The Great War

After another days march the group finally found themselves at their destination; Stormpike City and it was as marvelous as the many rumors of its glory described it.

In the center stood a large tower where messengers both Gryphon and pony delivered news from all over the kingdom and surrounding it was the largest market any pony has ever seen where you could find almost anything from exotic foods and spices from saddle arabia to fine silks and jewels from trottingham with the entire city abuzz with excitement and needless to say our heroes were in awe of its majesty.

The party toured the city with Star Swirl leading the way, as they strolled through the market Melody noticed a beautiful fire ruby necklace in one of the stands. It had been cut into the shape of a heart and placed in a gold casing while the chain was made of pure silver making it shine as bright as the moon while the ruby shined with an inner light as if a flame was ready to burst from its core, when Storm Wind noticed this he immediately asked for the price of the jewel shocking Melody completely.

"Excuse me? How much for the necklace?"

"Ahh you have a keen eye my friend!"

The shopkeeper exclaimed in an Arabic accent as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"This was crafted by the finest Jewelers in all of Saddle Arabia and it can be yours for the mere price of fifty gold bits!"

"Done!"

Without a moments hesitation Iron Forge handed over his entire bag of bits as the shopkeeper snatched it out of his hand before handing over the necklace while Melody still couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Storm Wind you didn't have to do that..."

She says feeling guilty of her friend giving up all his bits just for one meesely jewel but with a slight blush the young colt handed the necklace to Melody turning his head away out of embarassment.

"Well I wanted to s-since I saw how much you liked it."

Touched by his gesture Melody happily accepted her friends gift placing it around her neck with a happy expression on her face while Iron Forge and Archer began harassing him over his gentlemanly act.

"Smooth my man!"

"Before long she'll be ALL yours!"

"GUYS IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!"

Storm Wind shouted as his black coat turned hot pink while the others continued to rib him.

"Suuure it's not."

Charm Caster smirked raising one eyebrow at him before Star Swirl cleared his throat catching their attention as they proceeded further down the market until at last they came to the military district where surprisingly the guards were on full patrol detail as squads of them patrolled the streets as well as the sky, while they eyed the security the group came to a halt as Star Swirl bowed before a towering gryphon decorated in battle worn armor.

"Greetings Uther Stormtalon. Sky Marshall and King of Stormpike City."

"Star Swirl! My old friend!"

The two greeted each other with a quick embrace while the others bowed in respect as the large gryphon returned the favor before escorting them to the castle located in the southern part of the city where a meeting took place over the discovery of the scroll.

"So...this is the scroll they spoke of."

"Yes and in it lies the location of the last two members of the royal bloodline and our best hope of securing Equestrias future."

"But what good of use is it to the wargs? why are they interested in this?"

"Because this is not the first time they've done this!"

The entire council was surprised to hear this as Star Swirl began to explain the situation.

"Long ago; During the war of chaos the wargs were among the first to join the forces of evil for promise of wealth and power in return for hunting down and destroying the Alicorn bloodline and what's worse they discovered a terrifying secret....those who drink the blood of an Alicorn will be blessed with amazing strength and skill along with immortality but at a terrible price for when you drink the blood of a pure being such as an Alicorn you lose a part of your mind as well as your soul."

This revelation disturbed the council greatly as they began to discuss among themselves about what to do with the scroll while Star Swirl secretly used his magic to listen in.

"If what he says is true then our current situation is more dire than we realized."

"Something must be done."

Skillfully deactivating his magic the unicorn mage pretended to remain oblivious to the noise around but his friend the Sky Marshall smirked since he knew him all too well before the other members finished their private conversations.

"Lord Star Swirl. We should tell you something. Not long ago a messenger from the wargs came to parley with us saying that if we handed over the scroll we would be allowed to live in peace."

"Of course we would have none of that!"

The Sky Marshall shouted slamming the table in pure outrage as the discussion continued.

"When we defied him he grew wrathful and threatened us with the fiery doom that overtook our ancestors!"

"Fiery doom? you don't mean..."

"I'm afraid so. Gor'Zan has tamed a dragon and if he were to unleash it...well you can guess what'll happen from there."

Since ancient times the dragons had been sworn enemies of both Pegasus and Gryphon alike and at one time the three factions waged war that decimated much of the land creating the northern wastes.

There was much silence as they pondered what to do next while in another part of the castle Melody was admiring the gift she had received from Storm Wind while Charm Caster smiled at her friends happiness as she giggled in delight with her.

"Charm Caster you were right! he does care!"

"See? I told you!"

The two mares squealed in delight as Charm Caster gave a congratulatory hug while in another room Storm Wind and the others inspected their gear to make sure they were ready for the next step of their journey and deep in his mind Storm Wind could still remember the story his old master told and began to furiously sharpen the tip of his spear as sparks flew to the ground with each stroke.

"Storm Wind?STORM Wind!!"

"Huh?"

Iron Forge quickly snapped his friend out of his trance as he pointed out the whetstone had fallen from his hand and with a slightly embarrassed grin Storm Wind picked up the stone and began sharpening his blade once again while Archer handed over his bow to the large stallion for inspection.

"Hmm...string needs to be replaced but other than that it seems fine."

"Sounds good. How's about we hit one of the local restaurants? You in Storm Wind?"

"No thanks. I'm gonna turn in for the night."

The two turned to one another as their pegasus friend dropped onto the bed sighing with relief when suddenly Storm wind was grabbed by his shoulders and ankles, being carried out the door.

"HEY!!"

"Sorry pal but we're going out for a night on the town whether you like it or not!!"

SLAM!!

Later that night the three colts were enjoying a guys night out at a local pub as they partook in the usual drinking, eating, laughing and some gambling on the side with Iron Forge being the source of entertainment.

The two cheered their friend on as he was caught in an arm wrestling contest with one of the local guards, the match seemed to be a complete stalemate with neither competitors arm giving way until five minuets passed into the fight.

"COME ON FORGE!!!"

Archer shouted cheering his friend on while Storm Wind gripped his newly refilled money bag sweating with anticipation until at last the gryphons arm came down with a loud slam before Iron Forge jumped out of his seat raising his arms in triumph.

"YYYES!!!!"

Iron Forge shook hands with his opponent as the crowd began to settle down and the three friends got themselves a fresh mug of cider followed by a few slices of pie and as the hour grew late Storm Wind decided to step out for some fresh air and to clear his head after realizing that going out for some fun with his friends wasn't such a bad idea after all, after giving a sigh of relief a familiar bearded face surprised him coming into a dim street light.

"Having fun are we?"

"Master Star Swirl! I uhh...

Storm Wind thought for sure that he was in trouble when suddenly his master gave a short chuckle followed by a pat on the shoulder.

"Now now my boy no need to fret. You are young and should enjoy life while you can, you know I was your age once. Made friends...a few enemies....fell in love."

In that moment the young colt turned bright red once again and began stammering his words until letting out a sigh of defeat as his old master took him for a quiet walk away from the pub.

"She hasn't forgotten you know? Melody remembers very well who saved her all those years ago."

"But both of us have changed so much over the years."

"Is that so?"

Star Swirl raised an eyebrow as he once again took out his smoking pipe while still enjoying a walk with his old student.

"You're both soldiers in the army, you're both on an epic quest to help restore an ancient bloodline and destroy all evil. Oh yes you both have changed so much."

"I can do without the sarcasm master..."

Star Swirl chuckled at the annoyed reaction Storm Wind was giving before accidentally choking on a puff of smoke as he dropped his pipe and despite the humor Storm Wind quickly patted the old unicorns back allowing him to breathe once more before the two of them shared a quick laugh as a strong breeze came blowing in but the mood soon turned dark as the old mage looked towards the dark sky above the city.

"Master what is it?"

"This breeze...it's unusually warm for mountain weather..."

Suddenly the alarm bell began to sound before the sound of flapping wings was heard followed by a bright light that ignited a large portion of the city.

"RRAAAAGGGHHH!!!!"

"DRAGOOOON!!!!!"

The End.