The Shadowborne Rampage of a Winning Pony

by Gavel Coaster

A Shadow Too Bright

In that moment, Shadow opened her eyes again and looked directly at me. She lowered her muzzle and spoke in the quietest voice I had heard her use yet - almost a whisper.

"If thou believe thou canst convince me, descendant...by all means."

It was kinda obvious my last comment had upset her. Yeah, I guess if I were a nine hundred year old living memory of the greatest hero Equestria had ever known getting told off by a thirty generations removed dropout nymphomaniac granddaughter for not living up to her own legend I’d be a bit cheesed off too.

"Right. Fine! I'm not worthy to wear the armor!" I steamed, "but maybe you've forgotten there are ponies dying out there! Ponies with friends they don't know where to find! Or even if they're still alive! Ponies with FAMILIES they don't even know are alive! I'm not letting what happened with Mom happen to any other pony, Shadow!" My temples were throbbing, my face was hot, and I'm sure my voice was rising a few levels. Shadow, for her part, was watching me impassively with no change in her expression whatsoever.

"Every pony in the clan always said you believed in sacrifices for the good of all ponykind! Not just you and your own!" I snapped, barely aware of how feathering childish I might have sounded. "And there's never been any better time for that! My father, my little sister, my best friends and every pony in bucking Canterlot needs you now! Celestia needs you!" Even with all that was going on and just how thoroughly pissed I was, I couldn't help but feel the tiniest glimmer of triumphant glee as Shadow's eyes moved briefly to the side when I said that.

Yeah, she and Celestia totally did it.

"Since the bugs have the princess...and Twilight and the others probably aren't in any position to help..." My voice rose again, and suddenly, I could feel pins and needles rising though my skin, my mane stiffened like it was crackling with magic. Huh, adrenaline rush.

"...don't you think the lives of all those wonderful ponies out there might be a little more important than every little thing being right about anypony who wears your armor?! I know I'm not perfect, Shadow...not by a long shot, but I'm good enough to know when the need matters more than the risks!"

By that point, I knew what I was going to do. Clan tradition and respect for ancestors be damned.

"I'm going to use your armor, Shadow. And I'm going to save Celestia and every other pony and the Equestria you fought to save nine hundred years ago! And you can kill me for wearing it with that ancient, scary curse thing if you like, but not before I use the bucking thing to save the princess, Dad, Alula, Star, Twilight, Fluttershy, and everypony else from those monsters!"

Shadow, impassive most of the way through my little rant, was silent for a few moments. Finally, the corner of her muzzle curled up in what might have been either a smirk or a sneer. I couldn't tell...but honestly, at that point, I was beyond caring.

She finally spoke up again, "Cloud Kicker..." It was the first time she had used my name, but the tone of her voice was ambiguous as that bucking poker face. I couldn't tell if she was mocking me or not.

"...thou wouldst truly defy every tradition the Kicker Clan hath ever followed - not to mention signing thine own death warrant in the process - to save everypony else from powerful, terrifying abominations? Thou? The callow, slatternly, impulsive, irresponsible nag of the family?" She scoffed.

Okay, anypony in their right state of mind would have been either seriously pissed off or demoralized to the point of suicidal depression at hearing that kind of put-down from the hero she's practically worshipped all her life. But - and I still have no idea why - all of Shadow's disbelief didn't seem to matter. I was eerily calm, and somehow, I had never been more sure of anything in my life.

"Yes..." I hissed quietly, "The callow, slatternly, impulsive, irresponsible - and good-looking, you forgot good-looking - nag would do that, and more besides..." At any other time, I might've felt like a complete mule to say something so dramatic and bucking cliche, but right then, hissing and spitting just felt like the right thing to do. "...the nag would serve Princess Celestia's next dessert in the bug bitch queen's skull too!"

Shadow actually snorted, cocking her head at me, sounding more amused than shocked however.

I decided to get her back a little, if only I show her just how serious I was, "And I seem to remember another mare who bucked tradition in the face when she saw how much it deserved it. She chose exile from her home because she'd rather fight for honor and the good of all Equestria than sit at home like a good little filly..."

I'd expected anger, indignation and outrage. Instead, Shadow snorted again and bared her teeth. Holy schmolies, she was actually grinning at me! Shadow Kicker, grinning like a timber wolf!

"Cloud..." she said again, "thou wouldst truly compare thine ordeal to mine own? Thou art a slight...neigh, thou art truly a noble fool if there ever was one..." Her grin grew wider. "Still, mayhaps Equestria's age of noble fools is too long gone..."

Was she...? Did that mean she would...?

"Oh, mayhaps..." I said, drawing out the word and emphasizing it with sarcasm. "But either way, I'm not going to let anypony else die, and I sure as hay am NOT going to let those bugs overrun the Kicker compound! You can magically drain my life force with that ghastly, terrifying curse or whatever later."

I stood up straight, rising to my full height and refusing to show any demure position to Shadow any longer. "I'm taking your damn armor either way - tradition be damned! Help me or don't, materfamilias! Either way I'm not going to sit down and do nothing when I know ponies - Kickers - are going to die!"

Still grinning, Shadow slowly stepped forwards, slowly unfurling her wings. I tensed, waiting for any kind of wing-blade attack. I knew I could hardly put up any kind of fight against Shadow Kicker herself, but somehow I just didn't care! Even dying here in this vision-within-a-vision-whatever-the-hay-it-was would be better than leaving empty-hoofed now...

All of a sudden, the Kicker Compound around us began to brighten, luminescent shades erupting from nowhere. I glanced around, then looked quickly back at Shadow, who was practically muzzle-to-muzzle with me by now, still grinning.

As the light around us grew, Shadow slowly, almost lazily, unfurled her wings further, tilting her head and neck upwards and sticking out her tense forelegs, “So much like my Gale...”

What?

"It has been too long..." Shadow said slowly as the light around us finally became too bright to look at and I shut my eyes, "...since I have stretched my hooves..."

My heart, already working overtime, promptly began hammering in my chest.

*

Star paced restlessly in the courtyard of the Kicker compound. A lot of ponies at West Hoof had said the wait between battles was the worst thing about war, and it was true. Fear of the danger, the uncertainty of what was coming, and knowing something bad would happen sooner or later was all there. It was a terrible mix of hoping the bugs would stay away long enough to rest and prepare, and wishing they would just attack right now so she could get all the wretched uncertainty over with. Star knew from personal experience that at least fear was easier to deal with in the heat of action...

As she looked around, she could see her for herself many other ponies wished the same thing. Some were injured, some were sick, all of them were tired, and a few had even been reduced to a blubbering mess cowering in the corners. Morale was extremely low, and the news that the changeling queen had triumphed over Princess Celestia had very nearly been the final nail in the coffin. The clan might have demanded a surrender if Cloud hadn't gone to the Kicker vault.

Star did not blame them. Every few minutes, she could feel the sudden twitch in her legs to just panic, scream and run for it, far away to wherever the hay there were no changelings...

But she was a Kicker. And a soldier besides, and she knew better. Nothing got a warrior killed faster than panic, and leaving the compound was a death sentence. And then there was Sparkler...

Sparkler...

Star glanced over at what was left of their field hospital where she knew Cirrus Doo and Sparkler would be, yearning to gallop inside and wrap her hooves around her fillyfriend and never, ever let go. Star promised herself that if she and Sparkler somehow came through all this alive, she was going to kidnap the sweet nag, drag her into her bedroom, magic the door locked and spend a week shaking up the whole Kicker compound...

She blinked and forced herself to look back at the troops.

I've been spending too much time with Cloud recently...

Just what the hay is taking her so long anyway?!

Granted, it'd only been a few minutes since Cloud had left for the keep, but it felt like ages. And nothing. No sign of any progress. For all Star knew, her cousin could still be fumbling with the locks on the door...

There hadn’t been any movement from the changelings either. With the Kicker compound fortified and the Home Watch on high alert, the bugs apparently knew better than to try a full-on assault. Pity, Star thought savagely, maybe we couldn’t kill them all, but I bet we could take many of them down with us...

She glanced worriedly over at the gate to the compound, wishing, not for the first time, that she could’ve managed to plant trackers on every pony in the compound. She’d never be able to keep track of everypony at once in a million years, but at least she’d be able to tell if somepony in the Watch was a changeling impostor. Nowhere near enough time or gems for that though.

Groaning, the unicorn levitated herself up the wall and gazed out over the streets. No doubt about it, Canterlot was a bucking mess.

The streets were deserted. Plumes of thick gray smoke that could only mean fire were rising from all over the city. Ponies were either barricaded indoors hiding, dead and out of sight, or caught and taken by the changelings. That was the way of war in the cities. They hadn’t seen another group of civilians or soldiers seeking refuge for more than an hour. And, truth be told, that was probably a good thing. The last sneak attack by the bugs had cost them most of their medical supplies and staff, and they were spread thinly enough as it was. After that, Star wasn’t sure she’d permit anypony to enter even if any did show up...

She prayed to Celestia and Shadow she’d never have to make that choice.

She caught a sudden movement out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head to the left just in time to see a changeling lower its head back into a window opening across the street before she could light up her horn.

Old scare tactic. The bugs were reminding them they were still there and they were still watching.

Star was tempted to blast a shot at the window anyway to show the horseapple-eating vermin what she thought of that, but then she remembered Cloud’s warning to conserve her energy. There weren’t many unicorns left in the compound, and if the bugs did manage to get inside the walls again, a little magic could mean all the difference between life and death.

Ducking back behind the walls, she turned and trotted towards the makeshift camps they’d made for the fleeing civilians. From first glance, she could see that at least a dozen were almost too weak to stand. Drained by the changelings and left for dead, these ponies were now almost empty shells. To see the stiff, frozen looks on their faces, the expressions of despair on the faces of their loved ones hovering over them – it was almost too much for Star to bear.

Dammit, Star. You’re a soldier. Toughen up.

She turned around again...almost crashing right into a stallion who had been poised to tap her on the shoulder. Startled, the unicorn reflexively dropped into a stance, lighting her horn.

The civilian who had approached her immediately shrieked and slunk back, “No, don’t!”

Slowly, Star relaxed, rising back to her full height, though she kept her horn lit. “Your cut, citizen.”

The earth pony looked at her, clearly shocked and bewildered, “Wh-what?”

“Your cut!” she repeated, almost snapping in irritation for every wasted second, “If a changeling tried to sneak up on me, I want to know.”

His eyes widened, “Oh! Oh no no, I’m not one of them!” He turned on his side, revealing a particularly nasty-looking scratch just above his mark. The blood was deep red, dripping slowly down his flank to his hind hoof. When Star squinted, she saw he had left a bloody hoofprint behind. She released her focus, letting the glow in her horn fade.

The stallion sighed in relief and stepped back. He was a light yellow with a short, parted brown mane and moustache. He was wearing a coat and a monocle which were stained with blood splatter. Star had a notion he probably looked like the typical, not-quite-middle-aged, upper-class businesspony on a good day. But his expression was something else. His eyes wandered in every direction, like he was still making sense of what was happening and didn’t quite believe his own eyes. His face was crumpled and scrunched with trauma and he looked older than he probably was.

Star decided to try the soft approach. “The Kicker Home Watch is at your service, citizen,” she said calmly, “what do you need?”

That seemed to get his attention. He turned to her and opened his mouth once or twice, then shut it again. Star was tempted to simply cut things off right there when he suddenly blurted out, “We have to give up!”

Star blinked at him "Come again?"

She didn't need her mother's expertise to see the stallion before her was growing more frantic by the minute. "Miss...Cloud Kicker, is it?!"

She shook her head, "Star Kicker, her second-in-command, and sir, I advise you to go somewhere and sit down - you're obviously in a panic."

That made him stiffen. "Miss Star Kicker, I'm afraid I need a moment of your time. The other ponies who made it here have chosen me to-"

Star cut him off smartly before he could dig his hole even deeper, "While we are all happy you made it here, citizen, I'm afraid we simply don't have time to tend to your every need right now. We can expect another attack at any minute!"

"This is going to get us all killed! We have to-"

"Stand down citizen! You're interfering with military operations - a crime that can carry severe penalties for the perpetrator in question!" If Star were ten years older and fifty pounds heavier she knew the scowl on her face might've made him back off, but he plunged on.

"They take ponies alive! We know -we've seen it. But if we continue this way, they'll kill us all! Miss Kicker, we must surrender! They'll-"

"You do not command here!" Star said sharply. "Lieutenant Cloud Kicker's orders were to hold the line and wait for reinforcements! Now go take care of your family, citizen!"

"My family are all gone!" He shrieked loudly, drawing the attention of the ponies around them. "I lost them on the way here! The others lost theirs too! Many of us already lost everything and everypony we had! If we go on like this, we'll all die!" His voice rose even higher, and Star saw to her dismay that many of their beleaguered refugees and wounded were shuffling closer to listen. The stallion began to quiver and stammer, "B-but if we surrender now...m-maybe they'll let us live...and maybe we can see our families again...they must have them..."

Star knew she needed to shut him up. Now. Already one or two of the onlookers were nodding agreement and it was becoming harder to ignore the atmosphere of despair over the wounded. If she let this go on, it could become a full-blown mutiny.

"Stand down, citizen!" Star said loudly and forcefully. "I've already told you our orders are to hold the line. A civilian like you does not-"

"Orders?!" he shrieked, "Buck, your orders are going to get us all killed! Those monsters haven taken over all of Canterlot and they've already taken out the princess! There's no way we can - oof!"

Star spun on the spot and bucked him in the head. The mule hit the ground, but to her dismay he wasn't knocked out. Instead, he just whined pathetically and started crying, pawing desperately at the ground with his hooves as though holding into it would save him. He was obviously scared - really scared. Even worse, some of the other refugees were taking their cue from him and their despair and wailing in the air was growing more audible by the second.

Frustrated and worried, Star turned away from the idiot to find herself face-to-face with one of the older Home Watch members...a clan enlistee named...Left-something. Left Hoof, Left Hold, Left Heart? Star decided to just think of him as Lefty.

Ever the veteran, Lefty saluted crisply, "Permission to speak, Agent Star Kicker?"

From the expression on his face and the tone of his voice, she had a good idea what he was going to say and it was a bad idea. "Denied, soldier. Return to your post - they could attack again at any moment!"

"Agent Star Kicker!" he said urgently, "I take no pleasure in saying this...but perhaps that civilian was right. Surrender may be our only hope of survival now!"

No! Star grimaced and lowered her voice. “What are you doing? Our orders were to hold! You are making this worse, soldier!”

Lefty shook his head, a troubled expression on his face. His eyebrows were lowered and a deep, sad frown graced his face – as though he didn’t like what he was saying, but he believed it was the only option. And so he did.

“My sweet great-niece...” he said, “I don’t like this. I never will like this. But I like what will happen if we keep this up even less. We’re facing an army of born killers that feed off our fear. I’ve seen the looks on these bugs’ faces – they were born and bred to destroy! We’re cut off from the rest of Canterlot with barely enough supplies to last us a day and outnumbered a hundred to one. The guard, the princess, everything’s gone! And they came out of nowhere and took us all completely unawares. At this point, and against these odds, there is no shame in surrendering, since further resistance would only get us all killed...”

Star glowered at him, “Princess Luna-“

“-will not arrive in time to save us!” Lefty cut her off. “To march back to Canterlot, she’ll need fresh troops and supplies to replace the ones she’s already overtaxed at the borders – and where will those come from with Canterlot under enemy control?! By the time the Princess of the Night has managed to resupply from the border areas and returned, almost everypony in the city will be either dead or taken – including us! What will all our foolish valor have mattered then? But if we surrender to them, perhaps we can manage to stay alive until the princess does return, and then we can put up another fight...” he paused, his frown twitching as his pragmatism won over his sense of pride again – “...or even if we cannot - since I doubt the enemy would be foolish enough to allow us any such liberty - then at least we will still be alive! Star Kicker, surrender is our only hope!”

“Do you know what these things do to ponies they capture, you complete and utter jackass?!” Star snarled, losing more of her composure for every word she heard from him, “If we surrender, you think they’ll just toss us in nice, cozy cells and say ‘enjoy your room, we’ll bring you supper in an hour’?!”

Lefty shook his head, “Of course not, child. I doubt many of us will survive being their prisoners...” he took the deep, long-suffering breath of a soldier stallion past his prime who had been taught by blood and fire to see the flaw in any cause, “...but there’s a chance some of us might...at least until Princess Luna returns...and surely that’s better than every mare, stallion, and foal under our protection dying pointlessly here and now!” He pointed over his shoulder at somepony behind him to emphasize his point.

Star squinted, and promptly felt a large hole rip open in her heart as she saw what he was pointing at.

A civilian mare, trembling and weeping to herself, was huddled up against the wall of the nearest house, holding a tiny foal in her forehooves. The poor colt couldn’t have been more than a few years old, but his face was twisted and frozen into a rictus of pure terror, pale and drenched with spittle as his breath came in strained, rattling noises.

His mother was shuddering and muttering to herself as she held him close, “Please don’t eat him...I-I’ll d-do anything! Take m-m-me instead! He’s a happy colt...just a happy little baby...please don’t eat him!!”

She was obviously going mad...and from the look of things, her drained and insensate colt wouldn’t be far behind if he ever regained consciousness...

Star shivered and looked down. She was faintly aware of several other Kickers who had been listening in coming closer to add their opinions.

“I don’t like it, Star...but Left Hoof is right...”

“It makes sense...at least we’ll live to fight another day...”

“Pfeh! I can’t believe what cowards you so-called Kickers are! If we die, we die in battle! And ten of these vermin with us for every Kicker that falls!”

“Didn’t you just hear what Lefty said, Steel Heart? This isn’t just about the Kickers!”

“Did you bother asking those civvies what they want to do to those bugs?! I’m sure they’d love to help us kill every single one of ‘em!”

“You stay out of this, Chretienne! Since when did a prancing fool like you ever get the guts to learn the ways of war?!”

“Since I saw my sister get eaten alive by those monsters, Catch! And if you think I’m so damn gutless, why don’t you come over here and say that again!”

“Knock it off, both of you! We have a war to end, one way or another!”

“And if your way of ending it is to give up, Left, then you’re no better than those damn bugs!”

“Look here, you horsefly-infested...“

Star lit her horn and her magical aura flared up around her. “ENOUGH!!!” she boomed, magically amplifying her voice to the point it reverberated all around the courtyard. Every stallion and mare around her fell silent, while the refugees let out gasps of surprise and fright and began to back away.

Star, hot and helpless with impotent rage, was barely aware of Sparkler approaching from behind and putting her hoof on her shoulder. While she didn’t know how long her fillyfriend had been behind her or how much she had heard, Star knew this wasn’t the time to appear weak or sentimental with all these hardened Kicker clanponies watching, so she shrugged her off and took a step forward.

“You thick mules know full and well that there is hope! Right here in the Kicker compound! Something which can save us, and all of Canterlot, from those things!”

A glance of varying emotions went through the semi-circle before her – surprise, fear, polite incredulity, and, perhaps most unsettlingly, faint and joyless amusement.

“You speak of the armor...” Lefty said slowly, his eyes moving briefly up to the ominous, darkening sky.

Chretienne snorted, stamping her silver-shod hooves and overdoing it just as Star knew she would. “Star, my dear cousin...you know I and most of us don’t buy into all those old stories. And besides, what good would just one suit of armor – oh, good armor definitely, but just one suit – do?”

Catch glared at her through his one good, remaining eye, “I don’t like that sniveling, useless filly, but I concede she has a point, Star...” he swiveled towards her with a much gentler expression (and why not, Star thought - after all he was her father’s brother), “I value Shadow Kicker as much as any other pony who calls himself a follower of the Kicker clan, but the armor...there is no proof it was ever anything more than just an antique-”

“There’s no proof it wasn’t either, Catch!” the stallion to his right, somepony Star didn’t know, butted in.

“True...” Catch conceded, shooting another glance over the walls at the plumes of black smoke rising over the city, “...but at this point, can we really afford to pin all our hopes on legends?!”

“Lieutenant Cloud Kicker is down there...” Star said, sensing she was losing ground fast, “And if the armor is our only hope, she’ll find out! And she’ll-“

The crescendo of incredulous gasps, groans, and snorts started almost immediately.

“Cloud Kicker...” Steel Heart snorted, “...ah, yes. Cloud Kicker. The bar-hopping, hoof-dragging, bit-blowing, whorse-banging runaway filly, how could I ever forget?!”

Star lit her horn, but Sparkler beat her to the punch.

Literally.

Star wondered faintly how Lyra would feel if she knew all the time she spent with Sparkler led to a large purple magic fist flying in from out of nowhere to leave a grown warrior stallion cross-eyed on the ground.

Ecstatic, probably.

Chretienne was unable to hide a grim smile at that, but she went on regardless, “I know Cloud Kicker has come a long way in these last few weeks since her mother, Star...but still, that might be a bit much, don’t you think?”

“And in any case...” Lefty said in a tone of finality before Star could reply, “Catch is right. No matter how the stories about Shadow’s armor were or were not exaggerated, we can’t afford to pin all our hopes on just a single suit or the single pony wearing it right now. This is not a children’s story, my dear great-niece – this is war! And we have to assume the worst and hope for the best...”

He straightened, “We must surrender. It is the only way.”

Chretienne immediately started up at him again, “You’re just going to-!”

“STOP!!!” The loud, high-pitched shriek from behind made them all pause. Even Steel Heart, who had been clambering to his hooves and glaring dizzy murder at Sparkler, turned his head.

It was the crying civilian stallion Star had bucked over earlier. He was crawling over to them in the mud, still whimpering as the raindrops hit him, mixing with his tears. Star realized she hadn’t noticed when the rain started.

Then she heard the buzz.

Changelings.

And it was very loud. And getting louder.

Hundreds of them. Star knew any hope of a single small group of bugs making that much noise was virtually non-existent. And from the horrified looks on her comrades’ faces, they’d deduced that too.

It was somehow ominously appropriate, with dark skies, black plumes of smoke rising from the city, and the thick air of despair settling over the compound.

The pathetic, broken stallion crawled closer, his high, screechy voice growing louder with every word, “THEY’RE COMING!! PLEASE!! We have to...stop! Before anypony else...”

But nopony ever heard what he was going to say next.

CRACK!

The sharp, air-splitting noise of an enormous steel chain snapping in the distance immediately drew the attention of every pony in the courtyard.

Star spun around, looking in the direction of the sound.

The central keep.

Right there, before her eyes, one of the stone statues of her ancestors suddenly split right in two with another loud crack before tumbling over to land flank-first in the mud at the entrance.

Before Star had time to wonder which one of her ancestors had just had his dignity stomped on, there was yet another CRACK!

This time from within the building, closer than the first.

And not only that, but the large, decorative Kicker red chains that ran from the apex of the building to the ground were ripping themselves right out of the turf, snapping and shivering right up into the air like heavy steel tentacles before everypony’s wide eyes.

Then there was the rumble. The ground started to heave and groan.

Then the thunder.

But all the noise, all the magic in the air, and all the fear, seemed to vanish. Evaporated in a mere instant, drowned out by the figure that appeared in the doorway of the keep, moving slowly out into the rain.

A lavender pegasus, clad in red steel, had emerged. Her blonde mane seemed to gleam together with the bright armor she wore. Her slitted eyes shone with an unearthy glow behind their lids, a thin line of white light peering from beneath the shadow of the helmet's eyeholes..

The armor was undoubtedly of Pegasopolan forging, the deep inlays and grooves holding the deep, foreboding black of centuries of age, as though each groove held a memory too dark to be shared. And they did. The patterns accross the armor were more than a decoration - they were a history, a story - the story of one of the greatest ponies who had ever lived...

But even the mysteries buried within the armor paled in contrast to the promises it made as it sang with every step...

Star didn’t know how to describe it. The crackling aura that surrounded her cousin was not magic, it was not light, there was no way to say what it was. One moment, the deep, dark, slithering coils of power were there, and the next, they were not - as though a great power were straining to hold itself wthin a vessel too small for it. But the shadows did nothing to hide the proud, brilliant red of the burnished peytral, greaves, crupper, and crested helmet. The Kicker crest surmounting the peytral and helmet glimmered down at them all, and Star swore she could feel it looking at them.

And even at this distance, she could feel her mane standing on end at the sheer presence of the figure clad within.

Cloud looked as Star had never seen her. Was it even Cloud anymore?

Her cousin had always carried herself with an air of confidence and bravery, but now the flippancy and carelessness was gone. Every hoofstep Cloud took practically roared with strength, and if the iron-hard scowl on her muzzle and the fiery gleam in her slitted eyes was any indication, that was precisely the truth...

As she finally stepped from the entryway fully out into the courtyard - every eye upon her and red chains swirling above her head - Cloud slowly halted.

She unfurled her wings, showing the bright glimmer of razor-sharp wingblades that, Star knew, had once spilled the blood of Nightmare Moon herself...

Cloud then slowly tilted her head back and howled...

“DEATH WAITS IN THE SHADOWS!!!”

The Kicker clan words resounded through the skulls of everypony for miles around.

The red chains whipping overhead promptly condensed into a bundle...

...and then exploded, vaporized into red clouds and scattering over the courtyard.

Star gasped as her armor, dulled and marred from years of use, turned a deep, hard shade of red when the dust landed on it.

And before she knew it, hard determination raced through her bones, a presence of strength, hope and iron will flowing into her veins. All from her cousin clad in Shadow Kicker’s armor...

Star leaned back and shouted, “Death waits in the shadows!!!”

“Death waits in the shadows!!” Lefty roared from beside her, teeth bared and eyes hard.

Before Star knew it, the Kicker clan words were being yelled all across the grounds over the howl of the wind and rain.

And as the changelings broke over the wall and swarmed into the courtyard, the miserable, disheartened, struggling Kicker compound was suddenly full of growling, battle-hungry warponies rushing and flying forward to meet them...

Cloud Kicker was there, leading the charge with a nasty grin on her face - Star and Sparkler barely a step behind...

Author's Note:

BOOM! A start to an AU fic for my favorite ponyverse that I hoped to grab before someone else did! I plan to keep this going for all you Cloud Kicker fans out there! Next up, it's bug-stomping time! Hope you like what I have in mind for Shadow Kicker's armor.

Please let me know what you think, people. I hope my writing will please.

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[Spacecowboy]

No.

[RedriaDescent]

All of my yes.

[terrycloth]

For a second there I was expecting a mecha to rise out of the ground. "BIG SHAD_OOOOOOO!"

[darkangel_31314]

Buck it! I want to see more!

[Hallowed]

Oh this is SO awesome.