-The Predator’s New Clothes-

        Rainbow Dash entered the study of the night princess only to be tackled by a pink blur. It hadn’t even been two seconds before she was on ground and being crushed by the pink mare’s hug.

        “DASHIE!!!” She yelled, hugging her even tighter.

        “Can’t...breathe!” Rainbow choked out, the pink pony jumped off her and started talking quickly.

        “Ohmygosh, we were so worried about you! Celestia sent us a letter, and the second we learned about what happened we all came here as fast as we could. But when we got here you were asleep, and then we heard you woke up. But when we went to visit you, you weren’t there. And we were so worried. And then we heard the Rainboom! And there were those streaks in the sky, and it was so AWESOME!-” She cut off her assault of words when the large form behind Rainbow came to her attention.

        A lavender unicorn sitting across the room spoke first. “Excuse me, who are you?” She indicated the stallion, who had just entered the room. Coalback shied back just a bit, but didn’t move from his spot behind Rainbow Dash.

        “This is Coalback everyone.” Rainbow spoke up, trying to introduce him calmly. “He’s the one who...stopped the dragon.” She finished, choosing her words carefully.

        Coalback looked up, finally taking a moment to look at the gathering in the modest study. Five other ponies were in the room with them, all of them were staring at him. There was the purple unicorn, she sat near one of the bookshelves at the far side of the room. Another unicorn stood nearby, her coat was an ivory white with a styled purple mane. Near the window of the room was a normal pony, her coat was a dull orange and a blond mane hung under her stetson hat. And cowering behind the normal pony was a small yellow pegasus with a pink mane. He had already seen the pink one tackle Rainbow Dash.

        “Coalback, these are my friends. That’s Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy.” She said, pointing to them each in turn. It was at that moment that Applejack let out a long whistle.

        “He’s a biggun, ain’t he?” She exclaimed, her southern accent decorating the air. “I’d reckon he’s nearly the size ah Big Mac!” This shook the pink one from her thoughts. Who jumped up and wrapped her hooves around him in a tight hug.

        “OOOOOH!! ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!!” She said exstatically, receiving a choking sound in return from him. “I don’t even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn’t helped Dashie!” Then she let out a loud gasp. “We should throw a party! It’ll be a ‘Thanks for Saving Rainbow Dash and Canterlot’ party!” She was about to continue again when Twilight interrupted her.

        “Pinkie let him breathe!” Pinkie Pie complied and dropped him back to the floor, where he took in a deep breath. “Don’t mind her, she can get...excited when she meets new ponies.” Twilight approached and offered her hoof to him. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir. And we would all like to personally thank you.”

        Coalback took her hoof in his and shook it, gaining a small confused look from Twilight. She had offered it in the expectation of helping him up, but he stayed on the floor. Then he mumbled something in his staccato language.

        “I forgot to mention that Coalback isn’t from around here. He’s from...uh...you know you never did tell me where you were from.” She looked at him, after he was done catching his breath he spoke.

        “I was born in Scotland, but my family moved to America when I was young.” He said, the names sounded like they were from his language, and didn’t roll of his tongue well.

        “I’ve never heard of either of those places,” Twilight pondered out loud. “They must be very far from here. How did you get here? Airship? Or did you fly yourself?” She asked innocently, a small smile on her face.

        “By way of Comet.” He started, chuckling slightly as he rose. “It was a rather sudden trip, I must admit.” He dusted himself off as the other three ponies approached to give their own greetings and their own thanks.

        Rarity approached first. “It’s very good to meet you dear, but I must ask; What are you wearing?” Her voice had a very distinct and proper sounding accent to it, laced by poorly hidden disgust.

        “It’s what was left of my clothes, I don’t like being completely naked.” He said, a small amount of red heating his face for a moment.

        “Oh, well you simply must come by my shop sometime. I’m sure a stallion like yourself would appreciate some good clothes. And the Princess told us that she had something she was going to give you to wear today anyway.” She said, her voice was genuinely happy. She stepped back and let Applejack come up.

        “Well howdy,” She said, grasping one of his hooves in both of hers and shaking it up and down enthusiastically. “I jes’ can’t thank ya enough fer what ya did. And Ah do have one question fer ya.” She started, finally letting go of his hoof. “What did ya do fer a livin’ before you came here? That kinda bulk don’t grow overnight!” She said, nodding toward his chest. He looked down at himself before he spoke.

        “I ran a lot...and I guess you could call me a soldier, of a kind.” He looked like he had begun to continue but shut his mouth again, and looked back to her.

        She nodded. “That’ll do it all right! You should stop by tha farm sometime, we could use an extra hoof and there’d even be a few bits in it for yah.” She said cheerily, but Coalback just looked confused.

        “Bits?” He asked, not sure what she meant.

        “That’s our currency, Coalback. Mostly coins.” Twilight spoke up, realizing his point of confusion.

        “Oh. Thank you, Applejack. I would enjoy some farm work, it would be a welcome break to my normal work.” He said, nodding to her.

        “Well don’t expect it to be relaxing, we work hard at Sweet Apple Acres!” She said before turning around and walking back a few steps. She nudged the yellow pegasus to get her attention. “Go on up and introduce yerself, sugarcube.” She said quietly, pushing her forward in front of Coalback.

        She sat there in a tight ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. She hid her face in her long pink mane and stared up at him with wide eyes. Coalback talked slowly and quietly to her, trying to bring her out of her shell.

        “It is very nice to meet you, you are one of Rainbow Dash’s friends?” He asked calmly and quietly, as if addressing a scared animal. Which he might as well have been.

        She said something quietly into her hair, the voice imperceptible to someone without Coalback’s hearing. “Yes, I’m...my name is Fluttershy.” Her voice was even quiet to him and he could hear an ant’s footsteps from across a room.

        “It’s very nice to meet you, Fluttershy. You have a very nice voice, why are you so quiet?” He asked, perhaps if he could get her talking she wouldn’t be scared of him. She spoke again, this time at a more audible level.

        “Oh, um. Th-thank you, i-it’s nice to meet you too.” She said, Coalback could see a small blush peeking through her fur.

        “What kinds of things do you do at home, Fluttershy?” He asked. If he could get even this timid mare to be somewhat comfortable around him, then maybe he did have some hope here.

        “I take care of the animals in Ponyville.” She said, seeming to relax slightly. “And I like to sit with my friends.” She finally uncurled herself from her ball and looked directly at him. “Do you like animals?” She asked hopefully.

        “I love animals, but some seem just afraid of me.” He said, it would seem he had coaxed her out of her catatonic state thoroughly.

        “You just have to be calm around them.” She said confidently, she stepped back to where Applejack had gone.

        It was at that moment that the Princess of the night entered the room, coming down from the spiral staircase. She was carrying a large chest in her magical aura. It had several streaks of dust on it, as if someone had hastily dusted it off with a hoof.

        “We have found it!” She said, indicating the chest.

        “So what is it, Princess?” Twilight asked. “You haven’t told us anything yet, and we’re excited to hear your announcement.”

        Luna dropped the chest onto the floor with a heavy impact. “This is a very old suit of armor, it was designed by Leonardi Deponi over a thousand years ago. It’s purpose was to give a pegasus full control in flight and to protect his wings during a fight. Unfortunately the design was too heavy for any but the strongest pegasi to wear and use.” She said. “However, we seem to have a particularly strong flyer with us today.

        “Thy tale yesterday intrigued us, and we wish to see thine abilities in person. When thou hast donned the armour, we shall lead thee outside to the sparring ring.” Her voice was becoming particularly excited near the end. They all turned to him expectantly.

        “Show me how to put it on.” He said simply, he had rarely worn armor. The little he had worn had done nothing but to slow him down. But he was willing to humor the ponies while he could.

        Luna smiled, and opened the chest to reveal a pile of black metal. She reached in and pulled out an upside down bowl shape, it wasn’t until she turned it around that Coalback realised what it was.

        Luna held a jet black metal helm in her magical grasp, the magic playing light funnily over the lines of the carved surface. It was a piece of art in and of itself, giving a sense of deadly beauty to it. There were sharp edges and smooth curves, they met together and the resulting shape was the menacing face of the helm.

It was full face, very different from the ones that the pony guards had worn. The eye slots were just that, resembling a grate or mesh more than eyes. The lines along the muzzle of the helm were all sharp, giving it a look like a snarling wolf. The lines ended in a saw like edge around the bottom. It actually split down the middle, articulating so that the jaw could be opened for a pony to use his mouth. There was no space for his ears to poke out, but two slopes came back from the head and opened in another grate at the back.

Everything about the helmet screamed ‘Predator’ and he loved it.

“We feel the armor is quite fitting for the situation, dost thee not?” She asked, smiling at his obvious admiration. “The rest of the armor must be constructed by a unicorn, and applied in a specific order. Twilight, Rarity, watch how this is done carefully. Thee as well, Coalback.” She said, her tone turning serious as she began laying out the intricate pieces of the armor.

The chest piece went on first, the first part of it being a cloth shirt. That was closely followed by a large shirt of chain mail. Over that the princess placed one of the several pieces that made up the chest armor. When she had finished placing it on, he flexed his arms and wings. Just as the princess had said, he had full mobility in the armor.

She started next on the pieces that fit around his stomach and flank, they followed a similar pattern of cloth and then chain mail. They wrapped snugly around his stomach and covered him entirely in black sharp metal.

The leg pieces went on easily, simply being a few pieces that locked around his legs with a click. The princess offered the hoof coverings last, and he stepped into them. At this point his chest, stomach, flank and legs were covered in the intricate armor. All that remained exposed was his neck, head, and wings.

She floated over the piece that wrapped around his neck, it was a single piece made from plates and chainmail that had been woven together. Then she pulled out two large plates, and began to speak.

“These are the parts of the armor that are truly revolutionary. These pieces of metal are intricately woven with magic to make them lighter and stronger than even gemstones.” She said, a clear amount of pride in her voice. “These are the armor of the wings.” She stated as she moved them over to him.

He opened his wings slightly to allow her easier access to them as she connected the new parts of the armor. They fit over the outside of his wings, and were surprisingly comfortable as they rested against them. When she had finished, he closed his wings and turned to examine them.

With the new addition to the armor it was complete, the armor fit together and moved easily. With his wings folded against his side, they were completely hidden by the strangely shaped shields.

He opened them to their full length, causing Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Rarity to take a step back. With his wings unfurled the shields only covered the furthest part of his wing, the tips of which poked out the end. The shield wrapped around the arm of the wing to create a plate near the wrist of it. He made an experimental flap, and then cut them downward through the air as if he were hitting something with them.

It was incredible, the armor moved fluidly with every movement, even the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. The armor also felt somehow...right to him. It was almost like the feeling of walking into a building and knowing you had been there before, but not remembering any of the details of the building.

This was particularly strange, almost enough for him not to notice the other’s voice quietly whispering in the back of his mind. He stiffened suddenly, every muscle tight as a sudden feeling overcame him.

The feeling of the heavy armor remained, he could feel it’s comfortable embrace as his muscles slowly became more fatigued. It felt like his body ached all over, there was a burning sensation is his back right leg. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, pushing him into some sort of battle he could not see. He felt the weight of a weapon at the end of his arm, he could even feel the grip against his skin.

He could feel impacts reverberating through the phantom weapon, feel the muscles in his arm tighten in sync to them. He could feel blows glancing off his armor, and he could hear the sounds of battle. Shouting, screaming, metal clashing, the impact of a ballistae spear as it sunk into the ground nearby.

“Coalback, are you alright?” Rainbow’s voice shook him from his trance. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, and he couldn’t stop himself from shivering. Then he turned to her.

“That has never happened before.” His voice was traced with fear and wonder at what he had just felt.

“What happened to you, Coalback” Twilight asked from his other side, he turned to her before answering.

“It was nothing, really. Just started thinking about what this means.” He said, quickly driving attention away from the sudden event.

‘What was that? I will need to look into this later.’

        Coalback turned back to the princess. “Let’s see what this thing looks like with the helmet on, ma’am.” He said, indicating the helmet still floating before her.

        “Very well.” She said, floating the helmet over towards him. She slid it over his head and tightened the straps holding it down. It was surprisingly easy to see out of the mesh in front of his eyes, all the lines blended together and disappeared. She then cast a spell that created a mirror between them so that Coalback could look at himself.

        The armor that was on him was very different from the armor he had seen for horses at home. There was no saddle for one thing, and he was covered in that sharp, dark metal. The armor was decorated with indents, grooves, and carvings. The hoof coverings had claws carves from them, with some sort of slot in the inner face.

The chest of it looked like it was built to be a battering ram, the larger block of curved metal jutting outward almost an inch from his chest beneath. He looked toward the flank of the armor, his eyes falling across the sloped surface that covered his side and tail. His tail fit into a chainmail sleeve that let the tips of the hairs fall out of it.

When he lifted his wings he found two small pouches underneath the right, but under the other something else bristled. Several small handles protruded from cloth sleeves. He raised a hoof to try to pull one out, and the purpose of the slots became clear to him. The slot slid perfectly onto the handles from any direction, letting him simply slide his hoof over his side and pull one of the many handles out from it’s sleeve.

He pulled out the shining silver that shimmered in the dim light of the chamber. He held a knife in his hoof, it’s perfect edge glistening. The blade was shaped in a way that it could be used in close combat, or even thrown judging from it’s balance. He turned back to his side and slid it back into the sleeve that it originated from, twisting his hoof slightly to release it.

All in all, he looked badass.

“Leonardi always had a detailed mind, he designed and made every part of the armor you wear. We enchanted it personally. The blades will never dull. And should a piece of the armor become lost, it shall return by the morn.” She said, remembering a better time. “He called it ‘Arma Lupus’ it means-”

“Armor of the Wolf.” Coalback said, still staring at his reflection.

---

        Coalback stood in the middle of the sandy arena, as the princess had asked him to. The black armor glinting in the orange light of the rising sun as he waited. The six mares sat in the stands, near them Luna sat on a raised platform.

        It had not taken her long to lead them to the location, she had directed him to go into the arena and wait near the center. She had then led the mares up to the stands to watch him.

        He did not like at all the situation he was in, not only was he in the middle of an arena with black tunnels leading down to the darkness, there were girls watching him. He groaned again, feeling like a child, the girls were curious and he couldn’t blame them, even he was.

        He had grown more and more wary as the sun rose, the rays of light slowly moving downward to the westernmost tunnel. The walls of the arena had blocked the light of the sun from entering any of the tunnels, keeping them in complete darkness. And it wasn’t until the sunlight had finally passed the lip of the tunnel, that he saw the glint off of a spearhead from inside.

The light bounced around inside the white walled tunnel, illuminating a large count of pony soldiers in golden armor. Every guard was armed with a long spear, and they all had their eyes locked on him.

He had to admit, it was fairly intimidating. He had no idea how long they had been standing there, simply watching him. They moved forward slowly, their feet moving in perfect unison as they marched from the tunnel. They spread out along the wall, all thirty of them. They turned back to him after the last had left the tunnel, and lowered their spears.

Five of the soldiers broke off from the group, charging forward with a synchronized war cry. Their yelling bounced off the walls and echoed loudly, the hooves throwing up clouds of dust as they ran. And Coalback stood perfectly still, like a statue in the ring. The soldiers got within three meters before he moved.

He twisted his upper body, throwing a cloud of sand into three of the guards who faltered in their charge for a moment. Using his momentum he spun around, lifting onto his back legs and just dodging the first strike. He completed the turn, and drove the spear into the dirt, which simultaneously vaulted the pony using it into the group that had been caught in the cloud.

The fifth pony got closer, his spear glancing off the shield on Coalback’s wing as he spun. The pony kept moving, launching himself forward to strike Coalback with his other hoof. But Coalback had expected the move and countered it with a swing of his elbow, knocking the hoof aside.

Coalback’s limbs moved at an incredible speed, blurring forward as he struck the pony before him. But every hit only pushed him back somewhat, never leaving a bruise or cut. He was playing with the pony, pushing him backward so that his wings would have the room to move.

In a moment of speed his wings shot forward, striking both sides of the guard pony’s helmet. A sound like gong being struck filled the arena, and the pony fell the ground completely stunned.

Coalback had in but moments incapacitated five guards, it had happened so fast that the ponies in the stands had barely had enough time to register it happening. Coalback’s voice echoed across the arena towards them, slightly tinny coming from the inside of his helmet.

“Is that it?” He called, his voice teasing. “I would have expected more from the army of a Princess as intimidating as you, Your Majesty.” He had turned to look at her podium, and Luna let out a deep laugh.

The other twenty five guards stopped waiting where they were and charged forward. Coalback stopped his teasing and turned back to the fight in an instant. The guards made the mistake of running at differing speeds, it was the more eager ones that fell first.

Coalback moved in a blur, deflecting spears out of the way and knocking the guards to the ground in quick succession. In just moments another ten guards were strewn around him in unconscious heaps. The others stopped a distance from him, opting to surround him in a circle. Their spears pointed inward toward Coalback. He crouched down, looking more like a tiger than a pony.

One of the guards behind him lunged forward, glancing his spear off of Coalback’s armor. Coalback reacted Immediately, kicking upward with one of his back legs and launched the spear straight up into the air. The kick pulled him into a standing position on his front hooves, another guard lunged forward. Coalback pushed off the ground with his hooves and pulled his wings in close as he did, the spear sailed past under him.

Coalback’s rear hoof connected with the flying spear at the apex of it’s arc, causing the both of them to flip around in the air. Coalback gripped into the spear, using his momentum to speed his throw. The spear flew from his grasp and slipped through a the collar of one of the pony’s armor, piercing through the other side and pinning him to the floor of the arena unharmed.

Coalback came back to the ground on top of the the second guard’s spear, snapping it in half. He turned to the now unarmed pony, dragging his wing through the sand and throwing it into the faces of the ponies around him. After that, they didn’t even have a chance to fight back, Coalback moved in a blur through the stunned ponies. He disarmed and incapacitated all but one of them in the time it took for that pony to recover.

Colaback’s wing wrapped around the pony’s neck, putting him into a headlock with it. The pony struggled within Coalback’s grip. Coalback turned his attention back to the princess, his breath coming out heavily.

“Perhaps, your majesty could provide more disposable opponents? Then I would not have to hold back.” He said, a slight tinge of concern in his voice even though he had tried to play it off with the joke. The pony in his wing continued to struggle.

The princess stood, a smile on her face as she spoke. “It has been very long since I have seen a fight like this! Do not worry, your next opponents will not be fighting you.” She said, entertainment making her words bubble. Behind her, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were cheering wildly. The other three settled on stunned silence.

Princess Luna reached behind her and pulled out a brass ring with a red sash tied to it, she threw it across the arena to him with a flick of her wrist. Coalback rose onto his hind legs, releasing the pony in his grip as he did, and caught it in his mouth.

“Connect the ring to thy flank, and prepare thyself for the chase!” She yelled to him.

He slid the ring onto a loop on a belt around his flank, the bright red sash was left to swing in the gentle breeze. It was then that twenty pegasus guards came out of the same tunnel, they all wore blue sashes hanging from a similar place.

“If the sash is caught, then thy flight ends!” She announced. “Thee hast either been captured or killed in flight.” Coalback turned to face the pegasus guards, shaking his wings free and lowering himself to a runners stance.

“Ready thy wings!” She called, the guards went into similar stances and spread their wings up in preparation for take off.

“BEGIN!!” Her voice boomed across the arena, the Royal Canterlot Voice echoing out into the morning sky.

Coalback moved his wings quickly upward in the air, using the momentum to aid his jump up. Then with a crack like a bullwhip he lowered his wings, pushing himself up like a firework rocket into the sky. He was followed closely by the pegasus guards, flying in a high speed formation going straight up.

He leveled off when he reached the top of the walls of the arena, pumping his huge wings quickly to give him as much speed as he could before his pursuers caught with him. He cleared the wall, dodging past one of the empty flag poles that were mounted there. He heard a sound of impact a moment later and chuckled at the sound of ringing metal.

His path took him toward a wide tower, within the ring of closely placed pillars were several large brass bells. He pulled left at the last moment, feeling a full second G of acceleration as he just missed the pillars. Once again he heard the sound of impacts, accompanied by the sound of three long rings from the bells. He laughed out to the ponies still after him, not bothering to check their progress.

Coalback dove, heading straight for the ground. He wasn’t planning a clever trick this time, he was using the dive to gain momentum. He pulled up slowly, his wings passing within inches of a nearby building. He didn’t reach street level, or anything near the speeds of his first night flight, but he heard exclamations from the street all the same. He continued to pull up, turning back to the arena as he did.

While from the inside of the arena, it had seemed that the walls were solid. But in fact they were actually covered in arches, much like a similar coliseum he had seen in pictures at school. The six colorful blurs were standing in them as they followed the flight, Princess Luna had flown up over the walls to gain a better vantage point. Coalback grinned as a thought crossed his mind and he adjusted his flight to match it.

A moment later Coalback blurred past the arch that the six mares had been occupying, quickly followed by the remaining six guardponies. He kept climbing higher and higher in a straight shot upward, glancing backward to check on the six behind him. They had gained more than a few meters on him, almost close enough to grab onto his trailing hooves and tail.

He redoubled his efforts pushing higher and higher. His wings burned with the strain as he worked directly against gravity. He kept an eye on his pursuers as he went, not wanting to overshoot too much. Coalback was slowing down, his momentum and wings no longer gaining speed as the air thinned around him. The ponies behind him seemed to be affected similarly. And it wasn’t long before they had come to a complete stall in the air.

Coalback spread his wings wide and turned around as he began to fall back toward the ground. He had accomplished what he had heard called a ‘Hammerhead’ and was now behind his chasers, precisely as he had planned. They were now in a full free fall, Coalback straightened himself out, and closed his wings with a forceful clap.

Coalback accelerated at a speed that would have made a cheetah’s spots turn green in envy. He quickly approached the other pegasi, his hooves reached out in front of him. He caught all of them off guard, quickly pulling the blue sashes from their belts as he accelerated past them.

He continued the dive, his eyes watered from the air that pushed against them. The ground approached quickly, and with a flare of his wings he slowed himself to a speed that wouldn’t shatter bones and create a crater half the size of the arena. But that didn’t stop it from being a hard landing, and a sudden stop.

Coalback landed on his hooves and absorbed the impact in his knees, a cloud of dust spread out from him. When the cloud cleared, he stood with six sashes in his mouth. His own red sash sat unharmed on his flank.

He spat out the sashes as the six mares began to cheer and rush into the arena, and he removed the helmet from his head. He waited patiently as they made their way over, catching his breath as he did.

The mares crowded around, expressing their praise and amazement in a chatter that was completely not understandable. Rainbow Dash was at the front of the group, spouting her amazement at the show of physical and aerial superiority. Pinkie Pie threw hoofs of confetti around them as she danced excitedly. When the mares finally did settle down the princess approached him.

“We are thoroughly impressed, Coalback!” She said, her praise much more controlled than the previous barrage of words and confetti from Pinkie. “We now think that thee is the perfect choice for the task we have planned.” She said, but continued before Coalback could ask what she meant. “Come with us, we shall meet my sister in the Throne Room.” She turned around and walked toward the gate that marked the exit to the arena.