Once A Shadow - From the other side

After being laid two nights in a row by the sexiest mare alive, I felt rather good about myself. However, when I woke up, what I didn't expect was that Spitfire wasn't lying next to me. Instead, I found a note saying:

Dear Hornet, sorry I couldn't be there when you woke up, but I had business to attend to today. Me, Shadow and the others are heading off to Phillydelphia for a performance there. In the mean time, I want you to head over to Brawny Hooves' Smithy, to help him get some current work out of the way so he can work on Shadow's armor. While you're there you can make yourself some armor, since you haven't seemed to gotten any yet.Yours, Spitifre.

Ha, I almost forgot about that. Well to be honest, I wasn't performing anyway, and I really do need some armor, so I may as well go there anyway. After grabbing an apple to go and some materials for my soon to be armor, I headed off.

Brawny's Smithy wasn't as big as would have expected it to be, it was just as big as a normal house, the only difference was the parts for the smithy that were added in. As I walked in, Brawny was just coming out into the workshop. "So, you must be Hornet. Nice to meet you." He said extending his hoof.

I went up and shook his hoof."Likewise, Brawny, likewise. Now, was there something you needed done by today, or am I here for no reason?"

It took a second for his brain to snap into gear. "Oh, yes! I need you to help me make some armor for the Equestrian Guard. don't worry, it's not anything fancy like those ones in Canterlot, these one's will be stock standard. Tell you what, how about a little competition? We need to make a hundred of them, so let's see who can make the most of them. If you win, I'll help you make some armor and weapons for yourself, with some 'special' materials. If I win, you have to clean out the furnace. And just so you know, it hasn't been cleaned for a while. Deal?"

I smiled confidently. "Deal."

It was a long, sweaty ordeal, making armor set, after armor set, after armor set, but Brawny seemed to be doing it no problem, probably because he's had more experience. After what seemed like hours, we finally finished. "...44, 45, 46, 47! Darn, I thought I made more than that." Said Brawny, covered in sweat.

I chuckled. "Well, to be honest I did take one or two while you weren't looking. But I only took 2, you would have noticed other wise."

"You're a crafty one, you know that? Ah well, you beat me anyway, even though you cheated. I'll help you make your armor and weapons. Now, be a sport will you, and fetch some more metal from out the back? We'll need it for later." I nodded and made my way through the workshop and into the back rooms. Just then, I heard the front door open, and some familiar voices.

_We trotted inside, and up front was a large olive green earth pony, with olive green mane and tail. His cutie mark was a hammer and anvil. He turned to us. "Oh, hey Spitfire, is this the new member?"

"Yep, this is him."She said.

He trotted over to me and held out a hoof. "Pleasure to meet ya! I'm Brawny Hooves!"

I took his hoof and shook it. "Shadow Flash."

"So what can I do you two for?"

"I have a 'special request'." Spitfire said.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She pulled out the box containing my costume from my saddle bag and opened it. "This."

He let out a whistle of appreciation. "Now what have we here?"

"Well, it's currently just a costume, but I would like you to modify it into real armor and weapons for Shadow here."

"These designs and weapon capabilities are extraordinary! Where did you come up with such a thing?"

I shrugged. "Just some sources."

"Those are some impressive sources then. Oh, I'm going to enjoy this one. Come back in about a week, and I should be done."

Spitfire nodded. "Alright. Thanks Brawny."

"Oh no, I'm thanking you on this one. Nice meeting you by the way Shadow."

"You too."_ -chapter 19-

I came back in to the workshop with metal in-hoof. "Who was that?" I said.

"Spitfire, and a new friend of hers, Shadow. They wanted me to have a crack at making these a little more real." He said holding up a box with Shadow's gala costume.

"Impressive. Tell you what, I'll work on the bracer and the chest plate, while you see about making the blades a little more potent."

"Right, you probably have more experience than lil ol' me with advanced mechanics anyway." After taking it apart and about an hour of tinkering with the parts, I put the whole thing back together. Just then Brawny entered the room. "How's it going? you finished with it or are you still figuring out how the thing works?" he joked.

"Ha, very funny. And yes, I have finished with it. I've modified the mechanisms with a more lighter and stronger material. I also played about with the gears in it and I've made it much quieter and faster when it's drawn and retracted. I also modified the chest plate and it's storage, allowing it to hold something like a dagger, just in case."

Brawny looked satisfied with my work. "Nice, well I've given the rest of the outfit a basic do-over, but it's going to take a few days for the more special stuff for the armor to arrive. I also made the blades much more stronger, and REALLY sharp. Although it's still unhygienic to try and cut bread with it."

I chuckled. "Cool, now you said something earlier about helping me with my armor and weapons?"

"Yes, and even though you cheated, I'm still going to help you make your weapons and armor. Did you have something specific in mind or did you want just a plain set of gear?"

"Actually," I said pulling out a piece of paper "I did. How about this?" Showing him a detailed sketch.

He whistled. "Well, it's not gonna be easy, but it's definitely doable. Let's give it a shot."

After a few hours, I finally had my armor. It was a specially designed vest, usually made for human Spec Ops. Thanks to Brawny, the vest was coated with a special material, similar with what Shadow's outfit was going to be coated with. My weapon was also based on human weaponry. It was a modernized KA-BAR combat knife, which is what United States Marines use. It was also coated in a material that made it more sharp, allowing it to cut through most basic surfaces. (ie. wood, thin metal, plaster) The vest also had a nice sheath on the back, so I could put my knife there whenever I wasn't using it.

"I gotta say," said Brawny partially gob smacked "that that is a nice set of gear. Where did you think of it?"

"Like Shadow said, 'I have my sources'. Besides, mine isn't as near as awesome as Shadow's is."

"Well, you're welcome. It's about time to shut up shop anyway, so I'll be seeing ya. It's been a pleasure working with you Hornet."

"Likewise friend, likewise." I said as I flew away into the night. Today was pretty good, so considering the strings of good luck I've been getting lately, something bad was probably going to happen. And sure enough, it did. As I was heading back, I caught a glimpse of something overhead, which I almost immediately dismissed for a bird. That was a BIG mistake, as a few seconds later it swooped down and took a swipe at me, knocking me down to the ground. I bounced off the dirt below me and reached for my new knife, expecting it to attack again. that was my second mistake, as it was only doing a hit and run. My eyes darted around for a few seconds until I saw it again in the sky, a silhouette of what looked like a griffin. My third mistake was trying to fly after it, as I had not paid attention to my wings, which were now incapacitated by some kind of sedative, probably from its claws. By the time I could fly again, it was gone, so I decided to just head back home. Fucking griffins. As I headed back into the Wonderbolts HQ, Shadow, Ni, Soarin and Blaze were standing in the main room. Oh shit, I hope this isn't about me.

_Ni spoke up. "They were regenerans bestia. Three of them. It looked like they were fortifying the old ruins there."

"And you're sure about this?"

"Of course. I wouldn't have told you if I weren't sure." Ni responded

"Alright then. Soarin, Blaze, Shadow, lets go. Captain Night Wing, you too."

"Wait, why me?" Ni asked.

"Because, if somepony gets injured, we're going to need you to fly them out of there."

"Right, got it."

"Okay, move out!"

We turned and started to move.

"Shadow, wait!" Spitfire called out

I turned. "Yeah, what's up?"

"Catch." She said as she threw a couple of daggers at me.

"Oh shit!" I yelled as I dodged them.

"You were supposed to catch them."

"Yeah, I'm not doing that."

I looked down, there were three daggers. She must have accidentally thrown me an extra. Oh well, I picked them up and put them in my bag.

"Alright Shadow, lets go." -chapter 14-

They started to move out when I trotted over to Spitifre. "Hey, Spitz! What's going on?"

Spitifre turned towards me. "Hey, Hornet. We're moving out to some ruins just outside of Ponyville, Shadow and Ni said they saw some regenerans bestia there."

"Need me to do anything?" I asked.

"Yes, I need to you to come with us in case anyone gets injured, because-"

"Because I have the most medical experince, yes I know." I interuptted.

"Right, I want you to stick with Ni, He'll take anyone that gets wounded to a safe distance, and then you can help stitch them up as best as you can. We'll handle the fighting, but don't worry, you'll get to see some action soon enough. Now lets get moving!"

We headed out over Ponyville towards the ruins, and all was quiet in the small town. Nobody or nopony was going to walk into hat was about to happen, and what was about to happen wasn't going to be pretty. We all got into position, and it was dead silent. It was, until Shadow let off a whistle. One of the bestia, who was outside at the time, was distracted by the whistle. Blaze then came out of nowhere and stabbed it in the back. "Well, this should be a piece of cake." I said confidently. However, karma decided to screw me over as a second later the bestia let out an ear shattering shriek as it melted.

Ni look at me with a stupid look. "You were saying?"

"Oh, shut up." I said with an angry look on my face. Our attention was then turned back to the ruins, as the other two bestia came out. What REALLY caught our attention was Shadow charging at them, yelling. "What the fuck is he doing? Cause what ever it is, It seems to be working!" I said as the two other bestia went down. Spitfire and Soarin went up to him a few seconds later, probably congratulating him. But just as Shadow was about to start moving away, he collapsed.

"Oh, boy." Ni said with a worried look.

"And that's our cue." I said running over to them. "Ok, what's he done THIS time?"

Spitfire turned to me. "I'm not sure, he said he wanted to see a doctor for some reason then he collapsed."

"Well, we better take him to one, just in case. Put him on Ni's back and I'll have a look at him on the way there." She nodded and pointed Ni towards Shadow, signalling him to pick him up. "Hmm, judging by his complexion, I'd say he's lost a decent bit of blood. Apart from that, there's nothing really wrong with him as far as I can see. He'll almost definitely need some blood, and we should get the doctors to give him a scan, just in case." I spent the rest of the night wondering what was going to happen to that cocky son of a bitch.