Twin Blades

by Craigulus Twinblade

The Griffon Council

The next day, Craigulus Twinblade, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor, and the bearers of harmony were summoned to an emergency meeting in the griffon city of Gryphus. Upon arrival, our hero noticed the striking similarities the griffon culture had with Norse mythology. Griffons seemed to believe that their god had a hammer just like Thor, the Norse god of storms. Their soldiers also donned the same armor that the viking warriors of old used. Weapons of choice seemed to be a mix of axes and swords. As Craigulus and the gang approached the entrance of the city in their carriage, they heard the sound of a horn. The horn was low-pitched and it seemed to vibrate in ones ears. The city seemed to bear some resemblance to the city of Erebor from the Lord of the Rings series. Craigulus was in awe at the sheer size of the entrance alone. As they touched down in front of the city, a giant griffon with a mighty black beard and a crown on his head greeted the Equestrian representatives.

"Celestia! You made it, and you brought the Crystal princess and her husband! Cadence and Shining armor, may the blessings of Griffthor be upon you all!"

All of the leaders and heroes had began bowing to each other in respect. Celestia knew that this was the first real meeting between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdoms since the 'Griffon Aggression War' thousands of years ago, so she really didn't want to make a bad impression. Especially in a time where the whole world was at stake!

"And may the love and friendship of my mother Galaxia protect the Griffon Kingdoms, King Griffiam Wallace the Seventh!" Celestia bowed.

The griffon king looked over Celestia's mane and spotted the human he had been hearing about. A look of anger had developed on his face and he stomped over toward Craigulus, grasping his massive axe. Our hero was stunned as the king looked him in the eye.

"Y-You! Do you know anything about my grandfather? Do you remember killing him!?"

The human didn't know what to say. He just stood there, stunned.

"Griffiam, It couldn't have been him! He only just arrived a week ago!" Luna stepped in front of our hero to protect him.

The griffon king calmed down and stepped away from our hero. He turned around and pointed forward, signaling for the leaders and heroes to follow him to the grand hall. He never said another word for awhile. Craigulus shook his head over how bizarre that was. As they all began walking, our hero nudged Luna to get her attention.

"Yo, what's up with him?"

Luna turned her head back at Craig as they walked through the semi-crowded mountain city.

"King Griffiam's grandfather was apparently killed by a human. Since then, the royal family has been hunting for him. No one is even sure that it was a human though, it could have been something else. King Griffiam's father was the only witness that claimed it was a human."

Craigulus nearly stopped at that. Is he the third human in Equestrian history now? Whatever, he couldn't think about that right now. He had a meeting to think about.

---

Haven was having it's own meeting at the moment. Galaxia was speaking to the heroes about whether or not to help Craigulus develop enough magic power within a week to defeat the God King. Commander Hurricane spoke out against Galaxia's proposal.

"Your godliness, wouldn't this technically be breaking the rules that you originally made? No one in Haven is aloud to go back to the mortal world and that includes you and Griffthor! Isn't the human supposed to win anyway?" The old pegasus pointed out.

Princess Platinum, the deceased unicorn co-founder of Equestria, acknowledged the commander.

"Yes, he is supposed to win! There is no need to worry because this is all part of your big plan Galaxia! Isn't it?"

The universal alicorn stood in place, frozen. She had been keeping secrets for so long and she knew that if the truth got out, many would question their loyalty to her. The consequences could be catastrophic! She began to stutter as she spoke. Their was only one answer that she could give.

"W-well, I guess your right. This meeting is officially adjourned!"

As everypony left the room, Galaxia and Griffthor returned to the universal mirror. Watching the meeting in Gryphus, the all-powerful mother began to speak to herself.

"I can't do anything to help you. I just hope that you can do this all yourself, Craigulus Twinblade."

---

"I received a vision from mighty Griffthor. He told me that we have five days to prepare for the God King's onslaught."

Griffiam pulled out a map and placed his talon on the shore north of the Griffon Kingdoms.

"An army of un-dead centaurs and alicorns will rise out from under the water there and once the God King has prepared his battle formations, he will proceed destroy every village, town, and city that his army comes across. Eventually, he will choose to move on and go south through the wilds and into the small pass separating the Drackenridge Mountains to prepare his assault of Equestria. Griffthor also told me that he would consider bypassing Gryphus. I propose that we evacuate all the places up north of Gryphus and send all the women and children into the deep catacombs of Gryphus to protect them. During the evacuation process, the combined forces of Equestria and The Griffon Kingdoms will prepare for a defense of this fair city. We just need to find out how to attract the God King here, are there any suggestions as to how we can do that?"

Every griffon and pony in the room looked at each other, hoping someone would come up with something. It was a long, precarious silence. Everyone began to stare at our hero for guidance.

"Craigulus Twinblade, you have not spoken this entire meeting! Do you have something to contribute?" Griffiam pressured.

Craigulus knew deep down, that he was number one on the God King's hit list. Knowing that the evil god would stop at nothing to eliminate him, the human rose to his feet and slammed his palm on the table.

"I have already seen the face of the enemy. He knows that I am the one who is supposed to kill him and he is probably watching me as I speak. In order to attract the God King to this fair city, I will have to join you in it's defense! It wouldn't hurt to have the bearers of harmony and the princesses suit up for battle either!" Craigulus declared.

Without thinking twice, King Griffiam Wallace the Seventh rose to his feet and placed his talons flat on the stone table.

"If he is sure about this, then let it be! All leaders and heroes here today say AYE!"

A chorus of 'ayes' traveled throughout the group and they all put their talons and hooves on the table as they concluded the meeting. Shining Armor turned his eyes to the king.

"My wife and I would be honored to provide you with our services during the fight. We can also provide the entire army of the Crystal Empire as reinforcements!" the brother of Twilight insisted that he would help.

Every being in the room nodded and returned to their business. It would appear that Craigulus would have to use his time wisely and prepare for the fight of his life! As he proceeded toward the carriage that would take him and his friends back to Canterlot, only one thought crossed his mind.

"I may not be ready to fight you God King, but you can damn well count on a fierce fight."

---

Later that night, the carriage was set down in the closed off courtyard. Only the princesses, and the human were left on it.

"Celestia, will we have a training session tomorrow?" Craigulus asked, hoping that the answer would be what he wanted to hear.

Celestia turned to our hero and nodded with a smile.

"Yes, we will. Do not worry." Celestia and Luna walked into the palace as she confirmed the answer.

The human sat down on the steps of Canterlot and unsheathed his blades. The visions were becoming a drug to our hero, he was absolutely addicted to it now! The first order of business, get Sir Canter to confess to who killed that griffon king.

"Okay, Canter. Spill out the truth! I know that Jebediah is still alive and I bet you know too!"

"He is dead! Okay!?!?! Do I have to explain it further? He was ripped apart by a manticore! There is no way he can be alive!" Sir Canter enforced his beliefs.

Craigulus began meditating and before long, he was inside the log house of Starswirl the Bearded. It would appear that this was near the time of his death, seeing as Starswirl's breath was heavy and aggressive. In walked Jebediah and finally, he was fully noticeable. Long hair, some sort of club hanging from his back, a type of fedora made of straw, and a heavy Australian accent.

"Okay mate, I'm tired of you and your obsession with Equestria! I'm leaving to help the entire world instead of just these equines!" Jebediah sounded tired of doing his master's bidding.

The unicorn slammed his hoof against the table.

"You're just going to leave me!? I bet you don't even have a signed paper from Celestia!"

Jebediah reached into his pocket and unfurled the scroll containing the permission to leave.

"Sorry mate, don't take this personally but I'm tired of your constant racism! There are other countries in need of saving too, you know that? Maybe if you had just put that hatred aside, you would've been able to pass Celestia's tests." Jebediah walked out the door and slammed it behind him.

The memory ended there. Astonished, our hero fell back on the stone ground.

"Oh my god. He's alive!"

"So you know the truth then, eh?" Sir Canter sighed with guilt lingering in his voice.

Craigulus didn't respond. He didn't want to waste precious sleeping time.

Training still had to be done.

---

"Celestia?"

"Yes, Luna?"

"Are you sure that this whole defense of Gryphus is going to work out according to plan? Craigulus isn't even powerful enough to take on such a powerful being like the God King."

Celestia looked out of the window of her bedchamber, thinking about the lives that were going to be lost in this coming war. Equestria had not been in a fully blown war since the day's of Discord, so she honestly didn't know what was going to happen.

"I cannot guarantee what will happen sister, all I know is that Craigulus is more powerful than either of us. I believe he will be able to unleash his full potential though." Celestia began to smile with hope in her eyes.

Luna's face brightened up. It was always refreshing to hear her elder sister's positiveness.

"I guess you are right, Celestia."

Luna then thought about how he would unleash his full potential and she came to the conclusion that since this was predestined to happen, Craigulus would just force himself to become even stronger than ever! He needs to ascend to the solar eclipse form soon, or he is never going to defeat the fallen centaur.

---

The next morning, Craigulus began training early. With a book at his side, he began his studies of magic with a way to trap an enemy within a force field. Attempting to trap the blades, he began grinding his teeth.

"I have to do this!" the hero screamed in pure concentration.

The stress of learning a new spell never got easier as time went on. It just kept on getting harder as time passed! Craigulus had been testing this new spell for what seemed like ages and he was finally on the verge of learning it. The force field spell had almost taken effect on the blades at this point, our hero just needed a little more energy put into it.

"Come on, come on, come on....YES!"

Craigulus placed his hands at his sides. He had made a bubble shield around his swords and it wasn't collapsing on him this time!

"Okay, time to test its durability!"

The human unleashed a barrage of energy orbs upon the magic shield. Surviving the barrage for fifteen seconds, the energy shield finally broke.

"Okay, now to power up to lunar eclipse form and do a power-up endurance test!"

Just as the blue aura entangled him, Craigulus saw Luna enter the courtyard. She was carrying with her a tiny notebook with a quill.

"Good morning, Craig! It seems your dedication to your studying has risen quite a bit." Luna acknowledged.

Craigulus looked at the alicorn and gave a slight laugh as he transformed in a flash. It had become extremely easy to maintain the lunar eclipse form as of late but he found it impossible to ascend to the next level. He knew there was something beyond lunar eclipse, but he couldn't seem to reach it. As he continued powering up, Celestia made her appearance next to Luna.

"Keep powering up Craigulus, your going great!"

Craigulus wasn't even breaking a sweat, he was already used to powering up. Before long he reached full power and couldn't power up anymore.

"Can you go any farther than that?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

Craigulus bowed his head.

"Sadly, no. If I try to go any farther, it won't let me for some odd reason." Craigulus shrugged.

Luna started to jump up and down, encouraging Craigulus to continue on.

"Come on, student! You can do this! I believe in you!" Luna screamed in joyous encouragement.

Craigulus looked deep down inside himself and made the decision.

"Sure, why not?"

Getting into the pose he needed to be in, he began trying his hardest to power up. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't ascend. Sometimes he would be teased when his visions would slightly appear before him only to be cut off. Sometimes his hair would begin to change colour as well, but it would never fully develop into the solar form that he was aiming for. Our hero felt as if something was missing from the process, he felt needed an extra push to be more powerful than ever before. He descended from the sky, let his lunar form subside, and shook his head in disappointment.

"Darn it! I'll never reach the solar form! I need to get there though or else my chances at victory are slim to none!"

Our hero became frustrated and he proceeded to teleport to his room. He needed some time for meditation.

"Sir Canter?"

"Yea? What do you want?"

"I'm sorry for asking you about Jebediah so much. I know he was dead from your perspective but I was just so obsessed with fitting all the missing pieces from these visions together that I had disregarded your feelings on the subject. I know he was a brother to you and it must have been tough recalling your last moments of seeing him."

After apologizing, Craigulus unsheathed his blades and closed his eyes.

"It is okay, warrior. I guess the question now is, how did he survive that manticore?"

"I guess we'll never know." Craigulus threw his arms in the air.

This time it took a longer time than usual to pull a memory from the swords but it was worth the wait as Craigulus could now see out of the eyes of a certain unicorn wizard. Who was currently speaking to a young, pink haired Celestia.

"So you and Luna are just going to arrive at the battle against Discord?"

"Yes, our mother commands it! And besides, she also thinks that this is the best way to introduce ourselves to the Equestrian ponies as their leader."

"Where will you be?"

Luna gestured toward the forest.

"Oh, I see." Starswirl the Bearded smiled.

The memory ended there. Maybe it wasn't worth the wait. Oh well, it could have been worse.

Author's Note:

I have been having trouble getting my chapters bumped to the front page so everyone who read this chapter, please read the previous chapter if you want to.

As always leave a like, favorite, comment and constructive criticism is also welcome.

Craigulus, out.

Comments

[Jebediah]

Great story mate keep up the good work.

[Craigulus Twinblade]

3139775

Thanks! Glad to see you have an account Jeb!