Dream Guardsby USMCbrony0311ChaptersCompromisedBrought to LightWe Are The Dream GuardsCompromisedSpike was awoken with a start by the sounds of Twilight thrashing in her sleep. She had been doing this a lot lately, but always refused to talk about it no matter how much he would plead with her to confide her troubles with him. He had a good guess what the nightmares were about, as they began soon after the changeling invasion at the Canterlot wedding. He had long since given up on waking her from these dreams. She always said it was no use and they only resumed again once she fell back into a fitful sleep. Spike felt guilty about not telling Twilight sooner that he himself was plagued by nightmares once too. He wanted to be brave and handle his problems himself, but now saw that its only natural to want to help those you care about even when they don't want it. The small dragon couldn't remember why they had stopped, only that as he was fleeing his pursuers he heard a short scuffle and a blood curdling scream. When he turned around to look, expecting far worse to now be on his tail, he only saw a dark shadow with glowing yellow eyes disappear through a fog as his nightmares burst into a dark mist. When he quickly awoke, he heard the echoes of a stallion’s voice whispering "sweet dreams". He had written to Princess Luna about it, as the night was her domain, and also out of fear that Nightmare Moon had something to do with it. He had seen eyes like that before. Her response was cryptic to say the least, and down right startling in its last words. Dear, Spike I am truly sorry that these nightmares had lasted so long. I only sensed them recently but did not have the time to deal with them myself. I have been incredibly busy with increased security at Canterlot. On that note we look forward to seeing you next week for the wedding. My sister and I are truly excited that our niece should wed someone as great our Captain. I am even more happy to hear you confirm that they have been taken care of. I would like to assure you that Nightmare moon has not returned. As long as I am here she can not exist. I do however see how you would have thought it was we and not I that you had seen. I am sure this is because Scootaloo has told you about the headless horse incident. I assure you that the purging of that nightmare was only collateral fun. The filly's real fears lay within herself as mine once had. I felt obligated to her and myself to guide her in the right direction as I wish one had done for me over a thousand years ago. Please let me know if you have any nightmares in the future and they will be dealt with much more promptly. Sweet Dreams, Princess Luna "Well that's a relief that Nightmare Moon is not back. But if that wasn't Luna in my dream, then who was it?" Spike said to himself as he discarded the letter. Spike now felt he had to tell Twilight about his nightmares and the strange circumstance of their abrupt cessation, adamant that something evil was still amiss, but as usual she dismissed it as coincidence. Just because Pinkie had convinced her of the reality of the bizarre phenomena known as ‘Pinkie Sense’ didn't mean that she was going to start buying into conspiracy theories. So life went on. In the following weeks Spike forgot about the incident. He had his sweet dreams of Rarity back, which always helped him make sure he was the first to rise in the morning to do laundry amongst his other chores. He just wished that Twilight would be rid of her own nightmares. "Stay away from me you monsters!" Twilight screamed as changelings pursued her through the library in their true, hideous forms. "Give in, little pony. Your love could not save your friends, but your devotion still remains, and we want it!" the two changelings yelled in unison as they bared their fangs. The chase had been going on for what felt like hours. The changelings were toying with her, as if they were playing with their food, enjoying every moment of her fear. The torment was relentless, with no end in sight. "You can submit to us whenever you choose, unicorn," one of the monsters growled. "We can chase you all day from the energy gained from feeding on your friends," the other hissed. "Your brother alone was a buffet I shall never forget!" Panic was in full force as Twilight narrowly dodged a pounce, and she felt fangs pass through the air inches from her throat. She was beginning to tire as she had used nearly all her magic in order to sustain her endurance. Combative magic had proved ineffective against her foes, and desperation had quickly taken a stranglehold on her usually disciplined mind. It all felt so real though. The burning in her legs, the tears in her eyes, and the stench of the bug-like creatures in hot pursuit. Twilight knew the floor plan of the library by heart and used it to keep a hoofstep ahead of the monsters. However, in her panic she took a wrong turn and found herself at a dead end. With nowhere else to go she turned and put up a defensive posture. A snickering hiss emanated from the triumphant monsters as they deliberately took their time closing the distance with their trapped prey. Twilight, however, did not plan on going quietly to her demise. She would make them work for it. She threw open a nearby closet door—and was met with a frightening pair of yellow eyes with black slits in place of pupils. She closed her own eyes and prepared for the end. Instead, she felt a rush of wind, followed immediately by the sound of crushing exoskeleton and a shriek behind her. She turned to see a bat pony in full purple battle armor sending a final crushing hoof stomp to the skull of the shattered changeling it had pounced on. As the fatal strike was delivered, the body vanished in a dark cloud of smoke. The second changeling instinctively fought back, sinking its fangs into the shoulder of the pony. The bat pony winced slightly before delivering a quick hoof strike to the changeling, dislodging the fangs and then pinning the creature to the ground. The changeling squirmed as the soldier calmly drew two blades and unceremoniously buried them to the hilt into the neck and chest of his subdued adversary. As the final victim also burst into black fog, a scream broke the silence. The bat pony instantly took a combative stance. This scream, however, came from the now thoroughly terrified Twilight Sparkle. The slit-eyed pony relaxed his stance upon realizing there were no more threats to be dealt with and made eye contact with her. This, however, was a mistake. He should have known that the princess' personal student had been around Canterlot's barracks. Her brother was the Captain of the Royal Guard, after all. He should have expected her to have a seen few of Luna's finest often enough to know who they were. He was not supposed to be seen. He was a shadow warrior, meant to do a job that the princess herself wished she had the time for. Bat ponies had long been feared due to the legend of them siding with nightmare moon a millennia ago. It was a truth without guilt. Twilight was surprised to see a bat pony in her own dreams, of all places. They were the outcasts of society—the disgraced race of a fallen monarch. Many had argued that they should have known better than to uphold their oath even after Luna's descent into darkness and should be banished. It did not matter to the masses that Celestia herself had pardoned them. Bat ponies were not welcome in society, and thus had clung to the shadows. They didn't mind. The dark had always been their domain. Twilight was silent for a moment, and then slowly opened her mouth and whispered, "Night Shade? Is that you?" "Oh buck me to Tartarus…" he whispered harshly to himself before he quickly pressed his hoof to the purple eye of his armor’s chest piece and vanished into thin air. As he faded, he smiled to Twilight, his voice echoing around the silence in the library. "Sweet dreams." * * * Twilight awoke the next morning all but throwing herself out of bed to find Spike. When she found him, she sat him down quickly and quietly. "Spike, we need to talk about last night." "Oh… Oh jeez… You see… um, I thought you were asleep. I’m sorry, Twi, I didn't mean for you to see that. I just keep having the best dreams. I always do laundry after." "What— Eww! No, Spike, this isn't about that!" she said in disgust. "But we do have to have a talk soon. You’re getting older." "What’s this about then?" Spike asked curiously. "What was it you saw when your nightmares stopped?" "I told you, I didn't really see anything. It all happened so fast, like something just swooped in and turned my nightmares into mist." "...Into mist. What else can you remember?" "There were some yellow eyes. But they were shaped like mine, definitely not pony shaped." "Maybe not your average pony…" "What do you mean, Twilight?" "Just a hunch. What else?" "That's all I saw." "What did you hear then?" "Oh yeah, right! I know it sounds strange, but someone wished me sweet dreams". Twilight stood there, too shocked to speak. There was no way this was coincidence. Her studies had taught her that even the impossible has to be true when there is overwhelming evidence. There was definitely something going on she wasn't aware about. But that couldn't be possible… could it? Princess Celestia had granted her a clearance level of top secret. There was nothing the princess hid from her… Nothing Princess Celestia hid from her. "Spike, cancel all my plans for the day," she ordered her companion. "It’s not like you ever have plans anyway…" Spike mumbled. "What?" "I said, your schedule is all clear for the rest of the day." "Good. I need to go look into something." "What is it?" "Can't tell you, it may be a secret." "Where are you going?" Spike asked, suddenly more than a little curious. "I'm going to go visit the princess." "Oh okay, you had me worried. You haven't gotten to see Princess Celestia for a while." "I’m going to see Princess Luna," corrected Twilight. "Oh… Um, about that…? I wrote her a letter the other week," Spike said in a matter-of-factly manner. "You did? About what?" Twilight asked, surprised. "You never write to Luna." "About the nightmares you have been having." Twilight felt her hunch was being proven more and more correct. But if that was the case, why was she not informed? How long has this been going on? Luna had some answering to do. * * * Brought to LightThe trip to canter lot was rather boring to the purple unicorn as short as it was. She usually had her friends to accompany her on train rides but she was not going to bring them along only too look like a foal if her intuitions were false. The rails rattled and the train car bounced sporadically but all this was drowned out to Twilight who was lost in her thoughts. How could something like this be happening without her knowledge? Didn't the princess trust her with everything? Who were these dream walkers? Many different reasons bounced around her head. Perhaps this was going on without the knowledge of the royal sisters. Maybe she and her friend would be needed to put a stop to this mysterious evil. Or was any evil even going on? Sure the bat ponies are a fearsome looking breed but she had never taken the time to speak with them. Regardless of what the answer would be she wanted to know. The train conductor announced the stop and Twilight stepped off the train. She looked beyond the station platform and gazed upon the grandeur Canterlot Castle. This place had been both her home and school growing up but it never ceased to captivate her. Twilight began the long walk to the wing of the castle that housed the chambers of Princess Luna. Why two princesses needed a castle so large and with so many rooms dumbfounded the unicorn but she settled with the fact that royalty just came with certain perks. The guards would always let her pass without question anywhere she wanted to go. After all she was well know as both the element of magic and in the guards eyes more importantly the little sister of the captain of the royal guard. No pony would be so foolish to hassle their commanders flesh and blood. As it was daylight it was the celestial guards at the castles posts. She quite preferred them to Luna's guards. The celestial guard would always greet her with a smile and a cheerful good morning. The night watch always seemed so cold and hard. They never smiled and would demand to know where she was going and for what purpose. Perhaps they were just being professional. The celestial guard acted the same as the night watch when confronting strangers. Twilight assumed they may have just treated her special since many had watched her grow up since she was a filly. Luna night watch only began to assume their post once Nightmare Moon had been destroyed and Luna returned to help run the kingdom. They showed the purple unicorn no special treatment. Twilight finally arrived at the bed champers of the princess of the night. She usually slept during the day but when twilight informed the hoof maiden that she was there to speak to Luna she was informed that Luna was not in her chambers but was was awake and in the Lunar wing of the castle. So, Twilight resumed her hunt for the princess down the corridors of the castle. When she reached the lunar wing she found that the night watch stood guard at the doors. She froze in fright remerging the fearsome encounter of the previous night. Sighing she thought back to what her pink friend had taught her. No she was not going to laugh at them, but she was going to stand tall. She walked up to the doors and was immediately stopped by the guards. "What is your business in the Lunar Wing?" A gruff lunar stallion asked "Um... I'm here to speak with the princess" Twilight replied with a voice meek enough to rival her shy pegasus friend. "There is no meetings scheduled during daylight hours, what is this regarding?" The second guard asked. "I don't have a meeting scheduled but this pertains to maters of Equestria's national security and I can only discuss this with Luna herself. " Twilight didn't know if she way lying but she wasn't the element oh honesty so she didn't really care either. "Very well Miss Sparkle. The princess should be in a meeting but if is a matter of national security you may interrupt as long as it is quick. She is in the Office of Nocturnal Affairs in the Operations Wing. With that the lunar stallions raised their halberds with their moon shaped axe blades un unison. Twilight sighed in relief before walking through the doors. What she found on the other side was surprisingly un glamorous hallway with doors on the right. She had expected as pomp and grandeur throughout the castle. This part of the citadel however seemed to only care about whatever was happening behind the doors. She opened the doors to the operations wing and found it eerily silent. No pony was seen in the hall so she trotted down the passage eyeing the doors on the right. She had never heard of any of these names and knew not what they meant or their purpose. Names like "Skyfall, Foreign Threats, Marines, Intelligence" and a door that seemed to have taken some abuse and suffered from neglect. She could see hoof indentations where is seems like many ponies had bucked at it either to attempt to knock it down or just our of anger. There were carving in the door as well, mostly consisting of the word traitors. This door bore an placard obviously not polished in a while. It read "Union" Upon reaching a door labeled simply "Dreams" Twilight could hear Luna's voice on the other side. The door was locked but twilight didn't feel like knocking and wanted to try her lock picking magic. Upon quickly achieving her goal she calmly open the door and walked in. Inside she could see three bat ponies, two mares and a stallion talking with the princess who had her back to Twilight. They were so engrossed in whatever they were talking about they did not notice the presence of the purple unicorn until she was standing right next the Luna. "Would you mind telling me what's going on princess?" Luna was startled to say the least but and voiced her anger with her royal voice. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS TESSPASSING ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS!" "Its whatever this official business is that I am here to find out about. I got a feeling that you know exactly what I'm talking about" Twilight said with a smirk. She had grown used to the strength of Luna's voice and was unfazed. "Ahem, my apologies for the volume Twilight. But whatever are you referring to? I assure you that what goes on in my wing is of no concern of yours." "I can tell when your lying princess. Your a worse liar than applejack" "Well then if you think you know so much then would you mind explaining why your here and what it has to do with me" Twilight recounted the story of last nights nightmare and how the princess could not deny that a multitude of what Luna was calling coincidences could only result in one fact. That the princess was running some sort of operation that entailed her guards infiltrating ponies dreams. Luna listened quietly as Twilight ranted about all her evidence. Upon the purple unicorn panting heavily and her mouth finial ceasing to move the princess responded. "Its all just a dream Twilight. There is no limit to what can happen in the dream world and how real it can feel. The reason you saw a bat pony you recognized is because aside from nightmares you can only see things in your dreams that you have seen before while awake. I'm sure you have seen Night Shade around the garrison in the past. Can you show me any evidence in world of daylight that my guard has been in your dreams. Just then the door to the office opened and in walked none other than Night Shade. The stallion had yet to notice twilight and was trotting in with a surprisingly goofy jump in his step. "Sorry to keep you all waiting on the de-brief. I had to drain the dragon. Get it!! because saying lizard just would not......" He cut himself off before he finished his tasteless statement as he saw who was standing right in front of him. It was the mare from his last mission. Behind her sat the princess giving him the royal stink eye and the rest of his team in a mix of facehoofs and snickering. He went to give himself a facehoof but cringed in pain and grasped his freshly bandaged shoulder. "Oh my what happened to your shoulder Night Shade?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "Oh hello Miss Sparkle. Well you see....I...I'm a very bad cook and had a little mishap and cut myself." "Minotaur manure!" Twilight yelled as she used her magic to quickly unwrap the bat ponies bandage. When the bandage flew off twilight could easily see the puncture would that she saw the stallion receive from the changelings bite. "Oh that's a very odd type of knife you were using then. You must be the worst cook in Equestria if your trying to chop a salad with CHANGLING FANGS!!" She yelled both at the stallion and at the princess Nightshade looked over at the princess for what to do but the princess shook her head. She knew that she could not hide the truth and lie to Twilight any longer. "Okay Twilight. Yes there are operations taking place in the dreams of my subjects. But before you go cracking your horn let me explain myself. What do you want to know?" "Everything" Twilight responded "I expected as much" Luna grinned. "Well, Let me start with introducing you to the rest of the team" We Are The Dream Guards"Well since you seem to have made such a great first...well second impression why don't you continue Nightshade" Luna said half jokingly. With a slight blush nightshade cleared his throat. "Well twilight as I was saying, your couldn't rightly call it a liza-" "YOU KNOW WHAT I BUCKING MEANT!!" Luna roared "Forgive him Twilight he can be a bit of a comedian. At least he thinks he's funny" One of the other bat ponies said with a grin. "Well that wasn't what I was expecting from him after last night to say the least but its nice to see that you bat ponies aren't vicious monsters with no sense of humor all the time." "You sure are trying to stay on our good side aren't you" A bat pony mare hissed from behind Luna as the night princess stepped between the two. "Well then I think its time to get back to business here." A second mare said. "Come on now tell her your pathetic story Nightshade" "Hey!....Ahem, well then lets start from the beginning. As you know we bat ponies are a mysterious breed. At least that's how we like to keep it. We have always been shunned and ostracized since our dear princess had her little tangle with jealousy. We swore an oath to stand by the Princess of the Night no matter what. And though it seemed like madness we as a race chose to stay faithful. Our ancestors battled our fellow guards as Celestia and Luna fought their own battle. Our race is one that takes great pride in our combative skills of hoof and fang so our forefathers held their own against the three other races." "Wait a minute...do you drink blood? You said you enjoy using your fangs as a weapon" Twilight interrupted "No no Twilight. We are more in kin to fruit bats than vampire bats. But just because we like sweet fruits doesn't mean we wont use our teeth when things go sour. Use it or lose it as they say." Nightshade said with a wink. "One more dirty joke and I'm going to tell my sister what you just implied to her student" Luna warned "Oh come on you usually give me ten a day before you start hitting me and I've only used six!....Which is spelled very similar to-" "That's it go sit in the corner!!!" Luna said as she pointed her hoof to a stool already placed there. "Is that stool there just for him?" Twilight asked incredulously "Act like a foal get treated like a foal" one of the mares stated flatly. "Cactus blossom, would you please continue where your immature team mate left off" Luna said The mare in question stepped from the shadow into the dim light. She had a greenish gray coat and a creamy white mane that had a spiky look to it. "As you wish princess. Good afternoon Twilight. As my partner was saying during the battle of the long night our ancest-" "Partner? As in you two are a couple?" Twilight asked curiously "Oh buck no!! He drives me wing itching mad. He is my partner for when there are missions that require two of us. Despite all his talk he never gets any" "Hey that not very-" "NO TALKING ON TIME OUT DIPSHIT" Blossom yelled "Now you see how she got her name, Very pretty but can a bit prickly" Nightshade dared to add "Can I hurt him please?" Blossom begged Luna as she reached for her half moon shaped boomerang like blade "Later when your off duty perhaps, for now just....please continue" Luna said with a sigh "Well as I was saying, during the battle of the long night our ancestors held their own despite the drastic difference in numbers. But when Nightmare Moon was banished and Celestia was emerged from the rubble of Castle Everfree they knew that it was over. Because there was no longer a princess to uphold their oath too there was no reason to continue to fight their brothers and sisters of the Day Guard." "So where did you all go for the last thousand years?" Twilight asked, eager to learn something she for once didn't already know. "I was getting to that if you would close your mouth and open your ears" "Easy Cactus" Luna warned "She may not look it but Twilight is very skilled in combative magic." "From what I heard in the debrief until we were interrupted she was nothing but a damsel in distress last night that our resident clown had to save." "I can still hear you!" Said the voice from the corner "And your still on time out!" Cactus yelled again at her unruly partner. "How do you two possible work together on these "missions" if you cant stand each other?" Twilight asked "When your in the guard you have to understand the difference between professional time, and personal time. As much as I hate to say it Nightshade here is a very good fighter and his close in fighting style complements my ability to eliminate a target by throwing my blade." "Aww thanks cactus pear" Nightshade cooed in a smooth voice Just then he received a very crude mane cut as the moon shaped blade embedded itself in the wall a few inches above his head. "I said don't call me that!!" "Children can we please get this moving I should have been in bed hours ago." said a the other bat stallion. "Id be happy to if Nightshade would shut the buck up!" At this point twilight didn't know what to think anymore. She had only seen the Night Guard in their professional setting around the castle. She was beginning to see that their behavior was just as ridiculous and goofy if not more than the Day Guard that she had gotten to know personally growing up. "I should introduce Night Shade to Pinkie" Twilight thought to herself... Before quickly realizing that was a horrible idea. "As I was saying" Cactus Blossom said after taking a deep breath. "At the conclusion of the battle between the two alicorns our ancestors lay down their arms and put their fate in the hooves of Celestia. We are told that Celestia did not want to punish us as we were only upholding our vows and surrendered peacefully when our duties were no longer justified. However part of being ruler is dealing with politics, and the citizens of Equestria demanded vengeance for what they thought was our betrayal. The bat ponies were exiled from the kingdom." "Tis why I shy away from politics and leave that part of ruling to my sister, I am not one that would be able to do what is wrong only to do what others believe is right" Luna said. "Then what is it you do besides raise the moon Princess?" Twilight asked "Is it not obvious? I am the Princess of War." "War?" Twilight asked shocked "Yes war, do you not honestly believe that this world is as beautiful and peaceful all over? There is a lot that can be accomplished with different kinds of magic. Cadence uses love, my sister is blessed with powers vastly greater than any other Alicorn. And I have a mind for tactics and secrecy. But the ponies of equestira have their own. Peace brings them happiness and their happiness is a source of great power. You saw that first hand at the crystal empire. Without happiness the crystal ponies were powerless to hold back Sombra. Giving the majority of ponies a sense of peace even if it is a false peace is necessary to keep Equestria strong. It is why you see the guard stationed here in Canterlot are spit and polish. We don't want the citizens to know what the guard really does. It is a world of dirt, blood, bullets and pain. It is the sacrifice of the few for the many and the brotherhood that give the guards their pride in their thankless occupation. Despite our attempts we were not able to keep the war with the Griffon Empire in the dark. It was far to costly. Your brother himself had his first taste of combat there, him and Captain Fleethoof were forever bonded by their experiences there. "My brother saw combat? Who is Fleethoof, How come I have never seen him out on the training grounds?" "Yes he saw more than he probably cared to see. As for Fleethoof he is the captain of another unit we like to keep quiet about. He is also your brothers closes friend and comrade. If your brother cares to tell you about him that's his choice but he knows what he may say and may not say. I am honestly surprised you didn't meet him at the Everfree Forest incident. I heard Scootaloo was very happy to see that little grey Pegasus return from the forest unharmed." Luna added remembering the orange filly she had helped. At the mention of the Everfree incident the bat ponies in the room became very somber. They knew all too well about the horrors that took the lives of a few of lunar guard brothers and sisters. They also knew that the surviving two were now under the command of Captain Fleethoof, whatever it was that his unit did. The unit may have been top secret but the Lunar guard was a tight knit society and nothing ever went unnoticed. "Well if its a secret I know my brother wouldn't say anything. He is far too professional. But as for seeing combat why wouldn't he tell me." "Twilight....Would you really want to know those things about your brother? There are things that the royal guard must do to protect Equestia that no pony wishes they had to do. And in turn they don't tell their loved ones in order to protect those who look up to them. I'm sure your brother didn't want to lie to you. He just wants you to always look at him as your, oh what was it...BBBFF or something, don't know what the hay he was talking about. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever..." Twilight whispered "That was it, he merely wishes that you will always look at him as the person who was the kind brother you had growing up. He doesn't want you to look at him and see the blood on his hooves." "Say no more, I understand." Twilight said somberly. But since you mentioned it why don't any of the bat ponies here use the rifles is see the guard training with outside the walls. Wouldn't it be a lot easier than hoof to hoof? "A very good question Twilight, I'll let Shadow Blitz answer that one" Said the princess of the night The other stallion now exited the shadow into the dim light. He had a stronger build to Nightshade and a much more of a serious air to him. When he came to a stop he leaned causally against a large halberd axe held in the hook of his wing. The axe had the classic moon shaped blade of the lunar guards watch ponies but with a lightning bold shaped blade protruding from the end. "Good afternoon miss sparkle. To answer your question I must first explain to you the means in which we cross the bridge so to speak between the dream world and consciousness. As you know each of the pony breeds has its own special strengths and abilities. Pegasi are agile and can manipulate the weather. Unicorns as you know yourself have telepathy which they seem to find new practical applications for depending on how gifted the pony. Earth ponies though at first glace seem nothing special has a gift with growing plants and all the food we need. Without them many would starve. They also have a higher stamina and strength than your average pony. Us bat ponies however don't have any of those abilities. We sleep during the day. We are creatures of the night. We are incredibly stealthy which is why we have been able to go un noticed for so many centuries. The citizens of Equestria eventually forgot about the battle of the long night and Nightmare moon which is why we were able to return from the shadows when Luna returned" "Then why are you never seen around Equestria?" "We still prefer to keep to ourselves as we never forgot the loss of trust between the bat ponies and the other breeds. We have colonies in mountain caves. That is where the civilian bat ponies reside. Reintroduction of our race into the guard takes time so other than bat ponies assigned to special units like this one and special trainers like in the new Marine units all of our bat pony warriors are stationed on a base knows as The Shades." Shadow explained "That's understandable it took her a while to re acquaint herself with society" Twilight said motioning to Luna "Yes that's true. But as I was saying, We bat ponies have an ability that few know about. You now know that ability is to enter dreams. Our armor and weapons has to be enchanted however by Luna." "Then why not have her enchant the guns?" "She could and we would be able to bring them but they would be no more useful than a bludgeon." "Don't be talking shit on bludgeons" A mare yet to be introduced to twilight said "I never said there was anything wrong with them Star Glow" Shadow said As he spoke the second bat pony mare stepped into the light clutching a spiked mace in her teeth. She had a dark black coat that seemed to shimmer a dull light. Her mane was a cobalt blue and her eyes were nearly silver in color. "Hiya I'm Star Glow but you can call me Glowey!" "Pleasure to meet you" twilight said with a smile, happy to see a happy go lucky personality that wasn't completely batty. "If you don't mind I'll take it from here partner" "Go right ahead Star, you understand this science stuff more than me anyway" Said Shadow "I heard you like science Twilight so I am sure this will be easy for you to understand. Enchanting a rifle is easy as it is just mechanism to fire the rounds. It's the rounds however that are tricky. You see when a bullet is fired and the gunpowder goes from a solid to a gas it changes its chemical structure." "Therefore it is no longer what it was when it was enchanted!!" Twilight yelled "Exactly. Since while being fired it is no longer an enchanted item it simply disappears as it is oxidizing in the chamber. That's why you cant fire bullets in the dream world. You wouldn't want to anyway given our mission. We aren't supposed to be discovered" She said a the last word little louder in a teasing voice so that the pony in the corner could hear. "Is time out over yet" Nightshade moaned "Yes you may return to the group as long as you promise to quit acting like a foal in front of my sisters pupil." Luna said "And perhaps you can finish this discussion with an explanation of last night events to your missions subject." "Very well. So last night you had the pleasure of meeting me at work. I know you have seen me around the grounds while exercising but it was only by accident that you saw me last night. I was waiting for you to gain some distance from the changelings before I was going to make my move and eliminate them and faze out of the dream would without you seeing me. However you decided that you wanted to forget where the walls were inside your house. Was thinking of fazing out and abandoning the mission till another night but when you thought that hiding in the closet would do you some good I left it to chance that you would have time to recognize me while I went to work on those bugs. I also heard you were having these nightmares for a while and didn't want you to have to go through it another night." "Well I am thankful that you decided to show yourself. And I am sorry that you got bitten. How is it that you are still hurt even after coming back out of the dream world?" Twilight asked "Its not a problem everyone on the team has taken a few bumps and bruises. Just take a look at Shadow." Twilight looked over to see Star Glow blowing a raspberry with her tongue through her partners wing. Twilight tried to act concerned while simultaneously tying to stifle her giggles at the bat pony mares antics. "How did that happen?" "Just because we cant use guns doesn't mean nightmares cant" Shadow said while clamping Star Glows tongue between his hooves" "Wet me go!!" his partner squealed "Wet you what? I don't have any water left?" Shadow said with a smirk holding onto his partners tongue for a few more seconds before releasing the mare "Jerk!" "Goofball" Twilight could definitely tell those two enjoyed each others company even though Shadow was a serious pony most of the time he enjoyed the antics of his teammate. She was just at that right level of crazy for him. "As I said." Nightshade said deciding to be the on topic pony for once. "Though we possess the ability to be in the dream word we don't become the dream itself. We are part of it but still mortal. If we get hurt in the dream world we carry that injury back with us. And if we die in the dream world....we don't come back." "So why do you do it? Why put your life at risk to kill something that doesn't even really exist?" "We all have our reasons, I do it because no one else can stand me in other units" Nightshade said with a little more pride than one would expect. "I do it because I love the combat" Said Cactus Blossom "I do it because it is an honor to serve the citizens" Shadow added "I just like to see all the silly things ponies dream about!!" Star Glow said gleefully "How long has this been going on for? How many ponies have been visited by you four in their nightmares. I know at least one of you was in Spikes dream one night. Have you been in any other pony's I knows dreams?" "Probably all of them" Luna said casualy "ALL OF THEM?" Twilight said in shock "Shadow go get the Ponyville files" "Yes Princess" Shadow responded. "So Twilight, would you like to know what nightmares your friend have had? Some of them are pretty interesting" Luna said with a smile.
CompromisedSpike was awoken with a start by the sounds of Twilight thrashing in her sleep. She had been doing this a lot lately, but always refused to talk about it no matter how much he would plead with her to confide her troubles with him. He had a good guess what the nightmares were about, as they began soon after the changeling invasion at the Canterlot wedding. He had long since given up on waking her from these dreams. She always said it was no use and they only resumed again once she fell back into a fitful sleep. Spike felt guilty about not telling Twilight sooner that he himself was plagued by nightmares once too. He wanted to be brave and handle his problems himself, but now saw that its only natural to want to help those you care about even when they don't want it. The small dragon couldn't remember why they had stopped, only that as he was fleeing his pursuers he heard a short scuffle and a blood curdling scream. When he turned around to look, expecting far worse to now be on his tail, he only saw a dark shadow with glowing yellow eyes disappear through a fog as his nightmares burst into a dark mist. When he quickly awoke, he heard the echoes of a stallion’s voice whispering "sweet dreams". He had written to Princess Luna about it, as the night was her domain, and also out of fear that Nightmare Moon had something to do with it. He had seen eyes like that before. Her response was cryptic to say the least, and down right startling in its last words. Dear, Spike I am truly sorry that these nightmares had lasted so long. I only sensed them recently but did not have the time to deal with them myself. I have been incredibly busy with increased security at Canterlot. On that note we look forward to seeing you next week for the wedding. My sister and I are truly excited that our niece should wed someone as great our Captain. I am even more happy to hear you confirm that they have been taken care of. I would like to assure you that Nightmare moon has not returned. As long as I am here she can not exist. I do however see how you would have thought it was we and not I that you had seen. I am sure this is because Scootaloo has told you about the headless horse incident. I assure you that the purging of that nightmare was only collateral fun. The filly's real fears lay within herself as mine once had. I felt obligated to her and myself to guide her in the right direction as I wish one had done for me over a thousand years ago. Please let me know if you have any nightmares in the future and they will be dealt with much more promptly. Sweet Dreams, Princess Luna "Well that's a relief that Nightmare Moon is not back. But if that wasn't Luna in my dream, then who was it?" Spike said to himself as he discarded the letter. Spike now felt he had to tell Twilight about his nightmares and the strange circumstance of their abrupt cessation, adamant that something evil was still amiss, but as usual she dismissed it as coincidence. Just because Pinkie had convinced her of the reality of the bizarre phenomena known as ‘Pinkie Sense’ didn't mean that she was going to start buying into conspiracy theories. So life went on. In the following weeks Spike forgot about the incident. He had his sweet dreams of Rarity back, which always helped him make sure he was the first to rise in the morning to do laundry amongst his other chores. He just wished that Twilight would be rid of her own nightmares. "Stay away from me you monsters!" Twilight screamed as changelings pursued her through the library in their true, hideous forms. "Give in, little pony. Your love could not save your friends, but your devotion still remains, and we want it!" the two changelings yelled in unison as they bared their fangs. The chase had been going on for what felt like hours. The changelings were toying with her, as if they were playing with their food, enjoying every moment of her fear. The torment was relentless, with no end in sight. "You can submit to us whenever you choose, unicorn," one of the monsters growled. "We can chase you all day from the energy gained from feeding on your friends," the other hissed. "Your brother alone was a buffet I shall never forget!" Panic was in full force as Twilight narrowly dodged a pounce, and she felt fangs pass through the air inches from her throat. She was beginning to tire as she had used nearly all her magic in order to sustain her endurance. Combative magic had proved ineffective against her foes, and desperation had quickly taken a stranglehold on her usually disciplined mind. It all felt so real though. The burning in her legs, the tears in her eyes, and the stench of the bug-like creatures in hot pursuit. Twilight knew the floor plan of the library by heart and used it to keep a hoofstep ahead of the monsters. However, in her panic she took a wrong turn and found herself at a dead end. With nowhere else to go she turned and put up a defensive posture. A snickering hiss emanated from the triumphant monsters as they deliberately took their time closing the distance with their trapped prey. Twilight, however, did not plan on going quietly to her demise. She would make them work for it. She threw open a nearby closet door—and was met with a frightening pair of yellow eyes with black slits in place of pupils. She closed her own eyes and prepared for the end. Instead, she felt a rush of wind, followed immediately by the sound of crushing exoskeleton and a shriek behind her. She turned to see a bat pony in full purple battle armor sending a final crushing hoof stomp to the skull of the shattered changeling it had pounced on. As the fatal strike was delivered, the body vanished in a dark cloud of smoke. The second changeling instinctively fought back, sinking its fangs into the shoulder of the pony. The bat pony winced slightly before delivering a quick hoof strike to the changeling, dislodging the fangs and then pinning the creature to the ground. The changeling squirmed as the soldier calmly drew two blades and unceremoniously buried them to the hilt into the neck and chest of his subdued adversary. As the final victim also burst into black fog, a scream broke the silence. The bat pony instantly took a combative stance. This scream, however, came from the now thoroughly terrified Twilight Sparkle. The slit-eyed pony relaxed his stance upon realizing there were no more threats to be dealt with and made eye contact with her. This, however, was a mistake. He should have known that the princess' personal student had been around Canterlot's barracks. Her brother was the Captain of the Royal Guard, after all. He should have expected her to have a seen few of Luna's finest often enough to know who they were. He was not supposed to be seen. He was a shadow warrior, meant to do a job that the princess herself wished she had the time for. Bat ponies had long been feared due to the legend of them siding with nightmare moon a millennia ago. It was a truth without guilt. Twilight was surprised to see a bat pony in her own dreams, of all places. They were the outcasts of society—the disgraced race of a fallen monarch. Many had argued that they should have known better than to uphold their oath even after Luna's descent into darkness and should be banished. It did not matter to the masses that Celestia herself had pardoned them. Bat ponies were not welcome in society, and thus had clung to the shadows. They didn't mind. The dark had always been their domain. Twilight was silent for a moment, and then slowly opened her mouth and whispered, "Night Shade? Is that you?" "Oh buck me to Tartarus…" he whispered harshly to himself before he quickly pressed his hoof to the purple eye of his armor’s chest piece and vanished into thin air. As he faded, he smiled to Twilight, his voice echoing around the silence in the library. "Sweet dreams." * * * Twilight awoke the next morning all but throwing herself out of bed to find Spike. When she found him, she sat him down quickly and quietly. "Spike, we need to talk about last night." "Oh… Oh jeez… You see… um, I thought you were asleep. I’m sorry, Twi, I didn't mean for you to see that. I just keep having the best dreams. I always do laundry after." "What— Eww! No, Spike, this isn't about that!" she said in disgust. "But we do have to have a talk soon. You’re getting older." "What’s this about then?" Spike asked curiously. "What was it you saw when your nightmares stopped?" "I told you, I didn't really see anything. It all happened so fast, like something just swooped in and turned my nightmares into mist." "...Into mist. What else can you remember?" "There were some yellow eyes. But they were shaped like mine, definitely not pony shaped." "Maybe not your average pony…" "What do you mean, Twilight?" "Just a hunch. What else?" "That's all I saw." "What did you hear then?" "Oh yeah, right! I know it sounds strange, but someone wished me sweet dreams". Twilight stood there, too shocked to speak. There was no way this was coincidence. Her studies had taught her that even the impossible has to be true when there is overwhelming evidence. There was definitely something going on she wasn't aware about. But that couldn't be possible… could it? Princess Celestia had granted her a clearance level of top secret. There was nothing the princess hid from her… Nothing Princess Celestia hid from her. "Spike, cancel all my plans for the day," she ordered her companion. "It’s not like you ever have plans anyway…" Spike mumbled. "What?" "I said, your schedule is all clear for the rest of the day." "Good. I need to go look into something." "What is it?" "Can't tell you, it may be a secret." "Where are you going?" Spike asked, suddenly more than a little curious. "I'm going to go visit the princess." "Oh okay, you had me worried. You haven't gotten to see Princess Celestia for a while." "I’m going to see Princess Luna," corrected Twilight. "Oh… Um, about that…? I wrote her a letter the other week," Spike said in a matter-of-factly manner. "You did? About what?" Twilight asked, surprised. "You never write to Luna." "About the nightmares you have been having." Twilight felt her hunch was being proven more and more correct. But if that was the case, why was she not informed? How long has this been going on? Luna had some answering to do. * * *
Brought to LightThe trip to canter lot was rather boring to the purple unicorn as short as it was. She usually had her friends to accompany her on train rides but she was not going to bring them along only too look like a foal if her intuitions were false. The rails rattled and the train car bounced sporadically but all this was drowned out to Twilight who was lost in her thoughts. How could something like this be happening without her knowledge? Didn't the princess trust her with everything? Who were these dream walkers? Many different reasons bounced around her head. Perhaps this was going on without the knowledge of the royal sisters. Maybe she and her friend would be needed to put a stop to this mysterious evil. Or was any evil even going on? Sure the bat ponies are a fearsome looking breed but she had never taken the time to speak with them. Regardless of what the answer would be she wanted to know. The train conductor announced the stop and Twilight stepped off the train. She looked beyond the station platform and gazed upon the grandeur Canterlot Castle. This place had been both her home and school growing up but it never ceased to captivate her. Twilight began the long walk to the wing of the castle that housed the chambers of Princess Luna. Why two princesses needed a castle so large and with so many rooms dumbfounded the unicorn but she settled with the fact that royalty just came with certain perks. The guards would always let her pass without question anywhere she wanted to go. After all she was well know as both the element of magic and in the guards eyes more importantly the little sister of the captain of the royal guard. No pony would be so foolish to hassle their commanders flesh and blood. As it was daylight it was the celestial guards at the castles posts. She quite preferred them to Luna's guards. The celestial guard would always greet her with a smile and a cheerful good morning. The night watch always seemed so cold and hard. They never smiled and would demand to know where she was going and for what purpose. Perhaps they were just being professional. The celestial guard acted the same as the night watch when confronting strangers. Twilight assumed they may have just treated her special since many had watched her grow up since she was a filly. Luna night watch only began to assume their post once Nightmare Moon had been destroyed and Luna returned to help run the kingdom. They showed the purple unicorn no special treatment. Twilight finally arrived at the bed champers of the princess of the night. She usually slept during the day but when twilight informed the hoof maiden that she was there to speak to Luna she was informed that Luna was not in her chambers but was was awake and in the Lunar wing of the castle. So, Twilight resumed her hunt for the princess down the corridors of the castle. When she reached the lunar wing she found that the night watch stood guard at the doors. She froze in fright remerging the fearsome encounter of the previous night. Sighing she thought back to what her pink friend had taught her. No she was not going to laugh at them, but she was going to stand tall. She walked up to the doors and was immediately stopped by the guards. "What is your business in the Lunar Wing?" A gruff lunar stallion asked "Um... I'm here to speak with the princess" Twilight replied with a voice meek enough to rival her shy pegasus friend. "There is no meetings scheduled during daylight hours, what is this regarding?" The second guard asked. "I don't have a meeting scheduled but this pertains to maters of Equestria's national security and I can only discuss this with Luna herself. " Twilight didn't know if she way lying but she wasn't the element oh honesty so she didn't really care either. "Very well Miss Sparkle. The princess should be in a meeting but if is a matter of national security you may interrupt as long as it is quick. She is in the Office of Nocturnal Affairs in the Operations Wing. With that the lunar stallions raised their halberds with their moon shaped axe blades un unison. Twilight sighed in relief before walking through the doors. What she found on the other side was surprisingly un glamorous hallway with doors on the right. She had expected as pomp and grandeur throughout the castle. This part of the citadel however seemed to only care about whatever was happening behind the doors. She opened the doors to the operations wing and found it eerily silent. No pony was seen in the hall so she trotted down the passage eyeing the doors on the right. She had never heard of any of these names and knew not what they meant or their purpose. Names like "Skyfall, Foreign Threats, Marines, Intelligence" and a door that seemed to have taken some abuse and suffered from neglect. She could see hoof indentations where is seems like many ponies had bucked at it either to attempt to knock it down or just our of anger. There were carving in the door as well, mostly consisting of the word traitors. This door bore an placard obviously not polished in a while. It read "Union" Upon reaching a door labeled simply "Dreams" Twilight could hear Luna's voice on the other side. The door was locked but twilight didn't feel like knocking and wanted to try her lock picking magic. Upon quickly achieving her goal she calmly open the door and walked in. Inside she could see three bat ponies, two mares and a stallion talking with the princess who had her back to Twilight. They were so engrossed in whatever they were talking about they did not notice the presence of the purple unicorn until she was standing right next the Luna. "Would you mind telling me what's going on princess?" Luna was startled to say the least but and voiced her anger with her royal voice. "TWILIGHT SPARKLE WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS TESSPASSING ON OFFICIAL BUSINESS!" "Its whatever this official business is that I am here to find out about. I got a feeling that you know exactly what I'm talking about" Twilight said with a smirk. She had grown used to the strength of Luna's voice and was unfazed. "Ahem, my apologies for the volume Twilight. But whatever are you referring to? I assure you that what goes on in my wing is of no concern of yours." "I can tell when your lying princess. Your a worse liar than applejack" "Well then if you think you know so much then would you mind explaining why your here and what it has to do with me" Twilight recounted the story of last nights nightmare and how the princess could not deny that a multitude of what Luna was calling coincidences could only result in one fact. That the princess was running some sort of operation that entailed her guards infiltrating ponies dreams. Luna listened quietly as Twilight ranted about all her evidence. Upon the purple unicorn panting heavily and her mouth finial ceasing to move the princess responded. "Its all just a dream Twilight. There is no limit to what can happen in the dream world and how real it can feel. The reason you saw a bat pony you recognized is because aside from nightmares you can only see things in your dreams that you have seen before while awake. I'm sure you have seen Night Shade around the garrison in the past. Can you show me any evidence in world of daylight that my guard has been in your dreams. Just then the door to the office opened and in walked none other than Night Shade. The stallion had yet to notice twilight and was trotting in with a surprisingly goofy jump in his step. "Sorry to keep you all waiting on the de-brief. I had to drain the dragon. Get it!! because saying lizard just would not......" He cut himself off before he finished his tasteless statement as he saw who was standing right in front of him. It was the mare from his last mission. Behind her sat the princess giving him the royal stink eye and the rest of his team in a mix of facehoofs and snickering. He went to give himself a facehoof but cringed in pain and grasped his freshly bandaged shoulder. "Oh my what happened to your shoulder Night Shade?" Twilight asked sarcastically. "Oh hello Miss Sparkle. Well you see....I...I'm a very bad cook and had a little mishap and cut myself." "Minotaur manure!" Twilight yelled as she used her magic to quickly unwrap the bat ponies bandage. When the bandage flew off twilight could easily see the puncture would that she saw the stallion receive from the changelings bite. "Oh that's a very odd type of knife you were using then. You must be the worst cook in Equestria if your trying to chop a salad with CHANGLING FANGS!!" She yelled both at the stallion and at the princess Nightshade looked over at the princess for what to do but the princess shook her head. She knew that she could not hide the truth and lie to Twilight any longer. "Okay Twilight. Yes there are operations taking place in the dreams of my subjects. But before you go cracking your horn let me explain myself. What do you want to know?" "Everything" Twilight responded "I expected as much" Luna grinned. "Well, Let me start with introducing you to the rest of the team"
We Are The Dream Guards"Well since you seem to have made such a great first...well second impression why don't you continue Nightshade" Luna said half jokingly. With a slight blush nightshade cleared his throat. "Well twilight as I was saying, your couldn't rightly call it a liza-" "YOU KNOW WHAT I BUCKING MEANT!!" Luna roared "Forgive him Twilight he can be a bit of a comedian. At least he thinks he's funny" One of the other bat ponies said with a grin. "Well that wasn't what I was expecting from him after last night to say the least but its nice to see that you bat ponies aren't vicious monsters with no sense of humor all the time." "You sure are trying to stay on our good side aren't you" A bat pony mare hissed from behind Luna as the night princess stepped between the two. "Well then I think its time to get back to business here." A second mare said. "Come on now tell her your pathetic story Nightshade" "Hey!....Ahem, well then lets start from the beginning. As you know we bat ponies are a mysterious breed. At least that's how we like to keep it. We have always been shunned and ostracized since our dear princess had her little tangle with jealousy. We swore an oath to stand by the Princess of the Night no matter what. And though it seemed like madness we as a race chose to stay faithful. Our ancestors battled our fellow guards as Celestia and Luna fought their own battle. Our race is one that takes great pride in our combative skills of hoof and fang so our forefathers held their own against the three other races." "Wait a minute...do you drink blood? You said you enjoy using your fangs as a weapon" Twilight interrupted "No no Twilight. We are more in kin to fruit bats than vampire bats. But just because we like sweet fruits doesn't mean we wont use our teeth when things go sour. Use it or lose it as they say." Nightshade said with a wink. "One more dirty joke and I'm going to tell my sister what you just implied to her student" Luna warned "Oh come on you usually give me ten a day before you start hitting me and I've only used six!....Which is spelled very similar to-" "That's it go sit in the corner!!!" Luna said as she pointed her hoof to a stool already placed there. "Is that stool there just for him?" Twilight asked incredulously "Act like a foal get treated like a foal" one of the mares stated flatly. "Cactus blossom, would you please continue where your immature team mate left off" Luna said The mare in question stepped from the shadow into the dim light. She had a greenish gray coat and a creamy white mane that had a spiky look to it. "As you wish princess. Good afternoon Twilight. As my partner was saying during the battle of the long night our ancest-" "Partner? As in you two are a couple?" Twilight asked curiously "Oh buck no!! He drives me wing itching mad. He is my partner for when there are missions that require two of us. Despite all his talk he never gets any" "Hey that not very-" "NO TALKING ON TIME OUT DIPSHIT" Blossom yelled "Now you see how she got her name, Very pretty but can a bit prickly" Nightshade dared to add "Can I hurt him please?" Blossom begged Luna as she reached for her half moon shaped boomerang like blade "Later when your off duty perhaps, for now just....please continue" Luna said with a sigh "Well as I was saying, during the battle of the long night our ancestors held their own despite the drastic difference in numbers. But when Nightmare Moon was banished and Celestia was emerged from the rubble of Castle Everfree they knew that it was over. Because there was no longer a princess to uphold their oath too there was no reason to continue to fight their brothers and sisters of the Day Guard." "So where did you all go for the last thousand years?" Twilight asked, eager to learn something she for once didn't already know. "I was getting to that if you would close your mouth and open your ears" "Easy Cactus" Luna warned "She may not look it but Twilight is very skilled in combative magic." "From what I heard in the debrief until we were interrupted she was nothing but a damsel in distress last night that our resident clown had to save." "I can still hear you!" Said the voice from the corner "And your still on time out!" Cactus yelled again at her unruly partner. "How do you two possible work together on these "missions" if you cant stand each other?" Twilight asked "When your in the guard you have to understand the difference between professional time, and personal time. As much as I hate to say it Nightshade here is a very good fighter and his close in fighting style complements my ability to eliminate a target by throwing my blade." "Aww thanks cactus pear" Nightshade cooed in a smooth voice Just then he received a very crude mane cut as the moon shaped blade embedded itself in the wall a few inches above his head. "I said don't call me that!!" "Children can we please get this moving I should have been in bed hours ago." said a the other bat stallion. "Id be happy to if Nightshade would shut the buck up!" At this point twilight didn't know what to think anymore. She had only seen the Night Guard in their professional setting around the castle. She was beginning to see that their behavior was just as ridiculous and goofy if not more than the Day Guard that she had gotten to know personally growing up. "I should introduce Night Shade to Pinkie" Twilight thought to herself... Before quickly realizing that was a horrible idea. "As I was saying" Cactus Blossom said after taking a deep breath. "At the conclusion of the battle between the two alicorns our ancestors lay down their arms and put their fate in the hooves of Celestia. We are told that Celestia did not want to punish us as we were only upholding our vows and surrendered peacefully when our duties were no longer justified. However part of being ruler is dealing with politics, and the citizens of Equestria demanded vengeance for what they thought was our betrayal. The bat ponies were exiled from the kingdom." "Tis why I shy away from politics and leave that part of ruling to my sister, I am not one that would be able to do what is wrong only to do what others believe is right" Luna said. "Then what is it you do besides raise the moon Princess?" Twilight asked "Is it not obvious? I am the Princess of War." "War?" Twilight asked shocked "Yes war, do you not honestly believe that this world is as beautiful and peaceful all over? There is a lot that can be accomplished with different kinds of magic. Cadence uses love, my sister is blessed with powers vastly greater than any other Alicorn. And I have a mind for tactics and secrecy. But the ponies of equestira have their own. Peace brings them happiness and their happiness is a source of great power. You saw that first hand at the crystal empire. Without happiness the crystal ponies were powerless to hold back Sombra. Giving the majority of ponies a sense of peace even if it is a false peace is necessary to keep Equestria strong. It is why you see the guard stationed here in Canterlot are spit and polish. We don't want the citizens to know what the guard really does. It is a world of dirt, blood, bullets and pain. It is the sacrifice of the few for the many and the brotherhood that give the guards their pride in their thankless occupation. Despite our attempts we were not able to keep the war with the Griffon Empire in the dark. It was far to costly. Your brother himself had his first taste of combat there, him and Captain Fleethoof were forever bonded by their experiences there. "My brother saw combat? Who is Fleethoof, How come I have never seen him out on the training grounds?" "Yes he saw more than he probably cared to see. As for Fleethoof he is the captain of another unit we like to keep quiet about. He is also your brothers closes friend and comrade. If your brother cares to tell you about him that's his choice but he knows what he may say and may not say. I am honestly surprised you didn't meet him at the Everfree Forest incident. I heard Scootaloo was very happy to see that little grey Pegasus return from the forest unharmed." Luna added remembering the orange filly she had helped. At the mention of the Everfree incident the bat ponies in the room became very somber. They knew all too well about the horrors that took the lives of a few of lunar guard brothers and sisters. They also knew that the surviving two were now under the command of Captain Fleethoof, whatever it was that his unit did. The unit may have been top secret but the Lunar guard was a tight knit society and nothing ever went unnoticed. "Well if its a secret I know my brother wouldn't say anything. He is far too professional. But as for seeing combat why wouldn't he tell me." "Twilight....Would you really want to know those things about your brother? There are things that the royal guard must do to protect Equestia that no pony wishes they had to do. And in turn they don't tell their loved ones in order to protect those who look up to them. I'm sure your brother didn't want to lie to you. He just wants you to always look at him as your, oh what was it...BBBFF or something, don't know what the hay he was talking about. "Big Brother Best Friend Forever..." Twilight whispered "That was it, he merely wishes that you will always look at him as the person who was the kind brother you had growing up. He doesn't want you to look at him and see the blood on his hooves." "Say no more, I understand." Twilight said somberly. But since you mentioned it why don't any of the bat ponies here use the rifles is see the guard training with outside the walls. Wouldn't it be a lot easier than hoof to hoof? "A very good question Twilight, I'll let Shadow Blitz answer that one" Said the princess of the night The other stallion now exited the shadow into the dim light. He had a stronger build to Nightshade and a much more of a serious air to him. When he came to a stop he leaned causally against a large halberd axe held in the hook of his wing. The axe had the classic moon shaped blade of the lunar guards watch ponies but with a lightning bold shaped blade protruding from the end. "Good afternoon miss sparkle. To answer your question I must first explain to you the means in which we cross the bridge so to speak between the dream world and consciousness. As you know each of the pony breeds has its own special strengths and abilities. Pegasi are agile and can manipulate the weather. Unicorns as you know yourself have telepathy which they seem to find new practical applications for depending on how gifted the pony. Earth ponies though at first glace seem nothing special has a gift with growing plants and all the food we need. Without them many would starve. They also have a higher stamina and strength than your average pony. Us bat ponies however don't have any of those abilities. We sleep during the day. We are creatures of the night. We are incredibly stealthy which is why we have been able to go un noticed for so many centuries. The citizens of Equestria eventually forgot about the battle of the long night and Nightmare moon which is why we were able to return from the shadows when Luna returned" "Then why are you never seen around Equestria?" "We still prefer to keep to ourselves as we never forgot the loss of trust between the bat ponies and the other breeds. We have colonies in mountain caves. That is where the civilian bat ponies reside. Reintroduction of our race into the guard takes time so other than bat ponies assigned to special units like this one and special trainers like in the new Marine units all of our bat pony warriors are stationed on a base knows as The Shades." Shadow explained "That's understandable it took her a while to re acquaint herself with society" Twilight said motioning to Luna "Yes that's true. But as I was saying, We bat ponies have an ability that few know about. You now know that ability is to enter dreams. Our armor and weapons has to be enchanted however by Luna." "Then why not have her enchant the guns?" "She could and we would be able to bring them but they would be no more useful than a bludgeon." "Don't be talking shit on bludgeons" A mare yet to be introduced to twilight said "I never said there was anything wrong with them Star Glow" Shadow said As he spoke the second bat pony mare stepped into the light clutching a spiked mace in her teeth. She had a dark black coat that seemed to shimmer a dull light. Her mane was a cobalt blue and her eyes were nearly silver in color. "Hiya I'm Star Glow but you can call me Glowey!" "Pleasure to meet you" twilight said with a smile, happy to see a happy go lucky personality that wasn't completely batty. "If you don't mind I'll take it from here partner" "Go right ahead Star, you understand this science stuff more than me anyway" Said Shadow "I heard you like science Twilight so I am sure this will be easy for you to understand. Enchanting a rifle is easy as it is just mechanism to fire the rounds. It's the rounds however that are tricky. You see when a bullet is fired and the gunpowder goes from a solid to a gas it changes its chemical structure." "Therefore it is no longer what it was when it was enchanted!!" Twilight yelled "Exactly. Since while being fired it is no longer an enchanted item it simply disappears as it is oxidizing in the chamber. That's why you cant fire bullets in the dream world. You wouldn't want to anyway given our mission. We aren't supposed to be discovered" She said a the last word little louder in a teasing voice so that the pony in the corner could hear. "Is time out over yet" Nightshade moaned "Yes you may return to the group as long as you promise to quit acting like a foal in front of my sisters pupil." Luna said "And perhaps you can finish this discussion with an explanation of last night events to your missions subject." "Very well. So last night you had the pleasure of meeting me at work. I know you have seen me around the grounds while exercising but it was only by accident that you saw me last night. I was waiting for you to gain some distance from the changelings before I was going to make my move and eliminate them and faze out of the dream would without you seeing me. However you decided that you wanted to forget where the walls were inside your house. Was thinking of fazing out and abandoning the mission till another night but when you thought that hiding in the closet would do you some good I left it to chance that you would have time to recognize me while I went to work on those bugs. I also heard you were having these nightmares for a while and didn't want you to have to go through it another night." "Well I am thankful that you decided to show yourself. And I am sorry that you got bitten. How is it that you are still hurt even after coming back out of the dream world?" Twilight asked "Its not a problem everyone on the team has taken a few bumps and bruises. Just take a look at Shadow." Twilight looked over to see Star Glow blowing a raspberry with her tongue through her partners wing. Twilight tried to act concerned while simultaneously tying to stifle her giggles at the bat pony mares antics. "How did that happen?" "Just because we cant use guns doesn't mean nightmares cant" Shadow said while clamping Star Glows tongue between his hooves" "Wet me go!!" his partner squealed "Wet you what? I don't have any water left?" Shadow said with a smirk holding onto his partners tongue for a few more seconds before releasing the mare "Jerk!" "Goofball" Twilight could definitely tell those two enjoyed each others company even though Shadow was a serious pony most of the time he enjoyed the antics of his teammate. She was just at that right level of crazy for him. "As I said." Nightshade said deciding to be the on topic pony for once. "Though we possess the ability to be in the dream word we don't become the dream itself. We are part of it but still mortal. If we get hurt in the dream world we carry that injury back with us. And if we die in the dream world....we don't come back." "So why do you do it? Why put your life at risk to kill something that doesn't even really exist?" "We all have our reasons, I do it because no one else can stand me in other units" Nightshade said with a little more pride than one would expect. "I do it because I love the combat" Said Cactus Blossom "I do it because it is an honor to serve the citizens" Shadow added "I just like to see all the silly things ponies dream about!!" Star Glow said gleefully "How long has this been going on for? How many ponies have been visited by you four in their nightmares. I know at least one of you was in Spikes dream one night. Have you been in any other pony's I knows dreams?" "Probably all of them" Luna said casualy "ALL OF THEM?" Twilight said in shock "Shadow go get the Ponyville files" "Yes Princess" Shadow responded. "So Twilight, would you like to know what nightmares your friend have had? Some of them are pretty interesting" Luna said with a smile.
