//------------------------------//
// Prologue: Murder Pony 
// Story: Tempest Shadow: Mooby Road 
// by Captain_Hairball 
//------------------------------//

Canterlot Prime, Saddle Buckle District, October 6th, Era of Harmony year 7

Tempest leaned over the railing and scowled down at the narrow pedestrian walkway along the banks of the Canter River. A squad of raiju infantry hid there, clutching their spears and staring at the sky. “Soldiers!” she barked. “Why are you cowering under this bridge? You were supposed to have cleared this neighborhood two hours ago!”

“We’re afraid of the pony!” said one of the raiju, pointing at the sky.

Tempest ground her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Magical energy crackled around the stump of her horn. “You cowards! I’ll make you afraid of the pony if you don’t get out here and fight!” Something flickered through her peripheral vision. Without thinking, she stepped sideways. The hurled rock slammed into the bridge where she’d been standing, throwing up chunks of pavement.

“Yeah!” shouted a light blue stallion in a bright blue uniform, flapping in place over the river. “That’s what you get when you mess with the Wonderbolts!”

“Really?” growled Tempest.

The Wonderbolt flung another three rocks at her. He was a good enough shot for a stationary target, but he didn’t lead enough. She danced across the blacktop bridge, deftly avoiding the first two projectiles. She spun and kicked, hitting the third rock straight back at the Wonderbolt. It hit him in the nose, drawing a spray of blood.

“Ow!” he yelped. “Why I oughta…”

“Are those pieces of your princesses?” shouted Tempest. Then she turned to run. She didn’t go far, just to the first row of houses along the bank of the river. She glanced back. He was following. The Wonderbolt had fallen for a false retreat, the oldest trick in the tactician’s book. He was closing fast. She paused, as if for breath, and leaped for the side of the building a fraction of a second before he would have hit her. She kicked off against a drain pipe, broken brick and rusty metal spraying from the impact, and landed on the Wonderbolt’s back.

“Hey!” he said, craning his neck to look back at her. “I didn’t offer you a…”

Tempest wrapped her forelegs around his neck and twisted. There was a sickening snap. The pegasus’s body went limp, and the two of them plummeted twenty feet to the street below. His body cushioned her landing nicely. 

She stood, and looked down at him. He’d been a strong, handsome pony. Cocky and not very bright, but brave. So brave. “Kill the brave ones, and the cowards will run,” She muttered.

What a waste.

She stepped away and headed back for the front.