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The Silver Stars

by David Silver

Chapter 20: 20 - Night Approaches

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Silver returned to the castle to see that it had changed while she was away. Windows had been boarded up, and the door looked barricaded as well, but not completely. She squeezed past it into the entry foyer and two crystal guards went to work sealing it up entirely behind her. "So... busy?"

Shining turned to face her, "You could say that. Any luck with that spell?"

Silver levitated out the paper that held a copy of the spell, written out slowly after the fact so others might comprehend it, "Here, but I think it may take your assistance to cast properly."

Shining raised his brows together, "Huh? I'm not that good at magic."

Silver raised a hoof, "Except shields, which this one is, at least in part. You should work with Cadance to make it perfect."

Shining didn't argue too hard about working with his wife, just nodding, "Bring the spell to her, do you have a second copy?"

Another paper lifted free, "I had a feeling," said Silver, passing one to Shining, then trotting onwards to seek out Cadance.

Cadance was standing beside Night Watch, going over some plans with a map of the castle. Silver approached them quickly with a smile. "Have it!"

Cadance looked up, "Have what?"

Night pointed, "A spell. What did you cook up, Silver? Give me all the details."

Silver floated the page to hover in front of Cadance, "It will take Shining and Cadance together to power it properly. It will make a sort of... alarm? A circle that gets set off whenever something goes past it. Except, instead of just making a sound or a light... Fireball."

Cadance tilted her head, "A little ball of fire won't dissuade these beasts much."

Night shook her head, "No, if this is Silver's fireball, it's big enough to dissuade most things. I like it! How far away will it be from the castle walls?"

Silver shrugged, "That part depends a lot on Shining. It will be his shield magic that powers the perimeter itself, while Cadance's magic will fuel the fireballs. I went into this assuming she would have a deeper reserve to draw from, but Shining could hold a nice steady field."

Cadance nodded slowly, "I have every confidence in Shiny. He's held a shield steady over all of Canterlot for days at a time."

Night took a bit of chalk out of her pack and drew on the map, making a circle around the castle, "Then we'll put the spell here. Nopony is to go across it until the all clear is given directly from Cadance or Shining unless they're that desperate for a deep tan."

Cadance looked at the circle, then tilted her head, "Why not cover the entire city?"

Night shook her head, "Those fireballs are big. This spell is going to take up enough energy as it is. We've already gathered all the ponies here, so we just have to keep the castle safe. I want it, relatively, small and manageable."

Silver raised a hoof, "Now that I made the spell, what will I be doing?"

Night looked at Silver a moment, "I don't suppose I'd convince my lovely partner to hide?"

Silver frowned a little, "Thank you for the offer, next? If those things bust in here, there's no hiding anyway."

Night nodded, "I had a feeling. There was a twenty percent chance you would hide. Do you have any long-range attack spells?"

Cadance had ceased to be part of the conversation, studying the spell.

Silver nodded a little, "I have a few in my book, besides the fireball."

Night waved a hoof, "None of those. You said it takes a lot out of you, and we're going for endurance, not one big blast. What about, you know, basic horn rays?"

Silver produced her book and flipped through it to find the spell, and inspiration came to her! She started scribbling on the spot.

Night put her hoof over her face, "Never a bad time for that, I guess. Go up to the parapets when you're ready and try to catch some sleep. They usually move at night. They'll either be here tonight or tomorrow night, most likely."

Later, Silver rested in the gentle wind of the castle walls, watching into the evening. She could see the dim line of Shining and Cadance's spell surrounding the castle, which was good, as it was becoming quite dark down there. Silver flopped over into a new position, considering trying to take another nap when a dark spot danced, somehow darker than the shadows around it below. She squinted into the night, trying to get a better look at it.

"Do you see something?" asked a nervous crystal guard. He was stationed beside a bow and a bucket of arrows.

Silver shook her head slowly, "I'm not sure... I think so?" She traced the shadowy impression as it darted through the city, becoming lost behind buildings until she could find it again. It was coming closer to the castle. Silver pointed, "Do you see that?"

The guard reared up to peer over the parapet more clearly, "It's dark."

Suddenly the ring flared, and fire engulfed the area violently. The ground shuddered faintly and Silver wondered if she put too much 'oomf' in those fireballs. "One down. I think it was a scout," said Silver as she watched the flames gutter out, leaving nothing behind that she could see. "If we're lucky, we won't have to fight at all." A snatch of movement caught her attention and she saw more impressions of shadow approaching the castle. There were many of them. Some appeared to be larger, and in the air... "Or not!"

The guard could see none of this, looking confused and alarmed as Silver went into a brief moment of panic. "What is it?"

Silver shouted, "Attack incoming! We have airborne, at least five. Ground forces, uh, a lot!"

Night suddenly landed beside Silver, "I was just coming to report that and I hear you shouting about it. Are you trying to put me out of a job?"

Silver rushed for Night, hugging her tightly before pointing at the shadows, "Did you get a look at them? I just see shadowy... things."

Night nodded, "The larger ones are carrying three of the enforcers with them each. They look ready for a scrap. I put odds of our success at fifty-four percent."

Silver blinked, "That's practically a coin toss! Give us better odds than that."

Night frowned into the darkness, "I wasn't expecting flyers. We'll have to improve the odds ourselves."

Silver suddenly smiled, "We should stop them from reaching the castle. Can you pick me up?"

Night snorted, "I always pick you up." She lifted into the air and got all her legs around Silver and soon they were flying slowly away from the parapets. It was... frightening, soaring along with only the goodwill and legs of Night Watch to hold Silver up, but she focused on the shadowy forms ahead. She could only see the, what she had guessed was, shadow magic radiating from them. It was good enough to aim with.

Light began to gather as Silver focused on a fireball, heat and energy swirling together, densely packed as it came. "Go, uh, two o' clock!" shouted Silver. The first large shadow became dead center and Silver let the ball fly, directing it towards the beast that hid in the darkness. The fire vanished into the signature of shadow, but Silver could feel it brushing against something. She let the compression free, and the night was fiercely lit. The shadow beast she hit was revealed to be similar to a flying elephant with comically tiny wings. The explosive blast of heat knocked off its three shaggy riders, plummeting to the ground as it began to crash, while on fire, to the street below.

"Can you do that four more times?" came Night's voice.

Silver shook her head, "Two more at best. That was a big blast! I'm not Twilight."

Night squeezed Silver from above, "Do what you can. That was good."

Silver smiled as she panted, already 'reloading' as it were. It felt odd, being a living weapon, but odd wasn't bad. She could feel the start of fatigue and hunger building and knew two more blasts would leave her dizzy and famished. "I'm not going to be helpful for the rest of the fight," She warned as she let the second ball free, guiding it until it bumped into something. She felt something hit it violently. Did they try to kick it away perhaps? She didn't resist the kick, letting the fireball free to consume a second flying mount.

The flaming corpses revealed much of the incoming forces. Silver couldn't count how many were there, but decided it wasn't enough to be called an army. It was plenty to outnumber the relatively small number of guards they had though. Silver began to gather the last fireball. Just forming it was proving a challenge, scraping against the edges of her reserves. "It's in your hands," she spoke softly before guiding the fireball out with a silvery hand until it felt constricted and... wet? Silver released the hand and the fireball. One of the mounts crashed from the sky, but it wasn't on fire. Silver was too tired to puzzle over it.

She could barely tell that their direction changed until the light of the crystal palace came into view. Night carried her safely to the ramparts and set her down. Silver staggered on her own legs before flopping against the crystal, "Odds?"

Night flashed a fanged smile, "We'll pull the rest of the odds." A dull roar began to rumble from the floor as the incoming mob approached within range of the circle, conjuring fresh flames to burn and bake. The twang of a dozen arrows joined in the chorus of resistance. One of the flying elephants lumbered into view. It was too high to get caught in the alarm circle, but the flames made it quite visible, and it began to be peppered in arrows. The concentrated fire made it start to sag to the ground, but another flyer came in behind it, too close to stop, with the third not too far beyond it.

Shouts rang out across the darkness as ponies wielding swords and spears moved into revised positions to repel the aerial offense. Night hefted up Silver and trotted off, carrying her to the dining hall and setting her down. "You stay here, that's an order." She spread her wings and took off to rejoin the battle.

Silver settled against the table. She didn't feel like eating, but her body demanded food, even cool leftovers. She began to devour the food with both deep hunger and listlessness. She could hear the pitched battle going on not far away, as could the other ponies that had chosen to hide in the same room. When her belly was filled, the hunger abated, and all that was left was a deep fatigue. Consciousness began to flee despite her attempts to remain present. She decided she would either wake up to victory, or not wake up at all.

Author's Notes:

The battle for the castle rages on while Silver sleeps. What a lazy unicorn.

I bet they slept while editing this too, look at those typos!

Next Chapter: 21 - Gone Home Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 53 Minutes
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