The End of Peace.
T’was a quiet night in Canterlot, well past midnight. Almost every creature in the city had already retired for the night. Only the members of the royal guard were still awake at this time. And in a high tower overseeing the Canterlot statue collection, a royal guard was bored beyond belief.
This is Stormwing, a pegasus stallion with a silver coat, piercing but soft yellow eyes, and a sky blue mane, with streaks of yellow. He is an elite member of the royal guard. When most ponies think of the royal guard, they think of buffoons who can’t protect a single princess. This was only true of about 80% of the guards however. The few who actually proved to be effective at dealing with monsters were separated from the rest, and authorized to roam Equestria in groups or on their own, dealing with any threats to the safety of Equestria, and just generally helping ponies with any serious issues.
Stormwing was a natural at this, with his athletic build and well likeable personality. It didn’t take long for Flash Magnus, the royal guard drillmaster, to see there was something special in Stormwing. Soon, Stormwing became the youngest pony to ever reach elite guard status, at the age of 19, beating the previous record set by Shining Armor, who was inducted at age 20.
Until recently, Stormwing considered his lot in life to be extraordinarily lucky. Travelling across Equestria helping others was something Stormwing always wanted. His skill at solving problems and defeating monsters made him something of a celebrity in Equestria, as well as earning massive respect from his guard companions. He was well off in terms of money, enough for him to live comfortably in a nice house in Canterlot. But most importantly, his reputation made him friends with Princess Twilight, who in turn introduced Stormwing to who would become his marefriend, the unicorn personal student to the princess, Luster Dawn.
The problem now though was that monster threats were dying off. Ever since the Legion was defeated and turned to stone, monster attacks had declined steadily. Fewer threats meant the need for fewer guards, and many of the new recruits were let go in exchange for the elite guards. The downside to this is that life had become somewhat boring to Stormwing as of late, with days and nights of simple guard duty becoming much more frequent.
Stormwing glanced at the little clock on the wall, and sighed. “It’s only 1 AM, greattttt. Still got five more hours of standing to do!” Stormwing thought to himself. “Why did I ever agree to do five night shifts here in a row? At least I get a week long break after this week ends, just one more night shift after tonight.” The upcoming break was the only thing keeping Stormwing awake right now. Due to their busy schedules, Stormwing and Luster rarely ever had a chance to spend time together. With a little bit of hard work, they had both managed to synchronise their break time, giving them a whole week just for each other. “Luster and I both could use a break, it’s been too long since we’ve had any kind of quality time together.” Knowing the week would end soon always put a smile to Stormwing’s face.
“What in the name of Celestia is going on here! Sleeping on the job hmm Stormwing?!” Stormwing instinctively tensed up, but only for an instant before relaxing again, he knew that voice.
“Please Gallus, if you were in this position, you would have already fallen asleep by now!” With a smirk on his face, Stormwing turned around to see his best friend, and commander, the griffon Gallus.
“Can’t argue with that one.” Gallus said. “I honestly don’t know which is worse; guard duty through the entire night, or the endless amount of paperwork Princess Twilight sends me.”
“Why do you think I turned down the offer of becoming captain?” Stormwing said with a smile. “I’d rather face a hundred timberwolves at once, or stand guard duty for a month straight, then do any kind of paperwork.”
“That was the reason?” Gallus said. “I thought it was because you always knew I was more deserving of the position then you were.”
“Ha Ha, very funny.” Stormwing said in a sarcastic tone.
This kind of banter was quite common between the two of them. Having joined the royal guard at roughly the same time, both of them were highly skilled recruits, and naturally competed often. But they also became close friends, and the friendly competition between them only made them better guards in the end. Everyone knew either of them would become Captain of the Guard, and some believed that would be the moment when their friendship would end. Stormwing was offered the position, but he refused, and handed the title to Gallus instead. Stormwing always felt he wasn’t the best choice to lead, and he didn’t envy the feeling the Captain felt whenever he had to tell a family that their son or daughter wouldn’t be coming home. Thankfully, that almost never happened these days.
“So, why are you here anyway Gallus?” Stormwing said.”Surely the Captain has better things to do then hang out with the lowly guards?”
“Actually, I got done with the paperwork early today,” Gallus said. “I thought I’d stop by and keep you company for an hour or two. I’m honestly surprised you haven’t fallen asleep yet.”
“The only thing keeping me awake is knowing I’ve only got duty for today and tomorrow night, then I can spend the week off in Ponyville with Luster.” Stormwing said. “Say, have thought of a way to ask Silverstream out yet?”
Galluses’ cheeks flushed red. “I knew I shouldn’t have told you about my crush on Silverstream.”
“Come on dude!” Stormwing said, “Just ask her out, it’s not so bad!”
“Says you, the one who already has a special somecreature.” Gallus retorted. “What if Silverstream doesn’t even like me that way?”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try.” Stormwing insisted.
“Alright fine, if I promise to ask her out this weekend, will you please stop bugging me about it?” Gallus said.
"Only if you Pinkie Promise me!” replied Stormwing.
"For the love of... Cross my heart, Hope to fly, Stick a cupcake in my eye.” Sang Gallus, in the most monotone singing voice ever. “Now drop it, okay?”
“Just be sure you keep that promise Gallus, wouldn’t want Pinkie coming after you now would we?” Stormwing said.
“Yeah yeah yeah, point taken.” Gallus replied.
BOOOM!
“What in the name of Tartarus!” Screamed both Gallus and Stormwing simultaneously. Rushing to the tower balcony, Stormwing and Gallus searched for the source of the loud explosion. It didn’t take long to find the source, the entrance to the Canterlot Hedge Maze below was blown asunder. From the center of the maze, a magical ball of bright light was launched into the sky. This was the warning signal from the guards stationed inside the maze, it’s meaning was simple: Intruder alert, send the signal on!
Stormwing quickly rushed to the center of the tower, and pulled a lever. This lever sends a signal to launch another bright ball of magic from the tower, as well as issuing a rallying call to the rest of the guards across Canterlot.
Meanwhile, Gallus had readied himself for a fight, putting his helmet on, and extending the metal talons of his combat claws, specifically designed for the first griffon in the royal guard. Stormwing was already prepared for anything since he was on guard duty, he only needed to grab his spear and shield leaning against the part of the wall he had been standing near until the explosion. All of this was done without words, for the both of them knew instinctively what to do, this was what they had trained for after all. Together, the two of them flew down to the entrance of the hedge maze, ready for whatever comes next.
“Holy buck.” said Stormwing “I’ve never seen anything like this before.” The entrance to the hedge maze was a horrific scene. Despite not being unicorns, Stormwing and Gallus knew the signs of powerful magic, but anypony could see that only a powerful spell could leave behind such devastation. The grass and hedge that was still around was singed black, mounds of dirt were flung all over, and clumps of dark magic had settled in puddles all around.
But worst of all were the bodies. Two guards lay dead at the entrance. One’s neck had clearly been snapped, either with magic or brute force, it was impossible to tell for sure. Another guard had seemingly been drained of life itself, all that was left was a gray husk of a pony.
“These poor souls never stood a chance.” Gallus said, a look of grave concern on his face as he stared at the path of destruction ahead of them. “Chances are, we don’t have much of a chance either.”
“Don’t you think we should wait for the reinforcements?” Stormwing said.
“By the time they get here, whoever did this will have already reached the center of the maze.” Gallus said. “I assume this creature is trying to free the Legion from their petrification.”
“I don’t expect you to follow me Stormwing.” Gallus said. You should wait here for the reinforcements to arrive.”
“And leave you to fight whoever did this on your own? Not a chance.” Stormwing said. Gallus started to make a reply, but Stormwing cut him off. “There’s no point in arguing Gallus, I’m not letting my best friend face this thing alone.”
Gallus nodded his head. “If you insist Stormwing, I’m glad to have you by my side, especially if this is our last fight together.” With grim determination, the pair started flying, following the path left behind by the intruder.
The flight was rather short, since they were on a straight path to the center of the maze. Along the way, Stormwing and Gallus saw more dead guards. Some lay dead with a look of sheer horror painted on their face, some were drained like the guard at the entrance. There was even a pile of ash, which was most likely all that remained of a poor guard.
After about five minutes of flying, Stormwing and Gallus finally spotted the intruder. It was large, and wearing a black robe that hid its identity. To hide their presence, the pair slowed their speed, and rose to a higher altitude.
“We should try to hit that thing on both sides,” Gallus whispered.
“I’m faster, I’ll hit it on the left side first, then you can hit it from the right side.” Stormwing said.
“You sure about this?” Gallus said. “I know we’ve got the element of surprise, but that sounds suicidal.”
“I think it’s our only shot, we’ve got to take this thing down fast before the magic starts flying.” Stormwing said. “I’m ready, you get in position on the other side of it, then I’ll move in to attack.”
Stormwing watched as Gallus moved into position on the right side of the creature, the whole time shadowing the creature from high above. Finally, the creature stopped, and sure enough, they were at the center of the maze. There stood the Statue of The Three, also known as The Legion, the trio of villains that came closest to successfully destroying Equestria.
Gallus was in position, and signaled to Stormwing, “Now or never.” with his wings, a system of military communication only pegasi, (and one griffon) knew how to do. Stormwing angled his body for a steep dive, pulling his wings in for maximum speed, and preparing his spear for a mighty thrust into the creature. But as the distance closed, something was off to Stormwing. “This is too easy, why is it just standing there?” It was too late to pull out of the dive though, Stormwing would just have to work with it.
Stormwing was right, it was too easy. Just before Stormwing collided, the monster whipped around, encasing Stormwing in a magical grip. But this was no ordinary magic, it was black, with a tinge of yellow. “Ach! What the!” Stormwing cried out.
“Ha ha ha! You are either the bravest, or most stupidest pegasus I have ever seen. Do you even know who I am FOOL!”
The creature threw back his hood, revealing a large, blue goat, with large horns glowing with dark magic, and yellow eyes that seemed to stare straight into Stormwing’s soul.
For the first time in his life, Stormwing was frozen with fear. This was no ordinary monster. This was Grogar, the father of monsters, the greatest villain to have ever plagued Equestria. Only the mightiest of heroes have faced Grogar and lived.
And despite Stormwing’s undeniable skill, he knew he was nowhere near close to the skill of those legendary ponies.
The magical grip around Stormwing was growing tighter, constricting the air out of his lungs. “Grr hngh!” Stormwing realized of course that struggling was useless, and his only hope was that Gallus should be here anytime now.
“For your bravery, I will give you a quick death, little pony.” Grogar’s horns began to glow brighter. Stormwing could feel the magic around his neck, preparing to snap it like a twig, just like those other guards.
Stormwing shut his eyes. “I’m so sorry Luster, I never got to say goodbye to you my love.”
SCREEEEE!!!!!!
Stormwing hit the ground, and looked up. There was Gallus, on top of Grogar like a rodeo pony on top of a bull, slashing at the goat’s eyes! Gallus made it just in time!
“A Griffon? HERE! Get off of me CAT BIRD!”
Stormwing didn’t have much time. Quickly, he grabbed his spear, and thrust it into Grogar’s chest, just as Grogar had successfully forced Gallus off of him.“AHHAAY!” Stormwing cheered.
But Grogar just smirked at Stormwing. “Did you really think that would kill me? Let alone hurt me!?”
Stormwing watched in horror as his spear literally dissolved before his own eyes. With a mighty swing, Grogar's right hoof collided into Stormwing, sending him flying through the hedge maze, before slamming into a boulder and being knocked unconscious
By the time Stormwing had regained consciousness, several hours must have gone by, for the moon was very low on the horizon, the sun would be raised soon. He was laying on a bed of hay, in the center of the hedge maze. That was when he noticed the large number of guards in the area.
Stormwing had started to stand, but his body clearly wouldn’t have any of that. “Ow, ow ow!”
A nearby earth pony nurse with a pink colored coat and blue mane heard Stormwing’s grunting, and rushed over. “Not so fast Mr. Stormwing! You’re far from being ready to walk!”
“Great, don’t tell me I’m bedridden nurse, you know how much I hate being bedridden!” Stormwing said.
“Afraid so sir, though now that you’re awake, two special ponies will want to see you, I’ll bring them over.” said the nurse.
The nurse didn't even get a chance to leave however, before a familiar voice rang out.
“Stormie! You’re awake!” cried the voice.
“Only one pony calls me Stormie.” thought Stormwing.
And sure enough, making her way towards Stormwing, was his special somepony, Luster Dawn.
“Thank Celestia you’re okay!” Cried Luster, as she embraced Stormwing in a tight embrace.
“Ach! You’re crushing my ribs Dawn!” Said Stormwing. There’s a reason the nurse said I couldn’t walk yet, remember?”
“Sorry Stormie.” Said Luster, as she released Stormwing from her grip. “I was just so worried I lost you, especially after hearing about the other guards who lost their lives earlier tonight.”
“As was I.” came a voice from behind Luster Dawn. It was none other than Princess Twilight Sparkle.
“Your majesty!” said the ponies gathered around, as they instinctively bowed down.
“Please, I’ve said it before, I don’t like it when ponies bow before me.” Said Twilight. “Especially right now, when there are much more important matters to attend too.”
Twilight then turned to Stormwing. “For starters, how are you feeling Stormwing?”
“Well your majesty, I feel fine right now, as long as I don’t try to stand that is.” Stormwing said. Then a thought popped into Stormwing’s head. “What happened to Gallus? Is he alright?”
“Gallus is alive.” Twilight said. “He received a more serious head injury then you, and had to be moved to a proper hospital. But he should recover given time.”
“But now I need your help Stormwing, I need you to tell me who did this? Who caused all of this destruction and death?”
Stormwing expected Princess Twilight to ask this question. “Your majesty, it was Grogar, the father of monsters himself.”
“Grogar?” Luster said. “But isn’t he just a myth?”
“Myths are often based in fact.” Twilight said. “And that would explain the excessive amounts of powerful magical residue left in the area.” “He must not have his full power yet, or else there is no way you and Gallus would have survived your encounter with him.”
“But what was he after your majesty?” Stormwing said. “The Legion?”
“See for yourself.” Twilight said as she stepped aside.
The statue was still there, but something was wrong. Then Stormwing realized the difference.
The petrified form of Queen Chrysalis was gone.
Author's Note
If you read the whole story, thank you so much!
I have no experience in creative writing, but I have lots of ideas for fanfics floating around in my head. So I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a shot.
I understand this story is probably really bad, so again if you made it this far, thank you!
