The Winds of Redemption

by RagingPonyRider

Act 1: Hero-Might Makes Right

The dull thuds of metal denting and howls of pain filled the courtyard; in its centre, Sam grined like a madman. His taunt, as always, worked perfectly, and everypony disregarded their well-being to get a piece of him.

After the first wave of earth ponies, everypony had regained some sense and retreated several paces. They could not so much as go near him without a plan, but with their captain still recovering after receiving the first blow, their approach was barely formulated.

Sam took advantage of the brief pause to look at his enemies. He did not know it, but the ponies were in a standard defensive position: earth ponies in the front, pegasi in the air, and behind them both, unicorns. He snickered when he saw some of the latter with crestfallen faces: they had realized their telekinesis had absolutely no effect on him.

But that still didn't stop Discord from tying me down, twice. In one way or another, I'm still vulnerable to magic. I need to take them out first, but with that wall of meat in the way, that's impossible. Do I really have to force my way through?

"If you won't come to me, I'll just come to you." He kicked off the grass and the previous massacre replayed itself. He picked up a grey earth pony from the middle of the line, grabbing his neck, and in one swift motion, kneed his stomach.He was sent crashing into a swooping pegasus, knocking them both out. As soon as the guards separated into halves, Sam did not take any time to decide which group to chase and instead grabbed his sword.

I'm good at hand-to-hand, but not with this many opponents. But maybe...

Still in its scabbard, he swung and struck any unfortunate pony still within its reach. Most were struck on their armored barrel and sent crashing into the ground, but one was not that lucky.

"Grraah!" the stallion screamed, clutching his left foreleg. It was not clear how badly he was injured, but it was obvious that his leg was broken. "Grrr! Dammit! You said you wouldn't-gah!"

"And you were even bigger fools than your captain to believe me. Besides, you should feel lucky I kept my sword in my sheath." Sam used the moment to stare at a horrified Celestia and a furious Luna. "You might want to get some medics here."

"I said you may not kill, but this-"

"Can't talk, fighting!" he screamed as he grabbed a pouncing pony by the neck and punched his face, sending him and a couple bloody teeth tumbling on the ground.

Luna enveloped the crippled pony in a blue aura and levitated him next to her. "Do not worry, you will not have to worry about Sam any longer," she said, trying her best to comfort the wounded guard.

"F-Forgive me, Your Highness, but-grrk!" he flinched when Luna moved his leg away to reveal his jutting skin. Even after years of training and disciplining, they were not used to this severe an injury.

She cast a basic healing spell, trying to numb the pain. She stopped when she realized the bone was also shattered. "This pony needs attention, with utmost haste! Sister, I shall fetch and assist the medical staff!"

As soon as she said it, one of the castle entrances explodes outward to make way for a stream of ponies, all of them dressed in white and carrying enormous first-aid boxes on their backs.

"Looks like we were not the only ponies watching," Celestia muttered. The unicorns of the medical team levitated the fallen ponies to a safe distance from the fight while the rest opened their kits.

She had alerted the staff about the fight, and told them to stand by until the first casualty. It appeared they have gotten over their fear of the human to treat the injured.

Unfortunately for them, Sam was still going strong, knocking ponies down faster than they can get back up.

The biggest of the earth ponies, Pale Marble, saw how everypony else's efforts had been futile, and charged at him, hoping to get a clean punch to his face before joining the fallen. He was one of the strongest guards in Canterlot and he wanted to prove it in front of his princesses.

Sam saw the grey guard sprinting towards him and paused for a moment.

Look at the meat on that! I promised I wouldn't kill anypony, but maybe I can just chop off one of his legs to cook? Medics are here, so he wouldn't have to worry about bleeding to death.

Due to his bulkiness, Sam could not easily grapple him as he did with other ponies, and punching him would have done little to stop his charge. Instead, he readied himself and spun around, gathering momentum to deliver a swift kick to Pale's head.

He was smart for wearing a helmet. If not for it, his skull would have fractured even deeper and further. The concussion caused him to faint on the spot. Luna brought him over to the nearest doctor. She and the nurse beside her flinched when a thin stream of blood trickled down his face after the doctor, with some difficulty, removed the dented helmet from Pale.

With the majority of the earth ponies incapacitated and bleeding, he turned to the airborne ponies. He could not simply jump up to one of them, or they would dodge and another would attack from behind. The pegasi were more agile and smaller than the Sliders he faced in the World Marshal HQ, so he opted to counterattack their assaults while attacking the remaining earth ponies.

When three pegasi flew at him like darts, he waited until the last moment to twirl on the spot to dodge them and grab one's wing. One pegasus did not have the force to knock him down and he was pulled to the ground, hard. Sam kept his hand wrapped around the wing and crushed some of its bones, notified by the pegasus voice’s change in pitch as he screamed in agony.

Muscular wings, but thinner bones. Fast, but still not enough oomph like the earth ponies.

He noticed the same two ponies were flying back to him. He threw the pegsus at them, hitting one of them. The remaining pony tried to halt mid-air, but he was already close enough for Sam to jump up to and punch. He fell to the ground, clutching a bloody muzzle.

The rest of the pegasi knew they were lighter and weaker than the earth ponies, and after seeing Sam fight like an Ursa Major, they were justified in staying out of his reach.

Damn. I need to find a way to ground them.

Suddenly something struck his back. He turned around, suspecting one of the pegasi has landed a cheap shot on him, but he heard a slight sizzle where he was hit. Bright Shield was back, bleeding from the mouth.

He better not have damaged my suit too much, or I'm breaking that horn along with his jaw!

He ignored the remaining earth ponies and sprinted towards him. With the diminished earth ponies, and the reluctant pegasi ponies, the next available target was the unicorns, starting with their strongest.

The earth ponies saw him coming and did their best to impede him, even with their numbers reduced to less than ten. Sam grabbed his sheath again and batted them away, leaving them with a bloody nose, bruises, or both. He could feel the unicorns' magic missiles stinging his back, so he tried to throw some of the earth ponies in the unicorns' directions.

On the ponies' side, the unicorns were the fewest, only twelve initially participating in the fight compared to the earth ponies' twenty three. However, they made up for it with their rapid spell casting. Volley after volley of stunning spells were launched at him, but Sam was just quick enough to grab one of the earth ponies lying on the ground and use him as a shield.

Lifting him was not a problem, but his scream for every blast he mitigated quickly grew bothersome. Before he could toss him into the line of unicorns, something pushed him into the ground. The pegasi, now totaling at seven, used all of their strength and weight to keep Sam on all fours.

"Do it! Restrain him now!"

Before he could push himself up, ropes tied around his limbs. He could have easily broken out them, but with the pegasi holding him down, he was rendered immobile.

He struggled to free his limbs, and only earned a hoof pressing his face into the dirt. He turned his headand saw the hoof belong to the pony he was using as a meat shield a moment ago.

"Take your damn leg off me before I bite it off," When all he received was even more pressure to his cranium. He kept his mouth closed, not wishing to give the ponies any satisfaction.

"How's that!?" Bright roared as he marched over to him, despite the blood trailing from his mouth.

Sam took several breaths to soothe his burning muscles. "Look, is this about the whole "licking Celestia's slippers" thing, then let me just say I'm sorry-"

"You're not flattering anypony!" Bright stomped his hoof and took some breaths of his own. "You're not getting out of this one. I suggest you stop taunting and struggling. The fight's over."

Sam chuckled. "Still an idiot, eh?" He wriggled his left arm, loosening their hold. Bright saw this and his horn glowed even brighter, summoning another rope around his wrist. "Tell me then. What are you going to do now? I'd rather die than surrender to a horse."

Bright frowned at this. "Why? Is surrendering dishonorable? Do you see us as inferior to you?"

Sam felt the pegasi's hooves press down even harder, but he kept talking. "Well, not to sound arrogant, but yeah." He had to strain his eyeballs to look at Bright's scowling face. "Captain, in the past ten minutes, I have incapacitated at least thirty of your trained guards. It's not that inconceivable that I could have slaughtered all of you in a minute if I used my sword."

Bright bared his imperfect teeth. "Threatening us further will not get you anywhere now."

"On the contrary, intimidation and threats are some of the best ways to deter the enemy, right next to diplomacy." Sam managed to shrug and swapped his smile with a glare to match the captain's own. "Tell me, how often have any of your guards fought in a fight like this?"

Bright hesitated. He and almost every guard in the castle never had live combat experience, aside from an attack from the changelings and their queen. One of the reasons why they participated was to see how they would fare against a foreign threat other than ponies.

"That's right: none. While you and your guards remain in the castle and the cities, pushing pens and signing paperwork, what do you think I do?

"I go out there, into the world, killing. Gangs and criminal organization, bigger and badder than your entire Royal Guard, armed with guns and bombs. While guards and police are busy with laws, loopholes and protocol, I've spent my time doing what those servants of the law don't.

"I've killed hundreds, of people during my time in South America. You guards have your swords and spears? We have weapons that could level this entire castle, kill anything with a click of the trigger, and the nukes. Oh ho, let's not forget the nukes. And with all these at our disposal, I fought every single battle with my sword. Picking a fight with a bunch of miniature horses is an afterthought.

"You think this is the first time I've been bound and beaten? Outnumbered and outgunned? I've done things, captain. Things that would probably list me here as one of the greatest monsters, and things that would have me remembered as a legend. While I'm busy making a name for myself in the first twenty-four hours I'm here, you guards don't even have a commemorative photo during your entire service. Even those six girls, who took me on a tour of this damn castle just hours ago, have at least two gigantic stained windows dedicated to them alone! What do you have?!"

When Bright's frown loosened, Sam smirked. His left hand was finally free from the chains. The shock from his rambling had left the unicorns and the pegasi, as well as everypony in the courtyard dumbstruck.

"You want me to surrender? Fine," he said as he detached his sword from its holster. "But before that, take your prize."

With the click, the sword exploded out from its sheath. The hilt dug into Bright's white chest, lifting him into the air. Before the captain hit the ground, Sam, reinvigorated, pushed off the ground, sending everypony anchoring him down flying into random directions.

Sam saw his sword and Bright still in mid-air. He kicked off, shooting like a rocket.

Bright had no idea what had happened. A click, an explosion, and Sam's sword suddenly shot out of its sheath was all he could process through his pain. He could not breathe to scream, and he could not see through his shut eyes, but he could feel his body spinning in the air helplessly.

After gathering enough speed, Sam jumped into the air and grabbed his sword. He fought against the reflex to slash Bright in half and clutched his throat instead. He landed as soft as possible, and pointed to the remaining ponies with his sword.

"Checkmate." Ignoring the unicorn's attempts at breathing, he faced the remaining guards. "Surrender, or this pony won't make it out alive. I don't know much about pony biology, but he's got at least two badly fractured ribs and a broken jaw. Hurry up before he asphyxiates to death."

It did not take long for them to concede. "We're done here then." He dropped Bright to the grass and calmly sheathed his sword. "Well, that was fun while it lasted. Hey," he muttered as a pair of unicorn medics galloped to the captain behind him. "Be careful with him will you? His ribs are smashed, and likely pierced his lungs. His jaw and teeth are the least of your concerns."

The unicorns seemingly ignored him, but Sam noticed their brisker legs. He turned to the princesses, now even more nervous. "Come on now, princesses. In a battle, casualties are expected. I tried my best not to kill, and you did not intervene in any way. Do you despise me? After you yourselves allowed me to injure them to this extent?"

"It would be hard to say we are not, but we don't want to be hypocritical," Celestia answered. "We allowed you to fight, and our guards complied of their own will. But they could not have expected such consequences. Was your...brutality necessary?"

"You think that was brutal?" Sam spat. "If you really knew humans, you would know that humans are capable of much more brutal things. And I'm just one man. What do you think will happen when three of them attack this place?"

When none of them answered, he sighed and sat down on the ground. "Those guards were not trained to kill, am I correct? Nor were they trained for warfare?" More silence. "If they cannot even handle one cyborg, how are they going to handle the Winds? The Winds of Destruction are natural killers, princess, and they don't care how many or who they have to kill to get what they want. And judging from your guards, I'd say they are less than prepared for the threat."

Celestia's shuddering halted when he mentioned her guards. "You have only faced a fraction of the Royal Guard, Sam. Even if they are outmatched, we will not allow them to rampage through Equestria. We will stop them ourselves if it means saving our ponies from the Winds or you."

"Heh, and how can you be so sure? Even your sister's magic failed to find them and even if they are here, you wouldn't be able to find them." Sam turned his head and saw some of the last guards perk up in fear when they saw him move. "The entire point of Desperado Enforcement is to incite war. That's all they know. And after centuries of fighting among ourselves, humans are very good at killing. Just look at me."

"But why? For what reason?“ Twilight asked. Rather than confused, she was more angry than anything. “If you kill criminals, you're no better than them!"

Sam nodded in approval. He was insulted at being grouped in the same class as his victims, but did not waste energy protesting. "You're right. I am no better than your average killer. But still," He got to his feet, everypony's eyes following him. "I kill. It's what I do. Look at soldiers. They kill, but they are not blamed or charged for murdering others. There are those that kill to make a living. Can you blame me for trying to get by?"

"That doesn't make it right!"

Sam turned around and saw Bright Shield limping towards him, followed by the two unicorn doctors. His armor was gone and his white mane was stuck to his muzzle with sweat. "Killing is wrong no matter what the reason is! The Royal Guard is here so that we can protect everypony!"

"And what of the ones that aren't protected?" Sam chuckled at the naiveté. "Do you even know what fighting is for? It's for killing after peaceful talks are over. Do you know why even almost forty of your trained guards could not stop me?" He tapped his sword. "When I fought you, I came at you with the intention to kill. The Winds of Destruction are not stupid enough to pick a fight, but when they fight, they will kill. What will you do then? Sacrifice hundreds of your subordinates just to restrain three humans?"

Bright panted, still crippled due to his ribs. The doctors had administered painkillers before lifting him to his hooves. It would not last for long, but his anger was enough to dull any of the pain regardless of any drug. "So you're saying you're going to kill anypony that gets in your way?"

Sam rubbed his bearded chin his eyes shone in curiosity at Bright's possible motive. "Captain, most of the people I killed did things far worse than try to kill me. But to answer your question, yes, I'm perfectly fine. I'm a cleaner. I'm used to killing and cleaning up afterwards." He turned around and walked away. "But you and your guards obviously don't have the guts to do that."

Bright was infuriated than ever before. This creature, in less than twenty-four hours, incapacitated over forty guards with his bare hands, insulted him and the Royal Guard, and now he walks away after lecturing him?

Ignoring the pain from his chest and jaw, his entire body tensed as his white horn glowed as bright as possible.

"If what you say's true..." Countless grey streams of magic poured out from his horn. Like ribbons, they curled and twisted until Bright was left with dozens of smoking slender swords.

Celestia turned around in time to see her captain, but she only had enough time to cast a shield around her ponies, leaving Sam completely unprotected.

"Then you should die as well!"

Like bullets, Bright fired every one of the conjured swords as fast as he could, directed right at the human.

In a flash, Sam turned around, his sword in hand and mask over his face. The swords would have been intimidating, flying at him, but he had been ready to counter ever since he stood up. He had deflected swords, missiles and even bullets, and whether the projectiles were magical in nature or not, they were not going to touch him.

Behind the shield, everypony screamed, startled by their princess's brisk action. Their screams were over as quickly as it started, however, and their jaws dropped at the sight.

To say Sam was "slashing" was an understatement. He was swinging his sword faster than they could see. All they saw was a blur of green, black, and the occasional flicker of red as his sword clashed with one of Bright's sword, the latter exploding into smoke when struck, only to make way for another sword to be inevitably cut down.

Not only was the scene visually astounding, but the two combatants were behaving differently from before. While Sam remained silent, Bright's composed face was gone. Blood dripped down his growling mouth, his horn was flaring with magic, and he was firing like an overexcited child firing his first water pistol. It was the complete opposite from the ponies' initial encounter with him.

Eventually, the machine gun-like volley stopped and Bright's horn refused to glow any more. When he saw that his attack had failed to do anything to Sam, fear returned full force and he dropped to the grass, as if prostrating to Sam marching towards him.

Sam withdrew his sword and his mask retracted back in place. He was smiling as wide as he could, exposing his teeth to the now terrified Bright. "I must die as well? Just one problem with that, captain: there's no one here that can kill me."

"That's enough, Samuel!"

With a pop, Celestia teleported between them, absolutely livid. Her wings spread out to send everypony cowering at her stature, but only Sam remained smiling. "The fight was over when the guards surrendered! You will not harm anypony any further!" She turned around to face Bright, who remained aghast. "Captain Bright Shield! Your action is unacceptable! Not only have you tried to murder him, but in doing so, you could have endangered the Elements of Harmony! Is that how a captain of the Royal Guard should behave?!"

While Bright was petrified by her reprimanding, Sam crossed his arms, shaking his head like a disappointed father. "Look, I know you want to kill me, but you can't just do it anywhere you like. If you're going to do it, do it right. I know-I'm a professional."

"I said that's enough, Sam," Celestia snapped. "Captain, allow the doctors to escort you to the hospital wing. I will meet you there soon."

Bright gave a weak salute before turning away.

"Hey, captain," Sam interrupted, halting him. "Before you go, can I just tell you something?"

Bright hesitated. He looked at Celestia, who nodded at his silent request. "Alright, the painkillers are wearing off, but I got time." He wished he could spit in his eyes, but with Celestia so close, he could not move any more than necessary.

Sam bent down so he could see straight at his eyes. "First off, that was a nice attempt. If I was a normal human, I would look like Swiss cheese. But I'm not your average human, and neither are the Winds of Destruction. When they decide to attack any of you, you need to be ready. If you want to protect these ponies, you need to practice that little magic of yours so that I do end up as cheese."

Bright ears flopped, as if he misheard. Before he could think any more about it, his neck was being crushed by Sam's hand. Celestia tried to repel him away from Bright but he raised his free hand to try to calm her.

"I'm not going to kill him, but let me just say this last thing," he quickly muttered to Celestia, who kept her horn at the ready regardless of Sam's words. "I like you, captain. I didn't hold back when I deflected all of your fancy swords. You got the guts, yes, but you're still way behind on practice if you want to kill me." Sam looked down and his hind legs and saw his cutie mark: a pair of swords forming an "X". "Nice tattoo."

The hand relinquished, leaving Bright on the ground coughing as he tried to stand. When Sam stood back up, he found himself staring into Celestia's burning gaze.

"Never touch my ponies like that, do you understand me?" Her voice caught everypony and Sam off-guard. It was not stern or boisterous as she usually was when reprimanding him. It was slow, rigid, and menacing enough to wipe Sam's smirk off. She was truly ready to blast him with magic if he made a move like that again, and Sam knew it.

"And what? Have them unprepared for the threat?" Sam growled in response. "The Winds will not be so merciful after they had been attacked like that. He just tried to kill me, and you expect me to just let him go?"

"That is beside the point!" Luna snapped as she walked to join her sister. "We have allowed you your battle and defended yourself reasonably, but manhandle our ponies again and we will arrest you for assault! You will leave the disciplining to us!"

"Tch. Fine." Sam looked down at Bright, who was busy grunting in pain while being assisted by the doctors. "Well, what do you think?" he asked, facing the Element Bearers. When they remained petrified, he chuckled. "I know I'm scary, but that's what being a killer’s all-oh, Ms. Mayor!"

The brown mare had previously been hiding behind her larger princesses, but she had witnessed everything. The captain flying into the air, Sam jumping to catch him, threatening him to get the other guards to surrender. He was completely different from her meeting in Ponyville.

Sam took the initiative and bowed as best as he could, remembering how he left her in Ponyville. "Hello again. You're here to testify for the princess, right?" He faced Celestia, her face still hardened. "Or have you already done so?"

Mayor's face was blank, but her mind was cluttered with possibilities. Should she react with petrified fear, or approach him with equal apathy? "We-well, no, I just-"

"Your reaction is expected. I get that a lot once people realize my occupation. Don't fret too much." Sam waved his hand. "Sorry, I guess I'm just tired after that little rumble."

"What were you fighting the guards for!?" Mayor finally exploded. She did not realize how jumpy she was after seeing him practically demolish the guards. She could not imagine what would have happened if he had behaved so savagely in her town.

Sam shrugged his shoulder. "Bored. Wanted to see how well this place's security holds up. So far, not impressed."

Initially confused, Mayor was now frustrated. Sam earned himself the ire of everypony in the castle and he was smiling? "That's it? You pick a fight because you were bored? What were you thinking?! You could have been-"

"Hurt? Relax." Sam tapped his chest with a fist. "If anything, these ponies should be fortunate I didn't kill any of them by mistake."

"Wait, what? Kill?" She was scandalized. She stammered for a few seconds, making Sam smirk deviously, before stomping her hoof to steel her body and voice. "Minua-I mean, Sam, why in Equestria would you-this is no joking matter!"

"Who are you, my mother?" Sam laughed, showing off his canines, making her flinch once more. She had griffins, minotaurs, and a baby dragon in her town, and she knew they ate meat, but seeing this new creature as a carnivore nevertheless startled her a bit. "I haven't killed anypony yet, and your princess would probably gore me with her horn if I did."

Simultaneously, everypony shivered at the thought. Seeing the last of the doctors packing away their kits and Bright limping with a nurse supporting him, Celestia knew she should be ushering them back into the castle. However, the interaction between the two gave her even more reason to be wary around Sam. "Excuse me, Ms. Mayor?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"We need to go back to the castle. Your input on Sam's behavior during his...misadventure in Ponyville would be very helpful on deciding what to do with him."

Mayor did a double-take. "Ah! Yes, Your Highness! Where are we headed?"

"To the dining room. If you'd like, we can serve dinner, so we may eat as we talk." She looked at Sam, already picking up his fuel cell. "You come as well, Sam. I assume you'll be wishing to hear her speak for you."

Sam's stature made Mayor's eyes widen even more. Sam noticed this. "You sure? She doesn't look like she'll be giving an honest testimony with me in the same room."

"Well, we would rather have you in our sights as much as possible," Celestia answered. "And I think you would be hungry after your fight."

"How can you still be so hospitable, sister, after what he has done?" Luna did not bother restraining her displeasure. "How will we recompense the guards for this?"

"Hey, they were asking for it when they came here," Sam grumbled as he marched to the door. "Besides, they're adults; they should have known the risks."

While Sam walked, Twilight gritted her teeth. She made herself a reminder to ask Celestia more about humans. It was obvious she was not going to receive a straight answer from Sam, given how abrasive he was. "How can he be so...infuriating?!" she whined as she walked behind Celestia and Luna. "Princess, do you know why he's so...contradicting? One moment, he's acting stubborn, another, he's fighting off guards like he's been doing it all his life, and now he's talking to Mayor Mare like it never happened! Are all humans like this?"

"Not at all, my dear Twilight. During my encounter with humans, they have shown themselves as very similar yet different from any other species on Earth. That is the best I can describe them. They can be kind, yet fierce, brave yet modest, and Sam has shown, or at least tried to show, all those qualities. But he's very different from the humans I know, and not just in abilities. Perhaps it's because so much time has passed since they have shown themselves here. Who knows what else has changed?"

Twilight smiled slightly. She trusted Celestia fully and it was refreshing to see her divulge, even slightly, her knowledge of humans after seeing Sam's stubbornness. "But how do you know about them?"

"Because," Luna piped in behind Twilight. "It was Discord who first introduced humans to us, during his reign one thousand fourteen years ago." When she was met by Twilight's silence and Celestia's raised eyebrow, she frowned. "What? I know you wanted to simplify things and just say "a thousand years", but I like to be specific."

"Discord? You mean this wasn't the first time this happened?"

Twilight did not receive an answer, however, when she looked ahead. Sam appeared to have slowed down, signified by his now dragging feet. "Sam, are you alright?"

Sam was silent as his body slowed until he stopped moving entirely. He tried to move, but his limbs fell to his sides like lead blocks.

His suit allowed his body to perform superhuman feats, but without proper maintenance of both exoskeleton and body, it was more of a hindrance than an asset. The suit ran on the same electrolytes as his arm, and stimulated the muscles via electrical signals and electrolytes the suit altered to make it safe for the human body. His suit and arm rarely need to refuel, even after overstimulating his brain and body to slash away at Bright's swords, so that left one other answer: his body had run out of calories.

After the fight has ended, the adrenaline and electrolyte in his systems dissipated and he was feeling the pangs of hunger again. His suit has forced him to burn more than what little energy he received from the salads.

Shit. This is what I get for eating nothing but veggies.

"I knew I should have...eaten one of you...ponies..."

In a fluid motion, Sam fell to his knees and collapsed like a sack of bricks.

"Sam!"

Celestia was the first to react. Due to her magic rendered ineffective from his suit, she tried her best to avoid goring him with her horn as she clumsily picked him up. Unfortunately, he was far heavier than she thought.

"Luna, help me with him!" Every medical pony had returned to the hospital wing, and she could not simply call them back out again to ask for a stretcher. "He's far too heavy to be carried alone, hurry!"

"Princess, what's wrong with him?" Twilight asked the first thing that came to mind. The last thing any of them expected Sam to do was faint.

"I'm not sure, but he needs help, now!"

Before they reached the door, it burst open. They were momentarily stunned by what came out: a trolley supporting a five-layer cake decorated with whipped cream, strawberry, and chocolate syrup.

"Hellllllooooo, everypony!" Behind the trolley was Pinkie Pie, smiling eagerly. "I'm sure you're all very hungry after the fight, so I baked this huuuuuge cake so that everypony..."

She finally noticed Sam being carried on the princesses' backs and her smile dropped. "Ohhh, this is a bad time, huh?"

---

The entire courtyard remained a mess for the night. The signs of a battle were obvious from the crumpled grass and broken dirt.

The statues were also left untouched. Nopony could replace them all to their original positions because they were so heavy, and Celestia had informed the staff she would put them back in the morning.

However, the night did not pass undisturbed. Most ponies did not know it, but Discord was not the only one to be sealed in stone.

One of the statues was a startling figure: a large wolf with bristled fur and enormous fangs, posing so that it looked like it was howling at the moon. A red glow emanated from its eyes as it remained petrified, but if there was anypony in the courtyard, they would have heard its deep growl.

Author's Note:

(fixed/rewritten 09/29/2014)

Comments

[jmlop0]

............Could it be......?......no.....It would have to be a raven.......

[RagingPonyRider]

3017440
Sorry, but it's not the B&B, although if it's any consolation, I am planning on integrating the animals those women represent, although in a different way.

[EchoWolf31]

Is this going to be like Crying Wolf but with rage instead? Speaking of which, I loved that boss fight.

[RagingPonyRider]

3017545
You'll just have to wait and see. In a couple more chapters, you might find out!

[JBL]

Come on, 8 more likes to reach 100!

[ShyasuEasternSun]

Oh....shit!
Blade Wolf?!
Or...something....oh my god I have to just wait and see.

[Yasahiro]

I heard the intro to Bladewolf's Theme when I read about the statue. The one that happens during cutscenes but before fights.

[The Zealot]

This is why I need to stop posting comments before reading later chapters. Well, let's give Wolfie a... warm welcome.

[qazse]

God I just love hearing "Why you suck" speeches