//------------------------------// // Something Strange // Story: Night Patrol // by Foxgear //------------------------------// Night Patrol ch 24 By Foxgear Topaz took off at the sound of the announcer's command, rushing his opponent for a quick kill. Figuring his opponent wore no close-ranged weapons, it meant he was either adapt at claw combat or a ranged weapon user. He carried what seemed to be a projectile thrower of some kind, so Topaz figured it was a pretty safe bet Red Rufus was a long-range fighter, which usually meant an average or poor performance in close range combat. Of course, there were exceptions to the rule, but they were statistically low. Claws flexed, Topaz landed on his opponent’s platform, breaking into a gallop to knock Red Rufus off the edge and send him down abyss below. Where if everything went according to plan, he would strike and end the match via skull crush to the ground. Drawing closer, Topaz felt a prick his left shoulder, nothing extreme, but it was noticeable. Pushing on Topaz was confident it was just a passing thing. Red Rufus made no moves to advance or flee, hardily standing his ground. Narrowing his gaze, Topaz heard some sort of mechanical clicking and veered left. A faint glimmer whizzed past, something shiny, something most likely made of metal. Swooping down below the platform and disappearing into the clouds, Topaz pulled the object from his shoulder and inspected it. The item was a long steel dart, maybe better described as a needle. It was most likely shot from his opponent’s strange weapons. Taking a quick sniff of the needle, he found no trace of poison. At least none he knew off. That didn’t mean there couldn’t be some mixed in. Red Rufus’s weapon was certainly big enough to hold at least a hundred, if not several hundred needles. It wouldn’t be illogical to think at least a few of them were specialized for a more sure kill, but then again, this was a match, so it was also possible he wasn’t allowed to use poisons. (No,) Topaz thought (it’s too risky to assume there was no poison. In fact, it would be better if treated every one of them as if they are. I can’t afford to get sloppy.) With that out of the way, it was time to move on to the next part of his counter-attack, which involved luring his enemy down here. From the looks of things Red Rufus hasn’t given chase, a smart move as staying in his original position would give him a three hundred and sixty-degree range of fire, and technically he held the high ground, for now at least. That was what Red Rufus had in his favor, but his current position was also known, which Topaz intended to use to his advantage. Leaping off the stone column, Topaz looked at it with an inquiring eye before nodding, yeah his plan would work. Stretching his wings as far as they would extend Topaz inhaled, his chest puffing up with air as it began to glow with orange lightning. He held his breath, forcing the storm of magic in his throat to spread throughout his body till finally, his entire body was lit up like the northern lights! “All charged up!” Spreading his wings, Topaz flew away from the column, swinging his wings like swords as he did so, launching two arcs of plasma that cut through the column! The column shook and rumbled as it toppled to the ground, bring his opponent falling down with it. Red Rufus flew nimbly through the falling debris, firing his dart shooter every chance he got. Topaz easily avoided getting hit the griffon’s aim all over the place. Diving down Topaz nosedived towards the ground, Red in hot pursuit. Swerving side to side, Topaz avoided the barrage of darts. Whining around one of the stone pillars, Topaz ran along the face of the rock to sneak behind Red Rufus. He unleashed another set of plasma blades at the griffon, who floundered, trying to getaway. The blades struck home, cleaving an X into the griffon’s torso, lucky for the griffon he held back, saving Red Rufus from being cleaved in two. Swooping down, Topaz caught the griffon by the scruff of his neck and carried him back up to the top of the pillars, dropping him on the nearest plateau, the crowd giving him a chilling cold shoulder. As not one of them clapped or cheered. Up in the sky, a giant orb replayed the last seconds of his fight, meaning the crowd had seen everything, but how? The announcer flew down, raised Topaz’s claw into the air, and shouted, “The winner is Topaz Slicer with a dashing victory; please give him claw folks for an excellent display of skill and sportsmanship!” Reluctantly the crowd gave a soft clap; clearly, none of them were very thrilled that Topaz won, but he did hear the excited clopping of hooves from the royal section as Princess Luna gave him the best applause she could. He smiled, waving at her before leaving the arena. “Something is going on,” He told Sixes and Nightingale as he landed, “Somethings not right here.” “Care to be a little more vague, Topaz?” Nightingale replied sarcastically. “Given your experience Nightingale, I would be a little less skeptical and a little more observant.” Sixes rebuked. “She does have a point though, what’s bothering you Topaz?” “It’s…” He began, only for the announcer to speak over him. “Will the next combatants please enter the arena for the next match?” “That’s my cue!” Nightingale said excitedly, flying away. Sixes pulled Topaz closer and whispered, “Whatever is bothering you, we’ll address later, for now, get up to Luna and stay by her side. Don’t let anything stop you from getting to her understand? Anything.” Topaz nodded and flew up above the stands and made his way over to the section Luna was sitting in. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have any trouble with the griffon guards. For the time being, Sixes kept his back against the wall, and his eyes peeled for anything suspicious. “Hopefully, this isn’t a repeat of the Crystal Empire,” Sixes muttered under his breath as the announcer began the next match. “I really hope it isn’t.” Nightingale drifted lazily to her starting positioning, observing her opponent, a black griffon with the body of a raven and panther. On his wings rest a set of wing blades, blades mounted on wings obviously. He carried no other visible weapon. She decided right then she would only use her wing blades out of respect. She could use her gem rockets to finish him right off right away, but where was the fun in that? She earned her title of night hunter, the title of an elite, and she damn well was going to prove it! If he started pulling tricks though, then all bets were off, she would be making fried bird for the nighthounds, the dogs they recently started training. Somepony thought it was a good idea, and it was proving to be true so far. (I should probably focus, the announcer is about to begin the match!) “Champions, are you ready? Begin!” Both of them took off like a bat out of hell, flying straight up into the air at high speeds! Nightingale circled around, trying to catch up to the black griffon, whose name she didn’t catch at the start of the match. (That’s what you get when you monologue.) “Hey!” She yelled, trying to get the griffon's attention. “What’s your name?” The griffon turned his head, looking very confused, “Why do you ask?” He shouted back, his voice a lot higher then Nightingale imagined it would be. The wind must be distorting her hearing. “I… well, it’s kind of embarrassing, but I wasn’t paying attention to the announcer, and now I don’t know your name, and it’s distracting me from the fight, so can you please tell it to me?” Nightingale asked as they did their third lap around the arena. Everypony was probably thinking they were just sizing each other up or something. The griffon blinked at her like she’d grown a second head, “Seriously?” He asked, not believing her. Really who would be such an airhead before a match? Course he’s seen stupider things happen in battle. “Names, Raven claw!” The Griffon answered. “Cool name!” Nightingale replied, flying up next to the griffon with her hoof extended. “My name is Nightingale!” “I know,” Raven replied with a chuckle shaking her hoof. “Let’s have a good match, little mare!” Nightingale and Raven broke off only to clash right away in a fury of blades as they fought and flew at the same time, their wings a blur of black and silver as they each tried to gain the advantage. “Have you ever seen such a display before folks, because I haven’t!” The announcer yelled through his amplifier. “Look at them, fly! Such power, such ferocity, and speed! Who knew a pony could fight like that?” In her seat overlooking the fight, Luna held a small little smirk on her lips as the gathered griffons around her had their beaks on the floor. Even King Silverous was impressed. Of course, she wished she could be screaming her head off in support of her little pony, but edict and all that. “Impressed Silverous?” She giggled as the king picks his jaw off the floor. “I think I see another win for my side.” The king looked at her with an unreadable look and said, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Luna turned attention back to the arena where Nightingale and Raven crash-landed into a pillar kicking up a large crowd of dust. The crowd was hushed into silence as they waited for the dirt clear and when it did Nightingale and Raven stood across from one another with each other’s blades press against the neck of the other, a stalemate, unless one of them was willing to take the risk of getting their throat slit. “What do you say to a draw, my dear princess?” Silverous drawled, inspecting his talons. The Princess of the Night didn’t like conceding defeat, but in this matter, she was willing to swallow her pride, not wanting to lose a talented warrior such as Nightingale over a few trade bargains. “We agree to a draw, I presume the next match will be double the stakes?” “Why, of course,” Silverous replied with a smirk, waving to the announcer to call off the match. Retaking his seat, he feasted on some blackberries while the combatants changed out. “I hope your last champion is up to the task going against my finest gladiator. I expect this to be quite the match.” “Sixes will be up to the task, I assure you. I simply hope the arena will survive if things get hectic.” Luna could feel the eyes of every griffon in the booth turn to her. They were probably wondering what she means, most would probably play it off as bluff or intimidation tactic, but there was no need for such things with Sixes. He was intimidation itself. “Just wait and see, my feathered friends,” Said Luna confidently, “just wait and see.” Sixes took his position across his opponent, a griffon named Glider, a basic eagle and lion breed griffon. If Topaz was right about the griffon’s ordering, then this guy would be the strongest or at least the most superior fighter among their group. He didn’t look overly impressive in any real way, but there is that old saying about looks being deceiving. That just meant he wouldn’t underestimate him. From what Sixes could tell, Glider carried no weapon, not even wing blades, meaning he was most likely skilled in close-quarters combat. He must be outstanding to not bring a weapon into battle. More than likely, he relied on his talons and beak to attack. “On my mark,” The announcer raised his claw into the air, “Begin!” Like a bat out of hell, Sixes took flight with Glider hot on his tail. Whipping around Sixes dived between the pillars, weaving in and out at high speeds with Glider managing to keep pace. Breaking off Sixes propelled himself backward; his claws flexed open for an attack. Glider counters by raising his talons, which was what Sixes intend for him to do as he spewed a stream of fire onto the griffon. The flames weren’t nearly as intense as usual since he had no time to charge the blaze, but the attack did its job and sent Glider veering off with a smoking leg. Grinning with satisfaction, Sixes gave chase, blasting multiple fire blasts at the retreating griffon to control his flight path. He didn’t just want to win, he wanted to show the griffons just what they would face if they ever thought about attacking Equestria again! Increasing speed Sixes got right on top of Glider and swung down, raking his claws across the griffon’s back. Glider let out a yelp as his feathers became stained with blood, he faltered midair his wound in the middle of his back, where his wing joins were. Too low to land on the platforms, the griffon latched himself onto the side of the pillar with his talons, using all his strength to just to hold himself up. In other words, he was a sitting duck and knew it. His fear began to grow as Sixes floated behind him, the dragon pony’s chest expanding and glowing with magic. Glider could see the heat stream rising from Sixes' mouth as hot droplets of lava spill from between his lips. He was going to roast him alive! Glider turned away, keeping his eyes shut tight. This wasn’t the way this was supposed to go, this wasn’t how he wanted to die! The crowd gasped, probably because the dragon pony was opening his mouth to attack, he could feel the heat from here. He waited for the attack, preparing for the last few painful seconds of life. Sixes fired, but not at him. “What…” Glider couldn’t believe his eyes as the pillar next to the one he was on was engulfed in lava, what’s more, Sixes was beside him, holding out his claw. “Come on,” He said, “Let’s get you out of here.” Thinking of no logical reason for the dragon pony to drop him, Glider grabs Sixes' claw, allowing the dragon pony to tow him back up to the top of the pillar, where he was dropped off safe and sound and to the cheers of the crowd. “Why,” Questions the griffon, “Why did you save me?” Sixes chuckled, patting Glider on the back, being careful not to hit the griffon’s injuries. “There was no reason to. Well, I guess more accurately, there are more reasons to let you live than to kill you. I may not know the history between the griffons and Equestria, but I know they are bad, and there is a lot of resentment on both sides to this day. I guess I just didn’t want to add to it. Besides, while not a very exciting match, I made my point did I not?” “I’ll say you did,” Glider replied, craning his neck to inspect his injuries. “That’s defiantly going to scar. I’m lucky you didn’t sever my wings from my spine.” “I thought about it.” Glider narrowed his eyes at the dragon pony, “You were holding back then?” Sixes nodded. “I see. I suppose I’ll have to train harder for our next match then.” “You don’t want to continue? I wouldn’t mind a little claw vs. talon match here on the ground. It’s your specialty, right?” Glider nodded, “Yes, yes, it is, but I’d rather lose today and beat you tomorrow when I’m one hundred percent, so there’s no shadow of the doubt who is the better warrior. I forfeit this round to you, Sixes.” Glider held out his claw, which Sixes took gladly, as the announcer called an end to the match. “I look forward to our next battle.” Sixes nodded to the Griffen, and both left the arena. “Looks like I win.” Silverous hummed beside her, coughing as he looked away, it was an amusing sight to see for Luna and made all the sweeter by the fact she won the trade negotiations. Now she not only had the right to cross ten miles into griffon territory without permission, but she also got the right to produce soda pop in Equestria. The latter may not seem that big of a deal, but she was sure a few talented ponies could make some commerce with the new product. Finally, the best part of the deal, gaining access to griffon armor forging methods and designs. Starwind will have a field day when he laid his eyes on the blueprints. “Do you wish to meet my champions King Silverous? I’m sure they would be thrilled to have a King comment on their performance.” “Perhaps another time,” Silverous rose and signaled for his escort, “If you’ll excuse me, Princess Luna, some important matters have come up and need my attention. I will have my son draw up the trade agreements in my place, please have a safe journey home.” Luna watched the griffon king leave. Questions filled her head as she analyzed the king’s tone and words. The trade talks were supposed to go for at least another day or two, though with this tournament, they managed to speed through that usually lengthy process, if she didn’t know better she would say Silverous was politely telling her to get lost. “Will you accompany me down to the dugouts, Prince Silvercuis?” She asked the griffon heir. He nodded and followed her down to her ponies, who were celebrating their victory will zeal. “Yeah! We’re going to get so hammered when we get back!” Nightingale proclaimed. The pegasus’s new love for alcoholic beverages was beginning to get concerning. Perhaps another dream walk was in order. “Hi Luna, did ya see how awesome those matches were?” Luna visibly sighed as she touched down in front of the three-night hunters, her eyes on Nightingale. “Yes, I did, impressive, but please do not forget yourself, Nightingale.” The pegasus turned a deep shade a crimson as she coughed into her hoof, “Sorry, Princess, got a little too excited.” “It’s ok, just remember the rules from now on.” Encouraging ponies to call her, Luna was turning into a double-edged sword more and more now. While Luna loved how much closer she was to her ponies, some unsavory ponies were abusing the privilege. Most of them being outsiders, but the message was clear. She needed to draw the line of who could address her casually, and she made it a point that all night patrollers, regardless of how fond she was of them, were to call her by her full title when on duty and outside the castle walls. “Come, let us go to the throne room and…” “Actually,” Prince Silvercuis interrupted, “It would be better if we finish the trade deal on your ship. I feel it would be best that you be on your way as soon as possible.” Luna looks suspiciously at the Prince. Something strange was going on. “Why is that? Why do you wish us to leave so quickly? Do we not have two more days of negotiating to do?” “We did,” The Prince said, “But that has been rendered mute. You have your conditions and terms, there is no reason to delay matters further. My father pushed aside many things to make this meeting happen, and now that all the important matters are done, he can get back on schedule. You understand how it is. Course he was expecting a bit longer of vacation from his delegates, but they’ll be hounding him to no end now that he’s free once again.” Luna bowed her head; here, she thought the king was being rude when she was the one fact the rude one. Silvercuis was right; she had what she came for. Their business was done. To stay any longer would just be a burden on king Silverous, who was undoubtedly busy running his own kingdom. “Yes, our ship would be a good spot to finish the signing. Please accompany us so that we may be out of your way as soon as possible.” “Sounds good,” Silvercuis smiled as they all flew down to the Moon Cutter, “And Princess, please doesn’t take it personally. The wounds of the war still run deep in many griffons. It will take time for us to completely be comfortable to be around ponies again.” Luna opened her mouth to reply, but her words fell short, so she simply replied, “Understandable.” When they touched the deck of the ship. From the stands, King Silverous watched his son follow after the princess and her… guards, if that was even the right word to use to describe those monsters. That’s what they were too, they were monsters. He had hoped the news he’d been told was untrue, but having seen them for himself, he could not deny what his eyes saw. Equestria was making monster ponies, no doubt for only one purpose, war. “I thank you for your warning, my dear friend, I only wish I had believed you sooner,” Silverous said to a figure in the shadows. “I know you’ve already begun production, but we’ll need to speed things up before it is too late.” “All is dear good king; I trust our funding will no longer be in question?” The figure replied, stepping into the light. It was a pony, a brown earth pony. “Yes, we have no choice; if Equestria is preparing for another invasion on my kingdom, then I must be prepared to do whatever needs to be done to defend my subjects. Even it means creating the same monstrous beings.” The earth pony smiled, pulling a bottle from under his coat. Inside was a brightly colored insect looking creature. “Then allow me to present to you our first present. We call this a Breezy, their little insect ponies with high intelligence, design to be the perfect spy. Give this as a gift to Princess Luna before she departs, and all of Equestria’s plans will be in our hooves before they can do any damage. You’ll have perfect insider intel as if they gave the plans directly to you and best of all, even if they suspect a traitor, who would ever consider this little cutie.” With a heavy heart, Silverous took the bottle from the pony. “A great gift indeed, my friend, I eagerly await for your next one, if you’ll excuse me Doctor Hoofenstein.” Hoofenstein kept his composer till the king was gone from the room, suddenly breaking out into a full smile, which turned into a chuckle and then to full-blown laughter! He couldn’t believe how easy it was to fool the king! The poor sap would never see the end coming till it was too late, and by then, both Equestria and the Griffon kingdom will be under his hoof! “Just wait, Princess Luna, revenge will be mine, but not before you suffer, and oh how I will make you suffer!” Far away from both Canterlot and Griffonstone, something was happening in a small border town at the edge of Equestria. The city itself was in ruins, the fires from the attack were still burning, and the bodies of the town ponies were littered everywhere, stallion, and mares, all except the foals. There were no fillies or colts around, at first, that was a relief for the squad of night patrollers investigating the attack, but then their minds began to wonder. What happened to them? “I don’t like this.” Crusader, the leader of the patrol, said aloud as he observed the wreckage. On the ground, hoof prints of the villagers were mixed with another set of footprints, defiantly not ponies, but something with a hoof for sure. He sniffed the air, trying to get a read of the scents, but smoke clouded his sense of smell. Meaning the fires had been set intentionally to cover the attacker's trail. The attackers were no mindless beast. “Are there any other species that live around here?” Crusader asked his unit. Several of them looked quizzically between each other before one steps forward with an answer. “I think there are some deer tribes in this area if I remember right.” The pony named Bright Rain answers. He was one of the few bat ponies that joined night patrol. This would be his first mission. Crusader nodded, looking at the tracks again. They could be deer, but why would deer attack a pony town? Last he heard from his father Sixes, relations between the deer tribes and the pony tribes were going reasonably well. “Sir, we found something!” Another pony shouted, waving them over. Crusader trotted over the pony, which was behind one of the few intact buildings, following the pony’s hoof he spotted an antler, much like his own, stuck into the wall. From the blood, at the base of the horns, it seemed the antler was ripped from the owner's head. However, that wasn’t all, there was a blood print on the wall as well, a paw print to be exact. This changed things. “I don’t think deer attacked the village, I think they were running to the village for safety.” Crusader narrowed his eyes, “Something was chasing them.” “Deer are no pushovers, what could make a whole herd flee their home?” Bright Rain asked Crusader walking beyond the ruined building, all the way to the edge of the village. There in the mud was on the large footprint with three clawed toes in the center and two on the side. No pony could determine what sort of creature made such a track, but they knew for certain two things, one that it was big and two it had claws. Crusader put his claw into the imprint; it was nearly five times larger than his own. “I assume whatever made this. Come on, let’s see if we can find this thing.” “We’re going after it?” Bright Rain squeaked fearfully. Crusader looked at him with a blank stare. “Of course, we are it’s our job to do so, now come on! We might still be able to catch it!” Crusader shouted excitedly, storming off into the forest, leaving his unit to stumble fearfully in his wake. The white rinin might not be afraid of the creature ahead, but they were, this was supposed to be simple recon mission, something for the greenhorns to get their hooves wet with, not a full-blown monster hunt! They followed regardless, as it was their duty to. “Commander Crusader, wait up!”