As soon as they broke through the cloud cover, all of them drew their weapons. That was the only noise to be heard though, save for the sound of the wind whistling in their ears. The griffons seemed to be none the wiser to the Equestrians approach until they were almost upon them, and by then it was far too late as the leading ponies of the Night Guard cut into them, killing a couple dozen of the mercenaries before they even had a chance to react.