Legendary

by RoflNom

Chapter 16

A single roar pierced through and silenced the entire city. No more explosion or cries were heard, just the sound on a faint flapping of wings. Slowly the flapping became louder and louder until we could see the shadow of a dragon coming across the war torn city towards us. The gryphons used the sudden shock to their advantage, mounting another assault, this time with enough morale to finally win.

As they came closer, we readied ourselves for what we thought would be the last large battle of the war. We were sure we would lose, but we intended to last as long as we possibly could. We were outnumbered, underarmed, and backed into a corner.

The gryphon's were less than ten feet away when the impossible happened. There was a sudden rush of hot air and bright light. It had blinded me for a few seconds and when I opened my eyes again, I saw a sea of fire engulf the entirety of the gryphon forces. They were screaming in pain, trying desperately to put the fire out.

The few that tried to fly away were torn to shreds by the dragon's claws before they could get a good distance away. Eventually, the gryphons were either killed or routed, leaving only a dragon on the scorched street.

"It seems I arrived at the perfect time, ponies." He said.

I began to move closer, trying to see through the smoke and ash. As I did so, I could make out two distinct colors: White and Cerulean.

"Diamond Hide?" I asked, completely surprised to see him.

He turned to face me, "Ah, Legend, I've been looking for you. It seems that the gryphons that released me didn't know very much about me, including the fact that I actually despise those winged rats."

I just stared at him for a few seconds, not knowing what to say. Eventually I found a single word that would be somewhat useful.

"Friends?" I asked, holding out my hoof.

He looked at me long and hard. When I thought he would surely laugh and fly away. Then he said what I hoped he would. "No, not friends. Allies, most definitely. I fear this war is coming to an end, and the gryphons are on the losing side of the war."

"What makes you so sure that the greatest military force in the known world is going to lose?" Swift asked.

Diamond Hide looked away from us and looked out at the smoke filled sky. "Because," he started, "this war is not about land or power. This was a war created through a web of lies and from the desire for wealth. Someone out there, whom I'm still not sure of, payed Gryphonia to go to war with Equestria. Then they payed us to join them as allies. A war without any clear objective is doomed to be lost. And plus, you ponies have done a surprisingly good job thus far. The gryphon strategists expected this to be over in a matter of weeks. And here you all are, three years later, still managing to get the best of them."

All of the ponies were silent. They began to realize how much of a victory this war really was. Yeah, we lost a lot of ponies and cities, but we kept at it. We managed to remain inside the capitol even after new technological warfare was introduced. We actually could win this.

"There is another reason," The dragon lord said, "Back in The Realm, a rebellion has broken out not too long ago. Many of today's generation of dragons are against the war. Our nation has literally split in half over this, and we have had to pull back a large amount of our forces from Equestria to attempt to cease this rebellion."

"If there's a rebellion, how have we not heard of it? I mean, our intelligence officers may not be the best, but this is something not even they could miss." Swift questioned.

"We are very good at withholding information, since we are very solitary creatures. Also, there's the fact that The Realm is so far from Equestria, news of this may not be making it here nearly as quickly. Maybe not even for a few weeks."

"So," I said, "That's why I haven't seen any dragons in the assault. I thought it was strange that only gryphons were involved. I mean, if you have some giant, blood-thirsty dragons, no offense, you might as well use them."

"Now, with explanations aside, we need to figure out what we must do next. I've already assisted in securing the castle from the Gryphon forces. Your Elite Royal Guard should have found and secured the Princesses, all that is left is to find where your Field Marshal and General are at." The dragon said. "Any idea as to where they could be?"

"No, we haven't gotten word of their whereabouts since the attack started. We were hoping they had been pushed back into the castle, but they would have come as soon as the Elite Guard took the castle back." Swift said. "We shouldn't assume the worst, but there is a possibility that they've been taken back to Gryphonia or, even worse, been executed."

I contemplated in my mind while the pegasus and dragon continued talking. For what reason would there be a sudden attack on Canterlot to begin with. I mean, with such large forces, not including the reinforcements to soon arrive, in one place they'd have to be either desperate or stupid. My guess was leaning more to desperate.

"So, what do we do now? Both the General and the Field Marshal are gone and we haven't heard from the Princesses." Said Swift.

"I'm going to head to the castle and try to get to Celestia." I said, "She has to have a plan for this. In the meantime, get the troops organized and begin making a push to take back the city. We have to use the confusion that Diamond Hide has caused to our advantage."

"I don't think that's going to be necessary, Legend." Swift said as he pointed a hoof to the sky.

When I turned to see what he was pointing at, I saw none other than Celestia herself land in front of us. Her coat looked rough and messy, and she had grey spots all over her, most likely dust and ashes.

"Legend, I'm glad to see you're doing fine. After all this, I wasn't sure you would be able to handle such numbers of enemy troops." Celestia said.

"Well, you should be more surprised I didn't destroy half of the city, shouldn't you?" I said. "What are we going to do now that we're starting to regain control?"

Celestia turned to face the mountain that Canterlot rested on, a grave look on her face. "Our main priority now is the well being of our military's highest officers. I overheard several gryphons saying that General Arch and Field Marshal Morning Haze have been taken back to Talos, to be executed in front of King Grimfeather. We cannot allow that to happen."

"So, what do you propose we do?" I asked. I was answered with a puzzled and somewhat ashamed look. "Celestia, with the Field Marshal gone, you need to take control of the military forces."

"I'm well aware of this, it's simply that I'm no tactician. I've always delegated military command to somepony else, and have never even lead an army in my life. I'm no General, just a Princess." She said.

Swift gave a sigh. "Nopony is born a military leader," He said, "If that were the case, I would lead an army right through Gryphonia. Tough times call for tough decisions, and this is the toughest time of them all."

"He's right," I agreed, "You need to take command. If not for the General and Field Marshal, than for your ponies. Their safety is your responsibility, not the military's."

Celestia was silent for a while, deep in thought. She then suddenly spoke, "Lieutenant Colonel, send a runner to each of the barricades. We are assembling a force to march on Talos. I want as many soldiers that can be spared. "

"Aye, Your Highness." He said with a salute, then flew off.

I looked over to her. "Are you sure about this? We don't know what the Gryphons have in terms of numbers, and this is their capitol. If anything, at least 100,000 soldiers will be defending it, and we have less than 12,000 left at the most."

"That may be so, but you must remember that we still have 60,000 stallions en route to the capitol. They will have heard of the attack on the city, and have sped up their march."

This was true. News of the attack would not only hasten their march, but would bring other forces to Canterlot. We would have a chance, if we could even get to Talos in one piece. Assaulting the city would be the easy part. Talos sat at the side of the largest mountain in Gryphonia, Mount Gryphus. It would be treacherous to even attempt to scale the mountain with an army of the size we estimate.

"We must prepare to leave on a moments notice. I will see to the organization of the force with the Lieutenant Colonel." The sun princess said, "You should get some rest. Relax a bit, you've done your fair share today."

Before she could leave, Diamond Hide, whom I didn't even notice leave, landed beside us."Before you go, there is something you may want to know." The dragon said urgently, "It concerns your sister, Princess Luna. She has been captured and taken to Talos as well. A small group of Gryphonian elites ambushed her guards and kidnapped her."

Celestia's mouth instantly dropped. She took a moment to regain her composure, and spoke. "We must... speed up our organization. I will inform both the Lieutenant Colonel and the Brigadier General. Thank you for this information, Lord Diamond Hide."

She took off, leaving me and the dragon Lord alone. Learning that one of the princesses had been taken prisoner was as big a shock to me as it was to Celestia. This was no longer a war about winning or losing, living or dieing. Not even about existence or extinction. It was so much more.
_____________________________________________________________________________

It took a little over an hour to get the troops inside the city organized. We had almost 13,000 soldiers ready to march on Talos, only a bit more than we anticipated. Still, we left another 5,000 to hold Canterlot in case of a second attack, which we thought was highly unlikely.

The reinforcements has arrived and were now waiting outside the city limits, with SwiftWing being given command of it. The rest of the Generals and higher members of the chain of command were in no condition to lead what we dubbed the "Counter Invasion Force". They were either wounded from combat or in a state of shock. A few, though, simply did not want to lead what they called a suicide mission.

It fell upon the only pony who would do it. When I asked Swift why he decided to lead, he simply said one thing: "Loyalty is a valuable thing, Legend. It's not something you can just have one day, then throw it away the next. I stay loyal to my kingdom, even if it means dieing for it."

When the Counter Invasion Force was prepared to march, we had almost 120,000 stallions, all from different forces that pulled back to the capitol, with or without the orders to do so. Some that were present had even deserted their army to aid in the invasion. This would truly be the battle that ends this war, which side would be left standing, though, was to be seen.
"It is time, my loyal soldiers." Princess Celestia said as she stood in front of the joint army. "For three long years, we have been beaten and slaughtered by the Gryphonic forces. Our land has been ravaged and destroyed. Our cities and innocents turned to dust and ash. Today is the day we do the same to them.

Today, we march on Talos, the capitol city of Gryphonia, and we take back our ponies and my sister, your princess. Today we end this wretched war, and bring peace and unity to a cruel and unforgiving world. Do not, however, think of this as revenge or payback. We do this not for ourselves, but for the future generations. Not only the next generation on ponies, but the next generation of gryphons as well. Let them be free of an evil and tyrannical King, and let them know the joys that come from being a free people.

Now, prepare yourselves, for what is about to happen will make you unsteady. We are not marching to them, for we would lose the element of surprise. We will appear at the feet as if we were the Reaper himself."

She began channeling her magic, and soon the entire force was engulfed in an aura of magic.Soon afterwards there was a flash of light, and we were all suddenly on the side Mount Gryphus, and right at the gates of Talos.

"Legend, Lord Diamond Hide, come with me. We are going after Grimfeather." Celestia said, "Lieutenant Colonel, move your forces to take the city. I want all the citizens evacuated and any troops killed or captured. As for the city, keep in as intact as possible. The destruction of it's infrastructure must be kept to a minimum."

"Yes, Ma'am. We'll begin immediately." Swift said with a salute.

"Good. Now then, you two, we're off the the palace. It's time I have a chat with an old friend of mine." Celestia said, taking off with us right her.

It wasn't a long flight, seeing as most of the guards were trying to fend off the large pony army that appeared out of thin air. There had been enough confusion that even the royal guards had been sent to the front lines.

When we arrived at the palace, I had to take a moment to take it in. It looked more like a fortress than anything. Rather than being made out of fine stone, it was completely made of a deep black steel. There were giant stone walls surrounding it, with towers every couple of yards. It looked like nothing was meant to get in or out.

We landed in front of the palace's massive iron gates, and just stood there for a second.
"How are we going to get inside?" Diamond Hide asked.

"I may have an idea." Celestia said, looking at me, "Legend, do you think you could get through these doors without destroying whatever is on the other side?"

I nodded, while in reality I had no idea if I could leave anything intact. I focused my magic into a single point on the gate, and pictured it ripping apart. Sure enough, the door began being torn apart by my magic, and soon we had an entrance.

The inside of the palace was far more pleasing to the eye than the outside. Walls were lined with treasures and artifacts most likely from ancient times. There were paintings of who I assumed were past Gryphonic Kings, all of which looked far less pleasant than the one who came before him.

We finally came to a set of what appeared to be gold plated doors. Loud voices could be heard behind the doors, far louder than the average gryphon's. Celestia stepped up to the door and slowly opened it.

Inside of the room we saw King Grimfeather, an extremely large dragon, and both General Arch and Field Marshal Morning Haze.

"Ah, so nice of you to finally join us, my dear Celestia. And you even brought some guests. You've come just in time for the execution!" The gryphon King said mockingly.

Grimfeather was a shocking sight. He stood nearly 6 feet tall and was massive in all ways possible. His dark gray color gave off an odd feeling, and his red eyes brought a chill down my spine.

Meanwhile, the dragon standing near him made him look like an insect. It had to have been over 30 feet tall. It had pure black scales with spines and spike jutting out of almost every part of his body. His eyes, though, stood out the most. They were a pure white, as if there was no iris there.

"I'd like all of you to meet my companion here. Though, perhaps the hatching with you would like to introduce him." Grimfeather said.

Both Celestia and I looked to Diamond Hide, who was staring straight at the behemoth of a dragon. " Lord Obsidian... I should have know you would leave The Realm after the rebellion began."

"You know nothing, you insignificant whelp. I would have stomped out the flame of rebellion if it weren't for that wretched council. To remove me from my office in such a manner. I will make them pay. But not before I crush the poor excuse for a nation, Equestria."

"You don't stand a chance against the council, Obsidian, and you know it." Diamond Hide said.

The larger dragon laughed, "Perhaps not alone, but with the support I'm receiving from the gryphons on exchange for the defeat of Equestria, I can do anything."

While the two dragons were distracted, Celestia moved over to me. "Legend, go for Arch and Haze. We will deal with these two. Remember, though, Luna is somewhere in here as well. Her safety is our top priority. Find her."

Grimfeather noticed this little talk, and made a move to strike, which was quickly countered by Celestia's magic. The sudden movements sent the two dragons charging at each other.

I used this to move to Arch and Haze, both of which were chained to the wall at the far side of the room.

"Legend? Hell, you're a sight for sore eyes. I thought we were done for a while there. How did you get here so quickly, let alone into the palace? There's a Gryphonic army stationed here over 90,000 strong." Arch asked.

"We managed to get a force, one larger than that of the gryphons it appears, and used Celestia's magic to travel here." I replied as I released the two unicorns.

"And who," Haze began, "is in charge of said force?"

"Lieutenant Colonel SwiftWing, seeing as no other officer was able or willing to do it." I answered, "We can't stay here any longer. Those four are going to do some serious damage. We need to find Princess Luna, as well."

"I may know where she is being held," Arch said, "I saw that there was a door in the back of the room, its most likely the dungeon. If anything she is being held there."

True enough, the door lead to a dungeon of sorts. It was old and had the look that it hadn't been used in a long time. Most likely because the gryphon Kings didn't believe in jails. They just executed their criminals publicly. It was pitch black, except for one light coming from the end of the corridor.

A small torch was against the wall, and to the opposite side was Princess Luna, laying in a cell.

"Princess!" Arch said as he forced the cell open, "We need to get you out of here. We don't know how long this place will last with the battle going on above us."

As soon as Arch said that, the entire dungeon shook. The sounds of battle, both from the group above us and from the military outside, were getting louder and louder.

"The Equestrian military has arrived. We must get you to safety." The Field Marshal said.

"Very well," Luna said as she stood from the ground, "Lead the way, Legend."

We hastily made our way out of the dungeon, and once we reached the throne room, Equestrian soldiers had already made their way inside. Celestia and Diamond Hide were off to the side, bloodied and bruised. Not far off were the bodies of the gryphon King and the dragon High Councilor. Whether or not they were alive, I wasn't sure.

"Its finally over, IronTrot." Arch said, "We've done it."

I felt a smile creep onto my face. It was over. Everything could finally go back to normal. I would finally get my body back, and go back to my family.

_____________________________________________________________________________

"Where am I?" I said as I looked around, confused.

was in what looked like a gray fog or mist. It looked like it kept going for miles. I had no idea how I had gotten there.

"Hello, IronTrot." Legend said from behind me.

turned to see both him and Death. "Where am I? I was just in Talos, inside the throne room." I asked them.

I am sorry, but it appears that you have been...

"I've been what, Death?" I asked. I didn't like how he hesitated.

Legend sighed, "What he's trying to tell you is that you have been imprisoned in stone, IronTrot. A spell that lasts 1,000 years, and can only be broken by the one who casted it."

I was in complete shock for a moment. That was a spell only the princesses could use. "Who... who did it?" I asked.

Legend looked at me long and hard, as if he didn't want to give me the answer, "It was... Princess Luna."

To Be Continued In...

Godhood

Comments

[RoflNom]

Well, there it is folks. Legendary is finished, though some may not like how it was ended. To them I say: wait for the sequel.

Also, this is my first completed fanfic on this site, which I think is a huge accomplishment for me. Huzzah!

[Deathpony]

Sequel cant wait for it

[RoflNom]

1637968
I'm glad you enjoyed this. The sequel is going to be less focused on war, though. It'll be just as good, though.

[Razvan563]

Let's see 1000 years then I think he will meet the Main Six now that should be something that will make Twilight squee.

[RoflNom]

1650812
Yup, you've caught me. The sequel will have the Main 6, and Twilight gets to meet a living piece of lost history.

[Razvan563]

1651983 Well it was kinda of obvious you know. And also I wonder how he will react to Luna since she was blame for his situation.

[Snowfyre]

finaly got around to finishing this
cant wait for the sequel

[Wolfe The Destroyer]

MoreeeeeeeeXD

[Wolfe The Destroyer]

Aren't you writing the sequal right now?!?

[TheSecondDon]

Seriously why always a thousand years? I not ranting but why not 678 years? or 980 years?