After the plans were made; we exited the tent and went about our daily routine. I walked to the back of the platoon to find Iron Shock already awake talking with five other pegasus ponies. I smiled and walked over to Iron Shock, tapping him on the shoulder to surprise him. He turned around, his eyes widening as he gasped, not yet realizing that it was really me behind him. He jumped up and turned around, followed by the others who also were surprised.
“G-Good morning sir!” They all said, doing their best to stand at attention, though it was early in the morning.
“Come on, Iron Shock. You don’t need to call me sir. Not after all the stuff we’ve been through together.” I chuckled, taking off my helmet so he could finally recognize me.
He stood there with no expression on his face, but then began to laugh, lifting his hoof in the air as if to bro-hoof. I also lifted my hoof, clashing mine with his. He continued laughing, the others chuckling nominally.
“Shadow! How did you end up being in the Black Squadron?”
“Well this morning I went up to the front just for a walk, and Princess Luna herself came up to me and we had a conversation.”
“Wow, Shadow, congrats! Say, shouldn’t you be in the front with the other Black Squadron members though?”
“Actually, this is what brought me up here to find you. We are planning an attack the Solar Empire Fort Blaze and I need a group of pegasi ponies. Are you in?”
Iron Shock closed his eyes and shook his head, smiling.
“Of course, Shadow. I wouldn’t turn down my own best friend. Hey, can my friends behind me help as well?”
I looked at the group of five. They all looked at me with somewhat pleading eyes. My laughing faded, but I continued to smile.
“Sure thing. I need you all to follow me to the front. I’ll brief you on the way there.”
We walked towards the front as I briefed them about our mission to attack the enemy fort from the rear in order to successfully infiltrate it. In a short amount of time we found ourselves in the front, with Luna and Joker waiting for me.
“Well, we see you have found a group of brave pegasi ponies. Excellent work, Shadow.” She said, smiling softly at me and the others behind me, who bowed in her presence.
“Thank you, Princess. When shall we depart?” I asked, eager to complete the first task as a Black Squadron guard.
“You should head over there right away. We are preparing to leave any minute. Hide in the mountains right above the fort until given the signal by Joker. Then begin the attack, is that understood?”
“Yes, Princess.” I chuckled, turning to the others behind me who looked to have the same eagerness as me.
“Okay guys, let’s fly!”
For the first time in a long time, I spread my wings freely, feeling the cool breeze hit them. The cold didn’t bother me anymore. I wouldn’t allow it to bother me, not with the events that have happened only in one day. I levitated in the air, waiting for the others to do the same. As each of them rose one by one, I began to take flight overhead, followed by the others. I knew my way around thanks to the map on the table. A few minutes later, Iron flew next to me.
“So, when we reach this fort, how will the seven of us ever think to stand a chance by ourselves?”
I looked over to him, periodically looking forward so I didn’t run into any mountains. I made that mistake a few times during a fight. I chuckled to his obvious doubting of this plan.
“The Black Squadron is leading an assault from the front. Luna trusts us to carry out this mission, and we will do so. We can last on our own. After all, I got you here to watch my back.”
I smiled looking back at him. He returned a smile and saluted me for a short moment.
“And I’ve got yours, friend.”
It wasn’t long before we were getting very close to the fort. I advised everypony to stay low. Being spotted would jeopardize this entire mission, and would make the surprise attack harder than it already is. We scouted, flying low and slow. One of the soldiers went up to me and tapped my shoulder, and I turned around to face him, holding my hoof in the air to stop the others as we all stopped flying.
“Sir, I found the fort, it’s over in that direction.” He said, pointing in the direction of where he spotted the fort.
Looking over, I saw just a hint of smoke rising from the mountains that kept them hidden. I ordered everypony to follow me closely behind as we made our way to the sides of the mountain, waiting for Joker’s signal to begin the attack. As we waited, I looked down at the Solar Imperials below us. Everypony was wearing the same golden armor that was similar to us. I looked around for their commander, but I couldn’t see him. He was probably in one of the tents.
I looked towards a narrow passage way leading into the fort and figured that was where Joker would be giving the signal. It wasn’t long before I saw Joker running up and firing a ref flare from his horn. This was it, the beginning of the assault. My heart raced as I flew up in the air. This was the eighth battle this month I would be getting myself into, but this time, as a Black Squadron guard. I would be a high valued target this time. I always pulled through, even when I thought I couldn’t. The last couple of times I wouldn’t have made it without Iron Shock.
I flew down, yelling into the mountains and towards the fort. The others followed me, roaring just as loudly as I did. I looked around and spotted my first target, a Solar guard who was just turning around to see me punch him in the face with a devastating blow. He went flying several feet backwards as I continued to fly with raging speed towards another soldier. This time my hooves skid against the ground, sending dust in the air behind me as I tried to slow down. He motioned to hit me, but I dodged it, landing a brutal blow against the stallion’s stomach. He fell to the ground holding his stomach. I looked down at him, taking my blade and shoving it into his chest.
Looking around, I knew Luna had already begun the attack. I heard a lot of yelling coming from the front of the fort. As I looked around, I saw two Solar Guards in front of me. I stood in place, pouncing at the ground getting ready for a charge. The Solar guards replied with pouncing as well. Without hesitation, I began to charge with all my might, breathing ferociously as I galloped towards the two Solar Guards who charged back towards me.
I found myself getting knocked down on the ground on my back as one of the hostile guards tried to jump on me. I kicked him with my hind hooves, knocking him away from me. I stood up only to be hit across the face by the other guard. I retaliated and swung a hoof back at him, hitting him square in the head. I could see red liquid running down my hoof as a second later I felt a sharp pain on my right hoof. Staring down at it, I found a sharp object lunged into my hoof. I limped backwards, the Solar guards stood next to each other again, grinning sinisterly.
Looking around me in somewhat of desperation, I didn’t know what to do. My hoof was bleeding out, and nopony was around to help, not even Iron Shock. I stumbled down to the ground as I began to grow tired. I was losing too much blood. My eyes began to feel like lead, growing heavier and heavier. The Solar guards saw this and walked away, kicking dust in my face. They figured this would be a slower more painful death, and they were right.
Just then, there was a mysterious spark. I couldn’t describe how it felt. It kept telling me to push on, and to not give up, that it wasn’t my time to die. My eyes flashed open as I stood up suddenly. My body felt fully repaired, even though the object was still stuck in my hoof and the bleeding hasn’t stopped. I ran around looking for the Solar Guards, seeking revenge when I found them beating a soldier on the ground. I ran up to the Solar Guard and grabbed one of them, twisting his neck to the side.
The Solar guard fell down to the ground with a loud thud as the other Solar guard turned around and backed up, his eyes widened with fear. I was furious, my rage escaping my control. I ripped a chunk of armor off the dead guard at my feet and slowly walked towards the other Solar Guard who began to back up away from me.
He tripped backwards, falling on his back. I realized my opportunity as I lunged at him with all my might, sticking the sharp metal into the guard’s neck. He tried to yell, but he was choking on his own blood, unable to even make a noise. As I watched him slowly die, I heard a moan from behind. I turned to see the Lunar Guard try to get back on her hooves. She looked badly injured, which made me faintly smile for preventing the Solar Guards from beating her to death. I walked over to her, my rage subsiding as I tried helping her up. Once she got up, she coughed and smiled weakly, still looking at the ground, dusting herself off.
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you I’d be…”
She stared up at me as I too met her gaze. My heart suddenly started pounding faster. She was the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen. Her fur was dark teal, with a faded blue mane. She was a pegasus pony, just like me. Her eyes were an appealing violet, and they sparkled even though the sun was covered by the darkness of the clouds. Beyond the smell of blood and dust, I could smell an unfamiliar yet attracting scent.
“…dead.”
She finished her sentence, still looking at me with her adorable eyes. I began to smile, my eyes half-closed. Everything around us suddenly faded, the only noise I could hear was the beating of my own heart, which raced like it never has before.
“No problem, anything to help a beautiful mare like yourself. What’s your name?” I asked, making her smile with a faint blush.
“My name is Cosette… what is yours?”
“My name is Shadow..”
I was so focused on her, that I didn’t even care about the fight anymore. Everything was muffed and blurred. I noticed she began to hold her chest, her face tightening with pain, my smile now fading quickly.
“Are you alright Cosette?” I asked in a concerned tone as I noticed her breathing really hard, trying to catch her breath.
“I’m alright.. you’re a part of the Black Squadron, huh...?”
She was still holding her chest in pain, making me nervous. I looked around; absorbing the surroundings to see what was going on. Everything was now coming back into focus. The battle was already over, and by the looks of it, we won. There were many Lunar Guards walking around and picking up dead bodies to remove them from the fort. There were a lot of dead ponies littering the ground.
“Come on, we need to get you help. You’re badly injured.” I suggested, urging her to walk.
She looked down at my injured hoof, gasping in shock.
“S-Shadow! Your hoof! What happened? You’re bleeding uncontrollably! It’s you who needs help, not me.”
I looked down at my hoof, which was still bleeding like she said. I had completely forgotten about my injured hoof, but it didn’t faze me. My hoof was probably so numb that I couldn’t feel it anymore. Walking to the best of my ability, I took her towards the front, seeing Luna standing along with the other Black Squadron guards. They noticed us and quickly ran over to help. I pushed Pyro, the one helping me, and urged him to help Cosette.
“Help her first; she’s more injured than me. My hoof is fine.”
Pyro and Titan, the two that came over, looked at each other confused, but then looked back at me and nodded. After knowing she was in good hands, I sat down with a long heavy sigh. The mess was finally over. My head felt light, but I fought it and continued to keep consciousness. I looked up and saw Luna standing over to me.
“We won, didn’t we Princess?” I asked, wanting a guaranteed answer from the princess herself.
She nodded and smiled. I smiled weakly as I struggled to get back on my hooves. I failed in my attempt and found myself sitting back down. Luna’s horn began to glow, along with the sharp object. I felt a sharp pain for a few seconds and realized she was pulling it out. I sucked in the pain with all the energy I had left. I felt dizzy, but I remained conscious as her horn continued to glow. She wrapped a bandage around my hoof gently.
“Keep that on, and your hoof will heal. Thanks to you, we now have a place to stay. Not only that, but you saved not only a loyal soldier, but my daughter, without any regards to your own life. Thank you, Shadow.”
She smiled and winked, walking off. My dizziness died down, her words now sinking in to my head. H-Her daughter? I… saved her daughter? My stomach sank, the dizziness returning. I had no clue that she had a daughter.. and she made me feel so.. funny. I looked around, my mind racing through millions of thoughts. Don’t let it go to your head Shadow.. just get up.
I looked around as I began to look for Iron Shock. He was nowhere to be found. Getting up, I limped around the entire camp, but could not find him. I heard a noise coming from a tent right in front of me. I decided to walk in and what I found was relieving. I found Iron Shock with a few of his friends, standing over what seemed to be the commander of the fort. I limped over to him as he stared up at me. He smiled and examined my hoof.
“Well, I see you got yourself out of trouble by yourself this time. I was just,”
He looked at the commander on the ground and back up at me. His friends were taking the body out of the tent as Iron chuckled.
“finishing business.”
The next day I awoke in my tent, sitting up from my bed staring at the ground. I couldn’t help but wonder if Cosette was okay. For some reason I kept putting images of her in my head. The first moment we met I felt, something I hadn’t before. It was almost as if I was happy. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.