=======================================================================================
How Stars are Made:
2:04 – 3:47
“HE WHAT!?”
The voice of an angry Princess would make even the strongest ponies lose their resolve. But not this one, though he wasn’t particularly strong, Orion was on a mission for a friend, and that gave him all the strength he needed to confront his Princess and leader.
“Died from a Gryphon Guardian attack, he attempted to subdue the enemy but was blind sighted, I was knocked unconscious at the time, But as I said Sonny was taken prisoner, not killed like Commander Adonis. Your majesty, I request permission to put together a rescue operation to get him out of the enemy encampment on the other side of the Everfree Forest.”
Orion was strong now, he had his chest out as he said that last bit, he had authority in his voice, he never lost eye contact with the princess, everything was going according to plan. Though he had spent the entire walk home planning this speech for when the princess said No, he was still a little reserved about hearing the words come out of her mouth.
“Very well.” A regal voice replied.
“But your majesty I- wait what?” Orion shambled.
“I believe Sonny is still alive as well, and I believe you should go and rescue him. But I also believe there is more for you to do here, and perhaps we can discuss this in private.”
Orion was not prepared to hear that. He had planned for no, he had even planned on being found a liar. He had not planned for yes, yes was new to him, but he wasn’t going to let this chance slip away, so he followed the princess into her private quarters.
“Orion what I am about to ask of you is private, confidential and above all else very dangerous. Do you understand?”
The dark blue stallion nodded as he took a hoof to his head in salute
“All right; As you know the gryphons have slowed their attack to a near halt, attacks on ponies have been cut down severely, this worried me so I sent a reconnaissance team to investigate and also diplomats to see if they would finally put an end to this horrible war, only the recon team returned, with grave news I’m afraid.”
The princess took on a very serious almost depressed face as she said the next few words to Orion.
“They plan on releasing Nightmare Moon from her prison, so she may engulf all of Equestria with her evil darkness...”
Orion was confused “Nightmare Moon? Prison where? Why is she such a big deal?” Once again Orion let his mind get the better of him and he did not realise the princess was staring him in the eye with a very stern look.
“Orion. Nightmare Moon can NOT be released yet, it is not the right time!” The princess said with a small tear forming in her eye.
Orion didn’t know who Nightmare Moon was, but he could guess if the princess was the concerned that he/she was no one nice.
“Very well, the information we have is that they have ancient stones in their possession, these are powerfully magical stones Orion, they have the power to move the stars themselves, which is why they need to be destroyed. Recon tells us that they have many unicorn hostages and are forcing them to perform magic in order to find powerful casters, and I’m afraid that if they find someone with enough magic in them, they may actually be able to pull this off.”
Orion simply nodded as he was told this information, it meant nothing to him after all, this was just a side mission to him. His real mission was to save Sonny, but now he had to save all these unicorns and destroy some rocks.
“It is imperative that you destroy these stones, but Orion there is one more thing...”
He didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
“I’m afraid I cannot allow you to have any support on this mission, this is completely under the radar. This will be a stealth mission, you will get into the camp unseen, destroy the stones and leave unseen, and with any luck you will be able to save your friend in the process.”
“Ok ok hold on.” Orion thought to himself “What if they find me? What if that guardian comes back?” he said.
“Then I’m sorry my little pony, but you will be on your own.” The Princess looked away as she said this.
“I cannot intervene, nor can I let the gryphons know that we know about the stones, they will surely move them somewhere where we cannot locate them and rush their operation”
“But princess...” Orion stuttered.
“Listen to me Orion, you notice your cutie mark is that of two crescent moons? There is a reason for this. Your bloodline is that of the lunar guard back from olden times. I know you have the strength to prevail for you have strong blood in you. Now I suggest that if you accept this mission you would want to say goodbye to your loved ones. I’ve noticed a certain mare looking a bit bigger around her belly lately... And please, Orion. If you accept this mission, Know that I will owe you a debt of gratitude.”
Orion was thinking about too many things at once, “Big around the belly? Debt of gratitude? Lunar Guard?” It was all too much at the moment.
“Princess may I be excused” he said in an unsure voice.
“Of course, please return when you have made your decision.”
Orion walked out of the Princess’ chambers and straight through the court, not looking at or acknowledging anypony he passed, the thoughts welling through his head were too much... “Does she mean to tell me Twilight is PREGNANT? Or just fat... Oh she wouldn’t like to hear that and what’s this debt of gratitude? Does that mean I get anything I want when I come back...IF I come back!?” He didn’t even notice that he was standing in front of Twilight’s home about to knock on her door, he paused for a second letting his mind get the better of him again before he finally gave the door a quick knock. Out stepped the white mare, defiantly looking bigger than usual Orion thought, but still just as beautiful.
“Orion! I’ve been waiting for so long! I have great news! Come in!”
“Is this right? .... I have a child now?.... Should I still go?.... I’ve only been gone 3 weeks... Celestia help me...”
=======================================================================================
The Warm Embrace of the Night: 3:47 – 6:49
Orion sat in Twilight’s house, not knowing what to say until she finally broke the silence.
“So...what do you think...? Are you excited...? Orion...?” She sounded concerned at his silence.
“I’m....wow...I’m... So happy darling...I just...I...” He struggled to find words, his brain was racing, his mouth was hard to open, his knees would not stop shaking and in the back of his mind the name Sonny was repeating itself in his mind.
“Honey I... I have to go...” he said to her, as reassuring as could be.
“What? But you just got here darling, are you sure you don’t wan-“ she was cut off before she could finish
Orion had moved up to her and started nuzzling her, the two ponies stood there embracing one another with nuzzles and hugs, a tear rolling down his eye, Orion stood back and spoke first.
“Twilight, you are the love of my life, I want nothing more than to stay here and raise our child with you, but I have a mission to do before I can do that. It’s dangerous and I may not be coming home. I need to know now, what sex is our baby? What will be their name? And will you marry me before I go?” his voice taking a very serious very joyful tone.
Twilight stood in awe as he said this to her, she didn’t know how to take it all in.
“What mission are you talking about? Of course you’ll be back darling I love you too much to lose you and you’re too selfless to go and get yourself killed and leave your wife and daughter alone in this world!” a tear formed in the corner of her eye, but a smile also came across her face. She had given him his answers.
Orion could barely contain the smile he felt inside of him, despite all the terrible things he was about to face, despite the terrible things that had already happened to him, he was still overjoyed.
“So our daughter huh? What’s her name?” He said with a smile
“I was thinking Twilight. After her mother, but it needs something else honey” She said.
“I don’t care if you name her Frankenstallion darling, I’ll love her all the same.” A small chuckle came across both ponies.
“So when will you be back to officially marry me darling?” Twilight said as she walked over and put her head on Orion’s shoulder, looking up at him with her patented puppy dog eyes.
“As soon as possible my love.” He embraced her and they stood there for about a minute before Orion pulled away and walked into the study room. He loved his books, and so did Twilight, and so would his daughter he hoped, but he wasn’t looking for a tome to read today, he was on a time limit and he found what he was looking for, once the note had been finished he put it in his favourite book, put it back on the shelf and joined his soon to be bride in bed.
This was it.
The next morning he stood there with Twilight leaning on his shoulder again, this time to say goodbye. He told her about the note, and gave her the instructions “Just in case” After a tearful goodbye, he made his way toward the castle, and perhaps to his inevitable doom. So many questions were still unanswered, so many emotions still running wild throughout his body, but he knew there was no time to ponder silly things like emotions when it came time to save his friend and face those gryphons.
Minutes later he was standing in front of the castle, a pony who was determined to see his daughter grow up, a pony who was determined to marry the love of his life, a pony who was determined to spend his golden years cracking jokes and hips with his best friend in the world. He was determined indeed. But was he really ready?
Everything was good to go. Celestia had taught him the spells needed to remain undetected and destroy the stones, he had studied overview blueprints of all of the nearby gryphon encampments, he was ready in body and with equipment, but not in mind. His head refused to rest, so many things running through his mind. “Maybe Adonis was right, I have a wife and child now, I should just run like he did. I wonder what my daughter will be like, I hope Sonny is ok...”
Princess Celestia snapped him back to reality with her commanding voice “Orion, it’s time.”
He stepped up and accepted saddle bags filled with some equipment from the Princess, he looked at her with a stern look and finally gave her a salute. The Princess gave a nod and reached behind her, out of a bag she pulled out what Orion thought was a piece of paper, she carefully placed it into his bag, he went to get it out but she stopped him.
“Orion, only look at that paper when you are in dying need of guidance. It’s far too powerful to be used here, but I know it will help you when the time is right.”
He only nodded again not even bothering to ask. This was it and he needed to get moving if he was going to reach the encampments by nightfall. “Goodbye princess, it was an honour.” He said as he walked out.
She did nothing but shed a small tear and turn around to face the giant window behind her. “Oh Luna, it’s not your time yet, please, for the sake of Equestria, do not let your hate get the better of you again...”
==============================================================================================
Disposable Heroes:
6:49 – 7:19
The Everfree Forest is usually a dangerous place for a single pony to be running around, but Orion had to get to his destination. He had to find the encampments. He had to find Sonny.
It was a long time before Orion eventually stumbled across a Gryphon patrol. “The camouflage spell would come in handy for this one” he thought to himself. As his horn started to glow, one of the gryphon noticed something shimmering from the bushes, he pointed his comrades in the direction of the glow, the 6 gryphons were suddenly all standing in front of Orion, but they didn’t even know it. He kept as still as possible as they observed the area, he let a small arrogant grin overcome him before his nose started to feel strange... “You have to be kidding me...not right now...” He thought to himself. Indeed the unfortunate situation he was in was not enviable, his nose twitched as if to sneeze but he controlled it with all the force he could. He thought to himself “What a terrible time to need to sneeze, damn gryphons and their feathers! come on hold it in! Hold it in! Hold it iiii-” He felt it coming, what could he do?
Thankfully for him the gryphons got bored of looking at nothing and flew away further into the forest, Orion could not have let out a louder sigh “Finally, thank Celestia I didn’t sneeze, that was too close” He then noticed that he didn’t need to sneeze anymore, with a look of irony he looked to no one in particular and said “Of course.” Sounding very annoyed.
After the close call in the forest Orion pressed on with the mission, he was at the first encampment, it was actually in the forest itself and was strategically the easiest to infiltrate, which meant Sonny probably wasn’t being held here. But it had to be done anyway. Recon says the stones were moved the night before, there was now 2 at each camp, which told Orion that the gryphons were having trouble finding a powerful enough unicorn to activate the stones. Which was good news, but now he had to break into more camps. Which was more of a hassle. But it had to be done. To save his friend and now apparently ALL of Equestria, he had to succeed.
Sneaking around in the cover of the Everfree Forest is easy even for an untrained pony, but Orion continued to keep his spell working he didn’t want anything to go wrong tonight, especially not in the very first encampment. Gryphons were everywhere in the camp, it may have been easy to sneak around the perimeter but getting up close to the tents would be a feat only a pony like Orion could pull off. The camp layout was simple, the perimeter was forest, and on the edges you had large tents capable of holding up to 100 gryphon soldiers with torches burning next to each one, in between these behemoth tents you had guard checkpoints and lookouts that kept watch for stray ponies and soldiers, in the middle of the camp you had a great fire that illuminated the entire camp except for the edges of the forest, and on the right hand side of this fire were the six tents that Orion had to search.
He mustered all of his remaining courage and slowly creeped right through the middle of the camp. He couldn't believe it! Gryphon soldiers were drinking in the tents behind him while gryphon blacksmiths worked in the tent to his right and he wasn’t drawing any attention from anywhere. “This is great, it’ll be a breeze to get through here.” he thought.
“What luck!” Orion had stumbled upon the first two stones in the first tent he checked, he couldn’t believe his luck. He needed a strategy though, anyone coming into the tent would clearly see his horn glowing while he casts the spell, so he needed a plan. Orion walked back outside and immediately started to brain storm. “Ohhh that looks nice.” he thought to himself. He slowly creeped over to the tent where all the gryphons were getting rowdy from all the drinks they’ve been having. He gently gave the torch sitting next to the tent a slight nudge, just enough to make it look like the wind. The gryphons didn’t even notice that their tent was ablaze until it was too late.
Through the confusion going on at the tent Orion easily slipped back into the tent that contained the stones that needed destroying, he could easily cast his spell while the gryphons were trying to put out the fire currently engulfing one of their long tents. He lowered his head and sparks began to fly out as the magical energy came pouring out of him. A celestial glow surrounded the stones as they started to levitate, Orion gave them a glare and released the magic, the stones came crashing to the ground and disintegrated into dust. “Two down four to go.”
Before he left Orion checked all the other tents for any signs of Sonny, but there was nothing, just as he had suspected.
He easily walked out of the camp not even looking back to see the results of the fire he had started, his job there was done. There was no Sonny and the stones had been destroyed. It was time to move on.
“I’m coming Sonny.”
=======================================================================================
Destiny Bond:
7:19 - 8:39
The Everfree Forest is huge, and getting from one end to the other is a difficult task, but Orion had accomplished it. He was now looking at his next target, the second gryphon encampment. “It’s only about 5km from me now.” Orion decided he would attempt the feat at night under the cover of darkness, so he took the small rolled up mat out of his saddlebag and laid it out on the forest floor, he was hidden by bushes so there was no chance of being found by gryphons here.
“Dad I’m going to miss you so much, but this is a great opportunity for me, for us! I know I’m only a young filly but the princess herself is going to teach me! I can’t wait! I’m so excited! Thankyou both for letting me study magic! I promise I’ll keep in touch! Love you mom and dad!”
Orion’s eyes shot open, he was awoken by the sound of a filly he’d never heard before, but there was nopony around. He put it down to just having a dream. There was no time to analyse it though, it was well into the night and he had overslept, he needed to get into the second encampment and he needed to do it now. He could feel his body recovering from all the magic he used staying hidden and destroying the stones from the last camp, but he thought nothing of it as he approached the second camp. Moving from rock to rock the dark blue pony blended in well with the darkness of the night and the light of the moon “Maybe that’s what the Princess meant when she said I have the blood of a lunar guard? Or maybe I’m just lucky that I have a dark blue coat” He gave a cheeky grin and a roll of his eyes at the thought of that last bit.
Most of the gryphon soldiers were asleep for the night, but the ones on guard and patrolling the perimeter were going to be the challenge for Orion to get around, he was still a little weak to use the cloaking spell again, and he needed the power to destroy those stones, so this was going to be a lot more difficult than the other encampment. The first thing he needed to do was get around the log wall they had build around the edge of the camp, instead of a forest they had these towering logs going all the way around the massive camp and it was almost impossible to scale them without drawing attention. Orion thought for a while before another brilliant idea came to him. “But what about time? can I pull it off before the sun rises?” He thought to himself.
He decided to go through with his plan, and out from his saddle bags came a small spade, usually used for digging a hole for sleeping in for the soldiers, tonight it would be his key to getting into the camp undetected. He used as much of his magic he could spare to make the spade dig for him, he was going well for time but he knew that he would have to take over and dig the rest himself soon. The moon was still in the sky looking rather ominous with the clouds covering it, and it was a welcome sight once Orion had dug himself into the camp. He was between two long tents in the small space where the torches are usually held.
He had to be quick, if it wasn’t the morning sun that was going to get him discovered it was the fact that once the gryphons at the first camp find out their stones had been destroyed they would send word to this camp and it would become nearly impossible to finish the mission.
“Alright, I’ll run in and be as quick as possible with these tents, number one was lucky last time let’s hope it is again.” He thought as he opened the first tent in the row of six. Thankfully these camps followed similar design, but alas no luck this time. He checked number two, three and four but there were just maps and documents in them, nothing that interested him. He lifted the flap to tent number five and was welcomed with the sight of two giant stones waiting to be destroyed, but before he could tackle that there was one more thing he had to do, he moved his head over a bit and peeked through the third tent. There it was. The sad realisation that Sonny would be at camp three along with the rest of the hostages. A smart strategy from the gryphons he had to admit. Any attacks on these camps to rescue survivors would be pointless and just give the gryphons time to send word to the third camp. No time to dwell on thoughts though, he had to destroy these stones and get out of this camp quickly, he lowered his head and began the procedure.
It took a little longer this time but it all went according to plan, the stones were now dust sitting at his feet. “Now to casually walk out of the camp like nothing ever happened.” He thought to himself. He took a single step before he heard a sound that nearly made his stomach fall out of his mouth.
“SKREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE”
“Those damn birds found the hole!” This was it, he’d be killed here and never see his daughter and never get to marry his love and never see his friend again.
“What is it, what’s wrong soldier?” A very regal and very angry Gryphon said.
“Sir we’ve found a hole outside the fence, it goes right under the logs and leads into the camp sir” Said a patrol member.
“I know that you idiot, the logs are being replaced in the morning and we’re moving them further out to create more space! Do you think I would not have noticed if some pony scum tunnelled into MY camp! GET BACK TO YOUR POST AND DON’T YOU DARE WAKE ME AGAIN.” Screamed the Gryphon in charge.
Orion nearly cried, he was too lucky. He recognized that style of leadership. “Thank Celestia.” He thought. This was too risky now, he had to depart and get away from this camp as soon as possible, but the guards were still keeping a close eye on the holes that he had dug, so they were clearly off limits. “What now?” He thought, noticing the large shadow creeping up behind him.
*ahem*
Orion froze on the spot. This was it...again.
“I suppose this dust is YOUR doing.” Came a voice from behind him.
He turned to face the gryphon that was staring at him with a very sarcastic look on its face.
“Yes, and I suppose you’ll be beheading me now?” He responded cheekily.
“Well. I suppose that would be the thing to do...” The gryphon paused before saying “Or..”
The gryphon walked over to Orion and looked around the room, looking for any other gryphons nearby.
“I might just need to get some air, because I think I just hallucinated and saw a pony infiltrate our encampment and destroy our stones. So I think I might just go out the front gate and go for a walk to get some air.” The gryphon said.
Orion was confused, scared and happy all at the same time, but most of all he was simply speechless.
“So I might go for that walk, and I might leave the gate open just in case anyone needs to follow me out so they can go for a walk too.”
Orion broke his silence, the obvious question had to be asked, but not here. The gryphon took the hint and got moving towards the gate. Orion stayed in the tent observing from the flap, he could see the gryphon talking to another gryphon who was on guard at the gate, after a few nods of their heads the gate guard walked away and the friendly gryphon gave Orion a wink signalling to him that it was ok to come out. He didn’t need to be told twice, he left the tent as silently as possible and made his way toward the gate, he saw the gryphon who had helped him staring out into the light of the sun that was now about to make its first appearance of the day. He stood next to it and asked the question that was riddling his mind.
“Why?”
“Because.” She responded.
“I don’t hate ponies. And I want to do at least one good thing in this war. I have a daughter you know, and I’m planning on sending her to summer flight camp in Cloudsdale. Something I can’t do if we’re still at war with the ponies. So do what you need to do pony, end this war and bring the peace back.” The gryphon said, with a seriousness Orion hadn’t felt since his departing words with the Princess.
Orion had a lot to think about, he hadn’t considered destroying these stones his primary mission, but now it was clear that the sheer weight of this mission was finally starting to get through to him.
“Thank you.” He said as he gave her a quick nod.
“No problem” She responded with the same nod.
They departed ways like Orion has done to so many of his friends lately, he started to gallop, he HAD to destroy those stones and bring the peace back. He just hoped that Sonny was still ok, a tear formed as he was running, he was stronger than ever, he was ready to take on anything to finish his mission now, nothing would stop him.
It was sundown before he reached his destination, he stood on a nearby ridge and just stare at the giant encamptment, this was larger than both of the last two camps put together. A look of determination was on his face as he slowly started his decent of the hill and made his way towards the camp.
=======================================================================================
The Good Left Undone
There were no more words. There were no more lucky breaks. There was nothing to stop Orion from victory.
His strategy was different this time around, he would use all of his stealth to get close to the camp, but he would stop the spell as he entered, he would then proceed to take out a gryphon and question it about where Sonny and the stones were, after that he would use his stealth again to find the stones then rescue Sonny and get the pegasus to fly them out of there and back to the Everfree Forest. A simple plan, but a plan nonetheless.
As he slowly made his decent the memories of his trip so far kept plaguing him. How many gryphons did he kill when he started that fire? Did he even get any of them at all? Did he even want to kill them? And what was with that gryphon helping him at the second camp? It all meant nothing if he couldn’t save his friend and end this war. He finally reached the bottom of the hill and stared at the massive structure in front of him. This was it, no doubt. “Ok, how do I get in? Hm. Didn’t think that far ahead...well I did, but I guess I skipped the whole actually entering situation.” His mind would not rest, but he was not wrong. This gryphon camp was more like a fortress than a bunch of tents sitting around a fire, this was the biggest encampment and therefore the most heavily guarded. There would be no friendly gryphons here.
“First things first, I have to get in.” He thought of digging again, but the stone looked like it went too deep to get under, he thought about going over, but what about those gryphons on the towers? There was no easy way in, this would take tact and skill, something he hated to use, mainly because he had so little of it.
From his position in the rocky flat lands just outside the fortress he could see everything going on, but more importantly, everything going IN to the fortress. “They open the gates for those buffalo’s who pull those carts, what’s in them? Ah who cares, I need to be in them.” His new plan was ambitious, he would wait for those buffalo to go by and then jump in their wagons and cover himself so as to not be seen, but he had no idea what was going to happen once he was in those gates. “They might just unload the cart right there, in which case I’d be an easy target.” But he was willing to risk it, it was after all, the only plan that he could think of.
The pounding of the buffalo’s hooves could be felt throughout the ground, like a stampede. “A controlled stampede.” Orion joked to himself. He was ready to jump, it was risky at the speed that they were going but he used all the strength in his legs to jump up on the very last cart coming through, it was difficult, he imagined everything slowing down while he was mid air, it was a rush to feel the sudden thud of wood on his chest, he pulled himself in and covered himself in the blanket that had been in his saddlebags. He thought this plan was gold, nopony would suspect a thing, he would be in and out in no time.
“Alright go on ahead” A gryphon’s voice could be heard
The gryphon’s were checking the carts for anything suspicious, but Orion planned for this. “Almost too easy.” He thought as he engaged his horn to start the cloaking spell. The cart moved up and Orion saw the gryphons outline through his blanket. The gryphon lifted up the blanket, and at that moment the world froze. It was just Orion and this Gryphon Guard, the gryphon looking directly in Orion’s eyes and Orion returning the gesture.
“Alright all clear. Go on”
It had worked, the cloaking spell did its job perfectly. “This IS going to be a breeze!” He thought to himself. The cart had come to a stop and Orion carefully lifted up the blanket, he was inside alright, but he had no idea what was in here.
To his direct right was the prison where the unicorn prisoners were being held, to the left there were long tents much like those from the other encampments, but these were longer and housed more guards than usual. Directly in front of him were 4 bunkers, the carts were clearly held behind these bunkers for storage reasons. He couldn’t see any smaller tents like the ones that housed the stones last time, but he assumed they would be around somewhere. He stepped out of the cart and quickly looked over to the prison for any signs of Sonny. “Nothing!” He thought, “Plenty of unicorns, but no Sonny, he must be somewhere else.” With that Orion spotted something concerning, something that was just downright mean of the gryphons.
The “Storage Bunkers” were everywhere, Orion didn’t know what ones were used for storage and what ones were used for housing certain pegasus prisoners of war. It was all the same, each bunker looked like it had just popped out of the ground and each one had a number on it, to Orion’s count there was at least 30 bunkers. “This is going to be impossible...” He thought.
All the courage he had mustered to get in and save his friend was gone, he hadn’t even realised that his cloaking spell had worn off, he didn’t care. He was broken, there was far too many bunkers to check without getting noticed and he had no magic left to keep cloaked, so what was he going to do?
Sitting in the middle of the camp surrounded by bunkers he suddenly noticed that he hadn’t been killed yet. “Where are all the gryphons...?” He thought.
The thought that there was no gryphons IN the camp was far too tantalizing to even consider. “They must be in the bunkers for something, but ALL of them?” He thought.
“Hey! Hey! over here!” Orion heard a soft voice call.
“You...you’re one of the elite guards...? Are you here to rescue us...? Please...?”
It was one of the unicorn prisoners. Without his cloaking spell he was visible to all, and thankfully the only thing that noticed him was the large gathering of unicorn prisoners sitting in their giant cell.
“One of my objectives is to save you, yes. Where are all the gryphons?” Orion asked.
“They’re in the bunkers preparing for tonight”
“What happens tonight?” Orion’s interest was piqued.
“Well...every couple of days they make us perform magic for them, but not for entertainment, they take notes and if you’re not good enough you get taken away...” The dark red mare drew her head down low “They....took my daughter and husband....they....” she was welling up with tears unable to finish her chilling sentence.
Orion had put a hoof on her shoulder to try and comfort her the best he could.
“Ma’am I’ve promised a lot of ponies a lot of things on this mission, and I promise this to you as well, I WILL get you out of here, I will get you all out of here.” Orion said with great confidence.
Most of the unicorns didn’t give notice to him, but a few piled around the cage where he was standing, they were hopeful that perhaps this pony COULD get them out.
“We only know so much, they take some prisoners down to bunker thirty nine, that’s where we saw another royal guard get taken.”
Orion’s ears stood up on end to this news.
“W-was he a light yellow pegasus? do you remember?” Orion said with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes.
“No I’m sorry I don’t remember...” The red unicorn mare said.
All the unicorns standing around the cage shook their heads, none of them could remember. It wasn’t their fault, but it was still frustrating.
“So, bunker thirty nine? I don’t suppose you’ve seen any of the gryphons moving around giant spherical rocks?”
“We’ve seen them taking rocks into bunker twelve...if that’s helpful..? by the way Mr. Guard, how will you get us out of here...?”
Orion hadn’t thought of a plan yet, this was not going to be as easy as sneaking in...He hadn’t planned for getting all the unicorns out, it was the one oversight that he had made.
“I have a plan, don’t you worry, I just need to get my friend and those stones ok.” He said with false confidence.
The unicorns were grateful and a few of them even had smiles. Orion turned away from them and started looking for the bunkers mentioned by the unicorns. “Ok, number thirty nine and number twelve... I suppose number twelve first then.”
Orion made his way towards bunker twelve, he thought about what he would find in there, before one pressing issue came to mind. “How am I going to get IN to the bunker, surely they will see me open the door..?” It was a big problem to have indeed as this is a bunker, there are no other ways into it apart from the front door. The gryphons were turning out to be quite good at tactics and prior planning, which was very annoying to say the least.
Orion racked his brain, nothing came to mind, he was out of ideas and out of patience, he didn’t care what he had to do once he was in the bunker, as long as he got in he could destroy the stones and at least Equestria would be safe. He stood at the bunker’s door and prepared himself. He envisioned his wife and daughter living in a peaceful Equestria, and a small smile graced his lips. He snapped back to reality and used his magic to open the bunker’s door.
Orion was surprised to see nothing waiting by the door, nor any signs of life at all, it was just a staircase, which he was relieved to find. He closed the door behind him and starting climbing down the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible.
Once he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw a lone gryphon standing by a row of doorways, he tried his cloaking spell again but he realised he needed the magical energy to destroy the stones. This gryphon would die today. “It has to happen...” He reassured himself. He never liked killing but he has done it before, and it was the only way to get past this guard.
“WAIT!” He thought to himself, “I can try and tie him up and interrogate him, maybe he knows which room the stones are in.” Orion pulled the rope out of his saddlebags; which were now empty apart from the paper Princess Celestia gave him. With a quick whip of his magic the rope slid under the gryphon's foot and he had the gryphon tied up, it tried to yell but he put a hoof to its beak.
“Scream and I will kill you, do you understand?”
The gryphon just nodded in agreement.
“I need information, where are the stones.”
He pulled his hoof from the gryphon’s beak and it began to talk
“Last door on the right, I swear” It said in a shaky voice.
Orion gave the gryphon’s face a quick stomp which promptly knocked it out. He made his way towards the door, unsure of whether he could trust this gryphon or not. He flung the door open and saw those two stones sitting there “For Equestria...” He muttered under his breath. He levitated the two stones and hung his head down low, he was very low on energy but he still managed to perform the first part of the spell, his eyes started to glow white as he finally squinted at the stones and released the magic.
“It’s over...” He said.
There was no time to celebrate now, he had prisoners to save, arguably the hardest part of his mission.
Orion easily stepped out of the bunker and walked over to the prisoners to inform them of his success and their imminent freedom, but he was stopped by screaming coming from the unicorns, all of them were hugging the bars of their cage yelling at Orion, it was a couple of seconds before he made out what they were saying.
“LOOK OUT HE’S BEHIND YOU”
Orion turned his head and saw HIM. It was the Guardian Gryphon, and he was smiling at Orion.
“Why hello there, Boy.” The monsterous gryphon said in a very thick accent.
Orion took a defensive stance, he had no chance and he knew it. He had to somehow get out of there.
“Nothing to say boy? Good. Listen carefully then.” The gryphon’s voice was very deep and very sadistic.
“You came here for your friend no doubt? Perhaps save these unicorn’s while you’re at it hmm? Well here’s the deal, friend.” The gryphon moved in until his huge eyes were looking at Orion’s eyes. Neither blinked.
“I will give you the choice, 3 options. Option 1: I kill you and your friend, in return these unicorns go free.”
Orion cringed but continued to listen.
“Option 2: I bring your friend out here and YOU kill him, then the unicorns and you may go free”
The Gryphon pulled a sick sadistic smile over his face as he announced Orion’s last option.
“Option 3: A fight to the death, you win, you all leave, I win, you all die. Every. Single. One. We won't need them anymore now that you've destroyed those idiotic stones. I told the general we won't need some pony legend to defeat you weaklings, and I'm going to prove it to you boy.”
At this point Orion was furious and disgusted at the savagery of the gryphon, he looked around and noticed that a lot of the bunkers were open and gryphons were pouring out everywhere to see Orion make his choice.
“Perhaps you would like to say hello?”
Orion’s eyes flew open as the guardian whistled to his subordinates. They flew down one of the bunkers and returned with a barely breathing Pegasus. It was Sonny and he was in bad shape. The gryphons threw him on the ground and Orion rushed over to his comrade.
“SONNY SONNY, SONNY WAKE UP!” Orion screamed.
“w....wa...wasup...” Came a barely audible voice.
“Sonny I’m so glad you’re ok. C’mon we’ve got to get out of here! I need you to get up and go! c’mon.”
Orion’s eyes were nearly completely glassed over with tears, Sonny tried to get up but fell back down again.
“sor...sorry b..brother......but I’m....done....” Sonny’s voice cracking inbetween words.
“Soldier if you don’t get up now I swear I will make you clean the royal latrine for months!” Orion tried tocommand his friend into getting up.
Sonny was trying to get up again after sharing a laugh with Orion and he got to his knees before a giant claw came down on his body immobilizing him again. Orion was surprised and glanced up at the just gryphon who was sporting a sick smile.
“So what will it be boy?” The gryphons smirk growing bigger.
“c...choo...two...ori...orion...two.......two” a battered and beaten Sonny said.
“I can’t Sonny...I Promised... I choose 3. I’m going to kill you and walk out of here with my friend and these innocent ponies.” Orion said as confidently as he could.
The giant gryphon let out an evil chuckle.
“Well...you can try boy.” The gryphon stepped back and started stretching his massive wings.
Orion stepped back as well. “I couldn’t win, what was I thinking? I’m just going to die and save nopony. What good is that!?” But he was over listening to his mind, he was working with his body now. No more strategies, nothing. He just needed to kill one gryphon and everything will be fine. One giant, evil, and monstrously powerful gryphon.
He put his saddlebags down and stepped into the makeshift ring that the gryphons had prepared, it was just a circle drawn in sand but to Orion it was his future grave site. He prepared to fight the guardian who was currently running his claws through his huge lion-like mane, it was aggravating that his opponent thought nothing of him but it was even worse that Orion knew he was right, he had no chance in this fight. “What am I going to do...”
=======================================================================================
The Danger in Starting a Fire
Orion stood face to face with his giant opponent, he had no plan, no strategy and no resolve. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen but he had to figure it out soon. The giant gryphon started circling Orion and it was on from there. To his surprise Orion started running towards the gryphon, his body doing all of the work and his mind just going with the flow, instinctively he threw out his back legs into a powerful buck right to the gryphon’s stomach. The gryphon took a small step back and started chuckling.
“You had better have more than that. Boy.”
The gryphon turned his whole body around and used his tail as a whip. He lashed it out twice at Orion, who dodged the first strike but succumbed to the second. He was hurt bad, it didn’t draw blood but it did bring him to his haunches, and that was just the gryphon’s tail. The gryphon picked Orion up with one of his claws and made Orion face Sonny.
“This is pretty much over boy, mind if I kill your friend? Hm?” The gryphon said in an evil voice.
The gryphon took his free claw and picked Sonny up. No words were said, just screams. Sonny was motionless in the gryphon’s claw, he had been crushed in the gryphon’s claw. The gryphon let out a maniacal giggle as Orion struggled to get out of his grip. The gryphon brought one of his massive legs around and gave Orion a swift back kick, kicking him half way across the field like a football. It didn’t matter if he left the circle, this was a fight to the death. The gryphon stood there boasting for the other gryphons, meanwhile Orion lay on the floor in scathing pain.
“Sonny....I failed him...this is stupid, I can’t win...I have to run...that last kick feels like it broke my shoulder or something! I’ve got to run while I can! I can’t do this! I’M GOING TO DIE!”
“NO” Orion screamed “I won’t run, I won’t cry, I won’t give up, I WON’T LET YOU DIE IN VEIN”
Orion found new life and ran back over to the gryphon, who wasn’t expected a reckless head butt straight to the head.
The gryphon was grounded and it was obvious that the head butt had hurt him, but it took its toll on Orion, he had hurt himself from recoil and he knew he was in a bad position.
“OH that was nice! I haven’t been hit like that for a LONG time!” A sadistic smile crept across the gryphons face.
Before he could react Orion was head-butted back, and when he landed he was greeted with the full weight of a gryphon standing on him with its full weight. The gryphon let go and kicked him back into the circle.
“Had enough boy?” The gryphon yelled out.
Orion couldn’t respond. His body was in too much pain. The gryphon had turned away from Orion and started giving a speech to his gryphon subordinates.
“You see! The pony scum are no match for the might of the gryphon army!” He continued on.
Orion was still hurt but had managed to drag himself to his saddlebags. “She said when I need it most it will help me...”
He reached in with his mouth and put the paper in front of him, on it was a small note and what looked like a picture. Orion’s eyes would not move or blink, his mouth would not close. The only thing that was moving on his face was the small tear coming from his right eye.
Dear Orion,
I said cannot help you, alas this is true, and It hurts me so much. So I give you this gift, I’m sorry if you don’t get to see this again, but please take it and know that one day she will grow to be a strong pony, a good pony and most of all my favourite and most trusted student.
Orion was looking at a photograph of his daughter, but she was grown up, it was her with 5 other mares in the background, but he recognized her straight away. A fully grown purple unicorn mare with a giant smile across her face around her friends. “Celestia...pulled this from the future...? This is my daughter....my daughter... my...”
It was a final gift from the Princess, the gift of seeing his daughter grow up. He felt a horrible pit in the bottom of his stomach, he wanted to see his daughter grow into this mare, she looked so much like her mother and she was Princess Celestia’s personal student? “I’m not missing that.” He resolved.
The horrible pit in his stomach started feeling like a fizzling pit of acid, a horrible dark anger that could not be quelled. The gryphon was not finished his speech when he realised the pony behind him was standing on his feet again.
“Oh? Round 2 then? haha” The gryphon unfolded his wings preparing to attack.
Orion was staring daggers into the gryphon’s eyes, his breathing had become erratic it was more like snorting than breathing. He let out a war cry that would rival that of a dragon, his mane started to feel strange and he looked back, he had completely ignited his mane and tail. There was just a dark blue fire of pure rage where his hair used to be, it was an amazing feeling, was this even possible? The blue flames died down and his mane and tail returned to normal, but his anger and power was still there. He was feeling very different than before, and the gryphon didn’t even realise it.
Orion somehow found the magic inside to encapsulate the giant gryphon in a magical barrier, the gryphon was surprised and started to try his best to get out, but it was too late, the rage had overcome Orion and this was a fight to the death. Orion slowly started to compact the barrier, it was getting smaller and smaller, as was the gryphon inside of it. Eventually an ear piercing snap was heard throughout the camp, and the giant gryphon had stopped moving. Orion released his barrier and walked over to the motionless gryphon. It opened its eyes and said just one word.
“How...”
Orion didn’t respond, but instead planted a hoof on the gryphon’s head.
“I’ve won. Release the unicorns and open the gate.” He bellowed to the gryphons.
A couple of gryphon guards moved forward as if to close in and attack Orion, but they were stopped by their peers who did just as Orion had requested. He had won, but with a cost. It was over.
The unicorns didn’t wait around before leaving the camp, they made their way back in the direction of the forest. Orion had put Sonny’s limp lifeless body over his back along with his saddlebags and the picture of his daughter. He turned to face the gryphons and address them.
“If any of you have families, perhaps it’s time to stop fighting and go home...”
The encampment of gryphons were silent, no movement was heard and nothing was uttered.
Orion turned to leave, before he left he heard a very small and very weak voice come from one gryphon standing in the group.
“Thank you”
=======================================================================================
The Price We Pay
Sonny’s funeral was small, it’s how he wanted it. Princess Celestia was in attendance as well as a handful of the royal guards. Twlight came to support Orion even though she had a newborn foal to care for, and there was a note sent from a man calling himself “The Great and Powerful Adonis” which Orion put in the grave to be buried with his best friend. Everypony had left the site after the funeral, except Orion. He stood there staring at the grave thinking about all of the things he could have done to save his friend.
“His life was one filled with adventure and discovery, like a lovable little colt.” The Princess said appearing behind Orion.
“I couldn’t do it. I failed him” Orion said heavily.
“You failed no one Orion. If Sonny were the one who went to save you, he would have made the same decision.” The Princess re-assured him.
“I just think that maybe there was at least one other thing I could have tried to do.”
“Your mind is a powerful thing Orion, it often gets you into trouble. Perhaps you should take a lesson from Sonny and switch it off every now and then.” The Princess gave a small smile as she said this to Orion.
“Maybe.” He said.
“So....the picture and the note...is it true?” He looked up at the Princess.
“Allow young Twilight to study the magic books in your library, then bring her to the academy for an entrance exam, I know she will pass it.”
“But...you can see the future? Why couldn’t you prevent all of this from happening?”
“I cannot see into the future Orion.” The Princess replied.
“But the picture!” Orion had a look of anger.
“Mearly a gift from my future self. I am not allowed to change the flow of time, you must understand. But this was urgent.”
“And my friend wasn’t!?” Orion yelled in defiance.
“Everypony dies Orion. You cannot cheat death, even if you know the future, it will always end the way it was meant to end.”
She turned and walked away with her head hanging lower than usual. Orion turned back to the grave.
“Twilight Sparkle.”
He turned and walked away to catch up to his wife and newborn.
Here lies Sonny Sparkle
Killed Defending His Country
You’re Flying With Angels Now
Rest in Peace
=======================================================================================
Outro
“So you were in the war? Why didn’t you just say so dad? You had me worried for a second there!” Twilight let out a relieved giggle and a smile.
“Well it was a very difficult time.” Orion replied with a smile.
“Yeah but you were a chef!” Twilight was now laughing along with her father.
“You’re right honey I was haha I guess the war wasn’t THAT hard.” Orion giggled back.
“Well I’m glad you lived through your hellish time in the kitchen dad, and I’m glad you thought of me in any case, but next time if you’re just going to tell me a story about being in a kitchen all day, let Mom tell it. She's the better cook.” Twilight said sarcastically.
They both chuckled lightly as Twilight got up and stretched her legs. A light knock at the door caught her attention, it was the Princess’ guards. Princess Celestia requested an audience right away. Twilight turned to her parents and gave each of them a peck on the cheek.
“Thanks guys, we’ll have to catch up another time when the Princess doesn’t need my help!” and with that Twilight stepped out of the door.
“You lied.” Came a voice from the kitchen, it was Twilight’s mother carrying a tray with tea and biscuits with her magic.
“You didn’t tell her the real story? What about Sonny and the Gryphons?” The old mare said with a small smile.
“Honey. There are some stories that are best kept to yourself. If Twilight thinks I was just a chef in the war then so be it, I’m happy.” Orion responded.
With a smile they both looked at each other and took teacups with their magic, the old mare lifted the teapot up with her magic and poured them both a cup of tea.
“I personally like the other one, it shows your heroic side.” The mare said.
Orion just smiled back at her as he raised his teacup to hers and clanged them together
“To Sonny Sparkle.”
The End.