The Griffin Attack
"When the big birds strike,
In Ponyville will be fright.
They will take our number one hero,
And Ponyville's chances will be zero.
But one will save,
And go to the grave."
This is the prophecy that nopony believed in. There were only two big birds - the Griffins and the Dragons. Ponies were best friends with the Griffins and Dragons left them alone. Therefore, for 200 years it was lost. Apparently it was re-found when Archaeologist Ancienthooves dug up a tablet engraved with it a week before it all happened. A week after the finding, Ancienthooves was found dead with terrible gashes all over his body. the gashes were clearly made by claws and thus, the citizens of Ponyville lived in terror as the sign of a big bird came true. Then, it happened. Rainbow Dash, leader of the Wonderbolts suddenly went missing leaving her students in the care of her best pupil Scootaloo. This caused everypony to rest their trust in Scootaloo to be the chosen one and to save their number one hero Rainbow Dash and Ponyville.
****************************
Lightspeed awoke to the many Wonderbolt posters above his bed. Finally! After 3 days of awakening in strange and random places due to sleep flying, it felt good to stay in his own bed. All the embarrassment he had to endure since his cutie mark appeared - a streamline wing with a lightning bolt through it. Since the mysterious disappearance of his teacher, the blue pegasus hadn't enjoyed his lessons as much as before but Scootaloo was definitely a good teacher and an even better friend!
Another day another lesson but somehow something was different. Lightspeed felt stronger and faster as if he had something that needed more of him and indeed there was. After lesson, Scootaloo called him to a room where nopony but Rainbow Dash was allowed in.
"This is where Rainbow Dash's pride and joy is. Rainbow Dash believed in the prophecy and knew that she would be captured. Therefore, she told me to keep this for the one pony to save her and I believe that pony is you." Scootaloo said with extreme happiness. She opened the big metal doors to reveal a dimly lit room with a necklace glistening on a pedestal. A necklace that attracted Lightspeed to it. The Element of Loyalty seemed to be actually calling Lightspeed but as Lightspeed neared it something lashed out and hit him. Lightspeed was sent flying towards a wall. Pain exploded through his head and he could taste blood in his mouth. He heard Scootaloo scream and a rusty voice saying "Chosen One, you will never win so just give up!" Suddenly, the creature was gone and the last thing Lightspeed heard was Scootaloo saying "S...save the hero, Chosen One!" And everything was black.
****************************
"Oh please don't go! Don't go away like the others!" Lightspeed could here the strong accent of the holder of the element of honesty. Applejack was her name according to Rainbow Dash. Lightspeed opened his eyes to see himself in a bed with 5 ponies surrounding him. The 5 other keepers of the Elements of Harmony - Applejack for honesty, Pinkie Pie for laughter, Rarity for generosity, Fluttershy for kindness and Princess Twilight Sparkle for magic. Sigh's of relief were heard as the five saw Lightspeed's tired eyes scanning them.
"W...Where's Scootaloo?" Lightspeed managed. Applejack's response caught him off-guard as she burst into tears. The other's smiles turned into frowns and Twilight was forced to break it to him.
"Scootaloo is...dead," she said with a tone of sadness in her voice. LIghtspeed felt like dying then and there. His teacher had been captured and the only other pony who had trust in him was dead. Tears rolled down his cheek and nothing was heard till Twilight spoke up, "Don't worry, we will take care of you. After all, the whole of Ponyville has their trust in you. You are the chosen one now." Those words filled Lightspeed with anger and now, he felt the desire to avenge the death of Scootaloo and the kidnapping of Rainbow Dash. He knew that he had to kill the big birds once and for all no matter who they were.
****************************
As the punching bag swung more and more, the wounds on Lightspeed's hooves grew bigger and bigger. With each drop of blood that stained the floor and bag, three revenge and anger filled tears fell to the floor from his beautiful blue eyes. Lightspeed was in the abandoned Cloudsdale gym alone, letting out all of his anger on the punching bag. After a while, he could not take it anymore. He just dropped to the floor and let the tears and blood flow. Just at that moment, Fluttershy entered the gym looking for him. Seeing his wounds, she quickly took out some bandages from her bag and tended to the wounds. Then, wiping the tears off Lightspeed's face, in a tender voice, she said, "Would Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo really want you to be hurting yourself like this?" Hearing the soft words, Lightspeed stopped crying and squeezed Fluttershy in a huge hug.
" I just can't believe that they are gone! W..why them? What do these damn big birds want? First Miss Dash and the Element of Loyalty then Scootaloo. Why?" Lightspeed asked with fury and sadness.
"Nopony knows Lightspeed but injuring yourself won't get you the answer," Fluttershy replied. "Come, Maybe Twilight knows," and, gesturing to him to follow, they both flew off to the Treebrary. However, when they arrived, everything was messed up. Books were on the floor with ripped pages and Spike laid injured in a corner of a room but there was no sign of Twilight anywhere. The ewo of them zoomed to Spike who seemed to be stirring from unconsciousness.
"Where is Twilight, Spike? Umm... if you want to tell me that is," Fluttershy asked in her usual calm tone.
"They...took her...a...away," replied the dragon in pain.
"They? Wh...who's they?" Lightspeed asked.
"Th...the...griffins."
****************************
"In you go!" Twilight was thrown into a dark cell. The cell floor was hard and Twilight hit her head right on it.
"Oh, and don't even think about using magic to attack the walls and door. They're unbreakable - even by magic! You can't even go through it!" the griffin guard said before slamming the door shut and locking it. Twilight looked around. The cell was pretty much empty except for a lit torch. But then, she heard it - something or someone sobbing. Using her magic, Twilight took the torch off the wall and, together with it, walked towards the figure. As she got closer, she saw a figure appearing, lying down. The closer she got, the more colour appeared in the figure until she could see the clear cyan colour of Rainbow Dash. Cyan, however, wasn't the only colour she saw. Red, blood red, mainly on her hooves.
"R...Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked in a soft voice, almost a whisper. The sobbing suddenly stopped as Rainbow Dash noticed a pony next to her and recognized the voice. In astonishment, she turned around and stared at Twilight with her tearful eyes.
"T...Twilight," she mouthed without a sound. Rainbow's mane was in a mess. She had bruises all over with cuts and some bloody patches. Sad to see her friend in such a state, Twilight broke out in tears and embraced Rainbow.
"I...I...I failed, Twilight. I failed to protect Ponyville. I...I'm a failure, Twilight." Rainbow Dash whispered into the purple unicorn's ears. Hearing this, Twilight immediately withdrew. An expression of shock was stuck on her face. For the years that she had know the cyan pegasus, she never knew Rainbow to say that she failed. She was lost for words.
"I...the...it...NO! NO! N...NO! Th...this is NOT the Rainbow Dash I know. The Rainbow Dash I know DOES NOT say she failed because she never fails! W...What happened to you?" Twilight said, scared that her bravest friend had become weak.
"Twilight, I got caught by the griffins. I did not stay to save Ponyville and despite being the leader of the great Wonderbolts, I got defeated by the Griffins!!!" Rainbow Dash replied with tears of anger and sadness as the thought of Twilight trying to change her or finding the truth crosses her mind. Would Twilight forgive her if she found out?
"NO...that's impossible...something else must have happened...they must have cheated...maybe they-"
"STOP!!! I lost and that's it! NOTHING ELSE!!! Just...don't bother about it anymore. Drop it...please..." Twilight was taken aback. Her bravest friend gone soft. Twilight was speechless. She trotted over to the other side of the room and sat down in utter disappointment. She put the torch back onto the wall and bathed herself in the darkness that overtook her. She thought of nothing else but the fact that Ponyville had lost their Number 1 hero until she heard Rainbow's voice calling out.
"Twilight? Could you do something for me?"
"I'll do anything. What do you want?"
"Can you communicate with ponies in Ponyville using your magic?"
"Yes, why? I can call anyone if you want."
"Thanks! Could you please call my best student, for me?"
"Sure! What's his name?"
"Lightspeed"
****************************
"Spike's going to be fine but please don't come too close to him that is...um...if you are okay with it." The four remaining element keepers and Lightspeed had gathered at the Treebrary. Fluttershy was tending to the unconscious Spike - knocked by the griffin attack.
"Those damn griffins! Kidnapped Rainbow, killed Scoots and took Twilight. It ain't gonna be pretty when they meet us!" Applejack said in her usual accent.
"Calm down Applejack! I don't think that the griffins would be so bad as to hurt Twilight and Rainbow." Rarity said in an assuring tone.
"But...what if they cause Twilight and Rainbow to explode! And then...they cause them to explode again!!!" Pinkie said with a sped up, terrified bounce.
"Pinkie! Haven't we gone through this before? We already freaked out over Fluttershy and remember what happened then? NOTHING!!!" said Rarity who seemed to be the only sane one there.
"Oh! I caused you trouble? I...I'm sorry" Fluttershy said with her head down in shame. And so, the conversation went. Lightspeed was the only quiet one. In his head was nothing but the thought of revenge.
"Umm...hello?" A voice echoed inside Lightspeed's head. It sounded familiar yet he couldn't remember it cleary. "Umm...hi?" he thought back, half-expecting a response.
"Lightspeed!!! Thank goodness you can hear me! It's me, Rainbow Dash!" came the response. Finally he recognised the voice. "Miss Dash!!! Where are you?" he thought back.
"I'm not too sure...all I know is that we are in a cell and Twilight is with me," came the response. Lightspeed was lost for words in his joy. He was just so relieved that the two others were still alive.
"Lightspeed, listen carefully...Right now, you are our only hope. We need your help to free us and save Ponyville...You have to find and defeat the griffins. I don't know how but you have too...I can only tell you one thing. The griffins are going to attack at the Equestrian Best Flyer's Competition in Clousdale as the Princesses, excluding Twi, will both be present. You have to try and stop them...Twilight's running low on energy...I have to go. Please, Lightspeed, do your best. Remember, you are the one I chose. You are the special one..........Bye Lighty! Rainbow out!"
The "call" ended and Lightspeed was still lost for words and all he could mumble was "Bye" softly to himself.
****************************
Twilight collapsed and Rainbow was just able to catch her. Twilight stared into Rainbow's eyes with her tired ones. "Do you seriously think that he will be to save us, Rainbow? He's 10..." Twilight asked. Rainbow answered with a nod.
"I trained him since his parents passed on and despite the lack of friends, he is still the strongest of my students. The only one who will continue fighting until his mission is complete...He won't fail us...He never has..."
****************************
All they had was a day to prepare they strategy to defeat the griffins and so far, they had nothing...Once Lightspeed talked about what Rainbow had said to him, Pinkie never stopped bouncing around at the fact that Rainbow and Twilight were still alive, Applejack never stopped crying tears of joy and Fluttershy never stopped freaking out...Rarity was the only one whom Lightspeed could actually talk to properly and she seemed calm and confident. Eventually, Rarity got tired ofthe others and lost it...
"IF YOU GUYS DO NOT STOP, I WILL MAKE THE MOST HORRIBLE CLOTHES AND MAKE YOU GUYS PARADE AROUND PONYVILLE IN THEM!!" she shouted and immediately everypony froze. They all quickly gathered around Rarity and Lightspeed and down to work.
****************************
Clousdale stadium was packed full of Pegasi and Unicorns that made themselves able to stand on clouds. The two princesses were sitting there too in the seats, awaiting for the beginning. Security was tight due to the incident in the flight school. Rarity had cast the spell to let herself and Applejack stand on clouds and they were arriving in the purple balloon. The competition started before they arrived and by the time they arrived, seven out of the twenty performances had already ended. After completing the security check, they looked for and entrance and found none. That's when chaos struck...
Four loud and destructive explosions and everypony was sent into panic mode. Then, from the competitors' entrance, three griffins flew in and landed on a giant cloud obstacle in the middle of the stadium. The one in the middle had a crown and was obviously the leader. Soon, a whole load of griffins surrounded the stadium and prevented all of the ponies from fleeing. Then the leader spoke...
"Oh Equestrians, what a wonderful day this day is, don't you agree? What a wonderful day to conquer all of you and to build up my nation. After today, Equestria will be known as the NEW GRIFFONIA!!!" she proclaimed. The Princesses immediately stood up.
"We will never let you do this Gilda! You and your griffins will NEVER control us!" Princess Celestia shouted out and together, the two Princesses shot a massive blast of magic at the griffin. Gilda raised up her wings and suddenly, a purple forcefield appeared around her, reflecting the magic blast back to the Princesses, blasting them, injured, back to their seats. Immediately two armed griffins appeared next to them.
"Hahaha!!! Foolish Tia and Luna! This magic forcefield is created from the magic of your so-called "best student", Twilight! Don't you think that I would have prepared myself before coming to face you two? And if you ever think of trying that again, remember that each time I summon the forcefield, it hurts your poor little student but hey, what do I care?" she laughed. "Is there nopony who can stop me?" she asked with an evil laugh.
"I can and I WILL!" came a response from the competitors' entrance. Gilda turned around to see a yellow and blue pegasus colt standing there with an angry frown on his face.
"Well would you look at that!" Gilda snickered, "Here I am at a huge Equestria event where all the best fighters should be and my challenger is a colt? This just makes me laugh at your patheticness!" she said, laughing away. "I accept your challenge, young colt, and since you are still very young, I shall give you three days to train in my dungeon before we fight over here." The others then appeared after realising that Lightspeed was missing. Gilda noticed them and her smile grew wider. "Well! What is this? The other element holders? a brilliant way to add to my collection! GUARDS, take them away!" she commanded. The guards immediately surrounded the 5 ponies, 2 griffins to 1 pony, and carried them away, leaving Gilda and the rest behind.
"Muahahahaha!!! Can this day get any better?" Glida laughed as four other griffins captured the two princesses and the rest of them disappeared.
****************************
After a thorough check to ensure that none of them had the elements with them, the 5 ponies were all taken and thrown into the same cell as Rainbow Dash and Twilight. Reunification hugs began on Pinkie's cue. Suddenly the room began to rumble and the walls moved further back to create more space.
"Well it was getting a little squeezy!" Twilight said to lighten the moods a bit. But, unlike Twilight's usual nature, it failed. Rainbow, still injured, slowly trotted off to one corner, head hung and stared at it, not facing her friends.
"This is all my fault..." she said to herself, between sobs. She slowly looked to her friends who were there staring at her with helpless and sad-looking eyes.
"I did this to you guys...I got you all in trouble...I failed in keeping to my element..." she cried and fell to the floor in tears.
"Nonsense Rainbow! You could never have lost to them!" exclaimed Pinkie, in between bounces.
"NO Pinkie...I did...I went against being loyal and stuck to what I wanted..." replied Rainbow.
"What dooya mean?" queried Applejack.
"Sigh...On the day I was taken, I was approached by Gilda. Being a close friend, I greeted her with a warm hug but she had a sad expression on her face. When I inquired further, she told me that she heard that I was going to lose my place as the leader of the Wonderbolts and that Spitfire was going to be re-elected. She said that the election was going to be private in the middle of the Everfree Forest and, thanking her, I zoomed off...It was a trap and once I reached, a whole load of griffins attacked me...I was knocked out and awoke here..." Rainbow recalled, sobbing again. Lightspeed trotted to her and gave her a huge hug.
"At least you're still here..." Lightspeed said with a smile. Surprised, Rainbow also smiled.
"Yeah...at least I am..." she replied, hugging Lightspeed.
****************************
Three days had passed and the time for the big battle had come. Lightspeed had trained up but not much and he stood in the sandy arena in front of the smirking Gilda, with thousands of griffins watching. The six Element Holders sat in the front row of the seats, anxious with Rainbow being the most worried. Applejack had a hoof around her, trying to comfort her down and reassure her that Lightspeed was going to be fine. Rainbow, however, was hoping that her worst nightmares did not come true.
"DING DING!!!" the starting bell sounded and the two competitors flew to each other. Lightspeed was the first to swing at Gilda and knocked her into the side of the arena. She quickly got back up and with a snicker, flew towards Lightspeed and scratched him with a talon. Lightspeed flew back from the impact with his body getting redder from the blood of the scratch wound. Still, he picked himself back up and swung at Gilda who dodged it skillfully. Lightspeed stuck a hoof into the ground to stop himself and swerved around to Gilda, panting. His face still had anger and confidence written on it. Gilda floated just above ground. Her powerful wings helped her to stay there for quite a while. Her two front talons were crossed in front of her chest and her face still had a smirk.
"Not bad for a thirteen-year-old but still very pathetic for a pony!" Gilda said in a sarcastic tone. She then turned to Rainbow. "I guess you taught him very well, Rainbow, but of course, you too are very pathetic." she said cackling evily. Lightspeed was infuriated and flew towards Gilda who simply slapped him away with a flick of her wrist. Lightspeed was sent crashing into the side of the arena, causing large amounts of sand to be thrown up like a dust cloud. When the sand disappeared. Lightspeed was seen down on the floor, too weak to get up. The griffins cheered while the hearts of the ponies were shattered into a million pieces.
"Aww! He looks so cute when he's down!" Gilda joked. "I wonder how cute he will be, dead!" she shouted and flew directly towards the pegasus and grabbed his chest with her talons. "THIS ENDS NOW, LIGHTSPEED" she screamed at him but he still seemed so calm.
"Do not worry...She will save you..." a voice said in Lightspeed's head.
"Save him..." another voice said to a spectator and just as Gilda was about to give her final blow, she was suddenly sent flying into the side and Lightspeed fell back to the floor. He managed to open his eyes and look up to see a cyan pegasus in front of him, panting. All he could do was smile and pass out. Applejack immediately galloped into the arena and dragged Lightspeed out.
"How could you do this, Gilda?!?!" Rainbow shouted and a dazed Gilda rose from the side and stared at her.
"It was all for the power, Rainbow..." she replied and zoomed towards Rainbow, knocking her into the side. Rainbow was way too injured and couldn't get up.
"What are you? A weakling?" Gilda laughed. Rainbow remained silent, then closed her eyes and replied, "No...I am Loyalty..." and zoomed straight into Gilda, faster than the speed of sound, forming a sonic rainboom just as she collided into the stomach of the shocked Gilda. Then, everything became white for Rainbow.
****************************
Rainbow awoke in a completely white area. She looked at herself and realised that her wounds were gone. She looked around and saw nopony there.
"Hello?" she called out several times but with no response. Then, a voice boomed out of nowhere.
"Rainbow Dash...I hoped that this day would never come..." the voice said.
"Who are you?" Rainbow questioned.
"I am the one. The only one to rule over everything." the voice replied. Rainbow gulped.
"Does this mean that I am dead?" she asked, her voice quivering. There was a minute of silence and the voice finally responded, "Yes." Rainbow fell back and started crying. She couldn't believe that she was dead and wanted to be back in Ponyville with all of her friends.
"Don't cry, Rainbow. There is much to be happy about. You saved the day! You saved the ponies! You saved Equestria and you fulfilled the prophecy. You are a legend and you are the definition of Loyalty!" the voice said, in an excited voice. "But more than that, you sacrificed yourself to save the one pony who needed you the most at that time and for that, I owe you a favour. Before you tell me what you want, I will just agree to it as I already know it. Goodbye Rainbow!" the voice said and in a bright flash of light, Rainbow awoke in her proper body, surrounded by her friends. Their eyes were filled with tears of joy and upon seeing her eyes open, they immediately h=gave her a huge hug and were unable to say anything else.
****************************
A day later, Ponyville celebrated the prize presentation of their saviour, Rainbow Dash. The princesses had been released and they conducted this ceremony. The griffins were sent back to Griffonia with the body of their dead leader and everypony soon went back to their normal everyday lives.
****************************
Lightspeed awoke in his bed on a Monday morning at 6.30am. He quickly got ready and rushed of to his flight school. Rainbow was waiting there with her other students and once the full class had arrived, she sent them off to do their usual daily rounds. She made Lightspeed stay back first and asked the rest to go ahead.
"You know, Lighty. Without you, I wouldn't have had the courage to go ahead and battle against Gilda. Thank you so much Lighty!" she said and gave him a hug. She then proceeded back into her office. Lightspeed took in a deep breath and was about to take off when he heard a voice calling him from behind. He turned around and saw the most beautiful mare ever. Her orange coloured body and purple hair made Lightspeed smile. That and the fact that they had always been in love with each other.
"S-scootaloo?" Lightspeed asked as tears of joy rolled down his cheeks. The mare nodded at him and they immediately embraced each other.
"I missed you so much Scoots!" Lightspeed said in between tears. Scootaloo replied with tears and a smile as well.
"Me too!"
****************************
