The Seasons of Equestria

by Lucaro

Chapter 6: Revelations

They had all swarmed the dragon, and Starlight had found a weak spot in Fireclaw’s armor that had allowed him to drive both his blades into the dragon’s spine. Fireclaw had then roared in agony as Starlight had twisted the blades in the wound, and finally severed his spinal cord. The dragon had immediately died then, collapsing to the ground with a tremendous thump.

The gryphons had cheered then, raising their weapons and praising Starlight. He ripped his blades out of the dragon’s spine, and raised his hoof in the air. There was a roar of approval as all the other gryphons raised their fists in the air. “Starlight Mirror and Amberleaf! Our beloved saviors!”

Amberleaf joined him as he hopped off the dragon’s corpse. “Whoa, what a night.”

Starlight smiled. “We make a great team.”

She blushed, and said. “We killed a commander. That’s a pretty high rank in the dragon army. Do you think they’ll try to get revenge now?”

Starlight waved his hoof, dismissing the idea. “They attacked us first, it was their fault. Anyway, we should check out his tent to see if he left behind anything interesting.”

They left the gryphons to sort themselves out, and went to Fireclaw’s tent in the quadrangle. They parted the large canvas flaps which were the doors and entered. The tent reeked of smoke, and was a big mess. A pile of gemstones and treasure lay in the corner alongside some messy sheets on the ground which he assumed was the dragon’s bed. There were tapestries of dragons fighting hanging from walls, and it was there he saw a large, oak desk with stacks of scrolls and papers on them. He gestured to Amberleaf who was pawing through the gems. “Hey, Amberleaf. I think I found something.”

Starlight looked over all the papers, but right in the center of the desk there was a large map that the commander had been looking at the night before. It was a large map of Equestria with arrows depicting troop movements, flags indicating the status of cities and other settlements, and figurines of ponies and dragons lay on top. Amberleaf looked over the map, her eyes went wide. “Starlight, these are battle plans!”

He nodded grimly. “Yes, definitely, but look at all those arrows. There are dates for future troop movements, along with numbers, troop types, and all sorts of useful information.”

Amberleaf was shaking. “There are invading dragon forces fanning out into three other countries besides the Gryphon Kingdom. Oh dear Goddess of the Moon, these plans are on a global scale! They are going to attack another country in my domain after they are done with the Gryphon Kingdom, and then they’re going to attack two countries in Spring’s domain!”

So many arrows. So many troop movements. These charted troop movements were not only for the dragons and the ponies of Darrowshire, but several other countries were running their own conquests alongside the dragons as well. In about three months, the entire world would be at war….

Amberleaf nudged Starlight. “Look.” She put her hoof over where they were on the map. “Here’s this town, Nora’s Crossing. Yesterday’s date shows the troops moving into the town, and according to this schedule, they were supposed to move out today and rendezvous with another attacking force up north.”

Starlight nodded. “So there’s another, much larger Darrowshire force waiting up north for Fireclaw’s forces.” Starlight touched a figurine of a catapult sitting on top of the larger Darrowshire force. “Apparently the main force is equipped with siege weaponry for taking down large fortifications, but where are they going next?” Starlight traced the arrow north. Once Fireclaw’s forces were done here and rejoined the main force, they would march north and….Oh no.

Amberleaf said it before he could. “They’re going to do a pincer attack on Avendale. The dragons will sweep down from the north, and the Darrowshire forces are going to simultaneously strike from the south. It’ll be a massacre.”

Starlight was overwhelmed. Celestia would not allow the dragons to attack Avendale, would she? He shook his head, he could not rely on Celestia for anything. When Avendale fell, there would be a chain reaction rippling across Equestria. Other countries would initiate their own invasions, military alliances would come into play then and more countries would be drug into the conflict as they were obligated to defend each other….This destructive chain would all start with the conquering of Avendale in four days.

Amberleaf looked at Starlight with determination. “We have to stop this. The siege is scheduled to begin in four days, and it’ll be only a matter of a few hours before the walls come tumbling down. We have to warn Avendale of what is going to happen, and I, Amberleaf Priyya, Keeper of Autumn, will broker a peace process. With the news of Snowhoof’s mild winters, everyone should calm down.” Amberleaf looked at Starlight uncertainly. “Right? They should calm down, because Snowhoof promised….”

She trailed off seeing the hopeless look on his face. Starlight honestly didn’t know what would happen, but he’d be damned if he was just going to sit down and do nothing about it. “We have to get all the alicorns. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, all the seasonal alicorns and we have to get as many world leaders to band together to stop this.”

Amberleaf nodded. “Hopefully they’ll be able to put aside their political views for the greater good. Knowing Summer, I doubt that’s going to happen.”

Starlight shook his head. “We still have to try, even though our chances are slim. We need a few volunteers from the gryphons to be messengers for us.”

“Right!” Amberleaf said. “We need to tell them that there is an emergency meeting in Avendale regarding Snowhoof. That’ll get their attention, and all that royalty in the Gryphon capital will stall the siege!”

Excellent. Perhaps there was still a good chance at peace. Amberleaf went outside and gathered the fastest gryphons in Nora’s Crossing to be messengers for them. Every international power, royal, and seasonal alicorn would be getting a message about an emergency meeting in Avendale.

Amberleaf and Starlight signed their names on the messages and sent the gryphons off. Now, they needed to get themselves to Avendale to warn the gryphon king about the impending siege. Starlight had Commander Fireclaw’s battle plans neatly folded and hidden away in his armor to show to the king.

After devouring a quick meal with Amberleaf, they were on their way. Starlight was exhausted from the lack of sleep, but there was no time to rest. They flew over the rolling green hills as noon drew closer, and Starlight couldn’t help but notice at how cold it had gotten. He shivered and they continued flying until they could see the high, stone brick walls of Avendale. A patrol of gryphons met them, crowding around them. “Welcome, High General Starlight Mirror; Keeper of Autumn, Amberleaf Priyya. What brings you two to Avendale?”

Starlight didn’t waste his time with pleasantries. “Take us to King Lightheart, it’s urgent.”

***

They were taken right to the palace in the heart of the city. The gryphon guards formed an orderly formation around Starlight and Amberleaf. The other gryphon civilians stared at them as their convoy passed. There was an unusual hush that had fallen over the city, and Starlight couldn’t help but notice all the abandoned stores and houses. He also saw soldiers leading large groups of gryphon refugees through the city. Amberleaf saw them too. “They look so sad, Starlight.” She was right. Their faces were downcast and miserable, their eyes sunken in from tears and exhaustion. They had fled from their homes in hopes of finding safety in the refugee camps in the south of the kingdom. Amberleaf sighed. “It was prudent of King Lightheart to evacuate the towns near the dragon-gryphon border. Hopefully that’ll minimize civilian casualties.”

Amberleaf said that last part with a bit of optimism, but Starlight knew that there would be heavy civilian casualties regardless of what happened. It was just a matter of when. So many lives depended on this meeting of world leaders. He prayed to Luna, that everything would be alright.

The gryphon guards lowered the drawbridge and several portcullises leading into the palace, and finally they arrived at the grand entrance of the palace itself. They were led inside, and went down a vast hallway lined with ivory balustrades, grand tapestries hanging from the ceiling, and statues of gryphons in armor posed heroically. The azure carpets dulled the sound of his sabatons, and he was grateful for that.

At the end of the hallway, there was a large set of double doors that led into the throne room itself. One of the gryphon guards cleared his throat and approached Starlight and Amberleaf. “Ahem, King Lightheart and his generals are in a meeting at the moment.”

Starlight grinned. “Excellent, then we will meet all of them.”

That was not the answer the gryphon was expecting, but the guards opened the doors anyway. Starlight and Amberleaf trotted in, and saw King Lightheart and his four generals planning a defensive strategy on a large table that had a 3-D geographic map integrated into it. They all looked up from it when the guards announced their presence. “Your Highness, High General Starlight and the Keeper of Autumn.”

The King looked at them with his grave, brown eyes. “What brings Luna’s champion here?” The king’s eyes drifted to Amberleaf. “Oh, and a seasonal alicorn as well.” The king and his generals approached them. “I hope you have brought good news, I could really use some at the moment.”

Starlight pulled out Fireclaw’s battle plans from his armor. He unfolded it and set it down on the table. The king and his generals looked the plans over and their faces became lit with horror as they read. They looked up at Starlight, demanding an explanation.