//------------------------------// // Ow! My Everything! Or... Let's get this show on track! // Story: Shadowbolts: The Hunt for Twilight Sparkle // by Commando-Scarecrow //------------------------------// “I’m here!” From on high, he landed on atop the great tower of wooden crates with such force that it exploded into a thousand pieces, setting off a flurry of fireworks all around him in a glorious display of silver, blue, and orange flames. He threw off his black cloak in an overly dramatic fashion, revealing a silver stallion with a pair of goggles around his neck. He popped his hooves and flared his wings as if to show off his feathers. A voice with only the vaguest and slightest country twang rang out from amidst the majestic fires. “I hope you two packed your bags!” pause for dramatic effect. “’Cuz you’re about to get whooped all the way down to Maradise City!” The two elite agents just stood there, ignoring the fireworks around them causing small fires around the entire warehouse. Descent decided to open up first. "The buck is with this guy?" Midnight, the near black mare, only smiled. "Hey, Descent," she started out sarcastically. "I think that's the assassin you were so excited about." "Shut up," he stated plainly. Obviously, he didn't take being wrong very well. "What do you think he's going to do next? Start a revolution with a guitar solo?" "Midnight," the grey stallion's voice rung out stoically. "Now is not the time." "Well, at least we know for certain that there is absolutely nothing this one can do to hurt us," Midnight stated, relieved that this stallion seemed to be little more than a glory hound of the same breed of her royal highness's personal apprentice, only with less flamboyancy and more theatrics. "Yeah," Descent's voice was still dripping with annoyance. "Only now, we have some idiot in a pair of stupid looking goggles keeping us from finding that mercenary we were supposed to-" "EAGLE KICK!" The silver stallion called his attack, flying like the wind and delivering a spiraling strike with one of his back hooves to the grey colt, sending him flying into a pile of crates. "Nopony, but NOPONY," his voice suddenly lowered, "Trash talks the goggles," then he looked to his left to see the mare with a yellow streak in her mane. "So how's it goin'?" "Um..." Concern for her partner was over shadowed by this new colt's rather... dynamic entrance. "Who are you and why did you just one-hit-wonder my partner?" A foxlike sparkle entered the goggled stallion's eyes. "Madam... I'm glad you asked!" He performed a flight assisted back flip to the top of the wooden tower and flared his wings. Stuck the landing, awesome. "I am the handsome devil of Mount Kilimarejaro!" Pause for dramatic effect. "Wily as a fox and twice as foxy!" And hooves on my hips, just like in the comic books. "I am- Oh jeez!" Maybe it was from moving to much on an unstable tower of ply-wood boxes, or maybe it was because Descent showed up and kicked it as hard as he could, but he lost his balance and he fell to the cool concrete floor of the warehouse, which, surprisingly, had not caught fire. But then, they were enchanted fire works, intended to keep from causing that kind of thing. I wonder why he didn't fly to keep from falling, the Romaneigh pony thought to herself. "Nopony gets the jump on me like that!" Descent said as he walked over the fallen crates. "Nopon-" Suddenly, a hoof grabbed his mane. "Wassup, Dude?" The handsome devil of Mount Kilimarejaro rose up from the pile of cheap lumber. "What was that you said about nopony getting the jump on you like that?" Descent's face was completely stoic. He had no idea who this lunatic was, but one thing was for sure. He was under arrest... and that didn't even sound threatening in his head. He lifted up an intrigued eye-brow "Your mane… it’s sticking up like that without any styling gel…" that was the weirdest insult descent had ever heard. "How?" The silver stallion never got to finish his sentence because Descent punched at him and missed. "Let go of my mane!" "No!" The goggled colt sounded like a little foal just then. "I said 'let'..." The grey Shadow Bolt reared his back right hoof back, then let loose a solid and flawless kick at his tormentor. "GO!" But the kick missed, or at least, it was deflected by the mystery stallion's silver wing. "Stop trying to hit me!" But Descent just wouldn't listen. He let loose strike after strike against the stallion that described himself as "wily as a fox and twice as foxy". Each strike was equally unsuccessful, hitting only air or hitting him with the approximate effectiveness of water off of a ducks back. His speed is incredible!, the grey colt thought to himself. He's like a flash! Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity! "Dude!" the silver stallion shouted. "Stay still!" He let out all of his anger in a single blow just as he finished. If it had made contact, then it would have surely done some damage to the mysterious silver colt, but instead, he missed and struck a large wooden crate... only to get his hoof stuck in the wooden box. The colt only looked at his shadowy counterpart struggled to get the crate to release him. "Um... you need any help with that?" Descent pulled back and forth, trying to get free, but to no avail. "I'm fine!" "You sure?" The theatrical pegasus asked him. "Because, current situation notwithstanding, it looks like you could use a lil' bit of help." "Shut up!" "It might have something to do with the fact that you've been fighting like an earth pony this whole time," Descent couldn't tell if he was just being taunted or being told a brutally honest truth. "Or a cow... are you sure you don't need any help?" "I said..." he began to build up all of his power to wrest free of the box tyrant. "Shut... UP!" And right as he said that, the first successful strike hit the silver stallion in the face. Right in the mouth. The goggled colt jumped back and touched his hoof to his maw that never seemed to close. He looked at it and saw blood. "Alright," the now offended colt said. "You want to play rough? Then let's play rough! Silver family style!" He took to the skies, his wings flared as far as they could go while airborne. The grey stallion switched to his own defensive style, a standard form of iron hoof, like a steel wall, it was meant to take full advantage of an earth pony’s strength. But, in Descent's experience as a former thief and burglar, it was also an ideal close quarter’s combat. "This right hoof of mine... it hungers for justice!" He unleashed one kick that caused Descent's defense to give. "It begs me to sate its appetite for retribution!" Another strike from his left hoof forced his wall of limbs to budge. That does not look good, Midnight thought to herself, choosing to wait until this fight was sorted out to intervene. "And must obey it!" The silver coated attacker rushed in prepared to tear down the last of any defense that his opponent brought up to oppose him. "So take this! My joy! My rage! AND ALL OF MY HOPES!" His right hoof began to glow with the lightning found within all pegasi as he flew at speeds only thought possible in legend. "SILVER, SHINING... HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!" The punch exploded on contact and sent Descent flying through several crates of plywood, not ending him but making him wish it had. All that either of the other pegasi could see was his large hair style and one of his wings sticking out of the wreckage. The victorious stallion panted heavily as he ran his hoof through his silver mane. "Yo tengo no igual!" He shouted in Caballerian. "I have no equal!" Then he saw it. Apparently, one of the fireworks he'd set off earlier hadn't been nearly as anti-fire charmed as he'd thought, for one of the pillars from on high began to come crashing down upon top of the pegasus mare. "Look out!" Like a lightning bolt wrought from pure silver, he instantly leapt into flight and pushed her out of the way of the great beams, but took the hit himself, laying there in a pile of various burning wood and metal. Then, everything went black. ... "Ow, my... everything," Silver Wing rung out, feeling a sharp pain in everything from his neck to all four of his hooves. The only things that didn't feel like they were shattered was his wings. "Am I dead?" He looked to his left to notice a mare fixing a set of bandages. “Because you look like an-OW, my ribs!” The pain of a warehouse trying to kill him cut off his cheesy line. He recognized where he was now. Not a hospital, but a motel room. He looked around and he also saw the stallion he the just defeated in mortal combat. "No," the smoky black mare answered for him, bearing a neutral expression in stark contrast to her comrade. "But it was close. Thank you for saving me." "Nah. It was my fault in the first place. Don't worry about it, Ms..." he trailed off, fishing for a name. "Midnight Strike, but please," she took on a slight smile. "My friends call me 'Midna'. And in that case…" She punched him in the arm. The one that he was pretty sure was cracked. “OW!” Oh, Come on! She continued to tighten the bandages around his ribs, one arm and one leg, like punching him wasn’t even an issue. "You got banged up pretty badly. You have four cracked ribs and, two cracked tibias, a cracked radius and a broken first phalange. Are you sure you're alright?" “Can I still fly?” He asked arrogantly. “Yes-“ “Then I’m good. Besides…” he took a moment to look over her hoofty work concerning the bandages. “I’ll be fine in a few days.” "So who are you?" The brown eyed mare asked. "You never actually said." Another foxlike look appeared on his face. "I'm glad you asked, Midna!" He raised his voice as if he were a DJ to a club or a concert. "I am the Baronet of the House of Silver! The Handsome Devil of Mount Kilimarejaro! The greatest fighter in Equestria since-OW!" That was his own stupid fault for shouting when he had at least a few cracked ribs. "Get on with it," Descent asked, completely deadpan and unconcerned with his injuries. "And why did I explode when you punched me?" Silver Wing just glared at him. "I'm Silver Wing. The freelancer that Princess Luna hired to help you guys with your 'Twilight Sparkle' case." Then smiled smugly. "And the art of pyrotechnic melee combat is a talent that has been passed down the Silver family for generations," he added on. "So he's the mercenary that her royal highness hired," Midnight chimed in. "I prefer the term 'freelancer', actually," Silver corrected, still feeling a dull pain in his side. Descent didn't even look at him. "Do we really need him? We could probably find at least a dozen other mercenaries in the lower districts of Canterlot." "Freelancer," Silver threw out, yet again. "Yes," Midnight agreed. "But the princess has no doubt already paid him in advance." "No, she didn't," Silver corrected yet again, not that they were really paying attention. "I don't take money upfront. Only after the mission's been done." He paused for a minute, realizing he had there attention now. "It's an honor thing." A merc with a code of honor. That's something you don't see every day. "But do really need him?" Then the grey stallion looked at the silver one. "Besides, look at him. He's in no condition for travel." "Sitting right here, guys..." Silver Wing actually took offense to that last one. "He does have the princess's royal seal of approval," Midnight threw out there. "But you are right..." she trailed off, knowing first hoof the extent of his injuries, "Nah, guys," he struggled to get up, making it to all fours. "I'm good. See?" He was struggling to keep his balance, but he still kept it up. "So what's the plan... and who are you guys?" "Well," Midna opened up first. "You already know my name. Midnight Strike. I am the designated leader of this operation. Field medic and research specialist." "Heh," Silver managed to keep his laughter to a chuckle, so as to keep more pain from shooting down his side. "Well, if it helps any, it looks like they undersold your medical skills on your file." He got a smile out of that. The minor noble then turned to her more... unhappy counterpart. "And you are?" "Descent," the other operative answered coldly, no doubt still bearing some kind of grudge against the colt that defeated him. "Tracking and infiltration." He nodded, understanding. "That's cool. I'm a combat and linguistic specialist." "Kind of a strange combination," Midnight replied. "Meh. Yeah," Silver admitted. "But I could say the same about this team." He paused for moment, no doubt trying to think of something clever to continue with. "I mean, we look even more ragtag than that one group that saved Equestria from Celestia a few months back." The dark mare sighed, not bothering to ask him about why he just called Corona by her pre-fallen name. At least not yet. "Look, you two," she opened up with, looking at her two team mates. ""We may not like it, but this is where we are. We need to find Twilight Sparkle and find as many leads as we can. Silver?" She looked at the noble freelancer. "Are you sure you're good to go." "Ha! Nope!" He bluntly stated boisterously. "But I'm still goin'!" "Fair enough," she switched back to talking to both of them again. "You two: go to the train station. Wait at tram 3. I'll gather some more medical supplies and we'll leave then. When I return in an hour and a half, we leave. Clear?" "Clear," Descent replied. "As crystal," Silver agreed. So the three left each others company, at least temporarily, to make their final preparations for their epic sojourn to track the renegade noble sorceress, Twilight Sparkle... Later at the train station... The minor noble hovered in spot, bandages covering two legs, his torso and his left arm and chewing on a toothpick. He'd gotten here thirty minutes ago, only a little bit after Descent, and neither of them had said anything to one another. That's when the banged up colt decided to break the awkward silence. "So... you like griff-ball?" "Shut up. We're not becoming friends," he very plainly stated. "Alright..." he stopped, trying to keep from talking. He failed. "So why does your hair stand up like that, anyway?" "I don't know. It just does," The grey operative shot drowned irritated, hoping and praying that this mission wouldn't last near as long as was projected. Where the buck is our fearless leader?! "Alright," they both looked across the tram to see their team lead show up, bearing a simple duffle bag of supplies, things like the standard violet and black of a Shadow Bolt, money and medical gear. "Everypony got everything they need?" Speak of the Sombra, Descent thought to himself, relieved that he wasn't alone with the mercenary any more. "I'm fine," he said, his head pointing to his saddle bags. "I'm rocked and ready," Silver Wing agreed, slinging his own bag over his shoulder, forgetting entirely that he had several cracked ribs. He held back the pain, though. "So are gone yet?" "Hold on. There was something I wanted to say first," she looked around, making sure nopony was within year shot of their conversation. And, as luck would have it, nopony was. She sighed and began to speak again. "Everypony? I have no idea what I'm doing." "Nice start," Silver muttered, smirking. Ignoring that, she moved onward. "This is my first mission without a commanding operative, let alone with me leading a team. Now I know the both of you have two very different things riding on this. Money," she glanced at Silver. "Or duty," she turned to Descent. "But right now, there's a very dear old friend of mine that's lost out there," she looked down, remembering what another old friend told her only a few hours ago before he left. "And she has a family that couldn't be in more dire straights if it tried. Now I'm not saying it will be easy. "There's bound to mountains we'll have to climb," her exotic accent rung out in determination. "Rivers we'll have to cross. "Enemies we'll have to face. "And paths that we must forge, despite the near insurmountable odds. But for Ms. Twilight Sparkle? Nay, for ANY Equestrian," she stomped her hoof on the ground. "That is our solemn duty. Our oath. And our legacy. "So hold your heads, Gentlecolts!" she flashed a defiant grin. "Because the Viceroy of Latigo is preparing a welcome home party for his little girl! And it's up to us to pick up the guest of honor!" the tickets and, with a confident smile reflecting the afternoon sunlight, began to enter the train to Ponyville. There was a dead silence for a moment, then Descent opened up. "Wasn't that a bit much? I mean, we're going to capture a spoiled unicorn noble, not storm a dragon fort." "Nah, Dude," Silver began in his defense of their leader. "That was wicked cool. Like it was from a movie or something." Descent stared at his more cheery counterpart. "You would say that, wouldn't you?" Midnight rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Well, everypony? What are you waiting for? Let's get this show on track!" And so they boarded the train, unsure of what the future might hold but confident they could tackle anything in their way. But, if Midnight Strike's speech had anything to say about it, it would take all of their strength, skill, and cunning to bring Twilight Sparkle back home... if they had to do it kicking and screaming.