Edit: This is a short chapter...I really didn't have much for this part.
Chapter 20 A: No where to run
"GOD *# & CELESTIA, DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!"
Malcar abruptly picked up Celestia and threw her towards the inside the caves entrance just as the avalanche was about to block off the exit.
"We will see each other again! Don't you worry abou-
The group suddenly saw Malcar shot in the back several times just before the avalanche closed off the exit, silencing the battle completely from inside. Malcar panted softly as the pain rippled through his body while blood dripped down his back. He slowly turned around, facing the dozens of soldiers pointing their guns at him and Archangel before collapsing onto his knees.
"Is that...all you got?" Malcar stated weakly before falling to the ground.
Archangel dropped his bow and ran to his downed companion, rolling him onto his back as the ponies closed in around them.
"To think….there could have been so much more than this." Malcar whispered with a look of regret. "I'm sorry…"
Malcar slowly closed his eyes, leaving Arch motionless as the soldiers pushed him to the ground and ruthlessly beat him before dragging his body away from the scene. Eventually, Flash Sentry himself stood over the fallen gryphon with an emotionless look.
"What a waste." He softly stated before a pegasus landed next to him.
"Sir, we still have a battle to win."
"Of course."
The two ponies took off, leaving the gryphon to die alone before the city he once defended.
Several months later.
News of the capital's fall finally reaches the other cities of the Gryphon Kingdom. The city of Gryphmar, once home to over 600,000 Gryphons, now reduced to only 50,000 with one fatal attack. It was advised to flee the country with whatever valuable they could take. Most refused to leave and chose to fight with the defending forces. Despite the combined efforts, they lost more ground than gained, losing thousands just to gain back a couple acres of land. They were outclassed in both technology and strategy as they practically sacrificed themselves to defend their homes. City after city fell, life after life was taken, and hope was quickly diminishing among the gryphons.
With Death Fire's hold on Equestria and the land around it, he began to push further and further West and South until there was nothing left to take but ocean. Desolent, having Germania, pushed East and corrupted everything with his magic till the night sky and moon turned green from the infectious fog of undead. Nightmare Twilight pushed North of the Gryphon Kingdom and conquered everything in her path, recreating her own version of Equestria in the process. The only place left to go was North East to a large frozen island hundreds of miles away from civilization. It was where the snow wolves had settled but it was also the last place on the planet left to be conquered. There was no where else to run.
"This is as far as I can take you." The ship captain said, docking the ship near the shore.
"Thank you for everything." Celestia whispered before stepping onto a smaller boat to take them to the beach.
The small group thanked that captain before embarking onto the small boat and sailing out to the island. The trip took nearly two minutes, but it felt like years had gone by. They looked down into the water, seeing their reflection and thinking about their life in the past. They regretted taking their lives for granted, wishing they could visit those times for at least a few seconds before being thrown back into reality. The truth was, no one wanted to face facts. They were all refugees, running away from what some through was inevitable.
Once the boat touched dry land, the group said their goodbyes once more and traveled into the unknown for one last time. The island was just as big as Equestia, perhaps larger, but they eventually arrived after weeks of travel at the one and only built city on the island named wolfshire. The city, with a population of only 25,000 wolves, was build right next to the ocean. The other wolves either moved into the mainland, settled elsewhere on the continent or disbanded across the globe, never to be seen again. The group was neither welcomed nor despised as they entered the city for the first time, they practically ignored them as they continued on with their lives.
"It's for the best…" Celestia said dimly. "We don't need any extra attention."
The others nodded as they continued to follow Celestia to a somewhat large hut where they would finally find the pack leader of the snow wolves. Celestia stopped at the entrance and turned to the others.
"I will talk to him first. I have never spoken to the alpha wolf before and I must be sure it is safe. Wolves can be unpredictable at times."
The moment she walked in she was tackled to the ground by a strange black and white wolf who instantly started to lick her face.
"Are you a pony! I love ponies!" The wolf stated in a hyper voice.
Celestia was licked again, forcing her to giggle softly before the wolf jumped off and looked at the others with a goofy grin.
"Hi, my name is...uuuh...I forgot. Are you here to see alpha, I know where he is if you want to find him."
"Oh my gosh, you are so cute!" Pinkie yelled, hugging the wolf tightly and forcing his face to turn blue.
"Too much! Too much!" The wolf cried out, gasping for air.
"Woops, sorry."
The moment Pinkie dropped the wolf the others looked around in confusion before a darker wolf came out if the tent with a look of annoyance.
"Will you get back in here." The darker wolf yelled to his companion.
"Ok."
The mixed wolf stood up abruptly and took two steps forward before falling face first into the snow. The darker wolf sighed deeply before looking to Celestia.
"You are the princess of Equestia are you not?"
Celestia stood up and responded softly.
"Used to be."
"Our pack leader has not returned from the hunt. You, along with your sister, are to wait for him in the building."
"What about the others?" Luna asked.
"I have no buisness with them, what they do is not my concern." The wolf stated before entering the hut once more.
Celestia looked to the others.
"Find shelter and gather supplies, there's no point in squandering time while you wait for us."
"This was getting boring anyways." Discord stated as he turned to leave. "Follow me ponies, I will find a place to stay before we die of boredom."
The others followed him down the path before they vanished around the corner of a large building.
"Do you think this was the right choice?" Luna asked with a sense of doubt.
"It is the only choice." Celesita stated as they both disappeared inside large shelter.
"This isn't over…" A gryphon whispered as a laser pistol was placed on his head.
"I think it is." Flash said with a smirk.
With just the pull of a trigger, the last soldier for the gryphon army was killed and pushed into the sea behind him. Flash blew out the smoke from his pistol before putting it into his holster, turning around towards the other ponies waiting for him.
"The Gryphon kingdom is now yours sire." He said, bowing.
Before Flash was Death Fire, smirking evilly before laughing softly to himself.
"So it is…" He whispered as he turned to two familiar ponies watching from a distance. "You are free to join the others, and I'm promoting you to supreme commander."
"Thank you sire." Flash said before dashing into the air."
"You see, that's how you take a country over effortlessly." Death Fire declared with pride.
"I didn't come here to watch you show off, Death Fire. I came here to complete our agreement." Desolent declared, becoming agitated.
"Within time, Desolent. He will come around once he's done pumping up his little muscles for us." Ntwi reinsured. "I almost find it cute."
"Fools, you will never understand true battle strategy and the superiority my forces hold over yours. If it was so easy, why couldn't you do it?" Death Fire asked snidely.
"Maybe because I didn't try, ever think of that, back stabber." Desolent remarked angrily.
"Yeah, keep feeding me hatred, it will only ensure my superiority."
"Superiority?!" Desolent mocked as he got right in his face. "You can't even lift your hoof without having twenty guards doing it for you, much less control a country. You're nothing without your slaves and followers, nothing but a idiotic pony who's to weak to do anything for himself."
"Really, because last time I remember I was the one that was born into war from the very beginning! I was the one that took Equestria, not you!"
"Night Shadow was the one that did all the work while you hide inside his mind, telling the real stallion to do his job! You know what you are! You're a coward!"
"I AM NOT A COWARD!" Death Fire screamed, sending his voice booming throughout the area as energy exploded off of his body.
"Oh please, are you two going to kiss soon? You're acting like a bickering couple." Ntwi remarked. "Stallions...always thinking with their muscles rather than their brains."
"You have no right to talk, Ntwi! You are the third wheel and the last to enter the fray, yet you act like you have us under your hoof." Desolent said, staring right into her soul.
"You might be right, but unless you two stop fighting we're never going to get Celestia. The sooner we get her the sooner we can resume the war between us. Then you can scream at each other all you want. Does that make sense or do I have to dumb it down more?"
Death Fire quickly turned away from the two in rage while Desolent resisted the urge to rip off Death Fire's horn and stab him in the neck. Ntwi sighed before walking to the shore of the ocean, enjoying the sounds of the waves crashing as the snow continued to fall around them.
"Desolent...I know you hate Twilight, but I'm not like her. So will you please drop the act." Ntwi asked in a polite manner. "Your hatred only feed the big, bad wolf over there."
"Go to hell, Nightmare & # ." Death Fire blurted out.
"Yeah...I love you to." Ntwi responded, making Death Fire even more angry. "Anyways, you said you found a letter with a weird message didn't you."
"Why should I read it to you, you have two eyes and a big mouth." Desolent insulted.
"Just tell me what the letter said. Geez, you act like it's so hard."
Desolent snarled loudly before leaning up against a tree with his hooves folded.
"It said where the world ends...whatever that means."
"Where the world ends?" Ntwi repeated.
"Yeah, is that so hard to understand."
Death Fire let the words repeat in his mind several times before turning to the two "allies" again.
"That's the same message that was found when I took Zebrafica."
"Then there is a meaning behind this. Someone is working behind our backs and I doubt Celestia is behind this." Ntwi said, pondering the message. "What could it mean."
"Is it really that important?" Desolent asked. "We control the world now, no one can stop us besides ourselves. The only thing left is to prove who is the strongest unicorn, to fight till only one of us is left standing. So my question is, why can't we just start now."
"Because we don't have Celestia you idiot! She's the only one that can defeat us and for us to fight each other while she comes up with a plan would mean the end of our empires and us as well. I don't know about you, but the last thing I want is to be banished to the sun while you two morons yell at each other."
"Then come up with an idea since you think you're so smart." Death Fire stated.
"Fine, but I will get to decide what we do with Celestia and her friends as well as the land she resides in."
"As long as we dispose of them in the end, I don't care what happens." Desolent said.
"Then it is agreed." Ntwi said, walking to the shore once again.
She placed a map of the known world before her and took out the element of magic. She placed it on her head and filtered dark magic into the element, giving it a colorless appearance.
"Wherever the elements of harmony are Celestia should be near by, and all the elements are connected no matter where they go."
Ntwi activated her element and at that same moment, a purple light illuminated on the tip of the tiara. She scanned the area around her, waiting for a connection or a signal to inform her of their location. The moment she looked northwest, the element glew brightly, forcing her to smirk.
"Found them."
"Impressive...but know find out exactly where they are." Death Fire ordered.
"Well, according to the map, there is only one place they could have gone."
"Which is?"
Ntwi placed her hoof on the map, pointing right at the location.
"Whiteland, a continent made up several hundreds of islands. However, the largest one is the one we want. It's almost as big as Equestia and the only city there is on the other side of the island. Celestia would be stupid to go there."
"Well she has, so we must follow." Death Fire stated. "We must attack as quickly as possible."
"Great, but last time I checked, we can't swim in below freezing water. How do you expect us to…cross…"
Death Fire held the black book in his hoof with a wicked smirk.
"Oh the joys of being evil."
After writing several sentences in the book and closing it, the ocean started to move unnaturally. The water remained motionless without life for a full minute and without a warning, a huge bridge of ice was formed across the ocean for them to cross.
"Couldn't you have just made a portal to enter, or just summoned Celestia here. Wouldn't that have been easier?"
"Oh Ntwi, that wouldn't be as fun now would it." He said as his horn glowed red. "Oh and leave your armies behind, my ponies will do all the work."
Seconds later, Shining Armor teleported in and bowed.
"You called?"
"Give the order to cross the ice bridge I have created and inform the navy of a new assault. We're going to finish this once and for all.
"You're serious aren't you?" The alpha wolf said, not wanting to believe what he heard.
"Sadly, I am." Celestia said, sitting next to the fire.
"If you don't act now, all will be lost. This land is all that is left of the free world." Luna informed.
The wolf closed his eyes, looking the other way.
"We are a fading species, Celesita, only 100,000 of us are left on the planet. Now you want me to lead my pack into a war we might not come out of."
"Yuko, you have to understand. This is our last chance, our last stand against them. There's nowhere else to go, no where else to hide. If they win...all hope and the world we used to know will vanish forever." Luna stated grimly. "Whether you like it or not, they are coming. They will destroy everything in their way until they find us, taking you with them."
"Then why shouldn't I just turn you in and be done with it!" Yuko yelled, refusing to accept what was bound to happen.
"Would you throw away the last chance to save the world, ensuring the end of your pack?" Celestia asked. "I wish there was another way, I wish we had the resources to fight him, but wishing will get us nowhere. These are our final moments, Yuko...you're the only one left."
Yuko stared into the fire, thinking about the consequences before making one last decision.
"I will help you."