The Knight Shift

Chapters

1. The Strange and Stranger
2. Lucky to be Awake
3. Too Late
Can't Let Them Leave

1. The Strange and Stranger

The way the world is made. The truth is all around you, plain to behold. The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good.Death and life. Everywhere, opposites. Everywhere, the war.

One thing that Mythic Aurora loved about her job: she could go to B ‘N’ Barb Tavern an hour before her shift, have three hard apple ciders to get tipsy, and still be able to make her shift with no one noticing. Of course, that was easy to do when you worked the night shift as a royal guard for the Royal Palace.

Sometimes Scarlet Bow would chastise her during their rounds. “You’re going to get fired, you dumb bat,” she would say. “All one of the Princesses needs to do is look you in the eyes and just sense that you’re drunk. No test needed.”

Mythic would roll her eyes. “The Princesses may be powerful, but they are not omnipotent. They’re regular ponies who happen to have wings and horns and…” She paused, rolling her flagon of whiskey apple cider in her hoof. “... they just govern the Sun and Moon. No big dealio.”

Scarlet would call her blasphemous and that bats never understood the role of the Goddesses like normal ponies did.

The banter went on and on and on, often causing Mythic to have to book it to the castle so she wouldn’t get a markup, physically wiping herself out as she flew clear across the city of Canterlot to make it. Luckily, she didn’t have to go through checkpoints; the Royal Guard were oddly pretty lax when it came to their fellow guards. Mythic Aurora often just climbed through a window she always left open and acted like she was on patrol.

Despite the chastising and bantering, both mares would always return to the B ‘N’ Barb.

Except… this night was different.

Mythic Aurora, donned in a sleek midnight-purple vest, stood outside of the tavern. There was a commotion - an odd sight to behold in the perfect city of Canterlot - city watchponies stood in a perimeter, not allowing any citizens to even get close to the building. A small crowd had already gathered by the time Mythic arrived, but soon after more and more ponies came to see what the cause for inconveniencing their evening stroll was.

The door was ajar, hinges busted with what Mythic deduced was the buck of a skilled earth pony, especially since the door was pointed inward when it was designed to open outward. Mythic peered closer, scooting between two hoity unicorns. A symbol was marked on the doorframe. Actually, now that she got closer, the thestral noticed that there were several odd symbols carved into various areas of the outside building.

“Watcher,” she called in her best I'm-Higher-Up-The-Food-Chain-Than-You voice to the closest guard. “What’s going on?” She could hear the regal citizens she passed snort at the absurdity of a small bat pony commanding the City Watch. The nerve of the common folk!

The guard tilted his head at Mythic and took a step forward. “And you are…?”

“Lieutenant Mythic Aurora, Lunar Protection Shift,” she answered.

He stared at her for a moment before motioning toward the tavern with his head. “Break in,” He said and didn’t elaborate further.

Mythic blinked. “That… That can’t be it. I come here every day and those symbols aren't there.” She pointed to the nearest one with her hoof.

The guard followed her pointing hoof before shaking his head. “Look, Lieutenant, this doesn’t concern you. Our best unicorns are on the way to examine them. Plus… you’re not a watchpony, you’re a night guard. Go worry about whether the stars are in the wrong place, little bat.” He about-faced and walked away.

Mythic could feel herself seething. She was tired of the disrespect. It happened all the damn time. She flapped her wings in frustration and turned to leave. Just as she broke through the crowd of ponies, she let out a yelp as she was suddenly pulled aside by Scarlet Bow.

The white unicorn held her by her shoulders, staring intensely into Mythic’s yellow eyes. “What happened?” Her voice was off. It was even and calm, a clear disconnect from her eyes. Mythic raised a hoof to break the hold on her shoulders, moving Scarlet’s hooves off in a nonchalant manner.

“Somepony broke into the tavern. Weird drawings all over the place too. Real weird. Watch were being jerks and wouldn’t tell me anything else.” She glanced back over to the crowd, which was now dispersing due to the constant shouts of the City Watch. “Weird feeling when you’re over there too now that I think about it.”

Scarlet Bow’s gaze slowly shifted from Mythic to the tavern. And without another word to her friend, she trotted off.

Mythic raised a brow. She looked around for a moment before giving a small wave to the departing unicorn. “Uh… bye? See you tomorrow maybe… if stuff is back to normal,” she muttered. She shook her head and gave one last glance to the tavern and the Watch before taking off for the Castle. She might as well get a little bit of overtime. Too bad she wouldn’t be drunk to pass the time.

Weird start to the night.

The flight was uneventful and Mythic arrived at her Uber Super Secret Unlocked Window. She pushed open the window and swooped in, shutting it with her back hoof.

If she had taken the time to stop and look, she would have noticed a symbol etched into the wall next to the window.

It was weird, to say the least. Fury Shield wasn’t tired. And he was always tired. He would constantly fall asleep during his shift and have to be woken up by his partner. He wasn’t complaining though! He felt so much better not being in a perpetual state of exhaustion on the brink of falling over into a deep, deep sleep-coma.

But it was weird.

The unicorn trotted down the hall, away from the eastern section of the castle. His almost 12-hour shift had ended, a shift filled with questioning and searching nobles who came to petition Princess Celestia for… whatever they petitioned the Princess for. Fury Shield honestly just thought that they got a kick out of annoying one of the most powerful ponies in the country. Actually, now that he thought of it, Celestia probably got a kick out of annoying them back. They would always leave disgruntled and much more annoyed and snappy with him than when they arrived.

Sometimes he could swear he would hear laughter emanate from the throne room after a few meetings.

But that was behind him! Tonight, he could get stuff done! He smiled triumphantly and held his head high as he walked. He could fold some clothes, do some dishes, read a book he’d been meaning to pick up for months, maybe even write a letter to his mother back in Manehattan! He came to a stop abruptly. How many of those things can he actually do in a barracks?

Suddenly something bumped into him, snapping him from his train of thought. A white unicorn mare stared wide-eyed at him. “O-oh! Sorry about that, sir!” she stuttered out.

Fury laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hoof as he replied. “Eh, no problem. I probably shouldn’t be standing in the middle of the walkway.”

The mare laughed stiffly with him and nodded. Her smile was dangerously large, almost forced through a surge of anxiety, Fury noted.

“So… what’s your name? I haven’t seen you around here; are you new?” he asked, taking a step forward to get a better look at the pony. She had a white coat and a scarlet-colored mane. She was wearing a dark brown cloak, which covered most of her body including her cutie mark and tail.

She took a defensive step back. “O-oh! Uh! Yes! I’m part of the night shift! Just transferred here from Ponyville actually! Heheheh…” She looked around quickly. “Well! I better go! Don’t want to be late on my first night, right? It was really nice meeting you!” And with that, she cautiously backed away until she was at a corner, which she swiftly ducked behind, done all in a little under two seconds. Fury didn’t even have time to react.

Fury Shield blinked. “Uh.. wait, miss, I still didn’t get your name!” Something was fishy here. An odd mare in the depths of the Royal Palace in a cloak? Suspicious, to say the least. Either that or he was grasping at straws, desperately wanting something to happen other than a regal pony in a handlebar mustache yelling at him. Regardless, he galloped after her, swiftly turning the corner and smacking headfirst into a purple mane.

They both fell to their flanks, the mare clutching her head. “Bucking… Ow!” she exclaimed. “Could you watch where you’re going, dude?”

Fury Shield desperately tried to apologize, clutching a bleeding nose. He opened an eye, seeing a dark blue bat pony in her standard dark purple royal armor. “Crud, I’m really sorry about that.”

She grumbled a few words under her breath, getting to her hooves and dusting herself off. “Why were you running anyway?”

“There… was a mare? You didn’t see her? Brown cloak, red mane, white coat?”

The bat grumbled. “No… I haven't seen anypony except for you since I got here.” She glared at him. “I get that you wanna get to bed, but for Celestia’s sake watch where you’re running.”

Fury Shield rose as well, not really looking at her but rather behind her down the hall. True to her word, the pony he had encountered seemed to have just… vanished! She could have teleported away, but Fury would have been able to see the flash of light. Plus, that was very advanced magic and he could only count a hoof-full of unicorns who could pull it off.

The mare rolled her eyes at him. “If it's any consolation, I’m sure your marefriend isn’t too mad at you,” she said as a small smirk surfaced on her face.

“My… no, no. I didn’t even get her name, much less have a conversation that led her to date me so quickly.” He shook his head dismissively and stepped cautiously around the thestral. “Look I... gotta go. Sleep and all that normal pony stuff.”

Her smirk left as quickly as it came. “‘Normal pony.’” She echoed with a snort. “Yeah, sure, bub. Keep telling yourself that.”

Fury Shield turned his head to respond but she had already left around the corner where he had come from. What was up with tonight and his weird experiences with mares?

He slowly trotted down the hall, trying to spot any sign of concealed unicorn, whether through magic or just very well done camouflage. But after walking up and down the same hall five times, he gave up. Let the night shift deal with it. He was going to go be productive in his bunk. Maybe he’d get tired if he started reviewing the Highly Advanced Tactics and You! book his mom got for his last birthday. That seemed to put him to sleep every time he tried.

It was a good thing he couldn’t find it when he got there too.

The dark night crept further and further into the Canterlot Castle and the city itself. Ponies should either have been asleep or falling asleep shortly thereafter. Luna’s inner mind should have been filled in with doorways to the dreams of her - her sister’s - subjects.

But, for the first time in her history of watching over the night, no dreams appeared. No doors, if they even did appear, could be opened. The Dream Realm, where Luna lost herself each night, was useless in staving off the boredom of night.

Now she knew how her guards felt.

However, this wasn’t like the rare quiet times when there were no nightmares to quell or fears to help conquer. There was nothing. And Princess Luna was scared.

Evenly Stars walked down one of the deeper parts of the castle. By himself! The audacity of the Captain tonight! Sending him off on his own! And to what felt like catacombs, no less. Usually guards would be sent in pairs, and one was usually a unicorn. But the Captain said that since these were the deepest parts of the Castle, he didn’t need a unicorn to patrol with him; all his earth pony strength would be enough if he found himself faced against a rat.

Seemed he drew the short straw this shift.

It wasn’t like it was difficult. Quite the opposite, Evenly Stars figured. Just incredibly dull. And dark. Dull and dark. There were probably more spiders down here than ponies in Canterlot, too, not that he was going to seek them out to count them.

He pursed his lips and blew out a sharp, bored whistle which echoed down the hall and back to him a dozen times. It was absolutely silent down here apart from the clopping of his hooves against the stone floor and the few magically infused torches that lined the hallway.

He came to an intersection in the hall. This is where the castle ended, and the catacombs of Old Canterlot began. Constructed a long, long time ago and built as an incredibly complicated maze of lookalike hallways and tombs and graves of long deceased nobles and heroes. All long forgotten to time. Evenly wasn't even sure if the Princesses remembered.

He sat on his haunches, reaching into his saddlebag to pull out an old map. The guards who came down here always brought the map. Somepony found it years back - nopony knew who - but it was vital to patrolling this area and not getting lost in the darkness. According to the map, he was to turn left to avoid the vast majority of maze-like hallways. So that's what he was going to do, since he didn’t want to get lost. He rolled the map back up and slipped it back in his saddlebags and turned left.

That's when he heard it. A low, wet growl.

He swung around, using his head to bring down the spear strapped to his right side, attached to the saddlebag.

There was nothing. Just darkness.

Evenly Stars’ heart began to race. He shook his head, trying so very hard to convince himself that he hadn't actually heard it. It was part of his imagination! It had to be! He laughed, a nervous, stiff laugh, and stood from his defensive stance.

As soon as he did, one by one the torches began to go out.

The hallway across from the intersection went pitch black, illuminated only by the flickering torch a few feet behind the earth pony. He went to take a step forward, but a thumping noise echoed through the dank hall and stopped his hoof in midair. After a moment, another thump. Then another.

Thump.

It didn't take long for Evenly Stars to realize that something was walking toward him in the darkness.

It got louder, and it got faster. But then it stopped. It stood just on the edge of the darkness. Evenly could just barely see it. It was large, almost the size of Princess Celestia. But it wasn't a pony. It didn't even resemble any known creature in Equestria as far as the earth pony could tell. Its bleeding, red eyes stared hungrily at Evenly Stars. Saliva dripped from its enormous mouth, filled to the brim with impossibly sharp teeth.

Evenly was frozen where he stood. His eyes grew wide as the beast stepped forward, its three-clawed leg revealed along with the rest of its demonic form. Its skin was red, covered in scars and ugly looking pustules, leaking some otherworldly, horrific ichor. Bones protruded and pushed its skin outward in various places on its body, threatening to break free from the tight flesh. One of its paws reached to grip the corner and three large,clawed, knife-like claws were revealed to match its feet.

That was all Evenly Stars needed to see. So he ran.

He didn’t even make ten steps before the things claws sank into the stallion’s flank, igniting a harsh and shrill scream. The beast yanked, and Evenly Stars felt more pain than he'd ever felt in his life as his back legs, starting right above his cutie mark, were ripped from his body. Its other set of claws snatched up Evenly Stars by the mane and flung him back over its head, where he fell onto the floor like a sack of meat. All he could do was stare at the demon in horror over his missing lower half.

It almost seemed to smile at the world of pain that he was experiencing as it lurched forward again, tearing him apart with its vicious claws. It took his intestines in his mouth and flung him against the walls of the hall as if he was a dog’s chew toy.

Suffice to say, Evenly Stars didn’t live long after that.

The creature, once done with its play of slaughter and torture, slinked the way Evenly Stars came. To the upper levels of the Canterlot Castle.

And more followed.

2. Lucky to be Awake

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

Boredom was a predator. It stalks its prey, creeping in the dark and dull, given power by the monotonous and the empty. It was patient, cunning and smart in all meanings of the words it used. When boredom sunk its fangs into its prey, it took its senses, it's smarts, it dulled the mind to something that couldn't focus.

So, as a guard, one could see why Mythic Aurora detested boredom.

She wasn’t assigned to a patrol tonight. She couldn’t walk down halls, admire the paintings and art she had seen four million times. She was stuck guarding the doorway to the library of all places. The damned library. Why? She couldn’t tell you. To her, books were books. Disposable if they had enough copies. And she knew for a fact that Equestria had enough copies of the books in the library behind her to fill it even if it burned down ten times and took everything with it. At least she wasn’t alone.

She stole a glance at the unicorn mare who stood (not sat on the floor like Mythic) on the opposite of the large double doors. A seafoam green mane, dark purple coat that severely contrasted with her mane. Mythic didn’t even think it matched, but she wasn’t sure, she wasn’t an artist. The unicorn stood at attention, unmoving with a face devoid of emotion and full of the bright dreams of a new recruit. “New around here?” Mythic asked.

The unicorn’s ear twitched, turning itself toward the thestral as her eye glanced over. After a moment, she responded with a curt nod.

“Well,” Mythic began, “take it from someone who’s been here a few years, alright? Don’t stand like that for too long. No ones going to walk by who's going to yell at you for sitting on your flank. They will if you’re asleep though, so don’t do that.”

The mare raised an eyebrow and she finally moved her head to face Mythic Aurora. “But… what if one of the princesses-”

“One, the only Princess that's awake is Princess Luna. Two, she hardly ever comes out of her room. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen her out on a leisurely stroll in months at best, a year at worst.” Mythic rested her back on the wall, crossing her lower legs and putting her upper behind her head for support. “Kick back, relax, read a book, write a book, hell, I don’t even care if you go and play with yourself, just don’t be a prude.” She opened an eye to see the other mare’s reaction.

She got what she wanted, the mare’s eyes grew two times their original size and she gasped with a blush. “I—I cannot believe you even suggested that!” She went off on a tangent about ‘proper military behavior’ and ‘when you don the armor of the Sisters you denounce yourself to those kinds of bodily urges.’ It was all Mythic could do to not burst out in laughter.

When she finally stopped her tirade, Mythic looked like she was about to explode. Her hoof was squarely planted in her mouth with her cheeks puffed out, tears formed at the corners of her eyes. The unicorn lifted and set her hoof down before sighing and hanging her head. “You were joking weren't you?”

The dam broke. Mythic Aurora slid down the wall onto her side, laughing like there was no tomorrow. “BWAHAHAHA!” She continued like that for a minute. The other guard's expression turned from embarrassed, to shameful, and then to just annoyed.

“Okay okay! You don’t have to rub it in, jeez!”

“Ooohhhhh, I’m sorry, it was just too good!” Mythic sighed, clutching her stomach for a moment before rolling to get up. “See? It worked, you’re no longer a statue!” She poked the other mare in the chest with her hoof. “Plus it was kinda funny, admit it.”

“Psh, I will do no such thing.” She huffed and turned away. But after a moment she smirked. “Fine.. it was a little funny.”

It walked.

It hunted.

It lurked as the tunnels turned into ancient halls. Ancient turned to new and recent. It knew what new and recent brought. It had a job, He commanded. It was all it knew. Be the arm, the force, the army.

Right now, He was hungry. Meat would not suffice, they had plenty of that. It hungered for intelligence, for life, for minions.

And for them, it searched.

It need not search far.

Princess Luna was not blind.

Live for thousands of years and one will be able to recognize powerful magic. Sure, what she felt was magic, but it was an abomination. It was dark, hungry, unchecked and loose in her castle. It nipped at her, not its conscious form, but an excess of its magic filled the air around her. If she closed her eyes, she could almost see it. She could see hints of spells known to her. Some were from a levitation spell, one a teleportation, a good chunk of it was filled with the remnants of a spell that parents would use to put their routy foals to bed.

Yet they were amplified a hundredfold. The more she looked, the more there was. It seeped through every crack, every hole, every crevice that existed in the walls of this ancient place. What she noticed, however, was that it ignored her completely. The magic—or rather the spell—was going out of its way to avoid her. She would step forward and it would bend around her. It went between her legs, around her hair, everywhere where there wasn't a physical limb of hers. She walked up to the wall and found a place where it flowed in from. She quickly plugged it with her hole, giving it no chance of escape.

Only a wisp touched her hoof, but it was enough.

Flashes of images: meat, teeth, claws that were all covered in deep red blood that didn't belong to the being it covered. She felt immense hunger, not for food, but for beings. Bodies that were sufficient for the Master of the being. It was not picky. It would take anyone it could. She saw it walk. It walked through the halls of the castle, different halls and different tunnels in the Catacombs. She then realized that there wasn’t just one, but many. Numerous beasts crafted of dark and abominable magic. She saw one of them kill, playing with the pony it attacked. It ripped him to shreds, flailing him about by his entrails. Once the life was gone and the soul of the pony departed from this mortal realm, it just left. It did not feast, did not take it to the Master. It wasn’t worthy, it wasn’t ready. It was of the few that was not a candidate.

She saw another clambering down the hall and finding a pair of guards, both of whom had fallen asleep at their posts. She expected it to do the same as the other and brutally kill like a mindless beast. But no, it took them delicately by the hooves and began to drag them back to the darkness. They, the sleeping, were worthy.

The vision ended and the pain began.

A roar tore through her mind, furious and guttural. It tore through her mind, seeking something. It gripped her throat, tugging and choking. She gasped for air. Her hooves tore at the invisible force that threatened to kill you by methods of asphyxia. She knew no happiness, no love. Only pain. Pain and hopelessness. Anger, hatred, and darkness clouded her mind. It was her world.

A bright light washed over her. It burned her. No, it burned him. It screamed and it screamed through her. Demonic and deep, her body writhed in pain. The light grew brighter and brighter. The magic was being pulled away and it gripped her mind with it's dark claws to take her with it, back to the void. But with the darkness fading and the light retaking, she felt strong. Gathering all the strength she could muster, she expelled him.

LEAVE.

And it was gone. She opened her eyes and stared up at the tall ceiling of her room. She heard huffing to her left and turned her head slowly.

Sitting right next to her, horn light in use of telekinesis, which held both a torch and a giant ball of fire, was a red unicorn with fire-yellow hair. A sword was on the floor next to him, caked in blood and gore.

“Princess,” he spoke through exasperated breaths. “Princess, we need to leave.”

Luna began to rise. She felt better than she did before the vision, before the pain. “Who are you?” she asked.

“Fury Shield, Your Highness.”

Fury Shield was the only pony left awake. No matter how many sheep he counted, no matter how many chapters out of various books he read, he would not fall asleep.

At first he thought it was a good thing! He wrote letters to friends and family from all over the country that he needed to get out, caught up on his journal (he was three days behind, can you believe that?!) and even organized his laundry. And now he just layed in his bunk, staring at the ceiling.

The door creaked open.

And then something came in.

Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
He sat up, trying to peer through the darkness to see who had come in. He wasn’t a bat though, he had no superior night vision, just vision like anyone else would have. A large, looming figure stood in front of the door, hunched over as it surveyed the sleeping guardponies. Its head scanned the room and began to walk the rows of bunks. Fury could hear its claws scraping against the stone-tile floor with every step. He couldn’t look away.

His eyes shifted to where he knew his desk was, right beside his bed. Front and center was his sabre, handed down in his family for generations, built with the finest magic enhanced steel, an ancient technique that was barely practiced these days. He couldn’t grab it with magic, it would be too dark and he would stick out like… well like a light in pitch black.

He slowly began to shift, scooching inch after inch to the side of the bed. His eyes never left the beast. It continued to prowl, almost as if it was guarding. It stopped occasionally to inspect a guard, putting its face right against them, running its claws down their bodies until it abruptly moved on.

It was six rows away now.

He glanced over to his desk, which he now could see the vague shape of. He lifted his hoof reaching to where his sabre was.

He forgot he put a glass of water there. His hoof nudged it.

It didn't fall and shatter, but it did produce a sound, small as it was, that echoed through the still room.

TINK.
In an instant the beast snapped its head toward Fury Shield, its mouth opened wide, impossibly wide with razor sharp teeth that he really didn't want to be at the end of.

Figuring he was already found out, he reached out and grabbed his sword with magic, a soft green glow emanating around both his horn and the hilt of his blade.

A shrill, guttural screech tore through the air. It pierced Fury’s ears and he almost lost concentration. The thing lunged, caring not for any of the sleeping ponies as it dug its claws into beds and ponies, making a beeline straight for Fury Shield. He yanked his sword out of its sheath, rolling to the opposite side of the bed as the beast dived down onto it.

Its claws sunk deep into the bed like a mole diving into the dirt to dig. It swung it's arms outward, completely destroying both the mattress and the simple wooden bed frame. Fury Shield was hit with the shrapnel, bracing himself against the bed next to him. How come nopony had woken up? Before he could even recover the thing lifted its arm high and brought it down at incredible speed. Fury dove between its legs, sending a buck up between its legs.

It yowled in shock and pain as it was pushed into the next bunk.

Fury may not be an earth pony, but it seemed these things were weaker than they seemed to be. His horn flashed and his sabre flew from up above and sunk right into the side of its head as it turned to face him. It dropped instantly, a literal sack of meat.

The unicorn tried to steady his breathing. His wide eyes were only focused on the beast. He had since let go of his sword just letting it rest in the things head like a sheath. He slowly began to get up—and that was when the real silence hit him.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

None of his fellow guards had woken up from the commotion and upon inspection of his neighbor, he was cut right in half yet he was still breathing.

That was when Fury Shield finally threw up.

It took a while, but he went up to everypony in the large bunkroom, doing anything he could to wake them up. Shock spells, slaps, turning them over and dumping them on the cold hard floor, nothing worked. Several were bleeding through nasty gashes from the path the creature took. He would have to find a doctor. One of the night guards should have one.

After recovering his sword he slowly stepped out of the room. He glanced in both directions and threw a piece of wood from his bed down both. Nothing came. He closed the door behind him and set off, not toward the medical wing, but toward Princess Luna’s chambers.

Fury Shield hoped the guards were competent enough to protect her—but then again, he would have been torn to shreds if he hadn’t been paying attention. If one got the drop on patrolling guards, it would be over for them in a second.

His theory was correct. He passed a patrol of two guards, innards and blood splayed across the wall. One was sitting against the wall, a whole side of her head mangled and missing.Their eyes stared blankly but Fury could still see the leftover fear that gripped them in their final moments.

He closed both of their eyes with a hoof and moved on.

Questions buzzed in his head, and honestly he was surprised he hadn’t gone into shock. Or thrown up. Or passed out.

And he still wasn’t tired.

He didn’t see any more bodies while he cautiously trotted to Princess Luna’s bedroom. No guards either. None in the halls and none outside of her door. There were signs of guards once being outside her door however. A spear laid against the wall on one side of the door and a purple guard helmet sat on the floor on the other side. No blood. For a moment Fury Shield thought they had just wandered off to check on something, but that didn’t make sense, one of them had left a weapon.

He heard a pained cry come from inside. Without thinking he burst through the door and came face to face with a shadow.

It stood there on two legs. Staring at Fury Shield. The room was filled with pitch black smog that flowed out into the hallway, consuming every ounce of light that it touched. The shadow figure took a step toward a frozen Fury Shield, the smog crept up his legs, pulling him down. He struggled to keep up, using all his physical strength to keep his legs straight, refusing to crumble into the dark.

The shadow stopped, almost as if it was surprised that Fury had put up a fight at all. Fury Shield didn’t take its moment of hesitation lightly. He darted his eyes down the hallway to a distant torch, flaring his magic and enveloping it in levitation. The shadow turned, but it was too late. The flame of the torch was practically the sun as it fell between Fury and the figure. The smog retreated and Fury Shield could have sworn he heard it scream. The figure seemed to glare at Fury as he retreated back into the room. As soon as his legs were free, Fury kicked the torch into the room, glancing back at another and pulling it toward him as well.

The torch on the ground bounced into the room and the smog retreated momentarily before it poured onto it with full force, snuffing out the flame. He heard a chuckle. A dark and deep chuckle.

Keeping the torch in the middle of the doorway, Fury Shield searched the halls for anything he could use. This thing hated light, but too little light and it could be smothered by the smog that most certainly wasn't just smog. He needed to make a bigger source of light by lighting something big on fire.

Like this tapestry that depicted the Elements of Harmony defeating Discord.

He tore it off the wall. No time for reverence and pleasantries but he did wince. He’ll be discharged for this.

He brought it over to the torch, floating the tapestry over so that the flame was licking the middle of the cloth. It took a moment, but soon enough he had a very big ball of burning cloth held within his magic. He smirked into the darkness.

“Sun’s up,” he said, before floating the fireball right into the middle of the room. Now he could hear the scream. Not one, but multiple. The dark smog, with nowhere to run, fizzled and turned to ash as it was exposed to the light. The dark figure, now illuminated from the fire, harrumphed and raised his hand. The smog began to twist, contorting all that it was into a ball in his hand. It was like pulling a very big blanket off a covered table. Once it was all retreated into the ball, the figure itself retreated into it, and then it was gone. He waited a moment before stepping into the room.

Princess Luna laid in a heap on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. She slowly turned to look at him and he became vastly aware of his appearance. Blood caked his sabre, he was sweaty (and probably smelled terrible) from stress and the fight with the beast and he was panting from over exerting himself with his levitation. Despite all this, he mustered up and spoke. “Princess,” he croaked out. He swallowed to wet his throat. “Princess, we need to leave.”

3. Too Late

Author's Note

Heyo! Sorry for the short chapter (and how long its been since the last one, yikes...). I went on vacation and didn't have time to get a new chapter out and I didn't want to go too long without updating!

3. Too Late

"Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned."

The blood curdling scream echoed through the halls of the Canterlot Royal Castle.

Snow Lancer heard it. It sent shivers down her spine. It made her heart beat wildly, almost as if it was threatening to explode right in her chest. She stared down the dark hallway where the scream had come from. A still, deafening silence roamed down the hallway. The silence was cut with a question: “What the buck was that?”

Snow spared a glance over to her thestral companion, who had introduced herself as Mythic Aurora before excessively teasing the poor unicorn. The bat’s eyes were wide, pupils small as she willed her eyes to adjust to the sudden dark. “B-better question: what happened to all the lights?” Snow asked quietly. She lit up her horn and casted a simple light spell.

Mythic Aurora let out a yelp and covered her eyes. “Gah! Warn me next time!”

“Sorry.” The unicorn stepped forward into the dark while tightening her grip on her polearm. She was scared, terrified even, but she kept on a brave face. She stopped and turned to Mythic. “This… this is a prank isn’t it? Something to like.. Uh… haze me? Is that what this is? Hazing?” She let out a stiff, nervous laugh.

Mythic turned to stare at her. She stared for a moment before she shook her head, and wore an expression more serious than Snow Lancer ever saw in the hour and a half they spent together. A quiet “No,” was all Snow got for an answer. No excuses, no funny quips or banter. A simple, terrifying answer.

Snow gulped and let go of a breath she had been holding. “W-what do we do then?” She knew what to do: go investigate. A scream in the middle of the night? That spelled trouble, obviously. Even with all the training, studying, and conjuring up situation after situation of how Snow Lancer would prove her worth; it didn’t compare to the real thing.

“We-” The thestral stopped and squinted down the hallway. Snow glanced back down as well. Nothing but darkness.

Snow turned back to the bat. “What? ‘We’ what?” She asked.

No answer, just intense squinting. And then her eyes widened and she took a fearful step back. “S-somethings there!”

Snow Lancer snapped her view back down the hall. It took her a moment, a moment more than she would have liked, to see it. A pair of red eyes. It began to advance, slowly at first, but it got faster with every second. Snow stood still, fear planting her in place like a statue.

“What are you doing?!” Mythic yelled, “Run!”

She still didn’t move. She stared, wide eyed at the red eyes as it thumped its way toward her. It was closing the distance quickly and soon Snow saw the glint of blood caking the creature's talons and hands. It pulled one hand backward, intending to send those claws into Snow in a devastating uppercut. Something tugged on her tail, snapping her out of her terrified trance with a yelp. It was too late to start running however.

Snow Lancer concentrated, searching her small arsenal of spells learned in the Academy for the best shield spell she could muster. A shimmering enveloped the front half of her body which turned into a translucent coat of magical scales. Snow remembered her bunkmate commenting on how beautiful it was for a defensive spell, and Snow Lancer couldn’t agree more; it was stunning.

It shattered as the full force of the uppercut slammed into the shield and then into her jaw. She spiraled upward and back ten feet, slamming into a statue of Starswirl the Bearded before crashing down onto the floor with a thick thump.

The world spun and pain enveloped her muzzle and back. Her chest armor was dented in, putting pressure on her lungs. It stung to breathe. She could hear the commotion through a ringing that echoed ever so slightly in her ears. Her vision was out of focus, the blurry blobs of Mythic Aurora and the beast slashing away at each other. Mythic was light on her hooves, using her wings expertly to dodge every slam and swipe the creature had to throw at her. With every dodge came an opportunity to land a hit. The thestral sunk the metal talons of her boots into the creature and cut through it like a chef knife.

It's roar was guttural and wet, overflowing with wrongness. It backhanded Mythic and sent her into the wall; the talons sunk in it took a chunk of flesh and a gallon of blood with it. Blood and gore soaked the floor.

It continued its yells and demonic screams of pain. It didn’t bring it down, however. Mythic Aurora struggled to stand, attempting to use the wall as support as the monster set its sights on her once again.

Snow Lancer tried to move but with every movement of her arms or head brought extreme pain to her head. Her breaths became short and struggled as her dented chest piece pushed against her lungs.

A bright light flashed through the darkness and pierced the creature. It stumbled to the side, just barely missing Mythic with a lunge and instead going headfirst into the stone wall. Three more javelins of light struck it. It was dead by the second.

Snow’s concentration finally collapsed with the death of the enemy. Her vision blurred and darkened. It called her. The void, the endless darkness of sleep. It had her in its grasp, taking her by the legs and attempting to drag her into a sleep she would not wake up from. She wasn’t dying, what was left of her conscious thought came to that conclusion. No, the ever familiar presence of a spell was what she felt.

A light flashed, and cold water was suddenly dumped on her head. She could make out three figures. One she could see was Mythic Aurora. And another she could only guess was an Alicorn.

It didn’t take long for Princess Luna and Fury Shield to heal Snow Lancer’s concussion and bruised ribs after they got her armor off. For whatever reason, Princess Luna insisted she couldn’t rest because she wouldn’t wake up, whatever that meant. Mythic Aurora didn’t have a clue, and merely watched as they (literally) worked their magic.

After it was all said and done, Princess Luna looked to the doors of the library. “Have any gotten in?”

Mythic mulled over the question for a moment before answering. “No?”

The Princess seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded. “Good. We must search for a book, a spell book to be exact.” She began to walk toward the library doors. She gave a side glance to the broken statue before opening the doors. “Come before more show up.”

Mythic helped Snow up and allowed the injured unicorn to lean on her for support. It wasn’t much support, Snow Lancer was barely a head taller than Mythic, but it was the thought that counted.

Once inside, Fury Shield closed the doors.

“Is anypony going to explain what's going on?” Mythic finally asked.

“We don’t know a whole lot,” Fury Shield started, “all we know is that these… monster-things are attacking anypony awake and taking anypony asleep. Those asleep won’t wake up.”

“It's a spell.” Snow said. “I… felt it before you flashed me.”

“It was very lucky that it worked.” Princess Luna said. She flared her horn and conjured a bright ball of white light and sent it up to the middle of the room. “We are looking for a shield spell, one developed by Princess Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence.”

“The one used in the Crystal Empire?” Mythic asked.

“Yes, except stronger.”

“Wait,” Fury Shield stopped at a bookshelf and turned toward the alicorn, who had flown up to search a top shelf, “We’re… trapping them in?”

“Exactly!” Princess Luna beamed down at the red unicorn. “We must trap them in so that they cannot take any of the sleeping citizens and kill the ones that aren’t. We can also use the time to stop whatever is letting them in.”

“So, let me get this straight, we’re trapping the monsters in, but also trapping us in?” Mythic asked while sitting Snow Lancer down at a table. “That seems a bit counterintuitive, if we block off the spell with the shield and let everyone wake up, we could get backup once the sun-” She stopped suddenly and in an instant everyone in the room came to the same conclusion.

“Tia…” The Princess gasped and landed. She rubbed her hooves against the sides of her head. “Okay… okay. Fury Shield.”

The unicorn snapped to attention.

“Don’t do that,” Princess Luna shook her head, “This isn’t the time for formalities; they're just wasting our precious time. .” She took in a deep breath, held it for a moment before letting it out slowly. “You faced the Shroud-”

“The what?” Mythic piped in.

Luna ignored her. She waited for Fury Shield to process this and with a shiver he nodded. “I would expect that the same being would go for my sister. Take Mythic Aurora with you and retrieve Princess Celestia. If… she has already been taken then try to make it to the throne room. Snow Lancer and I will rally what guard forces are left and prepare the spell.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Fury Shield saluted, inciting a glare from the alicorn.

Mythic Aurora did the same, minus the salute.

The halls were still silent while Mythic Aurora and Fury Shield slowly trekked toward Celestia’s bedchambers. The clopping of their hooves echoed through the stony halls.

“All the torches are out.” Fury observed.

“Why does that matter?”

There was a pause as Fury Shield grabbed a torch off the wall with his levitation and lit it with a spell. “I used light to - for lack of a better word - send the ‘Shroud’ away.”

The light of the torch penetrated the darkness and made Mythic squint and look away. Sure, the light made it easier to see ten feet in front of them but beyond that? It was just a pitch black void in comparison. There was no sign of the monsters, no blood smears or bodies.

Mythic Aurora gulped. The silence was going to drive her absolutely bonkers. “So…” She began as she glanced behind her, “have any ideas for a name?”

Fury Shield raised an eyebrow at her. “A name?”

“Yeah, for the… monster-beast-creature-thingies.”

The unicorn was silent. He stared at the thestral who stared back and then grinned sheepishly. “Is this really the time for jokes?” He asked.

“I figured if we go about this as seriously as can be we’ll lose our fighting spirit.” She sighed. “This kind of thing… this can tear apart a pony. We’re not meant for this.”

“For what?”

She stopped momentarily and motioned outward with her leg. “This. Combat. Evil. Death, destruction, mayhem, blah blah blah. We’ve gone too long without conflict, and now we aren’t built for it.”

Fury Shield seemed to consider that and didn’t respond. Mythic Aurora stared at him as they walked for a moment before shaking her head. She'll try to cheer him up later. Maybe crack a joke while they’re tearing open the… Golems? Hellspawn? No, it has to be something cool for the history books. She slowly started to fall behind as she delved deep into the rabbit hole of naming an unknown creature.

Terrors? No that sounds too cliche. How about Sleeper? No that wouldn’t make sense, they don’t put ponies to sleep, just kill them. Ho-
She walked straight into her companion's flank, inciting a small yelp that she managed to control by sending a hoof into her mouth. “Sorry!” He didn’t say anything, just stood dead still and stared out in front of him. She returned to his side and squinted. She could tell there was a door in front of her, which must be Princess Celestia’s chambers. It took her another moment to notice the numerous lines of blood as they ran down the door.

The word Liptis was drawn in blood.

Mythic gawked for a second before she turned back to Fury Shield, his expression grave and terrified. His eyes darted to hers and he finally spoke. “I guess you know what to call them now.”

Can't Let Them Leave

Author's Note

So I'm back! I decided to take a month break to both refresh myself and cement in where I wanted this story to go and I'm extremely excited to tell it!
Please feel free to comment on suggestions, criticism, etc. etc.!

Can't Let Them Leave

It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,

Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,

It lies behind stars and under hills,

And empty holes it fills,

It comes first and follows after,

Ends life, kills laughter.

“Captain Spar Roar, report!”

Luna burst through the barricaded door with Snow Lancer in tow. She skidded along the marble floor of the throne room and turned, firing a spinning blade of magic that cut through the beasts that followed like butter. Snow Lancer and another guard began to build up the barricade once more, with two unicorns racing over to recast the shielding spell.

“Princess Luna!” The captain yelled. He raced over and bowed.

Luna rolled her eyes. “Stand up, Captain. You can bow when this is over.”

“Yes, ma’am,” He stood up and nodded. “Ma’am, we lost ten ponies that we know of to these things. Three more mortally wounded.”

“Did you find out where they got in?” She asked. She knew where, of course, she had seen it when she interacted with the spell in her room. They weren’t invading from the outside, they were snuffing the guard out from the inside.

“Somewhere from the catacombs. At least that's what some patrols said when we found them.” He answered.

Snow Lancer trotted back up to Luna and nodded. “Door is good to go, I’m not sure how long we can keep it up though, the Spell-tossers look exhausted.”

“They’re about to be even moreso.” The alicorn sighed. “Captain, I have a plan, though I do not think you will enjoy it.”

Free Spar gulped. “Alright… better than sitting here twiddling our hooves.”

Luna turned to Snow, “Do you have the book?”

The unicorn nodded and brought out the book in her levitation, handing it over to Luna’s. She began to flip through the pages, barely scanning them before flipping some more. After a few seconds she stopped on a page toward the end of the book with a “Ahah!”

“Snow Lancer, go get all the, what did you call them, Spell-tossers?” Snow smiled sheepishly and nodded. Luna almost chuckled, but suppressed it. “Go get all the able bodied ‘Spell-tossers’ and have them meet me outside.”

Snow Lancer nodded and ran off. Luna started to walk toward the doors with Captain Free Sparrow in tow. “For the record, ‘Spell-tosser’ isn’t the official name.” He said.

Luna nodded. “Yes, I am aware. How many guards do you have that are battle-ready?”

“About twenty-seven. Though practically a third of those are fresh out of the academy, including the one you came in with.”

“Well they are about to get much needed experience, yes?” She flung the doors open and took a deep breath of the fresh air, free of the smell of blood and death that hung in the air of the castle. She stepped further into the courtyard. This spell was taxing. Taxing to those who helped cast initially and to those who maintained it. Fortunately, Luna was well overqualified to maintain it, and unlike the Crystal Empire, she only had to hold it for a few more hours at most. Hopefully.

She stopped in front of a fountain, conjuring a piece of chalk and beginning to inscribe the first rune from which the others would copy. Being such a complex and powerful shield spell, it required runes. One main rune that the other runes will draw power from. This only made it slightly less taxing for the caster.

Right as she finished Snow Lancer returned with the unicorns. Six in total, the others Luna assumed were keeping the door’s barriers up.

“This is the plan. Those creatures cannot leave this castle. It is of utmost importance. They are taking those who sleep and slaughtering those who do not. The citizens would not last thirty minutes.” She scanned their eyes. They were scared, terrified even. The ears of those without helmets were flat against their head. To be honest, she was scared too, but for different reasons. She continued, “This spell is a shield spell, one of the most advanced ones to date, however it is meant to keep things out, as if any of the runes fail the shield will fall. You will split into pairs and copy this rune exactly onto the walls of the courtyard, each pair will inscribe two runes, creating a total of six.”

She paused once more and stepped away from the rune, allowing everypony to engrane it into their memories. She waited for a minute before starting once more, “This is a delicate operation. If these runes are smudged by anything, the shield will falter and we will be all that is standing between them and the city.” She stomped her foot on the ground. “Get to it, ponies.”

The six quickly split off into pairs, running off toward the inner wall of the courtyard to begin. Only Snow Lancer and Spar Roar remained.

“Princess, I don’t seem to understand, is our intention holding out until sunrise? Kill all the monsters in the castle?” The captain asked and turned back toward the throne room. “If I’m honest, I’m not confident enough in some of these ponies to have the will to hunt them.”

“I am not going to tell them to hunt the beasts. There is more at play than meets the eyes. A strange magic is coursing through this castle and into the rest of the city. And there is… something else.” She hesitated in explaining further. There were only a handful of beings that could produce such demonic golems, things not even found in Tartarus, and each one could lead to catastrophic events if they couldn’t defeat it.

But it had to have had help. The beings that came to mind were not natural to their plane, they needed to be summoned. Her and her sister had snuffed out many cults with such goals before her banishment, and Celestia was sure that she had destroyed all evidence and knowledge of the creatures apart from books locked in the vault, books not even Twilight Sparkle had read.

This book would be good to have on hoof, however that required a trek through the dark while maintaining the shield.

“Princess!”

Luna snapped out of her thoughts and turned toward the wall. A unicorn mare raced over to the three. “Princess, there's… well, there's already a shield up.”

Luna raised her brows. “Come again?”

The unicorn led them to the courtyard’s main gate, where the rest of the unicorns she had sent to draw the runes. They were huddled about the mouth of the gate, murmuring of fear and entrapment. The crowd parted as they approached, allowing Luna and Captain Sparrow to approach. Luna felt the presence of the magic before she even got to the threshold. It pulsed with a shimmering that was invisible to the wandering eye, only able to be seen if you were looking for it. The princess put her hoof against it and gave it a few pushes. It was solid.

Unlike the spell she was about to use, which was designed to keep things out for the most part, this one was designed specifically to keep things in. The portal didn’t budge. Not even giving recognition to any of the few spells Luna threw at it. Solid, complete and powerful magic, skillfully engineered and skillfully casted. There were only a hoofful of wizards who could create such a spell, and Luna knew for a fact that none had been in the castle for weeks.

“Luna,” Snow Lancer called, “this is the same signature as the sleep spell.”

The Captain was about to scold her for not addressing the princess with her respective title correctly, but Luna spoke up over him. “Are you sure?” She crossed over to her, who stood a few yards from the gate at a portion of the shield that wasn’t following the wall.

“Absolutely certain.”

Luna decided to find out for herself. She pressed her horn against the wall and tuned into the inner workings of the spell. True to Snow’s word, the shield was being casted by the same pony who was casting the other. It wasn’t hard to find a similar signature in spells, for untrained unicorns it mostly came down to a certain feeling when they focused. For Luna, who had centuries to learn the finer points of magic, it came in images. What flashed in her mind was terrifying. The beasts weren’t being made from nothing.

They used to be the slumbering castle staff..This magic’s build she was familiar with, she was certain of it.

She knew who was responsible.

The bat-pony and the unicorn sat in front of Celestia’s bed chambers. They sat and thought. Thinking of what they could do. They didn’t open the door, and neither had said a word for several minutes. They heard frequent roars and cries. No doubt produced from the abominations that were the Liptis.

Really, Fury Shield didn’t actually think that's what they were referred to. Whatever being that created them, they had no name. For something as disgusting as them. He certainly wouldn’t have named them anything if he was in that being's shoes. He sighed and rose to his hooves and Mythic Aurora rose with him. He grabbed the handle to the door with his magic and pushed.

The room was in absolute disarray. Tapestries were torn and ripped to shreds, tables smashed to pieces. Her whole elegant bed frame had collapsed in on itself. They couldn’t find a single drop of blood in the chaos, however. No scorch marks, no residual magic floating in the empty air. It didn’t even look like there was a fight, so why was it in such a state?

Something knocked on the door. Fury immediately unsheathed his sabre and spun around. Standing in the door was a pony, a unicorn to be exact. She had a black coat on that concealed her face with a hood and tail. She stood alone with no weapons or allies. Of course, she probably didn’t need it.

“Sad,” She said, “I was hoping the Princess would be here, that would have made Him very happy.” Her tone was smooth and calm. The words flowed from her mouth like water, concise and with purpose.

“Who?” Mythic asked. She stomped her front hooves on the ground, her metal claws swinging down in preparation for combat.

The cloaked pony laughed. An uncomfortable and menacing sound that bounced off the stone walls of the hallway and the bedroom. “It is not for me to reveal Him. He shall do that soon enough.” The hood looked between them before her horn flared up and shot a beam of light at Mythic.

Fury Shield quickly threw up a barrier in front of his companion before getting thrown back into the wall himself. He groaned as he lifted himself off the floor, blinking his eyes multiple times and staring at the figure.

“Well, tata!~” She sang before turning around and running. Fury threw his sabre at her but it missed her by an inch, instead sticking into the stone wall.

“Buck!”

Mythic flew out of the room, using Fury’s sabre as a spring to launch herself at the fleeing cultist. Fury wasn’t too far behind. The cultist flung spells behind her. Mythic dodged them with relative ease and Fury was able to block the ones coming right at him. The cultist turned down a corner and Mythic flew after and immediately attempted to stop.

She skidded into the wall, her eyes wide as she turned tail and ran back the way she came. “Nope nope nope nope nope!” Fury Shield raised a brow and slowed down once the first Liptis rounded the corner. And then the second, then third, then fourth. Fury leapt out of swiping range and swung his sword, cutting the first beast's throat with a gush of blood. He ducked under the second swipe from a totally different Liptis, and was quickly being surrounded.

He kept backing up and brought his sword back as he did, arcing it darnward in a vicious swipe that severed its new one’s right arm, and then shot it up through its mouth and out the top of its head. He pushed it away from him with his hoof, starting to quickly back away from the growing pack of monsters. There were six of them now, not counting the two he already took down. They rushed and pushed each other to get to him. “Sweet Celestia!” He shouted before shooting his sabre at the nearest one. The thing actually had the sense to shift its head and the sabre stuck through the head of the one behind it.

Mythic Aurora let out a war cry as she leapt over the unicorn, her hooves high above her head. She brought them down, sinking her claws right into the beast’s head that had dodged his sabre. He twisted and pulled, effectively slicing through the monster’s head and decapitating another. Four to go.

Mythic launched off of the Liptis, twisting to the right to avoid an overhead strike from the one in front of her. She swiped and cut off its arm and sent her other clawed hoof into the chest of another. The beast roared and pushed its head down, and bit off her ear. The thestral cried out in pain as the Liptis yanked her over its head by her ear. She was flung to the far side of the hallway, missing an ear. Before the beast could even turn around Fury Shield cut off the top half of its head.

One rounded to his left and swiped. He jumped back into the wall and not out of the swipes range. The razor sharp claws of the beast tore into his shoulder, barely missing his neck and cutting two thick gashes in his shoulder. It hurt. Bad.

Adrenaline pumping, and obviously no time to whimper over pain, he ducked under the swipe from the other hand and leapt straight into it. His horn pierced its chest. He felt its claws tighten around his tail and yanked. It reared back its free arm and siped down. Fury barely caught it by sticking his sabre through its palm. It became a game of strength. For some reason the beast didn’t drop him to ensure victory. In an instant and yelling to make sure of success, the unicorn forced the sabre and the thing’s hand back and pierced the beast in the eye.

He landed on his bad shoulder and let out a yowl of pain. Blood trickled down his face and into his eyes from his horn. Mythic Aurora yelled, charging at the remaining Liptis that loomed over him. She collided with it and pushed it up and over him and down. She stabbed it in the chest. Over and over again, ripping out its insides and covering herself in its blood. It brought a claw up and took her by the wing and sent her into the wall. A vicious snapping was heard as her wing broke at the base and she howled from the pain.

Having sat this out long enough, Fury Shield stumbled to his hooves, ignoring the flaring pain in his shoulder as he grabbed his sabre and brought it down through the arm that reached over for Mythic and into its head.

Mythic slowly lifted herself out from under the creature. She had taken an absolute beating. Her right ear was gone, and blood oozed out and dripped down the side of her head. Her left wing was bent downward, its bone sticking out through skin and the webbing of the bat-like wing torn to shreds. She was crying. Sobbing.

Fury quickly realized that either of them could pass out from blood loss.

He limped over, gasping in pain every time his left shoulder moved. He sheathed his blade and pulled Mythic to lean on him. “Buck… don’t faint on me, Mythic.” He muttered through gritted teeth.

He led them to Princess Celestia’s room as quickly as they could manage. As soon as they were in Fury slammed the doors shut and layed Mythic down on her good side. Obviously he didn’t know how to set a broken wing, much less a bat pony's, but he could deal with the head. He rummaged around the room for anything he could use as a makeshift bandage. Eventually he just decided to use the bed sheets. He returned to the sobbing Mythic’s side. She had taken off her front shoes and was clutching her head for dear life.

With his magic, he pried off her hooves and started tightly wrapping the stips of bedsheets around her head. She ended up looking ridiculous, like a comical drawing of a pony who hurt their mouth, the impromptu bandage wrapped up over her head and under her snout multiple times before the blood stopped seeping through. He fell back against the wall and bandaged his own wounds.

He had to keep shaking Mythic to make sure she didn’t pass out, she normally just responded with a whimper. They stayed there for a while, ten minutes at most before either of them said anything.

“We…. should probably get to the throne room.” Mythic Aurora suggested. She pushed herself to her flanks, cringing the whole way up.

Fury Shield nodded and stood up.

They didn’t meet any resistance or foe on the way there. What they did meet when they arrived was a siege.