HiE - A Hollow in Equestria

by Charlie_K

Filler - The Royal Guards Don't Actually Suck

"Excuse me. Can I help you? Do you need directions, perhaps?" he asked.

The entity at the end of the hallway... he couldn't really tell if it'd raised its head or not in response to his speaking up and breaking the silence. Something about its presentation was... off somehow.

But he was aware of it turning around to face him with how its body moved. And he wasn't prepared for what he saw.

It was a cloaked figure alright, but it was cloaked in darkness rather than cloth. What or whoever this vaguely equine-shaped thing was, it looked like what could only be described as a living shadow or, or an oil spill, or inkblot, made up of a blackness that was so dark, it was utterly impossible for any light to reflect off of its structure and let his eyes make out any finer details to its structure.

The only things not cloaked in black were a pair of wide, completely whited out eyes that practically shone in the darkness, and an equally white chesire-type grin that looked far too wide to be normal, that gave off the look of a mouth that was filled with more flat teeth than anypony had any business in having inside of their head.

And then the mouth parted open, giving him only a brief flash of the pink inside its mouth as a tongue extended to lick at its lips and the edges of its maw with a disgusting slurping noise, as if it were looking at him as if he were food!

In that brief instance a sensation crept its way up his spine. A sensation that he hadn't consciously felt in so long, he'd nearly forgotten just what it actually was. Fear. Primal, palpable fear that was alerting him to the presence of danger as all the hairs on the back of his neck were bristling in response. Not even the Espada had triggered a response like this in him before. So help him, he took an instinctive step back at seeing the face of that... thing... looking at him in such a predatory manner.

Without any indication of what its intent might been, the thing let out a shriek unlike anything he'd heard before in his life. A shriek that left him feeling like his instincts were telling him to flee before it was too late; to an extent that even he didn't know if his training as a Royal Guard was enough to overcome the urge!

He must've blinked, because the next thing he knew, the entity was rushing towards him at speeds he couldn't even begin to believe were physically possible, with its maw opened wide like it intended to take a bite out of him!

It chomped down, but he quickly pulled back just far enough to avoid the slamming of teeth against teeth, before immediately following up with a hard right cross right across its face, his leg being driven by instinct rather than conscious thought or intent.

The contact was hard, suggesting there was bone beneath that veil of blackness, and sent the entity reeling back as its body temporarily left the ground from the force of the blow delivered, before crashing back down on the marble flooring and skidding along its smooth surface.

He gasped for air, not sure if he even remembered how to breathe at this point, as he tried to figure out just what'd happened. What was this thing? How had it seemingly appeared out of nowhere? Why was it here? Why was it able to provoke such a frightened response in him when even the Espada couldn't manage that? Why...

All questions on the matter suddenly ceased as he witnessed the inkblot of a pony picking itself up off the ground, seemingly unbothered by the blow it'd just taken. It just shook his head as it got back up onto its hooves, before looking back at him again.

What had started off as a simple matter of possible trespassing had quickly escalated to attempted assault on a Royal Guard. That elevated the severity of the situation significantly. And as such that necessitated a far more serious response.

"You're under arrest for the attempted assault of a Royal Guard. Come along quietly, or there'll be trouble," he spoke as firmly as he could, despite how much fear he was currently playing host to.

The thing looked back at him in a manner he could only assume was perplexed as it stood with its head tilted, eyes open in an uneven fashion, before its teeth became visible in another wide and unnerving grin. It was acting like it wanted there to be trouble.

This thing had every intention of being a threat; not merely to him, but to potentially everypony in the palace. As a Royal Guard of the Palace Division, he knew what he had to do.

"Fine then," he spoke, his voice steadier as he crouched down, focusing his magic towards his hind legs and hooves. "Have it your way."

He lunged himself forward at high speed, leaving a flash of cobalt blue static discharge trailing behind him in his wake as he practically teleported behind the intruder, swerving back around and skidding himself to a halt to face its back. But before he could even get a shot in, before he could even move his hooves to make a grab for it, the thing had whipped around to face him, its head cocked at a particular angle that just didn't seem possible if there were really a skeleton in there.

It grinned at him for one brief instant, before violently lashing out at him and forcing him to leap backwards from his spot to avoid being struck by its hoof slamming into the spot he'd occupied just a second ago.

But he was quick to recover, and as soon as his back hooves touched the floor he launched himself forward again, this time being the first to deliver an uppercut with his left hoof, catching the thing just under the chin and seeming to at least stagger it.

Not letting it get the opportunity to recover, he moved in to grab the thing from behind in a headlock as he'd intended previously, and then teleported the both of them to the top of the hallway ceiling, where they dropped to the ground with him landing on top of the intruder as he planted both back hooves on its back, yielding a hearty thud on impact.

That move had been enough to knock a changeling unconscious the last time he'd used it. So it was reasonable to expect similar results this time around.

But this thing was built different, and had shown no ill effects of being slammed into the ground that he could see, and had responded almost immediately by bucking him right off and sending him flying. It was a development that would've been quite painful, had he not been quick enough to stop his descent with a burst of levitation, and re-oriented himself to touch down on his hooves again.

He was quick to learn the hard way that this was a mistake. The time he spent distracted by controlling his landing so he could reengage, had allowed the thing to close the distance between them and envelop him in a bear hug with its forelegs, effortlessly lifting him up off the floor as it reared up on its hind legs, and proceeded to squeeze him with a truly impossible demonstration of physical strength. Already it felt like his armor was actually starting to bend, and his bones were beginning to strain.

All the while it just grinned maniacally at him as it squeezed, starting intently with those whited out eyes practically boring holes right into and through his soul. Like it had plans for him after it was done with whatever it was doing. Plans that he didn't want to find out about for himself.

Grunting, he focused his magic into the cuirass of his armor to power up one of the defensive countermeasures etched into its structure, using both it and the physical contact to serve as a conduit to direct an electrical charge right into the thing's central nervous system as it held tight to him. The effect was as immediate as it was desired, with the creature shrieking inequinely in pain as it spasmed from the current ripping its way through its body, leaving it unable to maintain its grip on him as it was forced to let go.

He slipped free, touching back down on the palace floor, and followed up by immediately spinning around and delivering a full-powered, double-hoofed bucking right to the thing's face, delivering enough force to send it flying backwards before crashing to the ground once again.

He knew that wasn't going to be enough to affect this thing; not after everything he'd observed since the start of their interaction. Whatever this entity was, whatever it might've been made of, it was impossibly strong in terms of both physical strength and durability. He wasn't even sure Lieutenant Brick Wall would be able to fare well against it.

But he hadn't expected it to already be picking itself back up off the floor this quickly. Already it was practically bouncing back onto all four hooves again, as if everything had done nothing to affect it. And it just started grinning again like it was having fun.

In a disturbing way, it was starting to remind him of the few scant interactions he'd had with Pinkie Pie. But definitely not in a good way by any stretch of the imagination.

He let out a snort of annoyance, narrowing his eyes in a frown as he contemplated how to respond. But the time for contemplation was short as it was already charging him head on again. And even though he knew what his job was, he didn't want that thing anywhere near him.

Wait. That was it! Acting quickly, he deployed a force field around himself just as it leapt into striking distance, allowing it to collide with the outer surface with a loud thud as its outstretched limbs splayed in a splat. And with that done he proceeded to charge forward, using the shield like a snowplow to force the entity back as he slammed it into a far wall of the hall, trapping it between the two hard surfaces.

"Are you ready to come quietly?" he asked as he observed its trapped form, trying to discern any sort of details to its structure that might give some indication of what he was dealing with.

Its only audible response was some sort of guttural growl/gurgle as it physically struggled to get loose, including pushing against the surface of the field with its forehooves as if it might do some good.

He allowed himself to smirk at its futile struggles, certain that it was finally over and the threat had finally been addressed and resolved. But then he stopped smirking as he noticed something wasn't right. He could feel the tension against the field, and his position in relation to it, and then he realized that he was being pushed back. This abominable creature was actually pushing hard enough with its forelegs and against the wall to push him back!

He quickly dug in his hooves as hard as he could, pushing back against it with his hind legs and leaning in to try and avoid losing any ground in the inverted tug-of-war. But even that wasn't enough to overcome the force he was against, as slowly but surely he and his field were being pushed back until the entity was no longer pinned between either it or the wall. And then it just kept pushing, all the while standing on nothing but its hind legs as it did.

At this point it was just going out of its way to demonstrate just how outclassed he really was against it. No matter what he threw at this thing, it didn't seem the least bit bothered by his efforts; he was more or less flailing helplessly against an immovable object, regardless of how hard he tried hitting it.

As much as he didn't want to do it, he was simply going to have to switch gears and try a more unconventional approach to dealing with this problem.

In a flash his shield evaporated, causing the thing to fall off balance and topple face first into a sweeping roundhouse kick that sent it sprawling in the other direction.

"Blendgranate!"

One spoken incantation later, and just as the thing looked up a loud bang, and a bright flash of light erupted around him, sending it screeching in response as it tried to cover its eyes. That would hopefully do the trick, but a little bit of insurance certainly wouldn't hurt...

A followup concussive force blast was delivered to the face that sent it sailing a good twenty meters back before hitting the ground again, would hopefully buy him a few additional seconds to regroup and do what he needed to do. Active offensive magic wasn't having any noticeable effect on this creature so far, other than causing it momentary pain. And with as much durability as it had demonstrated so far, he'd probably have to risk total obliteration of a palace wall to do any lasting good. And not knowing what he was up against, or how many more he might be against, he couldn't risk exhausting his reserves with offensive spell after offensive spell in the hopes of it doing some good.

So with all that in mind as he stood reared up on his hind legs, he'd simply refer to what'd been taught in the more advanced combat classes taught by the Royal Guard, and focus his efforts inward rather than outward. More specifically, refocusing and diverting his magic into his bones and muscles to enhance his own physical prowess to face this threat on more equal terms.

The thing was currently making all manner of incoherent noises, all the while lashing out violently at the vicinity around it as it tried to locate its quarry. Right now that suited him just fine.

His horn was aglow with cobalt light swirling around and over him as he clenched his forelegs at his sides, already feeling the sensation of his skin beginning to grow hot and tight, as he tried to focus, tried to visualize and regulate the correct flow pattern, and above all tried to remain calm in the face of danger.

Experience, hard-earned from countless hours and even days spent practicing the technique, had taught him the hard way that he had to be careful while doing this. If he proceeded too cautiously and used too little magic it wouldn't do him any good. The thing might very well just eat him for all of his troubles before he could accomplish anything significant.

But at the same time, if he proceeded recklessly and tried to force too much magic at too fast a pace, it would put him at the very real risk of bloating himself up to the point his armor would no longer fit -potentially even snapping the leather straps in the process- and leave him practically immobile from being too swollen to move.

He had to do this right, because he knew that he was only going to get one shot of doing this right. And to do that, he had to tune out everything else, from the terror that he was experiencing, to the heated sensations he was feeling coursing through his body like it was his own blood.

The inky black entity was starting to recover from being blinded and thrown, starting to rub its eyes and blink away the after-effects of what it'd been hit by, and started looking like it could actually make out his position even after taking a shot directly to the face. It made him want to try and push faster, but he knew from past experience that he couldn't do that. He just needed a few more seconds for it to work. Just a few more seconds...

A few more seconds that he really didn't have as the thing had apparently recovered enough to go on the offensive and charge him like a ravenous animal at ridiculous speeds. All he could do was brace himself, grit his teeth, and grunt as he took the full force of incoming blow from the initial strike it managed to land with a hoof that felt far too heavy to belong to such a sinewy abomination, and try not to lose his focus as his vision went blurry from the force of the blow upside his head.

It hadn't been ideal. But tanking the incoming blows being rained down on him, including the one to the side of his face like a wild left hook, had given him just enough time to finish his prep work. As such he turned his attention as well as his glare back to the thing that currently had its hoof meeting the side of his head, and immediately returned the favor with a blow delivered with his left foreleg that seemed to stagger the beast far harder than previous blows had managed, toppling it right over as its ability to balance seemingly gave out.

He was quick to drop down onto all four legs again and restrain the thing by both grabbing and shoving it against the closest wall, pinning it in place with one foreleg to stop any possible retreat it could've attempted. Oh it certainly tried to escape, but twisting its right foreleg at a borderline unnatural angle had gone a long way in preventing that from being a possibility.

And with it pinned firmly into place, he proceeded to rain down blow after blow on it with his free foreleg, repeatedly slamming his armored hoof into its face and skull as hard as he could, with the force of the blows and the blood pounding in his ears serving to drown out whatever screaming it might've currently been doing as its head bounced between his hoof and the wall behind it.

It tried to mount a resistance and escape by kicking at him with its hind legs. It tried at least, but with the way it was pinned and against his own enhanced frame, it might as well have been throwing tennis balls at him for all the good it was doing it.

Another blow to the face, and he adjusted his approach to take the wind out of its sails, by readjusting his stance and grabbing one of the thing's forelegs in both of his, before twisting his body around and flipping it over his shoulder to hurl it back-first into the far wall with all of his might, yielding an audible thud against the stone surface as it impacted, before slowly sliding down to the floor and collapsing.

The entity groaned in response, letting out a wheeze as his right hind leg came slamming down onto its barrel, looking like all the fight had finally been driven right out of it as it laid against the floor, firmly pinned beneath him.

But it'd been a feint as it quickly responded in a demonstration he couldn't even begin to process, as it grabbed onto his leg and threw him right off of it like it'd been nothing.

He was quick to recover and get back to his hooves. But then again so was it, standing back up like the beating it'd just taken had been nothing.

"... What exactly are you?"

The thing merely looked back at him as it cracked its neck and rotated its withers, remaining silent but breaking out into another chesire grin, as if it was just getting warmed up and ready to go again!

It went on the offensive, but he was quick to physically intercept and stop the initial blow with his hoof before it could be landed. But even in a more physically strengthened form, with muscle fibers like steel cables and bones like I-beams, he had still felt the force that'd been behind the strike, certain it could've otherwise broken a bone if he hadn't responded accordingly.

But he didn't even have a second to contemplate the finer details as it continued its assault on him, reminding him that he had to focus. Simply being able to tank the blows it landed with its hooves didn't mean he could afford to take it easy, and he was quick to reengage by delivering and trading blows of his own back and forth in a competition of who could take the most physical abuse before collapsing. Including taking advantage of one particular opening and delivering one full-powered, sweeping uppercut right to its vulnerable midsection that practically folded it in half while lifting it right up off the floor, as he reared up and hoisted the thing right over his head and effortlessly held it aloft with a single hoof.

The entity seemed to quickly recover and responded by latching onto his outstretched limb with all four of its legs, but that suited him just fine as he quickly brought it down and slammed it into the palace floor and against the closest wall. Repeatedly. If it was going to try and hang onto him for dear life rather than escape, then he was going to capitalize on the fact and exploit its unintended cooperation for all it was worth.

He might not know how many licks it took to get to the center of the tootsie-pop. But come Tartarus or tinnitus, he was going to find out how many hammer blows it took to bruise the spleen of the abomination stuck on the end of his hoof!

At least until it relinquished its hold on him as he raised his hoof in preparation of another blow and literally back flipped its way away from him.

"Not quite so fun bullying somepony who can fight you right back, is it?" he asked, not really expecting an answer as he set his hoof back on the ground again. "You're not the first one I've ever had to deal with. You're not even the most remarkable one I've ever faced."

The thing actually snarled at him in response, before charging him head on once again. Had he really ended up making it so furious, that it couldn't think coherently?

"Suit yourself."

He spun around, swinging his hind leg outward to trip the entity as it charged, but it simply leapt all the way over him to avoid the sweep, before coming down behind him and spinning around to attack his exposed flank. But he was quick to avoid the strike.

And then he saw that the entity was no longer on all four hooves, but had rather reared up on its hind legs to adopt a bipedal stance like he'd been doing previously. More specifically it adopted a pugilist stance. Did this thing really expect to box him or something?

Whatever. It's unconventional approach to engagement wouldn't help it any in this case. He moved to quickly get in close and go for another uppercut just like last time, only to miss as the thing jerked its entire frame to the side out of his trajectory. It'd be easy enough to write off as the inky abomination getting lucky and just happening to dodge at the right time... if the same hadn't occurred on his followup attempt at landing a blow. And the one after that.

This entity had been quite content to trade blows with him just a moment ago when it had the upper hoof in terms of physical strength. And now that things were more balanced between them it was... what was that lingo again? Jiving and juking? Whatever it was, now that it could no longer overpower him like previously, it seemed rather intent on ducking and dodging, bobbing and weaving, and even back flipping and cartwheeling to do anything necessary to avoid taking a hit. All the while staying just outside of his reach the entire time.

None of it made any sense. He'd been very careful to not compromise his speed when enhancing his physical strength. He'd been certain to not increase his mass to the point he couldn't fit in his armor anymore, as that would take more effort to move. And up until now had been able to keep pace with its attacks and counters, but not anymore. Every kick, every sweep, every lunge, and every attempt at grappling was easily defeated as it managed to stay just far enough back to make physical contact impossible at his current speed.

The way it moved its body about while avoiding him was another mystery, and borderline unnatural; he was starting to question if it even had a skeleton underneath all that darkness.

After about the seventh missed contact, he was starting to understand what was going on. The entity, at having its flank thoroughly hoofed to it on a silver platter, complete with garnish, had changed its tactics and was now focusing on evasion to avoid taking a blow. It was trying to rope-a-dope him into burning through his stamina so he could no longer mount an offense. It was the only thing that made sense.

Well two could play at that game. He had already changed his tactics accordingly to address one threat, he could just do the same again. And that was just fine by him. If pure brute strength wouldn't avail him in this conflict, then he had no use of it at this point.

Another attempt at a roundhouse kick had sent the shadowy fiend back flipping just out of the range of his hoof. But this time it'd been his feint to pull instead of its, giving him room to set back down on all four hooves again.

"Alright. So you're strong."

In an instant the increased bulk of mana-enhanced muscles vanished, returning him to his previous physical state, but the glow of his horn still remained.

"You're even nimble."

Blue-hued arcs of an electrified current began to crackle their way across the surfaces of the various pieces of armor he wore.

"But are you fast enough?"

A flash of cobalt blue static discharge was all that was left in his wake as he lunged forward, practically teleporting just to the left side of the entity to deliver a quick poke with his hoof to its exposed belly, discharging the current in his shoe and sending it into a shrieking spasm of pain that made its whole body recoil as it dropped to the floor.

Before it could even react and get back up again he was already gone, having retreated to a different vantage point that put him well outside of its reach.

"It looks like you're not," he called from his new location, bringing its head all but snapping around to spot him, just as another discharge of blue static was left in his wake as he moved again, hurtling himself past its position.

Contact had just barely been avoided as he passed, but the thing had actually flinched right out of the way regardless to avoid being touched; a fact not lost on him as he applied the breaks and swerved his entire body around to stop and face it again.

The next pass did make contact this time, with the edge of his armor just scraping its exposed side and shocking it in the process, making it shriek once again.

If brute strength wouldn't avail him in this confrontation, if it no longer provided him with the tactical advantage that he needed to perform his duties, then he'd rely on overwhelming speed and maneuverability instead, and dominate this shadowy abomination by not leaving it an opening to retaliate against him. He'd hit it like he hit the changeling that'd impersonated Sergeant Zacharia; only much worse this time around.

A loud, staticy BOOM sounded through the hall as he performed a springboard maneuver and kicked himself off from the wall, up to the ceiling, and sending himself hurtling at his quarry and colliding with it at a straight downward angle, both knocking it to the floor and more or less bouncing himself right off of its body in order to get lined up for another pass.

Another discharge of cobalt blue static as he galloped through the hall and slammed into its and sent it tumbling before disappearing just as he'd appeared.

Another electrified jab to the entity's exposed back as it tried to stand up, before he propelled himself backwards out of its reach before it had the chance to even think about retaliating.

Another pass, putting him right face to face with the abomination, its whited out eyes going wide just before a shocking uppercut was delivered in the vicinity of its exposed chin, sending it sprawling out on its back at it toppled over before he was on the move yet again.

Another series of electrified booms as he angled and bounced himself behind the abomination at it got back up yet again, and grabbed it in a headlock before it could right itself. He teleported away, the two of them reappearing right at the highest point of the hallway's ceiling, as his hooves made contact with the stone structure and diverted every bit of his magic to his coiled hind legs as possible, as he kicked himself off in order to slam the inky entity into the floor as hard and as fast as he could.

The impact was as hard as it was loud, and he'd even felt the stone-cracking forces right through its body. And when the dust settled he remained motionless atop the entity, panting heavily as he tried to catch his breath, as the current through his armor fizzled out.

Beneath him, laying in the shattered remnants of the floor's finely polished veneer, the thing showed no signs of stirring. Right now he wasn't certain if it was even breathing or not. Right now he wasn't even certain that he could care about that.

Stifling a groan, he slowly picked himself up and climbed off his improvised perch, and tried to stand back up straight again. That'd been far more physical exertion than he'd initially been prepared for, and he was feeling it now as it all caught up with him.

He was going to need help, and he knew it. Securing the newly-acquired prisoner for transport was too much of a tall order even for him. He needed to find one of his fellow Guards, explain the situation, and get them to assist. Just as soon as his legs stopped feeling like rubber bands made out of solid lead that were threatening to give out under his own weight.

"I need a stamina spell, too," he panted as he moved at a slow, trudging pace.

And then he felt a growl behind him that nearly made his heart seize up.

Slowly, he turned back around, and saw the shadowy abomination was not only conscious, but getting back onto its hooves again!

That shouldn't be possible. That couldn't be possible! He'd hit that thing with everything he had; he'd done everything short of dragging it through the palace and drowning it in the kitchen's sink by holding its face down under the water! How could it still be conscious? How could it still be moving? How was it still alive after all that!?

Those questions and more went unanswered as the thing slowly turned to look in his direction. And the thing looked mad. It felt mad. There was no chesire grin on its face now, only an invisible scowl across its black face as it narrowed its eyes and glared. It glared hard enough that he could practically feel the murderous intent radiating behind those soulless orbs.

He hadn't had anywhere near enough time to recover from the amount of exertion he'd undertaken. The accelerated stamina drain, increased mana consumption, and rapid buildup of lactic acids had left him exhausted, and yet this thing was still looking no worse for wear! It was as fresh as when it'd first gotten here.

He realized only too late that he'd gotten rope-a-doped despite his efforts to avoid it, and now the entity was looking ready to cut loose on him in return.

"Fine," he panted, biting back a groan of exhaustion as he pushed to straighten himself back out again, wishing he'd thought to perform a recharge spell when he'd had the chance. "I can do this all day."

It'd been a lie, and he'd known it. What exactly could he do in his current state? But at the same time, what choice he really have, except to keep engaging it? He couldn't let this thing get away from him and become somepony else's problem. What if it encountered a young Private who was still wet behind the ears and froze up at the sight of it worse than he had? Or one of the palace maids who had no combat experience at all? What if it got to one of the Princesses before they could stop it?

No, it was better if he saw to it himself. Because right now he couldn't get out the call for backup/help even if he'd tried.

"Just you and me. Let's go."

The thing finally cracked a grin, a wicked and malicious grin, and lunged at him.

"Oh no you don't!"

And then it proceeded to get pulled off balance as a flash of gold came into his vision from behind the entity, like the sun cutting through a dark and oppressive cloud.

A flash of gold that turned out to be another Royal Guard arriving on the scene, and currently using the wooden shaft of their spear to keep the thing trapped in a headlock, pulled back on its hind legs and unable to advance as it wheezed and frantically tried to pull itself loose.

A Royal Guard that he recognized as being his fellow Lieutenant, Piercing Lance.

"Strike-" Lance grunted while pulling tightly on the shaft of the spear, "stop screwing around and just kill this thing already!"

It'd taken him an uncomfortably long moment to understand that reinforcements had just arrived on the scene despite his inability to call for help, and was now keeping the entity at bay before it could get to him; effectively saving his flank when he hadn't been able to do that himself.

"... I've already hit it with everything I can think of. Nothing's even slowed it down."

Lance grunted through tightly grit teeth in return as the thing struggled against its entrapment, flailing helplessly while choking as the muscles beneath cream-colored forelegs clenched and pulled harder, pulling the wooden shaft of the spear tightly against its throat just under the jawbone. Leaving him briefly wondering if the strain would be enough to snap the wood right in two.

"Well then just hit it harder! Come on, you slacker, do something to prove your worth around here!"

Harder? After everything that he'd already unleashed? Just how much harder could he possibly hit this entity? Was he expected to throw it out of a window? Grab one of the palace's fire extinguishers and vent the contents down its throat in hopes of suffocation and/or freezing its esophagus solid?

"... I've got one more thing that I think I can try. But I'm going to need at least one minute to get it ready. Can you hold it for that long?"

"I don't think I've got much choice," Lance grunted while holding on tight as the thing did everything in its power to try and break loose. "Alright, you've got your one minute; but this thing is squirrely so make it a fast Manehattan minute!"

Thunder didn't need to be told what to do twice. The moment he had confirmation that Lance would buy him the time he needed, he dropped to his flanks and held up his right hoof, doing his best to concentrate. The only thing that seemed to even inconvenience their opponent was the electrical discharge defense being directed right to its nervous system, so that's what he was going to do. He was going to pool and direct every last bit of mana he had left in his body into his right front hoof, and overclock the defensive charm to yield the biggest electrical discharge he could muster in the time he had available.

The entity's struggle against Lance's restraint had morphed into a struggle against Lance directly, trying futilely to deliver kidney blows to break free, but unable to make any significant contact at the given angles. At best they were glancing blows off to the side, unable to get past the armor and ribs that were in the way.

It then responded by using its whole body, wrenching itself forward with enough force to simply pick up and hurl Lance right over its back, just like he'd done to it moments ago when they fought.

But Lance possessed a far greater level and degree of skill than it did, and completely winked out of sight, teleporting straight behind it in order to turn the forward momentum from the throw into a flying kick to knock the entity straight onto the ground with both rear hooves slamming into its back.

Putting it in an ideal position to be stood on top of as Lance reared up, spear gripped firmly in forehooves, and driving the tip downward to skewer it right through its skull.

Had it not seen the maneuver as it was playing out and retaliated by flipping Lance off of its back at the last moment, it might've just worked and put an end to the whole mess right then and there.

Thunder grunted. The shoe was starting to feel hot against his hoof from the amount of magic he was directing both towards it and into it; practically hot enough to burn by this point, and remind him that this was well outside of the thresholds it was designed to operate in. But it still wasn't enough, he had to focus more. He had to pay attention to what he was doing, not stop and watch his companion's struggles. All he could do was grunt and grit his teeth in concentration.

Lance was not playing around at this point, with horn and spearhead both alight with a fiery orange glow while utilizing a combination of rapid forward thrusts and fancy hoofwork to press the assault in an attempt to bisect or otherwise skewer the entity, forcing it onto the defensive as it backpedaled and did everything in its power short of actually retreating to avoid making contact with the business end of the spear repeatedly coming its way. Never once was the assault let up, forcing it to remain in constant motion and keep its eyes forward to avoid contact with whatever spell was being powered and directed at it. All the while Lance remained hot on its heels.

The outer surface of his shoe was starting to show results for all of his work, as once again arcs of electrical current were dancing all across the surface in search of an outlet. Except this time the arcs were much bigger, and looking much more violent. He just had to concentrate a bit more. Just a little more focus, and it would all be ready.

A loud commotion suddenly brought his attention back over as Lance yelled and thrust forward, utterly burying the spearhead all the way into a marble pillar while just barely missing contact with the midsection of the shadowy entity as it dodged at the last second. Which wasted absolutely no time in bringing its foreleg down and smashing the shaft with its hoof, separating it from the head in a manner that left it looking like it'd been cut through and left perfectly flat and smooth at the end.

Lance, in turn, hardly missed a beat at the development and switched from spear to quarterstaff techniques while whacking the entity upside its head with a sweeping upper swing, delivering enough force to stagger it. Along with jabbing the now-blunted end of the shaft into the thing's gut as the opening presented itself and knocking it back into the pillar once again like a pool ball being sunk into a corner pocket.

By now the coalescing magical energy was starting to make his shoe give off a bright blue glow, with the arcs of electrical current growing larger and more unstable, well outside the point anything like this was ever intended to be done, to the point he could feel his fur starting to stand on end from the proximity. It was almost ready, he just needed a few more seconds...

The entity, having apparently had enough of being beaten with a stick like a pinata, lashed out and struck at Lance's extended hind leg, bending the limb with a loud crunch in a direction it was never designed nor constructed to bend.

"You bitch!"

But Lance was quick to retaliate and brought the spear shaft down in an overhead swing, down on the thing's head hard enough to snap the wood at the point of contact, and delivering enough force to utterly disorient it, leaving it wobbly as it stood.

Orange magic quickly wrapped around the broken limb, forcing it back to its correct position with an audible crunch, and serving as an impromptu splint/cast to hold it there, allowing the fight to continue.

"C'mere you!"

Leaving it open to being grabbed in a choke hold as the remnants of the shaft was used as a baton to assist in the restrain, pinning its right foreleg at a very awkward and painful looking angle while Lance hung on tight, wrapping both hind legs around its midsection while trying to avoid being thrown off like before.

Thunder grunted as he tried to stay focused. The heat was getting to the point of being unbearable, and he could smell the keratin of his hoof starting to cook. The glow was intense enough to hinder visibility and force his to avert his gaze. And the current manifesting its way across the surface of the shoe was intense enough that he couldn't keep it under control any longer. It was finally at the point where the only safe option left was to discharge it.

It was now or never, because there was no way he'd have the strength to attempt this a second time.

"Alright, it's ready! Now get out of there!" he instructed as she stood back up on three of his legs, making ready to use it.

"Yeah, right," Lance grunted while wrapping one foreleg around its neck, struggling not to be thrown off once again. "That's easier said than done right now. Just go ahead and use whatever you've got on it!"

Thunder could do little more than shake his head in response. "If I do that then you'll both get hit at the same time! You have to let go and get out of there before it's too late!"

Lance growled, a level of frustration bubbling up that wasn't often heard from the Lieutenant, while trying to use the improvised baton to whack the entity on the head a few times in an effort to disorient it and stop its erratic struggling, before wedging it into the thing's opened mouth like a bit to try and gag it.

"Alright, when I count three you rush in and punch its ass out through its back! Let 'em have it, you got it!?"

He nodded, tensing his body as he focused making ready to rush in the instant that Lance gave him the signal to strike.

"Alright, one! Two! THREE!" Lance yelled.

And that was when everything went completely wrong.

He had been coiled, cocked, and ready when Lance gave the signal, propelling himself forward the instant he'd heard it, thrusting his hoof outward to collide with the thing's exposed chest. And in that brief second he witnessed the thing somehow managing to overpower, disentangle and hurl Lance directly into the path of the oncoming assault. All the while leaving him helpless to react and avert the blow.

Lance slammed chest-first into his extended hoof, leaving him helpless to watch as the overclocked spell discharged on contact without any way for him to override it, straight into the chest of his fellow Royal Guard. And equally helpless to do anything but watch as eyes that'd been filled with a myriad of emotions up until now slowly faded as they went dull and lifeless.

Lance's body went limp, with forelegs dangling uselessly, weight temporarily supported against his outstretched hoof, before slumping over backwards and dropping onto the ground with a thud, showing the singed chest fur from where his hoof had made contact, confirming what'd just happened.

Immediately all thoughts stopped being about the shadowy entity and on his coworker's well being. He dropped to the floor and immediately began checking for a sign, any sign, that would indicate the attack hadn't done what he'd been intended for it to do, but there was no such luck to be had. The spell had worked just as he'd intended for it to work and sent the recipient into total cardiac arrest; no pulse, no heartbeat, and absolutely no breath.

"No! No, no, no, no, no," he repeated to himself, panic hitting him like a train as the gravity of the situation set in hard. "Somepony! Anypony! Mayday! MAYDAY!"

He scrambled, trying to remember what the proper procedure was for CPR as he started to perform chest compressions. He tried to fire off a spark of resuscitation, tried to do something to get Lance's heart started and beating again, but nothing was coming forth; he was like an earth pony trying to will levitation into being at this point.

He stopped his compressions, listened for any signs that would indicate breathing, and upon hearing none immediately went back to performing more compressions, frantically struggling to maintain his composure for both of their sakes.

"Lance, please, stay with me, buddy, stay with me," he mumbled pleadingly as he tried to mentally keep count of how many compressions he was performing.

Author's Note:

So funny story, this wasn't actually supposed to be uploaded at this time.

But those accursed publish and edit buttons are right next to each other, and when you're too busy to actually pay close attention to what you're doing, and what's going on, mistakes happen.

Comments

[RYLETUS]

Frozen? Sadly.

[Black_Knight]

I'll command Lighting Strike for is bravery, wits, steadfastness and adaptability, but boy should he have call for reinforcement since the beginning.

Though impressive of him for pulling out basically a Kaioken and a Chidori. But damn that final moment where all went wrong.

Also, what is that creature? Seems to be some kind of ponyfied Kaonashi without a mask.

[Nikolas]

11835289
Based on the description, the Pony of Shadows.

[Shisarakage]

Well... it seems like something has slipped in through the cracks left by Ulquiorra's entry into Equestria. But what that something is exactly, I couldn't even begin to say. It's reminiscent of several unsavory beasties I'm familiar with, but not so clearly that I can identify it. Perfect earmarks of a good mystery within a mystery.

[Black_Knight]

11835494

I don't think so. The description just superficially match and its behaviour and mannerism are totally different from the Pony of Shadows.

So unless Charlie made a complete overall of it, I think were are facing an enterally different creature.

[Emperor of Jurai]

So another damage sponge foe, I think our favorite guy is gonna be getting tired of such threats.

[hydra30]

Hiatus?

[Jamesblafking]

Super entretenido lo que lei