By Readthestory

Disclaimer: I do not own MLP: FiM or any of its characters, or other things.

A/N: It is not my practice to put A/N at the start of stories, but I just want to make it clear that the story picture is not by me, but rather by Merran Eby on Elfwood.com.

Chapter 1: What Was Once My Home

The shaky orange glow of sunlight flicked through the smoky fog that was ever present in New Ponyville, glinting on the unhealthy plant life below. From the former Cutie Mark Crusader’s hiding place in an alley dense with bushes, Scootaloo peered through the fog, binoculars held up in one hoof. New Ponyville, as the Griffons insisted on calling it, was as dreary as ever. What little light the town ever got these days was usually cut off by the dusty fog, or the shadow caused by the Wreckage.

The Wreckage… just thinking of the word was painful in itself. It was a gigantic heap of broken stone, marble, wood and all things in between that lay still on top of what used to be Ponyville’s eastern district, but that was hardly the worst thing about it. The mass of rock used to be the “Greatest City in the Sky”… Cloudsdale.  Like some cruel irony, The Sky City’s final resting place was the ground that it had smashed as it fell from the sky.

Scootaloo’s eyes wandered to the base of the Wreckage, fighting back tears as they scanned up the heap. So many Pegasi... lost forever. As if it was not enough that Cloudsdale was gone… it had to fall and destroy half of Ponyville with it. Somewhere under that heap was Twilight Sparkle’s library, Sugar Cube Corner, Miss Cheerilee’s School… memories of the past.

Curse you Tempest, and all your Griffon scum! Scootaloo thought for perhaps the umpteenth time.

The rest of the town was only a shadow of what it once was. The houses were scarred by the vestiges of the war. Some were gaping with holes, most were worn down to the foundation. A huge amount of houses had boarded up windows… and a fair few had boarded up doorways. You couldn’t have paid a Pony to set foot in those homes. Not when they knew what they’d find inside.

Scootaloo ducked low in the drying bush as a platoon of Griffons marched down the street, laughing and joking with each other, their Legion armor making metallic clinking sounds with every step. Any windows which weren’t boarded up on the street were quickly concealed by snapping shutters.

Completely unbidden, a memory flared up in Scootaloo’s mind. She distinctly remembered being hauled into a store by a brown Earth Pony with an hourglass Cutie Mark just before the owners locked the doors and hid behind the store counter. Just as Scootaloo was about to ask what was going on, the Earth Pony put a hoof over her mouth and whispered:

“That evil enchantress Zecora is back! Haven’t you heard the song?”

The flashback almost made Scootaloo smile. Everything was so much simpler back then. If only a harmless Zebra were the only thing Ponies had to worry about these days…

Scootaloo shook her mane, returning to the present. She had a job to do, and if she did it right, it would be a great triumph. The Pegasus focused her attention on the dirt road that ran alongside the town that led to Sweet Apple Acres and the other farms. That was where the work gang would appear.

“See them yet?” Sweetie Belle whispered, her eyes trained on the Griffons as they rounded the corner.

“Nope, nothing yet.”

“We can’t stay here forever.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Scoot shot back, irritated.

Scootaloo nearly jumped out of her skin as a soft touch of water dropped on her flank. Her eyes quickly scanned the area in panic as she lay frozen, completely silent. After a minute or so, she decided it was just ordinary rain… this time. It suddenly struck her that she had just thought of the new “automatic” weather as “ordinary”. All her life, Pegasi had manually changed the weather, and yet, since Tempest had taken over, automatic weather was already considered normal. The thought troubled the young Pegasus, she certainly did not want things to stay the way they were, nopony did.

“Apple Bloom… are you OK?” She heard Sweetie Belle say, gently.

The yellow mare was shaking with anxiety, staring through the fog at the townside road like her life depended on it.

Poor Apple Bloom, Scootaloo thought, At least I've had family to keep me going through all this. I hope everything goes well today...

“Apple Bloom, don’t worry! It’s going to be fine. Keep your chin up!” Sweetie Belle said softly.

“Keep your mind on that spell, Sweetie! We can’t blow our cover now!” Scootaloo whispered.

“Yeah, alright.” The Unicorn refocused her efforts on the Conceal Spell, a tricky piece of magic that discouraged anypony from looking in the direction of the caster.

“How do y’all know…how do you know it’ll all work out?” Apple Bloom asked, her voice quiet and shaky.

“I just know.” Scoot replied.

The soft drizzle ebbed and finally stopped as the former Crusaders waited in the alley, watching the dirt road intently. Apple Bloom began to nervously dig at the ground with her hoof while Sweetie Belle shook her mane, scattering water drops. Still, they continued to wait.

Scootaloo’s eyes wandered, as they always did, down to her flank. She always dreamed of the day her Cutie Mark would appear, highlighting her special talent. How naïve and childish those adventures seemed now! But this Cutie Mark… it was something nopony wanted. But every growing mare and colt seemed to get it now.

It was a blood stained hoof, grey and forlorn. It was a Cutie Mark of war… of war and defeat. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom had identical marks.

Suddenly, the New Ponyville dust haze lifted for a moment, and there in the sky was what they wanted to see- and what they hated to see. There, in the no-longer blue sky of Equestria, was the sun. Or what used to be the sun.

The orange, mediocre orb of light cast a dull glow that didn’t even half its once-majesty. Like Equestria below it, it was no more than a shade of its former glory. And also like Equestria, the reason for its lack of brilliance was simple.

Princess Celestia… was dead.

The Crusaders bared their teeth, ground their hooves in the dirt and became consumed with bitter rage… but only for a moment. A growing sound of rhythimically stomping hooves and talons was coming from the dirt road. The work gang was finally here! They had a job to do, and the time had come to do it.

“Light the signal, Sweetie Belle! We’re gonna have company.”

/**/

“March! March! March!” roared Captain Talondash as he strode through the drought-brown grass that ran along the road.

The Ponies who had been enslaved, those who had fought the Griffons in the war, were forced to work almost all day, every day. This particular group comprised of Earth Ponies who worked the farmland… trying to grow crops in the dead sunlight. Even the pitiful amount of plants they did procure were greedily consumed by the Overseers, and the rest was carted off to Canterlot. The Earth Pony slaves were fed just enough to keep them from starving, but only just.

It was, in fact, one of the lighter jobs. Pegasi and Unicorns were put through much worse, their gifts of magic and flying becoming curses which bound them to harder labor. Blood curdling rumors of Overseers cutting off the wings of rebellious Pegasi constantly circulated the camps, and the Griffons encouraged the stories in order to effectively break down any revolting. No one knew what the Unicorn slaves were forced to do, only that they were separated from the bunch and hauled off to Canterlot for whatever reason. Those that were taken were never seen again.

With a sharp gasp of exhaustion, Applejack’s legs finally gave out and she toppled to the ground. It was too much. She couldn’t work anymore…

“Get up!” whispered Big Macintosh urgently, holding out a hoof. “The work-gang is moving… if the captain sees-”

“Ah can’t do it no more Big Mac…” Applejack wheezed pitifully. “Ah can’t work another moment. The bird folk can do what they want to me…”

“No! Applejack, get up! Don’t you remember what…what they did to Granny? Ah won’t let…”

The Apple siblings paused for a moment of grief at the memory of Granny Smith. It was that bad hip that made the Griffons take her away…. And nopony ever saw a Pony again that was taken away. The last row of Ponies had moved past them now, leaving the brother and sister in plain sight on the road.

“I’m sorry… Big Brother... Ah just can’t…”

“What’s going on over there?” barked Talondash as he stalked towards the Apple siblings, menacingly extending his wings.

“Applejack! Get up, NOW! Apple Bloom… remember? If you die… she won’t forgive you, AJ! We can’t leave her alone!”

“A-Apple Bloom?”

“Yes! She’s going to save us… Ah just know it, so you can’t give up!”

With a tremendous effort, Applejack pushed herself back to her hooves, just as Talondash got to her.

“I seriously recommend…” the Griffon spat, as he lifted one talon threateningly. “That you don’t take any more breaks. Understood?”

“Eeyu-” Mac began to say-

Talondash swiped a talon across the air in front of his face, causing the big stallion to flinch.

“Yes! It’s YES!”

“Y-yes.”

This time, Talondash slashed a shallow line across Big Mac’s forehead, causing him to grunt with the unexpected pain. Talondash’s beak curled into a sadistic grin.

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes sir.”

“Move along then!”

Just as Big Macintosh was about to support his sister along the path, a line of blue light shot across the sky, and arced downwards toward the Everfree Forest.

Without hesitating, Talondash screeched a hawk call and bounded towards the source of the light with his powerful wings, closely followed by several other Griffons. Just as the work gang began to contemplate escape, a few Griffons returned, quickly forcing the Ponies into a close huddle.

“Big Mac! That’s Sweetie Belle‘s flare spell!” Applejack whispered as they rejoined the main group on the road.

“Dang, I think you’re right!”

A grey Pony near the front of the line lost his head entirely and began to jump up and down, shouting “It’s them! The resistance! We’re sav-urkkk!”

The large grey Griffon extracted his talon from the colt’s chest and casually wiped the blood on the brown grass as the Pony’s body thumped on the road. The gang quickly became silent.

Applejack silently began to pray, to hope, that Sweetie Belle would make it out of there. But she wasn’t stupid. That light was clearly a signal of some sort… but what in tarnation did it mean?

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the air was swarming with Pegasi, armored to the teeth in Wonderbolt and Royal Guard armor. The remaining Griffons were quickly put down with a few well-placed kicks to their heads, and the Pegasi dropped to the ground. The whole thing happened in less than ten seconds.

“C’mon, this way, follow me!” said a strangely cross-eyed grey Pegasus, before promptly flying head first into a tree.

One of the Wonderbolts, who AJ recognized as Soarin after a moment, put his hoof over his forehead in annoyance. “No… follow me.”  

Only a few Earth Ponies made it into the Everfree foliage before an angry cry sounded from New Ponyville.

“A trick! A trick!” It was Talondash, and with another screech he and a regiment of Griffons turned in the sky and bolted towards them. Along with the Overseers who had been accomponing the work-gang, several other soldiers of the Griffon Legion who were stationed in the town joined the attackers.

“Go! Move!” Soarin cried. “We’ll hold them off!”

“No! Ah ain’t gonna just let ya’ll… hey!”

Big Macintosh had thrown Applejack on his back and charged into the forest, ignoring her protests in his drive to get his sister out of harm’s way.

The Pegasi and Griffons smashed into each other in mid-air, fighting bloodily as the last remaining Earth Ponies charged into the forest. The Royal Guards slashed with their powerful wings, cutting down several Griffons, while the Wonderbolts used their agile flying to avoid direct confrontation in favor of kicking out at soldiers with their guards down.

“There’s…too many…!” shouted Fleetfoot the Wonderbolt as she ducked and weaved around the sharp Griffon talons and beaks, occasionally kicking out with her hooves.

Talondash was a whirl of destruction, cutting down Pegasi left and right and laughing maniacally. What the large beast lacked in strategy and troop inspiration, he made up for in brute combat prowess and general fear mongering to his slaves and troops alike.

“Is this the best you can do, Equestrians?” he taunted.

In a flash, what looked like a solid, colorful bullet smashed into the great Griffon, and he was flung to the ground in a cloud of feathers.

“No, I’m the best we can do!” Rainbow Dash cried in victory.

The remaining Griffons panicked and retreated back to the town, fully aware that “the blue scary one” was not to be trifled with, especially with the Captain being down for the count. Several soldiers swept up their dead and wounded before heading back to New Ponyville, while four Pegasi had to keep Dash from flying after them.

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT? IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!” She shouted at their backs.

“General Dash, let’s go, we’ve done it! Let’s get back to the forest!”

“No! I‘m not finished with them!” the blue Pegasus cried.

Suddenly the sky went dark, angry clouds rolling into a circular storm head in mere seconds as heavy rain drops began to fall to the earth. The eye of the flash storm circled over the jagged mountain in the distance, throwing it into sharp relief. In the next moment, a jagged bolt of unnatural blue lighting tore down from the heavens, striking the top of the mountain with a resounding boom.

Without hesitation, almost all the remaining Pegasi immediately turned tail and bolted into the trees in full blown panic.

“Now is a great time to leave!” Soarin called out as he carried an injured Fleetfoot into the Everfree.

Not good… Not good! Rainbow Dash thought desperately as an echoing crash sounded from the mountain.

“Go! Get in the trees!” Dash commanded, and the remaining Pegasi took flight, some carrying companions.

Just as she was about to follow them, a set of talons clamped down on her wings from behind, and she and her attacker fell to the ground, struggling to get the upper hand.

An ear splitting roar reverberated through the air a gigantic shadowy figure crawled out of the mountain cave, stomping angrily. The figure took flight, pointing itself in Rainbow’s direction. Rainbow Dash struggled to free herself from her assailant but she was simply too strong.

“Do you want to get eaten, you stupid bird?!” Dash screamed as the shadow zoomed into focus, and the Griffon continued to slash at her.

The Griffon froze for a moment, then- “…Rainbow Dash?”

“…Gilda?!” Rainbow Dash just barely held back a kick directed at her ex-friend’s face.

Gilda had changed. In the five years since they’d seen each other, the Griffon had nearly doubled in size, bearing an imposing figure even for one of her species. Her eyes were much deeper, full of a swirling mix of emotions that weren’t there before. Her armor revealed her as a Legionnaire, a Lieutenant, in fact.

There was no time, the dragon (for it was a dragon) was getting closer by the second.

“You… joined the Legion?” Rainbow Dash shrieked, her rage growing.

“Yes! I did! You don’t understand… my kind has never been liked by anyone! You… Dash, you turned your back on me… you could have… you could have…”

Rainbow Dash was shocked to hear Gilda’s voice laden with pain and remorse. Whatever she was holding back, it must have been bearing down on her for quite some time. The dragon grew ever larger as he zoomed in on them.

“Gilda… let me go. That dragon is going to kill us!” Rainbow growled, all sympathy lost in the face of death.

“You don’t understand, Dash. You are Number 5… a wanted prisoner back in Canterlot. If I get you killed… I’ll be rich. I’ll be famous!” Gilda’s voice began to grow with excitement.

“You’ll be dead too, you idiot!”

“So what?  If I don’t die this way… no one will ever remember me… never. I’ll be just as much of a nobody now as I ever was…!”

“Are you actually hearing yourself right now? YOU’RE G-“

The rest of the sentence was completely drowned out by the dragon as it bellowed, shooting hot steam from its nostrils at it descended on them.

“Gilda… please…” Dash pleaded. “For old time’s sake…”

“I…” Gilda stuttered.

“Gilda… you weren’t a nobody to me… you were a friend.”

Gilda’s eyes grew wide as her pupils dilated with shock.

Smoke was now plainly visible, curling off the dragon’s snout as it loomed over them. Gilda hesitated, her eyes flicking between Rainbow Dash and the dragon.

“…Just go, Dash. I’ll pretend you got away.”

“Gilda…”

The Griffon’s eyes were full of anger and hesitation… but they were also filled with tears.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t want this war either.” she said simply. “But if we ever meet again… I’ll have to kill you” she whispered.

The dragon was now bearing down on them at an alarming speed, and would soon be in fire breathing range. Gilda leaped from the ground, and flung herself towards New Ponyville, while Rainbow Dash did the same towards the Everfree Forest. A single moment later, the ground they lay on was bathed in green flames. The fire-breathing beast howled with frustration as its prey got away… before it began to feast on the Pegasi and Griffon carcasses that were piled in the grass.

/**/

A few minutes later, just as the dragon began to grow disinterested in its meal, Tempest appeared and corralled it back into its cave and enchanted sleep, before promptly returning to Canterlot. However the Griffon troops still felt a strong impulse to run after seeing the look on their captain’s face.

Talondash was well known for his psychopathic methods and behavior, but that was nothing compared to the state he was in now. The Ponies had gotten away, and his whole division had been made a fool of by a simple trick. The swelling, hoof-shaped bruise on his forehead and the black eye he had received from falling didn’t help his mood either.

“Lt. Gilda.” He said coldy as he glared ice daggers into the Griffon’s eyes. “You had Number 5 here, in your talons, and you did not finish her off. Explain yourself.”

As every Griffon who ever served under Talondash knew, when he appeared calm was when he was at his most dangerous. The troops watched silently and apprehensively as the interrogation continued.

“Sir, she took advantage of the dragon’s appearance to escape sir. My apologies, sir.” Gilda said, refusing to blink, her voice stubbornly refusing to crack.

“Lieutenant…” said Talondash, an unsettling grin appearing on his face. “What is the code of The Griffon Legion?”

Gilda gulped. “V-victory, or death, s-sir.”

“Then we understand each other.” he said, and tore a hole in her throat with a single slash.

As Gilda fell to the ground, gripping her neck in a fruitless attempt to halt the fountain of blood, Talondash gazed around at his remaining troops.

“I assume we all understand each other now?”

/**/

Rainbow Dash bolted through the forest, dodging trees with a few tricky maneuvers. Her eyes were full of tears, but not only because of Gilda. Their mission had succeeded, and if all had gone according to plan, the Crusaders should have made it out as well. But it still felt like a defeat. Because the dragon that looked upon her with cold, unfamiliar eyes…

… He used to be Spike.

/**/

A/N: Yeah, I hope you’ve got the feel for what this story will be like now. Rest assured, it’s not all bleak battles, desperate struggles for survival, death and destruction, etc. etc. Pinkie would never allow it!

I’ll be joining you with the rest of the Mane 6 soon enough, and I intend to provide a little more depth and back-story into the war itself, and of course I’ll talk about Tempest and his whole background. Hope you stick around to see the rest!

-Readthestory.

PS: I’m not entirely sure yet whether this story will have pairings, but I’ll keep your opinions in mind. But rest assured… It’s not going to become a bucking clopfic.

ADDITIONAL EDIT: 1/28/12- If anyone actually read this when it was first released, yeah, I’ve edited it and made it 20% cooler. So…yeah.

Next Chapter: Earthaven Estimated time remaining: 41 Minutes