Storm

        The night is the most peaceful time of day in the city of Canterlot. Compared to the bustling action of the daylight hours, nightfall is a time that is nearly completely serene. Perfect for a nice, romantic evening by a lake. Or for a family dinner, or sitting by a fire telling stories and laughing at jokes. Or for a nice, relaxing walk through the forest. But most of all, it is a perfect time for sleep. Of course, things are not always what they seem. Beneath the façade of serenity, many horrible things happen. The Lunar Guards have their hooves full keeping all the would-be crime lords in check.

        Then you have those crime lords who are authentic. Like Al Capony. His syndicate was eventually taken down a few years ago, but most crime lords strive to become as famous and dangerous as he was. In fact, the Lunar Guards are dealing with a problem right now. The relatively famous Equestrian Mafia. Their crimes are beyond the belief of anypony, thus, their fame is in the form of a simple myth, to scare young foals to bed. If only they were aware of what was coming, if only they weren’t so reassured. If only they were ready.

        But this story isn’t about the Mafia. It’s about a single, high-ranking Lunar Guard who just happens to have worked on such a case. But we’ll save his story for later, for this tale does not begin with him. Anyways, most Lunar Guards are willing to protect the Princess who brings the night at a moments notice. While waiting for something to cause them to act, however, the Lunar Guards share the duties of the Solar Guards. The Lunar Guards patrol the streets at night, while the Solar Guards patrol during the daylight hours.

The Solar Guards have got it easy, for crime usually doesn’t strike until the small hours of the morning, when it’s near pitch-black outside, lit only by the stars and the streetlamps spaced periodically throughout the city. The Lunar Guards have to be quick-thinking, strong, and agile just to make it through their shift. Yet they persevere. The only issue with the Lunar Guards is that they don’t like help. If a task is given to one of them, they would either take it on alone or enlist the help of a single friend. They don’t always understand the fact that sometimes, it takes more than one pony to handle a given situation. In the situation to come, it would take many more than a pony would think. Little did they know that the events to come were triggered in the past.

----------------------------------------------------- 6 Years Ago ----------------------------------------------------

        It was a fateful night; the moon had just barely risen halfway past the horizon. A lone figure stood cloaked in darkness just out of sight to the untrained spotter. The figure shifted, and the minimal light reflected off of the gleaming steel of a sword. The metal was immediately covered again, however, so the flash of light produced would have been unnoticeable to one not looking for it. A similar flash of light came from the position of another cloaked figure, this one carrying wingblades and hoofclaws. A Lunar Guard walking past the second cloaked figure noticed this flash of light and nodded.

        “All clear, Steel. You can send the signal to Flamebrand and Helix.”

The cloaked figure nodded back. “Thanks, Spearhead,” he said, before moving further back into the deeper shadows. Spearhead watched him until he was out of sight completely, before continuing with the plan. Keeping his spear at the ready, he moved further down the street, until he was standing just outside a specific door. He waited until he saw three figures, all clad in black cloaks, moving towards him, before knocking on the door.

“Lunar Guard, open up!” He called to anyone inside the building. No answer. He tried the door, but it was barred. Sighing, he called out, “You have five seconds to open this door before I do it for you! One! Two! Three!” He paused slightly after three, waiting to see if he could hear anything. By this time, the three cloaked figures had made their way to him. He nodded to them before continuing his count, “Four! Five! That’s it! Your time is up! Stand clear!”

All four of them kicked the door at the same time. It was so powerful that a massive shudder rippled through the door. A split second later, the door literally flew off it’s hinges. The three cloaked figures ran into the room and threw off their cloaks.

At the front was a well-built stallion. His leathery wings had slightly modified wingblades attached to them. On his hooves were standard-issue hoofclaws. His coat was a dark gray in color, matching Spearhead’s own coat, yet they were not related. His eyes were golden yellow in color, and they darted around the room, taking in every detail in seconds. He wore dark leather armor. His mane and tail were both black and grey. His name is Steel Shadow.

Next to him, on his left, was an earth pony mare. She had a sword held horizontally in her teeth and wore the same leather armor as Steel Shadow. Her coat was a dark red. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue, matching Spearhead’s eyes, yet they were not related either. Her mane and tail were both brown and gold. Her mane was worn in a loose ponytail and her tail was worn in a loose braid. Her name is Flamebrand.

On Steel Shadow’s right was Spearhead. He held his spear horizontally, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. He wore standard-issue Lunar Guard armor, including the helmet, which was made of steel plates. His coat matched Steel’s, as was stated previously. His eyes were the same color as Flamebrand’s. His mane and tail were both blue and light blue.

Finally, bringing up the rear, we have a unicorn stallion. He held a bow aloft with his magic, and had a quiver strapped to his back. He wore the same leather armor as Flamebrand and Steel Shadow. His coat was a deep, navy blue. His eyes were emerald green, and were searching the room frantically for a target. His mane and tail matched Flamebrand’s in color, for they were brother and sister. His mane and tail were worn loose yet kept short. His name is Helix.

A few moments after entering, it occurred to the four of them that the building was empty. Their faces all adopted looks of surprise until Helix noticed something.

“Guys, look! The window!” He gestured to the window in question, which appeared to have been thrown open in a hurry.

“Celestia be damned. They got away. AGAIN,” Flamebrand replied incredulously.

“It would appear that way,” Steel Shadow confirmed, “but not everything is as it appears.”

“What are we all still standing around here for? We need to get out there and pursue them!” Spearhead called as he galloped out the front door.

“Spearhead’s right! Let’s go get those thieves!”

They all charged out after Spearhead, before sliding to a stop when they saw the Solar Diarch standing over them. They immediately bowed, before standing back up again as Celestia addressed them.

“Mind telling me what’s going on, Captain Steel Shadow?” Celestia raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, Your Highness. We are in pursuit of the documents that were stolen from the Canterlot Castle Architect’s room. The plans stolen mapped what little of the Caves we had explored so far. Based on the architect’s description, the thief is a male Gryphon. He appears to be making a beeline to the north. We had locked down his location to the building we just left, but he must have heard us coming and made a run for it.”

Just at that moment, Spearhead came running back around the building, curious as to why the others were taking so long. He slid to a stop, much as the others did, and immediately went into a bow when he saw Celestia. “Your Highness,” he said slowly, “we were not expecting you.”

“Ah, you must be Captain Spearhead. Steel Shadow was just filling me in on all the details of your little, self-undertaken mission.”

“Actually, Princess, that’s all the information we have.”

“Oh. Well in that case, I suppose I should leave you to your investigation. Proceed as you were.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Steel Shadow replied. They all bowed again. Celestia flew away and the four ponies rose. Turning to his companions, Steel Shadow suggested, “LEt’s get a move on. We don’t want that trail getting cold.” The others all nodded in agreement before galloping around the back of the house.

They rounded the corner and were met with a surprise. Eight gryphons, appearing to have come down from the Northern Kingdoms, stood before the four ponies, crossbows leveled and ready to launch their quarrels at a moment’s notice. Another gryphon, this one taller than the others, stepped forward.

“So, these are the foolish ponies that have been following us these past few days? I suppose we’ll have to teach them to stay out of our business. Relieve them of their weapons.” He turned to walk away.

“Hold it!” Helix called out to him. The tall gryphon paused. He turned back to the four ponies, his gaze settling menacingly on Helix.

“Take this one first,” He said to his followers. He turned to leave once more, before being stopped by a second voice.

“Sir!” One of the gryphons called to him. “They’re gone!”

“What!?” The tall gryphon asked incredulously before screaming orders at his troops. “Fan out! Find them! We can’t let them escape with word of us!”

“You don’t have to search too hard,” Steel Shadow called from the roof of the building. Four crossbows immediately trained their sights on him, the others following suit. The tall gryphon raised an eyebrow.

“You’re planning something, pony. I don’t know what, but there’s no way you’d give yourself up so easily.”

Steel scoffed, “Who said I’m giving myself up?”

Again, the gryphon raised an eyebrow. “I’ve got eight crossbows aimed at you-”

“And not a single one will hit,” Steel interrupted.

“What makes you say that?”

“This.” As he spoke that one word, four of the gryphons dropped to the ground, arrows protruding from their chests. As the other four gryphons reflexively tensed up and released the quarrels, Firebrand and Spearhead stood next to Steel, and he was right. Not a single quarrel hit it’s mark. The gryphons looked on in amazement until they noticed that their was a shield of magic protecting the three ponies on the rooftop.

“Drop your shield, and fight like brave warriors!” The gryphon leader called out to them.

“Okay,” Steel replied. The shield came down, and they immediately jumped down and launched themselves into the gryphons. Helix walked unseen along the rooftop, taking careful aim and firing into the fray. Spearhead was face to face with two enemies, keeping them at bay with the shaft of his spear. The tip had been cut off by one of the gryphon’s swords.

Firebrand and Steel Shadow only had it slightly better. They were each circling a single enemy. The only problem being that said enemies appeared to be slightly more capable than the others. While they were distracted, the gryphons’ leader had picked up a crossbow and was taking aim at Helix. His target shifted just as he shot, and the quarrel went rocketing passed. Helix dropped and laid flat on the roof, acting as if it had been a hit. The gryphons’ leader kept his eyes trained on Helix until he had reloaded. He then turned his aim back on Spearhead. Steel noticed this and disengaged from the enemy before him, running to intercept the shot.

At the same instance, Helix rose from his prone position and took aim at the lead gryphon. Then he realized that Firebrand was holding back the two larger gryphons, and all she had was her sword. She was holding her own in this fight, but she appeared to be tiring rapidly. He turned his aim around and released the arrow. Helix watched in satisfaction as the arrow arced down and hit the gryphon square in the chest. The second gryphon reeled back in surprise as his comrade dropped next to him. Firebrand pushed her assault, slowly backing the gryphon before her towards Spearhead and Steel Shadow.

Spearhead had managed to dispatch one of the gryphons, and was pushing the other one back quickly. He noticed Steel leaping for the leader and decided to finish this fight. Pressing his advantage, Spearhead’s blows connected over and over as he beat the gryphon into a pulp.

“I can kill you without a spearpoint,” he said, spitting on the corpse before running to Firebrand’s aid.

Steel was locked in a one on one battle with the gryphons’ leader. He knocked his weapon away, and chanced a look behind himself. He saw that there was only one gryphon left besides the leader. He turned back around and pressed the assault harder than before. The gryphon leader had just recovered his weapon, and he was not expecting such a sudden assault, so he quickly gave ground. Steel slowly worked his way around, so that the gryphon was backing up towards the others.

Firebrand and Spearhead had just dispatched the last gryphon before noticing that Steel was backing the leader towards them. They readied themselves to strike from behind, but Helix acted before they could. They heard a faint hiss as the arrow sliced through the air before they watched it bury itself into the gryphon’s back. He screeched in agony and went limp, unable to stand any longer.

Steel, Helix, Firebrand, and Spearhead watched in satisfaction as the gryphon quickly died. Steel noticed that the gryphon was smiling. He leaped forward, searching all of the gryphons thoroughly. He sighed in frustration as he realized what had happened. Meanwhile, across the street, a tenth gryphon laughed quietly to himself before taking off and flying full-speed for the border.