Chapter 60: The Harbinger of Peace
A weaselly shape flew from the stormy clouds downwards where the city was. With everything that was going on it shouldn’t be too difficult to get the centaur's attention. Suddenly, something swooshed past it - a winged equine with a pink aura zoomed by, directly where it was going. It was her: The “Twilight Princess”, and she was going to interfere in what should’ve been a simple task, making it difficult. It sped up its descent, but even so, it was already too late, as the bigger one assaulted her and the surroundings turned into a battlefield.
Doubt flew closer. “Devourer,” it whispered but got no response. “Devourer,” it repeated, and still nothing. “Tirek!”
In the clash, the towering centaur finally took notice of somebody calling him by name. “Who said that?” He stopped chasing the alicorn and looked about, eventually noticing a tiny shadowy being flying near his face. “You? What are you supposed to be?”
“Doubt. Now, where’s the Idol of Boreas?”
“And why would you assume I have it?”
“The fact that you can actually see me now when you couldn’t before when you were released, is proof enough,” the shade explained.
The centaur thought for a moment and it finally dawned on him. “Oooooh… so you’re that thing that I couldn’t see, yet the other three were talking to? I thought they just had screws loose.”
“Never mind that! Where’s the artifact?!” it insisted.
Tirek reached into his mouth with his fingers and pulled out the small golden statuette that he held between his thumb and index finger. Even though his size was immense, he could see the wispy creature’s expression change.
“I can feel it… Quick! Break the idol!”
“Excuse me, what?!” he immediately protested. “This is an endless font of power that keeps me fed! Why should I destroy it?”
“What you’re feeding on is the essence of Anger itself, Devourer: A power so great it can burn the whole world. You have been awakened for the sole reason of releasing it because you’re the ONLY ONE who can. Now use that anger of yours and break it open.”
Tirek was quiet, pondering for a moment. “Perhaps I will,” he said, then popped the artifact back into his mouth. “After I deal with Princess Twilight and her friends, that is. Then I MIGHT actually do as you asked.”
He proceeded to move and resume the battle, but Doubt was dissatisfied with his answer. “Anger will not be denied its freedom, Devourer! Release it now, or-!”
The centaurs hand reached in his direction and then flicked through its form, disturbing it, before it finally came back together. “Or what? You have no power to make me.” And he charged back into battle after one of alicorn’s attacks hit him in the back of his head, doing no damage, only irritating him.
As the fight resumed, Doubt just floated there, its thoughts displeased. “So, you haven’t succumbed to your own inner turmoil yet… I’ll fix that.”
It flew away. It needed help to make him cooperate, and there were only two at its disposal. First, the wisp flew in the sky above Griffinstone, where the battle between the Queen of Changelings and the Dragon Lord took place. It watched how the changeling disoriented her, followed by disablement. She would’ve fallen to her doom had the timely intervention from a much smaller dragon not occurred. And that gave Doubt an idea.
“Oh, so brave,” Chrysalis taunted Spike, “like the princess, like the pet. You do know that you stand no chance against me, right? You didn’t last time you fought me, and I was nowhere near in terms of power that I am now. So, now I’m gonna-“
“Broodmother.”
The Pillar of Hatred turned to face the weaselly wisp. “What?! Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something here?”
“Your powers are required, Broodmother. The Devourer refuses to obey and he needs to be put in line.”
“Can’t you get the “Cloudy” to do it?”
“He will follow, do not worry,” it assured her. “It will take both of you to make this work. Now come.”
She groaned. “Okay fine.” She disengaged from the battle with the Dragon Lord and flew towards the town. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Hide amongst the ruins, the night will give you cover. And when he’s distracted, garner his attention and give him a “flash”, the kind you used earlier.”
“That’s not gonna be much of a cover if the Storm King keeps making a commotion up there.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll handle him.” And with those words, Doubt zoomed upwards and disappeared into the clouds.
It came out on the top of the sea of clouds, and before him, a childish joke was being played upon the stone satyr, as his cloud manifestation towered over it, where every now and then, a blue pegasus and a griffin popped out of hiding and took pieces of it at its base little by little, destabilizing his foothold, and when retaliation followed, he missed them.
“I’VE JUST ABOUT HAD IT WITH YOU TWO!” Storm King raged. “You can’t keep doing this forever!”
The vapor sighed and moved closer to him, garnering his attention. “Scourgelord.”
The giant cloud head turned in its direction and opened its mouth, revealing the controller within. “What?” the construct asked with a noticeable irritation in his voice.
“I’m going to need you to use your lightning to strike at somebody.”
“You want me to zap who exactly?” he asked.
“The Devourer.” In response, it was given a confused look. “Tirek.”
The construct rose an eyebrow. “You’re joking…” The shade shook its head in response. “Isn’t that counterproductive to what we’re doing?”
“The centaur still hasn’t learned his place, he is now actively obstructing our goal. We have to put him in a position where he will have no choice but to do as I command. And I’m going to need you to stop playing with children and deal with him. NOW.”
“Fine… fine, I’ll do it.” The mouth of the giant head closed shut, leaped off the tower it was attached to, and dived into the sea of clouds, disappearing into it.
Doubt gleefully stood by and watched as the centaur was continuously being struck by bolts of lightning, unable to act, completely paralyzed, and all he could do was scream with each strike.
“Desperation,” mused the weaselly shape, “a state that moves any creature to act upon self-preservation, making them susceptible to do things they would never even think of doing. You will beg for my aid, and you will in turn unleash the flames of destruction.” And it flew to Tirek’s “aid”.
“Quickly! Leave your homes! We need to evacuate!” Gabby burst through the door of one of the houses.
With the town devolving into a battlefield, innocent lives were at stake. Those same innocent lives were still taking cover inside their homes from earlier when the Storm King was destroying their eardrums. But now the situation’s changed and their only refuge became a trap. This was where the mail carrier and the members of the school of friendship, including some of the Elements of Harmony, came into play, as they went about the town, their numbers allowing them to cover more ground and being able to warn all the griffins to leave their houses and get out of town. Soon all of them gathered on the outskirts of Griffinstone, where the tree sloped and led to the old abandoned fortress at the very top of it.
“Think that’s all of them?” Sunburst asked.
“It should be,” Gabby answered. “With the ruckus that’s being done, nobody had any intention of simply waiting out the storm as they did earlier.”
“It’s not over yet!” the elder griffin was still with them, tied up to make sure he wouldn’t do something stupid in desperation. “The Idol of Boreas is still in there! We have to save it!”
“Just accept it you’re not gonna get it, Grandpa Gruff! Not now that Tirek has it!” the younger griffin tried to hold him back.
“I can take him!” he resisted. “I’m not gonna be stopped this time! I’m gonna succeed! I’ll-!” Before he could say another word, a piece of blue bread was shoved into his beak to gag him.
“Finally,” the blue unicorn sighed in relief. “I couldn’t take another second of his whining.”
“Well, that’s two problems we’ve dealt with in that case, but what do we do now?” Rarity questioned, to which Applejack joined. “She’s right. Tirek’s still rampaging and we’re still short a wonderbolt, an alicorn princess, as well as her dragon buddy. How are we supposed to stop him, Storm King and Chrysalis?”
“Hold on now! I think I see somecreature coming this way!” Pinkie Pie said, holding a spyglass.
Something was indeed coming their way - two forms in fact. A smaller one was holding the bigger one by the hand, leading her closer to the group, where they finally landed.
“Spike, Dragon Lord Ember, you’re okay!” Smolder cheered, only to notice something was off when they arrived. “Wait… what’s with her?”
“Chrysalis got her good,” the purple dragon answered.
“No need to rub it in, Spike,” Ember responded. “Besides, my sight’s coming back now.”
The fanny pack around Fluttershy’s neck opened and Discord popped his head out. “Wait, you’re saying you two managed to beat Chrysalis by yourselves?!”
And just like that, the taller red dragon jumped at his side. “Alright, Spike! That’s awesome! Give me one up!” Garble raised his hand, expecting to high-five him, realizing he was too small to reach so he lowered it to his size, only to be left hanging.
“Not really,” Spike elaborated. “I mean, she came before us and was about to fight us, then all of a sudden she started to talk to herself, or she talked to something that we didn’t see, and then she just flew off.”
“Hold up!” Applejack quickly went in front of everybody. “Did you say she was talking to herself?”
He nodded. The country pony then glanced at the zebra in the crowd and she nodded, they both knew what that meant.
“So wait, where’s Chrysalis now?” Sunburst asked, to which the little dragon shrugged.
“Oh boy…”
“Miss Applejack, something wrong?” the young yak noticed her response.
“Don’ wanna alarm anypony or anycreature, considering how bad things just got, but Ah feel like something far worse is about to happen…”
All of a sudden, the flashing light in the clouds dimmed. It became dark and the rain began to fall. The only noticeable light was a red glow that was coming from the battlefield.
“AH!” Ember screamed. “Spike, something’s wrong! I’ve just gone blind again!”
“If that’s the case, maybe we’ve all gone blind,” the party planner remarked.
KRAKOOM!
The dimness didn’t last, when all of a sudden, a single lightning bolt shot out of it and struck the town. A cracking sound followed, accompanied by a cry of pain.
“Who was that?!” the shy pegasus panicked.
“My guess? Whoever the lightning just hit,” Trixie pointed out the obvious.
“But we evacuated all the griffins! The only one that’s left in town now is…” Ocellus quickly went quiet with the realization of who might have just been struck, something that Sandbar punctuated. “Princess Twilight!”
It appeared then. From the clouds above, the giant face of the Storm King emerged and spat a few lightning bolts at the town below, only for a few seconds later to start dodging red blasts of energy that were shooting from the town. As the progression of the fight seemed to have changed, in the flashing light, the group suddenly noticed something else was in the sky. Whatever it was, they were two and much smaller than the giant head, and what was more, they were approaching. They felt relief as they realized it was the blue pegasus and the griffin coming down.
“Rainbow Dash! Gilda!” the pink earth pony celebrated.
“I’m so glad you two are okay!” The happy griffin lept at them and hugged them. “What’s happened up there?”
“We’d like to know the same thing,” Gilda said. “We managed to keep him occupied, but then he just started to talk to himself, and then he just left. I was sure it was gonna keep him busy for a while.”
As the new arrivals explained what happened, the orange earth pony and the zebra once again glanced at one another. One could’ve been a coincidence, but twice? They were sure now something was off. But before they could say anything…
“Hey, where’s Twilight? Shouldn’t she have dealt with Tirek already?” Rainbow Dash asked, and it was only a moment later that she finally noticed the blasts of energy being shot at the giant cloudy face from town.
“Go, Princess Twilight!” Silverstream cheered. “Give him what for!”
Suddenly, a great bright flash happened, followed by a scream, and the shooting stopped. The Storm King’s head ceased fleeing and repositioned itself, beginning to spit lightning bolts out of its mouth again several times over. Everybody watched in horror at the sigh, especially at the thought that the alicorn was being afflicted by the display on sight.
“TWILIGHT!!!” Spike screamed as he watched what was happening, and he couldn’t do anything.
But as things seemed to have gone grim, the constant flashing revealed another form flying in their direction. And the gasp of surprise and relief followed when they realized who it was.
“TWILIGHT!” the Elements of Harmony cheered in unison as she landed not far.
“You’re all okay? Good. Listen, we-“ The princess was unable to continue as her younger sibling ran to her side and hugged her.
“Twilight! I’m so glad you’re okay! When the Storm King started shooting lightning at the town where you were fighting, I thought you were done for…”
“Wait, if she’s here, then who or what is Storm King shooting at?” the hippogriff wondered.
“It’s Tirek, everycreature!” she hastily explained. “During our fight, the Storm King suddenly began attacking him, and he decided to completely ignore me and they started to fight amongst themselves. Then, out of nowhere, Chrysalis appeared and blinded him with a bright flash, and now Tirek’s being mercilessly assaulted!”
“Isn’t that… I dunno… good for us?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“Tactically, yes… But I’d prefer this comes to an end before any side suffers any more damage.”
“Are we pulling out the trump card, Twilight?” Pinkie Pie hopped closer to her.
She nodded.
“Wait, why didn’t you use that earlier when you just got here?” Trixie questioned the princess' decision
“I didn’t know what was going on down here. I needed to make sure everycreature was safe first.”
“We doing it then?” Applejack asked.
“Of course we are! We’re far away from that thing in the Everfree Forest, and we’ve got the Element’s power! How can things not go our way?” The wonderbolt proudly flexed.
The flashing stopped, and everybody looked to the sky. The Storm King’s head was no longer just content with spitting out lightning bolts – it opened its mouth wide, and an electric power began to charge up to fire.
“Everypony, quick, before it fires!” Twilight ordered.
They joined hooves. Magical energy that radiated from everybody enveloped them, lifting them off the ground, and illuminating the darkness that was only temporarily being disturbed by the flashing of lightning above. The giant head in the clouds noticed it too, but it didn’t try to stop it, it knew it had a job to do.
CRACK!
This deafening cracking sound that suddenly followed, echoed. One thing was sure: It wasn’t a lightning strike. Strong red light erupted from the town where the battlefield took place. The Storm King’s head finally unleashed a powerful electric beam straight at it. But instead of making contact with the ground, a powerful red beam pushed it back, overpowering it, and forcing the giant cloud head to dodge it. Towering above the houses, a large imposing figure suddenly arose, in its right hand, a tiny spark could be seen levitating.
And then, laughter followed - Tirek’s laughter. “Hahahahaha! This power! It’s beyond anything I’ve ever tasted! I feel like the fires of destruction are coursing through me!”
The group suddenly felt a heatwave washing over them, accompanied by a sense of dread. The feeling was justified, as they watched fully illuminated Tirek sprout a white mane. The last time he wore it, was when he had consumed almost all magic in Equestria.
It was now or never. “Together!” Twilight shouted.
The bright light coming from them began to expand. Out of town, Queen Chrysalis quickly flew further up to make the distance between the inevitable doom that would follow if she got caught in the crossfire, as did the Storm King, whose fear got the better of him at last.
The same could not be said for the centaur, who roared as he saw the light approach. “You think YOUR friendship is stronger than my anger?!” A large orb appeared between his horns, as bright as the sun, and a moment later, a beam erupted out of it, clashing against the magic of friendship that kept expanding, suddenly halting it in place. “Evenly matched?! Hah! I can do better!”
He opened his mouth, turning it at the small green stone that was levitating in his hand, inhaling deeply. A stream of red magical mist suddenly erupted from it and he gobbled it all up. The centaur’s eyes lit up even brighter, and the beam became even more intense, suddenly beginning to push the wave of light away.
When the two griffins next to the ponies saw it happen, panic settled in. “Everybody, go! Get to the old fortress and take refuge there!” Gabby directed.
The griffin populace ran for their lives to higher ground to avoid potential doom.
“Come on, students!” Sunburst ordered. “We have to go too!”
“No,” the blue griffin declined.
“Gallus, this isn’t the time to play a hero, we have to g-!” Trixie picked up Smolder, ready to take her away, but she broke her bond.
“No, I’m with Gallus! We’re not going to run at a moment like this!”
“We all are!” Silverstream stepped to his side, as did Yona, Sandbar, and Ocellus.
“Guys, this isn’t funny!” Garble spoke. “What can six of you do?!”
“Give them a helping hoof… or a claw,” the pony answered.
The group of students quickly lept forward, too fast for anybody else to stop them, and they entered the light. Inside, they saw six Elements of Harmony struggle against an increasingly overpowering force. They looked at one another and then joined hands. The surroundings pulsed, and the bright light once again began advancing toward Tirek.
“WHAT?! NO!” he roared, opened his mouth, and began siphoning even more power out of the gemstone.
As Tirek consumed more and more of the intoxicating power, not only did he keep growing, but his mane, his tail, and his beard, suddenly caught fire, while his tiny eyes expanded. “You cannot stop me! I won’t just destroy you! I’LL BURN THIS ENTIRE TREE TO THE GROUND! NONE OF YOU WILL SURVIVE!!!”
The magic of friendship once again halted. Even with the Elements and the successors working together, the power that the centaur was now using was beginning to overpower them. And then… they heard it.
THE WORLD WILL BURN IN THE FIRE OF OUR ANGER.
That roaring voice, whoever said that was definitely not Tirek, even if it came out of him. Regardless, this was the breaking point: A giant wall of flame suddenly erupted from where Tirek was standing, and everything around him suddenly caught on fire: The wooden ground, the houses, the heatwave pulsed out, and the beam he was channeling only accelerated the sudden pushback of the Element’s bright light.
“Not good! Run for it!” Trixie commanded and they all dashed up the branch.
None of them got far. The heatwave washed over the ever-shrinking bubble of the magic of friendship, cutting off everybody else’s retreat. The only place they could go now was to stay near the Elements and the students. Things truly seemed hopeless at this point, as not only them but also the whole of Griffinstone and its residents were condemned to a cataclysmic end. Amid encroaching doom, the shaman finally noticed the contents of her bags were acting up. Since the Elements of Harmony used the magic of friendship, she noticed that the jar she was a caretaker of began acting up. The ooze that moved inside kept thrashing about, all the while the spark of light kept flickering. That only intensified when the six students went to assist them. It looked desperate, no matter what it was trying to escape the jar, but where? She had noticed back in Dragon Lands when she revived it again, the blob’s attitude changed again - at first, it was angry, then it became frightened, and now, it seemed like it was desperate for something, but running away wasn’t one of the things it seems, as it kept leaning towards the light. She grabbed the jar with both hooves, she needed them to see it, but in a moment of urgency she tripped, and it flew off into the light that the elements were channeling. The container landed on yak's back, where it bounced off, landed on the lemon pony’s head, bouncing off again, eventually the orange dragon noticed it coming her way and she caught it. The blob inside screeched, and the light coming from the spark finally overtook everything around them.
The bright light finally disappeared from their sight, being able to see others present, but that didn’t change the fact that the students were now in an empty white plane.
“What the… what is this place?” Gallus Wondered. “Where is everybody else?”
“I don’t know,” Silverstream answered. “The last thing I remember was us trying to beat Tirek, we were losing, and then…” She went quiet, slowly coming to realization. “Oh no… no… no no no no no…” Her yammering quickly turned into a cry of sorrow.
“Silverstream, what’s wrong?” the changeling asked.
“We didn’t make it, Ocellus!” she burst out. “Tirek was too strong for us! We didn’t make it!”
Hearing this, the blue griffin looked about the vast emptiness around him. “Wait… are you saying this is…?”
“YES! We’ve been done in!” the hippogriff cried louder, pulling the changeling into an embrace, and she also began to cry as well.
Everybody seemed distraught. The realization began taking over Gallus as well, and he began hyperventilating, Smolder just stood motionless, staring at her hands, meanwhile, Sandbar rubbed his head.
“I thought you get stressed like this in small spaces, not open ones,” the pony questioned the griffin.
“And… you’re… not… freaking out…?” he grasped for air.
“My head hurts… Something hit me just before we ended up here.”
The yak on the other hand picked up on it. “Wait… if Tirek got Yona and Yona’s friends, how come Sandbar feel pain?”
“Probably cuz we ain’t dead,” Applejack said.
The students halted whatever they were doing when they realized that voice belonged to none of them. They looked to the side and noticed the Elements of Harmony and Spike not far from them.
“Princess Twilight?! You’re all here too?” Sandbar reacted in shock.
“Nooooooooo!” the hippogriff cried again and the changeling followed. “He got you all as well!”
“Come on, you heard what AJ said,” Rainbow Dash repeated. “We’re not dead. If that were the case, why aren’t Zecora, Garble, Grandpa Gruff, Gilda, Gabby, Sunburst, and Trixie here too? Then again, I think your bro would be the only one to survive if that were the case, Smolder.”
But the dragon didn’t answer, she was still motionless, looking at her hands, so Spike approached her. “Smolder, snap out of it. We’ve been through something like this before.”
The griffin finally stopped grasping for air. “Really? So, we’re still alive then? What is this place then?”
But before he could get an answer, Smolder at last spoke. “The last thing I remember before everything went white, was that the jar that contained the evil blob which consumed the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony landed in my claws.”
The rest of the students quickly looked at her. “Wait… really? But where is it then?”
“We were getting to that, darlings,” Rarity asserted herself. “This scenario occurred to us not long ago. One of Turmoil’s fragments was about to get the better of us, and then something pulled us all into this place at the last moment to spare us the demise. And it seems the same thing happened again.”
“Ooooh, and lookey! It’s already waiting for us!” Pinkie pointed in a direction.
A spark of light was levitating a few hooves away from them, surrounded by the essence of grey color. The ponies quickly made their way toward it, but the same couldn’t be said for the students.
“Come on, students. There’s no reason to be afraid of it,” Fluttershy urged them.
They were hesitant and for a good reason. The last time they saw it, it had just devoured the aforementioned Spirit, and they weren’t able to stop it, so coming this close to it again was a fresh wound. Regardless, they heeded their words and joined their side. They slowly approached, and as they did, the light began flashing brighter until its source could no longer be seen. A figure became visible after it dissipated, the creature’s talons echoed as it walked forward, and at the same time, they masked the sound of the second set of appendages, the feline ones, the bright grey body, atop which was an eagle’s head, spread out a pair of great wings. It was a griffin, but the only noticeable features that made him stand out were the purple scarf around his neck and a crown.
“King Grover?!” Gallus immediately exploded. “B-b-b-but it’s been centuries, how when where why-!”
The royal griffin chuckled. “Young Gallus, out of all, I would’ve expected you to not be for the loss of words.”
“Wait… You know my name?”
“Of course I do.” He looked at everybody else. “I know all of you here.”
“So why did you bring us here?”
The tone of his voice became solemn. “I felt it: The manifestation of Anger that I had locked away has been liberated by a creature that was made a pawn. You have seen the extent of the power that he now wields, as blind as he is. You alone cannot seek to defeat it.”
“But then who will?!” the pink hippogriff demanded an answer.
“One moment, Silverstream.” Twilight traipsed forward and in front of the students. “King Grover… Or at the very least you look like him, but from past experience, I can guess you’re something else entirely.” The students looked at one another, confused. “I know you’re going to tell us how to defeat Tirek and Anger, but if you still remember, there’s something that I want to be answered. Why did you lock one of Turmoil’s fragments into the Idol of Boreas?”
The king nodded. “I see… Very well. I will reveal to you the past that I once had.”
The whiteness around them darkened, only to be replaced by a scenery. It was a bright day and they were on a street in a town built into the mountainside. But the scenery was a bit too familiar, as the houses were barely holding together, even though in some cases they could have seen leaking piles of gold, which some of the griffins would quickly scurry about to get for themselves.
“The notion that a griffin’s greed could only be rivaled by that of a dragon is a gross understatement. I was born and have grown up in a world that saw currency as the end goal of everything. Griffins of old were so consumed by greed that conflict was part of everyday life, as wealthy families constantly tried to one-up one another. It was a world of constant strife, one in which peaceful means failed, force would instantly be used to acquire what was desired. It was a world of war for possession between our people.”
“That… sounds like an absolutely miserable place to live in,” Silverstream commented after seeing a pair of griffins having a scuffle and one of them running off with the other’s loot. “How can a kingdom function like this?”
“There was no king,” Grover explained. “The griffins were fragmented, living on all mountains that you can see all around, but there was no unity, nobody to command or lead them. And I was not always a king; I was just an orphan living on the street, with no power or a bit to my name - a nobody.”
Something struck with Gallus when he said that - it was what HE was called not long ago, and it stuck with him, mostly because it was closer to the truth than anybody else but Grandpa Gruff knew. “So… what changed?”
The scene shifted to a dark starry night, the young griffin with a purple scarf sat on the edge overlooking the mountains. “It was only during the night that everything settled down, but even that was a short reprieve. I simply couldn’t take it anymore. I stared into the distance, and I suddenly saw a green star in the sky. I believed it was a vain attempt, but I had nothing to lose, so I wished for the day when the griffins would finally stop squabbling amongst themselves.” The green star suddenly began to move until it formed a tail and began to move across the sky. “When I saw it, I was sure it was not a coincidence – it was an omen, and I decided to follow its trail. I left my homeland for the first time and flew off into the uncharted south, where no griffin has ever gone.”
The soon-to-be-king flew for several days until he arrived at a land completely devastated by an unknown force: The heat had evaporated the rivers that ran through the land, replacing them with lava flows, and the trees have been burned to the ground, leaving only scorched stumps, and in the distance, a giant mountain with a face towered over the land.
“I was perplexed. This scorching wasteland, this inhospitable place, there was no way the star guided me here. I needed to find somebody who could help me… But that would’ve ended up proving difficult.”
Younger Grover encountered dragons, but they wouldn’t be of much help, as they kept fighting amongst themselves in a heated battle. One of them even attacked him, and it was only because he hid in the sand on the beach that he managed to evade it. This place reminded him of home too much. After some time, he finally came across an old cave and he could see a fire burning inside it. To Twilight Sparkle, the figure that appeared next was all too familiar, she’s seen him before, only this time he had deep purple color on his scales.
“Dragon Lord Obsidian,” the griffin king resumed. “That’s what his name was. In this inhospitable land, he was the only one who showed any form of kindness. I asked him about my mission and the red star that I saw coming this way, and his response was not optimistic. He told me about the green star, it did indeed come this way… IT was the one responsible for the state that his homeland was in at the moment, how it turned the lush tropical jungle was transformed into a barren wasteland, his kin turning on one another, and as the final mark, its facial visage rose from the land. I didn’t like what I was hearing, but I needed to see this star up close. As reluctant as he was, he took me to the edge of great lava lakes where the giant mountainous face stood, and even though he pleaded with me not to go and suffer the same fate as his kin, I had to.”
He flew off, the heat of his surrounding bearing down on him as he made his way to the entrance of a giant gaping maw whose eyes were alit. But if he thought that outside was hot, inside was absolutely unbearable. A pedestal made of hardened magma rock stood in the middle of a large room, in the center of a pool of green substance that was being pumped up through the formation into a small basin on top, in it sat a small green gemstone that was constantly pulsing. He flew closer and landed in the magical green pool, the only thing that wasn’t too hot to stand in.
The moment he did, his surroundings shook and a furious voice followed, originating from the gemstone. “Who dares enter my domain?!”
He covered for a moment but then presented his plea. “I am Grover. I seek your aid, wishing star. My people suffer from eternal strife and conflict. Tell me, how can I put it to an end?”
“It’s easy,” the voice answered. “Take me to them. Their anger, their rage, if you claim that they’re all possessed by it already, my presence there is all that is required.”
“And that will make them stop fighting?”
“Of course, it will, after all… they will be subjugated.”
“What? No, I don’t seek to subjugate my people, I just want them to stop fighting amongst themselves,” he made himself clear.
“But that’s precisely what it will do. You will have the power to press them into what you desire. Anger is a powerful tool that can destroy any opposition! You said you desire to end the conflict. Use me!”
Grover became hesitant, that was not what he desired to hear. “No… no, that’s not what I want. I don’t want to bring harm to my people by the use of force.”
“THEN YOUR WORDS ARE HOLLOW!” the voice erupted.
The gemstone began to glow, and suddenly, from the boiling lava rivers that surrounded them, a construct made of it rose. The griffin stumbled from shock and landed in the green water on his back. He backed away, noticing that there was suddenly a strange sticky gooey thing on one of his claws – it seemed that when he was hiding in the sand from one of the dragons some of it got stuck in the crevices and pockets of his scarf, and coming into the contact with this green substance turned it into something completely different. But it was only a temporary diversion from what was now before him.
“YOU SEEK CHANGE YET YOU HAVE NO WILL TO USE FORCE?! THEN NOTHING YOU DO WILL EVER MAKE A DIFFERENCE! AND THIS KIND OF NOTION MAKES ME ANGRY!”
The lava construct reached out to try and grab the griffin. In his last desperate attempt to resist, Grover swung his claw at it, tossing the gooey thing in its direction. Not only did it miss its mark, but it also didn’t even get close to it, landing on top of the pedestal. But then something happened: As the goo fell into the small basin where the green gemstone was, it hardened around it, and as that happened, half of the construct’s body suddenly collapsed. A confusing grunt followed; it seemed that the creature did not expect this to happen. The construct reached out with its remaining body and worked on scraping the hardened mass off of the gemstone. Grover realized this was his chance to get away while it was preoccupied. He flew off, and in the nick of time, as the gem was once again liberated and the construct became whole again, launching itself after him, but by the time the griffin made it out of the mountainous maw, it stopped.
“As you can see,” the king resumed his tale, “my hope that the wish I made would come true was quickly dashed aside. The shooting star, or rather, the creature within it was not friendly at all, and I now understood the devastation of the dragon’s homeland. It would’ve been better if I just left this horrid place behind, but I couldn’t simply abandon Obsidian and his kin to their fate. Especially since I knew now that there was a way to suppress this evil force.”
The griffin returned to the Dragon Lord, who was surprised that he managed to get back. He explained what he had witnessed, and the plan he had to end the calamity. Time passed, and Obsidian managed to gather several other dragons that have not succumbed to the calamity’s effect, helping to carry a lot of sand from the beach and back to the mountainous face, as it was expected that they would not have an easy time getting to their destination, which became true when several of their kin that have been completely possessed by anger came to interfere with the plan. Regardless, the griffin and a handful of dragons managed to enter the giant maw and that’s where the imprisoned being had once again taken notice of him.
“So, you return,” the voice regarded him. “And what brought you back this time?”
Grover stood on his hind legs. “To end your destruction upon the land, creature. You have ravaged and turned these creatures against one another.”
“I am Anger. It is in my nature to make emotions righteously burn. The destruction that they had suffered is what made them feel that way, but it was not my choice to bring devastation to the land.”
“If doesn’t matter,” he ignored. “The suffering you have brought will come to an end.”
“NOT BY YOUR HANDS!” its voice rose. “YOU ARE A WEAKLING WITH NO CONVICTION!”
From the lava pools in the room, numerous constructs arose and the dragons quickly dropped the piles of sand they were carrying into the green water and went to challenge the opponents. A battle erupted, in which Grover was outmatched, so instead, he scooped up the goop that the conjugation of magical water and sand had produced and aimed it at the pedestal, only to be blocked by one of the constructs.
“It won’t be that easy,” the voice said.
The gemstone suddenly began to flicker rapidly and a red aura pulsed throughout the room. In the heat of battle, the dragon’s eyes turned red and began battling even more ferociously, to the point where they even began fighting amongst themselves when there was no other visible enemy in sight. The lone griffin saw it… no, felt it. The being trapped inside the gemstone was exerting its will upon its surroundings. He now understood how easy it was for any of the dragons who came close, to fall victim to its influence.
“There is no point in trying to resist me. I am the fire that burns within you, I am the wrath that consumes the world. There is no reason for you to deny me. I can still help you. Take with you, and I will bring an end to the conflict as you desire.”
“No…” the griffin tried to resist the pressure. “Subjugating my people will not bring an end to the conflict. The only thing it will do is have the conflict broil underneath against a common foe – the one who put them down!”
“THEN HOW?!” the voice once again turned booming. “YOU SAY YOU WANT TO SILENCE THE CONFLICT, YET YOU REFUSE TO USE FORCE AGAINST IT! YOU CANNOT ATTAIN PEACE WITHOUT IT BECAUSE THE SILENCE WILL NEVER LAST WITHOUT IT! AND YET YOU REFUSE IT DESPITE IT ALL! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, GROVER! TELL ME! TELL MEEEEEEEEE!!!”
And the griffin began to realize what the being was trying to say: He wanted his people to cease fighting, but by its outlook, it couldn’t see that happening, except through even more conflict and the one holding control over it to be trapped in a perpetual cycle. That was never going to bring about… And at that moment, it dawned on him. The being wanted to end the conflict by inciting even more conflict, but he wanted to end the conflict with the exact opposite…
Under the continuous pressure, he rose up, and uttered a single word. “Peace.” A bright aura surrounded him and expelled Anger’s pressure from his surroundings, dispelling its control over the dragons who have been fighting in the background.
“WHAT?! IMPOSSIBLE!!!” it erupted.
Gaining momentary reprieve, Grover scooped up a pile of goo, ran for the pedestal, and dumped it on top of the gemstone before the construct by it could react. The connection was disturbed, causing the creation to collapse in on itself, but then the room around them shook.
“This place will be your tomb, Grover!” Anger spoke, its voice suppressed. “I will not allow it to end like this! I will not be silenced!”
In a last vein attempt to free itself, flames erupted from the pedestal and tried to scrape the increasingly hardened shell, but it wasn’t enough, as those too began to harden upon its surface, and as the griffin pulled it out of the basin, it stretched, trying not to split from the source of its power, which in the end was for naught – the gemstone was now locked away in a hardened orb infused by the green liquid, and the flames that tried to protect it became what basically amounted to decoration made of gold. But Grover was not out of danger yet. As the walls of the room began to collapse on one another, her had to make a run for it, but in his escape, at the last moment, some of the sides clasped his wing feathers and he couldn’t get away. Luckily for him, the dragons that were with him had not left him in the lurch, and after a pull and a yelp, they rushed their savior out of the gaping maw at the cost of a few feathers. Seeing this, Applejack finally knew: Those feathers that she and Zecora found in the layer of the false bottom inside the Ol’ Rager… they were Grover’s, preserved in time.
“You… you singlehandedly fought one of Turmoil’s aspects and won?” Rarity asked in amazement.
“No. Not fought. By the sheer force of my will and dedication to what I believed was right, I have overcome anger itself,” he corrected. “I have succeeded in freeing the dragons from the burning anger.”
“But its nature changed, didn’t it?” Twilight led up to what she knew was going to follow.
The king nodded. “Indeed. Not only was Anger suppressed, but the radiance it was giving off changed into a soothing and peaceful one. I thought that perhaps my wish may have come true after all. But alas, I knew I could not keep it. Anger had destroyed the dragon’s home and they would need that unity through peace more than I did. But…” he paused for a moment. “I never could’ve foreseen what followed.” The alicorn and her companion already knew what he was referring to - the scene played out where the griffin decided to hand the Dragon Lord the artifact, but instead, Obsidian handed it over to him. “Never before in my life was I ever moved so. I had already given up hope that my mission would succeed, and yet in the final moment, he gave it to me. Obsidian… he was my true and only friend I’ve ever had, and it showed me how kind and generous the dragons truly were.”
The low squirming sound was caught by Smolder, and it came from Spike. It made her wonder if he’s already seen this before.
The scene switched to Grover flying back in the early morning, with the artifact in his hands. “I had to get home before the crack of dawn. I had to make an entry that would get everybody’s attention before the squabbling began.”
He flew up and looked down upon the small town built into the mountainside. As the first rays of the morning sun peaked over the mountains, he raised the artifact in the air, and the morning light shone off its surface, revealing the brilliance to all. As the griffins came out of their houses, they were left in awe - never before have they ever felt something so grand and majestic, so… peaceful. The soon-to-be-king flew with the artifact across all the mountain peaks where the griffins resided, drawing them to him, eventually leading them to a lone mountain that sat in the middle of all, upon which a single great tree grew. The time suddenly sped up, and the tree was soon littered with majestic buildings, with a great fortress standing atop the highest branch. And within it, King Grover and his royal guard resided, eternally watching over the famed Idol of Boreas. The watchers were left in awe, especially the blue griffin, who only now finally began to understand his guardian’s desperation.
“Never again would the griffins be fractured,” Grover concluded. “In the heart of our lands, we have built Griffinstone, the great and majestic city, where all of our kind could live in peace. Here, we would protect the Idol of Boreas, so that it would remain a beacon of unity for all times.”
“Yeah… until some goat monster decided to ruin everything.”
As Rainbow Dash said those words, the surrounding once again turned to an empty white plane, and the griffin king’s expression turned gloomy. “Yes… None of my successors anticipated that there could be an outside force foolish enough to come to the heart of our land to steal the Idol. The damage that the artifact’s disappearance did to my legacy is irreparable, especially now that the being that was responsible for it has been freed and now thirsts for vengeance.”
“Not so much that it thirsts,” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “More like desiring to eradicate everything within the mountain’s range, including the tree.”
“How can we even beat Tirek in his current state?” Fluttershy wondered.
The king shook his head. “You can’t.”
The alarm went off in all of them when they heard him say that. “So wait, we really are doomed then?!” Silverstream was about to freak out again.
“I didn’t say that,” he corrected. “You all cannot stop it… But I can.” Everybody looked at one another in confusion, unsure of what he was talking about. “Your recent actions have made me strong enough to once again manifest myself.”
“What are you talking about?” Sandbar inquired, and Ocellus joined. “I wanna know that too. Especially since earlier Princess Twilight said something about you not being what you seem. You can’t be the real King Grover, he’s been gone for ages. Who are you really?”
The griffin smiled. “Ocellus, inquisitive as ever. You are right. I only took on his appearance because of the virtue that was bestowed upon me – HIS virtue. As to who I am… Perhaps another form will seem a bit more familiar.”
The king’s body began to glow, his features disappearing and leaving only a whiteness in his form, but that stood in its place… The Elements of Harmony were left agape, unable to understand what they were seeing, especially Twilight herself: It was her! But the students did know who it was. It was their life guide that strengthened their bond of friendship, it made them face their fears, and they kept it alive, and yet… when it needed their help, they were too late and powerless to stop it. The image of Twilight disappeared, and King Grover’s body returned to normal. A cry followed. Not from the hippogriff though. It was the yak. She charged at the tall griffin and snuggled against him.
“Yona sorry!” she cried. “Yona tried her best but still couldn’t save you!”
The griffin king stroked her head and then invited the rest of the students to come closer. They didn’t dally and they rushed into his embrace, some shedding tears of joy.
Gallus was the last one who approached him, stopping a few feet away. “You’re the Spirit of the Tree of Harmony, aren’t you…?”
He nodded. “Part of it, yes. I am the Spirit of Peace. And I will defend the homeland of the griffins… one last time.”
And the blinding light enveloped them all.
Tirek laughed as his surroundings burned down. Houses that had stood for hundreds of years, were reduced to cinders, and soon the tree upon which Griffinstone stood would burn. But in his revelry, he noticed something was off: No matter how hard he pushed, his magic did not move. He couldn’t understand what was happening. His enemy couldn’t have possibly mustered enough power to oppose him… could they?
“I can’t see again!” Ember complained.
“Me neither!” Garble agreed
“You’re not the only one!” Gilda fussed.
“Hold on… I think it’s going away,” Gabby responded.
The blinding light that took away everybody’s sight had finally passed. Much to their surprise, even though they were certain that doom would soon follow, they remained unharmed.
“We… we’re not dead?” Trixie realized, to which Sunburst sighed in relief.
“I’m glad you’re all having a moment of reprieve, but can you help this one with relief?” a rhyming voice requested.
Zecora seemed to have regained her senses a bit earlier than the rest and was trying to untangle the ropes on Grandpa Gruff who was still gagged. Luckily, the baker quickly jumped in and released him, but much to her surprise, he didn’t move from the spot, other than pulling the gag out of his mouth, yet was still left agape.
“Grandpa Gruff, what’s with you?” she asked, and all he did in response was point forward.
He was pointing in the direction where the Elements of Harmony and the students were… and there was another figure, who stood in front of them. Among the two groups, the jar containing the grey blob was projecting an image of light that was barring the assault of the centaur.
Without a moment of doubt, the elder griffin immediately recognized him. “King Grover…”
Everybody else turned their attention to it, unable to comprehend what was happening. They were in the same boat as Tirek who took notice that his advance has been stalled, and he tried to force more and more power into it.
“COME ON! WHY WON’T YOU BURN?!” he raged.
But to no avail. Meanwhile, the Spirit remained unshaken, unmoved, regardless of how much its enemy tried.
“I don’t wanna sound impatient,” Applejack spoke, “but we can’t just keep stalling him. We have to do something to shut him down.”
“Do not fear,” the Spirit assured her. “It will all be over any moment now.”
They didn’t know how it can be so sure. The power he was drawing on made Tirek look neigh invincible. How could he ever run out of power? But just as they thought that the blazing heat simply dissipated. The only noticeable light was now coming from their surroundings.
“It... it actually happened?” the shy pegasus said in amusement.
“Great! Now that we’ve got an opening, let's give him what for!” Rainbow Dais rubbed her hooves, eager for a fight.
“Don’t,” the image of King Grover intervened. “Do not leave the protection from what will soon follow.”
Tirek suddenly felt a sense of exhaustion, so much so that his flaming extensions died down. He’s exerted so much power, thinking he would never run out of it and now he was bereft of it.
“Y… you… you all won’t get away from this…” He grasped for air. “I… I just need… a little break… and once I’m fully charged again… I’ll-“
Must feed.
He went quiet. He recognized that voice.
Must feed!
That voice. He heard it earlier in Abysmal Abyss when he first held the Idol of Boreas, but it was only a barely intelligible whisper.
MUST FEED!
But now, that voice became loud and booming, full of anger and fury. And now, at last, he could hear what the voice was saying.
MUST! FEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!
His whole body was suddenly enveloped in flame. Thinking he was powered up again he flexed, but he soon realized something was not right. He felt a quick sting. And another. And soon after he felt little stings all over his body that kept growing harsher and harsher until it turned into a sensation of getting burned. He screamed, collapsing on the ground, flailing about and contorting uncomfortably - he was in unbearable pain.
The ponies and other creatures did nothing but stood by and watched in horror. “What… what’s happening to him?” Fluttershy wondered, to which her tiny companion around her neck had no fitting words. “I don’t know…” answered Discord.
But the Spirit knew. “Anger is like fire: The more it consumes, the stronger it becomes. But it needs to keep consuming and growing stronger in turn, for when it can no longer consume anything anymore, it will flare out… and die down.”
The alicorn took heed of those words, and that’s when she noticed that the flames that have enveloped Tirek… had eyes! And they were bobbing up and down as if they were doing a chewing motion. That’s precisely what was happening. Without a moment to lose, Twilight galloped through the protective barrier in the centaur’s direction.
“Twilight! What are you doing?! Come back!” Spike called out.
“Tirek’s being consumed by Anger!” she called back. “Even he doesn’t deserve such a cruel fate!” She arrived at his side, and watching him contort in an unnatural way was unbearable to watch even if he was a villain. “Tirek, listen to me!” she tried to reason. “You need to let go of Turmoil’s fragment! I can help you-!”
For a brief moment, as the pony began talking to the centaur, he stopped moving, but as he turned his head at her, she was met with burning red eyes and a look of unbridled rage. “DON’T TOUCH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” he yelled and threw a punch in her direction, hitting the ground, causing the burnt wood to heave and launching her into the wall of the nearby ruins, stunning her.
“TWILIGHT!” Spike freaked out and flew off.
“Spike, don’t!” the fashionista tried to stop him, only to be held back by the workhorse. “Don’t! You’re just gonna get caught in the crossfire!” The latter looked at the Spirit with a plea. “Please, tell me something can be done so they won’t get hurt?”
It turned its head to the crowd in the back. “Dragons, this is your one chance to prevent any harm from coming to them.”
The blue, the orange, and the red dragons looked at one another, but it was the former that made the first move. “Spike, hang on!” Ember took flight.
“Wait up, I’m coming!” Smolder followed, and with her brother seeing that, he quickly went after her. “Sis, wait!”
Meanwhile, Twilight was slowly regaining her senses, but she couldn’t think clearly. The only thing she saw was the centaur’s form, as he picked himself off the ground, his expression showing nothing but wrath.
“Burn!” he said and the flames around his expanded. “BURN!” he repeated, the fire growing larger. “BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!”
And the flames exploded, turning everything white.
When it finally died down, Twilight was curled up, and what was more, she felt the weight on top of her. As her eye readjusted, she realized that the four dragons were lying all over her, acting as a shield to protect her from being scorched by the fire. She felt tiny claws holding her face, and a familiar face calling to her.
“Twilight! Twilight, say something!” the purple one begged.
She smiled. “I’m okay, Spike.”
At the moment she spoke he hugged her in relief, while the rest of the dragons crawled off her.
“That was too close for comfort,” Smolder commented.
“Tell me about it,” Garble replied. “All of you could barely cover half a pony.” The younger sibling laughed.
But the jovial atmosphere quickly died down. “Wait, where’s Tirek?” Twilight asked.
They all turned to where the centaur stood earlier, but he was gone. On the floor where he once stood was a portal made of dark light. Twilight quickly realized who was behind it.
“Foolish boy,” an elderly voice spoke, accompanied by hoofsteps. “He played with fire and got himself burnt. Then again, why did I think he would’ve chosen differently?”
With the scorching heat gone, the rain once again began to fall on the Griffinstone surroundings, and out of its ruins, the grizzled old ram emerged, but not before opening another massive portal close by, allowing the arimaspi to walk out in the open. Everybody present, especially those closest to him were left frozen, but the Father of Monsters did not attempt to harm them.
As he reached the edge of the portal, he waited, gazing into the sky. “Construct!” he yelled into the sky.
Out of the thundering skies, the giant head of the Storm King reemerged, accompanied by the changeling queen. “Thanks, gramps!” he said. “You really got us out of that one!”
“Quit yammering and move!” Grogar ordered.
The satyr didn’t wait about, as his giant form flew off and squeezed through the portal on the ground, disappearing almost instantly.
And then, the weaselly wisp came to his side. “So… This is your pet that you have come all this way for, Shaper?” it questioned. “And glad as I am with you keeping the Devourer under control, we are going to talk about your… liberties.”
The ram looked at the alicorn and the four dragons who were staring at him. “Perhaps,” the ram said. “But not here, or now.”
“Indeed.” And with that, the shadow vapor disappeared through the portal.
Lastly, the Pillar of Hatred landed by his side. “You really have a knack for turning up a most convenient moment, Grogar, I’ll tell you that.”
“As flattered as I am, Queen of Changelings, this isn’t the time to dawdle. Go before-”
“Chrysalis!” Ember screamed when she saw her, flying off at her.
“Right, no dawdling. Just make sure you lock the door behind,” the queen said and lept into the portal.
But Grogar made no move to follow her, and just as the Dragon Lord came close to leap into the portal behind her, he closed it shut, having the dragon crash against the wooden ground. “How unfortunate. Had you been a little faster, you could’ve caught her.”
The taunting didn’t sit well with the blue dragon, and she gave him an angry look before leaping at him. “Open it again! Get me to Chrysalis!”
Suddenly, with a bleating roar, a large clawed hand wrapped around Ember, gripping her tightly. There was no way that the arimaspi would allow somebody to harm his master. She struggled to loosen his grip, and when it became apparent that it was impossible, she decided to breathe fire at him, only for her own flame to envelop her. The beast’s grip around her was gone, but now she was trapped in a ball made of dark light, and it was holding it. It seemed that just as the beast didn’t want any harm to befall its master, so too did the master not want anything ill to befall his creation.
“Ember!” Spike cried out.
Soon, everybody else present came to the side of the princess and the four dragons, facing up against Grogar.
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Was Spike in part of creating that too?
Its hard to tell
11551061
Yes, considering that he was in the "other realm" with them.
something after what happened to Tirek. If I were the villains, I would start to have doubts about continuing to follow these ghosts. right now Grogar seems like a much better leader to follow. (Actually, his current actions do not fit in with the terrible actions that he committed in the past.)
11552429
Well, Tirek had to be taught a lesson, and it's not like the other 2 have a choice, especially in the case of Storm King.
As for Grogar... well, he's not the kind who would just rush into things blindly considering how calculating he is, especially considering his current "limitations". It'll make sense soon why he's seems more "benevolent" right now.
11552476
But wasn't Tirek dead? I just thought he was eaten by "anger" and burned alive. And now he is either dead or on the verge of death.
11552486
Tirek's still far too useful to be just offed... to multiple parties.