"498... 499... 500..." Shining Armor let out an exhausted sigh before lowering himself back to the floor from the bar he was using for his pull up exercise at the gymnasium of the Royal Guard. It's been part of his daily routine ever since he recovered after the events of the wedding. One thousand push ups, one thousand sit ups an five hundred pull ups. And that was before his combat practice with the veterans and martial arts lesson from his personal trainers. He had to improve himself as much as equinely possible to make sure that what happened that day will never happen again.

He scowled in anger and hatred as he remembered the events of that day. That day was going to be perfect. The best day of his entire life. He was going to marry the love of his life. He was going to reconcile with his little sister. He was going to become a member of the royal family in addition to his title as captain of the Royal Guard. Everything a stallion could ever dream about would have been his.

Instead, it became a complete and utter disaster. As the Captain of the Guard, he failed miserably as the Changelings infiltrated and overtook the city with ease, foalnapped his bride and incapacitated him like he was nothing while they did whatever wicked thing they desired with Cadance and the whole city.

His expression fell when he thought of his bride. Cadance was still in a coma from whatever those monsters did to her. The doctors theorised that since Changelings fed on love which Cadance was the princess of, they wanted to use her as an infinite food source. And her body couldn't handle it. Since she was an alicorn, her immune system was far more powerful than an average pony's, it was possible that she could recover in time, but there was no way to be sure. All they could do was wait.

He hated the waiting. It made him feel so powerless. He couldn't imagine a worse feeling. He was the Royal Guard's finest and as such, he was supposed to be in control when a crisis struck. This was the reason he was so angry. He was supposed to protect Canterlot and he not only failed, but failed spectacularly. If it wasn't for those heroes, the Changelings would have conquered the city and then the whole country unopposed.

His frown only hardened when he thought of them. Once again those masked pretenders had to save the day and make the Guard look bad. This cannot go on like this! The members of the Guard will have to improve along with him and he was gonna make sure that happened. One way or another. Equestria forgot who were its real defenders and they needed a reminder. As the Guard's leader, it fell upon his shoulders to deliver it.

"Again! Get back up!" Shining Armor roared as one of the new recruits fell onto the ground in front of him. The unfortunate rookie had a black eye and a bleeding nose and it was clear he was on the verge of tears from the harsh beating he just received from him, but Shining did not pity him. Pain will only make him stronger.

"Captain, he sustained serious injuries. I don't think he'll be able to properly stand! Let alone fight!" The training instructor countered, but Shining remained insistent.

"He'll get it much worse on the battlefield if he doesn't learn how to defend himself! If the Changelings ever return, do you think they'll be content with just severely injuring him?!" He argued. The instructor sighed.

"Captain, this pony is barely a stallion! You cannot expect him to instantly be able to take the same level of punishment as a veteran!" Shining looked down at the recruit. He was indeed very young. He saw high school students who looked older than him.

For the first time that day, his expression softened. Perhaps the instructor was right. These young ponies needed to be trained from the ground up before they can become the imposing soldiers they were meant to be. And as Captain, it was his responsibility to help them achieve that status. He went over to the fallen recruit and offered him his hoof before pulling him onto his hooves.

"What's your name, recruit?" He asked. The recruit, a light green pegasus with dark brown mane wiped his face of the blood and the tears before answering.

"High Flyer, sir!" He replied as sturdily as he could in his current situation. "But most ponies call me Bird." Shining's face hardened again.

"Well, Bird, you are not fit to be a royal guard. You are weak, soft, fragile and feeble minded. You have no place here." He spat at him cruelly. Bird lowered his head in shame and embarrassment and was about to let his tears loose, but then he felt a hoof on his shoulder. It was Shining Armor but his expression was much more encouraging than before.

"But you will. I give you my word that I will lead you and all the others here to becoming what a Royal Guard is supposed to be. By the time I'm done with you, you will be able to give any Changeling or any other creature that threatens Equestria the same beatdown you just received."

Somehow, Bird found his words very inspirational. Nopony had ever talked to him like that. They all just passed him off as a mindless pretty boy who was only good at getting mares to swoon over him. Captain Shining's speech was the first time he felt like he could be something more and it made him feel like he could take on the entire Changeling hive by himself. No reply was necessary. A salute was all it took to pledge his allegiance.

"You're encircled, sir. Give it up!" Bird boasted with a smug smirk.

"Don't push it, rookie!" Shining retorted confidently. "You still haven't seen half of my tricks!"

The two of them were currently sitting in the barracks over a three dimensional map of Canterlot with several pony and changeling figurines placed all around it. These war games have been common practice between them and several other recruits during the past few weeks. After all, a good warrior is supposed to be strong in both body and mind.

"I still can't believe you had so few defenders around the castle." Bird said in slight confusion as he pushed the changelings closer to the castle. "I knew the Guard's numbers have been severely depleted after the invasion but I didn't think the situation was this bad." Shining smirked.

"That's probably because it wasn't." He said before igniting the magic in his horn and summoning several pony figures out of hiding all around the battlefield. "Who's surrounded now, rookie?" Bird was flabbergasted.

"How... did you..."

"Think outside the box, rookie!" Shining replied, crossing his front legs over his chest. "My hidden reinforcements were concealed from you before you even entered the room. Let this be the lesson of the day for you. An enemy cannot fight something they don't know exists." Before the young pegasus could give an answer, the pair were interrupted by the door of the barracks slamming open. The newcomer was a bulky earth pony stallion who scoffed at the duo deridingly .

"Bird, would you quit wasting the captain's time with these stupid games? You're gonna take his time away from training." Shining rolled his eyes. He was about to open his mouth for a reply, but Bird beat him to it.

"Training of the mind is just as important as training of the body, Trogg." He cut back in frustration. This muscle-brained simpleton has been a constant source of irritation for him since his first day in the Guard. "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to understand that." As he expected, his response was an angry glare.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that, pretty boy?!" He fumed, but Bird merely responded with a smug smirk.

"But it's such a good name for you!" He taunted. "You're so brutish and simple minded and smelly! Just like a real troglodyte! Not to mention ugly!" Shining could clearly see that Bird wanted to goad the bigger stallion into attacking. And it was also evidently clear that he was succeeding.

"THAT DOES IT, YOU LITTLE TWERP! I'M GONNA..." Whatever Trogg's intention was to do with Bird forever remained a mystery as the pegasus tossed the chair he was sitting on at the bottom of the earth pony's hooves, tripping him in the process. The behemoth fell forward and almost crushed the table he fell onto. It was humiliating and a little painful, but he'll be damned before he let this litter runt make him look bad in front of the captain.

He got back to his hooves and slammed his front legs down onto the base of Bird's wings, snapping them in the process. The pegasus let out an agonised howl as he collapsed onto the ground, much to Shining's horror.

"SOLDIER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" He yelled at Trogg in fury and shock but the earth pony wasn't intimidated.

"You wanna survive on the streets or during a changeling invasion like I have, cap? Then you gotta know how to fight dirty!" He then leaned down to continue pummeling Bird, but the pegasus wasn't done.

"You wanna fight dirty, you prick?!" He growled in primal rage. "I'll be happy to provide!" He then knocked his hind legs together, making two hidden blades jump out of his horseshoes. He then slashed Trogg's hindlegs, making the larger stallion cry out in pain and lose his grip on the pegasus. Bird then took advantage of this and tackled the earth pony to the ground, pulling out another blade and pressing it against Trogg's throat.

"I guess you can say I learned my lesson, Captain." Bird said to Shining without taking his eyes off Trogg. "My enemy cannot prepare something they don't know exists." The earth pony looked up at him in shock for a few seconds before his lips curled up into a smile.

"Heh! I guess you do have some spine after all, pretty boy." He chuckled before gently pushing his hoof away from his neck. As Bird got off the earth pony and allowed him to get up, Shining couldn't help but stare at the scene in stunned awe. As their superior officer, he was supposed to stand in and separate the two guards who could have caused each other serious harm. But for some reason, he couldn't move.

There was something about the brutality and raw savageness of the way the two guards fought that the unicorn found fascinating. Before the Changeling invasion, he never would have considered resorting to such uncivilised and dirty tactics. But right now, he couldn't help but feel like the power display he saw from the two stallions was exactly what he was missing. Perhaps the honorable fighting style employed by the Guard was becoming obsolete. Perhaps embracing the tactics of their enemies would be the key to the future of surviving on the battlefield.

"You okay, Captain?" Trogg asked once he was back on his hooves. "You kinda spaced out there." It took Shining some time to finally snap out of his stupor, but when he finally did, all he could say was one thing.

"Show me how to fight like that."

In the following days, Shining, Bird and Trogg had become inseparable. Shining continued to train the new recruits but he made sure to have extra sessions with Bird. Trogg in the meantime taught them both everything he knew about fighting dirty. Shining was surprised how quickly he took to this fighting style, but he supposed it had something to do with the anger raging inside him. When he thought about how much he wanted to make the Changelings suffer for what they did to Equestria and how easily they beat the guards who were trying to fight honorably, it made him all the more willing to change his technique.

As the weeks passed and the Guard's training intensified, Shining prepared himself and his two comrades for a little training exercise he had planned. Perhaps, training wasn't the right word for it. Survival would have been a better fit. Shining wanted to find new improved training methods for the Guard and he couldn't imagine anypony else better to help him in this than Trogg and Bird. And one more pony. A pony who's assistance was crucial in finding the best location for this exercise. And a pony who just happened to be just walking up to him at that moment.

"Captain, I trust you are fully prepared for the next few days." The pony in question was an elderly thestral stallion. He's been serving in Princess Luna's Night Guard before the alicorn of the night even returned from her banishment. As such, he could never form a proper devotion to the princess herself, but he did form one with Shining Armor. He's been in the military far longer than he was and saw all of his accomplishments and knew what a capable soldier he was. Shining was one of the few soldiers who even knew his real name which everypony seemed to have forgotten. The ponies in the guard just referred to him as Zombie due to his old age and weathered looks.

"Ready as I'll ever be, old friend." Shining replied. As such an old and experienced pony, his knowledge of Equestria was invaluable. Shining doubted anypony else knew about the location he was taking him to. That was important as he didn't want anypony to interrupt the exercise. This had to be done in complete secrecy. "Lead the way."

The two of them made their way out of the castle and saw Trogg and Bird already waiting for them at the entrance, both of them wearing saddlebags of supplies and camping equipment.

"Captain, we are ready to tame the wilderness with you!" Bird told him with an enthusiastic salute.

"I really hope you'll keep your enthusiasm once we're out there, soldier." Shining chuckled. "This isn't going to be a picnic in the woods.,

"Don't worry, Cap! By now you should be aware that we are the toughest ponies the Guard has to offer!" Trogg boasted. "We're ready for anything!"

"We'll see." Shining retorted before turning to the thestral. "Well then, let's head out!"

The trip the group had taken was a long one. After getting off the train on the outskirts of a northern coastal town, they made their way through a lush forest. As he looked around to take in the scenery, Bird was rather skeptical that this survival exercise would be difficult. So far, nothing about this forest struck him as challenging.

"Where exactly are we going?" He asked. Zombie looked back at him before looking at Shining, silently asking for permission to answer before receiving a nod.

"There's an abandoned prison complex not far from here." The thestral explained. "It was used to house some of Sombra’s loyalists during the war with the Crystal Empire. To house the worst of the worst, it had to be built in a very unforgiving environment. After the war, there was no longer a need for the prison so it was shut down and stood derelict ever since. I'm honestly surprised it's still standing. Anyway, I assure you, getting through the prison grounds is not going to be as pleasant as this forest."

Bird was still skeptical, but as the group headed deeper into the forest, their surroundings did indeed change from a peaceful forest to a dark and barely passable mountain road. Eventually, they reached the top of the mountain and saw exactly what Zombie was talking about.

"There it is." He said, pointing at a fortress looking building in the distance. It was surrounded by tall black walls with huge spikes on the top and had several towers reaching out from behind them.

"Get out!" Trogg gasped in awe. "The Harsh Penalty! I thought that was just a horror story!" Zombie chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose the stories about this place do sound like they would never happen in Equestria, except in a horror film."

"Don't tell me you're scared, Trogg." Bird teased, making the earth pony growl at him menacingly, but Shining stepped between them.

"Enough! We're not here to fight! We're here for a survival exercise!" He snapped at them. "Now let's get..." He didn't get to finish, as he stepped on a piece of rock that was so loose it couldn't hold his weight and he fell down into a tunnel.

"Captain!" Bird cried as he reached to pull Shining back, but he was too late. The unicorn disappeared into the darkness beneath and the hole immediately caved in behind him. "Captain, can you hear me?!"

"Yes..." Shining groaned in pain as he stood up.

"Can you see anything?" Zombie asked. "Where are you?" Once his hooves were standing on solid ground again, Shining lit up his horn to get a better look at his surroundings. He saw several caves and tunnels.

"Some kind of cavern! There are tunnels everywhere!" He answered.

"That makes sense." Zombie said. "Harsh Penalty was built upon an old mine. If you find the right path, it should make it to the prison."

"Good! We'll rendezvous there! Keep moving!"

"We're not leaving you!" Bird cried from the other side.

"I gave you an order, rookie!" Shining roared. "Get to the prison building! I'll meet you there!" After a brief silence, Bird gave him a reluctant "Yes, sir", before Shining heard the sound of hoofsteps moving away.

He then turned his attention back to the tunnels. Even if somepony was fit enough to make their way through one of them, they could still be wandering through them for days. Or worse, end up going around in circles.

He'd have to find a way to remember each and every one of the tunnel entrances to prevent himself from getting lost. As he picked the first tunnel he would explore, he used his magic to carve an X into the ground, marking that entrance in case he came across it again before entering.

He'd been walking through that cave for several minutes but he didn't come across anything noteworthy. Apart from the bones of a few ponies that must have lain there for at least a few decades. But that didn't shake him as much as it would have a normal pony. Not after what he's seen in Canterlot in the aftermath of the invasion.

His initial assumption of going around in circles ended up being correct when he found himself exiting a tunnel and standing in front of the same entrance he marked earlier. He turned to another opening before marking it the same way and walking in.

In the next tunnel, he found his path blocked by a bunch of smaller rocks piling up in front of him. It would have taken him hours to carry them out of the way one by one. He could use his magic to blast them away, but he did not want to become too dependent on his magic. After all, this exercise was supposed to test his physical strength and cunning.

He analysed the pile, trying to find the weakest spot in it and eventually, he noticed one small rock sticking out of it. He raised his hoof, carefully touching it and as he expected, it was very loose. He pulled it out of the pile and quickly ran away from it as the rocks all came tumbling down, clearing the path.

After a few more minutes, Shining exited on the other side of the tunnel, finding himself in a wide open area, with an underground lake in it. He looked around the chamber, concluding that it would make an excellent place to set up a camp before heading out to explore the rest of the tunnels. Apparently, somepony else had the same idea as he noticed what appeared to be a makeshift bonfire with a decomposing pony's remains next to it.

Shining picked up the remains and tossed them unceremoniously into the lake. He was surprised, but he found himself feeling little empathy. That pony was weak and as a result, he died. If he wasn't, he would have made it out of here alive. He learned at the wedding that the fate of the weak was to die and be forgotten.

The lake would be a good source of water for him, he had the equipment in his bag to filter it. Perhaps it even served as an exit to the outside, but finding that out would be extremely risky. He didn't know if he would be able to hold his breath long enough to make it outside and even if he was, he could end up in an even bigger body of water, floating away to open sea. No, he was going to have to stick to the tunnels.

After a quick nourishment break, he started exploring another tunnel. As he walked through them, he noticed several holes above him which gave him a view of the sky. Sadly, they were too far away from the ground to reach them in an attempt to climb out. And apparently, he’s been roaming these tunnels for longer than he thought because he saw in the color of the sky that it was already getting dark. He probably should have headed back to the campsite to call it a day, but he wanted to fully explore this tunnel first. If he was lucky, this would be the one that lead to the old prison.

However, said tunnel was much longer than he expected and eventually, he ran into a deadend, forcing him to turn back. On his way back however, he ran into an unpleasant surprise as he noticed that water was beginning to pour into the tunnel. The water source of the underground lake must have overflown the cave.

Shining looked up to see another hole above him, as well as an edge in the rocks he could probably reach. He managed to climb the rocks and pulled himself up to the edge that was thankfully strong enough to support him. If the water level continued to rise, he would be able to swim up to the opening. Until then, he would take a rest here.

His rest was short lived as he suddenly heard a loud screeching noise coming from behind the rock wall. He turned his widened eyes towards the sound and saw several holes in the wall. When he leaned closer, the shape of a bat burst out of the hole, spooking Shining into falling off the rock, back into the rising water. When he surfaced, he saw a huge swarm circling up into the evening sky, no doubt to leave on their nightly gathering of food.

He climbed back onto the edge, waiting for the water level to rise, but once it reached the edge, it stopped. He scowled. Looks like he’ll be spending the night here. He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a blanket, wrapping it around himself and turning back against the wall, trying to fall asleep. Before he closed his eyes though, he saw movement through the crack. He leaned closer and saw a giant, hairy shape slowly crawling through the tunnel next to him on huge clawed hands with even bigger leathery wings growing out of them.

Shining gasped at the sight of the creature so loudly that it picked it up with the large ears on the top of its head and turned into his direction. The stallion covered his mouth with his hooves and waited in tense silence, hoping it would go away and fortunately, his prayers were answered as it turned away and left after a few seconds that still felt like an eternity to Shining. Eventually, his momentary terror finally subsided and he was able to let out the breath he was holding, but he very much doubted he would be able to get any sleep tonight.

The next day, Shining awoke to an unexpected sound, he heard the cry of a hawk from above him. His eyes snapped open and he looked up to see the source of the voice sitting at the edge of the hole above him, looking straight down at him. The bird of prey then picked up a piece of paper with its beak and threw it down at Shining before flying away. The paper landed right next to him, which he then picked up and read.

‘Cap, I hope by the time you get this, you’ll be in Harsh Penalty. We made it past the mountainside. Hang in there! We’ll meet at the prison! Bird.’

Shining smiled. “Guess his name isn’t Bird just for being a good flier.” He mused before putting the paper into his saddlebag. The rookie’s message gave him the moral boost to go on. He looked down and saw that the water had flown out of the tunnel. He didn’t waste any time and moved back to the underground lake. Sadly, his campsite had been washed away, but he didn’t need that to have a quick breakfast before moving on to the next tunnel.

His hooves inadvertently faltered before entering. This neighbouring tunnel was the one he saw that giant hairy monster in last night. Would it be a good idea to go through here? But he quickly steeled himself. The last time he faced monsters, he was useless and weak. He swore to himself that this would never happen again. His fear only added to the feeling of powerlessness he felt from the event. This will be an excellent start to root it out for good. Finally, he headed into the tunnel.

After a few minutes of walking, he came across a rather unsettling sight. The bats inhabiting the cave have been hanging upside down on the cave’s ceiling, though they didn’t seem to be asleep. They heard Shining approaching and turned their heads in his direction. Though they couldn’t see him, the stallion just knew that they were looking directly at him. He sensed what he thought to be sympathy and almost pity from the creatures. They knew what was waiting for him at the other end of the tunnel and they didn’t expect him to survive the encounter.

When Shining made it to the end, he found himself walking on a wooden board rather than the rocky ground of the cave. The room he found himself in was obviously pony made, resembling a cellar with several empty crates and leftovers of food. This raised Shining’s hopes that he found his way to the underground part of the prison complex, but his newfound joy didn’t last long.

He suddenly felt a presence rising behind him and turned around to see a giant, mutated bat towering over him. Shining groaned to himself as he backed away. Of course it had to be a bat. He wondered how it got so big and he noticed a few bald spots on the creature’s body along with a few syringe marks. Just what kind of things were the ponies running this facility doing? But that didn’t matter. He had to find a way to deal with this abomination.

Thankfully, since bats were blind, he should be fine as long as he didn’t make any sounds. As soon as he came up with that strategy however, his flank bumped into a smaller crate, knocking it off a bigger one with a loud crash. His advantage was instantly lost. The bat raised its huge claws and swept into Shining’s direction. The stallion barely had enough time to roll out of the way.

The beast heard the sounds his body made on the floor and it struck in his direction with its wing, hitting Shining right in the muzzle and knocking him against the wall. The sound of his body slamming against the wall drew the bat after him and it reached down, wrapping its claws around Shining’s shoulders before picking him up. The unicorn struggled in vain to break out of the creature’s hold as it was too strong.

There it was again. The feeling of powerlessness coming over him. He was powerless against the changelings, powerless against supes taking the Royal Guard’s place as Equestria’s biggest defenders and now powerless against the monster. It made him feel a kind of rage he never felt before. A rage that increased his strength tenfold. He still wasn’t able to break out of the hold of its claws, but he garnered enough strength to lean forward and bash his head right into the creature’s face, making it let him go.

The bat stumbled back and Shining took advantage of that by rushing at it and tackling it to the ground. The stallion launched a relentless barrage of punches at the creature’s face. He heard its agonised shrieks and felt the blood and the breaking of bone beneath his hooves but he couldn’t bring himself to feel bad for the creature. All sense of pity, empathy and remorse were gone. In combat, only strength and ruthlessness mattered. Because your opponent won’t feel bad for you and if you don’t go all out in the fight, you will die.

The bat desperately tried to push Shining off of himself but all he managed to do was slash him with its claws. They did little to lessen Shining’s onslaught, but it was beginning to bother him so it was time to end this. He wrapped his hooves around the creature’s neck and strangled the helpless beast until he finally heard its neck cracking, leaving it motionless on the ground.

Shining got off of the carcass, panting heavily. The rush of adrenaline in his body was incredible. This wasn’t what he joined the Royal Guard for, but now he could understand the ponies who did. The thrill of the fight was almost addictive and the feeling of victory was invigorating. Of course, destroying this monster was not going to instantly make him the great warrior he desired to become, but it was a start and at the very least, he no longer felt powerless.

From the corner of his eyes, Shining noticed a trapdoor in the ceiling. Since there was a ladder attached to it, he easily reached it and to his relief, he found that it wasn’t locked. Obviously, this was meant to serve as an access to the Harsh Penalty prison, but surprisingly, Shining found himself in what looked like to be an abandoned underground laboratory.

He looked around, finding several vials with strange looking chemicals inside them and various books about biology and chemistry. In the middle of the room, there was a table covered by a white sheet, but there was clearly something beneath it, judging from the bulging out shape. Shining pulled off the sheet and what he saw, made him back away in horror.

It was the body of a pony, dead for so long it was almost completely decomposed. But more interestingly, there were several tubes attached to his body, inserted through the same syringe marks he saw on the bat’s body. It was clear the ponies running this place have been running some illegal experiments on the prisoners and the local wildlife. The bat was obviously some byproduct of it.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the experiments could turn a bat into that monstrosity he saw down there, what could it do to a pony? After a few more moments of looking around, he discovered a notebook left behind by one of the researchers, detailing the exact procedure used on the deceased pony and most likely the bat he just disposed of. His curiosity piqued, he picked it up and began to read it…

After two days of trekking, the trio finally reached the entrance of the Harsh Penalty prison. The Captain was right about one thing, this place was certainly perfect for a survival exercise. Harsh wildlife, even harsher environment and extreme weather conditions. But they knew that everything they just went through was nothing compared to what their Captain must have experienced down in those tunnels.

“I hope the Captain’s alright.” Bird blurted out, making his two companions roll their eyes.

“I swear if you say that one more time, I’m gonna pull out your tongue and throw it to your bird friends!” Trogg growled. He was worried about Shining too, but constantly moaning about what happened to him won’t help him or change it.

“You’re welcome to try.” Bird retorted, much to the large earth pony’s frustration, but before he could respond, Zombie got between them.

“Will you two cut it out already?!” He yelled. “For the life of me I can’t figure out why the Captain brought you two along! You can’t go five minutes without wanting to kill each other! Listen, we’re almost at the prison! From there, we can get into those tunnels and find him before anything happens!”

For the first time since they met, both Bird and Trogg agreed on something. The three stallions reached the gate of the prison and pushed it open, only to get the surprise of their lives. The pony they thought they would have to rescue was already there, sitting in the front hall of the building and reading a notebook. When he heard the gates open, he looked up at the three and gave them a deadpan look.

“What took you so long?”

Author's Note

Hi, everypony! Welcome back to the next issue of The Batmare Volume 2!

Avid comic book readers may notice that this chapter was heavily inspired by the Vengeance of Bane comic book and presents Shining Armor's start of darkness. It took some rewriting and much adjustment to get this chapter into its final form so that's the reason it was a little late.

Next time, the third main character of the story will get her introduction in the form of Apple Bloom who is dealing with the loss of her grandmother and her new environment. How will she settle in with Twilight in the library? Find out next time in...

Issue #3: Broken Wings