//------------------------------// // Episode 58: Return of the Storm King - Part Three // Story: The Drake Six // by JNKing //------------------------------// Pinkie and Phoenix were waiting for them, the yaks by their side. Though Phoenix looked completely exasperated - and several of the yaks looked confused - Spike felt his spirits lift.  “Pinkie?” Twilight stammered, as she stared at the massive yaks by her side. “You… already…?” “Yep,” Pinkie said cheerfully. “Prince Rutherford came through for us.”  The biggest of the yaks - what had to be Prince Rutherford - stepped up. “Equestria Yak friend. Enemy fight with Equestria; Enemy fight Yak!”  “FIGHT!” Several of the yaks boomed, rather gleefully.  Thorax leaned over to Spike. “I don’t remember seeing these guys at the last meeting.”  “Me neither,” Spike noted, turning to Twilight. “So, Twi, did you want to explain how you met these guys?”  Twilight turned beet red. “Well… it’s a long, and rather embarrassing story.”  Prince Rutherford, however, laughed. “It is GOOD tale! Pony make mistakes! Pony and Yak struggle to work out differences!”  “You almost declared war on us because our versions of your culture were imperfect,” Twilight deadpanned.  “GOOD TIMES!” the yak cheered heartily.  “And everything worked out in the end, didn’t it?” Pinkie offered with a smile. “Instead of declaring war, they’re going to help us fight a war!”  “FIGHT!” the yaks all cheered again.  Spike could only stare in complete disbelief. He was spared a response when Thorax looked up.  “Oh hey, is that Swift?”  Spike turned his eyes skyward, and sighed in relief at the sight of Swift, Applejack, Gabby, Gilda, Hawke, and at least three dozen other griffons winging their way.  Spike and Thorax ran forward as Swift touched down before them, looking rather put out, though his smile returned as he embraced the two.  “How’d it go, man?” Spike asked.  Swift glanced back at Hawke, who was determinedly avoiding eye contact. “Let’s just say that some old friends came through for us.”  “Some more friendly than others,” Gabby sang as she joined their group hug. “Hi Spike!”  “Gabby!” Spike lifted her up in a bear hug. “It’s good to see you again. Even if the circumstances are… less than ideal.”  Gabby scoffed. “Yeah, well, if they had been more ideal, I doubt we could’ve gotten as many griffons.”  Hawke nervously crept forward. “We… kinda had to appeal to their greed a little,” she admitted, glancing at some of the rougher griffons in their ranks. “They’re expecting a pretty hefty reward for pulling Equestria out of the fire.”  Spike looked over the griffons - a few he even recognized as mercenaries Starlight Glimmer had once hired. He huffed. “Well, if they help get rid of the Storm King, they’ll definitely earn every coin.”  The mercenaries nodded in approval, though one of them was looking among their ranks with a strange expression.  “Where’s Dash?” Gilda asked. “Didn’t she escape the city?”  The mention of Rainbow Dash left a pit in Spike’s stomach: Swift, Applejack, Pinkie and Phoenix may have returned, but they weren’t being pursued by a psychotic unicorn or the Storm King’s forces. His eyes turned to where Jackknife and Fluttershy left, as well as where Star Wing and Rainbow Dash had gone.  At first, there was no sign of them. But then… Spike’s eyes widened at the sight of several hippogriffs, flying in tight formation with sea serpents riding them. At the forefront was Queen Novo herself, with Sea Serpent Queen Sapphire hanging on her neck like a scarf. Though the Queen was casting very irritated glares at Jackknife, who rode a large male hippogriff with a very satisfied smirk, briefly glancing at either Novo or at Storm, who was riding another hippogriff Spike recognized as Princess Skystar. Spike raced forward as they touched down.  “Queen Novo?” he stammered. “But you… I didn’t think…”  Novo shot another glare Jackknife’s way, but sighed in resignation. “It’s… become clear to me… that we can no longer hide.”  “The enemy discovered us,” Sapphire agreed, sliding off Novo’s back. “If we stay in the shadows, they’ll eventually find us.” She cast another glare Jackknife’s way as he slid off the male hippogriff and joined Spike. “Your friend… convinced us we’d have a better chance standing together.”  “This is INCREDIBLE!” Skystar squealed in glee, her eyes darting eagerly between the assembled yaks, changelings and griffons. “Oh, who should I say hello to first? The griffons? They look like us. Oh, but that might be rude to the yaks, and I hear they shouldn’t be angered. Oh, but what about the changelings? Oh, they’re so beautiful…” “Easy, Sky, easy,” Storm soothed. “Try not to pop a gasket.” He led her over and started introducing them.  However, with all the bitter looks that many hippogriffs were casting Jackknife’s way, Spike’s curiosity was drawn towards his friend.  “Jack,” Spike asked, pulling him away as Twilight eagerly greeted the queens. “What did you do?”  Jackknife’s smirk refused to fade. “The Storm King just dug his own grave.” His eyes glittered as he retold the tale:  ## Storm and Skystar had been quite eager to meet with Jackknife again. And while Fluttershy was a little put off by their enthusiasm, they managed to befriend her quickly enough.  However, right as Skystar revealed the secret passageway back to Sequestria… they discovered a visitor.  Grubber, the hedgehog bodyguard of Tempest Shadow, had spotted them. More specifically, he had spotted Skystar along with the whirlpool.  Jackknife had been the fastest, catching Grubber in the shoulder with a blast of water. And with the hedgehog encountering a four on one battle… ## “Hold up a second,” Swift snapped, having joined them. “Fluttershy’s not a fighter.”  “No,” Fluttershy admitted. “It was more of a three on one.”  Jackknife rolled his eyes. “Guys, stop ruining a good story.”  “We just want to make sure you got the facts right,” Fluttershy replied. “Sometimes, embellishing can be a bad thing.”  “Fine!” Jackknife sighed. “He encountered a three-on-one battle…”  ## Either way, the odds were stacked heavily against him. The hedgehog turned tail and ran.  Skystar panicked; since he had seen the whirlpool, that meant he could bring the information back to his master.  An epic chase ensued; rushing over ruins, diving over debris.  But the hedgehog had an escape boat ready and waiting…  ## Spike noticed Jackknife’s crafty grin as he concluded with, “...and though we left him with plenty of bruises to remember us by, he just BARELY got away.”  Spike gave him a deadpan look. “You let him get away, didn’t you?”  Jackknife merely shrugged. “We did rough him up a bit, to be fair. But Skystar was terrified. ‘If he comes back with reinforcements…’” He indicated Fluttershy. “But, of course, Fluttershy was there to tell her that he was a little busy laying siege to Equestria.” He grinned proudly at Skystar. “She brought us straight down to Seaquestria, told Novo and Sapphire everything, and ba-da-bing, ba-da-boom.” He indicated the hippogriffs. “Ya got yerself the entire hippogriff army, Spike. Ya welcome.”  Spike managed a small grin, but doubt plagued his mind.  Jackknife letting that Storm King minion escape… it felt a lot like how when Spike - consumed by anger - had threatened that griffon and his family. Was it truly right to have forced the hippogriffs into this? Given the way Novo was giving death glares to Jackknife, she surely knew that he had forced her hoof. But much like Swift’s own suspicious glares at Hawke, Spike didn’t have long to worry or fret about it. There were still two other members of their party that had yet to return with their promised reinforcements.  “Dash!” Gilda barked. “Seriously, where is that pegasus?” “She went with Princess Star Wing to recruit the dragons,” Twilight told her, gazing around. “But… if we’re all here…”  “Then where is she?” Pinkie finished, the grin sliding from her face with worry. A low feeling of dread settled over the gathered army. Spike could feel morale slipping. That couldn’t be allowed.  He cleared his throat and stepped up. “Don’t lose hope,” he told them. “Rainbow Dash is the strongest pegasus I know, and I’d say the same for Star Wing… if I wasn’t biased.” He grinned at Twilight.  The princess chuckled, eliciting a few laughs from the likes of Thorax, Skystar, Gabby, a few yaks, and even Queen Sapphire.  “Whether the dragons join us or not,” Spike said, “I want to thank all of you.” He gazed between the changelings, the yaks, the griffons, the hippogriffs and the sea serpents. “Celestia may raise the sun, but right now… all of you are raising hope. You are bringing light to a very dark day in Equestria’s history.”  Thorax and his changelings glowed with pride, before Spike grinned at the griffons.  “And yes, that will mean rewards beyond measure.”  The griffons cheered.  “But, of course, before that,” Spike noted. “We’ll have quite the fight on our hands.”  “YEAH!” the yaks bellowed with glee. “But in doing so,” Spike turned his attention to the hippogriffs, “We will ensure that the Storm King never darkens the land of any creature again.”  The hippogriffs flapped their wings and squawked in agreement. Novo herself managed a nod.  Spike gave one last look towards the Dragon Lands. Hoping against hope to see Star Wing and Rainbow Dash winging their way towards him, with Dragon Lord Ember and a host of dragons at their call.  He saw Rainbow Dash… but no one else.  “Dash!” Jackknife and Gilda shouted, rushing towards her as Rainbow Dash stumbled to a halt before them.  “Dashie!” Pinkie yelped, hopping over to check on her friend, for the poor pegasus was covered in ash and panted like she had been flying for days. “Are you okay?” She looked up. “Where’s Star Wing?”  Rainbow Dash could only shake her head. Never had Spike seen the normally confident pegasus look so defeated.  “Dash?” he asked. “Please… tell me Star’s…” Dash could only look behind herself. As Spike looked up towards the horizon, his heart skipped a beat. ## The Storm King’s forces had pushed Celestia’s guard all the way back to the palace. Flash Magnus, Rock Hoof and Somnabula had all been claimed as captives.  Celestia and Star Swirl watched as Discord rained pies and anvils down onto the Storm King’s forces, all while they aided the few royal guards left in barricading the entrance.  Mage Meadowbrook joined them. “Princess, Starswirl,” she reported. “The civilians have taken refuge down in the mines. Mistmane found a passage that should get them away from Canterlot, though we don’t know how far the Storm King’s forces have spread.”  Celestia briefly looked to Starswirl, but he shook his head.  “I am no ruler, Celestia,” he said. “I was your teacher once, but you have grown since those days.”  Emboldened by her teacher, Celestia turned to some of the Royal Guards. “Half of you retreat,” she ordered them. “Lead the civilians out of the mountains and make tracks to Ponyville. If the Storm King’s forces have already settled there, make a sweep for any still free, and stick to White Tail Forest. If things become extreme, make for the Castle of Two Sisters in the Everfree Forest. You will need a base of operations to house a proper resistance until Twilight can return with outside help.”  The Royal Guards nodded, following Mage Meadowbrook as Celestia turned to Starswirl.  “You should go with them,” Celestia said. “Your wisdom will carry them far.”  Starswirl smiled gently. “They are your people, Celestia. Their morale would be higher if you went with them.”  Celestia looked down, shaking her head. “I lost you thousands of years ago,” she said. “And a thousand years prior, I lost my sister. And now she is taken from me again and…” she took a breath, but Starswirl could see tears that she couldn’t shed. “I can’t have you taken from me as well.”  Starswirl touched her shoulder gently. “You aren’t the little filly you were when you were learning under me,” he assured her. “You have improved greatly since those days.”  Celestia gazed into her teacher’s eyes, her own eyes weary from a lifetime of sorrow. “I’ve made so many mistakes…” she whispered.  “And you’ve made plenty of good choices to counter them,” Starswirl replied. “Like taking on Twilight Sparkle as your student.”  Celestia’s ears perked. “You… believe in her?”  “Just as I believed in you the day you and your sister first came to my school,” Starswirl assured. “She has that same spark you had; that same fire and passion to learn, grow and discover.” He sighed. “Yes, she is fallible, but that’s the truth for everyone.”  Celestia cracked a smile. “Even former villains?” Starswirl sighed, but nodded. “I was… wrong to think in such narrow-minded terms. Those that have allied with Twilight - regardless of their past - have proven themselves worthy heroes.”  Celestia tilted her head, as through the window, something began to fly over the horizon. “And I think they might just be about to prove it,” she whispered. However, as the obstruction came into view, Celestia’s heart fell.  “Or perhaps not.”  Starswirl joined her, confusion ebbing to dread.  For Tempest Shadow’s ship was once again bearing down upon Canterlot.  And Princess Star Wing hung limply from the figurehead.