The night air was unusually cold for a summer evening, brushing the plants with a chilling breath as the moon looked over Equestria like some silver sentinel. On the battlements of the Royal Palace, two ponies stood there, watching the moon as it continued on its trek across the sky.
One of the ponies looked up at the moon, his deep sapphire-blue coat shining in the moonlight. “So, the Wonderbolts are having their training tonight. Want to go watch?” One of the ponies stretched out, asking with a grin. As he grinned, the silver moonlight fell upon his cutie mark, revealing it to be a single star, surrounded with flames.
“I don’t know, Starfury," the other replied, "The Wonderbolts get pretty testy if they spot anypony watching them. Something about their “styles cannot be known to the world.”
“I’m not kidding, Night Watcher. We have sentry duty tonight, so why not go watch em? They only do outdoor training every few weeks, after all. It’s a prefect chance!”
Night Watcher shook his head. “Obviously you didn’t see that pony who was caught spying on them last time. Poor guy looked like an Ursa Major got to ‘im.”
Starfury laughed. “Fine, coward. I’ll go without you.” Unclasping his golden ceremonial armor, Starfury set it down next to Night Watcher. “Watch these for me, will ya? They’ll just slow me down.”
“You’re gonna get caught,” Night Watcher said as Starfury walked off, sighing as his warning fell on deaf ears.
Starfury walked cautiously around the battlements to the small courtyard near the southern end of the palace, where the Wonderbolts trained in their unique weapons, wingblades. Specially forged for them by the best blacksmith in Equestria, these deadly feathers were placed on the tips and edges of their wings, making their wings as deadly as any sword or spear, and sometimes even more dangerous.
Starfury finally noticed the twelve Wonderbolts training, paired off among each other, while a thirteenth, clad in platinum armor, watched the training. Starfury knew the one in Platinum armor; he was known to all the Royal Guard as Metal Wing, the forgemaster and trainer of the Wonderbolts. Rumor has it that he was so old that he served alongside Star Wonder, the first Wonderbolt!
Starfury watched as the Wonderbolts trained, their wingblades beautifully lethal, each strike having the full intent to kill. The movements of the Wonderbolts was amazing; Starfury privately idolized the Wonderbolts, watching every combat-based performance he could, preferring to skip their performances focusing on flying.
In his opinion, flying was something anypony could do. But the wingblades and their use, that is something only the best could do, in his eyes.
Suddenly two of the Wonderbolts, Spitfire and Soarin’, captains of the team, flew up in their air, sparks flying as their Wingblades met, blow after blow. Realizing his spot was easily noticeable from the air, Starfury quickly leapt underneath one of the large “roofed” sections of the battlements, deigned to protect defenders against magic attacks in the case of a siege.
The two Wonderbolts clashed again and again, sparks flying out from each strike as the metal on their wings scraped each other’s. The battle raged on, with Soarin’ and Spitfire fighting each other with eyes that flickered with lethal intent.
Suddenly, Starfury stepped forward, forgetting where he was as he tried to see the action as the two Wonderbolts climbed higher and higher into the sky. His misstep took him tumbling down to the ground, directly into a bush, clonking his head on the way down.
Starfury poked his head out from the bush, and noticed all of the Wonderbolts staring directly at him. “Oh… hello. Don’t mind me, I was just… doing my rounds.” He quickly walked out of the bush, whistling comically, and stepped towards the exit.
Two Wonderbolts stepped in front of him, blocking his escape.
“Time to go,” Starfury said to himself, spreading his wings and taking off.
The two Wonderbolts looked at Metal Wing, who nodded beneath his platinum armor. Flying into the air, the Wonderbolts began chasing Starfury, who flew up higher and higher, hoping to lose them in the clouds.
“Ohgosh Ohgosh.” Starfury said, panicking. Flying directly into a cloud, Starfury looked through a small hole, and saw the Wonderbolts hot on his tail. Just as they raced into the cloud, Starfury sped out of it, doubling back towards the ground.
Starfury’s eyes widened as he saw two more Wonderbolts approaching. The two from the cloud quickly realized the ruse, and flew out of it, kicking it aside.
Alern couldn’t go down, nor could he go up, so he went in the only direction he could; to the side. Flying as fast as his wings could take him, Starfury quickly sped around the castle, leading his pursuers on a high speed chase.
One thing he had not counted on, however, was the amount of ponies chasing him. While two were constantly behind him, his speed like nothing to them, two had gone ahead, cutting Starfury off as he turned a corner.
Without waiting, Starfury bolted back up towards the sky, then felt a sharp pain in his side. Turning, Starfury saw one of the Wonderbolts there, a light cut bleeding slightly where he had used his wingblade to slice his sapphire-blue coat.
Closing his wings in a free-fall dive, Starfury fell directly over the courtyard where the Wonderbolts had been practicing, attempting to time himself just right.
Opening his wings at the last possible second, Starfury flapped them furiously, the wind allowing him to quickly turn and shoot back into the sky.
Suddenly, another Wonderbolt shot from behind him, cutting his side with his wingblades.
Quickly stopping and turning around, Starfury performed a near-instantaneous U-turn, surprising the Wonderbolts as he was suddenly hurtling towards them. Right as the Wonderbolts reacted to his bold move, Starfury performed another dive, shooting towards the courtyard where Metal Wing was standing, watching every movement Starfury made.
Stopping inches from Metal Wing’s body, Starfury used his momentum to land, then quickly leap over the old pony, the breeze brushing his face and whipping his beard.
Starfury stopped, watching the four Wonderbolts that had been following surround him, two landing and two in the air.
“Well… ya got me. I still think your rule is a stupid one.” Starfury said, blowing a raspberry at the four Wonderbolts.
“And I ain’t comin’ quietly either!” Starfury said as one of them got close, catching him offguard with a quick buck to the face which sent him flying.
“Who’s next?” Starfury said, looking at the Wonderbolts. The three remaining Wonderbolts paused for a moment, then advanced, swinging their wingblades at Starfury.
Thanking his nighttime studies of every book on the Blade Arts he could get his hooves on, Starfury noticed the attackers’ movements, quickly dodging them like a reed in the wind. One of the Wonderbolts followed through with a quick downward slash, however, catching Starfury next to the eye, drawing more blood.
“I can see your moves!” Starfury taunted as another of the Wonderbolts attacked, this time with a swipe from the side. Leaping into the air, opening his wings to give him life, the blade passed effortlessly underneath Starfury.
Blowing another raspberry, Starfury laughed. “Is this all you’ve got?”
The Wonderbolts turned back to Metal Wing, who nodded once again. Seeing his chance, Starfury spread his wings, and shot back into the air.
However, the Wonderbolts did not waste any time, their speed in an entirely different level this time. Catching up with Starfury in a matter of moments, the Wonderbolts began continuing their assault in the air.
Starfury quickly realized that he was better on the ground, not having any way to protect his back and from below, leaving him perticurally vulnerable in the air. The Wonderbolts took full advantage of this, covering Starfury with a multitude of painful, but shallow cuts across the back and flank.
Closing his wings and performing another dive, Starfury Looked below him at another Wonderbolt waiting for him to slow down near the ground. Instead of giving the Wonderbolt the pleasure of sticking him like a pig, Starfury never opened his wings, crashing down hard on his back legs.
Hearing a sharp snap and feeling one of his legs give way, Starfury ignored the sharp pain, instead standing and looked back to the Wonderbolts.
“I’m not giving up,” Starfury said. “I ain’t gonna be another ‘example’ of yours. People will be talking about how I won against you four for weeks!” Starfury felt blood pooling beneath his tongue, and spat it out quickly, leaving a crimson stain on a stone nearby.
Inwardly, Starfury didn’t know how he would beat him, but the arrogance of the Wonderbolts astounded him. Treating other ponies as trash just because they wanted to watch them train? That was just sick.
Starfury held his ground as a Wonderbolt charged him. Instead of dodging, however, Starfury took the attack head on, allowing the wonderbolt’s wingblade to sink deep into his chest.
Fighting the instinct to scream, Starfury grabbed the wonderbolt’s wing with his teeth, most importantly, the large feathers at the end of the pony’s wing.
“Nopony move! oo move, I ‘ite off out his primaries,” Starfury said, his mouth full. The primaries were the most important part of any pegasi’s wings, providing the lift and thrust in the air. Without them, a Pegasus pony was almost as good as grounded until they grew back, a process which could take months, or even in some extreme cases, years.
The other Wonderbolts backed off quickly, allowing Starfury and the captured Wonderbolt to approach the gate to the main part of the palace. The captured pony gritted his teeth audibly, forced to follow Starfury, lest his teeth pull out the feathers.
“You will be court-marshalled for this, you little foal,” The captured Wonderbolt muttered.
“What makes oo think I care,” Starfury said. “oo jerks sent a pony to the med wing last week, because he was watching oo! I’m willing to be ‘ourt-marshalled fer this.” Speaking was difficult with the Wonderbolt’s wingfeathers in his mouth, but Starfury coped, wincing as his leg gave him another wave of pain as he walked.
Once the two were out of the gate, Starfury spoke again.
“Give me your word as a Wonderbolt that ya won’t turn around and attack me once ya get free.” Starfury eyed the captured Wonderbolt.
“I promise,” The Wonderbolt said, gritting his teeth harder.
Starfury released the Wonderbolt, running into the barracks and slamming the door as he did. Inside the barracks, several Royal Guard looked at him.
“What the buck happened to you, Starfury? Did you get attacked?”
Starfury nodded.
“By who?” The Royal Guard said, reaching for his spear.
“Wonderbolts. Gotta run! Bye!” Starfury said, bolting up the stairs to the battlements as the door slammed open.
“Where’d he go?” Spirtfire said, looking around the barracks.
“Who?” One of the Royal Guards asked, drinking a flagon of cider. “Noone’s come in here all night.”
Spitfire spit on the ground, pointing at the stairs with a hoof. “Flare, Heatwalker, see if he want up there. I’ll check the battlements.”
The two Wonderbolts behind Spitfire quickly ran up the stairs, and Spitfire slammed the door closed.
As the Wonderbolts left, the three Royal Guards whispered under their breath. “What d’ya think Starfury did?”
“Who knows, but those Wonderbolts looked hoppin' mad. Hopefully somethin’ embarrassing; those self-righteous ponies could do with a bit of taking down.”
The three clacked their flagons together, downing their cider with a toast to the brave Starfury.
Above the barracks, Starfury was running down the battlements, quickly reaching the spot where Night Watcher was waiting. Quickly picking up his armor and putting it on, Night Watcher looked at the bloody, injured pony.
“Dear Celestia, what happened to you?”
“Not now.” Starfury said, wiping the blood off his cuts with a few licks. Leaning against the stones and ignoring the pain from his leg, Starfury pretended to be asleep as Spirtfire soared over the castle wall, landing next to them.
“Atten-SHUN!” Spitfire said, and Starfury and Night Watcher immediately stood up, saluting.
“Have either of you seen a blue stallion come running through here? Covered in wounds. Impossible to miss.” Spitfire said.
“No, Ma’am.” Night Watcher said, looking at Starfury to back him up.
“No, Miss Wonderbolt, Sir. Castle’s been quiet tonight.” Starfury said, stepping forward.
Spitfire looked at Starfury carefully, staring right into his eyes.
“He looks a lot like you, but would have cuts and scrapes over his body. Also, his left back leg is broken, or at least fractured.” Spitfire said.
“Nothing, Ma’am, but if we see anyone, we will let you know.”
Spitfire turned from the two ponies, walking away. “Very well, carry on.”
Suddenly, Spitfire whipped around, her leg knocking out both Night Watcher’s and Starfury’s sending them sprawling to the ground.
This time, Starfury couldn’t ignore the flash of pain from his leg. “Horsefeathers!” He cursed, clutching it with his front hooves.
“You are a horrible liar, and even worse than your disguises. What, did you think leaning a little blood off yourself was going to make me miss the slices the other Wonderbolts put on you? What kind of foal do you think I am?” Spitfire said, picking up Starfury by the mane.
“A right glorious foal, ma’am,” Starfury said. At this point, Starfury could feel his anger welling up inside of him, and the adrenaline rushing to his muscles was making the pain of the earlier right disappear.
“Alright, then. Perhaps you need a lesson in DISCIPLINE!” Spitfire said, swinging her wing that still equipped with wingblades right for Starfury’s face.
Closing his eyes, Starfury waited for the feeling of the metal entering his flesh, but instead heard the sound of metal on metal. Carefully opening his eyes, Starfury saw Metal Wing standing beside him, his wingblade parrying Spitfire’s.
“This pony has shown his courage tonight. Leave him be.” Metal Wing’s voice sounded oddly young, despite his obvious age.
Spitfire looked at Starfury, dropping him to the ground. “You got lucky, foal. Next time, you won’t have that luck.”
Metal Wing and Spitfire walked away down the battlements, leaving Night Watcher and Starfury alone, where they quickly fell back on the cold stones, gasping for breath.
“What did you DO.” Night Watcher said, staring at Starfury.
“Just what I had to,” Starfury said, wincing as his leg gave him another whip of pain. “Listen, I’m headed to the medical wing. Cover for me, will ya?”
“Sure thing.” Night Watcher said.
Starfury smiled, walking down the battlements. The night never felt clearer to him, he thought, looking at the moon, high in the sparkling sky.
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