(A/N – If you haven't figured it out yet: Broken Bulb is one of the personalities, and Shattered Globe is the other. When I refer to them as Silent Knife I am referring to them as a whole, meaning the both of them at once.)

"Aw buck, we're bucking bucked!" Broken Bulb whispered, panicking.

"Guards ahead, guards behind, no way out, no way through, and we aren't authorized to be in here with our disguises. Inopportune setting, I agree. Looks like we're gonna have to get messy." Shattered Globe said silently.

"So, we can't go out, because we'll get caught trying to leave, and we can't go forward, because we'd get caught moving further into the building, so what do we do?" The Forgemaster asked his companions quietly.

The 2 infiltrators were on the ceiling of the room, sticking to the surface with the aid of magic. Thankfully, this building, either through a lack of funding or they just hadn't gotten to it yet, was completely void of magic-sensing equipment. This made it easier to move their way into the building but, due to some outstanding circumstances involving Broken Bulb and a great idea, they were now trapped on the ceiling above a group of griffon military officers having a meeting. If any of the griffons were to look up, they would see 2 griffons stuck to the ceiling, not something that is allowed in the griffon military, or any military, for that matter. And if the 2 were to fall, they would be noticed and detained. Clearly, it wasn't an ideal situation.

Getting into the building was the easy part of the mission. Once inside, the illusions of being griffons prevented many from questioning why they were there. Silent Knife's contacts managed to smuggle some uniforms out to them, and they were now dressed like sergeants in the griffon military. The 2 had wandered around the base for several hours before they managed to find their prey. They only managed to get a glimpse of her before she retired for the night into her royal bedchambers. And that was a problem: no one would be allowed into her bedchambers unless she invited them. Then Broken Bulb got the fabulous idea of going to find griffons with higher rank so that they could gain access to the princess. A good idea in theory, but in practice it didn't end so well. The first griffon with a captain's insignia on his uniform they saw Broken Bulb immediately followed. One thing led to another and now they were trapped in a meeting room while sticking to the ceiling with magic. The ceiling was high, almost like a cathedral, and there was little chance of one of the griffons in the room looking up and seeing them. On the other hand, there was no cover on the ceiling, no décor to hide in, no windows to leap out of, and the doors all had guards. Suffice to say, they weren't getting out without being spotted.

"This is the last time I ever listen to your plans Bulb. If these guys are anything like I think they are, we're going to be here for hours." The Forgemaster whispered angrily to the other.

Shattered Globe cursed, "We can't last that long, our magic will give out long before then."

Broken Bulb spoke, "And I don't see the target. But, we're gonna have to get out of here soon."

"So, are we in agreement? Drop down and slaughter them all?"

"No, let's wait. See what they do."

"I agree; we'll wait. But, if we stay here much longer we'll lose the element of surprise."

"Don't worry about that, if they look up we drop down and attack. But, if they don't we leave them be and wait for them to leave."

"Fine, but our magic won't let us stay up here much longer. I can already feel the reserves getting lower and lower."

"Just hold on."

The Forgemaster and Silent Knife both managed to hold on for a while longer. They had nothing to do but watch the meeting happening no more than 50 feet below them. It was a very dull meeting, almost as bad as sitting through court, only without all of the action. Yes, that dull. Who knew discussing the destruction of your primary supply depot and fortress could be so boring? The Forgemaster, for his part, managed to stealthily scan each of the officers' minds, gaining valuable intelligence in the process. A side effect of being able to read minds is the ability to alter them, slightly. Too much and their minds could break, too little and nothing would change. Mind-altering required a gentle touch. He subtly planted false information as well, a skill he rarely made use of but was very happy to use. There's nothing quite like making someone think something that never happened.

"Oh shit." Was his only warning.

*CRASH*

Silent Knife suddenly lost his grip on the ceiling. The height and angle at which he was dropping prevented him from opening his wings and saving himself. As gravity regained control of his body, he fell quickly straight down, coincidentally directly in the middle of the table the officers were sitting around. Silent Knife's weight shattered the table, scattering the various reports and files on the table and making the officers jump for cover. The guards reacted quickly to the disturbance and surrounded Silent Knife. A sergeant that wasn't allowed in the room falling off of the ceiling? Obviously a spy.

The Forgemaster followed after his stunned companion and landed next to him on some pieces of the table. Broken Bulb and Shattered Globe were stunned, probably seeing stars, but they were conscious. Or, at least, one of them was. The one that was moaning and groaning while holding his head was the conscious one. Thankfully, the transformation spell didn't break. The spell itself, while being advanced and uses much energy to start, is very easy to hold for long periods of time. There is barely a drain on one's magic when holding up the transformation spell.

The Forgemaster and Silent Knife were surrounded by a relatively small amount of guards, no more than 12. The Forgemaster eyed those that surrounded him on all sides and quickly thought up plan after plan, discarding each in turn before arriving at one that would work.

The Forgemaster struck out with his claws, trying to pummel the griffons in the room. The first was so caught off guard by his charge that the griffon couldn't react; he suffered a powerful uppercut that sent him into the wall behind him. The second guard came at him with his spear, charging at The Forgemaster with his spear leveled straight at him. The Forgemaster flipped the spear to the side with a flick of a foreleg, leaving the griffon open to the elbow that slammed into his temple. The third that was immediately behind the second was kicked in the face by The Forgemaster. When The Forgemaster tries to punt you through a stone wall, you either dodge or become intimately acquainted with masonry. The griffon had been unable to dodge.

With the spear from the recently incapacitated guard now firmly in his claws, The Forgemaster used it to great effect in his beating/murder of the other griffons. He cut down 3 more before the griffons back off to a sufficient degree.

The Forgemaster threw his spear javelin-style at the griffons, skewering one to his death. He then picked Silent Knife up football style and charged the griffons, roaring as he did so. The Forgemaster, even as a griffon, was much, muchlarger than the others. He was able to crash straight through the guards trying to detain him, scattering them about the room as he ran through them to the door. Their blades and spear cut gashes in his body and wings, but he paid them no mind. He just kept running.

"Halt!" some random griffon yelled at him, even as he ran away.

Unfortunately, the griffons were having their meeting smack dab in the middle of the building they had infiltrated; no matter which direction he ran he would encounter resistance. Heavy resistance, mind you, strong, burly griffons carrying heavy weapons and armor. They would undoubtedly have aerial units as well, just waiting for him to fly away. They had one thing going in their favor, besides their access to magic, the building they were in was in the city. All they needed to do was get out and find someplace to hide before slinking their way out of the city.

The Forgemaster kept up his momentum. In his frantic rush to the nearest exit, which just so happened to be the front door, he was crashing through various griffons. He knocked down guards, flattened recruits, rolled over officers, and shattered barricades. Many of the griffons he tackled suffered broken limbs as a result, but all of them would have nasty bruises in the morning. If they survived.

Finally, after running through many hallways and rooms, The Forgemaster ran out the front door. He immediately skidded to a halt at the sight before him. Either it was a trap, or this building had a huge garrison, but a good 120 griffons barred his way to complete freedom. They had flooded the 50 foot stretch of open ground between him and the city and had blocked him in on all fronts, even the sky. All fronts, that is, bar 1.

The Forgemaster spotted an empty alley on the other side of the griffon battalion and knew exactly where he was going to teleport to. With a wave of a foreleg the fabric of the space/time continuum was rent, and a portal appeared. The Forgemaster, whilst still carrying an unconscious Silent Knife, stepped through the portal and appeared in the alley he had previously seen.

The alley lit up with a bright flash of light that almost immediately dissipated. A large figure stood where the flash of light originated. The Forgemaster looked over his shoulder at the confused mass of guards, snorted in contempt, and walked off into the night with his burden.

The griffon battalion fell into a state of confused chaos. The griffons had all just seen the impossible, griffons cannot and never have been able to do magic.

wWwWwWw

The Forgemaster took Silent Knife back to his apartment. He was still unconscious from that blow to the head. Falling from such a large height would probably give him a concussion, it was a wonder his neck hadn't snapped. The Forgemaster healed the poor spy and then set about repairing his owns wounds. Those spears and swords hadn't hit anything important, somehow, but The Forgemaster was thankful for it. The Forgemaster left Broken Bulb and Shattered Globe in an unconscious state on the couch and reclined on a chair. The Forgemaster seated himself comfortably and prepared for his next spell.

A simple spell, in theory, a very difficult one, in practice. The Forgemaster merely took his mind and expanded its borders. Minds and consciouses are not restrained by normal boundaries. The only boundary there is to a given mind is the one you make for yourself. Given time, a mind with unrestrained boundaries can move through and into the boundaries established by others, thereby reading someone's mind. Armed with the knowledge that no one else in the griffon kingdom would be able to stop him, seeing as how none of them knew magic, The Forgemaster read every mind in the entire city at once. Like having a splash of images and text thrown at you, it was utterly incomprehensible. However, one could look through them if one could pick them apart.

Skillfully weaving his way through the conscious's of others, The Forgemaster came to a conclusion: it wasn't safe in this city anymore. While it was never a city to be safe in, seeing as how both he and Silent Knife were spies, the methods the griffons were going to implement would not only root out the spy, it would also prevent them from fleeing.

These barbarous measures were going to be put in place tomorrow, all in reaction to his and Silent Knife's infiltration. They were going to have to flee the city before the morrow.

The Forgemaster had a sudden, uncomfortable thought.

'Shit… now I'm like 007. I get caught and then I save the day. Damnit I hated that show boating bastard. I never got the recognition he got because I was never caught.'

(A/N – I'll be the first to admit that this little griffon arc wasn't very good. I will be back to MLP episodes next chapter, along with the random hilarity that The Forgemaster often brings to the table.)

(DOUBLE A/N – I BLOODY WELL LOVED WRITING FOR BROKEN BULB AND SHATTERED GLOBE!!!!!)