Prologue - The Battlefield
"Come on, soldier! Get back on those hooves! Serve your king and the Armada!"
The once peaceful and beautiful red desert was now a war zone. Its vast emptiness had been now filled with blood, violence, hatred and greed, now unrecognisable from being a civilisation. Miles and miles of sand, hills of it reaching up high, like mountains overlooking the land. Its crimson shade reflected in the sunlight. There was nothing, apart from war. A war which seemed to last a lifetime. The oncoming wave of attacks from the other side was like a concrete wall being thrown into the Armada's army. It seemed hopeless, but nonetheless, the Armada pressed on.
The sky was red, like the colour of blood that had been wasted across the battlefield. It had been a familiar sight for the Armada and the opposition; both sides were equally losing. No progress had been made in days. Each side had barely achieved an inch of land per day, pushing back their enemy but only to be pushed back themselves. This was an endless and pointless battle to every creature involved, apart from the leaders on each side who insisted that this blood-filled battle would eventually end with their victory. But regardless of how much each side had gained in this fearsome battle, it had been carnage for every creature.
Each side had trenches buried deep into the ground, with ramps and ladders leading up to the level ground. They were the only shelter for the occupants that were trapped from the oncoming shell fire from the other side. Blasts of magic were fired across the battlefield and crashed into defence towers on the other side, causing huge explosions and fragments of wood being fired off into some of the defenders trying to hold back the opposition. Rain of fire was being flown over the scene, taking down more defences and some of its armed forces.
Fizzlepop Berrytwist, or Tempest Shadow as she was now called, was crawling along the mud-filled ground, trying to advance towards the enemy on the other side. She was sticking to the mud, which held her down to the ground like a predator capturing its prey. Tempest had a long rod in her hooves, which she used to fight off enemies, but even that wasn't enough to help her get through the sticky mud.
"Stop messing about, soldier! We're nearly there!"
Looking up, Tempest saw her commander standing on the sandbanks, waving his weapon around. As she tried to get out of the mud, Tempest watched as the black-coat earth pony defended himself from enemy soldiers coming up towards him. He struck a pegasus in the chest and threw him over his head. The pegasus landed next to Tempest, who screamed as she watched him slowly sink into the sand, head first. After witnessing that horrific scene, Tempest galloped towards the top level of the battlefield and tried to look for anywhere which she could be to protect herself from the oncoming blasts of magic.
As Tempest galloped through the mud-filled, deep and wide trenches, she heard the oncoming wiz of missiles being shot towards her and the rest of the Armada. The orange and white lights of an explosion appeared in the corner of her eyes, as she heard some of the Armada's army being blown up being her. Debris flew into the air and bolts of magic were being fired across one end of the battlefield to the other. The mud splattered over Tempest's face, as she watched both armies fall in great defeat.
A defeat for both sides.
There was a sudden wave of nausea that hit Tempest, as she laid on the ground, watching the blurry images of fire, shadowy figures fighting and bright explosions that consumed some troopers from her view. Scenes of pegasi and Armada ships falling down from the sky were something that Tempest didn't want to see. She hoped that she would be able to retreat back to the Armada's base along with her friends. Well, some of her friends.
The sky was hidden from the grey clouds, with the exception of the odd flash of lightning and the orange light of either weapon being fired or skiffs being blown up. One skiff started to make its way back to one end of the battlefield but was caught in a shot of magic, which caused it to go up in bright purple flames, before crashing down to the ground. Several soldiers were caught underneath and went down along with the skiff.
"I can see the other side! Come on, you lot! We're almost -!"
A giant explosion erupted right where the commanding officer stood. It shot up into the air, a tower of fire reaching into the sky. Debris flew everywhere, like fire raining down on the armies. The skiff made its way deep down into the ground, its engines still on forcing it to go further into the lifeless rock in which Tempest was standing on. She could only watch as her commanding officer vanished in the explosion and the inflamed skiff slowly sunk halfway into the ground.
As Tempest tried to make her way around the crash site of the skiff, she saw five bright white lights flashing in the sky. They were so bright, that Tempest had to cover her eyes as she looked up. She noticed that one of the five skiffs was much larger, as it made its way over the battlefield and towards the enemy. With its large banners and ego-centric appearance, Tempest knew very well who was inside it.
With the Storm King coming to help push the Armada through the ongoing and never-ending battle, things looked good for Tempest. She had a sudden wave of hope and strength left inside of her as she looked up in the sky. But yet, Tempest could still feel the oncoming waves of magic blasts from the other side. One narrowly missed her head; she could feel the heat of the magic fly past her fur. It almost felt as if it was burning her skin, the magic leaving a painful mark across her cheek.
The dust cleared and Tempest's vision focused on the other side. There was now nothing left. It had become lifeless; not much moved, apart from the odd bird that flew across the mud-filled fields and some of the casualties crawling across the ground, trying to escape from the clenches of the Storm King's goons. Above her, Tempest could hear the engines of the skiffs, as they slowly began to lower themselves to the ground. Tempest had become so weak, that as she tried to get up and make her escape from the oncoming skiffs, she fell face-first into the mud and slowly sank into the gloopy ooze.
"Lifeless. Wasteful. Weak."
After the rain started to come down and the battle had ceased, the larger skiff landed on solid ground. By that time, almost all creatures from the opposing side had either ran off, been captured or killed. The ground was still. There were bodies covering the ground, piling up and up as many of the Storm guards picked them up one by one. Only the Armada was left standing, along with its ego-centric and ruthless leader, the Storm King.
The yak-like creature towered over all his occupants, even the large goons who walked alongside him. With long legs, sharp claws, two large black horns with faint blue lines crawling across them, and a crown in the middle, the Storm King looked menacing. His temper was short; he growled as he walked over the still wastelands, seeing the destruction he had made and that there was little to nothing else left. Everything he saw now no longer existed. The ground was dead and the only thing that was moving was the wind in the distance; dead trees shook in its gentle breeze and flags left abandoned on poles flapped.
"Why must I waste what I have on these empty lands? Does every creature simply fear me now? Is there no challenger left for me to fight against?"
Squelch!
The Storm King stomped his clawed foot into a deep puddle, his fur stained with dirty water. He growled, the cold wind blowing into his face. The ground was muddy and was almost flooded. It was only on the mounds of earth that the ground was hard and crunched under the feet of the Storm King. He looked around quietly, his blue eyes moving left to right as if they were scanning something.
Something then caught the Storm King's eye, hiding underneath a large pile of debris, mainly concrete. There was slight movement from under the rocks and the unmistakable sound of whimpering of a creature. The Storm King tilted his head and stood still for a moment. He then, slowly, walked towards the pile of concrete, listening carefully to the whimpering. The Storm King could also hear within the whimpering the sound of crying, although it was very quiet. Squatting down, the Storm King slid his claws underneath the concrete and with a slight groan, he lifted it up and pushed the debris to the side, before reaching down and clasping the pony's head tightly.
Tempest gasped for air as she was lifted from the ground. Her face was covered with dirt and blood and had her eyes half-open, half-closed. She lacked any life in her eyes. They were barely blinked and moved very slowly. Tempest vision was cloudy and she could only see the outline of the Storm King, his blue menacing eyes staring back at her. She gasped, her expression changing to a frown.
"You didn't need to find me, your majesty."
The Storm King also frowned, but then grinned mischievously. "Oh really, Tempest? Even though I came to save you?"
With the snap of his claws, two Storm guards stomped up behind the Storm King and grasped hold of Tempest. The Storm King let go of her head and stood back, letting the Storm guards lower Tempest down and strapping her into a patient bed. Tempest looked up at the Storm King, almost growling.
"I had them on the run. We were almost there. It was just an explosion, nothing else! I... ah!"
Tempest groaned in pain, clutching her stomach as if she was going to vomit. Her head was bleeding slowly and she looked as if she had lost her strength from the explosion. A muzzled mare unicorn nurse started tending to Tempest's wounds.
"You can't win every battle without my help, Tempest. Get to the programme already! Only I have the power to give you the strength to defeat my enemies!"
With a frustrated huff, Tempest scrunched up her face and looked away from the Storm King. Immediately afterwards, the medical team and two Storm guards rushed Tempest off to the Storm King's skiff, pushing her up the ramp and into the cargo basement. Tempest lifted her head up, only to see the silhouette of the Storm King at the opening hatch to the skiff and his ghost-like blue eyes piercing back at her.
The Storm King then clambered up the ramp and turned around, seeing the land that had once been covered with green fields and life buzzing in it, which had now become nothing but dust and devastation. He stood on the ramp, holding his staff in one claw and the other leaning on the interior of the skiff. No creature spoke a word during that journey. The atmosphere was very cold and grey, like every ounce of life had been sucked out and there was nothing but an empty space left. He looked down at Tempest, who laid silently as she was attended by a nurse.
From inside the skiff, there was the loud rumbling sound of wind rattling against the walls and engines. A storm had begun and it wasn't long until the rain, lightning and thunder started. Deep into the dark abyss, the skiff flew at full force right past the thick, black storm clouds. And before any creature could look twice, the Storm King and his fierce fleet faded away in the darkness of the oncoming storm...
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Here it is! I am sure it will be successful, just as the previous ones!
9889337
Thank you, man! I hope it turns out well!
9889340
You're welcome!
And so the third and final installment has begun...
What troubles our heroes will face, Faust only knows...
9889368
You have to wait and see!
9890426
Thank you! I hope this story comes out okay in the end as well, as it's the final one in the trilogy.
Good start! I suppose a good ending could be that Tempest comes clean with her family
9891012
I'm planning on doing that, as that would be a good conclusion. I'm still kind of worried about the two dislikes, though. Will people still be interested in reading the next chapters?
9897040
Don't break your Head about it, the likes outnumber the dislikes.
9897042
True.
9897045
Yes. Plus, You didn't get this far to Stop Now
9897049
Exactly. I'll keep going until the end.
9897132
That's the spirit!