“Starfall!”

The sharp, barking voice snapped the stallion out of his daze, looking up in time to see a shimmering steel blade streaking towards his nose! His eyes widened as the sight sent a surge of adrenaline through his slim, tall frame, the stallion immediately jumped back from the onrushing blade...the tip missing his nose by mere inches as it swung by, the follow-through on the swing giving him some time to gather his wits and remember where he was.

Before he could fully collect himself, though, the sword that had nearly struck him not a second ago was back, swinging his way again, the pony wielding it – at present little more than a white and gold blur – having stepped forward to get more reach, realising the stallion was trying to back up and get more space, and refusing to give him any.

This time, however, the stallion was now aware of it coming from the start, raising his head in a seemingly defiant gesture. A loud, metallic clang reverberated through the area as the attacker's sword connected with the identical one the stallion had grasped in his teeth, recoiling slightly as the impact vibrated through his teeth and jaw, jarring and unpleasant.

He was forced to ignore the growing ache, however, as his opponent just pressed the attack, forcing him to fend off blow after blow, never once finding an opening to launch an attack of his own. He was completely outclassed by his opponent, and he knew it. It was only a matter of how long he could hold out before he was overpowered, disarmed, and defeated.
Despite this hopelessness, he kept fighting, blocking every incoming strike desperately, trying to keep the fight going on as long as possible, a small part of him praying for some miracle...that his opponent made same mistake that would allow him to make at least one, all-or-nothing attack.

But in the end the mistake was from himself, his mane falling into his face as he lowered his head to block a downward-angled strike, the black and white streaks of hair blocking and hampering his vision, leaving him briefly blind. Miraculously, he still managed to block the attack...but his blindness meant he was off-balance, staggering badly from the recoil of the impact, the mane now clinging to his face, sticky with sweat and refusing to move aside.

Knowing that with his vision severely hampered, his attacker would be coming in for another hard strike while he was impaired, the stallion made one last desperately ploy, jumping backward, spreading his wings and attempting to fly backwards to get even more distance...at least enough to wipe his mane back so he could see properly again.

But that turned out to be his undoing...instead of flying back, he just twisted and staggered badly, his right half attempting to move back while his left went nowhere, becoming dead weight. As he stumbled, he caught sight of the steel blade once more heading for his now-exposed left side, and could nothing to stop it.
But when it impacted, a white magical field suddenly erupted around the blade, stopping it from slicing him in half. It did not stop the force of the blow, however, which was enough to send him sprawling, landing roughly on his right side on the ground, the tip of the same sword pointing at his neck a second later...the fight over, the stallion defeated...again.

Groaning, he looked up at the stallion pointing the blade at him, seeing those familiar amber eyes glaring at him, conveying their disappointment in the stallion lying prone before him, as always. His muscular white frame had yet to even break into a sweat, even weighed down by the golden armour of the Canterlot Royal Guard. It looked like he even managed to avoid getting a single hair in his bright blue mane and tail from falling out of place...though the stallion would not care one way or another.

The stallion on the ground, however, couldn't be more different. His lean, yellow-furred frame, also covered in armour, was slick with sweat, his mane, striped in alternating black and white, sticking to his head, still partially stuck in his brilliant blue eyes. He was breathing heavily, all-but gasping for air, exhausted even by this short sparring session. His right wing lay splayed out by his side, hanging limp in his exhaustion.

His left wing, however, was different...one of the stallion's most defining features these days, and the source of a lot of stares. The wing simply was not there, a small, but ragged scar marring the fur on his left side, exactly where the wing should join to his body. He had lost his left wing almost four months ago, in an incident that had nearly claimed his life. This was the source of his undoing earlier. When he had attempted to fly backwards, forgetting about his missing wing in his desperation, he only had his right wing to call upon, the imbalanced force of the resultant flap nearly spinning him around.

The thought made the stallion deflate, even without the intimidating presence of the Royal Guard above him. It had been four months since the young pegasus stallion had been rendered flightless, and even though he had moved on from it for the most part, every now and then he would have days like this, where the loss still hurt. His inability to fly meant he was more of less exiled from general pegasus society...mostly because he could no longer fly to the cloud cities and towns most pegasi called home.

The stallion was pulled from his depressing train of thought as the Royal Guard above him snorted condescendingly. “This is about what I expected from you, Starfall,” he growled, his tone sharp, scolding. He finally removed the sword from Starfall's neck and stepped back to let him up, though did not offer a hoof to help him, leaving the yellow stallion to wearily get back to his own hooves, almost falling back over in the process.

The guard continued his belittling tirade even as Starfall struggled to find his balance. “For almost a month, I have had to put up with your lazy rump, and what have you got to show for it, huh?” he demanded, turning back to Starfall. “Nothing!” he spat, making Starfall move back half a step, keeping his head down and simply taking the verbal lashing as it came.

The young stallion had indeed been training under the Royal Guard before him, a highly-ranked guard named Precision Strike, for about a month now. Several months before, the young stallion's passion for astronomy, and keen, almost instinctive knowledge of the night sky, had seen him become the exclusive student of the Princess of the Night, Luna. At first, the relationship between student and mentor had been icy, the Princess wary and mistrustful of Starfall. The situation had only worsened after Starfall had developed a crush on the mysterious Princess. Somehow, their tentative friendship had survived that bombshell, and over the intervening months, the Princess had slowly, piece by piece, opened her heart to him as well. It was now almost four months since they had officially, and in secret, started a tentative romantic relationship.

As their relationship grew, along with Starfall's studies, Luna had suggested to Starfall one evening that it would be in his best interests to apply for some basic Royal Guard training...a logic Starfall could find no fault in. Given that he spent most evenings with the Princess, along with the odd day, too, he was in her presence a lot, and as such subjected to the same risks all royalty were subconsciously wary of every day. Gaining some simple training in the ways of the Royal Guards would allow him to defend both himself, and the Princess if anything should happen one day.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time... Starfall could not help but think bitterly as he stood wearily before Precision Strike. The Guard had been training him ever since he had started a month ago...and had shown an immediate dislike of the young, lean stallion he was ordered to teach. From the very beginning, he had criticised everything about Starfall...from his physicality to his attitude.

While Starfall was a relatively tall pegasus stallion...slightly taller than average, he was thin, a lifestyle devoted to studying the stars and reading up on constellations meaning he had never spent much time flying through the clouds or galloping through the streets. This left him with a slim physique that, while healthy, would not have allowed him entry to any of Equestria's security forces...ponies such as Precision believing that Royal Guards needed to be made of stronger stuff.

And now, only a few weeks into his training, Starfall understood why. Every time he came to the training grounds, Precision had him don an old set of Royal Guard armour, which was crushingly heavy to Starfall. Not only that, but Starfall was expect to go through all his training drills in full gear, drills which normally involved Precision sparring with him directly.

It was brutal for the young stallion, who was often left exhausted to the point of collapse within the first half-hour, and no matter how hard he pushed himself, his body would unfailingly give out on him long before the first hour was up. He was not built for the hard, brutal style Precision was forcing on him...but Starfall could never bring himself to argue or complain. Precision Strike was the teacher, and he was the student. Starfall knew Precision would not tolerate any sort of disobedience or back chat from him, and so did what he often considered as one of his better talents, astronomy aside...staying quiet and taking the verbal lashings as best he could, weathering the storm until Precision calmed down.

This time, however, the Guard seemed to be in a particularly foul mood. “I would have thought that, after four weeks of kicking your sorry rump up and down this yard, that I would have knocked some kind of ability or discipline into you, by now. But you aren't even capable of that much, obviously!” he yelled, Starfall able to hear his voice and his hoofsteps circling him as he ranted, playing up his intimidating presence. Starfall could only keep his head bowed, and do his best to ignore the gestures.

“Just answer me this, Rookie,” Precision growled. “What the hay were you doing, daydreaming in the middle of a fight?!” he demanded, the sudden increase in volume and intensity in his voice nearly making Starfall jump. He was only able to keep still because he had expected the sudden screaming to a certain degree. Despite knowing it was coming, it did not make him feel any less humiliated, knowing that by now several other Royal Guards, and probably other, official trainees were watching the routine spectacle.

But Precision's point could not be denied...in the middle of that fight, Starfall had completely zoned out, his mind going totally blank in the middle of the fight, nearly giving Precision a free hit on his nose. Only the Guard calling his name had snapped him out of it in time.

But what really scared Starfall was that, he had no idea what had happened. With the stress, tension, and sheer adrenaline of the sparring matches, he should not have even been able to zone out and go blank like that. Yet he had...almost as if something in his brain had hit a reset switch, causing his senses to all just shut off for a brief moment.

It was not the first time it had happened, either...though this was the first time it had happened in such an unusual situation. Starfall, like any other pony, could sometimes just zone out and get lost in other worlds. He had noticed that it had been happening more often in the past couple of months, especially when he was stargazing. He had initially dismissed them...until they had started growing more and more common. But the source of the problem had been easy to spot...the trend had started in the weeks after he had lost his wing saving Princess Luna, along with one of his best friends, a unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, and her group of close friends. He figured that, in his attempts to adjust to a flightless life, he was subconsciously getting lost in his thoughts, wishing to fly independently again.

But this time, it had happened in the middle of a harrowing situation, which was most unusual...and Starfall had no answer or explanation to offer Precision Strike. “I...I don't know, sir,” he answered softly. “I have no idea what happened, I just sort of...blanked out for a moment.” It was a lame excuse, and Starfall knew it...but it was the truth, and the young stallion knew better than to attempt to lie to appease his trainer. That only ever made things worse in the end.

Precision, however, seemed to only become even more infuriated by Starfall's explanation...or lack of one. “Just when I thought you could not become even more useless!” he declared. “Weak, disobedient, unfocused...and now a liar, too!” he snapped, stepping forward, all-but spitting in Starfall's face now, making the young pegasus back off a little.

A small part of Starfall's psyche wanted so badly to retaliate...to snap back at Precision, to call him out on his horrible treatment of him, and to ground every one of his complaints to dust with references to how hard he was trying, how much he struggled even when it all seemed pointless...to remind this Royal Guard that he had very nearly given his life for his Princess, and for Equestria, something most Guards had never been faced with in this time of relative peace and harmony for the pony nation.

But he kept quiet. Whether it was years of conditioning against speaking out in protest of his superiors, or the humiliation of how public this verbal bashing was, or the admittedly intimidating presence Precision Strike cut, Starfall could not find the confidence and courage to speak out in his own defence. Not long after he had lost his wing, he had somehow found the courage to speak up during an awards ceremony honouring those who had stood tall in the face of mortal danger on the night of the Coronation Ball...the night he had lost his flight, and almost his life. But then, he had spoken out in defence of Princess Luna...a pony he held more dear to him than even himself. Even now, nearly four months on, he still struggled to figure out exactly what had given him the courage to stand up in front of all those ponies. Now, with the loss of the wing, and his resultant social ostracising by the majority of pegasi out there, his confidence was nowhere near what it had been then...certainly not enough to give this Royal Guard a piece of mind.

Starfall's silence instead just allowed Precision's rage to continue on unchecked. “Ever since you were sent to me, you have failed to meet even the most basic of goals I have set for you. You just fall flat on your lazy rump and complain about how hard it all is, that it's not fair. Well I've got news for you, you pathetic little foal; life isn't fair!” he suddenly roared, making Starfall jump slightly...the young stallion having not expected the sudden outburst this time.

“You think you're so special, spending your evenings with the Princess of the Night, learning pointless facts about the night sky above us? There is one thing you need to learn, foal, and fast. No matter your wealth, class, or status, you are a pony like the rest of us...and when somepony attacks you with a blade or arrow, you will be just as dead as anypony else would be unless you listen to what I am trying to ram into that thick skull of yours!”

Starfall cringed, his ears flattening back against his skull as Precision just kept his rant going. He knew that the Guard did not like him much, and criticised him at every opportunity...but this was a vicious tirade, even by those standards. It seemed like, after a month, he had finally had enough.

Sure enough, Precision confirmed those gloomy thoughts mere moments later. “You know what, why do I even bother? I should never have agreed to this in the first...a mistake that is easy enough to correct,” he snarled, now flashing Starfall something of a triumphant smirk. “I want you out of that armour, and out of this Camp!” he yelled. “I do not want to see your sorry rump in this place ever again, do you hear me?!”

To stunned, and admittedly scared, to even muster up a vocal response, all Starfall could do was nod feebly, drawing nothing but a derisive snort from Precision. “Then pack up your stuff, and get the hay out of my sight!” he spat, Starfall hurrying to comply, refusing to look directly at any of the other Guards still watching the spectacle as he walked off with as much poise and dignity as he could muster...which was not much.

As he went to the armoury to pack up the golden armour he was wearing for the final time, Starfall could not help but feel a mix of dread and relief. He was relieved that it was all over, that after a month of what amounted to verbal and physical torture at the hooves of Precision Strike. He had feared from the start that he was not cut out to be anything like a Royal Guard...even an unofficial, under-trained one, and now he had the proof, along with many witnesses, as much as the thought shamed and humiliated him.

But he could not help but dread the conversation he faced tonight, during his astronomy lesson. It was Princess Luna who had wanted him to undergo this training in the first, who had seemed really eager to show him that he could amount to something in this way. Now it would be up to him to break it to her that he was not cut out for it...as much as he knew Princess Luna loved and cared for him, he doubted she would be too happy with this news.

Author's Notes:

And here is Chapter 1! May I just say, the response this story has received in only its first week since being uploaded has been astounding! To all my readers, reviewers, and watchers, I think you all. It always fills me with a strange sense of joy and pride to see and hear so many people enjoying what I write.

There will be a question/poll coming soon in my blog that I am kind of curious to know the answer to. It is not directly related to Magic or Shadows, but anyone who has ready any of my work is welcome to submit an answer when it arrives.

Until then, and until my next chapter, read on, my friends!

Edit: Since I seem to be a total idiot today, I forgot the most important part of my notes! A huge thank you must go to Onyx Lining for providing the design and name for the OC "Precision Strike". His OC became the first request to be included into the story. I just hope you don't mind me making him a complete and utter jerk! Thanks again!