Sounds of water droplets were echoing through the cells as Kyle slept soundly. His sleep was interrupted however by one droplet that landed on his head. He wiped the water off with one of his hands before deciding to sit himself up. As he did, he was greeted to the sight of several hippogriff soldiers standing right outside his cell with the last one he wanted to see, leading them.
“Take him.” Wind Soar ordered as the cell door opened up and a few guards quickly chained the boy up so he couldn’t escape.
Kyle was then led down a long hall full of hippogriffs staring at him long and hard with some gossiping in the background. Fear was the only emotion he felt, but it wasn’t until he entered a large throne room where he was surprised with what he saw. It was a room filled with different creatures, all staring at the human and began yelling various accusations.
“You served The Storm King!”
“You sold our soldiers out!”
“You killed our family!”
“You ate my friend!”
Kyle tried to speak out against the egregious charges, but his voice was drowned out by the crowd. A loud boom then silenced all the creatures and a looming hippogriff figure on a huge throne caught the boy’s attention. And standing next to the throne was none other than Captain Flight.
“Well? Have you anything to say in your defense?” The hippogriff spoke in a deeply authoritative manner.
“I-I know nothing of this Storm King. I never killed or ate anyone’s friend. Honest…” Kyle answered while trying his best not to cry on the spot.
“LIAR!” One of the creatures in the crowd said while more spoke up in protest against the human until they were shushed once more.
“The charges against you are heavily stacked. And in light of evidence brought to me by Captain Flight…”
The hippogriff on the throne showed off the same bowl Kyle ate from earlier on, garnering loud gasps.
“...you are hereby…GUILTY AS CHARGED!!!”
The room roared to life once more with many creatures demanding bloodshed and retribution. Everyone was hushed for a third time before the figure on the throne spoke again.
“For your crimes against my citizens and the other nations, it must be shown that no creature's actions go unpunished! And for this, you are hereby sentenced..TO DEATH!!!”
With that Kyle was dragged away from the spot he was standing in by two hippogriff soldiers and escorted through a crowd of various creatures. Every single one in the crowd had viscous contempt of some kind towards the human. He tried his best to protest what was thrown his way.
“No, No! I didn’t do anything of the sort! I swear!”
But once again, his voice was completely drowned out by the mob. He could only continue to watch on in fear at the endless ridicule he faced, until he was brought before a guillotine when his eyes widened in absolute horror. He was quickly placed in position and could only continue to stare at all the faces that had pure, unadulterated, hatred written all over them. Though he thought he had seen one creature in the crowd that had more of a look of curiosity and confusion than malice, not that it mattered as the blade was raised high in the air as a hippogriff executioner brought his face close to the boy’s.
“Any last words…traitor?”
Kyle could see his time was up. But something within him wouldn’t let him give up. Using the energy he had left in him, he began screaming as loud as he could.
“Airburst! Sky Beak!! Silverstream!! DAD!! ANYONE!! HEEEEELP!!!”
*GASP* *GASP* *GASP*
Kyle woke up in cold sweat as his heartbeat was as if he just ran a mile. He tried his best to calm his breathing down, but couldn’t stop and continued to breathe heavily. He threw off the blanket, sat himself up in the dank cell and hugged himself tightly as he recalled all the events he just experienced.
“When will this nightmare end?” The boy asked in a quietlike tone.
After some time, he finally calmed himself down and attempted to sleep once more. His mind had a hard time shaking off what he just experienced, but Kyle eventually passed out and slept dreamlessly for the remainder of the night.
The evening had gone by quickly for all the citizens of Mount Aris as morning soon approached. While the sun was still blocked by the overcast sky, it stopped raining for the time being and some hippogriffs went about their day outdoors. Silverstream got up bright and early to get prepared for her trip back to Ponyville with Sky Beak. When she was fully ready, she then flew down to the kitchen to satisfy her morning hunger with Sky Beak. The young hippogriff greeted her dad with a verbal salutation and a morning hug. Just as she was about to ask if the breakfast was ready, she caught a whiff of something that made her eyes widen.
“Umm, Dad? What’s that smell?” Silverstream asked in a worried tone.
“Oh. I was trying to replicate that casserole recipe you made yesterday.” Sky Beak said as he showed his daughter what looked like overcooked and burnt potatoes. “Guess I need to practice a little more before mastering the recipe.
“It’s okay. I’ll still try some.”
“You don’t have to force yourself to eat it if you don’t want to. I’ve also made a fruit salad if you care for any of that instead.”
“No really, I’d like to see how it is!” The daughter said not wanting to make his cooking efforts feel in vain.
“Alright. But eat quickly, the train leaves in about an hour and I have to grab a few things on the way.”
The younger hippogriff sat herself down and got herself a serving of the casserole and salad. When she took a bite of the potatoes, Silverstream’s taste buds were immediately greeted by the most well done style of food she ever tried in her life as if eating ash. Refusing to vomit it up however, she quickly grabbed a few fruits from the salad on her plate and was soon relieved at the refreshing flavor to help her swallow the otherwise overcooked dish her father prepared.
‘Yup, I definitely need more practice.’ Sky Beak thought to himself while letting out a quiet chuckle.
The two quickly finished their breakfast (with Silverstream opting not to finish the rest of the casserole serving) and cleaned up after themselves, before Silverstream returned to her room and grabbed a strap-on bag. When she flew back down, Sky Beak was wearing a basic sack and waiting at the front door and immediately noticed what she was carrying.
“What’s that for Silverstream?” The father questioned.
“Oh, this is in case we buy anything while we’re in Ponyville. Plus, since we’re visiting the school, I wanted to ask Professor Applejack if she might lend a few apples from her farm for some recipes.”
“I see.” Sky Beak said, before he looked his daughter in the eye. “Now remember, you let me do all the talking in regards to Kyle. I don’t want to take any chances of jeopardizing the boy. Understand?”
“Yes dad.” Silverstream replied while nodding. “I just don’t want him to suffer and be miserable in jail.”
“I know how you feel. I’ll do my best, I promise.”
The two shared a hug before heading out the front door. On their way to the station, Sky Beak stopped at a currency exchange for some bits and got a few food items for the trip. They soon got to the train, showed their tickets and entered a cabin where a few other hippogriffs eagerly waited for the engine to start. The father and daughter found an empty seat and sat comfortably for the next few minutes before an announcer’s voice filled the room.
““Attention passengers! Thank you for riding with us today! Our schedule will be a one way trip to the Ponyville Train Station and should arrive by early afternoon! Thank you again for choosing us and we’ll be heading off soon!”
Silverstream sat in silence, thinking only of possible outcomes this trip could have that would affect Kyle’s outcome. Good, bad, ugly, pleasant, disastrous. But whatever it might be, she wanted to believe it would all work out, somehow.
The train soon blew its whistle as the passenger cars rattled into motion. Silverstream looked out the window to see Mount Aris slowly starting to vanish from view as soon enough, the wide ocean was the only thing she could see now. With nothing else to do, the young hippogriff put her head against the wall, closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
“Nnnnggggghhh!”
Paul did a few stretches to help get his blood flowing for the morning. Even though he was still tired and the sun was nowhere even close to breaking through the dark, overcast sky, the man still willed himself to get going for the day. After feeling awake enough, he looked outside the window to see a group of grunts performing what looked like a kind of military march of sorts. He then shifted his gaze around to see if there were any other activities happening.
It wasn’t long until he heard a few knocks coming from the door as Paul turned around to see a guard entering, giving a grunt, and extending his arm towards the exit. The human understood what it meant as he followed the guard through the hallways until he arrived at the ever familiar room where The Wind King was.
“I see my guard brought you in right on time!” Greeted the satyr before sitting down at the table. “Help yourself to whatever you like! I assume humans like eggs in the morning?”
“Yes, thank you.” Paul answered, grabbing a seat and serving himself. He looked at what was most appealing on the table before settling on a few hard boiled eggs and some fruit.
Most of the meal was spent in silence while The Wind King occasionally hummed a tune between bites. In the middle of the meal though, Paul broke the quiet atmosphere and said, “I am curious what it is you want to show me.”
“All in good time my dear human. But please, if you have any concerns about the rest of the food, just let my guards know.”
“No, no. Everything looks fine.”
Breakfast continued on for a little while longer, until there were only plates filled with scraps. A burp rang loud from The Wind King’s mouth before sitting himself up.
“Ahhh…and now on to business. If you’d care to follow me.”
The satyr waited until the human walked up to him before leading Paul out of the room and through various hallways, with a few guards accompanying from behind. They soon exited the king’s castle and were greeted to the dark, overcast outdoors.
“Pardon me for asking, but is it always this cloudy?” Asked Paul.
“Indeed it is.” The Wind King said in a matter of fact tone. “The perpetual, overcast sky is what’s prevented my enemies from laying siege. Why do you ask? Do humans prefer a different weather environment?”
“Where I’m from, the weather changes by itself with different conditions coming and going.”
“Interesting…” The Wind King said under his breath. “So it sounds like you leave everything to nature’s mercy?”
“Not everything.” Paul replied as he gazed in the distance.
Nothing else was said between the two until they reached the entrance of what looked like an old fashioned factory. Two guards standing at the doors gave grunted nods before pushing them open, allowing The Wind King, Paul and the other guards to enter. The sound of machinery and clanking metal echoed the halls as the satyr led the human to a huge room.
“This…is what I wanted to show you.”
In the middle of the room sat a giant contraption that Paul stared at inquisitively. Its design was that of an arch but with various unique designs etched across the metal work. On top it was a disc that had a star imprinted in the center.
“What exactly is it?”
“A device that is designed to create jump points between two spaces. You see, it was meant to be used for gathering supplies across enemy territory without alerting them to our presence.”
Paul let The Wind King finish before asking, “So it’s a wormhole generator?” The satyr gave the human a confused look from the question. “Never mind. So why did you want to show this to me?”
“Because…”
The Wind King was quiet for a moment, as if thinking of how to properly answer.
””…it’s what brought you and your son to this world.”
A quick, sharp, inhale went through the human’s nostrils as eyes immediately grew wide attention to The Wind King with an accusing expression.
“Now, now before you say anything, bringing you and your boy here was completely unintentional. You see, the previous crystal I used to power the mechanism was highly unstable and caused a surge that couldn’t be controlled. It began ripping holes in the fabric of space and I was lucky to have the machine shut down before something worse happened. Unfortunately…that crystal was also the last one and there’s nothing left in my possession that has enough power to run it.”
Paul took in every piece of information before he pieced two-and-two together. “So even if I rescued my boy…we’re…”
“Yes…I’m afraid so.”
The human looked away from the satyr and stared at the lifeless machine. “There has to be another way.” He said in silent determination.
“There is one other way…”
Paul turned his head back at The Wind King and asked, “There is? How?”
“The Staff of Sacanas. It has more than enough power and durability to run the machine. And with any luck, be able to send you and your son back home without tearing the fabric of reality apart.”
“I thought you said the staff was in the possession of…what’s her name again? Twilight Sprinkle?”
“Sparkle.” The Wind King said with utter disgust. “And it is. I’m still trying to come up with a solution to retrieve it. But in the meantime, I ask that you simply wait, and have some patience until things work out.”
“I understand.” Paul responded before the two headed out of the factory and back to the castle. Many things were going through the man’s mind, but nothing more so important than his son.
‘I can only hope you’re holding out Kyle. Don’t lose hope my boy.’