Chapter 2: The Awakening (Part 2)
Horseshoe bay: 994 A.D.:
Twilight soared through the skies over the castle as she made her way down towards her friends to begin their own celebrations for that evening. After each battle is has become tradition among their kind to celebrate. Even the smallest victory’s have had equally small celebrations. They all did this well before the sunrise so as to avoid any late evening statues that may lay cracked upon the ground. Twilight soared for a bit longer before landing on the tallest tower which overlooked most of the castle and even some of the land.
‘This land truly is beautiful. I just wish we weren't bound by this curse so that we may be able to see it’s beauty.'
"Dearest Twilight, can we talk?" She heard a voice behind her ask. Twilight turned and saw her beloved sister standing before her.
The lavender Ponygoyle arched a brow, her sister always had that odd talent for sneaking up on others. "Sister, is something wrong?"
“Nothing but you almost scared me sister.” Twilight said sternly before smiling playfully.
The cyan Ponygoyle chuckled. "Well what can I say? I’m the most crafty member of our family." She said with a coy smile before adopting a more serious demeanor. "I still can't see why you won't stand up for our brethren? I've even heard a few of them complaining about how the Royal Guard seem to completely ignore the fact that we helped defend the castle tonight." she snarled a little as she dug her claw into the stone and leaving a few holes were her claws dug in.
Twilight sighed. “Sister, it’s not our place to defy the owners of this castle.”
"Even though we were the ones to first call these cliffs our home?" She questioned.
Before the conversation could escalate any further, a loud growl interrupted them. The two turn to see the Dragon rapidly approaching from down the hall, Twilight had little to no time to brace herself before it tackled her to the ground and started licking her face.
“Okay, okay! No more arguing, I get it! You can stop now!” Twilight said in between laughs as the Dragon just smiled and continued licking her.
The cyan Ponygoyle merely growled and stormed down the hall with a grim look on her face.
Twilight sighed as the Dragon let her go and she saw her sister leave in an angry fashion, the Dragon gave her a slight nudge and they went back down to join the celebrations...
'Why must my sister be so narrow-minded?' The cyan Ponygoyle thought as she made her way down the dark corridors. She stopped when she reach the rookery. "You can come out now, I know you've been watching me since I came down here." She called out.
A cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows. “Well? What of your sister? Did you convince her to see reason?”
“No. As always my sister is still blinded by her mercifulness. She is too loyal to these…. cretins and just doesn’t understand.”
"I suppose it can't be helped, she always was too forgiving...much like your mother..."
"Yes, and look what good that did her..." She snarled as she gritted her teeth, she then took a deep breath to calm herself. "Never mind, have you made the preparations?" She asked.
The figure nodded. "Do not worry, I have already taken the necessary precautions, all you have to do is play your part."
"You need not worry about that." The cyan Ponygoyle said as her claw crackled with magic. "If there's one thing I'm best at, it's playing tricks..."
As the next day dawned, the Ponygoyles flew to the higher towers of the castle, resting atop their perch and awaiting the sunrise.
Twilight stood atop the highest tower, as the sun finally became visible on the horizon, she stood tall, spread her arms as well as her wings, as if she were welcoming and embracing the warmth of the sun. Within moments her body along with all the other Ponygoyles, had turned to stone.
However, as the Royal Guard slowly awoke from their slumber, a hooded figure made it's way out of the castle...
To the Southwest of Horseshoe Bay was the swamplands, just near the edge of the Badlands. The Gryphons and Diamond Dog's had set up camp near the center of the swamp after their recent defeat.
“That was by far, the most embarrassing defeat of my entire life!!” One of the Gryphons snarled as he crushed a rock between his talons.
“I still find it hard to believe that those pathetic ponies actually handed us our flanks that badly. This should’ve been easy!” Gripped a Diamond Dog as he nursed his wound.
“It would have been if not for those blasted creatures!” Another Diamond Dog stated.
Suddenly, a bright light emitted from the center of the camp, and from it emerged a figure cloaked in black robes. Every Gryphon and Diamond Dog grabbed their weapons and aimed them at the unicorn with the intent of killing him. Only for him to send a shockwave across the camp, knocking several of them off their feet.
“You made a grave mistake showing your face here, Pony! ” The lead Gryphon snarled as he drew his sword and charged forward.
“Oh, that won’t be necessary.” The robed figure replied as a golden aura surrounded the Gryphon, stopping him in his tracks. “After all, you seek the fall of Castle Horseshoe, do you not?” The figure stated as the aura vanished and the rest of the army warily surrounded the intruder.
“And what does that matter to you?” The Gryphon Leader snarled.
“Perhaps I can be of assistance?” The figure asked. “With my help, you can not only gain victory over the Royal Guard, but even take the Princess hostage as well.”
The Gryphon Leader smirked at this knowledge and ordered his troops to stand down. “Alright, I’m listening...”
Later that day, after the sun had disappeared over the horizon, Twilight stood atop the Castle gates, watching as the stars began to decorate the night sky.
"Sure is beautiful, ain't it?"
Twilight looked up to see her old friend; the orange Ponygoyle, soaring down towards her. "It is indeed my friend." She said she looked in the direction the sun had set."You know some pony see that sunsets are like entire sky catching on fire before finally diming down..."
"Now that's interesting, maybe we should wake up early and check it out ourselves?"
Twilight gave her friend a quizzical look, the orange Ponygoyle simply smile before the two burst into laughter.
"Sister, we need a moment."
The laughter died down as Twilight noticed her sister as well as Starswirl walking towards them.
Twilight turned to the orange Ponygoyle who simply nodded, before taking off. Leaving the three alone. "Starswirl, sister, what troubles you?"
"There are whispers going around the castle that those brutes may return at daybreak, Twilight." Starswirl explained. "We believe it would be the best course of action would be to take all the Ponygoyles and make sure they're gone."
"I agree." The cyan one said. "If we all go out in force we can put an end to those pigs! And send the message to anyone whoever dares to attack our castle again!" She finished, slamming her fist into her open claw for emphasis.
Twilight thought for a moment but immediately shook her head. "No, that would be too dangerous. We can't risk leaving the castle unprotected."
"True, but their leader swore he'd be back." Starswirl argued. "It's best to harry them far away now and not take that chance."
Twilight arched a brow at her old friend, for a moment she could've sworn she saw a sense of desperation in his eyes...
"Very well..." She sighed, getting a smile of approval from her sister. "But I shall be the one to do it."
"Alone?! But sister, that's too dangerous!" The cyan Ponygoyle protested. "At least let me come along!"
“Do you really have such little faith in my abilities? I will be fine sister, and besides..." Her claw glowed as the illusion of a Gryphon appeared in it. "I can scare those cowards away without any help." She smirked before crushing the illusion within her claw. "You and the others will stay at the castle, just in case they attempt to launch a sneak attack." She explained before turning to her sister. "Since you're my best warrior, I'll be leaving you in command."
"But Twilight-" Statswirl tried to interject, but was cut off.
"You worry too much Starswirl, the Vikings lost a large number of their forces during that last attack. I'll be fine on my own." She stated before turning and flying off. Never noticing the uneasy look her sister and her old friend shared...
In another part of the castle, there was a feast going on in the courtyard, some of the Ponygoyles were off in the corner area while the other "normal" Ponies were gathered near the center.
The Pink one was eating, while the rainbow-maned and orange ones were are playing a game of catch with a ham, trying to keep it away from the dragon, while the white and yellow ones simply watched in amusement.
"Here, catch!" The rainbow-maned one called out as she tossed over the dragon's head.
The dragon snorted as it attempted to catch the food, each time you got close one Ponygoyle would pass it to the other. Eventually the white one got bored of this and snapped her fingers, creating a small barrier for the hand to bounce off of and straight into the dragons waiting jaw.
"Hey, what gives?" The rainbow-maned one shouted.
"Now, now, he was getting hungry, not to mention I still wanted to repay him for defending me the other night." The white one said as she sauntered over to the Dragon, who was happily tearing into the ham, before giving him a nice scratch behind the ears. "Isn't that right my little dragon?" She smiled and giggled as the dragon snorted out a few plumes of smoke in agreement.
The yellow one giggled in amusement before noticing a young, orange Pegasus pony with a dark-pink mane approaching them. "Oh hello little one. What is your name?" She asked, getting the others attention.
"I-it's Scootaloo." She stuttered. "What are yours?"
The pink one thought for a moment before speaking up. "Well except for Twilight, we don't really have any names... (yet)" She added under her breath, getting a confused look from the orange one.
"B-But how do you tell each other apart?" The young one asked.
"It's simple squirt. We look different." The rainbow-maned one said as she grabbed another piece of ham from the food pile.
"But then what do you call each other?"
"Friend." The yellow one said after a moment of thought.
"Sister." The white one added.
"Annoying." The orange one stated, shooting a snide smirk at the rainbow-maned one, who simply glared back while eating.
"Scootaloo! Get away from those monsters immediately!" A female voice called out. An older mare ran over started to drag the young filly away from the Ponygoyles.
“Hey come on, we were just having a little fun! We weren’t gonna hurt the kid!” The pink one exclaimed as she leapt down and approached her.
"Keep away from us, you filthy beast!!" She shouted before grabbing a nearby plate and throwing it at her. The pink one, unprepared for such an action, let out yelp of pain as she was struck in the face.
The yellow one gasped as she quickly hid behind the dragon.
The rainbow-maned one growled at this and flew down near the pink one. “HEY! What’s the big idea hurting my sister like that huh?!”
“Well then tell your SISTER to stay away from my daughter you monster!” She snapped as a few of the ponies started to rally behind her.
"HOW DARE YOU!!" Everyone looked to see the white Ponygoyle advancing on them. "We protect you all and yet you treat us with contempt?! You are the true monsters, you-"
"No..." The white one stopped when she heard the pink one speak she looks to see that her scales had become a darker shade of pink and her mane had gone compleatly straight. "If they think we're beasts and monsters Then, perhaps we'd better live up to the name." She snarled as her bared her fangs and advanced on them.
"Now you're talking!" The orange one smirked as her eyes began to glow, the rainbow-mane one and the white one immediately joined in, their eyes glowing menacingly as they bared their fangs, the normal ponies to back away in fear.
"What's wrong ? You were all keen on attacking us when we were friendly! You want to see us as threats?! Well then, we will show you just how big of a threat we can be!!" The pink one snarled as she attempted to charge forward, only to be caught in the lavender aura.
"ENOUGH!" A voice bellowed from above everyone looked up to see Twilight descending upon them, the other ponies fleeing in fear as she landed. She turned to her brother ran and gave them the harshest glare, causes them to flinch back. "I'm very disappointed in you three."
"US?!" The orange one snapped. "What about them?! They're the ones who struck first!"
"Yeah!" The rainbow-maned one agreed. "They attacked us when we made it clear that we meant them no harm!"
"That does not excuse your behavior, you're supposed to be above such malicious actions!" She hissed back. "No matter who was at fault, I cannot condone fighting between their people and ours!"
"You three are to stay down to the rookery until I return. I have other business to attend to." She said before storming off.
Unknown to any of them, the cyan Ponygoyle had watched the entire exchange from above and growled menacingly. "Is there really no hope for you sister? Are you truly this blind?"
"This is unbelievable, sent down to the rookery! How embarrassing!" The rainbow-maned one fumed as she stormed into the rookery, which was fill with several green eggs, each one holding a soon to be born Ponygoyle.
"I haven't been down her since I hatched..." The white one lamented as she rested against a stalagmite next to an egg containing a Ponygoyle with scales as white as her own as well a grayish purple and light pink mane.
"What I don't understand is why you are here." The orange one stated turning to the yellow one.
"W-well I thought maybe I could help look after the hatchlings while we're down here..." She said timidly.
Orange one sighed as she looked at some of the eggs. However one in particular caught her interest, her scales were yellow and her mane was red.
"Well at least we won't go hungry!" Said the pink one with her mane now back to it's poofy state. She pulled some slime off of a stalactite, sniffed it for a second before eating it.
The rainbow-maned winced in disgust. "I just hope we're not down here too long, she might try to eat us."
"Oh, I'd never eat you girls!" She said as she ate some more slime. "Raw meat tastes horrible anyway!" She giggled.
Everyone stared at her for a few seconds before taking a few steps back.
Meanwhile in another part of the castle, a robed figure made it's way into the armory, filled to the brim with swords, arrows, and many other weapons.
"Soon it will all end..." It said as its hands slowly began to glow, casting a spell every weapon within the armory...
'I don't understand, I've been searching for hours and yet there's still no sign of them could they have gotten this far in the span of the day? And worse,sunrise approaches soon, maybe I should head back...' Twilight thought to herself as she flew across the night sky and down towards the forest. However her eyes widened when she noticed a trail of claw and talon-prints.
She quickly flew in the same direction and immediately spotted a small group Gryphons and Diamond Dogs hauling a small amount of catapults. 'Even for the remains of an army after crushing defeat, this is a pretty small group...' She thought to herself. 'Maybe we took out more of their army than we thought... nevermind, I must put an end to these heathens once and for all.' She grinned maliciously as she prepared to fly down towards them with magic glowing around her claws.
She quickly fired several blasts of magic, destroying the wheels of several catapults. Several of the Gryphons took out their swords and got ready to attack while the Diamond Dogs quickly took out the battle axes and/or maces.
Twilight simply scoffed. "Pathetic." She muttered and with a simple wave of her hand, sent a shockwave across the ground, knocking her enemies off their feet. "Last time I faced you I couldn't use the full extent of my power due to my ally's being in the crossfire, here however..." She pause before firing another beam of magic at the remaining catapult, obliterating it with one shot. "...I hold no such restrictions."
One of Diamond Dogs trembled for a few seconds before dropping his acts and running off. "I'm out of here!"
"GET BACK HERE YOU COWARD!" One of the Gryphons shouted, despite the fact that he himself was sweating bullets.
"I'm with him, I'd rather be a coward then dead!" Another Gryphon called out before flying off. "Besides, we fulfilled our part of the plan, let's get out of here!" He screamed as more of the Gryphons and Diamond Dogs flew/ran after him.
'Their part of the plan? What did they mean by...' Before Twilight could question it any further, she saw a small glimpse of light out of the corner of her eye and immediately froze in fear. "OH NO, THE SUN!" She screamed before darting through the woods as fast as she could. "I have to get back to the castle before it's too late!"
She flew through the trees as fast as she could, narrowly avoiding a few streaks of sunlight that managed to shine through the trees by staying in the shade. She eventually saw an opening in the trees and lead towards it eventually coming to a cliff she quickly darted towards the edge, hoping to fly through the shadows in order to get back...
Sadly, she was a split-second too late as the sun rose over the horizon and she was bathed in its light.
"NO!! NOT N-" Was all she managed to say before she was turned to stone once more...
Back at the castle, the rest of the Gryphons and Diamond Dogs had returned, Any of the remaining catapults and drawing their swords, maces, and battle axes. "Today we finish what we started!!" The leader shouted. "ATTACK!!"
The Gryphons charged forth as the Diamond Dogs launched the catapults, easily destroying several parts of the castle walls.
The guard readied their bows… only to have them snap when trying to pull back on them, as the Gryphons swarmed them the Pegasi took to the air... only to feel their armor pulling them down, as if a tremendous weight had just been placed upon them. Several magic symbols appeared on the Royal Guards armor, either stunning them or slowing them down enough for the Gryphons to cut them down.
The Earth Ponies and Unicorns vainly fought back, either by attempting to cast their spells or simply fight them off with their swords. However the same magic symbols appeared on their armor too, disrupting their magic and sapping their strength.
“Today, Castle Horseshoe will fall!!” A Diamond Dog shouted as they burst out of the ground and began capturing any civilians and beating down the weakened Royal Guards.
As the battle continued, the dragon burst from it’s sleeping chambers and charged towards the Diamond Dogs, ready to rip them apart. He barreled through any of the diamond dogs foolish enough to charge him, either by slashing them with his claws or burning them with his flames. However his progress was stopped when he found himself enveloped in a magic aura, despite his struggles he couldn't break free and was brought face-to-face with a silhouetted figure.
"Forgive me..." The figure said before the Dragon could react, and with one mighty burst of the power, flug him through several walls, sending him tumbling out of the castle and over the cliff it stood upon.
The Dragon roared in rage as it fell off the cliff and into the sea...
Inside the castle, Queen Celestia and Prince Blueblood were quickly be escorted to the shelters by five Royal Guards.
However suddenly out of the shadows, several black chains appeared, easily ensnaring and incapacitating them.
"What is the meaning of this?!" The Queen shouted as she struggled against her bonds
“I think you know EXACTLY what is going on my Queen.” A familiar voice full of malice and anger spat out. Celestia turned her head slowly and dared not believe what her eyes were showing her. Out from the shadows emerged a cloaked figure but the hood was finally thrown back. Revealing the face of their betrayer. “I told you. I TOLD you that those Ponygoyles were MORE than enough to stop these barbarians. But now you will pay the price for your prejudice.” Starswirl said with absolute anger in his eyes.
"You TRATOR!!" Blueblood screamed in rage. "You dare betray your own kingdom, your Queen, your own kind... for this for those beasts?!" Before the Prince could speak further, Starswirl immediately lifted him with his magic and slammed him into a wall, knocking him out cold.
The traitorous Unicorn then glared at the Queen. "You are not my kind."
As the Gryphons and Diamond Dog lead the their prisoners from the flaming remains of the castle. The Pegasi had special wing clamps to keep them from from flying away, the Unicorns had magic inhibitor collars fastened on their horns, and the Earth Ponies had special handcuffs them surpassed their strength.
As Starswirl watched his former comrades being led away, he took one last look at the castle before teleporting away...
Unknown to him however, back inside the castle, a few of the Gryphons had stayed behind with their leader. "Alright boys, let's get to work." He commanded as he raised his mace while casting a wary glance at the sun, which had began to set. "There's little time before sundown."
“Um sir do you think this… wise?” One of the Gryphons asked. “What if some of them are still alive and come after us?”
“Then we’ll simply kill them like the rest, NOW GET TO SMASHING!” The leader roared as he hefted the iron mace over his head. With a mighty swing the mace came down and destroyed one of statues.
The first of many...
As the sun finally set, Twilight roared as she broke free of her stony prison. Without a moment to waste she hurried back to the castle as fast as she could. 'Those cowards! That group was a decoy to lead me from the castle! I have to get back before-' She froze in shock when she made it to the hill that overlooked the castle.
The sight that awaited Twilight was more horrifying and shocking than anything she ever saw in her whole life. The sight of her fallen brethren.
"It... it can't be..." She whispered, tears threatening to fall from her eyes as she soared above the ruins of the castle, her home. Everything was in flames, nothing had been left untouched, The towers that once stood proud and tall were now nothing but piles of rubble.
"Please no... Oh please no!!" She screamed as she dug through the rubble... only to find disembodied claws...
"No..."
She dug deeper, revealing half a wing...
"No!"
A tail...
"NO!"
And finally a face.
"Why...?" She whispered in a broken voice and she slumped to the ground. "My friends... my sisters... my family..." She whispered tears flowing from her eye as rage built up inside her... She silently stood up over the crumbled remains, and then...
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!"
Her roar of anguish echoed though the night sky...
To Be Continued...
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right time you got this updated..............
great work
and in my opinion your following the show just the way it played
Give us the next chapter already!
Update much appreciated.
There are a lot of missing words, though. 'the's, 'of's, etc.
finally an update. Keep up
update?
Considering Twilight and Spike both seem to be powerful enough to destroy the griffon army when they are not pissed off I kind of feel bad for the griffons.
(Twilight was confident about taking on the griffons alone and the others did not disagree. Spike was removed by Star Swirl during the fight, albeit that could also have been Star protecting Spike by removing him from the fight.)
Are you still looking for a co writer?
Applejack should have been with Twilight. No other nip picks,
And Spike is going to be pissed!!!
I still think it's a cool homage to the tradition of attacking at dawn. It's to avoid the
gargoylesponygoyles.It is sad that clan had to die
But what com's afterwards is what makes the story
so, Scootaloo the 23rd, or no awesome Scootaloo after this (makes perfect sense for her to have been the child in that scene cause, well, if you don't understand why then get off this site)? am i the only one who realized who that was immediately?