A loud bang and yelling woke Star Grazer from his slumber. He got up and began to stretch looking around. Light Dasher was already up and Blueblood had trouble staying asleep. Star Grazer walked over to the white coated stallion, well not so white any more, and nudged him with hoof.

“Come on Blue, we gotta' go.” He only received a muffled groan and the prince rolled over on his side. Star Grazer tried nudging him again this time receiving more of a response.

“Mmnmnn… What?” Blueblood turned to Star Grazer with lazy eyes.

“We have to get ready. We have been accepted to Team Green Bean remember?”

“Ugh… Fine!” He was shocked at how fast Blueblood got up and perked awake. They looked over to a stretching Light Dasher.

“Guess we better go.”

“Can we at least eat something?” Blueblood pouted and made a puppy dog face.

“Um… Stop that… Let’s just stop by the mess hall before going.” Blueblood was happy to oblige to Star Grazers request. He smiled and trotted toward the mess hall.

“Well are you two coming?” Star Grazer noted a slight tone of sarcasm in his voice.

The trio quickly trotted up to the mess hall where a few ponies were already eating. A few congratulated them on their entering Team Green Bean while some resented their success. Star Grazer and Light Dasher shared a large and dry hay cake with apple juice. Blueblood received a piece of bread a paper cup of water and a hay cake to the face. Blueblood ordered a bowl of Honey Almond Polenta, Mango Mimosa and a small slice of Gateau au fromage de framboise, raspberry cheesecake. The chef simply threw a hay cake in his face and gave him bread and water.

They walked and ate in general silence and made their way over to the ‘Armory’. Being that there are weapons and armor around almost every part of camp it wasn’t entirely necessary to have a tent dedicated to it. The medium sized tent, compared to the living tents, had neatly organized armor and weapons of all sorts. Spears with several varying tips and shaft styles hung from a rack on the wall. Armor plating neatly stacked in the middle according to type; hard cloth, iron, iron plating, and the new steel armor. Star Grazer noticed a couple of the Steel pieces missing and shrugged this off. Most likely the rest of the team suited up already. Light Dasher occupied herself with the large selection of deadly spears while Blueblood looked through disappointingly small collection of cutlery. Blueblood picked up a dagger sheath and tied it around his inner hoof. He checked to see that he could move and such before placing a recently sharpened dagger in the sheath. Light Dasher tossed them all spears reserving the spear with a three pronged head on it. They all wore the Steel Armor and had one little extra something with them. Blueblood had a secret knife; Light Dasher wore the hard cloth armor under her Steel plating, while Star Grazer cast some strange magic somehow.

“Hey, did you just magic?!” Light Dasher and Blueblood gawked at him as the small glow of white magic slowly disappeared from his hoof and armor.

“Yeah I did. It’s the same as Unicorn magic but it takes a lot more energy from the user.” Star Grazer caught his breath before continuing. “I can cast the same spells as any other Unicorn but it takes almost twice the amount of energy. The spell I cast on the armor simply makes it lighter and a little stronger.”

“How in Celestia did you learn this?!?!” Light Dasher put a hoof over her mouth after hearing ponies groan in the surrounding tents.

“A lot can happen in a library with eight months of free time...” They continued to stare I awe. Their trance was snapped when Star Grazer left the tent making a flapping noise. They snapped on the rest of their gear and left for Shining Armor’s tent.

Shining Armor was idly chatting with a pony while the others stood casually in a rough line. Star Grazer took a place in the line with Light Dasher and Blueblood in tow. About five minutes rolled by before talking could be heard from outside the tent. Two shadowy figures came up to the entrance and opened the tent. Rainbow Dash and Jason walked through the flap ushering Shining Armors attention.

"I got some stuff for you guys, take a look."  Shining Armor trotted over to the opposite end of the tent, opening a couple of boxes and pulling out some loops of fabric.  "We didn't really have a good way of marking rank or team until a whole bunch of these came about an hour ago.  Let me just find the right... Ah!  Here."  He handed them a couple of fabric loops each, both with a couple of stars on one side, a dull white to the contrasting black.  He dug around in another box, coming up with a loop for both of them, the same black, sporting a green bean pea pod instead.  

"Rarity designed these?"  Jason said with a smirk.

"Key word designed, we had these mass produced in Canterlot since a few days ago.  These green bean ones were the last type to be made."  Jason finished sliding the loops up to his shoulders.  

"A little weird, but I guess it works.  Especially seeing as we don't exactly have any cloths to put these on as patches."

"Yeah...  Anyway, you're ready to leave?"  

"Yup, wait, can I leave some stuff here, just in case?"

"Sure, go ahead."  Jason pulled out the strange square tablet and a pad of paper, handing them over to Shining.

"Protect those with your life.  I'm a little serious, those are irreplaceable."  Shining sighed and gently set them in an empty drawer.  "So we're waiting for the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, they should be here-- there they are."  The original members of Team Green Bean came into the tent with their dark grey armor. The new recruits followed behind. The rest of the ponies that didn’t have on armor did so and before long they all shuffled out of the tent.

Star Grazer felt a little proud seeing as his trio was prepared. They helped the other recruits of Team Green Bean with their armor and weaponry. Blueblood had some trouble tightening a strap on this one colt’s armor so he bucked it in frustration leaving a small but painful lump on the pony’s side.

The moon was slowly setting past the horizon and Shining Armor appointed Star Grazer and Light Dasher join commanding officers of their group. Shining ordered them to all to form a line once Jason began to walk over toward them.

"I'm sure you know the plan by now, and considering how many times we've gone over positioning, I'm sure you know that too.  But remember that it's not just your lives on the line, but the ponies we're trying to save.  Be patient, and don't enter a fight if it has the potential to draw attention.  You saw how it was in the forest today, act the same as a predator, weed out the sick and the weak, in this case the stupid and the isolated.  Whittle down the forces until there's nothing left."  He sighed.  "This is your first mission, so don't underestimate the griffins, and definitely don't overestimate your skills."  Jason tossed Light Dasher a pad of paper and a pencil.  "Watch for the signal, and then go loud, take out as many griffins as you want.  And remember to act as a team, it's your strongest asset."

"SIR YES SIR!!" He heard a couple groans from a nearby tent.

"Try not to wake up all of the ponies in this camp." He sighed again. He hated having part of his plan resting on forces he couldn't control. "Now move out, get into position. I'll see about getting you code names if this works." They saluted a final time before trotting outside, grabbing their weapons and small ration bags of food as they went.

Jason turned to the bunks. "Team Green Bean, you ready?" A quiet set of nods responded. He quite liked the solemnity.

"Then let's go kick some ass!" Dash yelled with a corresponding hoof pump, drawing a few laughs. Eravel was the first to move, jumping off the top bunk and buffeting the air with his wings to cushion his landing. He made sure his leather armor was still secure before he grabbed the bow from its place against the wall, throwing it and the quiver over his back.

"Well, let's get going.  We have some hostages to rescue."

Light Dasher felt edgy. This was their first mission and griffons could be anywhere at any moment. The trail they took was a slowly becoming less steep making it easier for the flightless to traverse the trail. A little while passed before trees became more abundant on the trail and the trail dispersed. A tree line emerged and the entire group was looking out over what was supposedly a dock. The “dock” was in horrible disrepair and the water, from where they were standing, looked murky. Jason raised a hoof and said something to Eravel the Griffon. He pointed to a Griffon guard walking along the “Dock”. The griffon took his bow, carefully placed an arrow on the string. He aimed and shot true sticking the arrow in the griffin’s eye. Light Dasher, with everyone else, stared in awe.

Dash lead their portion of the team down toward the docks while Light Dasher and Star Grazer kept topside. Blueblood was surprisingly quiet and sullen. They waded through the edge of the woods passing a road with two griffons watching. Light Dasher raised a hoof and they all stopped, observing the enemies movements. They seemed to be standing guard. Light Dasher tapped a mare on the shoulder motioning to take out the closest griffin. A shared nod and a flurry of leaves before it was over. The mare caught the closest griffon by surprise and jabbed her spear straight through the griffin’s throat. He let out a hushed gurgle and slowly crumpled to the ground. Light Dasher charged up to the other griffin. He raised his talon to block the pony but was taken by surprise when she jumped onto him. Before he could react she hopped up into the air and used all her wait to drive the spear into the griffin. Upon landing she jerked the spear forward, wrenching a large bloody gash into the griffin. The griffin fell toward Light Dasher. Once she confirmed that no more enemies were nearby she dropped her predatory stare and motioned for the group to come.

Once the group got over the initial shock they crossed the road and made their without much trouble. They reached a patch of dense forest that overlooked the town square. After confirming they were in the proper position Star Grazer appointed some ponies to watch.

“Ok guys. I need the axe. Who has it?” A colt came forward with the gleaming wooden handled blade. “Thanks.” Star Grazer immediately began chopping a particularly large tree down to an inch before hearing a loud crack. The tree tilted and began to fall with increasingly loud noise. The team moved out of the way as the tree started turning toward them. I'm so glad I thought of the tree thing! Way better distraction then Light Dasher’s random yelling!

The tree landed with a resounding thump and all was quiet for a second. Insuring that no griffon nearby would notice them Star Grazer led the team down the hill toward a large bunch of bushes towards the main entrance. Several guards were looking toward the disruption. A guard got a little too close to Light Dasher and she quickly skewered him and placed him down into the water.

None of the other griffons noticed the lack of a comrade and they were beginning to lose interest in the noise. Star Grazer quickly pointed to a rotten wooden deck that extended the whole length of water. The deck was laden with rusty nails and sharp splintering chips of wood. With a significantly large portion of the deck missing from the outer end it was no surprise there were no guards present.

“Ow!” A mare stepped on a piece of jagged wood and was quickly hushed by a white coated hoof.

“Do you want the guards to come?!” He spoke in a hushed but angry tone.

“But it hurt…” She pointed to the reddening wound on her tan hoof.

“A spear in your chest is going to hurt a lot more!” she replied with a quiet humph creeping along the deck.

They reached the main entrance were Star Grazer took care of the guarding Griffon allowing his troops inside. The evidence of Team Green Bean was clear. Three griffons lay dead in the alley way. Banging noises could be heard in the direction of the town hall .Light Dasher examined each griffon closely and thrusted her spear into the bodies as they passed.

“Light Dasher they are the enemy but respect the dead!” Star Grazer scolded.

“I'm only making sure they are dead.” She stated matter of factly.

What lay before them at the town hall square shocked them. A sea of gore and death cover the open square. Several of the living griffons weredown from the rooftops a. Some of the griffons took notice and began to attack them as well.

The griffons surrounded them at the exit of the alleyway and Light Dasher readied herself for a long fight. She was ready to pounce before Star Grazer stopped her. He looked at her with the same feral look she dawned on her face. A particularly larger griffon stepped forth and smirked.

“The one that kills the pony in the vest will get an extra loaf of bread!”

At this all the griffons immediately pounced on them. Star Grazer ducked under the swipe of a claw as fighting insinuated around him. He charged toward the large griffon catching him by surprise and shouldered him. The griffon was slightly placed off balance but managed to catch the spear in his talon, breaking the wooden shaft. He smirked at the enraged Star Grazer and took a step forward. Star Grazer tossed the broken spear and ran a circle around the griffon. He made a sharp turn before hitting a wall and slid into the griffon’s leg knocking him to the ground. Star Grazer jumped on top of him and pounded on the griffons face. He pulled the pony off of him and threw him into a dead griffon.

Star Grazer quickly stood himself up and looked around him. Light Dasher and the rest defended against twelve other griffons. Light Dasher ducked under a spear retaliating with a spear thrust of her own letting out a spray of blood from the wound. Light Dasher quickly looked up and made eye contact with Star Grazer before pointing at something. He looked to see the large griffon hurling himself toward Star Grazer at full speed.

Star Grazer ran but was still hit with the heavy force. He went flying into the ground landing by the broken spear shaft. The splintered wood was sharp and he picked it up. The griffon looked at him with confusion then let out a chuckle before barreling toward him again, spear in hand. Star Grazer charged as well.

For a moment the world seemed to stand still. It seemed surreal in nature. Everypony was still and the only things moving were him and the griffon. It was either him or the griffon that was going to die that day. A bloody means to a violent end. They were getting closer and closer. Soon the sound of battle faded out altogether. Star Grazer closed his eyes. A spray of warmth, something gave out. A cracking noise, and then the sound of hundreds of hoof steps. Star Grazer opened his eyes. The shaft drove straight into the griffons face, right between the eyes. The griffon’s eyes looked at the shaft then at Star Grazer before slowly rolling over and going limp into eternal slumber. Next Chapter: A Turning Point Estimated time remaining: 6 Minutes