It was another quiet and clear morning.The birds were singing and the smaller animals were frollicking around on the grass. The tranquility of the cottage at the outskirt of Ponyville was disturbed by a knock on the door.

Grinko growled a bit at the sudden disturbance and his purring ceased,
"Just when we were going to cuddle..."

Fluttershy rested a shoulder on his chest, shook her head, and opened her front door. In front of her stood a royal delivery stallion with a package from Canterlot,
“Good morning, miss!” he greeted her, “Are you Ms. ...” he recognized the hulking form of Grinko coming to the door as well and gulped a bit, “Ms. Fluttershy...?”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded,
“Yes, I am. What brings you here?”

Grinko observed the courier pony for a second, then turned back, deeper into the cottage, not deeming him a threat, which caused the stallion to calm down again,
“Special delivery for you, ma'am! This little parcel here is just for you, I need your signature here and here.” he said indicating two dotted lines.

After signing, Fluttershy carried the parcel inside and opened it. Within was a small case and a letter from the princess,

Dear Fluttershy and Grinko,
To aid you both in your very special kind of bond, Princess Cadance, Luna and myself have crafted an amulet that will dull Grinko's fangs and claws as long as he wears it, so he can express his feelings to you in a safe and proper way. I hope you both use this to bond even further and show ponies and Masars alike that love can even bloom between our two species.
Sincerely yours,

Princess Celestia

While Grinko lifted the amulet out of the case and eyed it suspiciously, Fluttershy gasped and looked over to him,
“Oh... my... that means you can walk among ponies without them to fear your claws or fangs.
Isn't this exciting?"

Grinko looked over to her and arched an eyebrow,
"Hmmm... if you say so... it's a good thing that this is an optional solution to our little..." he harrumphed, "...problem... I'm happy that I can still go hunting when I take it off and don't have to rely on that tofu garbage..."

Taking the amulet into her hooves, the yellow Pegasus mare looked into his eyes,
"Oh, I know how much this means to you. Hunting for food is part of carnivore nature after all... but I'm happy that you can finally socialize with the other ponies as well."

She then placed it around his neck and the Masar looked into the mirror, taking note of the changes. His once sharp and pointy fangs were transformed into the flat teeth of a herbivore. Taking a soft bite at his own arm, he made sure that this wasn't merely an illusion to trick only the eyes. His now blunt teeth couldn't dig into his flesh.

He nodded and looked over to Fluttershy,
“True... this amulet has defanged and declawed me.” just as he took the amulet off, his claws and fangs reappeared and he nodded, “This is powerful magic.” Placing it around his neck once more, he decided to wear the amulet and only take it off for hunting.

Fluttershy beamed and rested a hoof on his chest,
“With that amulet, you can finally start making friends among ponies.” she looked down, slightly blushing, her voice trembling as she continued, “And... um... you know... with the danger of your claws and fangs out of the way... we might... um... continue in the shed...”

Pulling the timid yellow Pegasus mare to him, Grinko growled a bit in anticipation,
“I can barely await to taste your most precious spot...”

He began licking along her neck and Fluttershy could feel his strong, now clawless paws kneading her flanks. She couldn't read his mind, but she could read his actions. Without the threat of hurting her by accident, Grinko was eager to show her how much she meant to him. The Masar’s kindness was stronger than her own, which was fitting in a way since his body was stronger as well.

But all in all Grinko never misused his overwhelming strength to subdue her. It would have been so very easy for him to simply take her by force, to violate her petite body with his mountainous mass of muscle. But to that day, he had held himself back, which she could see evidence of, in the big bulge in his crotch. Sooner or later, she knew she had to give him something to ease his urge.

Fluttershy knew that with being with him, the day was drawing closer that she would offer him her virginity. She anticipated it as a moment she was afraid of and thrilled for at the same time. She knew that he thought of her as a mare of honor and treated her as such. He would never pressure her into any action, the offering had to come from her and her alone. Several things had to be prepared for that day. Candles, maybe something to beautify the shed a bit. But what would he do with her then? All the possible scenarios made her shiver, either in imagined delight or slight anxiety. It was then that her thoughts were abruptly ended by him as his purring slowly ceased.

Sniffing her chest, he looked up to her as his tongue slid up her coat,
“Fluttershy, I want you to be watching this time when I'm in the Everfree hunting.”

His statement startled the yellow Pegasus,
“Me? B-But, it's important for you!”

“No... It is important, because YOU are important, beloved.” after his tongue slid up her neck, he looked deep into her blue eyes, “Your beauty grows with every passing day, Fluttershy.”

Giggling a bit, she wiggled out of his paws and landed on her hooves again,
“Well... thanks to you being here recently, I’m the cleanest I’ve ever been in my life. With your baths you’ve shown so much determination and patience...” playing with the case a bit, she felt the heat rising in her cheeks, “I, um... I might reward you sometime for that.”

Grinko smiled and waved the thought away,
“Oh? You don't have to reward me with more kindness, Fluttershy. In fact, if it weren't for you, I might never understand several things about ponies.”

Hearing his statement frustrated Fluttershy in a way. Wasn't he expecting to have some more intimate moments with her? 'Does he think I'm too timid for that? That sexuality is beyond me?' she thought with a frown, 'I-I can do that as well! No fear pushes new Fluttershy around!' With that the yellow Pegasus snorted a bit and grew more determined to prepare the shed for a bit more... intimacy.

* * * * *

The next day the paper-colt yelled over the streets of Ponyville holding up a newspaper,
“Special Edition! Special Edition! Merchants and diplomats from the Amasian Empire gossip about worrisome earthquakes and tsunamis near their southeastern coasts. Princess Celestia offered emergency aid in case of catastrophic events. Special Edition! Special Edition!”

Meanwhile the Mane Six sat together with Lyra in a bistro as Twilight studied the menu,
“Tyler said something about working on the windows and doors in the library. He said that they have developed better thermal isolation materials in the Ranger Headquarter. It's a good thing the humans get us some ideas to develop a bit faster now. These Descendants seem to have technology far beyond us.”

Applejack nodded to her herd mate with a big smile,
"Ah hear ya. Ah had to convince Granny a bit that the windows may be fine now, but better windows will keep us even warmer in winter and Big Mac won't have to cut so much wood during the winter, since the heat won't escape as easily. So new windows for the farm as well. Maybe Ah can ask Tyler about a new plow too, now that we can afford it..."

Lyra and Pinkie smiled at each other,
“And our herd is thinking of getting ourselves a new bed...”

The curious announcement caused the others at the table to smirk.

Rainbow leaned over to the mint-coated unicorn and wiggled her eyebrows,
“Uh-huh? Come on, Lyra... Spill it!”

Rainbow’s threat only brought a grin on the mint-coated unicorn's face,
“Or else what? You do know that Pinkie is in my herd, right? You can't threaten me with her since herd mates stick together. But to stay on topic... How is Flynn in bed? I mean we all have our share in humans now. Besides Fluttershy and Rarity that is...”

Rarity patted Fluttershy's shoulder with a gentle smile and a nod,
“Never fear, my dear. You will train that Masar ruffian into a decent member of society and a perfect gentle... er... gentlecat! If anypony ever had the chance to tame such a beast, it is you, Fluttershy. I guess since you have him, you don't even have the need for a human.” ignoring the fact that Fluttershy was glaring at her with narrowed eyes, the white unicorn then rested a hoof on her forehead, “As for me... I will have to wait for the day I find my valiant knight, storming at my heart with words so gentle and pure. It is such a shame that Tyler doesn't want another mare in his herd. It would be such a pleasure to experience that as well.”

Lyra chuckled and nodded over to Rainbow, reminding her that she hadn't answered yet.

Rainbow snickered and waved it away,
“Oh, Flynn is awesome! And while he lasts far longer than the best stallion, he and I gave “10 seconds flat” a whole new meaning last heat season... Oh Celestia, I was never sensitive like that before...” seeing the arched brows of the Applejack, Rainbow snickered, “Oh, NOT what you think, AJ... Humans are like the wild hurricanes over the ocean. Once started in the right direction, they can go on for hours. Flynn slowly turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me in bed. Once that boy starts, there's little I can do to suppress the neighing... and Celestia knows he loves it when I do that. After the first time I come, he just continues, leaving me helpless in a storm of multiple orga-”

It was in that moment that Rainbow noticed the sudden attention she got over that very delicate issue. A little bit too much attention, even for her.

Each of her friends started to grin, which caused the cerulean mare to gulp as she noted the heat in her cheeks,
“S-so... How's Tyler? I guess he really has all his hooves... or rather hands full with four mares?”

Taking a sip from her lemon tonic, Twilight nodded,
“Tyler has been very active in the recent weeks... but since our shared training he’s calmed down a little.”

Leaning in, Applejack slightly nudged her with a wink,
“Ya mean after Princess Celestia and Luna had a talk with ya both?” when the alicorn looked over to her herd mate, the earth pony simply shrugged, “Don't get me wrong, Twilight... Ah'm happy for ya, but there's a time for work and a time for buckin' like there is no tomorrow... Ya should stand up a bit more as a princess. Ya know... against troublemakers.”

“Against Discord, you mean..." the lavender alicorn flatly stated, “That I already do.”

Yet the country mare smirked,
“Not just Discord, but Tyler as well. Ah think it's for the best that Tyler is trying to keep his feet on the ground and not flying high in the clouds. But if he does slip up and get too big for his britches, we should dog-pile on him like a fly on stink. Ah know Ah will." with that Applejack stood up, "Well, Ah gotta go. Ah got some work left on the farm, but it sure did good to take a little break...”

Once Applejack was gone, the others looked at Twilight,
“Don't you share her concern for Tyler, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight blinked twice then took another sip from her lemon tonic,
“Tyler is a lot of things, but he is not stupid enough to let all of this to his head. I understand AJ's point of view though. From her perspective, it's her responsibility to make sure Tyler stays the way he is since she's the only mare in the herd who's not a princess. But if you ask me: worrying about this is silly, we would never make a second Prince Blueblood out of him and he would never turn into such a character.” Twilight looked up and smiled, “Which is a good thing.”

The others now shared her smile and nodded,
“Agreed, Darling.” Rarity stated, “Let us hope and pray that he never changes for the worse.”

* * * * *

In the meantime, Big Macintosh was working on the farm. He was going into the barn when he heard some giggling in the hay. Arching his brows for a second, he looked grimly toward the hay. ‘That better be not the cutie mark crusaders with one of their wild ideas of getting a cutie mark.’

That's when he heard a female voice,
“Big Maaack.”

First opening his eyes in surprise, his expression hardened,
“Rachel? Yer drunk...” he stated as his eyes narrowed in disbelief, “And naked as well...”

Big Macintosh had to admit that there was a rather substantial difference between being a peeping tom under the influence of the heat season and being sober as he was then. With a rational mindset, he was able pull himself together so that seeing her naked didn't caused him much of an erection problem, even though he had to admit that seeing the otherwise dressed Rachel was something else.

Shambling over to him, Rachel giggled and the stallion could smell the alcohol in her breath.

It seemed that Rachel had found Granny's bottles of moonshine, something that consumed in larger quantities, could turn even the strongest stallion into a drunk mess,
“Yessh… I know I’m drunnnk…Big Mac, if I’m sober I’m only a mean ol’ bidch talkin’ bullshidd to hide that I’m so lonely… Budd you are a good an decen guy, yar… YOU are always lisenin' tooo… to me!” holding her head, she took a deep breath,“Goddd how I hate Jonessss… That guy is so contennnnt with all of his life an’ I struggl to gedd a single relationshibb togethrrr.”

She then grabbed Big Mac at the chin and looked into his eyes,
“Yuu know…? You are se… the best guy around here as far as I care! You just shuddup an’ listen to my prblms, evn when I’m naked before you... That takes some quality! You know I…” she then gestured a pistol movement, “I would prolly just shoo… shoot at you for seein’ me like this if I was sober…”

Big Macintosh only sat there and looked around the room with big eyes as Rachel leaned against him and began to sober. Was this really happening? It seemed a bit unreal. Yet, here she was, leaning against him, her breasts pressing against his shoulder.

It was then that Applejack's voice became audible and she entered the barn as well,
“Big Mac? I'm back from Ponyville! Let's get over to the northern fields, ya hear? Big Mac? Where are-” then she saw the two of them together.

First Applejack's eyes grow wide, then they narrowed and her voice became very dark, “Macintosh!”

In an instant, Bic Macintosh sat up straight.

The stallion knew quite well that if Applejack called him in that way she was very upset with him,
“AJ! A-Ah can explain!”

Approaching both of them the country mare narrowed her eyes,
“Darn straight ya'll ‘r gonna explain to me why Rachel is all naked an' drunk with ya in the barn! Are ya takin’ advantage of her? What in tarnation has gotten into ya? If Granny finds out-”

She was interrupted as Rachel gently grabbed her and placed a big kiss on her lips.

The stench of alcohol filled the mare's nostrils as Rachel cuddled with her,
“Takn advantage? Alright... Budd you haaave to be reeaally nice to me, right AJ?”

Flinching back, Applejack gasped for air,
“Ugh... Macintosh! That girl is more drunk than Uncle Apple Rum on the annual cider festival! What did she drink? Granny's moonshine?”

The red stallion narrowed his eyes at his sister,
“That's what Ah was tryin' to tell ya, little sis... Ah found her like that a few moments ago and then ya barged in.”

The revelation caused AJ to flinch back and she held her Stetson in front of her muzzle,
“Oh... In that case, Ah'm sorry big brother... A-ah sh-should have known better. Can ya forgive me?”

Yet the red stallion simply ambled past his younger sibling,
“There's nothin' to forgive, lil' sis. Yer a mare of principles. Ah rather have a sister like that than anything else. Now Ah'll head for the northern fields while ya help Rachel sober up.”

* * * * *

Half an hour later Rachel gasped as Applejack poured icy cold water over her,
“That should help ya sobering up. Silly girl, drinking one whole bottle of Granny's moonshine. Yer lucky yer not sleepin' for the next few hours.”

Shivering over the icy water all over her naked body, Rachel now came to her senses,
“I... I think I've had that sleep already. Did I do something?”

Thinking for a bit, Applejack grinned,
“Nah, Ah don't think so... But ya were pretty comfy naked around mah brother."

In an instant, Rachel's eyes went wide,
“I WAS WHAT?!?”

Not a minute later, Rachel barged into the farmhouse's living room, dressed again and fuming in anger and looked at Big Macintosh, who had just come in to get some tools,
“You little shit!”

Applejack arrived in the room just as Rachel marched towards the stallion,
“If I find anything oozing out of my body that points to you...” she grabbed him and cocked back her fist to hit him.

Before the punch could hit home, Applejack raised a hoof,
“No, Rachel! Ah was thinkin' the same! But Big Macintosh found ya like this! Mounting ya in that state didn't even occur to him! He ordered me to sober ya up. Ya know... because ya were naked and all that.”

Her fist still up in the air, Rachel gritted her teeth. Big Macintosh wasn't even flinching and showed no signs of bad consciousness.

No, this stallion hadn’t laid a hoof on her,
“Aw shit! If that's the case, I can't be mad at you for doing the right thing...” in the next moment she just patted his cheek, “Decent. I like that in a man. Takes some guts to resist temptation. Shit! I should stop getting into trouble. I owe you one after another for helping me. Hell you might have the right to get a favor from-”

It was in this moment when Rachel was slapped in the back with a broom when Granny Smith stood behind her,
“Mind yer yapper in this house, young un! There’s children in here that might hear yer filth!”

Once outside, Rachel rubbed her back a bit while Applejack grinned,
"Ya have to watch it, Rachel. Granny's right, we don't want Apple Bloom to learn any bad words. Come to think of it, Ah'm happy Ah found ya with Big Mac and not the little one..."

Pulling the country mare in, Rachel's expression grew in panic,
“You can't tell Jones about that! You can't!”

Arching a brow, Applejack leaned back,
“But Ah'm the Element of Honesty! Ya can't expect me to lie for ya just because yer embarrassed.”

With a frantic shaking of her head, Rachel continued,
“No one said anything about lying, just don't talk about it! If he learns about this, I'm...” the next moment, Rachel halted in her sentence and looked up.

High above the farm an airship of unknown origin crossed the sky and Rachel pointed up to it as it headed for Canterlot,
“That's not a equestrian airship... Go get the Element Bearers while I'll get Jones and the boys... Something tells me that we will be needed in Canterlot...”

After the train ride to Canterlot, the Elements of Harmony and Harmony Rangers looked into the sky, where the airship still circled around the capital. Several Canterlot ponies looked up to the airship, slightly startled about the massive size of it.

Looking up, Applejack corrected her Stetson,
"Well what's taking them so long? Why don't they, ya know... come down already? It gives the impression that they are circlin' us like vultures."

Sam nodded and arched an eyebrow,
"Well, I guess such a big airship can't land everywhere. The size of that thing makes it hard to maneuver, so I take it they are looking for a safe place to land.”

Pinkie bounced up and down,
“Look, they’re descending!"

The airship landed in a larger market place that was normally used for the Canterlot weekly market and once the hatch opened, five griffins in thick and sturdy steel harnesses marched out to secure the area. Once they deemed the place safe, they nodded to each other and one Griffin call later into the cargo hold, one older Griffin, seemingly the leader of these Griffins, stepped outside. Halfway down the ramp, he noticed the Royal Guard approaching the place and a smile formed on his face. Giving a claw-sign, he went further outside, followed by more Griffins. The rest of the crew, all in all fifty griffins, marched out of the airship and stood in attention in front of the hatch and showed a prime example of military discipline, as the first five secured the airship to the ground.

Captain Dusk Aegis approached the lead Griffin and greeted him with a short nod,
“General Marek, it's an honor to have such a high ranking officer visit Equestria. Princes Celestia is already awaiting your arrival.”

The old Griffin nodded and looked up to the windows of the castle.

He was certain that the princesses would be standing at some of them right now, witnessing his arrival,
“Of that I am certain. King Gifford made clear that he demands clearance over certain rumors. This expedition into your land is more of a threat assessment, Captain. You can ease your guard ponies. However, My Griffins need to restock for the journey home and a place to rest.”

Dusk thought for a minute, then nodded,
"I will see to it that they will get their supplies and living quarters for the time being. But for now let me escort you to the throne room."

Turning around, the General faced the crew of the Nephelion,
"Clear and lock the place!"

One of his officers nodded and turned his head to the right, to the rest of his fellow griffins,
"Detachment, stand down!"

After that, the General turned to Dusk once more, only to face a pair of bright blue eyes.

While the General blinked in confusion, a certain pink pony bounced around him,
"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, who are you?"

Dusk Aegis sighed and shook his head with a smile,
"Uh... General Marek, may I introduce the Element of Laughter..."

Marek arched a brow as he followed Pinkie Pie with his eyes,
"I see... That explains the cheerfulness. Yes, there were even more rumors about these Elements than the humans, yet since they're ponies, the King wasn't that concerned about them."

Pinkie now stopped in front of him,
"Uh-huh... Are you going to be mean as well? Because the last griffin I met was a meanie and way too interested in her own self."

After a frustrated sigh, the General simply grabbed Pinkie Pie and lifted her aside,
“For that I am sorry. Believe me that this is not representative for most griffins. But I am not here to laugh or smile or party for that matter...” just as he turned around again to go on, Pinkie stood before him once again, causing him to turn his head back and forth in surprise and narrowing his eyes for a stern glare, “Stand aside, Miss Pie... Or I will have these griffins remove you and hand you over to Princess Celestia.”

Pinkies eyes narrowed and for half a minute, she and the General stared each other down.

Then all of a sudden, she hopped aside and beamed,
“OK!”

Taking a deep breath, the General closed his eyes for a moment before turning to one of his officers as he went along,
“Note, please...” as the officer took pen and paper, he nodded to the General, who then started to dictate, “Sidenote: Element of Laughter met and inspected, seems silly and a fool on first sight, but is calculating risks and behavior... First recommendation: Not to underestimate.”

The Captain of the Royal Guard escorted the General to the castle while the remaining Griffins secured and maintained the Nephelion. Among them, however, was one particular, who tried his best to remain out of sight of the others. He did wear a bit more clothing, what covered his white feathers and snuck away at the first opportunity.

* * * * *

In the Castle, the Elements were greeted by Princess Celestia smiling gently at them,
"There is no need to worry, my little ponies. It is a state visit from the Griffin Kingdom. A General was sent in order to inspect our human friends. It was to be expected that sooner or later several nations start to get curious about our bipedal friends who fight so well for us."

Tyler nodded in thought as the other Rangers arrived as well,
"OK... I guess that means that they want to inspect the Ranger Headquarter as well. Twilight, why don't you and the Elements go into the ball room or go back to Ponyville and have a great time while we Rangers do this business here? Shouldn't take longer than a day or two... I mean they are here for us, so there's little to no reason why you girls should waste your time with this."

Twilight nodded and nuzzled Tyler thoroughly,
"Well, if you say so... If any problems should arise, just give us a call, we will be right there." turning around to the other Elements, she nodded, "Come on, girls... If we're here, we could use this time to enjoy Canterlot."

Half an hour later the Harmony Rangers stood in the throne room with Tyler and Princess Celestia as Flynn leaned over to Rachel,
"So, uh... Who is coming again?"

Rachel rolled her eyes and looked over to him,
"As far as I understood, it's a state visit from the east... Some sort of General to inspect us. You know the drill from the Air Force, right? Inspection time is showing yourself from the best side."

It was then that the Guards announced the visitors,
"General Marek of the Griffin Kingdom!"

The doors opened, but as General Marek and Grinko saw each other, both the Masar and Griffin went into combat stances. Aided by his fellow Griffins, the General drew a sword, while Grinko took the amulet from his neck, prompting his fangs and claws to sharpen in an instant.

The humans immediately took action and stepped between the opponents to prevent a bloodbath.

Flynn, Sam, and Rachel strained against Grinko and held him back,
“Stop, big buddy! What is going on here?”

With an expression of disgust and rage, the General then pointed his sword at the Masar,
“There is a Masar animal among your ranks!”

Grinko growled in a deep tone, while showing his fangs and struggling against his fellow Rangers,
“Masar and Griffins are arch enemies... Comes with the fact that we deem their kind as our prey... I have sworn to you that I shall harm no pony... But that offer doesn't include Griffins!”

One of the Griffin officers narrowed his eyes,
“You come and try, kittie! We are ready for you!”

Stepping between the two opponents, Tyler took turns in looking at both of them,
“Would you cut it out?!? We are not here to fight each other! If you really want to kill each other, I could easily toss a coin and shoot whoever loses.”

Gritting his teeth, the General nodded reluctantly,
“I agree... our mission is to assess the humans for the safety of the Griffin Kingdom, not eliminating savage Masar beasts...”

Tyler nodded and looked over to Grinko, who backed away with an angered growl, as the General sheathed his sword again,
“And because of our concern for griffin safety I must insist on complete cooperation. Which for now is to tell your... Masar... to get out of my sight...”

Looking over to Grinko, Tyler nodded in confirmation,
"I think as well that it would be best if you and the Griffins are not in the same room, Grinko. Please head over to the Ranger headquarter.”

Growling displeased, the Masar glared at the General,
“If you insist, Tyler Jones... I shall yield... not out of fear, but out of respect for you...”

As soon as Grinko left the room, Tyler looked over to the General. Something told him that there would be trouble in the future,
"As for me... Princess Celestia, I'm heading over to the training hall in the castle. Should there be anything of importance, I'm there for you to call for me..."

The white alicorn nodded with a gentle smile,
"Of course, Tyler... The General and I will converse a bit before we will summon you Rangers..." With that Tyler and the other Harmony Rangers left the throne room, only to spread out as soon as they were out. While Sam and Rachel went back to the Ranger Headquarter to meet up with Lyra, Flynn took a short detour to Ponyville.

Heading over to the training hall, Tyler recognized several familiar faces of the Royal Guard. Some of them served with him in the clashes in the Amasian Enclave and it comforted him that they remained in service. But right now he needed a bit of a diversion. This General was so rude, it was grating on Tyler's nerves, and smashing a training dummy to pieces might lift his mood up a bit. As he entered the training hall, he spotted one particular Griffin who seemed a bit different than the other Griffins he had seen until now. He was a pearl white Griffin and Tyler arched a brow. Unlike the other griffins, his plumage and coat were very ordered and clean, like used to thorough preening and brushing. As one of the other Griffin officers entered and saw the young Griffin however, he gasped and stormed out of the training hall.

Tyler came over to the young Griffin and took a wooden training sword,
"A bit indecisive, eh? Want a sparing partner? Smashing a training dummy might be fun, but it's no real challenge..."

When the Griffin looked over to Tyler, he was a bit surprised at first, but nodded in agreement,
"Sure thing. A training partner would be a great way to improve myself."

* * * * *

In the throne room General Marek and Princess Celestia conversed,
“I am here because there are various rumors about the skills and abilities of the human race that brought great concern to King Gifford. I will need your complete-”

But Celestia raised a hoof,
“General, please... For centuries Equestria and the Griffin kingdom lived side by side with only one minor conflict. You don't have to demand cooperation like a catchphrase, you will always have that here. If these investigations of yours will show King Gifford one thing, it will be that the humans living in our country are out to preserve peace and not to bring war to your kingdom and that his worries were nothing more than just that."

Suddenly the doors to the throne room slammed open and one of the griffins stormed in,
"General Marek!!!"

As he reached the old Griffin, Marek hauled off and threatened to slap him, which caused the Griffin to cower subserviently,
"Mind your manners, you fool! Don't you see that you are in the presence of royalty?"

Widening his eyes as he looked up to Celestia, the Griffin bowed once before he turned to the General again,
"I'm terribly sorry... It's just that..."

As he whispered something to the General, Marek's eyes suddenly went wide,
"WHAT?!?"

* * * * *

Meanwhile Tyler and the young Griffin dueled for quite some time. The fight, although not to the death had become to the grade where both opponents wanted to best each other. Both were heavily huffing and sweating, yet smiling at each other.

Tyler grinned as they exchanged yet another series of attacks,
"I must admit that this fighting style is much different to the ones ponies use. It's very hard to get to you..."

The doors to the outside suddenly swung open and General Marek stood in them, aghast to see the young Griffin standing there,
"Prince Griffith!"

It was in that moment that the training of the two duelists came to a screeching halt. While Tyler was astonished that his training partner was a Griffin prince, the white griffin showed signs of uncertainty. But this wasn't the uncertainty of battle, the look in his eyes revealed it: This Griffin was expecting to be disappointed somehow.

But Tyler didn't yield. 'Prince or not, I will settle this!' Raising the sword in his hand, he nodded over to the white griffin,
“Ready?”

Hearing Tyler, the uncertain look in the young Griffin's face died instantly and with a smile he nodded with confidence. Now Tyler charged at Prince Griffith, but he countered his attack with enough force so that the wooden training swords cracked a bit. Then, all of a sudden, the Griffin slammed towards Tyler and knocked him off balance. Just as the human tried to regain his balance, the prince then performed a pirouette, and his lion hind leg slid over the ground, pulling Tyler's legs away like a hook. The move caused Tyler to fall to the ground. A few seconds later, the tip of the prince's wooden sword rested on the tip of Tyler's nose.

Exhaling, Tyler raised his arms in defeat,
“Alright, you got me...”

Lowering his sword, the prince offered Tyler his claw and looked into his eyes with an expression of curiosity,
“You knew of my status... And yet you continued to fight... Why?”

As Tyler grabbed the claw of the prince and got up, he smirked still out of breath,
“Hmph! You didn't come into this hall to be pampered, did you? That move was unexpected though, I’ll give you that.”

With a beaming face, the prince nodded,
“Thank you! My tutors taught me that for bipedal opponents such as minotaurs.”

General Marek, however, came to the side of the two sparing partners and his face was far from being pleased as he nodded to the prince,
“Prince Griffith, you should be in the kingdom! Your father surely is searching far and wide for you as we speak!”

Looking over to the General, Prince Griffith now showed annoyance,
“Oh he will live, Marek. Like anything happens in the old walls of the palace with me not being there. Leave Ranger Jones alone, I deem him a good sparing partner. At least he doesn't limit me to dummy training...”

The General arched a brow in uncertainty, but nodded,
“As you wish...” when the prince left the training hall, Marek turned to Tyler, “That young fool... He could have been injured! And then royal blood would be on your hands!”

Yet Tyler knocked on the sword in his hand,
“These are wooden training swords, give it a break. I think he just wants to see the world a bit more. And the look in his eyes when you called his name... he doesn't get any fights back home, does he?”

“This world isn't all friendly, you know...” the General said while his eyes followed Tyler, “And of course no one would dare to injure the prince! The king would be furious!”

Laying the sword aside, Tyler nodded in understanding,
“I can imagine... I'm a father myself.”

This small revelation visibly surprised the General,
“You have children? Here?”

Now smiling, Tyler held up his hands, showing the General the approximate size of Appleseed,
“A wonderful little foal... The wonders of magic made that possible. Hopefully I can protect her and this country until she's old enough to take care of her own.”

Thoughtful, General Marek nodded,
“The worries of a father... I have three kids at home... two grown up girls, and one boy almost ready to fly. I think you and I can agree that the king must be informed at once about this?”

Tyler hummed in agreement,
“Of course, I will inform Princess Celestia, so that she can send a letter to him... However, a bloody nose once in a while does good for a child. He will learn several lessons in life if exposed to dangerous situations. Never to touch fire because it burns you... There are things you can preach forever, but it only takes one mistake to burn that painful memory into you permanently. I think the prince yearns to be allowed to do just that.”

The brows of the General arched a bit, yet he agreed,
"Hmmm... An interesting idea, although pretty uncommon among Griffins... I will relay this 'recommendation' to the king... With no guarantee that this will change his mind."

* * * * *

An hour later, the General was lead through the Ranger Headquarters by Tyler and the other humans.

He listened with great interest about the whereabouts of the previous inhabitants and the former function of the facility,
"I see... So this place was formerly a Changeling Research station designed to find out more about the species... Well, there are some ponies in the Griffin Kingdom, we would benefit from that as well.”

As they reached the laboratories, Tyler spotted some items of interest and smiled,
"Ah! I see they are finally finished..." as they entered, he approached one of the items and observed it closely.

It was a suit human body armor with several tiny hexagon plates on it.

One of the stallions in the laboratory looked at Tyler and nodded,
"Perfect timing, Ranger Jones! I was just about to send someone to you.”

Tyler nodded,
"Sure thing. Please go ahead and explain to the General what you are doing here."

After a brief nod, the stallion turned to the General and pointed a hoof to the body armor,
"Certainly! Inspired by the human invention of Kevlar, a synthetic fiber from the human world that we are unable to reproduce here, we went for a simple steel fiber. Not as light-weighted or flexible as a Kevlar vest, yet also able to halt a rifle bullet. Also these little hexagon plates everywhere on the vest are embedded and are of a steel bio-alloy. Each plate is capable of withstanding a magic spell up to class 5. We are trying to improve that to class 6 right now. And are working on a design for ponies as well to hand a small number of armors out to the Royal Guard."

The General frowned a bit, 'A steel bio-alloy... Dragon scales maybe?'

It was then when a very familiar voice began to speak,
"Excuse me, sir... But the Great and Powerful Research Department... wants to have a break ahead of schedule. Do you think that this would be possible?"

Looking over to the unicorn mare, Tyler nodded with a chuckle and pointed at the vests,
"Of course, Trixie. You guys deserve a break for this here."

His statement caused many of the researchers to cheer and several of them left the laboratory immediately.

One of them, however, stopped at Rachel's side and looked up to her,
"Oh yes! Ranger Higgins, your new weapon design is ready in the armory. But, uh... Do you really think that this much firepower is necessary?"

Rachel shrugged with a smile,
"Better safe than sorry, right?" she turned to Tyler, "Jones, I'm headed to the armory to see the result of a little project of my own..."

Tyler arched a brow, yet nodded,
"Of course, just make sure to be in the command center later on."

And while the others continued the tour through the facility with the Griffins, Rachel headed directly to the armory. The quartermaster gave her a few forms to fill out, then nodded and opened the door for her.

There it was. The six barrels were highly polished and glittered in the light of the armory as Rachel walked around it reverently, her hand sliding over the metal ever so gently,
"Now... How the hell will I ever name you to do you right? Sasha? Big fucking gun?" lifting the heavy weapon off the pedestal she got herself accustomed to the weight.

One hand at the forward grip, the other at the handle as she fingered the trigger, she felt the weight of it now that she was able to lift the weapon, yet she probably needed more training if she wanted to wield it for a longer duration "Hmmm... I think I will call you Big Mac!"

* * * * *

An hour later the Harmony Rangers ended the tour with the command center, the heart of the Ranger Headquarter. By then General Marek was astounded by the many advanced technologies that the humans had brought to the ponies in order to give them a fighting chance against the yet unknown enemy. However deep inside, the old Griffin knew that this was not everything they had in their arsenal. Tyler explained to him the whereabouts of the pony interfaces and that this was the Crystal Empire's contribution to the Harmony Ranger's equipment as information processing. General Marek nodded as Tyler spoke with three ponies in order to demonstrate a simulation for the Griffins. After a short instruction from both unicorns and the crystal pony, Tyler linked into their processing and began to concentrate.

The screen started to show animations and pictures that looked more like computer interfaces and area maps, which turned into real armies as Tyler concentrated. In big green letters the title “Attack Changeling Hive Scenario” was standing at the top of the screen. Among the many figures on the screen, Tyler was on a hill coordinating the equestrian ground army and air force units. With precise and fast hand signals he gave his orders to his officers and looked at the front hive entrance, the largest one. And while the equestrian forces advanced relentlessly, one flash ran over the battlefield and a short cut-scene showed Flynn tossing some bombs at the entrance and gaining some distance again before the detonation occurred at the arrival of the ponies.

Like a disturbed hornet’s nest, the swarm, well swarmed out to attack the intruders. As the first wave of ponies was repelled after some very bloody and costly fights, the swarm hovered in the air, seemingly victorious. But still Tyler was hiding in cover on the battlefield and the signal came over by crystal radio: “Package delivered”

Not one second later, Tyler looked up and a rainbow stream flew high in the atmosphere while something fell down from it. In the midst of the swarm the package detonated with a blinding flash of light and took out a majority of the swarm as more waves of ponies now closed in from over the hills.

With that the animation ended and Tyler woke up from the trance he and the ponies were in. All three nodded up to him, confirming him that the connection was cut correctly. General Marek nodded thoughtfully,
“Impressive... Most impressive... You’re already forming strategic plans to do something against the Changeling scourge.”

Yet Tyler shook his head,
“Only a simulation, General Marek. I do know that in a real battle, there are no such things as bulletproof strategies. It's a possible scenario, yet I'm not able to process all information to a realistic scenario. I think it was too much to our favor. For a realistic approach, several simulations with some severe problems will have to be included as well.”

The General arched a brow,
“A wise way of thinking. It means you don't just daydream with this screen. And of course you can instruct officers to your plans like a film projector. Yes I like it.” coming down to Tyler, the General continued looking at the screen, “I saw you aim for weak spots and avoid heavily guarded positions. I must admit that I am intrigued...”

Jones decided the time had come to show the General the reason for the entire facility and Tyler nodded over to some information terminals. The ponies at them nodded and showed displayed the information and memories of several ponies during the Descendant Invasion of Equestria. The main focus on this were no doubt the war citadels with their ability to lay waste Equestria's defenses within a matter of minutes. Backing away, the General shook his head at the sight of the sheer monstrosity of the war citadels. Of all the things he had faced in his days, these citadels were by far the most dangerous thing he had ever seen.

Not that Tyler blamed him... those citadels were meant for shock and awe and it was his job now to help the General over his own.

Resting a hand on the General's shoulder, Tyler nodded,
"Everything alright?"

Gulping heavily, the General stared at the screen,
“What power… Tell me what… What hope do we have… to do something against this? Overwhelming doesn’t even begin to describe those things.”

Tyler nodded in agreement,
“For that the Rangers have a secret weapon the Descendants don't have.” pictures of destroyed war citadels filled the screen as the citadels detonated.

General Marek shook his head in even bigger confusion, yet at the same time it lifted his fighting spirit.

Those citadels were monstrosities, yet somehow these humans seemed to have found a weak-spot,
“What? I don't understand... How can one destroy these things?"

Tyler nodded and pointed at a doorway,
"To explain that I want you to see something for yourself. General? We brought some good human ideas for war crafts…"

With that they brought the Griffins into a sort of hangar bay. While Sam, Lyra and Rachel went down with Vinyl Scratch, Tyler and the Griffins remained upstairs.

That was when Tyler held up a blood capsule,
"This here is a small glass capsule with human blood, General Marek. We found out that human tissue is able to store unicorn magic to a certain degree. Now... let us demonstrate for you what happens if such a capsule becomes destabilized."

He nodded down to Rachel, who picked up a capsule herself and threw it into the empty hangar bay.

The detonation was minor, resembling that of a fragmentation grenade, yet big enough for the Griffins to gasp before Tyler held up a travel bag,
"Now imagine bigger capsules all detonating at once in this bag here."

General Marek arched both of his eyebrows and nodded. It was a most unfamiliar way to defeat an enemy, yet by bypassing the defenses of these stone fortresses, the humans could destroy them from within, which seemed both daring and impressive. Tyler nodded over to his fellow Rangers in the hangar bay. It was time to show the Griffins the latest example of human and equestrian technology.

Sam, Lyra and Rachel nodded and went ahead into the shadows of the hangar.
Not five minutes later a roaring sounded off and an engine turned over as the hover pads powered up and sent tiny sparks and lightning toward the ground while a tank began to hover and a slight glow of magic emitted from the pads.

Coming into the light of the hangar bay, the hover tank caused the eyes of the General to widen,
“That is an armored combat vehicle! But how did you managed to make it so small? And there are no ponies pulling it! How is it propelled? Not with steam, I suppose, and it doesn't run on rails.”

One of his officers pointed at it,
“Look at it, it's floating!”

Tyler raised an arm and pointed it at the tank,
“One of our fellow Rangers developed a magic combustion engine fueled with human blood, so levitation magic is a given even without unicorns recharging it all the time. The main turret is unique since it takes one of our Rangers as trigger component to fire that thing. She gets used to that though.”

Aghast, the general stared at Tyler, wild marvel lay within his eyes 'Blood as fuel and magic explosive... These humans, these Harmony Rangers… They give their blood for victory. Utilizing the own blood in order to achieve victory... Truly these are great and fearsome warriors just like the rumors told. But can they be trusted?'

When Tyler recognized the general's stare, he gave him a confident smile,
“We have a fighting chance against the Darkness Sisters and their Descendants, General… I want you to tell King Gifford that if he sends Griffins to aid us, the Rangers will fight for him as well and are willing to share their knowledge with them."

As the tank moved forward, Tyler pointed over to a target,
"Look at that brick wall over there…” slowly but surely, the tank’s turret took aim.

Inside of the tank Rachel started to grin,
“Let's see what I can do to that wall...” her grip rested on the firing mechanism and she started to accumulate magic in her hands. In the next moment, the tank fired one magic round directly into the wall, demolishing it in an explosion of debris. Rachel gasped as the shot was fired and shivered a bit with her eyes wide open.

A blush came to her face,
“Man, what a kick... and almost no recoil! God, I love this cannon...”

Beneath her, Sam and Lyra steered the tank while Vinyl, who was responsible for the secondary weapon system, looked up to her, chuckling a bit,
“A girl for the bigger guns, eh?”

Outside some of the Griffins mumbled and chatted with each other. Tyler overheard the one or another deeming such a vehicle quite useful to defend the kingdom.

Shortly after that, he turned to the older Griffin,
"Well, we have the know-how, the Griffins have the resources... If we put our advantages together, both our countries could benefit and help each other."

General Marek forced a smile and nodded,
"Yes... that sounds quite good..."

* * * * *

An hour later, the Griffins resided in their living quarters and made themselves at home. However, not everyone of them was thrilled and the troops noticed the certain mood General Marek was in.

A heavy sigh escaped the old experienced griffin.

The equestrians and humans still were in the dark about the real purpose of their mission,
“What are we facing now? Are we about to test the humans, or are we being tested by our king for our loyalty or Griffanity? If I order this now, this ingriffane thing to do... What does that make us?”

It was then that one of his officers, a lieutenant stepped forth to his side,
“General... we are griffins under your order. We follow you as we follow the king on whatever hard direction you are letting us march.”

The statement made the general smile. Geoffrey, one of the loyalest souls he had ever met in a Griffin.

As the General turned around to his fellow Griffins again, he looked through their ranks and nodded,
“We begin.”

* * * * *

The next day the Griffins requested to interview the human Rangers. Tyler arched a brow at first, yet nodded and agreed to the fact that every Ranger could be interviewed one at a time.

General Marek interviewed them himself as he started the first interview with Rachel,
"I take it you are a soldier, Ranger Higgins?"

Confirming the question with a nod, Rachel sat upright and showed discipline,
"Yes, sir! And from the best bunch you can find on Earth. No one kicks more ass than a United States Marine."

While one of the other Griffins took notes about the interview, the General nodded,
"I see... And these... United States... How many humans live there?"

Shrugging a bit, Rachel waved the thought away,
"Around 300 million? Maybe one million more or less, who can get it all straight? But that's only a small part of the population of Earth."

The new information prompted the General to gulp,
"I... I see... And how many humans are there on Earth entirely?"

Rewarding the question with another shrug, Rachel then leaned back,
"Oh, I don't know exactly. I think about... 7 billion humans? Maybe even more since there's four to five babies every second... In a few decades they say we reach 9 billion.”

Dumbfounded, the General looked at her,
"B-Billions..."

* * * * *

When it was his turn, Sam leaned back in his chair as the General arched a brow,
“Feeling comfortable, Mr. O'Donnell?”

Grinning a bit Sam nodded before he arched a brow,
"Sure. Uh... Will this take long? I'm not a huge fan for these questioning things, you know...”

The General shook his head with a smirk,
"I assure you that we will try to keep it as brief as possible."

And so Sam started to speak about several topics,
“...I learned almost everything about cars and engines from my dad. My old man served in Vietnam. Said it was the worst thing he had ever seen. And I tell you: War truly changes a man. I knew my father before and after that war... And after that he was shaking in his sleep like he was expecting to be ambushed in the field or something. He became very wise after that. In fact, I owe my love to cars to him. There's a time for hands to turn to fists, he said. And there a times when a fist has to become a hand again.”

Taking note, General Marek then looked up,
"I see... That device you manufactured... That combat vehicle. Are there more of those in your world?”

"Oh you mean the tank? Not like that one. That one can hover. That's beyond us human engineers, but we have track vehicles and jet fighters... Uh... These function as machines that help us fly faster than the speed of sound. Several nations have these kinds of things in the thousands. Air Force, Navy, Army... Humanity roams the skies, seas and lands with the help of machines. We’ve also begun to terraform." seeing the confused look of the Griffin, he smiled, "Let me explain, we build a dome of glass, set up a certain atmosphere beneath it and turn a barren wasteland into a fertile piece of land again. That technology is still in development though."

Taking a special note now, the General nodded and made a gesture with his right claw,
"Very well... What can you tell me about the other Rangers...?" the questioning went on for half an hour before Sam was finished and free to go.

* * * * * *

After an hour of wait, it was then time for Flynn to answer some of the questions.

This time, however, the General was not present, but one of his lieutenants instead conducted the interview,
“Ranger... Flynn Marshall... Right?”

“That's correct, Sir... And you are?”

"I am Lieutenant Geoffrey, one of the General's officers, but don't let that bug you, I really am an OK Griffin. You are a Harmony Ranger in Equestria, do you have a military rank on Earth?"

"I am a freighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force."

Taking a short note, Geoffrey nodded,
"Notified as a yes..."

Flynn now cocked his head a bit and arched a brow,
"Excuse me, but I was told that General Marek was performing these interviews... What happened to that?"

Lieutenant Geoffrey nodded briefly,
"He wants to state his apology for not interviewing you like the rest of the Rangers, Ranger Marshall... But a recent appointment with Princess Celestia needed his attention. I hope you aren't disappointed with only a lieutenant interviewing you?"

Shaking his head, Flynn showed a smile,
"Nah, I'm fine."

This prompted Geoffrey to fold his claws together,
"Well, we had a talk with each one of the human Rangers until now, each one was willing to show their 'special talent' which you earned after a prolonged exposure to the equestrian environment. What is your special talent if you don't mind me asking?"

Leaning back a bit, Flynn shrugged,
"For one, I am really really fast, although I don't know how fast I can go as the upper limit yet. Oh and my wounds heal within a matter of seconds. So if I cut my finger, I bleed for a second before I start to heal."

Geoffrey arched both brows and looked to the other Griffins.

They agreed that this was the perfect opportunity,
“I see... This really is quite impressive...” after a nod to the other Griffins, one of them left the room and after some seconds, the door was locked.

Flynn arched a brow,
“Alright... What is this? What’s the meaning of this?”

The lieutenant drew a dagger as two other Griffins held Flynn down.

Flynn struggled, yet was unable to break free,
“Excessive speed, but the strength remains. Interesting... most interesting. I am sorry, Ranger Flynn... I really, really despise the following actions, but I'm afraid I have to test how far these regenerative abilities go...”

Flynn eyed the dagger and gritted his teeth,
"You stay the fuck away from me, Featherbrain!"

It was in this moment as Trixie came across the corner, returning from her break, when she heard the angered yelling and screams of pain coming from the doors. Seeing the griffins glare over to her, she slowly backed away.

Seeing Trixie, one of the griffins knocked at the door,
“Lieutenant? We were seen just as ordered... You should-”

He was interrupted by Flynn,
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!”

It was in this moment, that the yelling stopped for a moment by a sudden sound, before shock and terror forced Flynn to scream anew. Pain filled Flynn's mind, his vision blurred as he stared at the dagger that had separated his right middle finger from the rest of his hand. Blood spurted over the table and floor as he stumbled backwards, released by the Griffins. Geoffrey attempted to continue, but the other Griffin in the room held him back, shaking his head.

Trixie galloped down to the Command Center, where she kicked the doors open,
“The Griffins are torturing someone!”

Looking up to her first, the humans looked at each other,
“Flynn!” Rachel said with gritted teeth before they all stormed out and through the corridors.

Once they arrived at the corridor where the interviews have taken place, they already spotted the Griffins standing outside with Geoffrey coming out.

That was when Tyler's face grew grim,
"Lieutenant, what is going on here? Why are there screams coming from the interview room?" Just as he wanted to pass to enter the room, the Griffins stepped into his way, blocking it, which only prompted the Rangers to group together. "You will let me pass right now..."

Yet Geoffrey shook his head,
"I will not. I have orders not to comply with your orders."

Tyler remained very calm, but the lightning over his fists gave insight to his anger,
“I will get access to that man... Right now.”

Geoffrey eyed Tyler thoroughly as his eyes narrowed,
“Do you really risk stepping up to a member of the Royal Griffin Air Force and by that risking a conflict between Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom? I don't have to remind you that you currently are part of an Equestrian task force...”

Leaning in to the Lieutenant, Tyler's face shivered in rage,
“I would risk an all out war for every Ranger in this facility, human or pony... Now move aside before I move through you!”

Seeing the determination in Tyler's eyes, Geoffrey stepped aside and Tyler entered the room to look for Flynn. He cowered in the corner, several cuts in his clothes like they stabbed him in the shoulders and limbs multiple times. Flynn was also holding his bleeding hand in pain. Tyler followed the trail of blood back to the table, where the dagger still was stuck in... as well as a human finger.

Helping Flynn up, Rachel took his left arm over her shoulders and walked him out of the room,
“Come on... Let's get you to the infirmary.”

While passing Tyler, she and him exchanged angered glares, before Tyler shot his glare at the Griffin Lieutenant,
“Lieutenant Geoffrey... You have attacked and violated a Harmony Ranger under the jurisdiction of Equestrian law!”

The Griffin simply scoffed at Tyler,
“I, as well as the other Griffins here have diplomatic immuni-”

As he attempted to walk by Tyler, the move was swift and sudden.

One punch later, Tyler slammed the Griffin's face onto the table, so the Lieutenant could see the cut off finger clearly,
“I hereby arrest you and the Griffins here until further notice for malicious mayhem! Rangers? Get these birds into the cellblock... I can't stand the sight of them anymore!”

As the ponies put claw- and wing cuffs onto the Griffins, they struggled against the hooves marching them off,
“YOU CAN'T DO THAT!!!”

Tyler looked down to the cutoff finger and his eyebrow twitched a little,
“Oh yes, I can! You will be brought to court, without the fear for your well being or safety, without fear of torture or abuse... And you will see justice in trial!”

* * * * *

A few hours later, the remaining Harmony Rangers conversed with a stallion in medical attire.

Doctor Little Do, despite his name was competent and passionate Doctor,
"Well, it's cut off clean. We amputated the bone standing off and treated the open wound. The finger is a stump now, but the real scar is a mental one. I propose a few weeks off for therapy would be the best for such a traumatizing-"

Yet the Doctor was interrupted as a nurse galloped down the corridor,
"Doctor!! Doctor!!!"

Turning around, the stallion expected complications of some sorts,
"What is it?

Looking up with a worried expression,
"It's about Ranger Flynn's cut off finger... It... It regenerated!

This earned her a collective, "What?!?" from the entire group.

As they got into Flynn's room, Doctor Little Do inspected the treated hand and arched his brows,
"Well I never... This finger was cut off completely and amputated! How in the world did you manage to heal it?" as he revealed the hand, the finger, although cut off and amputated properly before, was now back completely and differed slightly in coloration due to the still pale skin on the finger.

Tyler nodded in wild marvel,
"Yeah... As far as I know only the princesses have magic powerful enough to restore body parts and they aren't aware of this incident yet."

It was in that moment the the door opened and Rainbow Dash entered with two other Wonderbolts. Still wearing her uniform, she looked around in worry before her eyes met with Flynn's.

Flynn reached out for her,
“Rainbow...”

Coming over to him, Rainbow nuzzled him with care,
“I'm here... I came as soon as I got the message that they harmed you.”

While Flynn patted her cheek with a weak smile, Rainbow looked over to Tyler,
"T-Man! Tell me you got the bird who did that! I want to beat that shithead up!"

Tyler shook his head,
"We have him, but I won't let you do that, Rainbow. These griffins will be brought to trial and before they are sentenced to a ‘beating’, you won't put a hoof on one of them." Seeing that the Pegasus mare and Element of Loyalty was very displeased, he came over to her, "But here is what I want you to do: as soon as Flynn can leave this bed, I want you to bring him home for a couple of days or weeks until he is mentally recovered."

Rainbow frowned at the order,
"No offense, T-man, but you make it sound like he's a sissy! He's not! Flynn is stronger than you think and he and I will show that to you guys. He’ll be back in no time!"

As they left the room, the remaining three humans stood together as Rachel started to talk,
"I’ve known Flynn for a long time, but he's in pretty bad shape right now. Not physically, but mentally. I’ll have to have a talk with Rainbow later. He needs some assistance with that trauma, even if she thinks that he can shake it off like it’s nothing."

Tyler looked down into the command center,
"Well, what do you know... Flynn keeps surprising us with his ability of regeneration. Him regenerating a cut off finger is a miracle. It undid the physical harm done to him, but the mental damage will have some effect on him. I always thought only certain reptiles were able to grow back their severed tails. This certainly is not a normal cell regeneration... But still... How do I explain this situation to the Princesses? This situation is pretty ugly, when our 'supposed allies' do this."

Sam, however, leaned against the wall, his face thoughtful and worried,
“You know what bugs me right now? How obvious they made it... The torture I mean... Like they wanted us to know that they were torturing Flynn...” Tyler and Rachel looked up to Sam and he simply shrugged, “Come on, folks... If you torture someone, you do it behind several closed doors so nobody gets it. They did it in the open! They wanted to see our reaction.”

When Rachel now looked over to Tyler again, his eyes narrowed and his face grew grim.

* * * * *

Not an hour later Tyler opened the doors to the throne room with enough force that the guards jumped aside. Both door wings smashed against the walls, stressing the hinges.

When Celestia heard him, she looked up from her conversation with General Marek,
“Tyler? Is something the matter?”

Just as Tyler reached them, his hand grabbed the General's throat. The other Griffins were about to step in, yet the General ordered them to stay away with a short signal of his claws,
“What kind of game are you playing here with us, General? Torture to see our reactions on it? Torture to prove a point? If that's the case then you are in for it big time and I won't hesitate to kick your feathery butt for that!”

Celestia first wanted to intervene, but as soon as Tyler mentioned the topic of torture, her eyes narrowed,
“General... You ordered your Griffins to torture one of our Harmony Rangers?"

Choking a bit, the General looked over to Celestia,
“I... I never said my mission... would be easy or pleasant... But King Gifford demanded precisely these reactions to be observed. He wanted to know about your military prowess, how you value life and how you prosecute those who do you dire harm. Trust me, I didn't want to do this, but since you presented to me how dire the situation and how powerful our enemy in the south is, you will have to agree that I didn't have the luxury to postpone this decision to learn to know these humans better. I gave the order and Lieutenant Geoffrey and his fellow Griffins volunteered for that. In case of an unfortunate event such as prison or execution, the king offered to maintain wealth to all involved families for three generations. It had to be extreme like this and since Ranger Mitchell has stronger regenerative abilities, we-”

Tyler let go of the General, yet in his eyes was still anger. Stabbing his fingers into the direction of the Griffin, he interrupted him,
“You cut off one of his fingers! It's a miracle his healing ability is able to repair even that! You couldn't know this! Hell, even he didn't know it himself!”

The General now nodded,
“True... I couldn't have known that. But for this purpose he was the one who would heal the best. What is a finger in comparison to the certainty of that you aren't bloodthirsty barbarians?”

“And what are you then, General Marek?” pointing his finger at the the General's beak once again, Tyler gritted his teeth, “Nobody treats us humans like guinea pigs... You got that? Not for science and not for proving a point! They committed a crime and by Equestrian law they will be punished! But let me give you a fair warning, General. If one of you Griffins ever harm a Ranger again, I will come for him or her AND PLUCK THAT BIRD NAKED!!!”

The throne room was very silent. General Marek and Tyler glared at each other, eying for each other's reactions.

After many long, silent minutes, the General harrumphed a bit and nodded,
“That I understand. And believe me: It will never happen again.” he then turned to Princess Celestia, “My report is finished now. I think I can summarize it for you.”

The white alicorn nodded with a strict look and looked at Tyler,
“I think we would all like to hear that, General Marek...”

Harrumphing briefly, the old Griffin then started,
“The human race, despite its highly aggressive and destructive nature, a nature combined with weapons beyond anything imaginable, is nonetheless able to overcome this nature in order to cooperate for a higher achievement. Their crafting skill shows that the world they come from owns a technological advantage dwarfing everything Equis has seen to this day. It is my belief that humans, would they have nothing to fear, might use this technological supremacy to pose a threat to the whole of Equis.”

Tyler folded his arms and arched a brow.

His eyes met with Celestia's, but nonetheless the General continued,
“However, the humans I talked to, the Harmony Rangers, seem determined to keep this world safe in order to keep their own world safe from the threats our world has to offer. Despite the misconduct of Griffins, they were up to maintain a civilized attitude. Which only leads me to the belief that humans are far more than vile beasts with military experience.”

Tyler's strict facial expression lightened up by the smallest margin as the General made a explaining gesture with his eagle claw,
“Due to the military might of the Descendants and their superiority to everything else on Equis, I will recommend the king to send Griffins in order to receive military training from the Harmony Rangers and to learn whatever they can teach us. If we are to overcome this crisis against an enemy with technological advantage, it is only good and proper if we have someone with technological advantage at our side as well. However, I will advice the King to demand a high alert zone over the Everfree Forest since that currently seems to be the path from their world into our world. A multinational world torn by conflict seems not like the safest place to be.”

Celestia exchanged a look with Tyler before she responded with a smile to the General,
“This sounds very good, General. You are free to leave as you like. With the exception of Lieutenant Geoffrey and his accomplices. As for King Gifford... I will give you sealed letter for him... I'd like to... have a word with him.”

The last few sentences Celestia said with a voice as cold as liquid nitrogen. Already Tyler felt bad for this king. He had never had to deal with Celestia in such a foul mood. It really had to displease her that a foreign force had sent troops into her country to do her friends harm. But who wouldn't be pissed?

As the Princess of the sun left the throne room, the General looked at Tyler once again,
“Ranger Jones, I wish to apologize once more. It is times like these where we are being tested, in loyalty to the ones we love and the virtues we hold dear.” he looked down in worry before he looked up with a slight smile, “I shall return to the king with this report to depict humans as hardened warriors, but also valuable allies, who demand respect as much as the next Griffin. And of course Princess Celestia's letter.”

* * * * *

Meanwhile in the far reaches of the southeast, the war citadels surrounded the Behemoth class super citadel of Nagohod. Deep within this huge beast of a fortress, Princess Lamira and Asira trotted along a wide corridor, conversing about their plans,
"The preparations are nearly complete. The fleet is almost ready to roll out, Lamira."

Princess Lamira seemed content with the current situation,
"Finally after eons of preparation and precautions... now let us guarantee that our enemies are occupied as we make our move. I think it is time we send him in again."

Both now entered a laboratory, in which midst stood a large cryogenetic tank. A few bubbles of air floated up the half liquid blue jelly as the ponies around monitored the lifesigns of the patient inside of the tank.

As they approached the tank, Princess Asira shook her head,
“That failure? He failed his own mission, what makes you think that this abomination is capable of doing something now? I simply don't understand what you see in him nor why you keep him alive."

"True, after his defeat we had to piece him together. Fortunately his head was intact and still alive. With our help, he will become a stronger and faster predator, able to take his revenge, which currently clouds all of his thoughts."

"You read his mind?"

Nodding, the Princess smirked,
"Since he's asleep in cryostasis, I had made contact with him with telepathy. Not too much of a spell... He's thankful and since he knows that I would sense even the smallest bit of treachery, he agreed on serving us IF he is allowed to carry out his revenge."

Approaching a huge glass cylinder now, the ponies activated the machinery. As the massive humanoid creature came back from cryo sleep, medical readouts flashed over the monitors. Slowly, life returned into the dark plates, bolted together by armor implants to replace missing parts of the exoskeleton. Dark lightning sparked over the body as the breathing took place and the creature regained consciousness. The heartbeat grew in strength and became slightly audible. A pair of shining green eyes opened and stared up to the two dark princesses...

Author's Notes:

Proofread by Truthseeker