Celestia eyed the 3 still sleeping griffons now inside her throne room, not the least bit surprised. At least, no one could tell whether or not she was. The Royal Guard had surrounded the 3 sleeping griffons, and they were looking for orders now.

With a single brow raised, she asked with an air of boredom in her voice, "So I see. Infiltrators?"

The Forgemaster smirked, "Nay, assassins. Poor ones, at that."

She sighed, "Yet more trouble from the griffons. Since those spies had been sent back to their master, they've been constantly testing our defenses and trying to infiltrate our government. Reports are coming in from our own spies detailing a large military build-up, as well as anti-Equestrian propaganda being spread throughout the griffon kingdom. They had yet to stoop to petty assassins, until now."

He grinned, "What, a few assassins ruin your day?"

She snorted, "Hardly. Guards, take these 3 to the dungeons, and make sure that they are completely separated from each other."

The Royal Guards took the 3 sleeping assassins and left the throne room, leaving several of their number behind to guard the princess.

The Forgemaster scratched his chin, "Maybe I should give you the rundown. I think I broke the leader, the other one might be broken, but the youngest is probably scared to holy hell but otherwise completely fine. You know, if the griffons are building up for war, Equestria should probably do the same."

She nodded and came down from her throne to stand next to him, "I know, Forgemaster, and that is already being done. In the mean time, however, we will be waging a shadow war with the griffons. Spies, assassins, and saboteurs will have to be trained and readied. But, the main event will be the war. We will need to train the Royal Guards and inflate the numbers of Equestrian Army to combat the griffons."

She walked away from him and bade him to follow.

"I could always forge a Battle-Titan; one of those could end the war by itself."

She looked through The Forgemaster's memories and found the weapon he described. She shuddered at the thought of using one of those. It appeared to be a massive bipedal walker armed with weapons that could destroy armies with singular attacks, along with most of the area around where the weapon had been targeted.

She groaned, "Forgemaster, I would like to leave the griffon kingdom largely intact, not completely obliterate it. There is such a thing as overkill."

He snorted, "I disagree! Overkill is simply the loser complaining that I have better gear than he does!" He pauses, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"We are going to meet with the Generals for the army, your colleagues, as well as the captain of the Royal Guard. We are going to strategize and create a war plan."

"But, there hasn't been a war in Equestria in ages! How can you have generals?"

"Magical simulations. These ponies have proven themselves capable of leadership and strategy."

"HA! Simulations can only do so much, Celestia. I can guarantee that these stallions aren't anywhere near the level they'll need to be."

"They are your colleagues in rank, if not experience. And one of them is a mare, so please be polite."

The 2 were walking down a corridor that was flanked on all sides by Royal Guards. They eventually came upon a large door that had a pair of guards stationed at it. They were quickly waved through.

Once inside the chamber, a classic military planning room was revealed. A large table in the middle of the room was covered in maps and statistics while the walls were covered in yet more maps, diagrams, and attack strategies. Surrounding the table, and arguing while wildly gesturing with their limbs, were 4 ponies, 3 male, 1 female, with 3 in the uniform of an Equestrian General, and 1 in the ceremonial armor of a Royal Guard. As the pair approached, the argument died almost instantly and all present bowed to Celestia, except for The Forgemaster. In fact, The Forgemaster was almost completely ignored by the present ponies! The Royal Guard Captain nodded towards him; at least he has some semblance of politeness.

Celestia spoke to the gathered officers, "Hello, my little ponies. We have come to help with the planning, myself and The Forgemaster." Whom she indicated with a hoof.

The ponies thanked her for coming, but ignored him further. The Forgemaster was getting just the littlest bit upset. It's not like he demand attention or anything, but the least someone could do is nod towards him! He was being completely ignored by everyone but that nice Guard Captain.

Walking up to the table, Celestia asked the officers, "Has a plan been agreed upon?"

"No, your majesty, but we would be honored for your input." Said one of the generals

While Celestia and her generals were distracted discussing a strategy, The Forgemaster snuck up behind them and casually stole one of the generals' swords right out of its sheath. He examined it and started to slowly slash and stab at the 3 generals, stopping just before he made contact with them. He was performing a drill on the weaknesses and control over a blade. The Royal Guard Captain was watching him with great interest; he had been told that this creature was to be his new commander and he just watched it steal a general's sword and go through the motions of killing them all! He was going to be watching his new commander very closely. Eventually, The Forgemaster got bored and used his magic to turn into a tiny, child-like form of Crimson Hammer. He then began to hover in the air and poked Celestia on the shoulder with his horn. She slowly turned to look at him.

In a tiny child's voice, he said, "Auntie Tia! Can we go home? It's s~o boring in here!"

She sighed while the other ponies in the room stared at him as though he grew another head. He could just hear the thoughts going through their heads; 'How did a child get in here? Auntie Tia?' The only one who had viewed the transformation was the diligent Royal Guard Captain.

"No, you can't leave. But you can offer your advice." said Celestia.

The 'child' appeared to pout for a moment, but then brightened when she said that he could help.

One of the male generals raised an objection, "B-But, Princess! He's just a colt!"

The female general agreed, "This is no place for a foal, your majesty."

The 'colt' winked at Celestia and made her sigh; he wanted her to act as though that were his real form.

"Maybe so, General Ironsides, but he's also your newest colleague." She deadpanned.

The 'colt' spoke up, continuing the child's voice, "Hiya General! Pleased to meet'cha! I'm Crimson!"

He then flew over and landed onto the table, he bent over the map and studied it with interest. In the light provided by being underneath the chandelier, the generals and the Captain got a glimpse of him. They were startled when they saw that he was an alicorn.

"So what's the plan for killing all of the griffons?" 'Crimson' asked with child-like, or maybe manic, glee.

The others gave a start at his choice of words.

"Crimson, we aren't going to kill all of the griffons; we are just going to defend ourselves." Said Celestia with an almost exasperated tone

"Aw, Auntie, you're no fun."

All the ponies present, bar the Captain and Celestia, were slowly losing what small grasp of the situation they had.

"Any way, what's the plan!"

Celestia gave a look to General Ironsides, the mare general, a look that said, 'Humor him.'

"Well, we were planning on using Unicorn teleportation and Pegasi reconnaissance squads to get behind their lines and attack the Griffon capital. We would be able to take out their king, and therefore, their command structure in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, the Earth ponies would remain behind to deal with any attack that the griffons may decide upon."

General Ironsides was almost giggling at the sight of the tiny colt looking serious as he digested her information. She had specifically used larger words to confuse him, hoping to get him out of the war room as soon as possible. He was not, however, in any way expecting what came next.

"That's the dumbest plan I've ever heard. Due to the griffon's carnivorous nature, their population is spread out over a large area; they aren't gathered in a single location. They only have the one city, their capital, and it's completely surrounded by forests on all sides. In fact, most of the griffon homeland is nothing but forests. If you go in with pegasi and unicorns, you would be spotted quickly because of the large, spread out population. Griffons aren't fools; their population isn't very large because of their eating habits. They need food from the forests, or more specifically, prey, to survive. Their army wouldn't stand up to a siege or even a war of attrition because they don't have the population to recuperate their losses or the food base necessary. A quick strike like the one you planned is something that they would be planning to do also, so while you're at their capital they would be here, in Canterlot at about the same time. If you only leave the Earth ponies then all the griffons have to do is stay in the air and they could completely decimate the reserves."

He took a pause, while all of the ponies looked at him in awe. Evidently, they had not expected a youngling to have such a vast knowledge of military strategy. The plan General Ironsides had detailed was not, in fact, the plan that they were going to use, she had just told the 'colt' that so that he would be kicked out of the war room. The plan had far too many flaws in it, and this 'colt' had pointed them all out!

"I recommend a war of attrition: we are in a better position in the long run. And, if the strategy is supplemented with crippling raids on their support structure than I'm sure we will be victorious. We remain within our own borders and laugh as they try to attack us, all the while we will send Special Forces behind enemy lines and set wilds fires to their forests. With their forests burned, and the food therefore gone, they will have no choice but to surrender eventually. We stay in Equestria and turtle up, fortifying every town, every village, and every city from Griffon attack while we starve them out from inside their own country."

The 'colt' looked around at the shocked faces of the generals and the captain. Celestia, however, looked much the same as she always did: calm and collected, though he noticed a slight change in her demeanor.

Finally, one of the male generals managed to choke out a question, "Who… are you?"

The 'colt' looked to Celestia, "What was that fancy title you came up with in case war broke out?"

She cleared her throat, "That would be; Lord-General of the Royal Guard."

The 'colt' looked back at the even more shocked face of the general that asked and said, "What she said."

1 Hour Later

He had left the war room shortly after that, never once revealing himself to the generals. Soon after, Celestia had come out of the war room and told him that the plan that had been agreed upon was the one that he had put forward. She also told him never to do that again. She also wanted to introduce him to the Royal Guards of dusk and dawn, and that he had to meet her in the throne room.

He decided to not follow her advice, and remained in the colt form.

He was standing in front of the doors to the throne room, where many of the Royal Guards had been gathered and was waiting for Celestia to wrap up her introduction speech and open the doors to let him in.

Earlier, he had been given the Royal Guard's commander's armor while in adult Crimson form. Apparently, Celestia wasn't too keen on having the Royal Guard know that they were being led by a human, for whatever reason. He was supposed to walk into the throne room as Crimson Hammer, but he decided to go in as colt Crimson Hammer. Thankfully, the armor had shrunk in size when he had, due to a spell he had used.

Right then, his cue came and he prepared himself to walk, straight faced, through the columns of Royal Guards while as a child. The doors gained an aura about them, and then slowly opened.

The Forgemaster bounced down the large red carpet provided in a very Pinkie-like fashion. On his right were multiple columns of Royal Guards of the Dawn, on his left were multiple columns of Royal Guards of the Dusk. The entire room was full to the brim with guard ponies. All were staring straight at him, all wore extremely confused faces, and some were trying not to laugh.

At the far end of the throne room, Celestia face-hoofed. The first time that such an act has ever been seen was being caused by the silliness of an immortal human who can shape shift.

From his position half-way down the red carpet, The Forgemaster waved at her and said, with a huge smile on his face, "Hiya Auntie Tia!"

"Quit being such a foal!" she snapped right back at him

"Make me!"

Now, by this time, at least half of the Royal Guards were struggling to maintain their stoic facial expression, but many were failing. Who couldn't laugh after seeing the princess of the day tell a child not to act like a foal? The Forgemaster was now wearing a huge grin and Celestia was wearing a small scowl. However, he continued his implacable bounce towards her.

"Crimson, I will turn the floor into lava!" she said, either playing with him or completely serious.

The Forgemaster decided to play with her, regardless of whether or not she was playing with him.

With a gasp, he jumped into the air and started to hover off of the floor by using his wings. He was imitating the game where children stay off of the floor by using furniture because 'the floor is lava' and all of the guards knew it. The struggling guards were losing the battle.

Celestia sighed and said, "Please… just stop."

"Okay Auntie! Because you asked so nicely…"

He stopped hovering and fell to the floor. Casting a spell whilst also walking; he slowly gained ground on Celestia while also regaining his size. Immediately upon obtaining full size, he reached Celestia. His timing had been impeccable. As soon as he was the correct distance away, he bowed his head low to the princess.

The guards were, understandably, in awe. How could somepony do such a thing and not get sent to the moon?

Somewhere, a certain dark-blue princess sneezed.

Celestia, however, was in a good mood for he wasn't immediately sent to the moon for his actions.

She walked over to him with the sword he had given to her before the ceremony started, and lightly tapped him on the shoulders.

"You are hereby promoted to the rank of Lord-General, Crimson Hammer. You are now the commander of both houses of Royal Guards. Do your duty well, and please try to act more mature." She said the last with a note of exasperation in her voice.

He stood from his position, took the pro-offered blade, and then sheathed it.

With a smile on his face, he said in the child's voice, "Of course my princess, I live to serve!"

The guards behind him gave a cheer as he turned to face them.

He walked back down the carpet he had walked up and went back to his home in Ponyville.