The Second Griffon War (Casual Thread - All welcome!)

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

The view was, thankfully, free of any signs of war or scarring to the land. It was just serene Equestrian plains, looking out over the unexplored western peninsula of this landmass. Not even Starlight knew what lay beyond the western Equestrian border.

Starlight also ordered a drink, that drink being elderflower wine. Wine from grapes was too rich for her simple village tastes, even if she was a Princess's Apprentice now. You can take the mare out of the village but you can't take the village out of the mare.

The drinks were brought, and menus were placed on the table.

Sitting in this lovely restaurant, drinks floating idly by their magic as they gazed at the view, and each other, was incredibly nice, and peaceful. Starlight could forget there was a war going on. She was happy.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Wylfen Shepard
"Head to the Thirsty Tongue Inn in Canterlot. It's a nice place, horrible name but pretty cheap and I think it'll suit you well for now." She nods to him slightly and motions towards the doorway. "I will see you out, just to make sure you get out without any trouble."

Dumbledoof
Of the 17 remaining guards, not counting the leader, 12 went for Luna. Only three of those guards could really injure her, with their rune-blades, but even then they couldn't hope to defeat her regeneration factor; not without some extreme luck. Still though, 12 heavily armed and armored guards running at her wasn't exactly a nice sight.

Before the guards had even taken a few steps, Luna slammed her scimitars together and they began to morph. The swords combined to form one larger sword, with a straight blade rather than a curved one. The decoration on the blade changed completely, as the cross-guard of this blade had an elongated skull carved into it and a spike for a hilt. Around the handle were smaller spikes. The blade itself was nearly 7 feet long, taller than Luna herself, and was smooth on one side and smooth at the last half of the other. The first half of the other side was jagged and rather sinister looking.

The blade appeared to be made of some sort of silver metal, but it was hard to see because over-top of the blade was a layer of darkness with small speckles of light, which appeared to be stars.

She pointed the blade at the charging guards, and said something indecipherable.

Those 'stars' floating around the blade began to move forward and gathered at the tip, before being released. It then became apparent that they were not stars at all, but were rather trapped souls. The souls faces were distorted with pain and they let loose an eerily howl as they were released, dropping each creature in the room to their knees except for Expellix and Luna herself. The griffons clutched at their ears.

The 7 griffons directly in front of Luna were the ones which the souls passed through. The griffons began to age quickly as the souls passed through them, and within a few seconds the griffons collapsed to the floor; nothing left but bone and rusted armor.

The souls then sailed away upwards, free from their entrapment.

Luna brandished her sword at the remaining griffons and waited for their next move, which they were rather hesitant to do.

Cyan Hide
Trixie stared out over the landscape with a smile, swirling her drink around absently in her grasp. She hadn't exactly been on many dates, and certainly none like this, so she wasn't really sure how she should act. After a few moments she spoke up again and said, "... So the view... Is nice?" She tilted her head slightly and nodded. "Nice! Yeah. Do you like the wine?"

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Obviously, what the griffons tried to do was absolutely worthwhile. With seven of them dead, that meant there was even less odds against Luna, and even less reason for them to commit suicide for the commander. Unfortunately, even if they ran, they would be executed for cowardice regardless. They were steadily losing hope of getting out of this alive. If it wasn't bad enough that Luna was killing them without even touching them now, they were being beaten by a rabbit.

The five that came out Expellix fared no better than the rest that attempted to engage Luna. Their charge was put to a screeching halt when Expellix actually leapt - yes, leapt at their faces. The one he immediately went for suddenly had a knife in the eye and dropped their runeblade, screaming in agony as blood poured from the socket and they scrambled to grab the hilt and remove it. They were soon cut short as Expellix killed them by shoving it further in, the blade sticking out the back of their head.

The others tried to recover but Expellix was quick. With the runeblade in his telekinesis, he swung in a wide arc and cut two of the griffon's front legs clean off of their bodies. They went crashing to the floor, soon beheaded by another swift sweep of the blade. The last two griffons were quicker than that and managed to evade another swing of the weapon. One with a sword dashed forward, stabbing at the ground where the rabbit was.

He dodged, using his magic and whipping his paw to the side. That sent their weapon suddenly flying out of their claws, but it stopped short once it was free of them, rocketing backwards and nailing that one right in the forehead. The griffon's eyes rolled into the back of their head from the blow, falling into the blood floor unconscious.

The last griffon was wide-eyed in disbelief as Expellix rounded on him slowly. He recognized the look of a predator, the ferocious glint in the rabbit's eyes was that of one. Suddenly, he knew what it really felt like to be prey; the overwhelming odds before him were unprecedented. This is what the other guys were talking about. This is why they were so afraid of what was presumably just a tiny, helpless creature.

He lifted his war hammer and tried to take a swing, only to suddenly have a runeblade puncture his chest and sprout out his back, right between his wings. His beak was held closed by Expellix as he gripped the blade tighter and held the griffon up straight. After sufficiently gathering his magic, he twisted the runeblade until the blade was perpendicular with the griffon's body and ripped it towards, splitting him down the middle from his chest. Afterward, he dropped both the weapon and the now dead body, gore spilling across the floor as he retrieved his dagger from the head of the first griffon to go.

He washed it off with a small spout of conjured water before holding it and turning to the rest of the griffons. "How does it feel to be hunted?" He asked venomously.

Safe to say, not so good. The remaining griffons looked utterly terrified and completely unwilling to walk to their deaths, even if they would die regardless. Luna aged them to oblivion, Expellix turned the tent into a bloodbath with just those five alone, not to mention what Luna did to the others before he even appeared. This was a nightmare.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
The 5 griffons left alive were having all sorts of moral dilemmas. Do they run away and be executed for cowardice, or stay in this tent and be executed for being soldiers? It wasn't much of an option. At least here they had some small chance of survival, but out there? They could run and hide for years, maybe, but eventually their psychotic king would find them and would execute them in a much more brutal fashion than they would receive here. Luna and Expellix were dangerous, but they had given all of the griffons a swift death so far.

And an animal is always most deadly when its back is to the wall. They certainly felt trapped.

The 5 griffons began to work in unison against Luna. One of them straight up threw themselves at her, into their death, so that their friends would have a better chance. Luna caught the griffon as it collided with her and wrestled it onto the ground, before harshly tearing one of its wings off and using the wing as a rope to wrap around the griffons neck and crack it.

While she was busy with that one, the other four had made moves around the tent. Three of them had gone to pick up rune-blades laying on the ground, a weapon they assumed could injure her, while the fourth once again kept her distracted. She turned around from her newest kill just in time to see a mace descend upon her. She held her own rune-blade up to block it, the edge of which cut straight through the maces handle and severed the weapon in half. Luna's left hoof shot out, grabbing the griffin by the neck and pulling him in.

Her mouth opened wide and she bit into his throat, letting the blood flow into her mouth for a few moments before biting down harder and tearing away, sending him to the floor gasping and wriggling about.

In her blood-raged stupor, she barely even saw the next griffin coming. She turned around in time just to see a sword point diving for her heart. She caught it in between her hooves, but was distracted one again as two more griffins closed in from each side. Each of the three had rune-blades, and the one pressing against her chest was beginning to draw a thin line of blood.

As the griffin to her left swung down towards her she brought her rune-blade up to parry the strike, sending it off wide and ramming her blade through his eye-socket and out the back of his head. The griffin off to the right, however, slashed down at her legs; the rune-blade cutting easily through them. Luna withdrew her legs in pain...

... And with her hooves no longer holding the rune-blade pushing against her chest, it finally found its mark. It pierced through her chest and out her back; straight through her heart.
...
Unfortunately Expellix was to busy with his own troubles to worry about Luna.

"Enough of this!" came a cry from behind the guards. Up stood a griffin, who had simply been sitting down and watching the whole ordeal. He stood up, dressed in blood-red full plate armor and wielding two large and nasty looking axes. Seeing as how Luna appeared to be under control or slain, he turned his attention to the rabbit. He clashed his axes together and sneered at Expellix. "A rabbit thinks he can challenge the might of the griffon empire?! You'll pay with this foolishness with your blood, as will your false deity!"

The griffin ran at him but stopped short and swung his axes in a wide arc. A line of fire followed them, sweeping towards Expellix.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix moved to help Luna out with the rest of the guards but that's when the commander finally showed his stupid face. He turned to face the griffon... only to nearly have his head lopped off. He barely managed to lean back, watching as the head of one of the axes sailed inches over his nose. It twitched slightly, and once that axe was out of the way, he back-flipped just in time out of reach of the flames.

The commander snorted with contempt. "You'll die like the rest, rat!" He roared, taking another lunge at him.

Expellix narrowed his eyes and waited for the strike, dodging out of the way and using the shaft of the axe like a pole, swinging himself around and planting his foot right into the griffon's eye. That didn't seem to hinder him much; Expellix had to immediately dodge roll out of the way as his other axe came around, managing a long, shallow cut along his right cheek. He landed on the floor in a crouch, the cut beginning to bleed and he wiped it off with his paw, looking quite a bit more angry than before.

His senses were suddenly alive as he was suddenly taking in much more information due to the adrenaline now rushing through his body. The commander was in a berserker rage, huffing and snorting in fury. He didn't have time to worry about Luna at the moment, and though he saw and heard the whistling of a blade followed by her hiss, and then another sword sinking into flesh. That just spurred him on even more.

The griffon in blood-red armor brandished his axes, looking quite content. That was about to change. Expellix could see a flaw in his defense; his throat, and the fact that he left himself open after a swing. That would be his chance to strike but he'd only have the opening for but a moment.

Expellix gripped Coldstabby tightly and ran forward towards the griffon. He delivered a quick slice to where Expellix was coming from preemptively to cut him off. Expellix gave a small jump up, using the axe like a stepping stone. The next axe came, higher, at the level of his neck, and Expellix jumped up to stand on that one was well. He could feel the chill on this one. There was a suddenly look of surprise in his eye as he realized the rabbit had dodged both attacks. They were lightning fast.

Expellix wasn't planning on ending this quickly. Oh, no, magic charged in his palm and he blasted that helmet clean off of the griffon's head, sending him reeling backwards. He pressed his advantage and dashed forward, his paws glowing with magic. The griffon took another swing at him and was promptly dodged once more, Expellix vaulting over the head of the axe. He brought his dagger down, stabbing him through the chinks of his armor.

The commander howled and dropped his axe, backing up and tearing the dagger free, throwing it away behind him. Expellix didn't need it anymore. He took the griffon's own axe, the white outline of his telepathy surrounding it. He tossed it in his hand for a moment, testing its weight. Not bad, not bad at all... He could still feel the biting cold coming from the weapon. Fire and ice, he liked that.

With the axe in his paw, he stared the commander down loathingly. "Yes, a rabbit does challenge you." He replied through a hiss, pointing the griffon's own axe at him. "You're nothing but prey now. Funny how that works, huh?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
The commander was about to answer, when he was suddenly cut off by an explosion of magic off to the right.

Princess Luna, in her pain and panic, had called upon all the magic she could muster and had unleashed it in its most pure and destructive form; a simple beam of energy. The beam was easily 5 feet wide by 5 feet tall, and the griffin who stabbed through her heart was the first to get hit. The only thing left of him was his tail, the rest having been reduced to particles. The griffin to Luna's right had to leap away from the attack and decided now was a good time to get out of the tent.

The blast from the beam blew the tent apart and created a chasm in the ground where it struck, although with Luna's head whipping around like that the beam didn't really have a direction. It cut through the ground, through the surrounding encampment and through the clouds when her head was angled up.

The commander managed to get into the air right as the beam swept under him, tearing a hole in the ground and causing the earth to rumble. The beam missed Expellix by a few inches.

"I'll be seeing you again, rabbit." the commander said, before simply flying away to where he wouldn't be killed by a death-laser. He was horribly outmatched against the two of them together anyway, and considering Luna wasn't dead yet he didn't believe she'd die any time soon enough for it to be worthwhile for him to stay.

After a few seconds, the beam dissipated and Luna's eyes lost their blue glow. She burst into shadows, causing the rune-blade to clatter to the ground, and reformed nearer to Expellix. She was still clutching her chest, but it was healing slowly. She coughed out a bit of blood and just pointed out of the ruined tent, at Canterlot. They could regroup there.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix barely had time to react to the laser before it had nearly vaporized him like it did that griffon and everything else in its path. A giant laser beam of destruction was not on his list of ways he wanted to die. He jumped off the thing as it came near him, not that he needed to since it just tore through the ground anyway. It was mostly out of instinct and panic than doing something smart.

He turned to glare at the commander as he flew away. With an irritated growl, he turned his attention to Luna when she appeared next to him. She was in bad shape from what he could see; legs gone, a big gaping hole in her chest... it was a wonder she was even alive still. Then again, he did witness a fucking airship get dropped on her already. This was child's play.

He cursed himself still. "Damnit. I should've been helping you, not getting distracted with the stupid..." he shook his head, stopping mid-sentence. Berating himself wouldn't help now. Turning his gaze up to Canterlot when she pointed at it, he nodded. "Alright. Hold on to your lunch."

With the camp thoroughly destroyed, he threw his paw out and summoned his dagger back to him, the weapon sheathing itself on his back. He then noticed that the commander's other axe was laying on the ground, somehow unharmed. Without hesitation, he summoned that and caught it in his paw. He touched his hand to Luna's shoulder, gathering his magic, and teleporting them back to Canterlot. This was a failure.

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
By the time they landed in Canterlot, Luna's wound was pretty much gone. A scar remained, and even that was beginning to fade. Regardless, some nearby guards noticed them appear and noticed the blood dripping from her cursed sword, and more blood dripping from her armor. "Princess Luna!" they exclaimed, rushing over before hastily before pushed away by her. They got the message to leave her alone.

She turned back to Expellix, sheathing her greatsword across her back. She tapped a hoof on the ground, simply staring at him for some time before nodding. "Not perfect. Not at all. Our trouble was caused by your recklessness..." She smiled slightly, ".. But it worked. You didn't do perfectly, but you did well."

With that, she turned and began to walk away. "Follow."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix turned to look at the guards when they started coming. He barely managed to cobble through that on luck alone. Killing a bunch of griffons wasn't a problem... but he almost messed everything up. He still did mess everything up if he hadn't been so stupid as to try and save time by tossing that griffon's torch to the ground... how could he be so stupid?

He clearly wasn't easily accepting Luna's praise but he still felt awful. He followed after her. "I failed." He stated simply. "I don't know what I was thinking through all of that. Sad to say, much of that was out of pure luck rather than skill for me. I messed everything up."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
"You failed, but you also redeemed yourself after. Your earlier mistake was corrected by creating that explosion which then led the griffons away from the main tent. We managed to eliminate several guards in that tent, many of whom I believe were high-ranking. It worked out, not nearly as well as we'd hoped, but well enough." She said as they walked.

It soon became apparent that they were walking towards the Lunar Guard headquarters. They soon came upon the dark blue building, where inside many guards were training for a variety of things. Espionage, assassination, stealth... The usual!

Luna ignored all of that, and led Expellix deeper into the heart of the beast. They came to a statue of Luna, holding a scythe with the butt of it planted in the floor, straight up. One of the statues hooves was out forward.

Luna touched the hoof, and lit up her horn. The statue groaned for a moment and then began to turn, revealing a set of stairs leading down into the darkness. She motioned for Expellix to go down them.

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix just gave a quiet sigh in return. "I could have done better." He replied. There wasn't anything else for him to really say. Best to just learn from the mistake and move on.

He did admire the Lunar Guard sect, though. It was interesting to finally see where the magic happened, what made Lunar Guards so good. Their training and techniques and more. He didn't actually pay enough attention to see what exactly they were doing, but more contemplating the purposes of techniques. It was a good bit of brain stimulation for him.

At the statue, he blinked when it moved and the dark stairs down were revealed. He glanced at Luna in wonder and confusion. Trusting her, he walked forward and began to descend the stairs.

 

[Cyan Hide]

Dreamweaver

While Trixie had been on few dates, that was at least a few more than zero, she she had many times more experience than Starlight did. The awkward silence that had taken hold was unbearable. Starlight just wanted to say something. Anything. But the last time she'd went with unchecked guy impulse, she'd proposed to Trixie. That was the most awkward moment of her entire life, even beating being found out in her old town as having a cutie mark, making her more equal than the others, in Orwellian terms. She needed the cutie mark to be able to use her magic, which that whole town's structure relied on, but she didn't exactly have time to make a detailed speech defending herself against the betrayed townspeople at the time.

Anyway, that's in the past, and this is now. She'd on a date with the mare she loves. Life is great. Just enjoy yourself, Starlight, dammit!

"I do like the wine, yes! How's your wine?" she asked, before glancing at the menu. "Have you decided what to have? If so, I'll try and call a waiter over."

 

[Dumbledoof]

NevermoreStarsign
Expellix had been mostly wandering around since they had retreated to Canterlot after the disaster at Ponyville. His own injuries that he had sustained kept him down for a lot of it. Bandages were still wrapped around his chest... he was almost strong enough to heal himself. The previous battle had taken a lot of his magic, even more due to him letting his guard down.

He had noticed a purple mare flitting around. She seemed to just be getting random gizmos and bobs, for what reason he couldn't discern from simply watching. That just piqued his curiosity, leading him to pursuing her. He appeared behind her, watching silently.

"You're Twilight Sparkle, aren't you?" He spoke up.

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dumbledoof
Twilight had, in fact, been shopping to replace the damaged bits and things she lost in the attack before. She doesn't notice she's being talked to for several long seconds, heading back and forth before suddenly realizing someone was actually talking.
"O-oh, hello!"
Twilight was rather less noticable than usual, having hung up the battle armor for the moment and just flitting around in a pair of nice orange-tinted goggles.
"Have we met? I don't think so!"

 

[Dumbledoof]

NevermoreStarsign
Expellix shook his head slightly, looking at her googles. You didn't see somebody wearing those as casual clothing usually. At least, he hadn't, he wasn't entirely acquainted with pony customs. Being out in the wild for most of your life did that.

"I'm Expellix, it's nice to meet you." He said. He offered his paw to her. "You're the student of Princess Celestia, right? I've heard a lot about you."

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dumbledoof
"Oh! Yes, I am! Although I've been researching on my own for some time now... Wait, how did you know that?"
Twilight stares at the offered paw for a second before remembering what she was supposed to do with that sort of thing, and shakes it as expected!

 

[Dumbledoof]

NevermoreStarsign
Expellix rolled his eyes, retracting his paw back to his side after the shake was done. "You're the talk of Ponyville before it... well..." he trailed off, shaking his head. "Not to mention the multitude of your papers on magic that I've also seen. I'm new to ponykind and magic and I found publications that just happened to be by you. I've been learning all I can since I met Luna and Celestia in Ponyville a month or two ago."

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dumbledoof
"Oh, please, I just did what I needed to... But go on, I love talking with the fans~"
Twilight puts down the mechanical whosit/whatsit she was toying with and turns fully to face Expellix, a slight smile gracing her face as she puts a single hoof to her chin, trying to place exactly who and/or what he was.
"Always nice to meet a fellow student of the arts of magic, arcanery, and mystery! Though I've been busying myself with mastering magitech for the moment."

 

[Dumbledoof]

NevermoreStarsign
Expellix smirked a bit. "I wouldn't call myself a fan, I've just been reading whatever I can get my paws on. Yours do happen to be the more memorable ones simply because they've had more to offer to me, among other things. I learn fast." He didn't continue on that route, instead sitting on his haunches and looking up at her. "Magitech? Do you mean the things that... that... I never heard their name but some hippogriff has been putting others out of business."

 

[NevermoreStarsign]

Dumbledoof
"Well, you are more than welcome to come by the castle and see what I'm cooking up next!"
Twilight adjusts her goggles, pushing them back up to be sitting just under her horn where they rest comfortably.
"And yes! Machinery and other devices that use arcane power to perform their functions! It's a really fascinating field, and I've made myself out to be a pioneer! I really think it can go far to making everyone's life better. Er, provided it doesn't... Explode spectacularly. Which happens! But I take precautions. Safety first! Which is why I have the goggles. Ooh, they're my own design, and-"
And Twilight continues on in this matter for several seconds, or until interrupted, whichever happens to come around first.

 

[Dumbledoof]

NevermoreStarsign
He thought it over for a moment. While he didn't exactly understand the technical aspects of this 'magitech' that's been being produced recently, he did somewhat understand the actual magic behind it. He hadn't progressed far enough in his own research and training to completely grasp the concepts. He'd get there soon, that much he was determined to do. Maybe Luna could help him figure it out.

Then she started going for the goggles. He let her finish before he spoke up. "Sure, I'd be happy to see what you're up to. Maybe after the war is done, though." He glanced around. "I've been busy working as a cleric. Not nearly as much as before Ponyville, though., I was one of the few there at the time. Now there's plenty."

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
Once Expellix was a few steps down, Luna proceeded to follow him. The statue automatically turned shut behind them and closed with barely a sound, which was impressive considering it was a huge statue. Although come to think of it, the Lunar Guard around the statue hadn't even reacted to it moving. They... Didn't even seem to notice it.

But that was a matter for later.

Luna stayed silent as they descended down the stairs. It was... Eerie. Expellix had seen Luna be scary before, he had just watched her go inside of a griffon and turn them to ice, but her attitude right now was something slightly different. Before, Expellix had seen her fight with what could almost be described as a lack of interest. She was serious about the fighting and fought well, but she was never really fighting. More like humoring herself. She always maintained some semblance of her happy, albeit cold, personality. Small quips during battle, letting fights last longer than they should, things like that.

Any spark of that happy personality disappeared as they walked down the dark steps. The only light was from ever-burning torches positioned in holders along the wall, casting flickering purple light across the way. They descended for several minutes.

It wasn't until the third minute of descent that Expellix could begin to hear something; the faint sounds of crying, screaming and begging. The sounds of clashing steel and muffled grunts. Even with his enhanced hearing, it had evaded him for 3 minutes.

Two minutes later and the stairs ended. In front of them is what could only be called a feast hall, where Night Guards of the highest order ate. Nightmares, Shadowmancers and the infamous Death Knights were all gathered here, feasting before heading back into training. Among them were a few robed figures who Expellix would never have seen before. They wore dark blue robes without any markings whatsoever.

From the feast hall, the place split into many different sections. Expellix could hear the clashing of steel and grunts coming from the room right past this one, and could hear screams and pleas for mercy coming off to the right.

Cyan Hide
"It's expensive!" Trixie chuckled slightly and flashed Starlight a toothy grin, before taking a sip of her wine again and nodding. "But truly, Tr-... I think it's delicious." At the mention of a waiter, Trixie had a far better idea....

"WAITER! WAITER!! WAITER!!!!!!" She called exactly three times, after which point a tired looking waiter came over. He gave one glance over Trixie's wizard hat and cape and just shrugged to himself; not his problem what she was wearing. After a brief introduction he finally came to the big question... "... Are you both ready to order?"

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
Expellix noted the changes in her demeanor, glancing behind at the statue when it closed. He almost felt like he was being walked to a death sentence. Why was everything so quiet? A statue of that size should have at least made some sort of noise besides just... silence. Silence was abnormal at best. His ears were sensitive enough to hear a butterfly's wing beats, why couldn't he hear anything now?

Then there was Luna. He hadn't seen this side of her before. He had to assume this was just her real personality, not some sort of facade she put up outside. This was a strange turn of events but not something he was going to comment on just yet. He would wait and see what this was all about first.

He descended the stairs quietly. When he finally began to hear something again, he didn't let his relief show, though he remained tense. Atmospheres such as this were usually the times when a predator would suddenly jump out at him, he was ready to get himself out of danger at a moment's notice. He didn't think he was in danger but his instincts screamed that he was.

At the feast hall, he frowned and narrowed his eyes, watching them cautiously. He took notes of the many figures garbed in their different armors or clothings. He turned his head to the left, and then to the right, before looking up at Luna.

"Where are we, master?" He asked. This seemed like a time where he would be using that instead of her name. She had said something about using it in the presence of others. "And why am I here?"

 

[Dreamweaver]

Dumbledoof
Luna looked down at Expellix and raised an eyebrow, before motioning out to the room before them. "This is the facility of the true Night Guard. The place we came in is where the grunt soldiers work... This is where the truly talented and special ones are. Here we have the best of the best, in all avenues. Martial combat, magical combat, torture, stealth, assassination... The ponies here excel in it all."

As the two of them entered the room, every guard stopped at the same time, turned, saluted, and then went back to their business; though a few stares lingered on Expellix. All the soldiers knew of him, and the magic users respected him greatly... But he was still just a bunny. He certainly didn't have all of their respect.

"I figure, if you're going to be my apprentice, you must become comfortable with this place."

 

[Dumbledoof]

Dreamweaver
The place of the true Night Guard... so that's what this was all about. Getting him situated and familiar with the place, was it? He still didn't even know how to get into this place, much less really know about the Night Guard. He didn't consider himself anything special to be here. He just considered himself a bunny, not really acknowledging the fact that he was a very powerful magic user. He didn't even realize why he had their respect.

He met the stares of the Night Guards challengingly, but saluted back to them as well. "Not really sure I belong..." He responded. "I'm just a bunny. Everything 'special' about me came from a unicorn over a thousand years ago." Doubt plagued his mind. "Am I doubting myself for no reason here?"