//------------------------------// // Interlude 1: Storm Singer // Story: And so I left // by CrimsonS4ge //------------------------------// Storm Singer POV: There was a full moon tonight . The forest surrounding the town of Everfree was gently illuminated by its pale silvery glow. The wind had a slight chill, but was otherwise calm and quiet. It made it easy for the pegasus mare to navigate through the air currents, requiring only the occasional flap to maintain altitude. Storm Singer appreciated bright nights like these, it made her job as a Royal Guard much easier. While Princess Luna’s lanterns made patrol around the town's interior substantially simpler, perimeter patrol of the town in the dead of night was always a difficult task. The full moonlight aided her duties tonight though, she could see much further and clearer than she could on most nights. As one of the youngest and most promising recruits of the Solar Guard, Storm Singer had initially been furious at her reassignment to the Night Guard. She had enrolled in the Royal Guard academy, because she wanted to fight Equestria’s enemies and rise through the ranks, earning glory for both herself and her family, not waste her time with inglorious and pointless night patrols. For weeks Singer had been convinced that her superiors were out to sabotage her career. She had seethed at the perceived injustice, but her time in the Night Guard had since softened her opinions somewhat. It was nice to have time for her thoughts. She hadn't realised how overworked and stressed she had been with the frantic workload and intense competitiveness in the Solar Guard. Midnight patrols were slow and sometimes a bit boring, but it was rewarding work. At least she was doing something worthwhile. So much of her time in the Solar Guard had been dedicated to pomp, ceremony and pointless levels of discipline. Everything in Celestia’s Guard had to be done to exact specifications. From the level of polish on their armour, to their body posture when standing guard. Commanders expected perfect, mirror-like, unblemished condition of Guardponies's armour. They had day-long drills on how to maintain a neutral, stern, professional expression on their face, while standing beside palace doorways. She had even seen a cadet punished for not marching with their hoofsteps in synchronicity with their partner's as they conducted their patrol. It was only after experiencing the practical, utilitarianism of the Night Guard that she realised how utterly pointless most of what she did in the Solar Guard was. The Night Captain didn't care about how your armour looked, so long as it was clean and professional looking. They didn't care for the exact manner in which you did your job, so you did it well. As Luna’s protector, she was judged according to how effectively she did her job and not by arbitrary, bullshit standards chosen at the whims of her commanders. The more that she thought back to her time in the Solar Guard, the more grateful she was for the transfer. Although there was little in the way of action beyond the odd wild animal that needed to be warded off or highway-ponies that would rob travellers along the road into Everfree. It meant that she had a lot more free time to think about things. She had even contemplated writing a novel in her off-hours. Perhaps she could become a warrior-poet, like Luna supposedly was in her early reign or the samurai ponies from the distant lands of Nipony. As Singer vigilantly scanned the forest, contemplating the potential plot outline of her novel, her focus was shattered by a blood curdling scream that came from the direction of the town. The Night Guard's training kicked in and she instantly shifted direction mid-flight. Hysterical cries for help accompanied the continuing screams, which helped Singer pinpoint their location. They came from within the residential district of the town. Her years of ceaselessly training her flight abilities, meant that her powerful wings allowed her to close the distance in mere seconds. As Singer approached what she estimated was the source of the screams, she rapidly glanced over every street, house and alleyway, hoping to quickly discover the potential danger. She was already preparing to conduct a Falcon Strike manoeuvre, when she spotted what she had been looking for. In an alleyway between two large buildings, a mare was on the ground, desperately flailing her limbs in an effort to ward off what looked like a large, quadrupedal predator that was biting down and mauling one of her hindlegs. Without a moment wasted, the pegasus tucked in her wings and angled her body directly down towards the predator. Wind rushed around her ears as she rapidly gained velocity in her sharp downward dive. At the last possible moment before impact, Singer flared one of her wings and used the asymmetrical air resistance to rotate and pivot her body mid-air. So that when she struck the predator, she would do so with her steel-clad hindlegs. The Night Guard stuck her target true as her high-speed, midair buck connected with the sternum of the predator. Singer felt her hooves sink slightly into its side, in what was likely a lethal, rib shattering impact. The force of collision was enough to throw the large animal into a wall on the opposite end of the small alley. The pegasus was surprised at the toughness and density of her target. The impact with the predator rocked her nearly as hard as she rocked it. Had her reinforced, steel boots not been enchanted with inertia-dampening protective spells, she was sure that her legs would have been broken in that attack. Still reeling from the collision, Singer couldn’t reorient herself in time and landed harshly on her side as she skidded to halt on the rough cobblestone floor. Her hind legs felt numb and pain flared in her left wing from where she had landed on it. Pushing through her discomfort, the Night Guard scrambled to her hooves to assess the situation. The predator laid completely still in a crumpled heap on the far side of the small alley. It was large, perhaps twice the size and three times the weight of a pony, but she couldn’t make out exactly what it was in the shadows of the dark alley. It didn't move though and she couldn’t imagine that it would have survived the devastating aerial strike. Convinced that the mysterious predator was no longer an immediate threat, the pegasus turned her attention to the pained whimpering behind her. The victim of the attack turned out to be a young, earthpony mare with a steel-grey coat and emerald green mane. The most striking detail about her however, were her wounds. The mare was covered in scratches and bruises synonymous with rabid animal attacks, but the worst of it was located on her right hindleg. The entire limb had been viciously mauled. Flesh torn off in chunks, her skin shredded ,similar to tattered fabric. Blood continued to pour out of her wounds, with no sign of stopping. Her coat was drenched in the fluid and her attempt to use her forelimbs to crawl away from the scene had left a bloodied trail behind her. It was a sickening scene that churned Storm Singer's stomach, however her training and strong sense of duty kept her focused. She needed to act fast to stem the bleeding and deliver the young mare to the nearest healer. As she took a step and prepared to stabilise the mare to be moved, a low growl that emanated from behind her made her freeze in place. As Singer turned around, she saw the previously still predator begin to rise from its slumped heap and started to slowly stalk toward her without so much as a limp. The Night Guard was speechless. No animal, short of a fully grown manticore, should have been able to survive a direct impact from her Falcon Strike manoeuvre. Her speechlessness transformed into outright horror, as the predator stepped out into the light cast by a nearby Luna’s Lantern. The creature before her was unlike anything that she had ever seen before. It held the rough shape of an enormous wolf, but appeared to be constructed entirely out of wood, vines and moss. It had sharp, bone-like thorns that lined its powerful, branch-like jaw. The most disturbing part of the beast however, was the bright, acid green glow that shone from its eye sockets. The beast wasn't natural, it couldn’t be. No natural creature's eyes could possibly shine with such a sickening magical glow. The Night Guard heard loud snapping and cracks originating from the creature's right side. The large indent, caused by her attack that caved in the side of its torso, started to heal. Broken and collapsed branches began to snap back into place, as though they had never been broken in the first place. Vines that had been torn apart by the impact knitted themselves back together, forming some sort of floral muscle tissue. Singer had landed her hardest possible hit and this thing just walked it off, like it was nothing. The pegasus took a step back in fear at what she was facing. She quickly risked a glance behind her as she tried to take stock of what was a rapidly deteriorating situation. The injured mare behind her had stopped moving, likely passing out from shock and blood loss now that her adrenaline had worn off. Squaring back up to the creature and adopting a low-ready defensive posture, the Night Guard quickly weighed her available options. All of them looked grim. She couldn’t flee, not with an innocent civilian still in harm's way, but she wouldn't have time to evacuate or treat her either. The second she turned her back to the monster, both of them would likely die. She couldn’t kill it. It had simply shrugged off her hardest hit and she didn't have the time or space to execute another Falcon Strike without leaving the unconscious mare vulnerable. The creature was likely a magical construct or conjuration. Perhaps created by a dark magic user. She possessed no weapon that could harm it. She only had a set wing-blades that attached to the armour that ran along the top of her wings, but that was only hardened steel. It would be useless against a self-regenerating, dark magical construct. Anti-magical weapons were scarce and almost never assigned to guards on patrol. Her only option was to stall. To keep the creature away from the injured civilian for as long as possible. Hopefully her fellow guards had also heard the screams and were on the way. Perhaps if she was fortunate, one of them would be a powerful unicorn that could use magic to slay the beast or a Commander who was carrying an enchanted weapon. Singer needed to keep herself between the beast and the earthpony until help could arrive. It was her duty as a Royal Guard to protect the innocent, but her options to survive until said help could arrive were limited. She wasn't a heavily armoured earthpony that could engage in a hoof-to-hoof slugging match against such an opponent. She wasn’t a unicorn that could erect a magical shield or fight using projectile attacks. The usual pegasus combat doctrine of flight, evasion and harassment was impossible without leaving the injured mare vulnerable. Her only option was to not take flight, but to engage in close quarters melee combat with an enormous, incredibly powerful and seemingly invincible monster with no effective weapons, very light armour and absolutely no support. Storm Singer began to wonder if she would die in this alley. The task seemed suicidal, but her honour wouldn't let her flee. The Night Guard flexed her wings and prepared for the most desperate fight of her life. She couldn’t allow the creature to make the first move. She needed to keep it off balance and try to dictate the tempo of the fight. Without any effective defensive or offensive options, she would need to rely on speed, control and aggression to have any chance of survival. Not allowing the creature to launch the opening attack, Storm Singer gave a single flap of her powerful wings to propel herself directly towards the face of the beast. Seemingly unfazed by the sudden movement, the creature opened its mouth and prepared to bite down on the pegasus when she entered its striking range. Before it could do so however, Storm Singer flapped her wings a second time to change her aerial trajectory from flying directly into the creature's face to flying just over its head. It couldn’t respond to her manoeuvre in time and Singer delivered the hardest downward buck that she could manage, directly into the back of its head. The force was enough to cause the creature to stumble forward and slam its head into the cobblestone floor. Singer flared one wing and used the asymmetrical air resistance to pivot her body 180°, so that she would land facing the creature. Even as she landed on her hooves, her momentum was still enough to drive her at least one body length backwards. The friction of her armoured hooves caused sparks as it skidded along the rough cobblestone stone. Once the pegasus had stopped moving and her hooves were stable enough, she immediately used her wings to launch herself into another attack on the monster. She was now behind the creature and had thus left the injured mare unprotected, but she had gambled on her ability to deliver a disorienting blow to the beast and immediately launch a followup attack, before it could exploit the opening she had left to attack the earthpony. Unfortunately the creature wasn't as dazed as she had hoped. It had since fully turned around to face her and lunged to attack at the same time that she had. Realising that she couldn't effectively target its head again with the lunging paw swipe that was targeted at her, Singer used a second flap to abort her attack and fly above its reach. She did however, use the opportunity to slash at its outstretched paw with her wing-blade as she passed overhead. As she landed and turned again around to face the creature, she saw that her attack had been more effective than she first thought. The vines that she had cut through appeared to function as muscle fibre or tendons, as the creature's limb immediately buckled under its weight as it touched back down the floor. The result of which sent the creature tumbling further back into the alley. Singer needed to exploit this opportunity and keep the beast pinned in the back of the alleyway for as long as possible, away from the injured mare. Without giving the already healing creature a chance to recover, Singer had closed the distance between them with 3 powerful flaps. She delivered another buck directly into the side of its head, cracking it against the side of the wall, before retreating again. She prepared to launch another attack, but the creature reacted first. It swiftly stood up on its newly healed paws and started to charge towards her. Singer couldn’t risk another failed aerial headshot, not with the injured mare right behind her. Not using her wings, the Night Guard galloped the short distance to meet the charging beast. As soon as the pegasus entered striking range, the creature lunged at her with a powerful paw strike. Singer dashed down under its descending claws. She unfurled her wings, crossed them above her back and then allowed the striking paw to come down on her wing-armour, before using her wings to redirect its momentum away from her. The unexpected redirection of its paw caused the creature to stumble. It was an advanced technique that she had learned in the Royal Guard that allowed a pegasus to use wing-armour to block and parry a strike from a great sword or pole-axe coming down on top of them. Now at the unsteady beast's side, Singer pivoted her body to face away from the beast, planted her front hooves and bucked as hard as she could into the side of its chest. The creature stumbled to the side with its shoulder slamming into the nearby alley wall. However, it was at this moment that Storm Singer made a critical mistake and severely underestimated the creature's speed. Instead of using the opportunity to retreat, she gambled on the chance to further capitalise on the success of her first strike by attempting a second. As she prepared to deliver a follow-up buck to the side of its head, the beast recovered faster than she predicted it would. The predator contorted its body in a way she didn't think would be possible for an ordinary wolf to achieve and swung its paw into her side, delivering a heavy blow. The creature's strike connected before her buck could and she was sent reeling. The beast's viciously sharp claws tore into the side of her armour and left deep gashes in her flesh. The pain was excruciating, but she knew that if she couldn’t get up in time, she would die. Struggling to return to her hooves, the Night Guard tried to push through the intense pain to recover from the blow, but the monster was already lunging at her. She desperately tried to use her wings to launch herself to the side and out of the path of its jaws. While her flap was enough to only barely escape the beast's descending jaws, it wasn't enough to clear out of its path entirely as she slammed into the shoulder of the charging abomination. The speed and weight of the beast meant that its shoulder-check was enough to knock the wind out of her, as well as throw her into a nearby wall. Singer saw stars as the back of her head collided harshly with the brick wall. As the Night Guard lay gasping in a crumpled heap next to the wall, she tried to get up, but her body barely responded to her. She was injured, winded, concussed, exhausted and in pain. The beast was on top of her before she could recover. Singer tried to fend it off with a sluggish buck to the face, but the creature just used her weak attack as an opportunity to clamp its jaws around her armoured hind leg. She desperately struggled to escape its grasp, but the beast was so much stronger and more massive than her. With her wings and wing-blades pinned under her, her only course of action was to try and lash out at the beast with her other hindleg. She futilely struck its face over and over with her steel-clad hoof, but the creature barely flinched. She was too weak and exhausted for her blows to do anything more than irritate it. The protective enchantments in her hind leg armour began to fail as the monster continued to crush her armour in its jaws. Any moment now, the armour around her leg would collapse and the limb would be completely crushed. Once she was incapacitated, the beast would probably begin to eat her alive. As her exhaustion and feeling of hopelessness grew, Singer's bucks slowed and tears started to form in her eyes. This would likely be her end. Just as her imminent demise seemed all, but guaranteed, a bright blue light streaked across the alley and impacted the side of the beast. The creature was forced to release her leg as it was sent reeling. The whole left side of its torso was charred and it seemed to have trouble moving. Before its healing could make any substantial progress, a second light streaked across the alley and this time, penetrated deep into the shoulder of the creature before detonating. The attack was devastatingly effective and blew off the beast's entire left foreleg. The creature staggered and collapsed on its stomach, but it had already healed most of the damage from the first strike and a new limb was starting to grow before her eyes. With difficulty, she turned her gaze to the entrance of the alley, to see who had come to save her. Illuminated by the nearby lanterns were two unicorn stallions dressed in the Night Guard armour. She recognized them both. Commander Azure Flame and Private Star Flash. The Private leaned over the injured earthpony and was in the process of applying what healing magic he could to her wounds. It relieved Singer immensely to know that her efforts to protect the mare were not in vain and she would live. The Private and the mare only occupied a small portion of her attention however, as her true focus lay on the Commander. The unicorn stallion was widely regarded as one of the most powerful magic users in the entire Royal Guard and this encounter proved to Singer exactly why he had earned such a vaunted reputation. The veteran soldier marched in a steady, controlled pace toward her and the beast. His horn smouldered and steamed as the unicorn unleashed volley after volley of devastating spells at the creature. The Commander's combat experience showed as he surgically picked the beast to pieces with well placed shots. 'She had survived.' It was the singular thought that resonated in her mind. The relief was indescribable, but as the adrenaline of her life or death encounter started to wane, utter exhaustion overcame her. She tried to will herself to focus on the battle, but darkness continually creeped into her peripheral vision until she could make out nothing, except for the occasional blurred flash of blue light. The blissful oblivion of unconsciousness embraced her and she soon thought no more.