Heir of the Storm

by Bishibosh the Shaman

Chapter Seven: Call of Thunder - Part Two

Heir of the Storm
Chapter Seven

'Stop the Thunder Lord...' was all Sky remembered as he drifted through the black. The breeze flowed through his mane and he felt as though the winds were carrying him away. The sudden buck in the air jolted his eyes open. The sky was orange in twilight. The pegasus dropped to the ground with a resounding thud, nearly knocking the wind out of him.

Sky raised his head and glanced around. He was in a thin layer of woods, the ground blanketed with yellow and red leaves. Finally his eyes locked on the orange coat of his older sister trotting towards him. Her eyes carried a dread Sky felt he knew.

"Ah'm sorry Sky! Didn't mean ta throw ya that high!" Applejack slowed to a halt as she neared Sky's limp form.

"It's... fine sis... Ugh, I was having a strange dream..." Sky raised a hoof to his head, rubbing his temples.

"That dream didn't happen to involve griffons did it?" Rainbow descended upon the two ponies with a furl in her brow. "Cause we gotta hurry if we're going to save everypony!"

"Wait... What?" Was all Sky could say as he continued to rub his head.

"Sky..." Twilight let out a heavy sigh. "Earlier today, I was attacked by a griffon."

Sky's gaze was locked on Twilight as she explained and as the story went on, the pegasus felt his body grow heavy. He let down his head as Twilight mentioned Scootaloo, which caused the pegasus to jerk his head up.

"What!? They have Scoots!?" The black pegasus felt his legs tremble in anger. "Then we have to save her!"

"Sky, it's not gonna be that easy..." Applejack rested a hoof on her brothers shoulder.

"Yes Sky, if we simply charge in like brutes why... I fear the costs may be much too dire." Rarity chimed in.

"Besides Sky, the griffon who attacked me was powerful. He held his own against not only an alicorn, but one whose special talent is magic!" Twilight twisted her body, showing her cutie mark. "And that was only one of them. There are at least six."
"Well... at least there are six of you..." Sky sunk his head, listening to reason.

"Nope! Count again forgetty forgetterson!" Pinkie jumped into Sky's face with an angry face. "How could you not see Fluttershy's not there!"

"Wait... Flutter..." Sky took a moment to carefully think about what Pinkie had just said. "Oh buck..."

"Yeah... We are down an element and royally boned if we can't figure this out..." Rainbow Dash added before taking flight. "We need to get going girls."

"I agree, come on. We have ponies to save." Twilight stepped ahead of the group to lead them.

Sky followed behind, still dizzy from his vision and still fighting back his emotions. Falling behind the five mares and fighting his eyes to stay open, the young pegasus gave in. Collapsing on the ground, Sky felt drained of any energy. His fall caught the attention of Applejack and Rainbow Dash as they both turned to see him way behind laying in the shaded ground.

"Sky!" Applejack rushed to her brothers side. Rolling the pegasus over, the sound of snoring filled her ears. "Ya gotta be kiddin me..."

"Well, he did just wake up from a rather... troublesome night," Rarity coughed as she finished the statement. "At least that's what Sweetie told me when he left."

"Ugh... Go on ahead girls. I'll let him nap a few minutes and catch up with you." Rainbow sighed, waving a hoof.

"Ya sure sugar? Ah can stay behind if ya want me to," Applejack offered as she approached.

"It's fine, besides I can just fly ahead with Sky and meet you all there," Rainbow landed next to Sky and sat down. Her friends giving her worrisome looks. "It's fine girls, go. Scootaloo needs help, and Fluttershy too most likely. I'll be right behind you soon."

Still not content with Rainbow's offer, Twilight knew time was against them. She nodded at the pegasus and turned away to continue towards the ruins. Rarity and Pinkie followed after.

"You take good care of 'im Rainbow. If ya don't..." Applejack warned Rainbow, her mind running circles in her head. Seeing Rainbow's nod, she turned around and left to catch up Twilight.

---

'Sky Shard...'

The forest was quiet, save for the voice echoing from the trees. Sky stood in silent awe as he listened. Slowly the beast appeared, the same from his previous vision. Now the serpent was chained, forced to the ground and scarred. The pegasus approached the beaten serpent as it struggled to move. The voice echoed into the confines of Sky's mind.

'The storm... is coming...'

The serpent coughed a puddle of blood before Sky. As Sky approached to check the serpent, it breathed a breath of blue energy to halt him.

'The Thunder Lord... He knows you are here.'

"Why are you telling me this? What's so special about me?" Sky stomped a hoof, turning his head to find the source of the voice. "Where are you?"

'My time... is almost spent, you must be ready. Everything will make sense... in time...'

The air in the forest grew dense with a heavy mist, but as the mist grew thick he saw one last image. A griffon shoving two mares into their cells. One a gentle yellow, the other battered and bruised but orange none the less.

"Bastards! What did you do!?"

'Incentive, storm child. Come, face the wrath of the storm!' A dark voice growled through the mist, the language was different yet Sky understood it.

Sky shot up from the ground, lags shaking in anger. Drenched in his own sweat, he could barely feel the hoof pressed into his side. He turned his head, ready to attack his intruder. His hoof pulled back eager to slam into his victim, but halted at the bright blue face of his teacher.

"Woah Sky, friendly here, you can put the hoof down," Rainbow barely flinched at the close call. Sky's eyes squinted and Rainbow could see his cheeks tighten as his teeth clenched.

Rainbow pulled her hoof back from Sky's belly, her concern for his squirming replaced with new concern for his excessive sweating. She stood back up, lifting a hoof to help Sky up as well. Sky picked himself up and stepped forward.

"We have to get going Rainbow... I think Scoots is hurt," There was a coldness to Sky's voice that Rainbow had never heard before.

"Scoots? Then lets go, we need to hurry!" Rainbow shot up into the air.

Sky followed the blue pegasus, as she decided to fly low to the ground. Sky had heard she had a griffon friend before, so he trusted her judgement. Plus it made sense, fly low and they can't see you from above. At least, Sky thought so. Rainbow barely made it into the treeline when she was dropped to the ground. Sky broke his flight too late as two griffons dropped from the tree line.

The pegasus was surrounded in mid air. Where griffons had not been, the trees were too thick to escape. One of the huge warriors bashed Sky across his face, knocking him to the ground. It was there he saw Rainbow caught underneath a thick bound net. It pained him to see her struggle against the heavy rope, but the pain was minimal to the shocking blast that followed.

The griffon pulled out a long metal rod, it buzzed as he brought it around. The rod shoved itself into Sky's flank. For the next few seconds Sky only felt searing pain, after which followed a numbing sensation. Then Sky blacked out.

Rainbow struggled against the net, making little to no progress of escape. The rope pressed her wings to the ground and her hooves were trapped under her belly. One of the griffon warriors approached, the other had Sky bound up. The griffon cracked a malicious grin as he closed in on the snared pegasus.

"You better let us go, cause once I get out of here you are in fo- Gah!" A leathery claw pressed down on the nape of Rainbow neck, the talons gripping around her throat.

The blue pegasus struggled for air as the griffon clenched his grip around her. She felt the warmth of her own blood drip down her chest, still fighting for breath. Closing her eyes, Rainbow was hoping for some kind of miracle. Some kind of opening to turn the tables in her favor. As dire as the fight seemed, her miracle was given. Her vision began to black out and her hearing dimmed, but the last image she saw was a pillar of smoke. The claw lifted from her neck.

"Xiang! Leave the prey be and help me with him!" the griffon guard shouted in his foreign tongue. "The child is pulsing!"

Xiang lifted his claw from the struggling pegasus, certain that if she were not dead she would be soon. Lifting his heavy body in the air, he glided over to his brother. As he approached the bound pegasus released a super charged nova, igniting the air around the other griffon. As the smoke cleared, Xiang could make out his brothers shape through the black haze. Seeing the griffons feathered body scorched and singed caused Xiang to roar with amused laughter.

"What's the matter Qiang? The little colt giving a seasoned warrior trouble?" Xiang bawked in laughter, mocking his brother.

"You should know not to joke about his power foolish brother! Now HELP ME!" Qiang roared in anger.

"Bah, fine... Rainbow Spunk should consider herself lucky, heh..." Xiang mused as he pulled out his conductor rod.

The shock novas shortened in power and force as Xiang held out the long silver rod. The electric energy floating in the air absorbed into the silver orb at the tip of the conductor rod. Confident that all the access energy had been absorbed, Xiang pressed the conductor rod to the ground. The ground immediately reacted as plant life stiffened, arcing small volts of lighting safely into the air.

Xiang briefly considered returning to finish the blue pegasus, but Qiang was already in the air headed for their camp. With a disappointed grunt, he followed his brother back into the air. His disdain was quickly replaced as he entertained thoughts of his goal. The empire would return, and he would aid in its return.

---

The four remaining mares stood on the cliff side overlooking the castle ruins. 'The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters' Twilight thought to herself. Where everything began so to speak. The Princess of Magic kicked a small stone off the cliff as she observed the castle in the distance. Last time she stood here, Rainbow Dash saved her for the second time as well as proved her loyalty. Now she was not here and Twilight grew concerned.

She wanted to wait for her friend and Sky, but she couldn't help but feel like it would only waste more time. As if to confirm he fears, two shadows swooped over head. Too fast for any normal pony to make out, but Twilight had magic. Thinking fast she cast a time distortion spell, slowing the passage of time to get a better view. Both shadows were griffon, and one held a prisoner.

Small compared to his captures, Sky was easily made out from his black coat against the light grey feathers. Twilight's heart sank to her stomach, Sky was captured and Rainbow was missing as well as Fluttershy. Resisting the urge to breakdown, she forced down her emotions and turned to her friends.

"Ok girls, things are bad." Twilight began, pausing as her heart raced. "That was Sky... I don't know what happened, but they got him..."

"WHAT!?" Rarity barked as she pressed through Applejack and Pinkie Pie. "If those dirty birds lay one filthy claw on his adorable head... "

"Ya sure Twi? Ah mean, how could they 'ave gotten passed Rainbow?" Applejack stepped up next to the fuming Rarity. "As much as Ah hate to admit it, she is the fiercest one of us."

"I don't know Aj, I hope she is alright though..." Twilight closed her eyes. "But it doesn't matter right now, if she is ok she will catch up. Right now there are ponies we know are in trouble and they need to take priority!"

"Besides, Rainbow can't miss out on this much fun!" Pinkie Pie bounced into a nearby bush, only moments later to burst out in full stealth mission attire. "It's like a secret mission!"

"Pinkie darling, where did that... suit... come from?" Rarity backed away a step, expecting anything.

"Oh this thing? I keep emergency jumpsuits everywhere for any situation!" Pinkie smiled.

"Bu- Ho- Wh- Ugh... Nevermind..." Rarity sighed in defeat. " So Twilight, how exactly will we go about this... secret mission."

"Ah! I'm glad you asked Rarity! Because... I haven't figured just how yet." Twilight gave a sheepish smile.

"Well ya'll better hurry and think of sumthin. Those griffons are flightier than... Uh Twilight..." Applejack's voice dropped, almost in disbelief.

As Twilight turned towards her friend, the tree branches above exploded in sound. One of the griffons burst through the leaves and branches, screaming in pain and shouting foreign curses. The griffon crashed into the ground, rolling several feet before stopping. Twilight was about to approach when a massive swarm of wasps attacked the grounded griffon.

Painful screams muffled as the wasps brutally attacked the griffon. Twilight watched as his body went from fighting to struggling, then twitching. Finally the swarm of wasps rose from the still twitching body and dispersed into the forest. Twilight approached slowly, legs twitching in anticipation. She thought the griffon to be dead. None of the mares noticed the gentle pegasus floating down behind them.

"Oh my... I didn't want them to be too... mean..." Fluttershy landed behind her friends, happy to see them.

"FLUTTERSHY!" All four mares shouted in excitement, blowing the shy pegasus' mane and tail back.

"Fluttershy, what happened!? Where were you? What was with the wasps?" Twilight's mouth ran faster than she could ever remember it moving, Fluttershy could barely keep up with her questions.

"Oh... Maybe I can tell you girls later? It's still... fresh..." Fluttershy's legs began to tremble, giving Twilight all the signal she needed.

"That's fine Fluttershy, you can tell us when you're ready. For now, I'm just glad you're ok." Twilight smiled, finally things were going her way.

"What's going on? What did those... griffons want with me?" Fluttershy spoke softly, still under the stress of past events.

"Well... We don't have time to go over everything, so here's the short story..." Twilight began to recap everything that had happened.

---

The old wooden doors opened before Sky Shard, he had just long enough to gaze through the throne room before a rough kick sent him rolling across the floor.Picking himself up, Sky looked up at the throne before him. A thick string of blood trailed off his muzzle, but he ignored it as the massive griffon sitting before him spoke.

"Young storm child..." The griffon spoke in a broken equestrian. "You, thorn in masters side... too long..."

The griffon stood from the platform throne, standing taller than both griffons that captured him. His grey feathers rested down his chest, and the long feathers of his wings flared as he approached. His face was scarred immensely, the only thing drawing attention from them being his blood red face paint.

"Bah... I hate using that inferior tongue..." The griffon now spoke in his own language, to which Sky somehow understood. His questioning face drew the griffons attention. "You can... Well, I should not be surprised."

Sky opened his mouth to speak, only to be lifted in the air and slammed down on the stone floor. Lifting his head, Sky spat out a mix of blood and saliva. From that point on, he decided silence was his best option. The griffon leader barked at his guards.

"Xiang! Qiang! Leave me..." The griffon stretched his wings out further.

"I... am Hei Feng. In your equestrian tongue it means the Black Wind." Hei lifted a claw to his chest as his wings lifted him in the air. "I command these soldiers for the Thunder Lord, the TRUE ruler of your land."

Hei Feng slowly drifted back down to the ground. In silence, he stepped down from the throne and circled around Sky Shard.

"Do you know why you are so special storm child?" Sky shook his head, expecting another blow. None came. "Really... I suppose it should be expected. Your parents pulled a fast one on us, leaving you behind like that..."

The pegasus' head shot up at the mention of his parents, Hei Feng made notice of Sky's attention. Hei rested a talon on a knife blade in his belt.

"We never expected her to part with her little piece of the sky. Her love for you surpassed my love of war..." Hei Feng spat in disgust. "When we learned that her and your father left you behind... My master was less than pleased. He gave me this for delivering the bad news."

The large griffon ran a talon through an obvious scar running just underneath his eye. His other talon gripped the knife handle and pulled the blade. One swift slash later Sky was grasping his cheek in pain. The blade of the knife dripped thin blood.

"You are lucky my master need's you alive... I would take great pleasure in gutting you myself..." Hei Feng stepped back up to the throne, dripping the blood from his blade into a small vial. "Guards! Take him away..."

Leathery claws gripped around Sky's forelegs, dragging him out of the throne room. He closed his eyes briefly, or it felt briefly. Soon he felt the cool night air blow through his wings, and the hot sting in his face. Opening his eyes he saw the last thing he expected. A long serpent creature chained to the ground, the very one from his vision. As he passed, it groaned in pain, or out to him.

Soon they approached another small building. It looked like a door and a small stone hut. Entering the structure, the Xiang and Qiang drug him down with barely enough time to keep up on the steps. The air grew dense and moldy the deeper they descended. Finally the griffon brothers stopped, allowing Sky a brief moment to breath before tossing him into a cell.

Sky groaned as he picked himself up off the wet stone floor. Stretching his wings, the pegasus looked around his cell. A pile of moldy bedding in one corner, one solid wall with a small window, Sky wondered how deep underground they were if the window showed the sky. The other three walls were barred, to one side was an empty cell and the other. A cough from the other cell put a smile on the aching ponys face. The orange pile of fur shuffled from her bed.

"Scoots! You're alright!" Sky ran over to the cell wall, although his smile diminished when the bruised pegasus stood with her own smile.

"Sky, you have no idea how good it is to see you... Well... Not good to see you here." Scootaloo changed to a half frown. "You're hurt."

"Huh? Oh... this... don't worry about it. I'll be fine." Sky tried to comfort his friend, but she remained concerned. Sky forced a smile as he watched her come closer to the cell.

"You won't be fine stupid, It'll get infected. Come here," Scootaloo stopped at the barred wall and motioned Sky over.

"I'm fine, really." Sky got closer to the wall. "Twilight and them will be here soon and save us, so there's no need to wo- er. Scoots, what are you doing?"

Squeezing her head through the bars, Scootaloo began licking Sky's wound. As much as he wanted to pull away, he had to admit. The feel of her warm tongue running across the wound did sooth the pain.

"Cleaning, we don't have anything else so I'm doing it the old way." Scootaloo said between licks. "And I know they will be here, I just don't want you getting sick."

Sky felt a smile build on his face, it felt good having someone caring for him.

---

Rainbow Dash struggled with the weighted net, irate that the griffons caught her off guard. After pushing away her angry thoughts, she began to crawl her way to the edge of the net. As she reached the edge of the net, one of her hooves brushed a cold metal object. She sharp contrast of hot sore muscle against the cold weight made her jerk her hoof away just as the weight unfolded.

Rainbow Dash fought with the weighted net, struggling as the heavy rope pressed down on her wings. Slowly she reached the edge, eager to get in the air and after the jerks who did this to her. In her rush, her hoof brushed against one of the cold weights. Rainbow jerked her leg back from the weight and with a breath continued to fight the net.

A feint whirling noise caught the ponys attention as she turned her head back towards the weight. The top had unfolded unveiling a strange spinning object. It reminded the pegasus of the weird stuff Twilight kept around for science. Rainbow inched her hoof towards the weight, ready to pull back. As her hoof got closer the strange object released a small arc of lightning, striking the pegasus' leg.

"Youch! What was that!?" Rainbow hissed as she jerked her leg back. The numbing feeling setting in, Rainbow shifted to her other hoof.

Her good hoof rubbed against another hard object, and Rainbow shot away from the object expecting a shock. When none came, she inspected the object. A grin cross her face as she pulled the rock from the ground. It was already jagged, perfect for cutting. Not wanting to waste time, Rainbow hurried to cut her way though the rope.

Once Rainbow was free, she launched into the air ready to catch up with her friends. She halted mid air however as a grin crossed her lips. She floated back down to the torn net, grabbing the rock in her good hoof once more.

---

Twilight watched over the cliff, still planning there move on the castle. She had taken a lot into consideration, being discovered the worst. These griffons would out fight her and her friends several times over. Especially without Rainbow, they couldn't even use the elements should they need.

Every second she spent thinking was a moment ponies could be hurt, or worse. The weight pressed on her mind. At least they had some answers for later with their 'prisoner'. The alicorn princess flinched as the thought stuck in her head. We have a prisoner... Can't say I saw that coming.

"Uh Twi, Ah think the griffon's comin 'round. What do ya want me to do?" Applejack broke Twilight's thoughts.

"Just... Knock him in the head. We don't have time to deal with him yet..." Applejack flinched at her friends suggestion. Twilight turned to see the country mares baffled face. "What?"

"Uh... nothing Twi." Applejack replied as she trotted over to the bound griffon.

The griffon groaned through his puffy swollen face. His eyes slowly began to open to an orange and blonde blur. Coughing another groan the griffon was struck by immense pain to his jaw. His vision blacked out as his head fell.

"Aight Twilight. Griffon's out colder than ah mug of cider in the winter snow. What now?" Applejack stepped back, wearing a content smile.

"Now... I don't know..." Twilight still stared towards the ruins.

"Come on egghead! You can't think of something?" The voice brought Twilight's head around as a satchel dropped in front of her. Looking at the satchel, then up at where it dropped from, the rainbow maned pegasus floated down from the tree line.

"Rai- Rainbow!?" The five mares shouted together.

Comments

[TGM]

Another great chapter my man. keep up the good work.

[Firesong]

Okay. So, long-lost civilization of griffons, and supposed true ruler of Equestria is amongst them.... this is so awesomeeeee.

[Bishibosh the Shaman]

3517255 Glad you think so! I checked out your story and it's pretty neat Havnt read it all yet, been busy but the prologue was cool