The skyship above was beginning to descend down towards the tiles below. The balloon that supported the ship itself from above its body was a moderate rose color for it, aside from the blackened armor at its front along with the symbol there. The smoke that it had been producing begins to spread out among the sky, covering up the blue that it was in for the beautiful afternoon.
"Ooooh!" I can hear Pinkie jumping excitedly with a smile on her face, an eager yet delighted tone in her voice. "I bet those are the clowns I ordered!"
It doesn't look to be the clowns she ordered, considering that the ship that was descending down towards the courtyard, had knocked down over some architecture in the process, which in turn had crush the materials that the clowns were later going to use, that Pinkie had even spent her hard-earned bits to set up.
"Or definitely not the clowns I ordered!" She looks worried now, being her own cyan colored eyes have seen the damage done.
From the collapsing of the architecture, the skyship looks to be slowing down to an in-flight halt. Its speed lowers as the bottom of the hull approached close by the tiled floor. Then, a hiss from the engines and the operation of the flying vehicle looks to have stopped completely, except for the side which looked to be opening.
I can hear the sound of hooves right behind me, as my head turned briefly to look at whom it was. It's the princesses no doubt, coming forward to confront the supposed danger that was present in their own kingdom. None had seen such a thing like this before, and if they were a threat or not, it would be wise of them to make the first contact with whomever this was flying the ship.
A large plank that allowed access on or off the skyskip was set onto the grounds of the courtyard, creating cracks around the tiles that it had impacted. From the interior of what I could see down here with everypony else, it looks rather hazy inside, featuring a tone of dark purple? It's hard to tell...
"Stay behind me Brayden," Celestia tells me, standing in front of them. "I don't know who this is, but by the smoke it's left behind in the trail, I have a bad feeling about this."
"You don't say..." Nightmare suggested, her cyan cat eyes giving off a look that stated the obvious along with that tone in her voice that sounded like she already was given the idea.
From the haze of dark, deep purple within the skyship, there looks to be a shadow at first from what I could see. The shadow became color, and it looked to be a huge speaker of some sort along with a small being carrying it by the side with its two chubby arms. Eager to hear what this being would say, I as well as everypony else are patient enough with how slow and with the struggle that it was under with the speaker.
Must have been twenty-five seconds long in regards to the being getting down off of the iron plank. Only when he places the speaker down and extends it do we see the little one's face.
The being whom held a microphone in his right hand, was nothing more than a dark grayish cobalt blue pug-faced hedgehog alone with a white mohawk. He has arctic blue eyes and it almost looks like he eats a little too much, because he does look a bit fat. He has armor for his torso, with only a cut on the left ear which looks to be present in appearance. His dark armor holds the same symbol that was seen on the front of the skyship. Nowhere in Equestria do I believe that I have a hedgehog like these before, unless they do exist outside of the enchanted lands somewhere in Abyssinia.
The microphone rang for a bit, and with a clearing of his throat, the hedgehog began to speak to all of us. "Ponies of Equestria!" His voice appears to call out, with the speaker booming his voice all across the courtyard where those in attendance of the Friendship Festival could hear. "Far from here, we come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the almighty..." On the side of the skyship's balloon, we could see a flag drop before us, yet to unveil who this was as the image was unfurling. "...Storm King!"
The appearance on the flag had cleared when I can hear the frightened gasps and panic that was starting to stir from everypony behind me. Turning my head a bit, I can see a few fillies gathering with their mothers in hopes that this will all end quickly or this was just a prank after all. But by the seriousness of the situation and the smoke... yeah, I don't think that this is a prank after all.
"And now, to deliver the evil, evil message of the Storm King himself, and this very fleet he's sent guided by his all-mighty chosen of his..." The hedgehog continued. "Put your hooves together, for the honorable Takeo, and Commander Tempest!"
The hedgehog puts down the microphone to the speaker, standing to the side as two shadows began to form in that dark purple haze again. When color came onto the shadows, I was quite shocked to see what these two figures were.
For the tall one on the left side from what I could see... it's a human just like me. He doesn't seem to be Equestrian in blood by the looks of it, but I'm just as shocked to see that he has wings... like me. His hair is black, but his eyes are just like the hedgehog's... an arctic blue in the iris. His armor is dark, and on his side, I can see a blade that he himself possessed almost like me. Only difference is, it's not a claymore like the Song of Order. I can't quite see what the blade looks like unless he wielded it in his hands, but judging by the mithril-like pommel, it doesn't look good.
To the right though, looks to be an Equestrian that trots out into the public eye. It's a female which I did expect, and it looks to be a unicorn whom is also armored around her coat up to her neck. She has a scar on her right eye, so I can tell she's been through a lot. One feature of her really stands out, and it is the broken horn that sparked with magic when she blinked and looked down at all of us.
"Is that... a unicorn? ...And a human?" I can hear Spike behind me, Twilight having been right behind me the whole time with him right beside her watching the whole thing. "A human like you, Brayden..."
"It can't be..." I was confused when I responded to him. "When I returned to Equestria with three of my friends, they are human, but I made sure that they were in contact when I brought them. I... I don't understand how he got into Equus. Almost impossible to get here without the aid of powerful Equestrian magic."
"What happened to her horn?" Twilight asked, sounding curious as I brought my attention back forward.
Celestia and the other princesses take one or two steps forward, their eyes set onto the unicorn who stood there above there, protected by the human whose feathered wings are not colorful but black all around, even from his own long hair that must have taken a lot to grow out. I swear the human whom is named Takeo saw me right behind my own mother but had not taken a step of action to doing anything yet. Only difference is that he doesn't have a beard, like I do that I have grown over the time of living here. All just a clean shave.
"Tempest, is it?" My mother opened her mouth and was the first to speak with the commander. The look on her face kept serious, but unsure if this was truely a threat or not before her eyes that had intruded into her kingdom. "How can we help you?"
The dark orchid unicorn kept that smile on her face when her moderate opal colored eyes, which stood out among the arctic blue color that both the hedgehog and the human had. "Oh, I'm so glad you asked," She says, wiping that smile off of her face before continuing. "How about we start with your complete and total surrender?"
Quietly, the sound of hooves were coming by me, trotting around behind Luna and Nightmare Moon to see what could be done in this kind of situation that everypony had put themselves into. I wanted to stop her if this was danger, even by the sound in Tempest's voice. But being her as a princess, I decided to let her go first. I'll be keeping a close eye on everything though.
"Why are you here?" Nightmare demanded almost instantly for an answer. "Wherever you three had come from, we surely do not want any trouble from you."
"Believe me when I say this, but there are plenty more in the ship than you think, and even the reinforcements will come by my own command. I wouldn't act out just yet, princess." Tempest responded to her.
"Must I tell everypony, and now you... that I am not a princess?!" Nightmare sounded rather aggressive, and wanted to charge forward in an attack. Luna stops her from going forward and in good timing, as the last thing she would want to do is trigger a war with this 'Storm King' against all of us for harming his commander. Plus, Takeo wouldn't take this action so lightly should she had done the first move against Tempest.
"Temper..." Tempest joked with the black alicorn, getting both a glare and an agitated yet protective growl from Nightmare.
"Hi there!" Twilight finally comes forward, hoping to resolve something and try to amend a small yet temporary peace treaty. If any, she had managed to make allies from Yaks in Yakyakistan and the Dragons in the Dragon Lands with Ember on the wheel. She could definitely pull something together. She sounded only a little nervous as she spoke. "Princess of Friendship. Not sure exactly what's going on, but I know we can talk things out."
"Oh goody," Tempest looks at her and then all of the other alicorns in front of her from above on the plank. "All four princesses... and a princess that claims that she isn't a princess."
This really angered Nightmare Moon again. "Why that little-" She channels magic to her horn to try and fire at her with a bolt of magic, but as usual, Luna has to keep her from lashing out, even at her own enemies.
"Easy there Nightmare..." Luna says to her with a calm, yet firm tone in her voice.
Tempest looking at the princesses, finally got me in her sights and a smile crossed onto her mouth. "And is that... a human boy that I am seeing before my own eyes? A human boy, in the land of Equestria, being friends with all of you?"
Celestia gasped and turned to see that she had let down her guard, exposing me before the broken horned commander, and now in her sight. I could catch Takeo from the iron plank, moving his left hand and gripping it onto the mithril pommel of his sword should I try anything funny or try to run.
"That boy... is my son." She warns Tempest, opening her right wing to cover me behind her. "He may help to protect all of us, but I'm not going to risk losing him to you."
"Well, what a shock yet such a surprise to know something that was never told to me before, except only in the newspapers... from before I became the Storm King's great commander," She changed her tone once again after having been informed. "Here's the deal ladies, I need your magic. Give it up nicely please... or we make this difficult, for everyone!"
I was surprised at both the fact that she did not refer to all of us as everypony, but of that as a normal 'everyone' that was normally said on Earth in regards to humanity. The other that I was surprised over was when she began to threaten this time, and it is something that wouldn't really be tolerated here in the enchanted lands.
By this point, where's Discord or the Wonderbolts to catch them by surprise? Actually wait, I remember that the draconequus would be on vacation at this time and wouldn't be here or at home in his 'realm' where he resided.
"And why should we cower before you?" Luna stepped forward with question, not really taking the threat so lightly. "There's only you, your human ally and that hedgehog. Three of you, against all of us. What choice would you even have?"
Nightmare looked uneasy, even after she had said that. "I have a bad feeling about this now..."
There was a chuckle coming from Tempest's lips as she stepped forward down on the planks towards all of us. Celestia and Cadence looked ready to fight if absolutely necessary, even from the slow approach of the commander here. "I was hoping you'd choose... difficult."
From the shadows, I could see the arctic blue dotted eyes peeking out with a glare upon them. A shade of what looks to be a spear can be barely seen, though I was sure that this didn't seem good, especially with the sound of the same engines that I had heard from the skyship before. That Takeo seems to be ready to bring out his blade, waiting for my first move.
There are more gasps from the ponies behind me, even from the glimpse of looking up into the smoke covered sky above, and to my horror I couldn't even believe that such a thing was possible in even my own time living here in Equestria: There were many skyships above... it's an invasion that we just got ourselves wrapped into!
Those two spear-handling shadowed figures that I saw aboard Tempest's ship begin to step into the light, along with the sounds of their unintelligible grunts and growls. Their arctic blue dotted eyes behind their masks are glaring at all of us. They are completely covered with white fur except their claws and feet, which almost look like the Storm King himself, a cross between... a yeti-satyr? Even their boss looks that way honestly.
Screams began to fill among the crowd when I had turned around to see what exactly was going on, especially with the rumbling that had shook the tiles below. My mouth had dropped, and I'm almost never able to say a single word at all...
Hundreds... if not thousands more of these furred brutes slam down from their skyships above to swipe at the civilization of ponies, as well as hopping along the architecture of the refurbished courtyard, their arms reached out to grab as many ponies as they can while sharing garbled yet deep voices to one another like a team.
I turn back around to see what else Tempest was up to. She looks to be leaping upwards into the air, taking out a blackened ball of what supposedly is to be energy with green shapes that would rapidly change within. With a fierce look on her face, her hoof kicks the energy ball not towards me, but to my own worry and shock, Princess Cadence!
Cadence was quick enough to channel magic to her horn, creating a temporary shield that would block the energy ball as soon as it slammed into her magic that defended her. But by the looks of that ball, it looks to be like there is no giving up for me... just like a heat-seeking missile that follows you until you're destroyed unless outsmartened.
The pink alicorn is trying, but looks to be struggling with her magic as the energy ball is making its way right towards her. "Can't hold it... much... longer!" She says, trying to keep her magic focused as it crackled and continued to stress from the amount of power the energy was contained in the orb.
Everything was going by so fast before my own eyes... the shield she had created, shattered apart and faded away like dust as if it was nothing for the energy ball. It had slammed right into the Princess of the Crystal Empire, and there was a load of dark gray building up around her as it climbed to enclose her like a cocoon. There had been a scream when she was hit with that strange energy, and I could only watch in horror as she became petrified into nothing more than a statue.
Knowing now of Tempest's intentions, I turned to look at her on that iron plank that was cast down from her ship earlier. Her eyes are still set towards the princesses, but I knew the direction by that look. For even a brief glimpse, I could see her next move being directed for... Nightmare!
There is a growl right behind me, and even the Song of Order; my claymore that was on my back sang for that moment of danger that awaited to attack. I twist around with a leap, quickly grabbing the blade by the pommel, and swiping at whomever was right behind me.
It was nothing more than one of those furred brutes that I knew nothing about. I had sliced right across their face, knocking out a piece of their mask. That one had stumbled backwards for that moment upon taking it all in from the damage I have done to him. His response was merely looking at me again, looking much more furious with a snort from his nostrils underneath the mask.
My wings open up, leaping backwards to knock the creature to the tiles. My intentions remain quite clear with me that I had to stop Tempest who was ready to petrify Nightmare. I wasn't going to let somepony I love get put into harm's way like that. I fly backwards for a moment before turning to head directly towards the broken horned unicorn who was ready for a shot at the black alicorn who didn't know what to do, but attempt to run away.
"NO!" I shouted at the unicorn herself as I flew closer at a fast pace to her. My blade was ready to strike at her, but I could feel something grapple onto me, tossing me afar into the middle of all the panic as ponies were starting to run away in fright or be captured by the monsters.
Slamming right onto the tiles, the grip that tossed me was right there, holding me down tightly as I struggle to move from the spot. My chest felt a bit beaten, but it wasn't too painful. Still, it did hurt. I could only turn my head to see that it was Takeo standing right there above me, pinning me down with that blade of his pointed directly right in my face. In his other hand that was free, there was an illuminating glow of blue... kind of like my hand when I cast spells with the Song of Order using part of its magic from there. Only difference, is that mine is more lighter... his being a darker haze of blue.
His black wings furl, and then he speaks to me in a tone that I surprisingly haven't heard from him. "Do not get up and help them," He warned me with a threat in his voice. "Do it, and I assure that your death will be fast and quick."
"Why... would you do this..." I struggled to get out as his amount of power is much stronger by his own strength than my own.
"It is the Storm King's will that I serve him under." He says to me, those haunting blue eyes looking down at me, even as I turn my head to see what was happening with the sound of the energy ball being tossed towards the black alicorn.
The orb slammed right into her, and my heart began to pound with fear as I watched Nightmare scream and reach out for me as she was being petrified. She tried to come out further in the escape, but was stopped by the magic and was completely sealed up and unable to move, frozen like a statue... just like with Cadence.
"NIGHTMARE!" I called out to her with my arm reaching to her. Too late only for me though, as me being pinned down was the only obstacle preventing me from protecting the black alicorn, though I swear that her half-magic did try to wart off one of the monsters.
Takeo brought his blade closer, but to my neck. "Look at you, acting all like a guardian of the realm for these little ponies. Why continue to be their pawn?" He says to me, his tone still very much threatening.
I look right back at him from below the ground. My left hand is the only one free while the right hand is gripping onto the Song of Order and trapped while pinned. I could ward him off of me, but I would only have one shot at this... otherwise he would kill me then and there, which I was sure he was intending to do.
"Because..." I grunted for a moment as I began to feel magic from the blade transfer into that hand. "Because I am one with them!"
He tried to react quickly, but was late when I shot a burst of magic to the tiles, which threw me upwards, slamming right in front of him, drawing his blade away from my neck as he lost his focus from the move I made. I heard no grunt from him, but only him being thrown back as was I. Caught myself when flying upwards, turning around to face the black haired warrior.
Takeo had fallen to the ground, but lifted up his legs and threw himself back onto his feet. The Song of Order that I was carrying was glowing gold as it did when in battle along with the writings on the silver blade itself. His does not have any writing, but the edges glow blue and leave a bit of its magic flying as he moved it. We were directed right against one another as the monsters that he and Tempest brought do not interfere, and focus on continuing with the task of gathering up our friends.
I ran forward, thrusting forward with my claymore in the offense, which he strikes at in a blocking motion. His teeth look to grit as my attack failed and he makes his move to attack me which I blocked in return, just like one of those sword fights back in the movies on Earth. With the attack - defense that we were positioned in for, both of our attacks by blade look tied, with some weak spots from me exposed.
He kicks me down with a foot, but I roll backwards onto my feet. He does put on a smile. "Ah, a skilled warrior like me, hm? Surely you could do better!" He mocks me, running forward and swiping right at me.
I jumped backwards as he swipes at me, clashing his blade with mine multiple times in the process. I couldn't exactly take my eyes off of him even if I wanted to, in order to see if my mother, wife and aunt were also affected by these orbs as well, but I was completely in ear range for what would be said with all of them. The strikes of the blades seem to tune out some of it, even among the panic.
Not even a glimpse of Tempest on her next move could be seen, but knew it wouldn't be good with both Cadence and Nightmare petrified.
"Luna!" I can hear my mother call out to her aunt. "Go south of Equestria, find help from the hippo-"
She had been caught off by her own scream when I could sense that she had been hit, and had become petrified by the sound of it. Another swipe of the blade, and I backflip away from Takeo for a moment to check before he could attack again on the offense.
Celestia had become petrified, looking rather terrified in that statue form she had just been turned into. Luna on the other hoof, looks to be getting herself surrounded by the furry beasts. I can hear her using magic to attack them in return, galloping away from them. Her wings are open and I knew she was going to make haste into flight.
Tempest was now in view when she was preparing another orb to throw directly at my aunt. I couldn't make any direct moves towards her however, because Takeo was there to assure no harm would be done to her. He was basically a shield for her, and was more powerful and skilled at the blade than I.
From a glimpse in his right hand, I can tell he was ready to release a burst of magic at me, by the color of arctic blue. He makes his move, blowing me backwards to the wall while I caught the orb flying upwards like a heat-seeking missile towards my aunt.
Another hit was made for the night princess as she tried to leave mid-flight, falling downwards towards the stage that had been set up for Songbird Serenade during the petrification into nothing more than a frightened statue. She fall through the top of the stage, close to hitting the ground, which by chances would have shattered her to pieces.
Thankfully, Twilight was there to ensure that it didn't happen when her magic had caught onto Luna herself, frozen and gray like the statue she had been turned into. "LUNA!" I can hear her shouting with fear as she was doing all she could to gently place her down onto the stage as slow as she could.
But I saw that look on Tempest's face... that cruel grin as her eyes were now focused onto the only alicorn who hasn't been petrified. I knew that the one that I loved dearly was in true danger and was exposed without knowledge so far that there would be one of those orbs flying directly at her.
Takeo was directly in the way, coming forward to clash at me again with his blade. His magic is still shown from the glow of the hand he fired at me from. So if I'm going to have to stop that next orb from petrifying Twilight, I would have to force him out of my way, and jump to make the sacrifice of being the statue instead. He moves his blade back, ready to strike at any given moment and knew it was time to act.
The Song of Order transferred some of its magic to my left hand, allowing me to move it forward for a burst of it right at his face. Takeo was knocked back, covering his face temporarily. I moved forward, pushing him to the floor but not without the claymore I held cutting him across the cheek which would be enough to leave a scar.
Just as Tempest leapt into the air for the next shot, I was able to begin running from Takeo who had kept me from being involved with the attacks Tempest had made on the princesses, especially Nightmare which really angered me to see that she would turn her into a statue and left as a laughing display for these furry beasts that are continuing to grab at everypony among the panic.
I didn't stop, but caught the glimpse of her flipping mid-air, with her hoof kicking the orb directly towards the distracted Twilight. I can feel my heart racing and my speed accelerating into a sprint as everything slows down around me. I swear that I could see Derpy galloping towards the scene as well.
"TWILIGHT!" I call out to her in warning. The orb began to move closer towards her, even when I made the jump to block it from even touching her. I can still see that sinister grin upon Tempest's face as she landed back onto the tiles below. Ready to see myself become the petrified, which I'd rather be... there was another voice calling out.
It sounds a lot like Rainbow Dash...
I believe that a hoof grabbed me from behind, because I could feel myself zipping right away from the line of fire that the orb would slam into me from. Everything is speeding up again as I turn around, seeing that it was Rainbow Dash herself that had caught both me and Twilight. That's good... at least there are friends who don't want anything bad to happen to either of us.
"Oh! Thanks for the lift!" I said to her as the rainbow maned pegasus flew to get away from that area as fast as her wings could fly.
Takeo's POV
I move towards the giant cloud of smoke that had covered up the princess, the cut visible and bleeding on my cheek. It's not enough to get me down because I'm not weak like that coward who ran from me was. Brayden... an interesting name for a human. If I wasn't restrained to either capturing him alive or dead, I would have used one of the orbs to petrify him and use him as a prize for the Storm King to display.
Tempest looks to have a satisfied look on her face when she too approached the cloud of smoke. She did of course, land on all four of her hooves as I had seen when I got up off the ground. With no other action and the other mooks distracted with capturing the rest of the ponies, I sheathed my sword and joined up with the commander.
"Easy as pie." She remarked with a smile on her face.
"Oh, I love pie." Grubber says, right behind me to see everything and the unveiling of the princess in stone once the smoke was lifting.
She turns to look at me. "Did you take the son of that princess down?" She asked.
Disappointment, but with a rather harsh look was seen from my own eyes. "No, he must have got away, but I can sense he is not too far behind. He is still in the courtyard, on the run."
The smoke lifted up to show that it was a shocked, yet petrified statue of a pony. "Oh, you totally got the princess!" Grubber cheered on the commander... at least until it was a party hat upon the statue's head that slipped off, revealing it to not be the princess that Tempest had petrified. It was that of a pegasus in Princess Twilight's place instead.
"That's not the princess..." Tempest growls loudly for all of us to hear, shocked and angered to see that the fourth princess slipped from her hooves. She turns around, practically barking at the little hedgehog. "GRUBBER! Get her... NOW!"
The little hedgehog shook with a chill from hearing his commander's voice barking at him. With no hesitation, he turned to the mooks who weren't currently doing anything at the moment while the others jump at the ponies to capture them. "Come on guys! We got to get the princess!" He calls out to them as he runs off in pursuit of wherever she and her friends went.
From upwards in the skies, among all of the other skyships brought along was the grand flagship of my honored king himself, the Storm King. Larger than all of the other ships within the vicinity, and moving ahead to position itself up beside the castle. My master is here, and awaiting for the prize I would give to him, which is the human. Tempest would bring him the princesses in stone, but first she must capture the last princess.
"Takeo! Take pursuit with Grubber and get that princess! You don't want to disappoint the Storm King now, do you?" Tempest suggested to me.
"Right away, Commander!" I said to her, spreading open my wings and tracking down where the human and princess went off to in the area.
Brayden's POV
We were away from the disaster area where everything had been happening for the past couple of minutes. However, we are not exactly clear from the danger that was giving us heavy pursuit. There are many of the furred brute chasing after us with the hopes of grabbing us, not to mention Takeo who was following behind to lead the charge.
I had taken notice of the largest skyship they had in the smoke-covered sky above, and I figured that might be most of their troops that they have brought along for the invasion, which hasn't been this big since the Canterlot Wedding years before my arrival. It doesn't look good since we all will be swarmed with the brutes in no time. With Takeo and Tempest, our chances of escaping will not be good unless we managed to leave right away and with success.
Gripping the Song of Order still in my hand, I swiped at one of the brutes to knock him back for a moment as we continued running. But the number of the brutes never seem to come to a halt. They were come down from the rooftops, growling at us to stop and surrender, and even then me and Twilight were the ones protecting the group, while Twilight is also the one in danger's way.
"This way!" Pinkie shouts at all of us as we turn in another direction which is to the right. One of the brutes tries to swipe at me, but narrowly missed as my running turns into a sprint, running at the same speed as every one of my friends.
My feet are starting to tire a bit, and I am sure that everypony else is tiring as well from the galloping. We couldn't give up though, or we would be captured and Celestia knows what could happen if we were. The worst I know would be seeing my wife getting petrified into stone and letting her magic get taken from her without approval.
Just ahead of us is a tiled bridge ahead that would bring us to one of the castle's towers. From there, Twilight and the princesses knew of a safe passageway that would aid us in our escape from Canterlot, and from all danger that has now plagued it. I know this, because Twilight would normally brag about it whenever talking about the castle design blueprints that Celestia sent months before the renovation she had the throne room and castle put under.
One of the brutes' black spears nearly tore right through me as I was passing by the corner of the building. I use my free hand to grip onto the handle of the spear and pull it hard to throw the masked brute down to the tiles below. I jump right over with a flip, slicing a nasty cut on its back. He howls with pain, but stumbles back up to continue the pursuit as slow as he could. Still, there is a great expanded number of these creatures, ready to kill me if they weren't taking orders.
Passing the arch to the bridge, we are already almost there and halfway across when the brutes have us cornered at both turns. We couldn't go back and we couldn't go into the tower, it was a trap we had essentially ran into. All had spears in their possession, blocking our escape with no way out. If we jumped over the bridge into the water, it would be suicide.
Landing in front of us from the tower door, Takeo himself pierced upon us with a glare as his blade he held in his right hand flashed in the sunlight and glowed blue. His free left hand, was channelling all magic and ready to fire upon us at any moment. I had the Song of Order powered with its own enchanted magic, transferring magic to my free hand that gripped onto the pommel.
"Got nowhere else to go now!" He shouted at me as the brutes beside him and behind us, point their spears at all of us, cornering us further. "Now hand over the princess, or else!"
My teeth grit together as I look at his face, his cheek still bleeding from the cut I gave to him. "We're never giving Twilight to you, nor that commander or king of yours!" I had fury in my voice when I yelled back at him in response.
I can hear a horn channel magic and then with a grunt coming from Twilight, she blasted a beam of magic right at Takeo who just stood there and waited for the first move. The beam had struck him in the chest. All he could do was continue to stand there, a smirk of amusement coming onto his face.
"Is that all you can give me, princess?" He taunted her with a small chuckle. "Now, I will show you all an example of my power!"
He opens his hand's fingers more outward, an aura of blue starting to swirl around Twilight. I was quick to notice, as I knew he was trying to hold Twilight hostage and let us get captured at his own will. I jumped right to the side and onto my wife, just as she was moving towards him.
The aura disappears, and both me and her fall onto the tiles below. Switching my hands with my blade, I fired a burst of magic at him from my own hand, knocking him back a few steps. There are growls from the furred brutes, as they sound intimidated for the fact that I hit the Storm King's warrior.
Angered as he was before in my combat with him, he unleashed a much larger burst at us, sending it to the tiles for a bit of a warning. The kind that if I did that again and didn't surrender... I really don't want to picture that.
The tiles below us cracked up and then fell apart into pieces. Twilight and I who were on the floor, were now falling downward. Our friends were practically screaming as we began our descent down into the stream.
My view of the smokey sky above as I fell were for only a second or two until my vision was covered by the sight of water rushing downward as I had sunk below the water.
I was submerged underwater with everypony as the stream pulls us down. I move out of Twilight's way to allow her to go up and get air as I was going to do as well. Applejack and Rarity could be seen in my line of vision as I swam upwards to break past the surface.
Taking breaths in and out after getting out from underwater, I look around to check up on my friends to see if there are doing alright. They are also getting air, but it didn't look good by the look of the stream that was taking us. Having been in Canterlot for a long time, I knew of the danger ahead that everypony had been careful about.
We were headed for a waterfall!
I couldn't just fly out from the water and get everypony to safety, because Takeo and the other brutes were still on our case and we would be easily captured if I was to do that. Only a small chance there would be if we were to take it down the waterfall and out of the vicinity of Equestria's capital.
"Hang on to me!" I shouted to them and swam in the group.
Rarity is rather surprised. "Are you absolutely crazy Brayden?!"
Even when they are underwater, I slowly move open my wings around my friends. My wings, though damp; had pulled them closer to me as if in a wing-hug. Closing in on the edge, I can only hold them with dear life in case this really was it. We actually were going to fall off a waterfall, even for the first time in my life.
We had been floating at first, but once we were blinded by the rise of the water submerging us back underwater for a moment. Swimming for one moment, and now... falling with only the heavy amount of water pouring down on us as we descend to the lake from such a large height not even an Earth pony would survive. Rarity of course, was screaming the worst which felt like we were on our way straight to death itself.
I close my eyes, hoping for a miracle...
Takeo's POV
My boots land onto the rocks near the edge of the waterfall. From the impact it creates, dust flies for a moment and dies down back onto the rough, yet smooth edges. Having seen what just happened there when the bridge had collapsed, I watched as they went up for air, aware of what would happen to them.
Fallen to their watery graves? Perhaps. But even with that chance, I can sense that they might have survived. I can't tell... but their hearts could still be abeat.
I can hear more footsteps close by me. One that was almost quiet as it went beside me, and others from behind as they were more bigger in sound and thumping by every step they took. My eyes look down to see our hedgehog friend standing there, edging closer for a much bigger look down the waterfall.
The growling of the mooks are right there in the observations, ready in case of another strike if necessary. I mean, if they could take down the Wonderbolts while en route to Canterlot, then dealing with the human and his friends wouldn't be a problem. Grubber looks to be studying the outcome even he himself had witnessed.
"Which one of you guys is going down there?" Grubber suggested openly and with question to the mooks right behind me.
From behind me when I had turned, I can hear the mooks growl with disapproval and the insistance that the hedgehog runt do it for them as he looked rather annoyed with them for their answer.
Grubber sighed with that same tone as the look on his face. "I would, but I just had a hearty meal, and I will sink, and I will side-cramp," More disapproval came from the mooks as the hedgehog steps away from the rocks to join with them as they are walking away. Even the glares on their dotted blue eyes are seen. "I'm very big-boned. I sink quick."
I look down the side of the rocks one more time, looking down the waterfall for any trace of their survival. Even from afar up here, I can't really get a good look on the shapes down there, not any ripples or dots rising out from the water below. Only the sound of the rushing water and soft wind in the ears were all I could pick up.
A large sounding horn of thunder calls out from the flagship that was parked above the castle of this city, from where the Storm King would take his first step onto Equestria's land, like he did when he had conquered the other lands like Abyssinia or the Goat lands across the ocean. Now with the conquering of Equestria, he would finally achieve his dream of world conquest.
That horn call, was meant for myself... and Tempest who I know would want to update the Storm King on what has happened and the resistance of the princesses. He himself, knows of what he tasked me to do and will want to ask me about what I did about that human, Brayden who keeps those ponies protected.
Oh... he will be quite disappointed with me when I tell him about what has happened. I only know that I do not want to anger him. I turn around, opening up my wings and flying towards the castle, hoping that there will be an understanding in the end.