Chapters "If we get captured... we'll spend the rest of our days in a tiny room... with no freedom, no friends, and worst of all... no chocolate... do you want to proceed with this operation?"
"Yes"
"Are you sure you want to do such a thing?"
"... HELL YEAH!!!"
"Awesome! Quick, open the window. The clan meeting's already started. Damn, that's quite the crowd down there. Ready?!?"
"TOSS!!! "
And with that, an impossibly long strip of toilet paper flew out the window and began wildly moving around in the wind, just over the gathered crowd outside the building. Half the ponies in the crowd caught a bewildered look on their face, the other half began laughing. A particularly strict looking pony, standing in front of the crowd, turned and squinted at the window.
"OH DANG, GO-GO-GO!!!"
Two colts running through the corridors, were laughing so hard it echoed off of every wall in the structure.
"Maaan, that gathering was so gloomy... They should thank us for cheering them up a bit -" one of them laughed as rough hooves, scooped both of them off the ground.
"David and Sam... I should have known" a rough pony said, holding the kids by the the scruff of the neck. A purple looking colt gave a shy smile: "Hello mister Barnes... how are you today?"
"Dont get dumb with me Sam" Barnes roared "You ain't getting off the hook again!"
The second, dark looking colt enthusiastically nodded his head: "Would you like some help with the floors mister Barnes? The city hall is a very big place to clean on your own"
"I'll manage" Barnes grumbled, involuntarily throwing a glance at his mop. Distant hoofsteps attracted his attention as he saw a soldier quickly approaching. Barnes turned and showed him the colts "Got your kid and his best buddy again"
The pony in uniform gave a shy laugh.
"My apologies mister Barnes, I'll take it from here"
As the kids stepped back on the ground, the soldier led them back through the corridor "Come on you two, lets clean up your mess"
"Come on dad!" David frowned "We spent so much time setting it up!" The three reached a closed room and the soldier opened the door: "Pull that toilet paper back in and stay in the room until I come back, understood?"
The two kids nodded and looked down, looking gloomy. The pony sighed "...why did you hang a strip of toilet paper over the square during the clan meeting?"
"Everyone is so gloomy lately" Sam slowly replied.
"No one smiles anymore so... we wanted to cheer everyone up a bit" David said and looked up at his dad. The tall pony remained quiet for a moment before he gave them a bright smile "Its gonna be ok, just let us sort everything out. The village will be back to normal soon" he winked and closed the door.
The colts began to slowly pull the toiler paper back in, then David sat down on one of the chairs as Sam found an old mirror, standing by the wall and carefully inspected it. "Mmmmm... gloomy gloomy... need to smile more"
He whirled around himself then spread his front hooves and squeezed out a huge smile:
"Helloooo!" He addressed himself in the mirror. A purple pony was staring back at him with a silly smile.
"My name is Sam! And I'm a pegasus who cant fly!"
"Come on you're not that... bad..." David squeezed out a smile.
"Yep, set a record of, a whole 5 seconds before I crash in a tree" Sam laughed to himself spreading his wings.
"At least you didn't accidentally set Barnes' mop on fire, trying to make it clean the floor by itself" David said scratching his horn.
"It was funny though" Sam laughed a little, then noticed David staring at the floor.
The unicorn sighed: "Do you think..... they're going on an expedition again?... Fight bad guys...?"
"Don't worry!" Sam winked "They're the Shadows of Katsura! They're totally invincible and will be back safe before we know it!"
"Yeah..." David slowly kicked an eraser that ended up on the floor somehow. It jumped away to a corner and stopped next to a very small trolley and a full bucket of black paint. A devious grin began to slowly spread over Dave's face.
Two soldiers were walking through the city hall, quietly talking"... I mean... I know... when we were young, we did crazy stuff too, but not That cra-
"The ponies froze as they caught a glimpse of Barnes looking right at them.
"Oh Really" Barnes grinned scratching his gray hair.
The two soldiers almost looked like the exact copy of David and Sam. Only older and taller. They awkwardly smiled and went onward.
"Come on" one of them sighed "Lets just get our kids and-" They opened the door and the expression of shock washed over them.
"...wow... I don't know what I expected"
"How did they walk on the ceiling?" The older unicorn squeezed out, sounding like he was about to break into tears from exhaustion.
The room was, of course empty. The colts were nowhere in sight, though they left a vivid trace of their questionable escape route: black hoof prints, beginning at the ceiling and leading toward the open window.
"...Impressive..." the older pegasus said "... considering Dave cant form a basic spell, and Sam cant fly even if his life depended on it."
"Its right there..." The unicorn weakly gestured at the ceiling "... how? ..."
"The world may never know..." The pegasus said, shaking his head as he noticed an open air vent, in the rooms corner.
Two colts were crawling through the ventilation system, giggling under their breath. The image of Sam, shoes covered in paint, bounced into the air by Dave, as he laid on his back in the trolley, slowly moving forward so the hoof prints will look straight and consistent, was still very vivid in their minds.
They finally stopped, out of breath and Dave looked in the direction of his tail.
"Dang it! I really thought we had it that time!"
"Let it go, we're not getting our cutie marks in wreaking havoc" Sam giggled.
"Oh well, we probably made our dads smile at least" Dave giggled "The other kids at school better be impressed by our mighty achievements!" Dave waved his hoof through the air: "The pegasus who's bad at flying, and the unicorn who's bad at magic, 10 years old, still no cutie marks, everyone's got theirs years ago, worst grades in our class, we are, undoubtedly the most terrible students this village has ever seen, ever - " Dave inhaled and dramatically paused:
"And we made, the entire village - smile! - Boo yeah!!!"
Sam gave him a brohoof.
A loud voice from down below made them go quiet. There was a small opening in the vents, a meter away. And as the colts crawled close to it, a large crowded room came into view.
"...enemy force is on the move. Kronos will fall if we don't intervene. They will slaughter everyone! Women, children - they will not differentiate"
A large group of armored ponies were hunched over a map, laid on a wooden table.
"...- You already heard my decision. We will defend our ally. Whatever the cost"
"The enemy outnumbers us four to one. If we stand on their way to Kronos, our forces will perish. And Kronos will still fall"
One of the ponies sighed, rubbing his eyes "...Any word from Equestria?"
"...They agreed to help. They're forces are mobilizing but they wont be here in time... I'm sorry... but we have to consider the option to -
"WE WILL NOT FLINCH FROM DEATH!" A pony shouted, pushing someone away "WE ARE SHADOWS - WE WILL DO WHAT WE HAVE TO - WHATEVER THE COST!"
"You're insane... the only thing you'll accomplish is killing off our entire military. Our village will be left vulnerable. Nothing will stop them from coming here to exact vengeance, burning our homes and killing our families - our - YOUR - children... Leave it be... Kronos will have to defend itself... Our ally is more than capable-"
"If we don't intervene - they will die" A pony said firmly "We are the Shadows of Katsura. We will do what is necessary... lieutenant, you are relieved from duty"
Two soldiers walked into the room, and escorted someone outside.
"Sam, what do you think-" Dave began and noticed Sam quietly moving away. "Sam, Sam wait!" David whispered and hurried after him.
* * *
"...The legend goes that a powerful Alicorn once lived on this Earth. Her name was Katsura and she stood against those who were wicked. She selflessly fought to save others until the moment she met, the foe she could not defeat.
The Alicorn fought until the last of her strength had left her. Her foe laughed as the Alicorn was but flesh and blood. She was mortal and could be weakened and broken. And as such, she was bound to fail from the start. But as much as the Alicorn's body was broken, her will was not. She vowed to protect those who needed her and willed herself to fight on.
The will of the Alicorn was so strong, her own Shadow came to life and fought in her place. Unlike the Alicorn, the Shadow did not grow tired. It did not feel pain and didn't feel hopelessness or despair. And it didn't stop fighting until the foe was defeated. And even after the Alicorn passed away from this world, her Shadow remained...
To be called the Shadow of Katsura is the greatest honor a warrior can receive. The name of the professional , the elite , the most skilled warriors to walk on this Earth..."
Sam sighed looking up at the sky and went on "...we've heard this tale a hundred times... if so, why isn't it any easier knowing our fathers will be fighting again?"
They were outside the city hall, sitting close on a small bench by the building.
"Sam" David called in concern.
"... why did they join the Shadows?" Sam quietly asked, staring emptily at the sky.
David looked at him with slight confusion and worry "... because of their cutie marks... right? ... its their talent... they were born this way"
"...Why do we still have no cutie marks Dave..." Sam quietly said and looked at him "We're already ten years old. Everyone in the class, in our village probably, got theirs already. Is something wrong with us?"
"Maybe... we just didn't find what we're good at... right?" David asked with a smile.
"...Ive been thinking..." Sam said, looking up at the sky again "...The cutie mark represents the thing we're most good at... but, our dads always say - if you pick ANY task and practice long enough... you'll be good at it, so... what if... its possible to... pick, your own cutie mark?"
"...But... They're already there...just invisible" Dave asked in confusion "We were born with them. Can we really will ourselves to change our talent?"
Sam frowned "...What if you were forced to do something else... or what if you really wanted to..."
Dave was giving Sam a weird look, when Sam suddenly jerked forward and jumped off the bench
"There she is"
"Who" Dave asked in confusion.
"There she is"
"What"
"There she is"
"Where" Dave began twisting about on the bench, when Sam walked off toward a squad of soldiers, standing in a tight formation a bit off in the distance. They wore black armor, with the clans insignia firmly visible on their shoulders and backs. They stood in a perfect row, looking straight ahead as their commander gave them orders. Out of the squad of armed ponies, one visibly stood out.
A mare, visibly shorter than the rest of the squad. Her expression and posture reflected a cold, emotionless, disciplined stare of a seasoned veteran.
"...she's only fourteen... isn't she..." Sam quietly said "...Claire"
"The youngest one to join the Shadows in the past few decades" Dave quietly finished "... I mean, we have guys who are good, but she's on a whole other level... I bet she could kick our plot in a gazillion ways with her pinkie, if we even looked at her funny- where are you going?"
Sam was already half way toward the mare when Dave caught a horrified look on his face.
The commander had dismissed the soldiers, and they began to slowly trail off into the village. Yet Claire remained standing perfectly still, looking into space directly ahead
"Sam - no" Dave whispered, as Sam already stopped next to the mare and nodded:
"Hello"
The mare seemed to have snapped out of her trance and looked at the colt. Her empty expression became colored with a hint of curiosity, but it quickly faded. Sam awkwardly smiled:
"...Um... You don't know me but, my name is Sam"
"...Claire..." she quietly said. Her eyes remained empty "Hello Sam" She continued to look at him for another moment before she asked: "Sam... the clan leader's son?"
"Y-y-yes..." Sam's ears fell down as he awkwardly smiled, looking left and right:
"I-totally-didn't-do-nothing-mischievous-that-may-cause-trouble-for-him-by-accident-haha-ha-ha-ha" Sam began awkwardly laughing.
Dave suddenly ran into Sam at full speed, catching Sam's neck under his hoof: "I'm sorry my friend is touched in the head, you must be very busy - don't mind us!" Dave nervously mumbled and shined a terrified smile.
"It is no trouble. My scouting assignment doesn't begin in an hour... " Claire said in a quiet voice as she looked at the colts "Is something the matter?"
"Nop nop, everything's fiieeeee-" Dave's sentence was cut off, as Sam finally wiggled free from his grasp and pushed him away.
"Sorry, I wanted to ask you-" Sam began staring at Claire "- Can you Change your own cutie mark?"
"What?" Claire asked. For the first time, genuine expression of confusion and curiosity reflected over her emotionless face.
"We have to go - excuse uuuus" Dave nervously smiled and began pulling Sam firmly away. Claire remained standing, tracing their movement as her mind began to be slowly lost in thought.
"Dude!" Dave raised both hooves in bewilderment "What were you thinking!"
They made it half way across the village before they finally stopped. David began pulling at his own ears "She's a Shadow! She can kill us in nine different ways with her pinkie!!! What if we upset her by accident?! She gonna kill us dead!!!"
"... I just asked her a question" Sam bit his lip as he smiled "that cant upset anybody, right?"
David suddenly stopped pulling his ears and let out a very evil looking smile: "... Sam... you don't... have a... crush on that mare... do you?"
"What? No" Sam shook his head "I just respect her is all" he smiled and looked to the side somewhere "... speaking of which, I believe that is your crush on the horizon, right there Dave"
"What-where-what" Dave began nervously twisting about "Is it Star?! Hows my hair, is my breath ok?"
"You're fine Dave" Sam giggled.
"Wish me luck" David nodded, looked around and plucked a particularly large flower. Then quickly made his way to a mare, standing some distance away.
Sam happily smiled as he looked at them.
* * *
The sun was beginning to set on the horizon, as David returned looking happy as ever. "She is so cool" he announced, his eyes shining.
Before Sam could respond, Dave's eyes suddenly caught a horrified look, as he noticed someone standing behind them.
"What" Sam asked, looking around "...uhh... Hi Mom?" he said to an elderly mare, standing behind them "Nice weather tonight huh?"
"Whats with the obviously guilty faces" The mare smiled.
"Uuuuuuuuuh" Same and Dave looked at each other, and the mare laughed: "Well, at least you didn't blow up the city hall, so I guess it wasn't that bad" She gave them a hug.
"Its getting late David, you're home's not far from here, will you be ok walking there on your own?"
"Of course!" David nodded "Bye Sam! See ya Tomorrow!"
"Byee!" Sam happily waved as he began walking away with his mother.
The sun was slowly setting on the horizon.
* * *
The walls surrounding the village were tall and impressive. A unicorn guard slowly walking outside the perimeter, was tightly holding on to something in his pocket.
He happily waved to a Shadow scouting party as they left the village and passed next to him.
"Hey Claire" he said to a small pony from the scouting party. The mare's expression briefly reflected a smile as she greeted him. Then the scouting party completely vanished from view, disappearing into the thick woods beyond. The guard slowly pulled something out of his pocket, and looked at it with a smile.
A picture: David happily laughing, sitting on the shoulders of this very guard, and wildly waving his hooves. The guard smiled and hid the picture again.
"... sleep tight son. Nothing's gonna hurt you tonight" the guard whispered.
"Beta, this is Zulu" a muffled voice suddenly came through the guards uniform. He pulled out a small yellow crystal and spoke into it :
"Beta here. All quiet. Over."
"Roger. Next check in an hour" the small crystal responded."
"Copy that. Out." the guard said and hid the crystal again.
The village looked peaceful. Quiet. The guard smiled and began quietly walking through the perimeter. His mind was consumed with thoughts of seeing David again in the morning. The guard smiled to himself and suddenly froze.
He couldn't understand what was happening, just helplessly stare at the edge of a blade, sticking out of his chest. He looked at it in bewilderment, as blood drops began to fall on the ground. And then the blade was violently pulled out of his body, sending him crashing hard into the rough ground below.
He couldn't breath. The pain was so sudden and unbearable, that he could barely focus his thoughts.
An attack.
Who.
The ones that went after Kronos. Why.
Why here.
A preemptive strike. Destroy the Shadow clan, before they can intervene.
We weren't expecting a direct assault on our village... foolish.
Have to warn them... I have to...
His shaking hoof began to fumble in his pocket, in search of the yellow crystal, as ponies beyond count began to march over his body, and right into the village.
There were dozens. Hundreds.
I have to warn them... David...
The guards hoof pulled out the crystal. His mouth opened but no sound came out. He blinked and realized he was laying in a pool of his own blood.
The wound was too deep. David.
He made an effort to speak again, and a blade went through his skull.
An armed force of several hundred, marched over his body. Silently infiltrating the village in the dead of night.
The picture of David, sitting on the guards shoulders, laid trampled on the cold ground.
A blood stain, obscuring their faces.
"If things are this bad, why can't we just use the Medallion?"
Barnes sighed at the question he heard over a hundred times in the past few days and looked at the young Shadow standing beside him.
"You know what that Thing does to us... it goes against the clan's values" Barnes finally said, looking up at the night sky.
The Shadow clans village rested between the hills of an exotic valley. Thick, beautiful forests covered the hills and a small river ran through the village, slightly illuminated by the faint orange lights, coming from the countless wooden houses that dotted the landscape. Barnes inhaled the nights fresh air and smiled:
"So, when you guys moving out?"
"We march out at dawn" The Shadow answered "Everyone's resting before tomorrow... I just... I'm not sure we can save Kronos...... If we fail, whats to stop the enemy from unleashing a spree of vengeance on our village? If we could just use the Medallion -"
"We will not lower ourselves to their level" Barnes cut him off "Shadows of Katsura were formed for a reason... I will not be a monster"
"Not even to save the children?" the Shadow asked.
Barnes closed his eyes "... I don't get to make that call... I'm only a janitor"
The Shadow looked down and nodded after a moment "I better get going, good night Mr. Barnes"
The pony walked away and Barnes remained standing, watching the young soldier with an expression of grief.
A high pitched child's voice suddenly broke the dead silence "Whats this 'Medallion' about Mr. Barnes?"
Barnes jumped in place, startled and noticed David's head poking out of a near by house, leaning on a windowsill: "God... I forgot you live around here" Barnes sighed, catching his breath. David giggled and began meaningfully staring at Barnes.
Barnes shook his head: "Its called the Masters Medallion. A very powerful artifact, that can supposedly enhance your cutie mark talent - a thousandfold. So if your cutie mark talent is baking cakes -"
"I can make the best cake in the world?!?" David jumped up in excitement.
Barnes smiled "Yes, probably a thousand of them"
"Cool!" David grinned "Can it make my cutie mark appear?"
"David" Barnes shook his head in disapproval.
"What?" David asked in an innocent voice "Hey! I Know! What if a soldiers wears it! Will he be really really cool?" Davids eyes lit up in excitement "And strong and powerful?!? Wouldn't that be really cool!!!"
"No.. David" Barnes looked down.
"Aaaww, why not!"
"You're still young" Barnes reached out and ruffled the colts hair. David giggled then suddenly looked right at the elderly pony:
"Mr. Barnes... you're not just a janitor"
"Oh yeah?" Barnes smiled.
"Yeah! You're a good person!" David gave a very broad smile when suddenly a distant explosion faintly rang in the distance. A house on the very edge of the village suddenly caught fire.
"...what was that..." David quietly asked.
"I don't know..." Barnes slowly answered "Stay inside!"
"But-" David began.
"STAY INSIDE!" Barnes roared and sprinted toward the distant flames.
* * *
"Sam, I am not only your father. I am the leader of this village"
A tall, purple pegasus was staring down at a small colt, sitting on the wooden floor of a small house. The only visual resemblance they shared was the purple color of their fur. The older pegasus looked worn. His scarred face remained a cold, unbreakable mask of sheer power and discipline. Sam slowly realized he couldn't remember the last time he saw his father smile.
"Your irresponsible behavior shames not only your household, but your entire village" The older pegasus muttered.
"Sorry" Sam quietly said, staring down at the floor.
"Every other kid in your class has already started on a warrior path, or began apprenticeship in another honorable field that benefits the village. Carpentry, construction. These are all honorable jobs if you don't have the will or strength to wield a sword into combat. You can become anything you want. Yet you spend your days making a fool out of your self and everyone else - by hanging TOILET PAPER OUT THE CITY HALL WINDOWS - DURING MY SPEECH!" The pegasus roared then collected himself and straightened up. "You are my son, I expect more from you"
"I'M SORRY YOU HAVE A WEAK SON!" Sam suddenly screamed out.
The older pegasus sighed and slowly stood up "Your weakness does not disappoint me Sam. Your lack of determination and responsibility does"
"Dinners ready" a soft voice came from another room and a mare slowly walked in: "Come on" she waved the two inside, ruffled Sam's hair and gave the elderly pegasus a kiss on the cheek.
"Thanks mom" Sam weakly smiled and rose to his hooves. She smiled back to him, her hoof subconsciously reaching for a little white pendant over her neck. Sam looked at it for a moment and asked "Mom, does it do anything?"
"Oh... not really" She looked at it and smiled to herself "...just... an old family relic" She crouched down next to Sam: "I heard its been passed down from Katsura herself, from parent to child... when your old enough, I'll give it to you" She let out a small laugh: "And when you have kids, you can pass it down to them"
"Don't I have to get married for that?" Sam asked raising an eye brow.
"Yes" she nodded
"Eeeeeewww" Sam closed his eyes making a face. The mare's laughter was suddenly interrupted by a distant explosion.
Sam's father immediately jumped toward the window. His hand subconsciously reached for his sword.
"Honey, what was that?" the mare asked in alarm.
"... either an accident or an attack" he said in an even voice.
"Inside the village?" The mare gasped "But... our scouting parties... shouldn't we have received a warning?"
"Yes" the older pegasus nodded "... Unless the enemy force was overwhelming... and the scouting party was cut down so fast, they couldn't report in -"
A whole series of explosions rang across the village, now considerably closer. The older pegasus gritted his teeth, unsheathing his sword and briefly looked at the mare.
"Stay here, don't leave the house no matter what you hear from outside"
The mare nodded, her expression turning into an emotionless mask. Her husband nodded back to her and turned to leave.
"Dad wait!" Sam ran toward him "Im coming with you!"
"NO!" His father roared "You will stay here!!"
"Dad -" Sam began but the older pegasus harshly cut him off:
"NO!! RIGHT NOW - I'M NOT YOUR FATHER - I'M YOUR COMMANDER AND YOU WILL FOLLOW MY ORDERS!" He barked at the colt and Sam began slowly backing away, his face twisting in horror.
"YOU WANT TO PROVE YOUR WORTH?!" His father shouted "PROTECT YOUR MOTHER AND PROTECT YOUR HOUSE!!! DO WHATS EXPECTED OF YOU!!!"
Sam fell on the floor, staring in horror at the towering soldier above him.
The older pegasus waited another moment, before running outside.
* * *
David waited exactly long enough for Barnes to fade out of view, before he jumped out the window and ran after him. He saw fire and smoke rising up in the distance. The sound of clashing steel and blood chilling screams echoed across the village. His heart was racing. The only thought hammering inside his mind was - 'Are they safe '
His father. Mr Barnes. Sam. Star. Everyone in the village.
He ran into an open square and saw a large group of Shadows huddled together. Sam's father was standing in front of them, sword raised, screaming at the fires raging behind him:
"BROTHERS AND SISTERS - THIS IS OUR HOME!!! OUR VILLAGE, OUR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN STAND BEHIND US!!! I LOOK AT YOU AND I SEE BRAVE, HONEST PEOPLE! NOT ALL OF YOU ARE WARRIORS - BUT ALL OF YOU ARE SHADOWS - FOR IT IS YOUR WILL THAT GIVES YOU STRENGTH!!!
OUR ENEMY MARCHES FORWARD TO END OUR LIVES!!! THEY OUTNUMBER US FIVE TO ONE - BUT THEY - WILL - NOT - CROSS - THIS LINE!!!
THEY WILL NOT DESTROY OUR FUTURE!!!
SHADOWS - STAND READYYYY - WE WILL HOLD THIS LINE!!!"
The Shadows roared, raising their swords and spread across the square in perfect rows. It all went quiet, and then a wave of countless enemy soldiers, jumped out of the darkness and sprinted toward them. The forces clashed and deafening sounds of breaking metal and dying screams filled the air.
David stared at it, in shock, as ponies died in front of him. Painfully, violently.
He couldn't tell them apart. He could only see ponies that looked the same, violently killing each other.
Why.
For what.
He couldn't tell.
And then he saw Star. The girl that he saw just a few hours ago, smiling as he gave her a flower, was now stricken with horror, standing the in the middle of that madness. David called her name. She didn't hear him. She was just looking around in confusion. Afraid to take even a single step.
And then an enemy soldier appeared before her. She looked at him in surprise. The soldier looked her.
He raised his sword -
And David screamed. He screamed so loud that all other sound seemed to fade far away, as Star slowly fell to the ground.
David fell on his knees, grabbing his head, pulling so hard on his hair that it hurt, but it did nothing to dull the pain that had overwhelmed him. And then rough, familiar hooves, scooped him off the ground and carried him away from the square.
The elderly pony was heavily breathing as he held David tight, running further and further away from the battle... further and further away from Star. David looked up, as tears rolled down from his eyes, his face twisted with horror.
"... I tolled you to stay inside..." Barnes said in a quiet, shaking voice as he carried David away.
Then an enemy soldier emerged from the darkness, blocking their path.
Barnes froze. His eyes darted across the surroundings, scanning the area. He slowly put David back on the ground and shielded him from the solder.
"...run... David" he said in a firm voice and began slowly marching toward the enemy soldier.
"Mr. Barnes!" David cried, frozen in place. The elderly pony gritted his teeth and marched on without looking back.
The enemy soldier smiled, pointing his sword at the elderly pony.
Barnes was unarmed. He roared, breaking into a run. Grabbing a shovel that someone left lying around, he screamed and lashed out at the soldier. Wood clashed with metal and the shovel broke in half.
Barnes had somehow deflected the enemy strike, got in close and smashed his hoof so hard into the soldiers teeth, that the soldier flew a meter away and crashed hard into the ground.
A second later, five more emerged from the darkness.
Barnes roared, and charged at them barehanded. The soldiers lashed out with their swords, and Barnes heavily fell on his knees.
David was frozen, his mind could not process what was happening, as Barnes slowly turned his head toward him and whispered the word:
"Run"
before an enemy soldier brought his sword down on him.
And David ran.
He didn't know where he was going. He couldn't see anything. He just ran further and further away from the unbearable screams rising behind him.
He slipped and fell down, crashing hard into mud. He slowly rose on his hooves and saw a young Shadow, laying beside him. The Shadow was missing his legs.
David jerked backwards, uncontrollably shivered and threw up.
The young Shadow slowly turned and looked at him. David screamed in panic and fell backwards. The Shadow smiled:
"... the Medallion..." he whispered "...they want the Medallion"
David froze, as the Shadow went on:
"There is a loose stone, at the northern fountain. It opens a hidden basement. The Medallion's there..." The Shadow smiled and closed his eyes.
David sat there for another moment before he broke into a sprint.
Hundreds of voices echoed inside his head, as his hooves carried him along a familiar path.
- "Its called the Masters Medallion. A very powerful artifact, that can supposedly enhance your cutie mark talent - a thousandfold.
- "What if a soldiers wears it!"
- "Can it make my cutie mark appear?"
- "Can we decide our own cutie mark?"
- "What if a soldiers wears it!"
"... What if a soldiers wears it..." David whispered as he ran north.
There was a beautiful fountain at the north of the village, decorated with peculiar, mysterious carvings of ponies in cloaks.
One of its stones sat awkwardly out of place.
A small opening was visible in the ground, a faint orange light glowed from inside.
David sat next to a lit candle, in the middle of a small wooden basement. Before him, sat a medallion, so simple and unremarkable in its design that it could've been mistaken for a cheap old trinket, sold at every souvenir store for a laughable price.
A simple round shape. A dark gem in the center.
David hesitated for a moment and touched it.
Nothing happened.
He slowly picked up the medallion and wiped the dust from its surface.
"Please..." he whispered "I need to protect my friends... give me a talent mark to protect them"
He closed his eyes. Nothing happened.
"PLEASE!" David screamed "I KNOW MY FATE IS NOT OF A SOLDIER!! I KNOW!!!... We practiced... Sam and I... we practiced with swords until we couldn't lift our hooves anymore, but our cutie marks wouldn't appear... I know I have no talent for combat BUT I NEED IT!!!" He screamed shaking the little medallion "LET ME DECIDE MY OWN FATE!!! I - NEED TO PROTECT THEM!!!... Please..."
He sobbed.
Nothing happened.
The medallion remained dark. No cutie mark had appeared.
David bitterly wiped the tears from his face as he hung the medallion over his neck.
"... stupid thing..." He muttered as he made his way back to the fountain. The night sky was filled with smoke of countless fires. The screams in the distance became much fewer in number.
"Sam..." David whispered "Hang on"
* * *
Sam sat on the cold floor of his home, a wooden practice sword rested before him. His mother was sitting behind him, holding him in a tight hug. Every so often, an explosion would ring, making both of them shiver. The small, white pendant on his mothers neck emitted a faint glow and went dark again.
"I thought it doesn't do anything" Sam asked to break the frightening silence.
"... it doesn't" his mother replied with a smile.
"Mom... how can you be so calm, every time our soldiers go into combat. Don't you worry about them?" Sam asked looking at her.
His mother smiled: "They don't need us to worry. They need us to believe. Our trust in them, gives them the strength to fight and come back to us."
"They need us to trust them?" Sam slowly asked.
"Yes" his mother smiled. A sudden explosion drowned out her words. Wooden planks began to rain from the ceiling and half of the roof collapsed down on them.
Sam screamed in panic and crawled out of the rubble. His mother was on the floor beside him. She didn't move.
"Mom?... MOM!!!" Sam screamed, then immediately slapped himself out of shock. His fathers words rang in his head, and he followed instructions just like in practice:
Check for pulse. Sam lifted her hoof.
Check her breathing. He placed his ear next to her chest.
She was alive, slowly breathing but she wouldn't wake up.
Check for visible trauma - his fathers words echoed inside his head.
Sam looked over and found a wound on her head. It wasn't big but the sight of it made Sam shiver in fear.
The front door of his house suddenly slammed wide open.
"DAD!" Sam called, but to his horror, an unfamiliar soldier walked slowly inside. His armor was foreign. His sword was stained red.
Sams eyes widened in terror. He slowly reached for the wooden sword, laying nearby.
"Put the toy down" The enemy soldier smirked but Sam only grasped the sword tighter and slowly rose to his hooves.
The soldier laughed, then suddenly lashed out and the wooden sword snapped in half.
Sam stared at it in horror, then took a step back and fell on the ground. Uncontrollable fear began to slowly consume him.
"Close you're eyes" the soldier smiled "It will be over sAAAAAHHH!" he suddenly screamed as a sword pierced his chest from behind. The soldier stared at it in confusion, then slowly fell to the ground.
Behind him, was Sams father. Heavily breathing, injured, stained red but alive.
"Dad!" Sam screamed and rushed forward as his father heavily fell on one knee.
"Dad!" Sam called "Mom won't wake up!"
"...take her... Get out of the village" his father slowly replied.
"But... you said-"
"And now I'm telling you to go" his father heavily exhaled looking at him. Sams eyes widened, he opened and closed his mouth again several times without saying a word. His father smiled and gently ruffled his hair:
"...protect those you cherish, son... I love you"
A dozen hoofsteps rang behind them and twelve enemy soldier appeared at the front door. Sams father slowly rose on his hooves, heavily lifting his sword and taking a stand between them and his son.
"Time for you to go" his father quietly said.
The soldiers released a smug grin: "You got balls, old man"
"This is MY house" the older pony replied, raised his sword and charged forward.
He turned into a blur. His sword danced, reflecting the light and with each strike another blood chilling scream filled the air. The soldiers roared, as their brothers heavily fell to the ground. They attacked without mercy, hammering at the old pegasus over and over, until one of them broke his attack.
The sword flew out of his hoof and the soldiers slashed over his knees. Sams father heavily fell to the ground, an enemy soldier approached and slashed his neck open.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Sam screamed, grabbing his head. Something clattered under his hooves.
His fathers sword.
Without thinking, Sam grabbed the weapon and charged forward.
His eyes were mad with anger, the heavy sword sparking as it dragged the ground.
The soldiers lifted their swords.
* * *
David was almost at Sams house when he noticed the roof had collapsed. He froze for a moment, staring at the destruction before sprinting inside.
"SAM! WHERE ARE YOU!" He screamed rushing into the house. "SAM!" He shouted and almost tripped over a body of an enemy soldier.
"Damn it! SAM WHERE ARE YOU!" He screamed again, running further inside. Sweat was heavily dripping down his face, obscuring his vision. His heart was racing, as he checked every room, his shaking legs barely keeping him steady.
"Sam, come on" he called in desperation "SAM ITS ME!!! COME ON - SAM! S-"
David froze.
A moment ticked by or maybe an hour, as he kept staring somewhere further ahead.
Slowly, unsteadily he made a step forward "...Sam?" he called his friend, but Sam didn't answer. He just quietly laid on the floor. His eyes closed. A sword set beside him.
David slowly approached and fell on his knees next to Sam. He gently picked up his friend and looked at his closed eyes.
"Sam... come on" David called in a shaking voice and suddenly noticed the red stains that covered his body.
"Sam... no... No ..." David sobbed "God please no... Sam" he gingerly hugged him, as tears fell from his eyes.
"Please wake up... please" he pressed his forehead against Sam's.
"Sam... don't leave me..."
The village in the Whispering Valley, burned in a silent fire. No more screams were heard over the rising ash.
A lone unicorn figure slowly stumbled out of a broken home, a little medallion over his neck.
* * *
Sams mother slowly awoke. She could not understand why there was broken wood in her house. Then she saw the bodies around her.
Her husband. Her son. She rose on her hooves.
"No no.... no no no no, its too early" she mumbled, stumbling toward Sam. She reached out and hugged him, then with a steady hand she reached for her pendant, pressed it against her lips and whispered right into it:
"Please... he's too young... I beg you"
The white pendant glowed in response. The mare smiled, wiped the tear from her eye and tied the pendant over Sams neck.
A smile appeared on her lips as she whispered: "...I will always be with you-"
* * *
David was slowly walking through the ruins on his village. He payed no attention to the bodies, or the enemy soldiers slowly moving about.
He kept walking, emptily staring ahead. His eyes were blank, an empty expression was over his face as an enemy soldier suddenly ran into him.
David fell.
The enemy soldier roared "You piece of trash!"
"GET THE HELL OF ME!!!" David suddenly shrieked, his eyes filled with rage.
"I will END you" the soldier sneered, raising his sword.
"Get - out - of my village" David muttered under his breath, slowly rising back on his hooves.
The soldier laughed, aiming his sword at David: "What the hell are you gonna do boy ?"
David was heavily breathing, his fists clenched. His eyes burned with barely contained anger.
He heavily swallowed and looked right into the eyes of the soldier. Something very unsettling reflected in Davids eyes, and the soldiers smile slowly faded away.
David gritted his teeth and muttered in a low, hoarse voice:
"I will kill you "
The soldier quietly looked at him. Any trace of a smile was gone. He had the sword aimed at Davids chest, carefully watching him.
"...can you?" the soldier quietly asked "can you really... kill a man?... A living, breathing man like you?"
David gritted his teeth: "... You ... Murdered!... my FRIENDS .... my FAMILY ... and now... you want to kill ME ?!
WHAT MAKES YOU THINK - FOR A SECOND - that I will hesitate to take your life"
"...then, go ahead" the soldier quietly answered. David scowled. His horn glowed. The medallion on his neck flashed.
And an invisible force ripped the soldier in half.
The sound of the dying pony echoed heavily across the village. A dozen soldiers ran to the source, only to find a ten year old unicorn standing over their soldier. The medallion on his neck glowing with an unsettling light.
The soldiers hesitated for only a moment, before their commander shouted: "KILL HIM! TAKE HIM DOWN!!!"
A dozen soldiers rushed toward David. The colt shrieked and the soldiers around him exploded.
A gigantic pillar of light, struck out of the Medallion on his neck and into the night sky above.
David slowly rose over the ground, screaming. His voice filled with all the pain, tears and anger he hid inside him.
Red flames slowly engulfed his body, his eyes turned red.
His talent mark flashed and slowly appeared.
It was a dark Scythe.
* * *
Sam violently woke up and twisted around in confusion. He remembered vividly, how an enemy sword pierced his chest. The pain was unbearable, and then, the darkness came.
Then why is he still here? Why is the pain gone? He looked at his chest and found no trace of injury there. And then he noticed his mothers small pendant, slightly glowing over his neck.
"Mom?" he called in confusion "What happen-"
He froze, staring in horror as he noticed his mother laying beside him. A large open wound in her chest, in the exact same spot that Sam had.
"No..." Sam bitterly whispered "No NO!!! YOU SAID IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING!!!" He shook her shoulders as tears appeared in his eyes.
"ITS NOT FAIR!!! YOU SAID ITS JUST A PENDANT!!! You..." Sam bitterly sobbed "I was supposed to..."
He hid his face in his hooves as a sudden scream echoed over the village.
Sam twisted in its direction, consumed by fear. There was something so familiar in that scream. And yet so frightening.
So much anger, so much unbearable pain echoed inside it that Sam involuntarily shivered, shaken to his core.
He ran outside and saw the gigantic pillar of light, that struck the sky in the distance.
At its center, was a small, fragile figure of his friend.
"David " Sam whispered and sprinted toward him.
* * *
David screamed until he ran out of breath. He closed his eyes as bitter tears fell down his cheeks. The light slowly faded and he fell back to the ground. Sitting on his knees, among the death and destruction, he punched the ground, cursing the world.
Someone was screaming something, just over his ear. David violently pushed them away, unable and unwilling to open his eyes again, just to see any more of the savage horror around him.
Someone was calling his name, then grabbed him and started shaking his shoulders.
"...What do you want from me" David sobbed and suddenly saw Sams frightened face, right in front of him.
"DAVID STOP! ITS ME!!!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"S-Sam?" David squeezed out, fresh tears appeared in his eyes and he tightly hugged the colt in front of him.
"S-Saam..." David sobbed: "I thought you died..."
Sam was sitting with a stiff expression over his face, holding David in a tight hug.
"Sam..." David called again: "Everyones dead..."
"...I know" Sam quietly said, closing his eyes.
Dozens of hoofsteps rang in the distance. Enemy soldiers beyond count appeared and stood in perfect rows in front of their commander.
"Sir!" one of them called "The village is ours. The Shadow clan is no more"
"Excellent, prepare to-... what the hell ?"
Their commander slowly turned as he noticed David and Sam, sitting close together, amidst ruin, ash and a dozen dead bodies.
The colts looked back at them. There were more enemy soldiers before them, than they could count.
"Sam..." David quietly called: "...what are we going to do?"
Sam looked at the soldiers and scowled:
"...kill them all"
Several ponies in colorful, expensive clothing were hunched over a map. One of them slowly reached and put out a candle, on the wooden table beside them, as the first rays of dawn began to shine through the windows and slowly illuminate the massive stone room. Soldiers in beautifully decorated armor stood guard by the doors, slightly squinting as the sun rays began to fall on their face.
"Status" one of the ponies demanded, rising above the map.
"Last field report mentioned feeble resistance. By now, its safe to assume our forces have taken the Whispering Valley. We finally erased the Shadow Clan from existence" the pony nodded "Congratulations sir. Nothing stands in your way to conquering Kronos now"
The sound of heavy hoofsteps suddenly echoed through the stone and the doors to the room slammed open.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!!" A soldier shrieked, bursting into the room. The ponies around the map slowly rose, frowning at the pale soldier:
"Who" the ponies demanded.
"THE SHADOW CLAN! THEY'RE COUNTER ATTACKING!"
"What " One of the ponies scowled "... Hundreds of soldiers were sent to their village, we outnumbered them five to one. You're telling me, not only did the Shadows break our assault, but they are now marching towards our castle ?"
"YES" the soldier screamed in response. He was heavily sweating, the haunted look in his eyes began to slowly affect those around him.
"Enemy numbers?" another pony in expensive clothing asked, as he loosened his tie and hunched over the map.
"Two" the soldier quietly said.
"Two hundred?" the pony asked in a calm voice still looking at the map, but when no answer came he looked at the soldier again. The soldier slowly shook his head and smiled as hysteria began to set in:
"Two..."
* * *
Two cloaked figures were marching across the barren land of the desert. Dozens of soldiers hurled themselves at the figures, and like rag dolls they were tossed aside. Colorful magic strings danced over the land, erupting out of the figures and striking the soldiers around them. Nothing but death was left in their wake. The earth itself became scorched as the figures marched onward, to the old stony castle on the horizon.
Sam squinted as the rising sun fell into his eyes and pulled the hood over his head. His yellow eyes became red. He could feel it. He almost knew how his body was changing, ever since he touched the Medallion. The trinket whispered things to him and Sam listened. Raw knowledge was poured into his mind. Into the fibers of his body.
Reflexes, muscle memory he never had. Skills he never acquired. Knowledge he never learned. The knowledge he needed to kill a pony. Quickly. Efficiently. With as little or as much pain as Sam wanted. And Sam wanted pain. He wanted the soldiers to suffer.
Somewhere, deep in the back of his mind, his conscience screamed in horror at the things he was doing. But Sam didn't care. He stopped caring after he saw what was left of his village. Bitter revenge. That was all he had on his mind, when David let him hold the Medallion. The old, unremarkable trinket had latched on to Sams arm so hard it almost drew blood, and as it did, Sams talent mark had appeared. A sword, with a plain purple hilt.
Scythe and Katana. David and Sam.
They never talked about it but they both understood. Their marks turned into weapons of war. Because their talent was murder.
Sam shivered. It felt wrong. Why? Why now, after he'd already done the unthinkable. Thats right, because David was holding the Medallion now. They both stopped at the steps to the Castle. Sam tried not to look at the hundreds of figures, laying on the ground behind him. It didn't seem to bother him just a moment ago when he had the Medallion. Was it warping his mind?
The two figures lifted their heads and looked at the massive, closed doors of the castle.
"Looks pretty strong" David commented, slowly touching the surface.
"Can you punch through?" Sam quietly asked.
"Give me a sec" David said closing his eyes, firmly grasping the Medallion. The small trinket whispered formulas right into his mind and the spell formed itself on its own. David only had to point his horn at the door.
* * *
Several ponies in expensive clothing were hunched over an old map, inside a massive stone room. They looked haunted. A bewildered look in their eyes as they mindlessly stared into space. The doors to the room suddenly cracked and shattered into huge chunks of metal as streaks of fire flew in and spread across the area.
The ponies screamed and a moment later, all of them turned to ash. All except one. The one with the most pompous, expensive outfit. He stared in shock as two figures in cloaks entered the room. They lifted their hooves and slowly revealed their faces.
Unicorn and pegasus. Surprisingly short. They looked like every ordinary colts, except for their scarlet eyes. Something so unnatural, so monstrous reflected inside them, it made the pony stumble back and fall to the ground.
"...why" Sam quietly asked as he marched forward, together with David: "...why..."
"Why what?!" The pony shrieked in panic, trying to crawl away from them.
"WHY'D YOU DO IT!!" David roared and lifted his hoof. An invisible force lifted the pony off the ground and smashed him hard against the wall. He slowly fell down and covered his face in horror.
"YOU ORDERED THEM - TO SLAUGHTER - EVERYONE!!!" David screamed, the table before him exploded into a million splinters.
"... it was a good deal....a good deal..." the pony began mumbling, staring into the floor "... they offered to pay so much... the Shadows were a thorn in our side anyway-"
"BURN IN HELL YOU PIECE OF -" David shouted, his horn lit up and the pony was lifted into the air again: "No wings huh..." David giggled with a scowl "Have a nice flight-"
The air vibrated and the invisible force hurled the pony out of the open window. Sam covered his ears. He didn't want to hear what came next. Several moments ticked by, before he noticed David looking at the horizon. The Medallion on his neck started to glow again.
"Dave?" Sam quietly called, slowly approaching his friend. David didn't answer and Sam traced his line of sight. There was a village, some distance away from the castle. A normal pony village, just like the one in the Whispering Valley. Sam could see playgrounds and schools. Fillies and mares, moving about and looking up at the castle.
"Sam..." David quietly said "...I'm gonna burn down that village"
"W-WHAT THE HELL?!" Sam jerked backward, stunned, blinking for several seconds, trying to process what he just heard. David quietly looked at him with his cold, scarlet eyes. The Medallion on his neck started to glow brighter "I'm gonna burn down their village, just like they burned ours..."
"You... YOU CAN'T!!!" Sam screamed in horror: "ITS WRONG - THEY'RE INNOCENT! WE CAN'T JUST MURDER PONIES!"
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE WERE DOING ALL NIGHT?!" David barked at him and Sam flinched back in fear. It took him a moment to collect himself and steady his breath. He slowly looked at David again.
David's eyes are meant to be green, not the cold, scarlet red that were staring at him now. Sam swallowed and raised his hoof: "The ponies we..." Sam closed his eyes hard and shook his head "The ponies we... Murdered, were soldiers. They were bad, David! They did horrible things! They destroyed our village and they would destroy Kronos as well. But the ponies down there have nothing to do with it! Let them be!"
"No" David bitterly shook his head "An eye for an eye Sam. I won't let this horror go unanswered"
"Listen to me!!" Sam screamed "The Medallion is warping your mind! Its not like you!"
"Sam, I like you" David muttered through gritted teeth "But if you stand in my way..."
Sam closed his eyes. The knowledge of martial arts the Medallion gave him, was gone. He could only use it, so long as he wore the Medallion. But some faint glimpse, some tiny trace of that knowledge still lingered inside him. Or was it his own memory this time? Sam took careful note of every fight thus far. Did he remember how his body moved, when the Medallion dictated his actions? Faintly. Sam opened his eyes, picked up a sword from the ground and dashed toward David.
David roared and sent a spark of lightning flying in his direction. Sam jumped to the side, dodging just barely and made a sharp swing with his blade - cutting the rope that held the Medallion. The round trinket heavily fell to the ground loudly bounced several times before it came to a stop. Its glow faded. David fell on his knees, grabbing his head.
"Dave?" Sam asked in fear.
"Oh Sam... what the hell did I do..." David mumbled, slowly rising his head and Sam saw streaks of tears running down Davids cheeks.
"Not you" Sam dropped the sword and hugged him "Its that vile thing!... The Masters Medallion..."
"... Mr. Barnes was right..." David quietly mumbled as Sam hugged him "I... I almost..." David sobbed "I almost did the same thing as the monsters who burned our village..." he hid his face in Sam's shoulder, quietly crying "... enhancing my talent, a thousand fold... its not cool...
Its not cool at all"
* * *
As the Dawn set over the horizon and the ponies of Kronos awoke, they shivered in wait for their imminent doom, but it never came. As they slowly reached out into the country side, they discovered the signs of a great battle that took place over night. Their foe has fallen. But so has the Shadow clan.
And in the coming years, it would be said, that the legendary Shadows of Katsura, had carried their duty until the very end. Sacrificing all that they had, to stop the wheels of destruction. They fought a battle they could not win. And when morning came, no Shadow was left. But their foe was defeated, and Kronos village lived on.
To honor the noble warriors of the Shadows, their village was left untouched, as a memorial to the selfless heroes of Katsura. Countless stories and ballads were written about the valiant heroes, inspiring many, to new acts of bravery.
To this day, it is believed that none had survived the tragic events of that night. And if they did, why they hide is anyone's guess. Many orphaned ponies were left, after several wars had swept over the land. And when peace finally settled, the orphans grew and disappeared into the average life of the cities.
No one was at the Shadow Village when the dawn finally came. No one heard a lone mare, screaming at the horizon, as the ashes from her home slowly fell at her hooves. No one asked her, her name, and she never said it was Claire. She came to the village at dawn, carrying her dying commanders request. His last order.
She would have died to, if he didn't tell her to run. Now she silently cried as she walked through the ruins. And she followed the order through, to the letter. At a broken fountain at the north of the village, decorated with peculiar, mysterious carvings of ponies in cloaks, one of the stones sat awkwardly out of place.
She went through a small opening in the ground, and lit a candle in the cramped basement. There she found documents, records and answers, to who was really behind the Village attack. The name and identity of the foe, that lingered in darkness and fought the Shadow Clan since the days of Katsura herself.
And with her answers she found a new mission. She would go to seclusion and practice her art. To perfect the ways of the Shadow, until the moment she can strike back, at the ones who still plotted evil in darkness.
* * *
Two young colts were standing in a dark alleyway, some distance away from a large orphanage, in the city the locals called Canterlot. So many ponies were orphaned after the wars, so many left without home or credentials that it was easy to enter Equestria, pretending you always lived here from the start.
The colts looked at each other and nodded: "...lets make a promise" the unicorn said: " We will never let ponies suffer again. We will protect them with our very lives"
"I promise..." the other colt nodded "We will train hard, and when we are old enough, we will join the military and fight to protect everyone"
"You got it" the unicorn nodded with a smile, then became a bit more serious after a moment "We will have to keep our identity secret. We'll have to change our names as well. Someone payed those soldiers to attack our village. I think someone wanted the Medallion from the start. No one can know we still have it. No one can know who we are.
"Does it still bother you... the Medallion?" The pegasus asked.
"No, not anymore" the unicorn looked at his chest. There was a strange vertical scar there: "Funny... the Medallion itself gave me the spell to seal it inside of me... inside my soul I suppose. There is no way we can use it now, even if we ever changed our mind. Even if we really wanted to. And this way, it can never affect me again." The unicorn grinned "Plus when I die, the Medallion will be destroyed with me, so if we want to live a long, happy life, we just need to make sure that no one ever knows who we are and what we have, lest they figure a way to pull the stupid thing out of me" The unicorn looked down:
"... we'll need Equestrian names too... Did you thought of one yet?"
"Y-yeah..." the pegasus looked away: "I just think that maybe, its a little too... arrogant..."
"Do you like this new name?" the unicorn smiled.
"... yeah..."
"Then its fine" the unicorn grinned again.
An elderly mare was sitting at the front desk of the orphanage when the front doors opened and two colts slowly walked in
"Can you help us?" the unicorn begged in an exaggerated, weak tone "We're reeeeally hungry and we have no where to stay..."
"Oh my goodness, of course we'll help you" the mare quickly walked over to them "My darlings, are you alright? What are you names?"
"Night Storm" the dark unicorn smiled, his green eyes shining bright.
"And you?" the mare looked at the purple colt. His yellow eyes seemed a bit hesitant before he finally said:
"Shadow"
The sun was slowly rising over the tall towers of Canterlot. Its rays slowly fell on the face of a young stallion, quietly sitting on a small bench just outside of a train station. Almost no one was out on the street at this hour and the only thing breaking the silence was the distant chirping of birds. The stallion stretched, rearranging his wings and pleasantly smiled as the morning sun painted the sky with yellow and gold.
"Yo, Shadow" someone called from behind and the stallion turned his head around with a smile.
"You got them?"
"You bet" a unicorn jumped over the bench and sat down next to him "For all intents and purposes-" he handed the stallion a small envelope "-we are now officially recognized by the country as adults"
"I can't believe you pulled this off" the pegasus smirked as he opened the envelope, pulling out a thin little book with the symbol of a sun, engraved into it with gold:
"Equestrian passport" the pegasus read "Shadow. Eighteen of age. Storm this is perfect!"
"I know right" the unicorn smiled "Doors to the future are now open. You figured a place where to go yet?"
"Yeah" Shadow nodded "I found the perfect spot.
The peaceful morning silence was broken by the heavy sound of machinery as a train rolled into the station. The stallions jumped up and began heading towards it in a brisk pace.
"Hey uh..." Storm rubbed the back of his neck "...you left the letter for Mrs. Perry right?"
Shadow turned a little grim as he nodded
"You think... she'll understand?" Storm quietly asked, as he handed the conductor a pair of tickets and slowly entered the train.
"Yeah, but its not that..." Shadow sighed as he climbed in as well "She took care of us for, how many years now? Theres no easy way to leave. And not much else to say except, thank you" he quietly took a seat by the window and looked outside:
"We lived in this city for so long, it feels like home now..."
"And Mrs. Perry... like..." Storm quietly said, taking a seat across from Shadow.
"Thats why we have to do this Storm" Shadow looked at him: "Someone needs to protect her. She raised and shielded us from harm. Its our turn to protect her now"
"I hear you" Storm nodded, closing his eyes "...still hurts to leave though... wake me up when we're there"
"mmhm" Shadow nodded with a smile and took a last look at the beautiful city, as the train roared to life and began slowly moving away, leaving behind the shining towers and the colorful memories of their youth.
* * *
"CHERRY PIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"
"GOD DAMMIT!" Storm jerked forward hitting his head on something hard and collapsed back to his seat.
"WHOO WANTS CHERRRRY PIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!" someone shrieked right next to his ear. Storm opened his eyes and saw a scruffy mare with a metal cart at the entrance to their compartment.
"I don't want no cherry pie!!" Storm shrieked, trying to focus his blurry vision. Shadow was sitting across from him, rubbing his forehead with both hooves.
"You can't wake up people like that - whats wrong with you!" Storm screamed at the mare, who simply frowned and went to the next compartment.
"Welcome to Cloudsdale... or the place right under it, rather..." Shadow slowly looked outside the window. High above the train, the colorful structures of Cloudsdale peaked out from the clouds.
"What we doing here again" Storm asked with his eyes closed, rubbing his forehead.
"The Wonderbolt Combat Academy. " Shadow pointed ahead "Established a few decades ago and built right under Cloudsdale. To think, just twenty years ago the Wonderbolts were but an acrobatics team. Now they're one of the most well known, elite military units worldwide. Reformed to safeguard the lives of all citizens, accepting earth ponies and unicorns, anyone who wants to protect the peace, the Wonderbolts are the most elite fighting force, standing against the forces of evil."
"The Wonderbolt Combat Academy, huh" Storm looked out the window at the rapidly approaching train station and the massive military facility next to it:
"Would be so much easier if we could just-" he trailed off, looking at the scar in his chest: "All that knowledge and power we had, gone, in a split second, the moment I sealed it. Training for years, and we couldn't even get back a fraction of what we possessed."
"Forget it" Shadow waved his hoof in dismissal "We'll do it the right way. With hard training and sweat. Like all others before us"
"...you ever wonder" Storm quietly asked after a moment "...what would happen if the Medallion was used from the start"
"...yeah" Shadow nodded, looking outside "We would have slaughtered our families and enemies alike. That thing is cursed Storm. I have no regrets"
"Shadow-" Storm began but his friend cut him off:
"No regrets Storm, lets make it right" Shadow stood up and began walking outside, as the train pulled a sharp stop at the station.
* * *
It must have been several hours, before a fresh line of recruits, stood in an open field. There were several dozen of them. Young, nervous and green. Their uniforms sat on them awkwardly, unfamiliar and strange, too grand, too important and meaningful. Wearing the Wonderbolt uniform meant the selfless desire and power, to protect all those in need, and the recruits seemed visibly nervous putting it on, before they had a chance to earn it.
Shadow and Storm stood side by side, silently looking ahead as a figure appeared at the edge of their vision.
A mare. So tall and hulking, she easily stood a head above the recruits. The biceps were visible through her uniform. Her hooves had serious corns and scar tissue. She was looking straight ahead with a stone cold expression as she marched along the line of the recruits.
Dark hair, yellow fur.
She stopped, somewhere close to Shadow and scanned the recruits. He expected her to start shouting, but she spoke in a quiet, calm voice that made the recruits go dead quiet to hear her:
"... My name, is Lieutenant Lisa Brown. I am a Wonderbolt and in the coming days, you will learn the meaning of that word. I have been put in charge of your training. I will make sure that those who are fit to safeguard our nation, will acquire the knowledge to do so, and those who are unfit, will be tossed out"
She waited a moment before going on:
"Look at the person, standing to your left and your right. He is your brother now. You will train together. You will eat and live together. You will make mistakes and get yelled at together, and maybe sometimes you will be praised, but from this moment on, you will do everything together.
The Wonderbolts work as a team. A family. If you cannot trust or rely on your brother, the team will fail.
And when the team fails, ponies die"
Lisa waited in dead silence as the recruits uneasily shuffled in place.
"Starting today, you will undergo a series of tests, to make sure you are physically fit to be relied on in combat. And although you are brothers now, we need to know what you are capable of individually. And I know you will be tempted to help your friends, and indeed, during your service you will be expected to do so, but right now, I need to know what you can do alone.
If you are too weak, you will be a burden to your team. And a weak team is ineffective in combat. Therefore, I will make sure that all of you are reliable." Lisa looked over the young ponies one last time before she suddenly barked:
"RECRUITS - YOU ARE ORDERED TO FINISH THIS TRACK IN UNDER THREE HOURS" She pointed at a barely visible trail, in the short grass of the open field next to them "AT THE END OF THE TRACK YOU WILL FIND THE MAIN FACILITY WHERE YOU WILL SPEND MOST OF YOUR TRAINING!!! NOW GO - MOVE MOVE MOVE -"
She roared in a raspy voice and the recruits sprinted ahead.
There were several dozen of them. Lisa remained standing for several moments, before she followed them in a brisk pace. The afternoon sun pleasantly shined on the fields.
* * *
The main facility was a complex of several structures of different height. Several obstacle courses were visible in the distance and as the recruits gathered in a line just outside of the barracks, Lisa walked by them, critically inspecting each one.
"EVERYONE HERE!?" She shouted, scanning their faces.
"Negative ma'am" someone shouted from the line. Lina scowled and marched toward the dark unicorn who screamed just a moment ago. The young stallion nervously swallowed and spoke: "Sha-.. recruit Shadow is still in the field..."
"Are you messing with me recruit" Lisa muttered through gritted teeth "Its been four hours... you're telling me he's still out there running the course?"
"Yes ma'am..." Storm nodded with worry.
Lisa roared and signaled a soldier in the distance "SERGEANT! OVERSEE THE REST OF THEIR TRAINING! IM HEADING BACK!"
"Lieutenant?" The sergeant asked in confusion.
"Some idiot thinks he can die on my training course" Lisa muttered with a scowl and broke into a heavy run, back through the fields"
After an hour of running, she noticed a lone silhouette in the distance. A young pegasus, barely eighteen. His pace was uneven, each step too heavy, but he was running. Slowly, unsteadily, but he was still running.
Lisa finally reached him and scowled at the stallion with a look that could drill a hole in a pony, but the pony just nodded and kept running forward. Lisa waited a moment after he ran passed her, then following him at his pace.
"... recruit..." Lisa called.
"...Yes ma'am..." Shadow replied. His breathing was heavy. He was barely holding together, but he kept running forward. Lisa looked over him and repeated:
"Recruit, what are you doing"
"I... have to... finish the course" Shadow exhaled, barely breathing.
"You were supposed to finish the course two hours ago" Lisa said with a scowl. She waited for a reply but none came. The stallion just kept running. Slowly, unsteadily, but he kept running. Lisa carefully studied his expression before she went on:
"Recruit, you missed your dead line. You were supposed to complete the track in under three hours. Five hours passed.
"I was ordered to... finish the track..." Shadow mumbled, inhaling heavily. Lisa frowned:
"You missed the dead line. You can stop now, your training is over." she quietly said. Shadow kept running forward. He inhaled deeply again and mumbled:
"I... was... ordered... to finish-" he suddenly tripped and fell down, face first right into a puddle of mud. Lisa stopped and looked at him with a sigh.
Shadow was laying on the ground, eyes closed, barely breathing. Lisa leaned down, frowning at him. She was carefully studying him for several moments before she finally said: "That's enough... you're done with the Academy-" she suddenly stopped.
Shadow was slowly raising back up. His hooves were shaking, his eyes were barely open, but he gritted his teeth and pushed himself up. Slowly, heavily, every muscle in his body was shaking, but he pushed himself up.
Finally rising, he took one breath and ran forward again.
Lisa remained standing in place, watching him with a blank expression for several moments before she ran forward as well.
She slowed down next to him, and continued to run at his pace.
Shadow's expression remained unchanged. Brutal determination was all over his face as he ran forward. He was tired. He was in pain. He was barely standing, but he kept running. And Lisa ran by his side, quietly watching him.
"...you're name... recruit" she suddenly asked.
"...Shadow" the young pony replied.
* * *
The sun was setting over the horizon as Lisa Brown slowly walked into a tidy office, high above the training grounds. She stood at the door and saluted:
"Commander"
The pony at the desk in front of her, gave a feeble salute and returned to look at his papers:
"Yes Lieutenant, come in"
"I wanted to give you the report of today's training" Lisa calmly said as she stood at attention.
"Yes Brown, go ahead" The older pony sighed and set his papers aside.
"Sir, all recruits have finished the first training course" Lisa firmly said, waited a moment then added: "...except one"
"So?" the commander shrugged "Boot him"
Lisa shuffled in place: "Thats what I wanted to discuss"
The commander looked at her in mild confusion. Lisa remained quiet for over a minute and the commander released a tired sigh:
"Lieutenant, we've been working together for how long?"
"Three years sir" Lisa nodded.
"I know you long enough to trust your judgement." the pony sighed "So what is it?"
"Sir" Lisa firmly nodded "He finished the course in seven hours. His physical condition is unacceptable. In his current state, he will become a significant burden to the team" She waited a moment then blinked: "And I want him to continue the Wonderbolt training"
The commanders eyebrows flew up. He sat in silence for a minute before he firmly looked at Lisa:
"Why"
"Sir, the recruit showed uncanny determination and will power" Lisa took a step forward in enthusiasm: "The Wonderbolts needs ponies who will not back down from a fight. Ponies who will not quit, when there's no point going on, when there is no hope for them left. Ponies who will push themselves to the limit to do the right thing, no matter the odds. He has that" Lisa firmly looked at the commander:
"Yes, he can't run for an hour without collapsing from exhaustion, but he pushes forward. He doesn't quit. Isn't that what we need right now?"
"Damn it Brown" the commander leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.
"Let him take the rest of the tests" Lisa said, stepping forward: "Maybe we'll find something he's good at" She pointed to herself:
"I will take responsibility for the consequences"
The commander looked firmly into her eyes for several moments before he finally asked:
"Why are you so determined to give him a chance?"
"He doesn't quit" Lisa firmly replied with a stone cold expression "...maybe he won't quit when-"
The commander sighed "...so, thats what this is about..." he rubbed his forehead with a tired expression then nodded: "Very well, Lieutenant. He stays. Until their exams are over. If he fails, he's out. Something goes wrong, he gets injured and its your head"
"Thank you sir" Lisa nodded with a small smile, turned around and marched outside of the office.
Her commander remained sitting alone at his desk, watching the closed door for several silent minutes before he sighed, rubbing his eyes:
"...you can't rewrite the past... Lieutenant..."
It had to be around five in the morning and the recruits were already in the mess hall, trying to munch on the breakfast, still half asleep. Storm heavily feel on a seat next to Shadow and attempted to smile to his buddy:
"Yo! You alive brother?"
Shadow mumbled something incoherent and took another bite of his breakfast. One of his eyes was half closed and it didn't look like he fully understood where or what he was doing. His hoof subconsciously reached for a small, white pendant on his neck. Storm smiled:
"At least they let you keep your mothers pendant, I heard personal effects like that are not allowed"
"Yeah..." Shadow mumbled: "I guess they figured I'm not gonna be here long, so-"
"Hey come on, you don't know that" Storm nervously smiled and playfully hit his friend on the shoulder: "They didn't boot you yesterday so you're still fine, right?"
"I did the course in seven hours Storm" Shadow frowned at his plate: "All that training we did, since we were ten, for nothing. I'm still too weak"
"Hey, look-" Storm sat closer to him "They didn't boot you yet, so everything's still fine. Just do your best and-"
"RECRUITS!" Lisa barged into the mess hall like a hurricane and started barking: "TRAINING COURSE SEVEN - MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!"
The few dozen ponies hastily stumbled out of their seats and ran outside.
Training course number seven consisted of an insanely large field, with high hills and thick brush in the middle. The recruits stood in perfect lines just on the edge of the marked area, half asleep and barely holding their eyes open. Lisa marched next to them with an extremely unsatisfied expression:
"OH MY GOD - YOU LOOK LIKE YOU'VE BEEN DEAD FOR A WEEK" She pulled a sharp stop and scowled at someone in the line: "NEED HELP WAKING UP!? LET ME HELP YOU WITH THAT-" She pointed at an office building, located a fair distance away:
"FLY RIGHT THERE AND BACK - FIVE MINUTES OR YOU'RE BOOTED OUT' THE ACADEMY!!! NOOOOOW!!!" She shrieked at someone and the pegasi in the group, rapidly took flight"
"M-ma'am?" Storm called in a shaking voice: "W-what about the ones who can't fly-"
"THEN YOU BETTER START RUNNING SUNSHINE!" Lisa shrieked right at his face: "NO ONE'S GONNA WAIT FOR YOU IN COMBAT!"
"B-but we can't run as fast as they fly" someone else mumbled.
"OH MY GOD - TEN MINUTES FOR YOU THEN - GET YOUR LAZY SELF MOVING" She roared as the rest of the recruits sprinted away:
"ANYONE ONE OF YOU MISSES THEIR DEAD LINE - YOU'RE OUT!"
Shadow was flying as fast as he could. A sudden wave of wind made him loose balance and he crashed hard into a tree. Lisa covered her eyes and heavily sighed: "Oh god, give me strength..." she mumbled to herself and hid her face behind a clipboard, unable or unwilling to watch the next few minutes unfold.
After ten minutes have passed she looked at the recruits again and noticed that Shadow has returned just a second ago, already heavily breathing and with a small bruise on his head. Lisa started drilling him with her eyes as the other recruits ran past her and began falling into perfect lines.
"...Lieutenant..." Shadow quietly said, slowly approaching her: "...ma'am I..." he scratched his left hoof in anxiety.
"You missed the dead line, again..." Lisa muttered with a completely blank expression: "Shadow... you are aware I hope, that the Wonderbolts were once known for their advanced flying skills"
"Yes-" Shadow began and Lisa cut him off:
"You are a pegasus for gods sake, and you Cant FLY FIVE MINUTES WITHOUT CRASHING IN A TREE !?"
"I-I'll improve-" Shadow mumbled and jerked back as Lisa barked at him:
"YOU'RE ON MY BLACKLIST - GET IN LINE!!!" She pointed at the other recruits, gathered once again in front of the training course seven. Shadow hastily ran and joined the others as Lisa marched by the recruits:
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I hope that was enough to awake you. Before we begin today's main exam, we gonna run a small test in your strength. A hundred push ups and we can begin-"
"A hundred?!" someone whispered in alarm. Lisa turned in that direction with a face so twisted in anger, the stallion who whispered the words turned ghostly white:
"You think I'm playing?" Lisa muttered, marching right up to his face: "YOU THINK ITS A KINDERGARTEN HERE OR WHAT!!! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA DO WHEN A CIVILIAN'S HANGING OFF A CLIFF AND YOU CAN'T EVEN PULL HER UP BECAUSE YOUR FEEBLE HOOVES WON'T ALLOW YOU!!!" She scowled so hard, the stallion took a step back.
"SO YEAH! I WANT A HUNDRED GOD DAMN IT!!! DO IT NOOOW!!!" She released a deafening roar and the recruits immediately started the exercise.
It wasn't long before she spotted Shadow collapsing onto the ground. She slowly walked up to him just as he started to pick himself up:
"How many?" she quietly asked.
"Fifty..." Shadow exhaled: "I can still go-"
"Enough, we don't have time" Lisa quietly said and walked off. Shadow looked at her as she left, his face slowly catching a hopeless expression.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen" Lisa quickly scanned the tired recruits:
"We are now initiating the best part of our testing, what the staff like to refer to as the - King of the Hill.
We are splitting into two teams and heading to the opposite corners of training course seven. Most of the area is surrounded by heavy brush, with a large hill in the middle. Up on that hill, is a flag. The one who touches the flag first, brings victory to his team, while the other team receives terrible shame"
Lisa looked over the recruits: "The flag is guarded by my staff. You will have to get passed them to secure the flag for your team. You will be handed wooden swords, covered in special paint that will stick to it, even if you swing it around, but will cover your opponent, if you hit him with it. Those who get painted - are out of the game. You will now split into teams, head over to your designated starting points where a staff member will meet you.
On their mark, the exercise will begin and you fill have exactly ten minutes to complete your objective. If no one touches the flag when the time has run out - all of you loose.
At the end of this course, we will evaluate your overall performance in the past two days and decide whether you are fit to begin the twelve month course, of becoming a Wonderbolt. Questions?" Lisa looked at the recruits. They just quietly stared at her.
She sighed and for some reason released a small smile: "Good luck" she nodded: "Now MOOOOOOOOOVEEEE!!!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs and the recruits sprinted away.
* * *
Shadow uncomfortably shivered as freezing wind gusted through the brush where a few dozen recruits were sitting in wait. It was almost an hour since they arrived at the starting point and the staff members still didn't give them a sign to begin.
Storm placed his wooden sword on the ground and rubbed his hooves together, trying to stay warm: "Damn it, what are they waiting for"
"That" Shadow pointed at the sky, where dark clouds started to gather. The wind began to grow stronger by the minute.
"...How are we supposed to fly to the flag in that weather?" one of the recruits asked with a frown.
"That's the idea" Shadow sighed: "If we could just fly to the flag, it would be over in seconds. They've prepared for this"
"I say we rush it" a particularly hulking pegasus said, scowling at the sky: "We push through the wind, get to the flag before anyone even understands what we're doing.
Shadow shook his head: "The staff will be ready for that. Its too obvious. They probably have a plan set up just for that"
"Hey hot shot!" The pegasus loomed over Shadow: "Who put you in charge? If I recall you crashed into a bloody tree, three seconds after lift off, and that was in good weather. The pagasi happen to make the majority of this team. You sit your plot down and wait till the real boys get the job done"
"You gonna walk us into a massacre" Shadow said with a frown: "They will be ready for it-"
"Alright who's with me!?" The hulking pegasus shouted, completely ignoring Shadow, and several dozen recruits raised their hooves.
"What the hell are the rest of us supposed to do?!" Storm shouted with a scowl: "We can't fly, idiot!"
The hulking pegasus smirked and patted Storm on the head: "You just sit here with your hoof up your-"
"STAAAAAAAAART " The staff members suddenly screamed and two dozen pegasi took flight.
Storm, Shadow and thirteen more recruits remained on the ground. Shadow noted that all of them were either earth ponies or unicorns.
"Well, there they go.." Storm waved his hoof in dismissal.
"I ain't sitting this out" Shadow scowled, picking his sword up and slowly marching into the brush.
"Why bother, they just gonna win us a victory in a few seconds" One of the recruits threw with a sigh.
"No mate, they're already dead" Shadow said without turning around.
* * *
Two dozen pegasi were raising through the freezing winds toward the flag. A few moments later, they saw an equally large cloud of pegasi, rising from the brush from the opposite corner.
"Heh, looks like they had the same idea" the hulking pegasus smirked and shouted over the wind: "RUSH IT HARD! LETS BEAT THEM TO IT!"
The pegasi pushed forward and zoomed through the sky. The hard currents of wind started to throw them off course and slow down their approach. When the flag was almost in sight, a sudden wave of screaming echoed across the sky. The hulking pegasus turned his head and saw a wave of Wonderbolts suddenly launching from the brush and practically crashing into the recruits.
They appeared right under the recruits and hit them hard from below. They flew much faster and with much more experience through the raging winds of the storm. They handled their swords better and seconds passed before there was only a handful of recruits left.
The hulking pegasus roared and rushed toward the flag. Several pegasi from the other team suddenly appeared right in front of him and he lashed out at them with his sword.
Screaming profanities at them and cutting the wind hard with his weapon, he suddenly received a blow from behind. He turned around with a roar, only to find his uniform completely stained with fresh paint and a smirking Wonderbolt, just a meter away.
* * *
"Dang" Storm said with a nervous laugh as the Wonderbolts and the defeated recruits slowly disappeared into the brush once again: "Its already over"
"Keep pushing" Shadow said as he moved through the brush: "Still got eight minutes"
"Man, there's no way" one of the recruits stopped and hopelessly ran his sword into the ground: "The staff is much more experienced in a sword fight AND they're waiting for us"
"We don't need to beat them in a fight" Shadow shook his head: "Just need to reach the flag"
"Man! They are all around that thing!" The recruit waved his hoof in frustration: "How we gonna get passed them?!"
"Draw them out" Shadow nodded: "The brush is pretty thick here too..." he stopped, inspecting the environment.
Storm quietly walked up behind him and asked after a moment: "So... looks pretty impossible huh... ?"
"No such thing" Shadow smiled, turned around and suddenly found thirteen recruits looking right at him. They were cold, tired and out of hope. Shadow waited a moment before he walked closer to them and raised his hoof:
"Listen. Our opponents are ponies, just like us. They're sitting under the same weather we are. They work as a team and so will we. They're good in combat, so we won't engage them in combat. This isn't a test of strength, its a test of wit. They have the flag surrounded. We just need a way to get passed them" Shadow gave an encouraging smile: "I think I have one"
* * *
Lisa zipped up her coat and looked at her watch. She was standing behind a particularly wide tree, just a few meters away from the flag. One of her Wonderbolts slowly approached and whispered with a smile:
"Three minutes left... think they gave up?"
"Mmm... I wonder" Lisa smirked, looking up at the brush. The forest seemed particularly thick here. One of the Wonderbolts, hiding behind a large boulder, uncomfortably shivered.
"Hey... need a blanket?" someone quietly asked and Storms grinning face appeared right next to the Wonderbolt. There was a moment of dead silence before the Wonderbolt lashed out with his sword. Storm vanished from view. A moment later, a mud ball hit the Wonderbolt in the face from another direction.
The Wonderbolt roared in anger, wildly swinging his sword around. There was no one in sight.
"IM GONNA COURT MARTIAL YOUR SORRY A-" He shrieked and suddenly stopped as he caught Lisa looking at him.
"Lieutenant!" he scowled: "They're not taking this seriously!"
"Mmm..." Lisa nodded with a smirk: "...looks like you're hit Sergeant... could have been a weapon... looks like you're out of the game for now"
The Sergeant roared and marched away.
"Alright gentlemen, watch for enemy fire" Lisa waved the Wonderbolts into cover and readied her sword: "Sit tight, let them come to us"
A few more mud balls flew out from different directions. Two Wonderbolts got hit in the chest.
"Cover's no good Lieutenant!" one of her subordinates screamed: "They're firing from every direction"
"Alright" Lisa nodded with a smile: "Move in, search and destroy"
The Wonderbolts spread out and started to move through the brush. The recruits were popping in and out of view, keeping a good distance away. Now and then, another mud ball would fly out of the bushes, making the Wonderbolts stop and take cover.
"Enemy numbers?" Lisa asked, hiding behind a tree as a mud ball hit particularly close.
"Can't tell Lieutenant" A Wonderbolt called: "Brush is too thick.
"Alright" Lisa nodded "I think we've entertained them enough. Rush them! Now"
The few dozen Wonderbolts turned into a blur as they zigzagged among the trees, rapidly scanning the area. Seconds ticked by before disappointed shouts of recruits filled the air. Lisa spread her wings and darted toward a bush as she saw someones mane shiver behind it. She flew around and lashed out with her sword so fast, her opponent gasped in slight shock and tumbled down to the ground, his recruit uniform stained with paint.
Lisa sighed and looked at Storm as he tried to sit straight on the ground.
"Hehe" Storm giggled: "You got me"
"Ma'am" one of the Wonderbolts called: "All recruits neutralized... there were only three of them here"
"Three?" Lisa asked in surprise. The attack was so relentless, she assumed all fifteen were here: "... they hid in the brush and attacked hard to appear as a larger force than they actually were" She paused: "They pulled us away from the flag" she turned back, just as a large group of recruits jumped out of the brush, right next to the hill in the center and assaulted the trio of Wonderbolts still guarding the flag. The Wonderbolts were more skilled with a sword, but they got swallowed by sheer numbers.
As most of the recruits went down, one dashed out of the fighting and sprinted toward the flag. The Wonderbolts were too preoccupied to follow. Lisa squinted and noticed the recruit had kept his wings firmly closed, even though they could have given him additional speed.
"...Well played" Lisa smiled: "...Shadow"
The path to the flag was clear. All he had to do was run up and touch it. Then, just as he started stretching his hoof, another recruit appeared out of nowhere and drop kicked Shadow hard in the ribs. They both fell to the ground.
Lisa frowned. The recruit that struck Shadow was from his own team. The recruits shirt was already colored with paint, so he was out of the game, yet he dared linger on the field, now blocking Shadows path to the flag. They both rose and Shadow recognized the hulking pegasus he argued with earlier.
The taller pegasus roared and decked Shadow. Lisa scowled and started making her way back to the flag when some recruit jumped out of the bushes and lashed out at her with a sword.
"OUT OF THE WAY!!" Lisa barked, tripping him but the recruit still struggled, blocking her way.
It started to rain. Shadow coughed the mud out of his mouth and slowly rose to his hooves again.
The hulking pegasus loomed over him: "...pathetic" he threw with disgust: "Are you really that weak? The flags right there, you just have to get passed me"
"Back off" Shadow muttered, raising his sword. The hulking pegasus grinned and lashed out. Shadows sword flew out of his hoof, the next second he got kicked in the ribs again. He doubled over and fell in the mud.
"You think you're special?" the hulking pegasus smirked: "What the hell made you think you can be a Wonderbolt?"
Shadow made an effort to rise and the other recruit kicked him hard in the face. Shadow curled up in pain, gritting his teeth.
"The Wonderbolts need to be strong enough to save others... you can't even save yourself..." the hulking pegasus scowled:
"... some are born weak. They will always be weak and you're one of them. No matter how hard you try, you won't escape fate. You are destined to be weak, all of your life! Stop getting up already!!!" he shrieked as Shadow slowly rose up again, his hooves shaking, completely covered in blood stains and mud.
The hulking pegasus spit on the ground: "... just leave, run back to mommy"
"...I can't..." Shadow quietly said: "...my mother is dead"
"You couldn't even protect your own family" the hulking pegasus said with disgust: "I bet you just watched as she died, right in front of you, because you were too useless to-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP" Shadow roared and smashed into him. He kicked him hard in the knee and as the pegasus screamed, Shadow punched him, over and over until the pegasus tripped and fell to the ground.
Shadow stood over him, rapidly breathing. The pegasus moaned in pain and slowly looked up with a smile: "...what are you waiting for?" he grinned as blood pooled in his mouth: "Hit me again... let it loose... you're anger... the only weapon you'll ever have"
"No" Shadow quietly said. The pegasus stared at him in confusion, which quickly turned into anger:
"Didn't I piss you off!? You gonna take mercy on your enemies too?!"
"Yeah" Shadow quietly said.
"You are a bloody fool" the pegasus muttered: "...you will remain weak all your life. You will never save anyone. And the next time you will pity your enemy, you will die-
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!!!" Shadow screamed: "I WILL NOT MURDER ANOTHER OUT OF FEAR FOR MY LIFE! I DON'T CARE IF I CANNOT SAVE ANYONE! I WILL KEEP TRYING UNTIL I WILL DIE! IF I CAN SAVE EVEN ONE - IT'LL BE WORTH IT!!!"
"SHADOW!" a heavy roar echoed across the field and Lisa Brown slowly stepped into view. Her expression was unreadable. Her face was obscured by the rain. Shadow quietly looked at her in shame as she slowly approached.
Lisa waited several moments before she spoke. Her voice was deathly quiet:
"... time has run out... you have failed the assignment... recruit Shadow, follow me"
"L-Lieutenant" Shadow stretched his hoof toward her but Lisa turned away:
"Keep your mind on the goal and don't run your mouth next time" she quietly said and marched on into the downpour.
And Shadow quietly followed.
My first memory was a cold, disgusting alley. Months old garbage was stacked in the corners, the stench provoking a gagging reflex every time I passed by. Broken bottles, faded papers and graffiti filled every inch of the area. I shivered inside an old cardboard box as heavy rain began to come down.
I couldn't recall anything before this nightmare started. For all I knew, I've always lived here. Cold, alone and always hungry. I had nothing except the dirty rags over me that could not even keep me from freezing. As I closed my eyes and fell into darkness, every cold night, I held close to the only thing that I had, the only thing that I dared calling my own:
Lisa.
My name is Lisa.
* * *
One morning I walked out of the alley because the unending hunger had finally driven me mad. The rotten bits of food I used to find in the trash cans were so infuriatingly vile that I couldn't bear to swallow them any longer. I wasn't looking for food when I walked out. I didn't know food came in any other form. I just wanted to punch something.
I did. Quite a few things. The oddly looking windows and add boards that were so clean they looked out of place, shattered with a pleasant rattle. The broken glass on the tidy road almost made it seem like my alley. My hooves bled a little after I've broken the glass, but it was a fair trade for the brief satisfaction I felt at releasing my anger.
Some old idiot started screaming at me, calling me a short little brat. I bit his hoof and ran back to my home. My little alley.
The next day, a very strange smell woke me up from my sleep. I've never smelled anything like this before, but it was mesmerizing. I followed it out of the alley, until I saw a very strange scene. There were two ponies in very clean clothes, standing next to a cart full of freshly baked bread. They were addressing other ponies on the street and in exchange for a weird little coin, they would pass the bread to them.
This baffled me, so much, the first time I saw it. They were... trading... food... such beautiful, well smelling food, for a useless shiny object that looked like a dirty glass shard I often found in my alley. I could not understand what was happening, but I was willing to try it. I ran up to them with a hooves full of glass and other shiny things I have found in my alley, convinced I could take the whole cart, but they yelled and sent me away.
They called me stupid. They tolled me to go back to my parents. They tolled me I needed money to trade for their glorious food. I wanted to hit them but I was too stunned.
What are parents? What is this money? The shiny coins other ponies keep giving them? What possible use could they have? I was convinced that it couldn't keep me warm at night or fill my stomach. What would the ponies with bread possibly want with it?
I was pondering on this, a few meters away from the cart, when a bunch of colts ran out from a corner, grabbed a few pieces of bread and ran off. The ponies with bread chased after them, shrieking but eventually gave up and returned to the cart.
I was stunned.
The colts didn't give them a coin. They just took the bread and ran off.
They were probably eating, right now. All they had to do was run up and take it.
They were faster, stronger and more agile than the ponies trading the bread. So was I.
I didn't had problems staying fed after that.
* * *
I got into a nasty fight once. Some tall stallion calling himself "The Police" caught me taking food and yelled my ear off. I tried hitting and biting him as hard as I could, but only ended up with bruises myself. He asked me where my parents are. I tolled him to go to hell. He called me a nasty and violent kid. I hit him below the belt and ran off as he doubled over. For some reason it hurt stallions a lot more than when I hit mares in that area.
Somehow I ended up in some other alley. The colts I saw taking the bread before, were apparently living there. They looked me over and started to laugh. They called me a dumb filly. They said I smelled and my clothes looked like garbage. They asked where my parent were before they started laughing again.
It made me feel bad. Bitter and sad, somehow. A few tears rolled down my eyes. I didn't like that.
I grabbed the nearest one and hit him hard in the face. I kept hitting him until the other colts surrounded me and pulled me away. They hit hard and without mercy. So I showed them none. I let my anger drive me. I was good at that. One blow in the right area was enough. When there was only one left he started begging. He said he's sorry and asked me to stop.
That didn't make me feel any better. I was still cold and hungry. And I still wanted to fight. So I hit him until he started calling for mommy.
I wasn't sure what he meant.
I wasn't sure for a long time, until one night I saw three ponies, walking next to my street. A stallion, a mare and a small filly. She caught my eye right away because she had an expression on her face that I've never seen before.
She was smiling.
I hid in the shadows and watched as they passed by, carefully studying the strange little filly. She was well dressed. Her clothes looked very warm, clean and so neat. She looked well fed and healthy. I noted her hooves weren't scarred, or had any corns on them, indicating she didn't fight very often. How does she protect herself, I thought, until I saw a scary dog ran passed them and the stallion shielding the filly until the dogs was well out of sight.
He protected her. Why?
He was so tall, it would be nice if someone like that protected me as well.
They walked further away and I followed. They soon passed another cart full of beautiful food, and the mare traded a coin for one of the sweet things on the cart. She crouched down and gave it to the filly.
She gave her food. Just like that.
Why did she do that.
I was following them further and further along, until I wandered the farthest I've ever been from my alley. They entered a small little house. A few candles lit up inside and I saw the three of them happily sitting together, in front of a nice and warm little fire place. It looked so warm in there. I quietly leaned against the window and looked inside as the ponies smiled and laughed, loudly talking about something that had to be interesting.
I overheard the filly. As she looked at the mare and the stallion she smiled and called them Mommy and Daddy. She said she loved them. And they said they loved her as well... They were her parents.
Her loving parents.
Watching over her and keeping her safe in her home. Her parents.
As I slowly walked back to my alley, through the freezing winds of the night, I felt tears slowly fall from my eyes. I've never experienced in all of my life, as much happy memories as that girl had in this single day. There was no one to protect or look after me. No one to keep me and warm and well fed.
I had no parents. No memories of my past.
I had nothing.
Except my name.
Lisa.
My name is Lisa.
* * *
As I grew older, it became harder to live. I had to keep taking more food and even more clothes from the shops, because the old ones wouldn't fit anymore. The bunch of menacing stallions, who called themselves "Cops", would never leave me alone. Every store I would visit. Every food shop I stood by. Another one of them would hang around and always spot me in a crowd.
Unrestrained anger and strength were my only allies. They were the only things that helped me survive, but the cops were hard to deal with, and they were coordinated.
I couldn't work alone anymore. Not effectively.
Thankfully I wasn't the only one in this peril. I found a group of like minded ponies, who all dressed and looked like me. They all lived on the street and it almost seemed as if they looked out for each other. One day I walked up to them and asked to join their "Awesome Gang".
They laughed in my face until I beat up their leader. Hard.
I don't know if I would have killed him, but I know they had to pull me away. He lost a few of his teeth that he never grew back.
They didn't laugh at me anymore.
They let me into their group. Said I was an "Asset". Some other guy began leading the group. He coordinated us very well and we managed to dodge the cops and still get what we wanted. When we took something, he'd call it "Stealing". As in, taking things that didn't belong to you. That seemed weird to me. I didn't know ponies had possessions that belonged to them, apart from their name.
Objects are just objects. They don't belong to anyone do they? You just use them to survive and nothing else matters. The only thing yours is your name. And mine is Lisa. I'm not gonna die on the streets. I'm too stubborn and angry for that.
* * *
I got to know a stallion in that gang pretty well. His name was Ross and somehow, he managed to find a way to make me smile. For the first time. He would laugh and tell jokes about everything. Our life, our street, the things he saw in the city and things ponies said or did at some point. It felt good. To laugh.
To smile.
Like the sun of the first days of spring. It felt so warm on your face, promising a season that did not require building fires out of smelly garbage and stealing extra sweaters and coats. A pleasant, warm feeling. That's how Ross made me feel.
The next time we were robbing a store, the owner suddenly pulled out a bat and took a swing at Ross. I watched it in slow motion. All the jokes and laughs we had together, ran through my mind. I liked Ross. And someone was going to hurt him.
That didn't sit well with me. That didn't sit well with me at all.
I jumped in the middle and took the hit in my shoulder. It hurt, but the pain quickly faded as I let anger take over me. I don't quite remember what happened. I just remember Ross pulling me off the store owner and begging me to stop.
The store owner was sobbing. A grown stallion. Sobbing. The baby.
I never cried when I was in pain. Why bother? Its not gonna hurt any less and no one will help you.
But I did help Ross, I guess. I wonder if he would help me, if I was in trouble. I liked to think that he would.
After we returned to the alley, he took me aside and started asked weird questions. Like: "Why do I always go overboard?" and "You don't have to hurt ponies so much" They have families, he said. They're not being mean, they're just protecting whats theirs.
I didn't quite get what he was trying to say, but I gathered he didn't want me to be so brutal in combat.
I tolled him if I ever showed any mercy, I would have ended up dead. He just smiled and patted me on the shoulder.
His smile was a little sad for some reason.
Ross didn't live on the streets for as long as I have. He didn't understand yet... or so I thought.
* * *
I tried to steal from a bakery by myself once. When the owner caught me and I was about to hit him, his daughter ran out and clung to his hoof.
"Don't hurt daddy!" she screamed at me: "Don't hurt him!"
I walked away without food on that day. Her face just wouldn't leave me alone. She was protecting her father, just as I was protecting Ross. It made me feel very strange... Bad... in a way that I've never felt before.
I looked at my reflection in some window I passed. I looked terrifying.
Like some monster that could scare children. I did scare children...
I just... wasn't sure how else to live.
I lived a horrible life. Every day was a new struggle to get through the day. I survived only by using brute force, but it was starting to feel wrong somehow. Why? Why now?
Was it Ross? Was it his fault? I never had trouble rationalizing before. I'll have to talk to him about this when I get back, I cannot afford to second guess myself if I want to survive.
"Survive? To do what?" Ross asked me with a frown: "What is your goal anyway?"
I didn't quite understood him. A goal? I just wanted to live.
"Can you at least be more... gentle?"
When I raised an eyebrow Ross sighed: "You don't have to be so cruel to ponies"
"I'm not cruel" I said "If I don't exercise force, they will not learn"
Ross gave me another sad smile when it finally happened - a rival gang that was encroaching on our streets for months, had finally decided the only way forward, was to take us out of the picture.
They came prepared. Blunt weapons and knives. Bats, pipes. They came here to kill.
I saw it in their eyes right away.
A fight started. I have never seen so much blood before. Members of my gang started to die. I didn't particularly care. I only cared about Ross. And me. I guess that was my goal? For us to survive?
I fought them. Hard. And didn't hold back. It helped that I was a head taller than everyone else. I towered above them, a hulking monster out for a fight. But after a while, I realized that me and Ross were the only ones left from my gang. The others had died. And still too many opponents remained.
They surrounded me and hit my knees with a bat. I fell.
And they just kept hitting me, as I laid in the mud. It hurt. It hurt like it never did in my life. I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness. I was going to die. But for some reason, it didn't bother me. Maybe I was just tired of the life I had lived. Tired of the constant pain, hunger and cold I had to deal with. Tired of the disgusting smell of the alley. Tired of everyone frowning at me, no matter where I would go.
I was tired. I didn't care if I died...
I only cared about Ross.
I don't know when it happened. When the switch flipped and I suddenly cared about his life more than my own. Maybe somewhere during the laughs that we had. Maybe, I just wanted to protect the one man that made me feel happy. So long as he lived, I didn't care what happened to me.
I opened my eyes. Blood was obscuring my vision but it seemed like my enemies have left me for dead.
They were standing over Ross, who was laying on the ground just a few meters away. Some stallion was beating him up. Ross didn't move.
"Stop..." I mumbled and coughed up some blood: "...stop it" I muttered.
One of the gang members turned and looked in my way. He was smirking:
"Stay down, little filly, in the garbage where you belong" he said with a laugh.
"Stop it..." I whispered, frowning at him: "... or I will kill you"
They burst out in laughter. I guess it did seem funny. A mare laying in garbage, unable to stand, was threatening to take their life from them. As I tried to get back on my hooves, one of them ran up to me and hit my hooves with a bat.
I crashed back to the ground with a scream.
They were laughing. At me. At Ross. They were laughing.
I rolled back to my stomach and tried to get up again. The blow to my back was so hard, I almost lost consciousness all over again.
"pathetic" one of them spit with disgust.
"...back...off" I muttered through gritted teeth. As I tried to get up again, they hit me hard on the head. I saw starts, and darkness started to swallow me. I shook it off.
"Why do you keep getting up? Why do you bother protecting him" one of them pointed at Ross with a smirk: "You think you're special? You think you're some noble hero, fighting for others? Its every man for himself! You can't save him! You can't even save yourself. Stop getting up and die quietly in the garbage! What the hell made you think you can survive in this world!?"
They started laughing again. They were laughing at me as I laid in the mud. I gritted my teeth.
Every inch of my body hurt. I felt more pain than I ever did in my life. I had a feeling, it was not only my body that hurt...
I roared and began pushing myself off the ground. Mud was falling down from my hair. Blood was dripping from my mouth.
The laughter momentarily stopped.
"Why do you keep getting up" one of them asked: "You lowly piece of trash".
"My name... is Lisa"
I grabbed the sharp little object I felt under my hooves and ran it into the neck of the nearest idiot. Used his body for cover. As the rest of them charged at me, I let loose the monster that lived in my heart. I had no restraint. No remorse. No mercy.
I knew how to kill and I knew how to cause pain. And I made sure they suffered hard before light faded away from their eyes.
When I was done, I sighed and slowly scanned my surroundings.
I saw Ross, laying still on the ground.
I had forgotten about him. Why. How did I allow myself to forget?
I stumbled towards him, crouched down and took him into my hooves. He looked peaceful. Quiet.
I gently shook him but there was no response.
I called his name, but he didn't answer. I gritted my teeth and gently shook him again.
He wouldn't wake up. No matter how many times I called his name, he didn't wake up.
I felt warm tears falling down from my eyes, as I held Ross close to me. I cried and I couldn't stop myself anymore. I didn't want to.
"...some are born strong. They will always be strong and you're one of them" a voice rang and I turned around to find a group of ponies standing behind me. They were from the rival gang, the ones that came here to kill us. There were more of them and I did not even notice.
They did not seem hostile though. And they made no effort to threaten me. They just stood there and watched as one of them spoke:
"... No matter how hard you try, you won't escape fate. You are a cold blooded monster, destined to be one, all of your life. You only care for yourself and your own survival. The moment you thought otherwise was the moment you fooled yourself.
You will never save others. You can't.
How can you, if you've never showed compassion in all of your life. While you tortured your enemies, your friend bled out on the street. Maybe you could have saved him but you forgot.
Its fine. You shouldn't feel bad about it. Its what you are. A survivor. Only your life matters. You will never show compassion to anyone, because you understand, the moment you pity a pony, is the moment you die"
* * *
I blinked and shook off the memories of my past. I was in the middle of a grassy hill, of the training course seven. Shadow was laying on the cold, grassy ground. A hulking pegasus loomed over him: "...pathetic" he threw with disgust: "Are you really that weak?"
The wind carried every last word to me, as I ran to the hill.
"You think you're special?" the hulking pegasus smirked: "What the hell made you think you can be a Wonderbolt?"
Shadow made an effort to rise and the other recruit kicked him hard in the face. Even then, Shadow tried to get up again. He always tried to get up.
"The Wonderbolts need to be strong enough to save others... you can't even save yourself..." the hulking pegasus scowled:
"... some are born weak. They will always be weak and you're one of them. No matter how hard you try, you won't escape fate. You are destined to be weak, all of your life! Stop getting up already!!!" he shrieked as Shadow slowly rose up again, his hooves shaking, completely covered in blood stains and mud.
I sprinted toward them as fast as I could. I felt something warm, rolling down from my cheeks. It was rain... just rain.
A strange, sad smile appeared on my lips.
He's like me. He's just like me.
"You couldn't even protect your own family!" the hulking pegasus threw with disgust: "I bet you just watched as they died, right in front of you, because you were too useless to-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP" Shadow roared and smashed into him. They fought briefly until the hulking recruit fell to the ground. Shadow stood over him.
For a moment I thought Shadow would jump down and keep hitting the recruit but he didn't move. He just stood there. So still. So quiet.
"Hit me again..." the recruit on the ground called: "let it loose... you're anger... the only weapon you'll ever have"
"No " Shadow quietly said. The pegasus stared at him in confusion, which quickly turned into anger:
"Didn't I piss you off!? You gonna take mercy on your enemies too?!"
"Yeah" Shadow quietly said.
"You are a bloody fool" the pegasus muttered: "...you will remain weak all your life. You will never save anyone, and the next time you will pity your enemy, you will die-"
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN!!!" Shadow screamed.
I froze in my tracks.
"I WILL NOT MURDER ANOTHER OUT OF FEAR FOR MY LIFE! I DON'T CARE IF I CANNOT SAVE ANYONE! I WILL KEEP TRYING UNTIL I WILL DIE! IF I CAN SAVE EVEN ONE - IT'LL BE WORTH IT!!!"
"SHADOW!" a heavy roar echoed across the field and I slowly stepped into view. I don't know what my expression looked like. I only hoped it was obscured by the rain. Shadow quietly looked at me in shame as I slowly approached.
I waited several moments before I spoke. My voice was deathly quiet:
"... time has run out... you have failed the assignment... recruit Shadow, follow me"
"L-Lieutenant" Shadow stretched his hoof toward me but I turned away:
"Keep your mind on the goal and don't run your mouth next time" I quietly said and marched on into the downpour.
And Shadow quietly followed.
* * *
The long walk back to the office complex was uneventful. Shadow quietly followed in silence. I never tolled him where we were going and he didn't ask. As we entered the building and began nearing the offices of the high ranking staff, leaving puddles and mud everywhere, an elderly mare in civilian clothing suddenly appeared out of nowhere and effectively blocked our path.
Her eyes immediately darted to Shadow. He seemed to have recognized her and caught a look that said he wished the earth had swallow him whole, so he won't have to endure the shame.
"Well well..." the elderly mare said, pulling out a crumpled letter and waving it in the air: "All these years and this is the goodbye I get from you?"
"...I'm sorry Mrs. Perry" Shadow quietly said, looking away, trying to seem as small as possible.
The elderly mare shook her head and looked at me: "Oh, good afternoon. I'm sorry, I am Mrs. Perry, the head of the Canterlot orphanage" She brightly smiled to me: "I understand that two of my lovely kids have infiltrated your academy?" she said with a laugh "Shadow and Night Storm?"
"Yes" I nodded and shook her hoof: "It's a pleasure to meet the mare responsible for raising such decent and kindhearted men"
"Oh please" Mrs. Perry pleasantly laughed: "I bet those trouble makers are just about done wrecking your academy by now"
"Not at all" I said with a smile: "Both Night Storm and Shadow have demonstrated only responsible and decent behavior, and I believe they will become exemplary Wonderbolts in the next year. The academy is lucky to have them"
Mrs. Perry paused, seeming pleasantly surprised: "...really" she said, waited a moment and looked at Shadow with loving eyes. He sheepishly smiled to her.
"Yes" I nodded "They both show much promise"
"Well..." Mrs. Perry smiled: "I must admit, knowing those two will one day watch over me, warms my heart. Thank you for looking after them dear" she smiled to me.
I smiled back: "Thank you"
Mrs. Perry waited a moment, ruffled Shadows hair and waved him goodbye before we continued on through the building. After a few minutes of walking, Shadow uneasily called me by rank and came to a stop. We were in a deserted corridor, far from the noise of the rest of the building. He looked at his hooves and quietly said:
"Thank you..."
I looked at him and he gave a sad smile: "Thank you for lying for me. If she knew I was getting kicked out of the academy, I think it would break her heart"
"I didn't lie" I simply said and opened the nearest door.
"SIR!" I barked as I marched in and saluted.
The Commander of the Wonderbolt Academy was sitting before us, in his cozy office. Shadow caught a stunned look and quickly snapped a salute to the commander as well.
The Commander seemed to be surprised as well. He looked at me and Shadow, standing at attention and saluting in the middle of his office.
Before anyone understood what was happening, I blinked and said in a firm voice:
"I request to personally supervise the training of recruit Shadow, as he works toward becoming a Wonderbolt"
Dead silence fell over the room as both Shadow and the Commander stared at me, completely stunned to their core.
My expression remained firm and I waited in silence as they tried to process what they just heard.
"Lieutenant..." The commander finally recovered after my outburst: "... what were the results of the recruits exams?"
"Failed. Every one" I said in a firm voice. The commanders eyebrows flew up.
"Lieutenant... you are aware that failing even One of those exams immediately results in the recruit being booted?"
"Yes sir!" I said, keeping a firm expression.
"And you still want him to continue the training?" The Commander looked at me, squinting "Why"
"Beside the reason I gave yesterday sir, the recruit showed exceptional tactical skill. He is determined and smart. The recruits listen to him. He has the potential to lead. It is a rare thing"
"You mentioned that he failed the last exercise?" The Commander asked, frowning.
"Yes sir" I nodded: "His plan execution needs polishing, but he did outmaneuver my team. The only thing lacking is his physical strength. The academy can help him raise that"
I stepped forward:
"He can become an exemplary Wonderbolt! He just needs physical training. As officers, isn't that what we're here for? To train him?"
The Commander leaned back in his seat and released a long sigh: "... lets say... hypothetically... that I agree to this" he looked at Shadow:
"You do realize son, that it will require a doubled effort on your part? While everyone else will go to the barracks at the end of the day, you'll have to keep training while everyone else is sound asleep? Are you ready for that kind of pressure"
Shadow was still staring into space, looking stunned and I had to step on his hoof. He jerked and nervously barked:
"YES SIR!"
"Alright" the Commander nodded: "Let me see his detailed exam results... I need to know what I'm getting into"
I walked up to his desk and handed him a sheet of paper. He quickly looked over it and covered his eyes:
"Shadow..." he said with a sigh: "You do know that our academy was once famous for training the most Elite flyers in the world?"
"Yes... sir..." Shadow looked away and his ears fell.
The commander was hopelessly staring at the paper I gave him: "...son... I'm not quite sure but... this may very well go on record, as the worst flying score, that anyone has ever got, in the history of this academy"
"... s-sir" Shadow mumbled: "T-there are... earth pony and unicorn squads I could join... if you... allow... sir"
"You're a PEGASUS , for the love of god!" The Commander yelled and fell back in his chair: "You gonna fly... you bloody better. I swear to god, this academy will not release a pegasi Wonderbolt who cant fly... Lieutenant!"
"Sir!" I snapped to attention.
"Supervise his training! Especially flying! The recruits are about to begin their twelve month training course. If he does not meet the minimum required standards, he's out! No second chances! If he gets injured due to his physical condition, I'm holding you personally responsible!" he barked at me: "Do you still want to go through with this?"
I firmly nodded with a smile: "Yes sir"
"Good, get out of my office" he waved us out with a resigned expression and we stepped outside.
I closed the door behind us and noticed Shadow still had a completely stunned look on his face. I couldn't help but smile a little.
"Ma'am?" he asked after a moment: "...why did you do that?" he looked at me.
"I am a training officer" I said with a nod "Its my job"
"...thank you" he smiled and I smiled back.
I looked out the window and noticed that the rain has stopped. Bright sun rays began to peak through the clouds.
I smiled to myself.
If I can save even one, it'll be worth it... huh
Present Day
"...Lieutenant"
"NO!" Lisa barked at the top of her lungs: "RIGHT NOW - I'M NOT YOUR LIEUTENANT! I AM YOUR WORST ENEMY !!!"
Streaks of sweat were slowly running down Shadows face, as he struggled to stay on his hooves, tightly grasping the hilt of a wooden sword. In front of him, Lisa was scowling, holding her training weapon and ready to strike. They were slowly moving in a circle around each other, in the middle of a closed gym.
"IF YOU HOLD BACK AGAIN - I WILL LEAVE YOU A BRUISE THE SIZE OF A FOOTBALL!!!" Lisa shrieked, her voice slightly echoing across the room: "AGAIN!" she barked and lashed out.
Shadow moved his body out of her line of attack, but one of his hooves was left in place and it got hit by Lisa's sword. Shadow yelped in pain, dropping his weapon. Lisa rammed her knee into his stomach and threw him to the ground. They were both wearing protective gear on their chests but you could still feel the kick pretty good. Lisa sighed. Her anger vanished like it was never there to begin with.
During the past six months of training together, Shadow began to pick up when Lisa was actually mad and when she was acting, trying to simulate a real life situation. Judging by how quickly she lost her frown, right now she was acting. Shadow was still on his back, attempting to catch his breath.
Lisa shook her head: "You know, for someone who's cutie mark is a sword, you'd think you'd at least be good at sword fighting"
Shadow attempted to squeeze out a smile but the pain made him stop that endeavor.
"Honestly, its like sword fighting is not even your real talent" Lisa extended her hoof and unceremoniously pulled Shadow up.
"You think so, hahaa?" Shadow squeezed out a friendly laugh: "T-that's crazy"
"Could have lost your hoof there" Lisa looked at him: "You can't forget to move your entire body from line of attack. Even if you lost your sword, you can still attack with your hooves. Don't forget that"
Shadow was rubbing his chest plate, trying not to show he's in pain. Lisa moved some distance away and raised her weapon: "Again"
Shadow quickly picked up his sword. Lisa made a slashing move, from top to bottom. Shadow moved out of the way and attempted a slashing movement. Lisa grabbed his elbow, stopping his attack, hit him in the knee and a second later he crashed back to the ground again.
"You're telegraphing your attack. Too much unnecessary movement. Again"
Shadow slowly rose up and lifted his sword. He blinked, slowly exhaling. Lisa was moving around him, just out of reach. Her sword dangerously pointed at his neck. She suddenly jerked forward. Shadow instinctively flinched to the side, lashed out with his weapon and Lisa's sword flew across the room.
"... I did it!" Shadow smiled before a heavy kick sent him flying backwards, crashing hard on his back again. Being hit by Lisa's hooves was akin to being struck by a sledgehammer. Shadow coughed, trying to catch his breath again.
Lisa quietly sighed, rubbing her face: "Ok, break time, take five" She slowly walked up to Shadow and gently helped him back on his hooves:
"Shadow" she hopelessly said: "I can still attack with my hooves. Just because I lost my sword, doesn't mean the battle's over. You need to keep fighting until the enemy is either dead or knocked out, understand?"
"Yes... ma'am" Shadow quietly sighed.
"... you alright?" Lisa asked, trying to look into his eyes.
Shadow emitted a sheepish laugh: "Of course, I'm totally fine! You don't have to worry about me"
"Right" Lisa moved away shaking her head. The speakers planted on the ceiling suddenly came to life and the Commanders raspy voice echoed across the room:
"All combat personnel, report to HQ. All combat personnel, report to- "
Lisa scowled and broke into a run toward the door. Shadow enthusiastically ran after her:
"Is something wrong?" he asked, running next to her.
"Don't know" Lisa quietly said. Her expression was slowly turning into an unreadable mask.
"Can I help?" Shadow asked with a smile.
"Are you certified for combat?" Lisa attempted to mimic his smile.
"N-no..." Shadow looked away.
"Then keep training" Lisa gently hit him on the shoulder and ran out the door: "Take a break then keep training!"
"Ok..." Shadow came to a stop and watched as Lisa vanished from view.
* * *
Storm was sitting on one of the grassy hills of the academy, chatting and laughing with a few trainees when Shadow slowly flew up to them and folded his wings. Storm gave him a mischievous look:
"Aren't you supposed to be training right now?"
"I.. am" Shadow looked away: "Just, taking a break... was ordered to! ..take a break.."
"Sure thing" Storm caught a smile: "... you asked her out yet?"
"What? No! Storm !!!" Shadow barked. Storm fell on his back laughing.
"She's my superior officer!" Shadow frowned, catching a red tint.
"Uhu" Storm sat up again: "I guess you just respect her is all"
"I do" Shadow looked away, waited a moment and sat down as well: "... I've been training with her for, six months now, ever since I got to the academy. She moved mountains to give me a chance to train here and she didn't have to. I heard she's one of the strongest soldiers in the academy. She can do anything, save anyone, no matter what" Shadow looked at the horizon: "I think that's really cool"
"She's cool huh?" Storm grinned: "You gonna ask her out or what?"
"Storm!" Shadow barked: "Its not like that! Besides-" he looked away: "She's five years older than me, she'd never.. I mean why would she even want to hang out with some idiot like me. I'm too young and stupid"
"Oooooh noooooo" Storm comically said: "Five year gap, that's soooo muuuuch. Shadow, she will never look at you-" he broke into a laugh: "Are you serious with me right now man?!"
"Go away" Shadow slightly pushed Storm in the chest.
"But I was here in the first place" Storm laughed: "Oh! Dude! Have you heard? We're being split into squads of five next week. The brass is making a list of potential squad leaders, I bet you'd be on that list mate"
"I doubt it" Shadow scratched the back of his neck: "I miserably failed the exam session last week, Lisa was face palming herself so hard I thought she was gonna give herself a concussion"
"That's the physical exams!!" Storm enthusiastically waved his hooves: "I'm talking about field tactics! You're good at those! So anyway-"
Storm froze as a massive shadow suddenly passed over them. Dozens of Wonderbolts took off in unison and flew in a close formation over the students, streaking through the sky and toward the horizon.
"Wooaaah..." Storm stared at them in awe: "So many..."
"Two hundred fifty one" a quiet voice said and Storm looked at a gray, earth pony, sitting some distance away. He had a short knife in his hooves, absentmindedly practicing a graceful trick with it, on a safe distance from others. He was staring into space somewhere as he quietly spoke again: "The entire combat unit of this region is leaving. Academy staff, career soldiers, reserve forces. Everyone"
"Where are they going?" Shadow quietly asked.
"...far" the gray pony replied: "They packed provisions for several days. Look" he pointed at the heavy traveling bags, strapped to the Wonderbolts: "Something big is happening, far from here"
"...Wish I could be with them" Shadow quietly said: "All this training and in the end, it counts for nothing"
"Come on man" Storm shook his shoulder: "Half a year from now, we'll be right there with them"
"Yeah..." Shadow looked down.
Storm grinned: "So fellows... seeing as most, if not all of our staff has left the premises, I do believe a short visit to the bar is in order!"
"What? No" Shadow quickly began shaking his head.
"We need to unwind! Especially you!" Storm grabbed Shadow and pulled him up: "A quick visit to the local village will cheer you up!"
"No, Storm! We gonna get in trouble!" Shadow attempted to protest but two dozen other trainees sitting near by began emitting cheery noises, grabbed Shadow and that was the end of his struggle.
* * *
There was a small fishing village built near the academy grounds. A wide and beautiful river ran close, providing a source of food for the locals and much needed fun for the foals. The village was buzzing with activity, ponies were preparing fish at the market, fixing their boats or just heading home. Several ponies were unloading a cart full of bags of flour, for the local bakery. Foals were happily running around, their laughter echoing across the village.
Sometimes the ponies would stop to gawk at the twenty something Wonderbolt trainees, slowly making their way through the village in their shiny, new uniforms.
"I'm dead. I am going to die" Shadow mumbled to himself as they marched into the local bar.
"Come on lad" Storm smiled: "Didn't you say you were on a break?"
"I'm pretty sure when my commanding officer said 'Take a break' she didn't mean me leaving the academy grounds for two hours, visiting local bars" Shadow hopelessly fell into a chair.
"It'll be fuun" Storm slapped him over the shoulder then marched to the counter with a shining smile: "Drinks for twenty Wonderbolts please!"
"Ah!" The bar keeper smiled: "Soldiers get discounts in my place!"
"AWESOOME!" Storm screamed, throwing his hooves in the air. The trainees began to disperse around the bar, drinking and laughing aloud.
Storm enthusiastically returned to Shadow with drinks and sat next to him: "So, I've been thinking, every squad needs a name right? Something that will instill fear in the hearts of our enemies and inspire heroic deeds from our comrades! Ideas?"
"Uuuuhhh..." Shadow mumbled, staring into space with a hopeless expression.
"You're drinks getting warm" Storm hit him over the shoulder: "Relax while you're here yeah?"
"...Stiletto" a quiet voice rang and the two noticed the gray looking pony from earlier. He was sitting some distance away, staring into space. His knife safely strapped to his belt. He felt the two looking at him and turned in their direction: "... Stiletto is a kind of knife. Small but deadly. Like a squad should be"
Storm and Shadow looked at him for a moment before Storm grinned: "I like it. Hey whats you're name buddy?"
"...Rahzor" the gray pony replied then returned to stare into space.
Storm waited a moment before slapping Shadow across the shoulder again: "So dude, I've been meaning to ask-"
The sound of breaking wood suddenly echoed across the village. Seconds later the shrieks of dozens came from outside. As the trainees got up and walked toward the bars exit, they saw a sea of ponies running away from something.
A moment passed before a group of figures in military grade armor came into view. They slowly marched through the village, their swords unsheathed. Several citizens didn't manage to get out of their way in time. The figures in armor readied their swords.
Unbearable shrieks echoed across the village. Blood painted the ground.
The figures in armor broke into a sprint, chasing down everyone they could see. Their blades and armor stained red.
Shadow froze. He kept blinking over and over but his mind could not comprehend what was happening. He was here, in this village and yet he was back home in the Whispering Valley. The images blurred in his mind. Horror and death spread like a wild fire, consuming everything in its path. Years passed, yet he was back in this place, helplessly watching his village burn to the ground. There was nothing he could do. He was just a child again.
Several village guards appeared on the streets. They screamed in rage and charged the figures in armor. Shadow flinched and covered his eyes, but the screaming of dying guards rang unbearably in his mind. He couldn't shut it out. Unspeakable horror was closing in on him again, covering him in a blanket of darkness. He was a dumb child. The village idiot, useless in every way, unfit and incapable of raising his sword to stop the march of destruction.
His fathers face flashed before his eyes. His dying scream echoed inside his mind again:
"...run" his father whispered: "Get out of the village"
"But... you said-" Sam quietly sobbed.
"And now I'm telling you to go" his father heavily exhaled looking at him. Sam's eyes widened, he opened and closed his mouth again several times without saying a word. His father smiled and gently ruffled his hair:
"...Your weakness does not disappoint me Sam. Carpentry, construction. These are all honorable jobs if you don't have the strength to wield a sword into combat. You can be anything you want. I love you, son. I only want you to live"
"I'm sorry" Sam smiled as tears fell down his face: "I don't think I can run anymore. I am weak, useless and I don't have the strength to wield a sword into combat but... I will try. This is my choice. It wasn't my fate but this is who I am now. This is who I choose to be. My name is Shadow"
The child named Sam was gone. Shadow blinked and marched out of the bar, toward the group of figures in heavy armor. Someone tackled him from behind and pinned him hard to the ground:
"SHADOW WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" one of the trainees shrieked in his ear.
"Let me go!" Shadow roared: "I'M GOING DOWN THERE!!!"
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!?!" the trainee screamed: "THEY HAVE WEAPONS - WE DON'T - AND THEY'RE HEAVILY ARMORED" he was shrieking so hard, spit was flying out of his mouth: "THEY JUST WIPED THE FLOOR WITH THOSE GUARDS. WHAT BLOODY CHANCE DO WE HAVE - WE'RE NOT READY FOR THIS - WE'RE NOT EVEN SOLDIERS YET! THEY WILL KILL US AND WE WILL DIE FOR NOTHING! WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE! LET SOMEONE ELSE DO IT!"
"There's nobody else" Shadow quietly said: "Academy's entire staff left for a mission somewhere, very far. Even if we got a message to them, they'll never get here in time"
"SHADOW - YOUR FIGHTING SKILL SUCKS - THEY WILL KILL YOU" the trainee shrieked.
"Ponies are dying. I will not stand by and watch" Shadow replied.
"SHADOW - YOU WILL GET US KILLED - STOP ATTRACTING ATTENTION - WE HAVE TO RUN!!!" several trainees shrieked.
"THEN RUN GOD DAMN IT" Shadow roared and pushed the trainee off of him. Several students surrounded him, their expression distorted with panic and hate. Shadow felt a blow to his head and everything fell into darkness.
* * *
The dirty floor of the bar slowly came into view. Broken glass and scattered news papers littered the area. The place was deserted, apart from three ponies in Wonderbolt uniforms, sitting in a close circle over Shadow.
"Wh-what happened" Shadow quietly whispered: "Where's everyone"
"Gone. Deserted." Storm said with a grim face. Next to him, Shadow saw Rahzor and another mare from their class.
"...no one else stayed to fight?" Shadow whispered.
"Spineless trash" Storm muttered with disgust: "Half our class is getting booted tomorrow, I swear-"
"Shhh" Rahzor called: "They're coming close again" he said, looking out the window.
"...whats happening?" Shadow whispered after a minute.
"All the trainee's ran" Storm scowled: "Only the four of us left. Those monsters outside killed everyone in their path then marched into some large building at the end of the village. Most of them are still there. A few patrolling outside. They stayed out of the houses, Shadow-" Storm looked at him: "I think there are still civilians inside. Survivors. Some ponies hid in their homes, we have to save them"
"We can't attack head on" Rahzor quietly said: "It will accomplish nothing"
"You're right" Shadow whispered, slowly sat up and rubbed his face: "Ok... ok. There are four of us. Do we know how many hostiles are out there?"
"I counted thirty" Rahzor replied: "Most went inside that building at the edge of the village. Six are patrolling outside"
"Ok" Shadow blinked, trying to focus his thoughts: "Ok, so, they outnumber us. They are better trained, and heavily armored. They have weapons, we don't. We can't take them in a straight up fight. So, first objective is acquiring weapons. Maybe we can get the swords of the village guards. Failing that, we can try picking off the patrols outside. Quietly, covertly. Without engaging in direct combat. We can take their gear later"
"How can we pick them off without fighting them" the mare quietly asked.
"I still have this" Rahzor slowly unsheathed the knife from his belt.
"Ok, I think I know what to do" Shadow nodded: "Four of us is enough" He looked at the mare: "What's your name?"
"Sky" the mare softly replied. She looked shaken and terrified to the core. But she didn't leave and now shivered in the bar next to the rest of them.
"Work together, work as a team" Shadow nodded: "I think we can do this"
* * *
A hulking figure in heavy armor was slowly making its way through the village. It was quiet, only the wind gusted through the deserted streets. Suddenly a purple pegasus ran into the path of the figure, gasped in horror, tripped and fell down. The figure smirked, raising its sword.
"No, please" the pegasus begged, staring into the eyes of the figure. At that moment, Rahzor silently jumped down from the nearby roof and ran his knife into the back of the figures neck. The hulking pony fell down to the ground and the purple pegasus slowly rose back to his hooves: "Ok, take his weapons"
Storm and Sky jumped down from the roof and began searching the body: "Two knives, a sword, this is perfect" Storm nodded with a smirk.
"Sky" Shadow called: "Take his armor. Put it on. We'll get ours from the other guys"
"Why am I first to get armor?" Sky slightly frowned: "Just because I'm a girl you say this!"
"N-no" Shadow sheepishly smiled: "You're just the tallest in the group and this guy is pretty tall too. I don't think the armor would fit the rest of us"
"Right" Sky narrowed her eyes but went to get the armor after a moment.
"Ok, same plan" Shadow nodded: "I'm bait, Rahzor jumps down from the roof. If it doesn't work, Sky and Storm move in from different directions at the same time. Its not easy fighting four ponies at once, even if the enemy's trained better"
The four ponies nodded and dispersed.
Relative quiet remained over the village for several minutes. A figure patrolling next to a particularly large building, suddenly froze as he heard a muffled scream in the distance. He readied his sword and sprinted ahead. As he rounded the corner he saw four ponies, crouched next to a body of his comrade.
The figure roared and charged forward. The four ponies froze in panic for a split second before one of them jumped forward and crossed swords with the figure:
"SAME PLAN!" Sky shrieked as she tried to stand firm under the heavy attacks of her opponent. It took everything she had just not to get hit. Her defense was getting weaker with each strike of her enemy. Shadow zoomed over the opponent and tried to attack from up top. The enemy suddenly jerked forward, Sky's sword flew out of her hooves. With the same movement the enemy turned and kicked Shadow right in his face, as he flew down.
Shadow crashed hard into the side of a building. Storm jumped forward, cutting the air with his sword and was sent crashing down into the ground. The enemy looked around and noticed Rahzor. They gray pony was doing the same trick with his knife that he practiced on the academy grounds when Shadow first saw him.
The knife danced in his hooves, constantly changing direction as Rahzor slowly walked forward. But his knife was too short, the enemies sword had far more reach and they booth understood that. The enemy pony jerked forward, slashing the air with frightening speed, but the attack was never completed - Shadow grabbed his elbow from behind, making the sword fly off course.
The enemy roared, slamming his elbow hard into Shadows face, then suddenly froze, as he felt the cold steel of Rahzor's knife, stuck in his neck.
The enemy pony stared in disbelief at the cold, dark eyes of his killer, before he slowly fell down to the ground and went silent.
"Shadow" Rahzor knelt down and looked at his squad mate.
"Just a bruise" Shadow mumbled, trying to get back on his hooves. The entire right half of his face became swollen, after he got hit there several times.
"That's all of them outside" Storm quietly whispered as Sky helped him up.
"Sky" Shadow nodded: "Start going through the houses and getting ponies out of the village. The rest of us will go that building, where most of the enemy vanished and see whats going on. If anything happens, we'll try to slow them down so the civilians can get away"
"Got it" Sky nodded and quickly vanished from view.
"Ok" Storm nodded: "We got armor, we got weapons. We're alive. Now-"
He suddenly froze as he heard something. A small, muffled sound coming from the ground. Rahzor took a few steps forward, knelt down and picked up a small, shining object.
"...A communication crystal" he quietly said: "Equestrian made. One of the guards must have dropped it"
The crystal suddenly shined and a muffled voice came from inside:"
"Can anyone hear us? Please... someone... we need help!" the voice begged: "Is anyone out there?"
Shadow leaned closer to the crystal and whispered: "We're here... who is it?"
"Oh thank god" a mares voice came from the other side. Its sounds like she's crying: "Please, we're being held hostage by someone, in the villages warehouse... they're doing something to the floor, I think... I think there's something underground, I've never seen anything like it before..."
"Its the building where the other enemies went" Storm quietly said.
"Please, get us out of here" the mare quietly cried: "You... you can get us out right? There are still guards left alive right?"
"N-no... we're.. not the village guards..." Shadow said and looked down: "But we'll do our best to get you out safely"
"Oh my god..." the mare broke into a cry: "The guards are dead, aren't they? We're all doomed"
Shadow gritted his teeth. He stood a moment in silence before he took hold of the crystal and spoke in a clear voice:
"This is Wonberbolt Strike Team, callsign Stiletto. We're getting you out"
"W-Wonderbolts?" the mare whispered in disbelief: "I... I thought you all left somewhere..."
"Not all of us" Shadow nodded: "Hang on, we're-"
"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO!" A gravely voice suddenly yelled from the crystal.
"Oh my god - No!!" the mare cried: "NO PLEASE!!! AAAAAAAAAAAGHH" her screamed was suddenly cut off as the unmistakable sound of a striking sword rang from the crystal.
Shadow gritted his teeth. He grasped the crystal so hard, his knuckles turned white.
"Stilettooo..." a gravely voice called from the crystal: "Come in here before we run out of hostages..." raspy laughter from the crystal was interrupted by another blood chilling scream.
"BASTARD!!!" Shadow roared and smashed his hoof into the wall.
* * *
The warehouse was a large building with a very tall ceiling. The shelves with various boxes were pushed against the walls and several dozen civilians sat in the middle. Frightened, shaking, they tried not to look at the two of their friends who laid motionless, some distance away. Four figures in heavy armor were patrolling in a circle around them.
Some distance away, a large opening was seen in the floor, revealing a wide set of stairs leading deep underground. Sometimes, muffled noises of explosions and lightning rang from down there and the ponies in the warehouse shivered in fear.
Suddenly, every window in the warehouse exploded. Several ruptured bags of flour flew in and the area became briefly engulfed in a white cloud. Shadowy silhouettes flew in from the top and came crashing down on the enemies. Panicked shrieks filled the warehouse. The civilians screamed and rushed to the door. Just as they did, the doors opened and Sky appeared in the entrance:
"RUUN! THIS WAY!" She motioned the ponies to follow.
"Shadow!" Storm yelled: "I can't find the last one!"
The clouds began to settle and Shadow turned pale as he saw Rahzor laying on the ground, some distance away. His chest was moving. He was still breathing but another armored figure suddenly stepped into view. It locked eyes with Shadow, then looked at Rahzor and smiled. And instead of bringing his sword down on his comrade, the enemy suddenly tackled a civilian in the crowd.
A mare. She fell hard to the ground and stared in horror as the enemy figure approached.
"MOMMY!!" a filly's voice called and a small foal ran out of the crowd
"No!" Lily! Stay back!" the mare screamed, turned around and saw the sword flash before her eyes.
Shadow froze. Something was trying to make sense of it all in his mind, but it never did.
Why.
Why like this.
Why are they so cruel.
He gritted his teeth. The enemy pony smiled before he suddenly flinched and his fur caught fire.
"BASTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARD!!!" Storm was shrieking at the top of his lungs: "I WILL END - ALL OF YOU!!!" His eyes began turning red. His body was starting to get engulfed in a dangerous light. The old scar on his chest suddenly shined bright red, right through the uniform.
"...Storm.." Shadow quietly called: "Storm-"
"I WILL BURN YOU ALIVE - ALL OF YOU!!!" Storm shrieked, red strips of light began dancing over his body. His voice was saturated with venom and uncontrollable rage. The last enemy pony cried with indescribable pain, stumbling blinding throughout the warehouse before he finally fell down and went silent.
"Storm! Stop it!" Shadow screamed but the lights around Storm only grew brighter.
"Monsters... demons..." he quietly whispered: "I will burn you off the face of the planet. This is why I was born" Storm muttered, his voice started to change, becoming more low by the second: "This is why I survived" he looked at the scar on his chest. It was shining bright red, just like the Medallion did, on the day Shadow saw their own village burn.
Storm was slowly rising above ground, scanning the area for anything moving, fresh fires beginning to dance over his hooves. And then he froze.
A filly's soft cry made him stop. He looked to the side and noticed Shadow, holding a small filly. He was shielding her, from Storm.
Storm closed his eyes. The flames around him vanished and he slowly stepped back on the ground. The filly kept crying and Shadow gently patted her head: "Shhh, its ok, its ok" he whispered: "Everything's ok now"
Sky slowly approached and Shadow nodded to her, then looked at the filly: "Whats your name?"
"...L-Lily" the filly quietly sobbed.
"Lily" Shadow smiled: "This is Sky, she will take you away from here now, ok?"
"...Ok" the filly quietly said. Sky picked her up and looked at Shadow: "What are you gonna do?"
"There's still twenty hostiles downstairs" Shadow grimly replied: "After the noise we just made, they're probably rushing back up here. If they come out of that tunnel, they will kill everyone" Shadow blinked: "Someone needs to hold them back, long enough for all the civilians to flee"
"S-Shadow..." Sky shook her head, turning pale: "There's twenty of them"
"Its ok" Shadow laughed: "You don't have to worry about me. But I think Rahzor was badly hurt" he looked to the side: "Can you ask a few civilians to help get him out of here?"
"I... I will" Sky nodded: "Shadow" she started to tremble: "... this is suicide. You are going to die"
Shadow's face slightly darkened but he forced out a smile: "Its ok... we are the Wonderbolts. Everything will be fine. Tomorrow, a new day will come... you'll see" he smiled.
Sky waited another moment in silence, before she nodded to a group of civilians. They lifted Rahzor and all of them ran out the door.
Shadow slowly stood up and walked back to Storm. Storm was staring at his hooves, deathly quiet. Shadow quietly approached and placed a hoof on his shoulder.
"...I really messed up... didn't I" Storm quietly said: "I thought I could control it. I thought it was sealed but... that damn thing... the Masters Medallion... it seeps into my soul, looking for the darkest thought it can find and then lets it loose. I really thought that if I seal it, the thing would never affect me again"
"Its ok" Shadow quietly said with a smile: "It all worked out in the end"
"Shadow..." Storm quietly looked at him: "We're going to die now... you understand that don't you?"
Shadow's face darkened and he waited a moment, before shaking his head with a smile: "Storm... I thought you figured it out by now. Its not about whether we die or not. Its about if fillies like Lily can have a normal life one day. We can save her" Shadow firmly grabbed Storms shoulders and looked into his eyes: "We can save her. The villagers, Sky, Rahzor. Everyone" he laughed:
"Even if we're not Wonderbolts yet, even if we're still weak and useless, we can still do this one thing" Shadow firmly nodded: "Twenty guys are rushing from down there, right now. We can hold them off, long enough for others to flee. We can do this Storm. Without the Medallion"
"You're right" Storm nervously smiled: "You're right. And, once they kill me... the Medallion will fall apart and... no one will ever use it again"
"Right" Shadow nodded with a smile.
"Storm... please don't forget...
We are the Shadows of Katsura..."
The tunnel was poorly lit and uncomfortably small. Two ponies in torn, broken armor were rapidly making their way down the stairs.
"What the bloody hell are they doing in there" Storm asked as they ran.
"Dunno" Shadow said: "I think the villagers didn't even know this tunnel existed"
The stairs ended, revealing a very large and poorly lit corridor. Countless hoofsteps rang in the distance and the two ponies lifted their swords:
"Ready?" Storm asked with a smile.
Shadow nodded and they began their slow march into darkness.
'We do not fear death '
Swords clashed, horrible screams echoed across the tunnel.
'We do not feel pain or despair '
Sparks flew through the air as metal scraped concrete.
'We do not grow tired or stop, until we complete our objective '
Dark stains painted the walls.
'We are the shield of those who are hurt - unjustly '
Shouts of anger, mixed with unbearable pain.
'We are the Shadows of Katsura '
Two ponies stepped out of the darkness, into a better lit part of the corridor.
"Always so dramatic" Storm smiled. They were heavily breathing. Blood dripping down from open wounds that covered their bodies. Shadow heavily leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. His hooves were trembling. His vision blurred. The sword felt so heavy, he didn't think he could lift it again.
"Reciting the Shadows code in the middle of combat... geez" Storm released a small laugh and fell on his knees.
"Storm" Shadow called.
"I'm... alright" Storm opened his mouth and blood poured out. He spit it out and wiped his lips: "That was... fun... you think we'll pass the next combat exam?"
Shadow quietly giggled as his vision blurred and he almost fell face first on the ground: "I'm a little... Storm... I can't... I can't see very well"
"Its ok" Storm sat down on the ground: "The others have probably... escaped, by now..."
"Yeah" Shadow heavily leaned on the wall and slowly sat down on one knee: "I think we... did it..."
"That Sky..." Storm mumbled, trying to stay awake: "She's a tough cookie huh..."
"You've been... hanging out with her for.. how long" Shadow smiled: "Ask her out.. already"
Storm released a quiet laugh, when heavy hoofsteps suddenly rang in the distance.
"..Back for more?" Shadow smiled, trying to get up and falling back on the floor again: "How... how many... Storm? I can't... I can't see... I think I... lost too much blood"
"Damn that Rahzor..." Storm mumbled: "Can't count for sh... there's twenty more coming..."
"Twenty?" Shadow squinted into the distance: "I thought we already beat most of them..."
"I'll show him how to... count.. when we..." Storm trailed off. His eyes slowly closed and his head fell down.
"Storm?..." Shadow called: "Storm I... I can't get up... Storm?..."
Storm didn't answer and Shadow looked in his direction: "Storm?... where are you? I can't... see... Storm"
The darkness was closing in. Countless hoofsteps were becoming louder.
"Give me your hoof..." Shadow quietly called: "... Storm... give me your hoof... its ok..."
His friend didn't answer and Shadow smiled: "...its ok"
The darkness slowly enveloped his body and covered him in a blanket of warmth.
Then suddenly a sharp pain in his chest jerked him awake and he screamed. His vision blurred and caught focus again.
A purple pegasus was standing in front of him with a syringe. A mare with dark hair. She seemed strangely familiar.
"Don't die" she whispered, pulled another syringe and injected something right into Storms heart. He jerked backwards and fell:
"What the f-" he struggled to understand what was happening, wildly swinging his hooves until his vision restored.
"Adrenaline" the mare quietly said: "I'm... sorry... I can't let you sleep yet... this is a little embarrassing but I may need your help..."
"Who.. are you?" Shadow quietly asked, looking up at the mare. Her distant, sad eyes looked familiar. Her dark hair somehow reminded him of an image from so long ago, it felt like it happened in a different life. Shadows eyes widened:
"...Claire?"
"Hello Sam" the mare smiled and the memories came rushing back -
"Sam... the clan leader's son?"
"Y-y-yes...I-totally-didn't-do-nothing-mischievous-that-may-cause-trouble-for-him-by-accident-haha-ha-ha-ha" Sam awkwardly laughed and
Dave ran into him at full speed, catching Sam's neck under his hoof: "I'm sorry my friend is touched in the head, you must be very busy - don't mind us!" Dave nervously mumbled and shined a terrified smile.
"I wanted to ask you-" Sam looked at Claire "-can you Change your own cutie mark?"
"What?" Confusion and curiosity reflected over her face.
Claire was still standing in front of him with a little smile: "... have you found the answer to your question yet?"
"...yeah" Shadow nodded and smiled back. The sounds of twenty approaching hoofsteps caught their attention.
Claire unsheathed a pair of swords from her belt: "Please stay behind me, though I may still need your help" she nodded and rushed into combat.
Twenty ponies in heavy armor sprinted right at her. Claire's expression remained peaceful as she turned into a blur. Her fighting style was unique. It almost seemed like a dance, as she gracefully moved through the tunnel. No unnecessary movement. No second wasted. No energy spent without need. Her enemies fell in silence. No pain registered in their eyes.
She didn't want them to suffer.
Storm rose up on one knee and smirked: "I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit this one out, Shadow"
"I'm with you" Shadow pulled himself up, raising his sword and they both joined the battle.
Claire was severely outnumbered. It was difficult defending herself from several sides and every time one of her opponents saw an opening in her defense, Shadow or Storm quickly closed it, lashing out at the enemy group.
Several seconds passed before Shadow recognized that they might actually win this. Claire was moving with unnatural grace. It seemed like she could take on an army at once. Claire, the youngest one to join the Shadow's in decades. Another survivor of the Whispering Valley. She went through the same horrors they did and she was alive.
For a split second Shadow realized that all three of them shared a bond and he lost track of the battle. A split second was enough for one of the enemy ponies to kick him hard in the chest, sending him flying across the room. He lost his sword and crashed hard on his back. The enemy soldier was sprinting towards him. Claire and Storm were too far to help.
Shadow rolled backwards and got back on his hooves. He was unarmed. His opponent carried a sword and was charging at him. Shadow released a long sigh and time seemed to slow down. His opponent was closing in. The enemy raised his sword and lashed out, top to bottom. Shadow calmly stepped to the side, moving out of the line of fire.
His mind briefly panicked.
'I don't have a sword '
And Lisa's voice rang in his mind:
'Doesn't matter. Attack with your hooves! '
And then Shadow threw the biggest sucker punch in his life.
His opponent flew across the corridor and crashed hard into the wall. He didn't get up again. Knocked out.
Shadow was heavily breathing, looking at his opponent in slight shock when Storm and Claire quickly approached.
"Damn man" Storm exhaled: "Nice move, had us worried there for a minute"
"Sorry" Shadow exhaled: "Lisa's training paid off" he suddenly noticed that no opponent was left. They were standing at the end of the corridor, in front of a half open vault.
"...what.. is that?" Shadow quietly asked.
"Not now! You're still bleeding!" Claire pointed at his wounds and began pulling out sets of bandages from a small bag on her belt.
Several minutes passed as Claire worked hard to patch up Shadow and Storm, sitting on the floor of this poorly lit tunnel.
"Claire?" Storm quietly asked after a while: "Do you think... did anyone else survive? From our village I mean"
"...I don't know" Claire quietly said as she continued to work: "I didn't even know you two were alive... I thought.. I was the only one"
"...What did you do... after the attack?" Shadow quietly asked.
Claire looked like she was about to say something then she visibly stopped herself. Some kind of internal struggle was going inside her head. Her usual neutral expression became distorted with a strange mix of doubt and guilt.
"W-whats wrong?" Shadow quietly asked.
Claire waited a several moments before she replied: "... you... have a right to know" she blinked: "I was training, preparing to hunt down the people who ruined our lives"
"...wait, what do you mean... hunt down" Storm slowly asked: "You mean... you know who did this to us?!"
"Yes, and, it doesn't matter" Claire shook her head: "Whether I know who did it or not. Those people are untouchable"
"W-Whatever!!!" Storm scowled: "I don't care how powerful they are! Just tell us where to find them!!!"
"David" Claire smiled: "It will serve you no good. If we go after them, we will loose"
"Then what the bloody hell are we supposed to do!?" Storm screamed in anger.
"I don't know" Claire shook her head: "What were you planning to do until now?"
"...save, ponies" Shadow slowly replied. Claire smiled:
"Then that is what I need you to do. Listen to me. These people are very powerful and very resourceful. They do not value sentient life. They see ponies as just a means to an end. Tools to be used. I am investigating how to get close to them so I can bring them down, but for that to happen, my existence must remain a secret. Your existence as well.
No one must know that the Shadow Clan had survivors. You're not David and Sam. You're Storm and Shadow. And I am not Claire. I was never here and you never saw me. If anyone asks, you saw no one else in this tunnel. Understand? No one must know we survived. And no one must know about this" Claire pointed at the scar on Storms chest, where he sealed the Medallion.
"They want this. They want this really bad and we can't let them have it. There is a great plan in motion, being set up behind the scenes. No one notices but the subtle clues are there. Like the attack on this village today. They instigated a diversion to lure the entire Wonderbolt unit away, so they could send mercenaries to open this vault" she looked at the open door: "We stopped them today, but they will try again. A different method. A different way to get what they need"
"...what... was inside?" Shadow quietly asked.
"Formulas, schematics for powerful spells, malicious magic that should never be used" Claire sighed.
"...why did they hurt the villagers?" Shadow quietly asked: "If they just wanted the vault, they didn't have to kill anybody"
"I don't know" Claire shook her head: "... these people are twisted, they have no regard for life..." The sound of distant voices suddenly made her flinch: "...I overstayed my welcome. No one must see me. Tell no one that I was here"
"W-wait" Shadow stood up: "Will we ever see you again?"
Claire waited a moment, then smiled and nodded: "Yes. In the mean time, I need you to keep doing what you've done until now. Become Wonderbolts. Protect the ponies around you. I will keep digging for information. Once I have something concrete, I will find you. Goodbye."
She smiled and opened her wings.
Claire turned into a blur as she flew up to the ceiling, opened an air vent and vanished from sight. Seconds later dozens of Wonderbolts in full body armor appeared in the tunnel. Lisa was madly dashing ahead of them, face ghostly pale, her sword raised as she ran as fast as her hooves carried her. Her eyes widened, she began to slow down as the following scene came into view:
Two students in ravaged armor, blood stained, injured, barely on their hooves, standing alone amid countless bodies of heavily armed ponies. Lisa came to a stop, her hooves were visibly shaking. She slowly opened her mouth and mumbled in disbelief, her voice but a whisper: "S-Shadow?... Storm?"
"...Hello, Lieutenant" Shadow nodded and released a small smile. Lisa remained standing in place, ghostly pale as the Academy Commander slowly stepped into view:
"God... damn..." the Commander quietly said. A stunned expression reflected over his face as he looked at the signs of the battle. The countless bodies that laid on the floor, the walls stained red and two students of the academy, standing in the middle of all this. Dozens of veteran Wonderbolts slowly approached, trying to catch a glance of what was happening.
The corridor became filled with an eerie silence.
* * *
The sun was slowly setting over the horizon as countless ponies, soldiers and villagers, slowly gathered in the middle of the small fishing village.
"We were half way across the country when we realized we were on a wild goose chase" The Commander nodded, sending a hoof through his hair:
"Hurried home to help the village, knowing there was no Wonderbolt unit left stationed here. You can imagine our surprise when we found civilians claiming they've been rescued by a "Wonberbolt Strike Team, callsign - Stiletto " he released a tired smile. Sky, Rahzor, Shadow and Storm stood closely together and smiled.
"Good work" the Commander nodded: "You saved a lot of lives today"
The veteran Wonderbolts were still pouring out of the tunnel. Some still remained downstairs, examining the vault. A few others dragged out the mercenary that Shadow knocked out. As the villagers and the Wonderbolts talked, the Commander subtly took Storm and Shadow aside. Lisa quietly joined them, looking pale as a sheet.
"You did a hell of a job" The Commander quietly whispered as Storm, Shadow and Lisa huddled closely together: "..but I want to know how one of the worst students in the academy... and his best buddy, who's scores are at best... average... managed to hold off twenty five highly trained mercenaries in a straight up fight" The Commander wasn't frowning, but he wasn't smiling either: "Don't get me wrong. You saved more lives than I can count. I gathered your tactics gave you an upper hand when faced against an overwhelming enemy force. But that can work outside, not in a small confined space like that tunnel, where there is no room to set an ambush and no place to maneuver. Is there... something you want to tell me?... Is there something I should know?"
Storm and Shadow quietly looked at each other then back at the Commander. The silence dragged on for a painfully long minute. Shadow slowly realized that any lie he'd make up would just insult the Commanders intelligence. The Commander scowled and looked at Lisa. She only shook her head in confusion. Her face was ghostly pale. She swallowed hard and quietly said:
"They're alive. Their squad saved the village. What does it matter how" she heavily sighed: "I only care that they lived"
"Lieutenant, you spar with him every day" the Commander pointed at Shadow: "Do you believe he and Storm could have taken down twenty five highly trained mercenaries"
"...I don't know" Lisa finally said after a moment: "... they've always been tenacious. And they're still alive, so.."
"Alright" the Commander frowned with a resigned expression: "Enough for today. Get some rest. Everyone" he pointed at Lisa for some reason before walking away. Storm nodded to Shadow and wandered off toward Rahzor and Sky.
Lisa was still standing perfectly still, ghostly pale. Shadow waited a moment before he quietly asked:
"... Ma'am? Are you ok?"
"...Don't do that again" she quietly said. Shadow looked at her in surprise and noticed that her hooves were still shaking. Lisa looked around and sighed: "You could have been killed. What were you thinking?"
"But..." Shadow asked in confusion: "I'm... a Wonderbolt... I mean... I will be but, this is what I'm supposed to do, right? Its... whats expected of me"
Lisa stared into space with an empty expression for several moments before she quietly nodded: "... you're right, of course. I'm sorry... I... lost myself" she looked away, ghostly pale.
Shadow waited a moment then quietly said: "...your training saved my life today, you know?" he attempted to smile.
Lisa squeezed out a tiny smile and looked at him: "Yeah?"
"Thank you, Lieutenant" Shadow smiled to her: "For having faith in me"
"Why are you always so reckless, Shadow" Lisa's smile slowly faded: "Don't you care if you die?"
Shadow tried to keep smiling but his face darkened and he turned away: "W...whats wrong with that... ?" he quietly laughed: "Fear only... makes it harder to fight"
"Its wrong, because you're not alone in this world" Lisa quietly said, a frown slowly appeared on her face: "Because if you die, Storm will be very sad, and Mrs. Perry and all of your friends. They are your family and your actions affect them. They would rather have you alive than a fallen hero. Do you understand?" she quietly asked.
"B-but... " Shadow was staring at her in confusion: "Its... our job... its what we signed up for... isn't it? To give our lives to save others?"
Lisa looked into his eyes and realized how everything he knew suddenly stopped making sense. She looked down and sighed:
"Just... be careful ok?" she released a weak smile, turned and walked away.
"Lieutenant?" Shadow called: "Ma'am"
Lisa didn't answer. She just continued to walk away.
* * *
'You are a soldier. You are a soldier and he is as well, don't you get it? ' Lisa cursed herself in her mind.
'Whats wrong with you, officer? Forgot what your uniform stands for? ' Lisa bitterly smirked.
'Give our lives to save others. A green recruit knows your job better than you ' She heavily swallowed.
'What are you thinking? Lisa wiped the sweat from her forehead.
'He is your subordinate. You have to train him to make sure he won't die. That's it ' She slowly stopped.
'I trained recruits before. I lost subordinates during combat before. I'm used to it ' She slowly lifted her hoof to her heart.
'Then, what is this feeling? Have I... lost too much? ' She waited a moment in silence then smiled.
'I'm just an old idiot. Its time to head out... officer ' She nodded to herself and finally continued to move.
* * *
Thirteen ponies in expensive suits were gathered behind a long, wooden table. Antique and expensive furniture gave the place a very mysterious and comfortable atmosphere. Plates of exotic food and glasses of rare wine filled the table and at the center, sat a large, yellow crystal.
"How long" The Architect asked.
"Any minute now" The Ambassador nodded and a few seconds later the yellow crystal lit up.
"Its me" a muffled voice came from inside.
"Status report" the Professor demanded.
"Operation Successful" the voice quietly said:
"Two survivors. David Katsura. Fabricated ID name - Night Storm.
Sam Katsura. Fabricated ID name - Shadow"
"Arrogant" The Ambassador smirked: "I am what you see, for I am the Shadow of Katsura "
"David, aka Storm has the Medallion" the voice from the crystal continued.
"He... actually carries it on him?" The Professor raised an eyebrow: "Is he that reckless?"
"...he doesn't exactly carry it..." the crystal paused: "Storm has a unique scar over his chest. The scar glowed red when the Medallion activated"
"...did he... go so far as to physically stitch it into his body?" The General grimaced.
"Is that even possible... Doctor?" the Architect asked.
"...I ... suppose" an elderly pony replied: "Though I doubt he could freely do any physical exercise in that state. Others would notice"
"It could be magically sealed" the Professor scowled: "Inside his... soul... this just became, a lot more complicated"
"Can you get it out?" The Architect frowned.
"...In time" The Professor slowly brought his hooves together: "Developing a formula for that spell will be... complicated"
"Agent!" The Ambassador roared at the crystal: "Is there any way to manipulate him into removing it on his own"
"After today. I doubt it" The voice from the crystal sighed: "You need to understand, David and Sam are idealistic and stupid. They will never use the Medallion out of fear for their life. In fact, they welcome death. It seems that if Night Storm will die, the Medallion will die with him. Its what they want. And after today, I doubt they will even use the thing to save others. Storm will not part with the Medallion willingly. Not to save himself, his friends or the civilians around him"
"Hmm..." a grin slowly spread on the Professors face: "...He won't use it to save others?... maybe that is because, he doesn't have much to loose yet... thank you, Agent. I think I know what I need to do now"
"There's one more thing" The crystal quietly said: "The Mercenaries you sent to provoke Storm? One of them was taken alive. He's threatening to talk if we don't get him out"
The Professor leaned back in his chair with an enormous grin: "Is that gonna be a problem?"
"No sir" the crystal replied and turned dark.
* * *
As the night descended upon the land , an eerie silence began to cover the Wonderbolt prison block. The light from the moon faintly shined through the barred windows. The sounds of water dripping from a rusty pipe, echoed faintly across the halls. A lone prisoner sat in a tiny cell, quietly tapping a rhythm on the wall with his hoof. Voices of the guards and other inmates slowly became more and more distant, until the lone prisoner could clearly hear his own breath.
Minutes passed. Hours. He just kept quietly tapping the wall, the sound of the dripping pipe somewhere, still lingered at the edge of his hearing. And then he heard hoofsteps. Quiet and slow, as if the person was taking the time to admire the scenery. Moments passed before a cloaked figure slowly appeared in front of the cell.
The prisoner turned in its direction and slightly hunched over:
"... back for more gloating?"
The cloaked figure smirked: "...hardly" it slowly adjusted its hood and sent a hoof through its hair: "I hear you are... willing to talk"
The prisoner squinted in silence, at the two glowing eyes under the hood. He waited a moment before he finally frowned:
"You're working for them, aren't you"
The figure cocked its head in amusement: "Mmm..."
"I'm not messing around" the prisoner said in an angry whisper: "Stop stalling and open the bloody door"
"Are you... threatening us?" the figure asked with a smile.
"You think you can stare me down?" the prisoner hissed: "I've been doing wetwork since I was twelve. I don't care who our employer is, I don't flinch from a fight. Unlock the bloody door!"
"So... you know your employers are one of the most influential people on the planet..." the figure smiled: "... and your first course of action was to blackmail them?" the figure caressed one of the bars of the cell door: "...not very bright are you"
"Listen to me!" The prisoner got up from his bunk: "I am done with you people. You unlock this door now, or the morning news broadcast will have a damn lot to talk about"
"Such a promising young man" the figure smiled: "Probably had a bright future ahead of you. Its a shame you committed suicide"
"...What the hell are you-" the prisoner muttered and suddenly flinched away from the door as the cloaked figure grinned:
"You must have felt indescribable shame after what you did in the village today... to hang yourself in such a crude fashion..."
"S-stay the HELL AWAY FROM ME!" The prisoner shouted, backing away and running into his bunk: "GUARDS! GUAAARDS!!!"
"They can't hear you" the figure smiled: "I sent them away" the door unlocked with a clank.
"NOO!!! SOMEONE!!!" The prisoner shrieked, falling down on his bunk:
"HELP MEEEE! HEEEEEEEEEELP!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH--"
Several years ago The day after the Shadow Clan fell
A featureless, gray looking unicorn in a paramedics outfit was slowly making his way through the forest. Dark clouds of smoke were still rising over the tree tops, the air filled with an awful stench of burning wood, mixed with something repulsing. The unicorn released a strange half smile as he slowly stepped into a clearing and the broken gates of the Shadow village came into view.
There were soldiers in Equestrian armor everywhere. Some stood guard at the gates, others were clearing the rubble with a look of pure horror and desperation written over their face. The unicorn began to approach the broken gates of the village with a slow, lazy stride. As he neared the entrance, one of the soldiers raised his hoof and blocked his path:
"Identification" the soldier said in a gravely voice.
"Of course" the unicorn smiled, pulling something out of his pocket and revealing a small plastic card: "Paramedic"
The guard carefully inspected the card, then nodded: "You're colleague's arrived a while ago" he said with a frown.
"Sorry" the unicorn sheepishly smiled: "I got held up at the base..." he slowly looked at the surroundings: "Found any survivors yet?"
"No.." the soldier shook his head and looked down: "The Shadow's... asked for our help. If we were just a little bit faster, maybe... maybe this.. atrocity wouldn't have happened"
"I understand" the unicorn nodded, placed a hoof on the guards shoulder then slowly moved inside the village. The scene was horrifying. Collapsed, still burning buildings. Bodies, buried under debris. Equestrian paramedics were moving around with a haunted look on their face, hopelessly digging through ruins. Some were standing unnaturally still, just staring at the carnage. Sometimes they would twitch in one direction or other, as if they couldn't decide where to start, then despair would began to set in again and they remained standing in place.
As the unicorn moved through the village, a group of paramedics digging through a collapsed structure, called for his help. He ignored them. His eyes remained locked on a small village square, directly ahead.
There was a beautiful fountain there, decorated with peculiar, mysterious carvings of ponies in cloaks. It was covered with a thick layer of ash and shattered in several places, but it still managed to retain a certain level of beauty. One of its stones sat awkwardly out of place. A small opening was visible in the ground.
The unicorn slowly stepped through the opening and went down the stairs to a small wooden basement. A single candle remained lit, on a featureless wooden desk, at the end of the room. The pony slowly approached it and knelt down, carefully inspecting the desk. There was a thick layer of dust, covering most of its surface, apart from one area, in the shape of a circle.
"... you longed to be free... didn't you" the unicorn released a wide smile: "...The Masters Medallion"
"Professor..." a raspy voice called from behind and the unicorn turned. There was another pony in a paramedics outfit, standing on the stairs.
"Ah.. General" the unicorn smiled, then looked back at the desk: "Any news?"
"Equestrians are working slow" The other pony frowned: "Several hundred souls lived in the village, confirming if someone survived will take time, but, so far we haven't been able to identify the clan leaders son. Katsura Sam"
The unicorn smirked: "Fitting, I suppose. For the son to cause us as much trouble as did his dad... no matter. We can assume whoever survived has the Medallion"
"We don't have to assume" the other pony replied: "Follow me, Professor. There's something I want you to see, before the Equestrians trample the evidence."
* * *
Two ponies in paramedic uniforms quietly made their way through the forest. The sun was high above them when they finally stepped out of the brush and a barren plane opened before them. The unicorn gasped, taking a few cautious steps forward before released a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
Bodies. Several hundred bodies laid strewn across the barren land. The earth was riddled with gigantic craters and scorch marks. Unnatural, green colored fire burned out of the long cracks that riddled the ground. Far in the distance, an enormous stone castle, towered over the battlefield. Its doors blown open, its roof torn apart. It seemed as if a gigantic monster had passed through this land, ravaging everything in its path.
"...Magnificent " the unicorn smiled in awe, his eyes staring in disbelief at the carnage: "Its more powerful than I have imagined..."
"The Equestrians have not yet learned of this place" the other pony stepped forward: "The area is secure, we have scouts looking out for unwanted visitors. Lets not linger here for too long. Equestrians will begin pouring en masse sooner or later""
The unicorn slowly removed his paramedic jacket and threw it on the ground, together with his identification card. His partner did the same. The unicorn rose his hoof and made a fast, untraceable movement. His horn lit up and the jackets caught fire. In seconds, there was nothing but ash.
"This way Professor, the others are waiting" the General called and motioned toward a small group of ponies in the distance. The Professor smiled and extended his hoof, as he neared the group:
"Ambassador, Architect" he shook hooves with two ponies in formal suits: "Have my rangers been any use?"
The Architect uncomfortably shivered and looked at a group of five ponies in rough, leather armor, standing some distance away.
"...why do you insist working with mercenaries" the Architect asked with a frown.
Professor shrugged with a smile: "Its so convenient. If I want a job done in a line of work I know nothing about, I simply pay enough money to hire an expert, that can do the job better than my enemy" he slowly approached the ponies in leather armor and smiled: "Progress?"
"We've managed to identify two distinct sets of hoofprints" the ponies in armor replied: "Come, we'll show you"
The mercenaries led the group through the field: "Judging by the size of the print, I'd say two foals" one of the mercenaries said: "They walked toward the castle and up to the throne room. There was a fight there. I believe, they were fighting each other"
"Interesting" Professor smiled: "Did you find a body?"
"No" the mercenary shook his head: "After the struggle, we believe they both walked out. We found their tracks again, leading away from this area and toward the local trade routes between villages. Their trace vanishes there, mixed with dozens of other foals and ponies"
"I see..." The Professor grinned as the group slowly entered the castle and walked up to the throne room: "...they tore the roof open..." he smiled.
"Pardon?" The mercenaries looked at him in confusion.
"Oh its nothing, thank you" The professor shined a blinding smile: "You have been very helpful"
"So, about the payment" the mercenaries stood in a line, in front the Professor.
"Of course" the Professor smiled. He tapped his hoof on the floor, his horn lit up and the mercenaries suddenly released a deafening shriek before what was left of them crumbled and turned into ash.
"I do love working with mercenaries" Professor smiled: "Its so... convenient"
"We do not have the Medallion" The Architect scowled: "Hiring another village to wipe out the Shadows was a mistake"
"Hardly" Professor smiled: "The Shadow Clan is no more. All those who knew we exist are now dead. No one is left to oppose us" Professor shrugged: "Something as powerful as the Medallion will reveal itself sooner or later, especially in the hands of children. I doubt they even comprehend its real purpose... Project Sihlus will proceed as planned"
"I will begin search for the foals" the Ambassador frowned: "Local villages, orphanages, I have contacts that can track new arrivals. Once we find them, I will send an agent to gain their trust. We must know who they are, we must know what they love, what they hate. What makes them cry and laugh. What motivates them, what drives them to live. And once we understand them, we can manipulate them into revealing the Medallion."
"Shadows vanish at noon" the General looked at the sky: "We just need to drag them under the light"
