Syren sat perched high above the royal palace as the crowd below became restless in anticipation, eager to get a glimpse of the newly crowned royal, princess Twilight Sparkle. Syren checked his watch, ‘1100 hours, finally’ he thought. He couldn’t stand it anymore as he shifted uneasily on his feet ‘only a few more minutes’ he thought, the excitement building inside of him only grew as he counted down the seconds until it was time.

Syren performed one last check of his gear; his two ornate daggers glistened in the sunlight, forged of dragon scale they were light and extremely deadly; his bandolier held sharp dirks perfect for throwing short distances; his hidden blade design for discrete kills, located on his wrist dripped with a neurotoxin that would paralyze its victim.
Syren was skilled in most forms of pony martial arts and would easily defeat all who opposed him, but the Alicorns’ would be the most difficult, especially Celestia and her newly crowned apprentice. However Syren was also extremely powerful with magic, his magic knew few limits, except magic that drew power from love and harmony.
The sound of bells shattered Syren’s train of thought and alerted him to the fact that it was now time. He took one last look at his targets, the alicorn princesses were now in his sights, and he was poised ready to jump, he took one final breath and leapt high into the air hurtling toward the balcony. He could hear some of the ponies in the crowd scream as he landed in front of Twilight Sparkle…

…5 minutes earlier…

Twilight felt giddy as she was prepared to appear before Equestria as its newest princess, maid mares frantically ran around styling her mane and adding final touches to her dress. “Are you ready princess?” Celestia asked with a look of slight amusement on her face as she watched Twilight paced back and forth the worry clearly evident on her face. “What if they don’t accept me?” Twilight said to nopony in particular, “or what if I stuff everything up?” She continued the color draining from her face. Celestia gave a chuckle and said “don’t worry, the citizen of Equestria already love you”, this made Twilight feel a little better, enough so that she finally mustered the courage to go outside and face the screaming crowd, “let’s not keep your subjects waiting” beamed Celestia opening the curtain to reveal the main balcony where Luna and Cadence were waiting ‘…as well as the rest of Equestria’ Twilight thought nervously.

Twilight bravely stepped out onto the balcony to face the crowd and was immediately overcome with a sense of dread ‘there were just so many’ she thought. The crowd grew silent as she approached the podium. Twilight began to speak, but as soon as she began to open her mouth a dark figure landed in front of her.

Ponies screamed as the royal guards leapt to the defense of the princess. The cloaked creature only laughed when the guards surrounded it, “finally, I’ve been waiting for this all day” the creature said manically, a dark grin spread across its face as it flourished two short daggers (Twilight had read about them in ancient pony history) in its hands, swinging them around its head in a fashion that somewhat mesmerized Twilight, then the guards attacked.

It all happened so fast, Twilight could barely follow the creature movements as the guards all rushed in to attack. It was as if the creature had disappeared and reappeared seconds later only it had moved just out of the reach of the guards. One of the guards thrust his spear at creature aiming for its legs, but the creature parried the attack with one of the daggers and in a flash had buried the other deep in the guard’s chest. The guard let out a startled cry and slumped to the floor twitching, blood gushing from the hole in his chest, Twilight watched in horror as the life left the guard’s eyes. “Murderer!” screamed one of the other guards, “he was only a colt! He hadn’t even felt a mare’s warmth for Celestia’s sake!” shouted another but the creature paid them no attention, instead it turn slowly to face Twilight.

Fear gripped Twilight as the creature removed his dagger from the lifeless corpse of the guard and advanced toward her, its eyes were cold and calculating, not even a hint of regret at the life it had so abruptly ended. Slowly the hooded creature advanced toward her but the guards quickly blocked its path. This only enraged the creature “you dare stand in my way!” it spat. Its words were dripping with venom, “So, be it” it said shortly after, apparently calmer.
Again the creature attacked with a speed and fury that caused Twilight to cringe in fear. The first guard attempted to hold his spear so the attacking creature would impale itself upon the point. However the creature simply dodged the spear with unnatural agility and slid underneath the guard slicing the guard’s legs as it went, causing the guard to cry out in pain and fall to the ground unable to stand. No sooner had the first guard fallen when the creature flicked its wrist sending a metallic object flying through the air toward the second guard burying itself in the guard’s forehoof forcing the guard to drop his spear and cry out. By this time the last two guards’ had taken up defensive positions in front of the princesses and rushed in to meet the creature as it recovered from its slide.

The guards were shaking in fear as the creature rose. Its shadow looming over them as it raised its daggers for the killing blow, but suddenly the creature was knocked off its feet and sent flying through the air toward the edge of the balcony but falling short of the edge. Instead the creature slammed into the railing and Twilight heard a sickening crack like somepony snapping a branch. The creature lay there for a minute before raising its arm hanging limply at its side, eyes burning with rage at the one who had denied it its kill.

Twilight watched as Celestia stood in front of the terrified guards protecting them, comforting them. They two guards hung their heads in shame, “we’re sorry your majesty we failed you” one of the guards said, “we’re not worthy to be your protectors” said the other. The princess smiled warmly at them “You fought valiantly and showed great courage in the face of defeat, in my opinion you are more than worthy to be my protectors. Now go and protect the other princesses!” Celestia said in a gentle voice “Yes your majesty!” snapped both the guards as they turned and held position just ahead of Twilight and the other princesses.
Celestia turned to face the injured creature and said in her royal Canterlot voice “Why have you come here, killed my valiant guards and threatened the princesses of Equestria!” There was only silence as the creature glared at her and proceeded to snapping its arm back into place with a flick of its shoulder. Without warning the creature attacked but Celestia used her magic to knock the creature back. Once the creature realized the futility of attacking Celestia it sheathed it weapons and walked slowly toward her.

Twilight watched as Celestia charged her magic in her horn as the creature kept advancing. Finally she released her magic in a bright flash of light and Twilight could clearly see the creature tense as the beam of magic raced toward it at blinding speed. What happened next shocked not only Twilight but every other pony as well; the creature simply deflected the blast with a casual flick of the wrist. Twilight’s mind reeled in shock at watch she had just saw, Celestia, the most powerful pony in all of Equestria, with the most powerful magic had just been shrugged off as if she were nothing more than an annoying filly.

The creature spoke “I do believe I’ve overstayed my welcome, but fear not I shall return! Sooner than you think for I am madness, I am pain and I am death” it then jumped on the edge of the balcony “I bid you farewell, until next we meet” it said right before a brilliant flash of white light blinded Twilight, when she regained her vision she could just make out the faint outline of what looked like a stallion flying off in the distance. “What the hay just happened” Twilight managed to say before she collapsed and slipped into darkness…

…To be continued

END CHAPTER 1

Author's Note

Hey guys I hope you like this story it's pretty dark right now, I've got big plans for it (you will notice that romance is a tag. That will come later and you'll like it I promise). so please leave some feedback (by leaving a comment or PM) and don't forget to favorite the story. Btw sorry for the spacing and grammatical errors it went all weird when I copied it from Microsoft word. Cya next chapter!