool.

Right, Verdant thought to himself as put on an intimidating face and swam closer to the hen as she relaxed. Time to face my baptism of fire.

The water quickly grew more shallow and the earth pony’s head quietly breached the surface while the griffin was diligently scrubbing away at her coat and feathers.

In a matter of moments, Verdant was restored to his true size as he quietly crept up on Léonie.

In an instant, Verdant leapt onto the griffin’s back, clamping a forehoof over her beak while his other leg wrapped around her neck.

“Don’t move,” Verdant whispered in the gruffest voice he could muster, hoping he could intimidate the griffin below him, fiercely glaring into her frightened eyes. “I’m an earth pony, so I could easily snap your neck like a dried twig if you make the slightest twitch or sound. Now, you’re going to help me if you want any hope of making it out of here alive. Understood?”

Léonie gave a hard swallow and gave her head the tiniest bob.

“Good,” Verdant growled. “Tell me, where are your chains?”

Léonie’s eyes briefly darted towards one of the bushes on her right before starting back up at her assailant.

“Thank you,” the green pony whispered and pushed his hooves forward, making the griffin’s head strike a stone at the pool’s edge, knocking her out almost immediately.

Quietly as he could, Verdant picked up the griffin and dragged her unconscious form over to the bushes, where he found her saddlebags where she said they’d be.

With a smirk, Verdant reached into her bags and pulled out a long length of chain, using it to tie her to a nearby tree.

Slipping on the griffin’s oversized and heavy saddlebags, Verdant laid low to the ground as he made his way through the woods.

“Operation: Turning Tide is a go.”

“Y’know,” a brown coated griffin lounged at a campfire in front of the quintet of captured and cured ponies, “You ponies should be grateful once we kill and eat you. That way, you won’t have to suffer being an inferior species anymore.”

The tiercel’s remark only earn him a glare from for the ponies, leaving Forge remaining glum with eyes turned downwards.

“You damn meals on legs gonna say something?” The griffin rose up, rolling his shoulders.

“Magic Barrier. Captain of the Royal Equestrian Guard. Two-three-eight-zero-three.”

“Swiftsword. Cadet. Three-six-two-one-eight.”

“Winter Gem. Cadet. Three-six-two-two-nine.”

“Hat Trick. Cadet. Three-six-two-three-four.”

“Iron Forge…” the sad unicorn weakly spoke up. “Cadet. Three-six-two-three-eight.”

The griffin huffed and rolled his eyes. “Seriously? Is that all you damned ponies can say?” He strolled up closer to the bound equines. “”Not even an insult or an empty thre-”

The tiercel was suddenly pulled into a nearby bush by something hidden in shadow. The ponies’ ears stood at attention as rustling and came from the bushes before ending with a heavy thud.

A tiny bit of shuffling about and metallic ringing came from the bush. After a few moments a green figure emerged from the bush, holding a set of keys in his mouth. The cadets all gasped with a great smile forming on Forge’s face.

“Verdant?” Barrier squinted through his non-swollen eye. “Am… am I dead?”

“Not yet, sir,” the emerald pony said through his mouthful as went behind the tree. A bit of rustling was heard from the back before the satisfying sounds of the locks clicking open one by one reached their ears. In a matter of moments, the chains holding the group in place fell away.

The group all started to stretch as Verdant emerged from behind the tree.

“Anypony still need the cure? I can take you th-” Verdant was quickly quieted by Forge rushing forward and wrapping his forelegs around the the earth pony.

“I’m so sorry, Verdant.” Forge sniffled as his grip tightened. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Save it for later, Forge,” Barrier said as he trotted up to the pair. “Hat Trick still needs his wings taken care of. Other than that, we’re good to go.”

“Alright, let’s gather up these chains,” Verdant said as Forge relinquished his tight grip. “I’ve knocked out and tied up two griffins so far, so we still have ten left to take of.”

Barrier gave the five a nod and he stood before the fire. “Right, everypony. Get ready for your first real taste of battle.

As the night went on, the six ponies soon started to pick off the griffins one by one. Most went down fairly quickly with Grimhilde proving the biggest challenge, requiring the magic of all three unicorns, Hat Trick quickly wrapping chains around her massive form and the two earth ponies using all their strength to pin her down before the locks were all in place.

Another three days passed before an Equestrian ship had arrived on the island, with Princess Luna flanked by a pair of thestral guards. To her surprise, Barrier and the cadets seemed to be perfectly normal.

“We art rather surprised by thy current state, Captain.” Luna’s eyebrow rose ever so slightly as she examined the six, not spotting anything abnormal about them. “We assumed poison joke would be a much greater malady.”

“It was, Princess Luna,” Barrier said as he stepped forward. “However, a sudden appearance of griffin forces eventually led to us being cured and with a dozen griffin captives, including Brigadier Grimhilde LeGrande.”

A stunned look briefly came to the alicorn’s face before she resumed her stoic look. “Very good, Captain. We will require a full debriefing after we have the griffins on board the Wave Dancer.”

“Understood, Princess.” Barrier gave the princess a nod before turning about face. “I’ll lead you to them. However, I will note that I believe Cadet Forge should be discharged for his actions while Cadet Range should be rewarded for his efforts.”

Iron Forge wilted as he and the others followed along. Verdant gave Forge a gentle pat on the back.

“Don’t worry, Forge,” the shamrock stallion whispered into unicorn’s ear. “I’m sure we’ll find a smithing job for you, even without guard training.”

“Thank you, Verdant.” Forge gave a grateful grin as they moved forward into the forest, where everything was starting to seem a little brighter.

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone, sorry it took so long, but I'm happy to deliver this brand new chapter of Stomach Stallion to you. It's a I've wanted to do for a long time.

For those who may be a bit confused by this story, this is based on an alternate timeline of the A Pony Displaced: Another Path/Homeward timelines. So, you may want to check those out since they're really good.

As for when the next chapter will come out...

Tomorrow.