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// 6: Fighting the Starclaw 
// Story: Path of the Starclaw 
// by RedmoonLevee 
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	Fear is a weapon that has two sides. The first is the side I use, the deterrent side. The other is the power over people. Fear can make people do things they would never consider doing before. Fear once drove me to turn from my friends, thinking I was protecting them. That nearly broke my mind with the fear. But I saved them and fixed the fear. 
Fear is what I was seeing here. This shadow beast was using the second form of fear on the girls and it was working well for him. Twilight had her ears laid back and her knees knocked together. Rainbow had curled up and was whimpering. But what got me was there eyes.
They matched the shadows eyes.
I looked deep into thous eyes and could feel the power as it tried to creep into my head. Magic and me never got along well. Most of the mental stuff would fall flat or haze my vision a little, only the most powerful stuff really gets to me. So when I started to feel the cold air of a snow storm touch my skin, I was a little shaken.
Snow and cold don't scare me, I love the snow even though I slow way down (being cold blooded can do that) in it. Its pretty to look at. Cold is just like swimming through sand, slow and sometimes painful, but it doesn’t scare me. A snowstorm, with the wind and the blinding cold and wet snow, that scares the crap out of me.
So when a snow drift just fells on me, I get kind of concerned. It filled my nose and lungs with cold air, sent shivers down my back from the icy wet of the snow. Everything went cold, everything but me. I could feel the snow and wind, breath the cold air of snow, even feel the ice cold water role down my back. 
But I could still feel the sun on my back and the warmth with in my body. It wasn't leaving like it should in that much snow. Warmth would just leave my body in this much snow. I've seen it happen to my brothers, it's happened to me, but it wasn't happening to me now.
I felt my smirk before I could see it. The problem with mind magic is once the brain you're playing with makes you for the magic, you can't do it again, at least not for a day or two. I felt the sun beat down on my back as the magic shattered around me. The illusion fell away as broken glass and I saw the confused look on the shadow's face.
This is what I lived for. That cocky mage that thinks he can play with your brain, seeing that its not working, then the fear of what you are going to do to him for messing with you. Most of the time his mind will scare him more than me, but the look on their face is what gets me. First confused, then it clicks, and last the fear, masterful.
The shadow just hit the second as I stepped forward, setting Starcutter on my shoulder. What through me of was his smile, instead of the fear. I didn't let it show, but it confused me just a bit (that and a fanged grin on a pony is a bit unnerving).
“You are the first to brake the spell,” he smiled down at me. “How?”
“Not cold enough out here.”
He raised a brow at me.
“Let them go,” I said with my best edge.
He just smiled at me.
“Let them go so I can fight you without the shields.”
his face started to turn red. “You dare to think I need a Ponyshield!?”
“I wouldn't put it past you,” I got him on that one. “So, ya I think you do.”
He snarled at me and unleashed a wave of power. It pushed the girls out and away, just like I wanted. I hoped I could goad him into a fight on my terms, then, maybe, I could win with little collateral damage as possible. I was at a disadvantage though, I was still recovering from before and fighting with my off hand. I was in a tight spot, but I've been there before.
Shadows lashed out from his form, speeding right at me with lethal intent. I leaped over them and rolled closer to him. He reacted fast, unleashing the dark crystals from the shadows on the ground beneath me. They clipped my side, bruising but not piercing me. Magic and speed could kill anything if you were good, but I was better than that.
He charged me as I gained my footing, trying to catch me off guard. I parried him, pushing him to my left making an opening for me to strike, and strike I did. Starcutter bit into his back, leaving an angry red line running to his flank. He howled out in pain as he turned on me bringing his hooves to my head hard enough to make me see stars. I stumbled back and blinked away the pain as I tried to find him again.
A black spike erupted from my right shoulder in a spray of blood. Well, looks like its back to the hospital, if I survive this. I turned and snapped the thing off its base on the dark crystal and snarled. I wasn't going to lose to some two bit mage with a rock fetish, I was going to rip this this a new one and send it back to what ever hole it crawled from.
My vision turned crimson as my Rage started. I could feel my body flex as the adrenalin hit my heart and rushed to the rest of my body. I reached up and ripped off the sling that held my right arm and griped my sword in two hands. His horn light up as he started to cast his spells, that take concentration and time to cast. I charged head long into the fray. I had to remove his horn, but I needed to soften him up first. 
I cut, hard and fast. Chunks of shadow flew off as I lopped them off. Bit by bit I cut and sliced off his power, pulling more and more of him into this world. Soon I hacked at his chest and legs, marring them with crimson blood and cuts. His power climaxed and slammed into my chest, tarring into my flesh and snapping my ribs. I barley felt the pain as I gave one final grunt, cutting his horn off.
It clattered to the ground, and let off a few sparks as it settled onto the floor. I let the power of my rage pass and I felt the pain roll into my chest. My breathing started to become labored as I looked up at the wounded shadow. Sombra tried to stand tall, but thanks to his wounds, he fell to one knee. The tip of Starcutter touched the ground and I let out a long breath.
“So, ready to give up?” I asked.
Sombra snarled at me, but said nothing.
“Good, you and I need to see Redheart,” I laughed. “Man, is she going to be mad.”