Stars in the Shadow of Night

by Melody Song

New Recruit?

Shadowstar poked his head around the bend and saw nothing. Until a bush's leaves rustled unnaturally. He went the rest of the way around, followed by the Resistance. He walked even closer to the moving foliage. Then, he saw a shallow indent of a cave in the cliffs, much like the ones the Hippogriff citizens had been hiding in during the battle.

"Is there another Hippogriff we didn't see?" Shadowstar thought, stepping forward to get a better look.

He peeked inside the cave and saw it was deeper than the others they'd seen. He also saw, lying on the ground inside it, was the Unicorn that had been fighting with the storm things. Shadowstar stepped closer in, followed by the others, Pharynx and Ember in the lead. The mare's armor was dented and her shoes were completely gone. Upon seeing them, she gasped and backed away, forelegs scrabbling on the hard rock. One of the mare's back legs dragged behind her, and she winced.

"You're hurt." Shadowstar said

"What's it to you?" she snarled, eyes narrowing.

"I can help." Shadowstar replied

"I don't need your help." the Unicorn growled, struggling to rise and eventually succeeding. She tried to take a single step and one of her front hooves twisted under her weight. The mare fell with a grunt of pain, echoed in her eyes.

"I think you do." Shadowstar said

"Shadowstar, she tried to attack you." Pharynx said

"I daresay she's in no position to try to again Pharynx. She's alone and there's too many of us, plus we're blocking the only exit. Either way she couldn't run if she wanted to."

"I can still blast you." the mare snarled, broken horn charging up.

"What's your name?" Shadowstar asked. The mare paused, magic dying. She finally spoke.

"T-Tempest. Tempest Shadow." she told him, stammering as she shifted wrongly and caused her injured leg to scrape the rocks.

"Hello Tempest, my name is Shadowstar. I only want to help you, I promise." Shadowstar said

"Why would you want to help me?" Tempest asked, genuinely surprised. "I tried to hurt you, I was a part of the battle."

"Yes, but you're also hurt, and...well, as you can see," Shadowstar gestured with his wings to the Resistance, "I don't take first impressions too seriously."

Tempest Shadow growled low in her throat, but when she tried to stand again she fell back down. Tempest winced and glared up at him.

"...Fine. But I'm not paying you back."

"You don't need to." Shadowstar told her, then turned back to the others. "Gabby, can you go get the bag with the emergency medical supplies from Twilight?"

"We're really going to help her?" Gilda asked, extending a wing to stop Gabby from leaving.

"I helped all of you when you came seeking it. Most of you weren't even Equestrains. And I was the first to trust you, when you needed someone who did. Allow me to do the same here." Shadowstar said. Gilda huffed but nodded, closing her wing.

As they waited for Gabby to return, Sandbar left, then returned with some seaweed. He trotted over to Tempest and sat down by her. Tempest backed away.

"Easy, it's okay." Sandbar said, holding out the seaweed. "I'm just going to wrap up your hoof, seaweed is actually really useful when healing. Just give me your hoof, the one you rolled when you stood up."

Tempest looked confused, as if she were unsure why he was helping. However, she extended her hoof. Sandbar took it gently in his own and wrapped the seaweed around it.

"Let me know if it's too tight." Sandbar told her. Tempest grunted and looked down at the ground instead.

"Here." Gabby returned with the bag and Shadowstar levitated it over.

Shadowstar withdrew from the bag a roll of bandages and glanced over.

"Gallus, Thorax, find a stick the same length as Tempest's leg. I need to make a splint for her."

The two nodded and left. When they returned, Shadowstar laid the branch gently by Tempest's injured leg, aligning the two. He then wound the bandages around the two, to hold the stick to her leg. Tempest winced slightly, and he looked up.

"Are you okay?"

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Tempest muttered, turning away to glare at the wall.

Shadowstar finished the splint and used his magic to help set her upright. Tempest wobbled slightly on her leg, but managed to steady herself.

"...Thanks..." Tempest said. "I didn't think you would really help me..."

"Why not?" Ocellus asked

"Well, the Storm Guards pretty much just left me for dead." Tempest said, flicking her tail.

"You mean the big creatures?"

"Yes. Some respect those guys have. I'm their commander and they don't even think to look for me." Tempest muttered

"You're their commander?" Pharynx asked, eyes widening.

"Yeah. Though I guess it's not much more than a title, considering they abandoned me. It probably has something to do with the weak not being tolerated among the Storm King's army."

"Storm King?!" Shadowstar exclaimed

"Oh, don't worry about him. He needed an artifact located on Mount Aris to even think about taking over anywhere else. You managed to stop the guards from reaching the city, and put a rather big dent in his army. He's not going to try again anytime soon." Tempest reassured him

"Why did you work for him?" Shadowstar asked

Tempest looked down. "...He promised me once he had the artifact, as a reward, he would restore my horn."

"I can understand why you agreed. Something that vital..." Shadowstar said

"I used to be one of the best at magic in my old town. When it broke, I lost everything. My friends abandoned me, my parents practically disowned me. My own destiny was lost." Tempest murmured "That all happened eleven years ago."

"Tempest...no magical artifact can restore a broken horn." Ocellus spoke up. "I'm sorry, but he was probably just stringing you along so you'd do his bidding. Changelings break their horns on occasion, and though we've tried, the only way to fix them was to molt."

"No. No, that can't be true." Tempest raised her head. "I need my horn back, you don't understand. I have to get it back."

"I thought you said they abandoned you? The Storm guys, I mean." Gallus said

Tempest fell silent, then tried to push past them. However, she accidentally put weight on her injured leg and stumbled. Sandbar reached and steaded her with a hoof. She shook him off.

"Tempest..." Shadowstar stepped forward. "He's not going to give you your horn."

"I think...deep down I always knew that." Tempest sighed

"But...I think you might be just what we need." Shadowstar said "I saw you fight. You're a natural and you clearly don't need your horn to do magic."

"I'll never be good enough though. I can only manage lightning blasts and very basic levitation. Everything else blows up in my face-literally." Tempest objected

"You're good enough for us." Shadowstar responded. "Are you aware of the war in Equestria right now?"

"Yes, it's why the Storm King tried to attack the Hippogriffs. He thought all your defenses would be focused on the war and if the Queen sent out a cry for help, you wouldn't respond. He didn't expect you..." Tempest looked around at them all.

"Call us the Resistance." Shadowstar said, glancing at them all. "And, if everycreature agrees, I'd like to recruit you."