The Last Elements

by RavensDagger

Gold-Wing

City of Truebeak

Seven Thousand Hooflenghts above sea level

Three Days after Summer Solstice

Gold-wing looked down at the city far below him. It was beautiful. Shining spires made of cloud-rock, as well as gleaming towers that grasped like fingers into the night sky.

He banked and ordered his squad to follow him down towards the spires of the great griffon city of Truebeak. As they approached the city, they could make out more details. The streets were dirty, shops were closed and barricaded and graffiti was sprayed across many of the houses and ran up the side of the once gleaming towers. Truebeak was the last city of a once powerful race. Cloudsdale and Equestria's growing number of pegasi were changing that.

He landed gracefully on the cloud-stone runway and quietly dismissed his squadron of griffons. They were all young, barely older than chicks, he thought to himself. Nonetheless, he knew that they would probably never see action with Equestria to the west of them and Cloudsdale beyond that. They hardly even got a stray storm anymore. He missed the days when he fought claws and beak just to live until the next morning.

“Come on, Gold-Wing, you'll be late again. You know how old man Silver-Claw is.” His oldest friend lieutenant Ruby-Feather chastised him, ignoring the formalities that came with his rank.

“Fine, lets go.”

They walked and flew through the many corridors and hallways until they reached the courtroom of their king. The two young griffon guards opened the gate and let them into the throne room.

“Ah, you are here, Gold-Wing,” said the old monarch with a bemused smile. He was seated on the royal throne at the far back of the once prestigious room. Neglect had taken its toll both on the king and his castle. A small throne sat beside the kings, it was covered in dust and had not been touched even by the cleaning staff for decades.

“My Lord,” Answered Gold-Wing bowing, Ruby-feather followed suit. “You asked for my presence?”

“Oh, always the formal one eh, Goldy?” The king chuckled at Gold-Wing's look of indignation. “You must learn to calm yourself. Or else you will grow old and senile. Like me.” The king rose from his throne with a groan.

“Now, I called you here to discuss a rather private matter.” He gave a pointed look at Ruby-Feather,who Bowed before backing away quietly.

Once Ruby-Feather was gone and the door shut, the king turned back to Gold-Wing. “How's little Gilda?”

“She is fine, my lord. Gilded-beak left to visit an acquaintance of hers in Equestria. She should be back any day now.” Gold-Wing was nervous. The only time the king asked you about family matters was when he got ready to heap trouble on your back.

“And the wife?” continued the king.

“Still dead, my lord.” Gold-wing scowled at his king.

“Hmm... well lad, I invited you here for reasons other than to speak about your daily life. I am dying.” Gold-Wing stepped back in surprise. “Soon, very soon, the griffon nation will fall.” He paused to let the message sink in. Gold-Wing was not surprised, having known this for quite a while, although he was disturbed of hearing it from the beak of his king.

“For the past two thousand years, we have held strong. Fighting when the need arose, making peace when it did not. Our neighbours to the east, Equestria, have given us peace and security for the past thousand years, ever since the great war of night.” Silver-Claw stopped to catch his breath. “We have lost our pride. Our youngsters go to Equestrian schools rather than our own. Most of our population live in poverty on the street.” The king’s expression grew sombre as he spoke. “We need a war.”

“What!?” Gold-Wing exclaimed in surprise. “A war? Why?”

“Listen to me, Gold-Wing,” The king responded in a firm tone. “Our people need something to be proud of, something to look forward to. We need a common goal, whether we win or lose. We need something to get those kids off the streets and make them act like proper griffons. We are the laughing stock of the entire world, losing our main source of income to the pegasi like that.” The king looked up in pride. “The griffon nation shall become strong once more.”

“Sir, with all due respect, this is crazy.” Gold-Wing gulped as he heard himself over stepping his boundaries. “We do have a military force, but for most of it ,myself included, the worst we ever saw was a few border scuffles with the manticores. We are not ready for a war.”

“Oh, I know that child, but we have this.” The king quietly walked to the side of the throne and pushed on the graven image of a crown with his talon. The image pushed into the throne with a small hissing noise, an opening appeared at its side. The king reached in and pulled out a small, nondescript wooden box.

“Do you know anything about the Elements, lad?” asked the king. “Pony tales and old rumours. Stories told to children to scare them or to make them have sweet dreams.”

Gold-Wing nodded and tried not to scowl.

“Oh, but the stories are real. A thousand years ago, during the great war of eternal night, a griffon wielded the Element of Pride, and created this very nation. You, Gold-wing, will become the second.” The king opened the box slowly. Inside, a small jewel on a necklace was placed in the centre of a velvet cushion, it gave off a faint yellowish glow. “Put this on, lad. Then we shall begin to create a new griffon empire!”

Gold-Wing approached cautiously, attracted by the soft glow emanating from the stone. “This is an Element?” he asked.

“Indeed lad, it is; take it. I give it, and its power, to you,” answered the king. His jovial voice now firm and formal.

“But why don't you use it yourself?” The king looked at the jewel longingly before answering.

“I am old. I will die soon. And I want my death to serve as a turning point for the people that I love. You are young, yet mature, your men have confidence in you. You are strong enough to push back the temptations of the Element.”

“I see.” Gold-Wing blushed at the compliments given to him by his monarch. “I will accept your... proposal.” Gold-Wing reached into the box with his talon and touched the necklace. Immediately, he felt a great shock course thorough his body. His paws lifted from the ground, his eyes started to glow a dull, sickly yellow. He felt stronger.

Once he was back on firm ground and no longer glowing, he went about inspecting himself. The changes were small, but noticeable. He felt faster and stronger, his body was lighter, but tougher. His feathers and fur had a new radiance to them. “I feel.. wonderful.” The king chuckled. Gold-Wing punched the ground in a way that would have broken his fore-paw. Rather than hurt himself, he ripped a hole through the thick layer of cloud stone.

“Anything else? Think of our nation. Of this kingdom,” asked the king softly.

“I feel... pride, honour, and gratitude that I was born as a griffon, and not of some other measly race.” His words surprised him.

“Good, now we can start.” The king turned and walked to one of the many doors at the side of the room. “Follow me.”

Gold-Wing complied. He followed the King down the winding corridors that led to the dust covered war-room. The room would have been fairly large were it not for the shelves on every wall containing piles of old tomes, books, and scrolls. In the centre was a large, thick wooden table, Something fairly rare in a city made of clouds, and on said table was a very large map of Truebeak and its surroundings.

The king traced a curved line across the map with the tip of his claw. The map glowed a faint green, then the ink lifted from the parchment to form a topographic image that floated in mid air. “Tomorrow, a shipment of food and supplies will leave Manehatten and circle around the Everfree forest. This happens every year the day after the summer solstice, a gift from Equestria to its poorer neighbours. You and a group of dedicated soldiers will attack them here.”

The king stabbed at the map with his fore talon, immediately, a bright red sphere appeared at that point on the map. “This is where you will strike. Let none of them escape, kill, injure, or imprison them. Bring the goods back to the city proper.” The king smiled at Gold-Wing. “We will be waiting for our new hero.”

“I understand, my lord.” He could feel pride swell in his chest as his king detailed the plan that would finally let his people shine. “What will you do of the political repercussions?”

“Simple. I'll die.”

“What!?”

“Oh, calm down lad. You see, Celestia will most likely send over some fancy diplomat to try and make peace and the likes.” The king waved his claw in the air. “So I'll make that diplomat kill me, or at least, it will look that way. I am an old, useless king, but in death I'll move my people to renew our glory!”

“Yes, my lord!” Tears of joy and pride dotted the corners of Gold-Wing's eyes as he saluted his king.

Comments

[DJ Cobalt]

betrayal

[Jade Mer]

Something is a brew in the land of the Griffins.

[Jeff Belinger]

Nation-righteous sacrifice. In order to make his people live again... Tough choice. Live and disband or die and unite.

Nice chapter but again you miss spelled the word none for "nne of them live, kill, injure" plus the fact the the sentence doesn't seem to make any sense to me. So you want Gold-Wing to let none of them live but then to kill them and then injure them and then imprison them?

The king traced a curved line across the map with the tip of his claw. The map glowed a faint green, then the ink lifted from the parchment to form a topographic image that floated in mid air. “Tomorrow, a shipment of food and supplies will leave Manehatten and circle around the Everfree forest. This happens every year the day after the summer solstice, a gift from Equestria to its poorer neighbours. You and a group of dedicated soldiers will attack them here.” The king stabbed at the map with his fore talon, immediately, a bright red sphere appeared at that point on the map. “This is where you will strike. This is where you will strike. Let nne of them live, kill, injure, or imprison the rest. Bring the goods back to the city proper.” The king smiled at Gold-Wing. “We will be waiting for our new hero.”

I hope i'm being helpful. ^^