The Shadow of Equestria

Evening.

As the sun began to set and the moon began to rise, peace began to settle over Canterlot. Merchants closed up their shops, ponies returned to their homes, and a quiet stillness hung in the air.

Down the main street, a small group of young mares was walking hastily. As they reached the end of the street, the one in the lead, a purple alicorn, turned to beckon the rest of them forward.

"C'mon, girls!" Called out Twilight. "We're gonna be late!"

Rainbow Dash huffed. "Twilight, we still have half an hour. Besides, it's not like it's that important."

"Actually, darling, the midsummer night's performance is one of the most cherished traditions in Canterlot." Replied Rarity. "Besides, all proceeds go to charity, and it greatly helps the event when more ponies show up."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Let's just get this over with," She sighed.

...

The friends arrived with plenty of time to spare. The old opera house was a major landmark in Canterlot, and was dated back to the original reign of the two sisters. Twilight and her companions quickly found their seats and settled in. After a little while, the performance began. It was an alternate version of the Hearth's Warming Eve story Twilight had performed once.

As the performance went on, Rainbow Dash slowly grew more and more bored. She slouched down in her chair and let her eyes wander around the theater.

"Huh," she said.

Twilight looking over to shush her, followed the cyan mares gaze. Standing at the door were two large ponies, who seemed to be locking the way out. As Twilight turned to the other doors, she saw similar scenes. "Somethings not right here..." Her voice trailed off.

BANG!

Twilight jumped and looked to the source of the sound. Standing on stage was a unicorn with a well kept mane and coat. He had just fired a projectile from his horn. It had struck the ceiling and shaken loose large chunks of debris. The audience screamed as huge boulders fell into their midst.

Twilight leaped up, her horn already blazing. Around her, she saw her friends do the same. But as they were about to intervene, they were each seized from behind. The same beefy ponies she had seen barricade the doors had her caught. They quickly tied her up, and dragged her to the stage with her friends. The unicorn looked down.

"The Elements of Harmony," he spoke in a raspy voice. He looked down at them. "It looks like I've got some real bargaining power with the princesses after all."

...

Outside, the blast had shaken the street. A few guards had gathered outside the hall, but found the doors stuck. Suddenly, a voice called out from the theater.

"We have the Elements of Harmony! If anypony attempts to enter, we will kill them! Now, unless the princess herself comes down to hear our demands in five minutes, we will start killing hostages!"

Quickly, a small group of guards ran off to fetch Celestia. The rest were so occupied with trying to secure the situation, that they didn't notice a shadow vanish through one of the buildings windows.

...

Eldritch Blast stood triumphantly. Poised on the stage with crowds of ponies staring up at him in terror, with Equestria's mightiest heroes laying helpless at his feet. This was as it should be. And pretty soon, the princess would be forced to give him everything he could ever want.

As he contemplated his victory, the lights flickered. Then, all at once, they flashed out. He looked around angrily. He looked at one of his henchmen and motioned him backstage.

"Go see if a fuse blew or something," he said. "Come back once you fix it." The pony nodded and went to the fuse box. Eldritch waited for him to return for a minute. Then two minutes. When more than three minutes had passed, he sent another pony to check. That pony did not return either. Eldritch grew nervous.

"If anypony is in here, we will kill one of the elements!" He shouted out. Almost in response, a trapdoor used to remove props opened underneath one of his guards, who dropped with a startled cry. Eldritch heard him land, then heard another thump. No more sound came.

The three remaining guards huddled into a small circle around the prisoners. Just then, there was a small thud somewhere backstage.

"Get him!" Shouted Eldritch at his guards, who rushed back into the darkness. There was silence for a moment, then there came a series of loud screams. Eldritch shivered. All of the sound came from his guards. Then, all noise faded and the quiet was back.

Eldritch backed over to the heap of mares tied up. He lit up his horn, ready to fire a blast at anything that came near. He turned to face the elements. He reeled back in surprise at what he saw.

Standing in front of him was a pegasus of average height and build. A dark cloak and hood covered his body, and there was a piece of cloth blocking all of his face but his eyes, which glowed green menacingly. In a sheath attached to his leg, there was a long dagger.

Eldritch recoiled, but quickly regained himself and lowered his horn. "Take this!" He cried, and fired a blast of magic.

The pegasus dodged the blast with unnatural speed, and in the blink of an eye stood behind Eldritch. Before the unicorn could so much as gasp, a force knocked out his rear legs, driving him to the ground. As all the air was let out of him, he felt the stranger seize him from behind and put him into a choke hold, which slowly tightened.

Twilight stared in shock as their rescuer slowly choked the pony who had been minutes away from killing them.

"Wait!" She cried out.

The pegasus stopped, and locked his eyes with hers. She swallowed. "Please," she said. "Don't kill him. Nopony should ever kill another pony, no matter what the cause."

The stranger stared at her for a moment, then released his grip. The unicorn began to gasp weakly for breath. Then the pegasus walked over to Twilight and her friends. Twilight's eyes widened in fear as he drew his dagger, which gleamed eerily. He rose it up and Twilight closed her eyes.

She opened them again after a moment. The pony had sliced the ropes binding her, and proceeded to do the same to her friends.

Twilight looked up at the pony. "Thank you," she said. The stranger turned to leave.

Just then, the door broke down. A flood of royal guards surged in, weapons drawn.

"Everypony get down!" One of them shouted. The mysterious pegasus tensed up. One of the guards noticed him.

"Get that pony!" He shouted. Several guards turned and charged. The pegasus let them sieze him by the arms. Twilight looked on with a startled expression.

"Wait!" She cried out. "He didn't do anything! He saved us!" The guards turned to look at her.

"I'm sorry, princess," one of them said. "But this pony is no hero. We've been tracking him for months. He's a thief, and probably the most wanted pony in Equestria."

Twilight's jaw dropped, as her gaze shifted to her rescuer. Her friends looked on as well. He held his face high, and met their gaze without flinching. Then, he turned his head as the guards slowly led him away.

...

Celestia sipped her tea. She had been about to retire for the night after lowering the sun, when a guard had burst in and told her that the princess of friendship had been taken prisoner. She had went immediately to the theater, only to discover that a common thief had rescued her pupil. The same thief now sat in front of her, with a guard on either side.

Celestia studied the ponies face. He was a pegasus, with a dark grey coat and a dark yellow mane. His eyes were an acid green, and bore an eery resemblance to the changelings. His cutie mark was that of two keys, one gold and one silver, crossed over each other. He returned her gaze with a look that betrayed nothing of his thoughts. The princess waited another moment before speaking.

"My guards tell me that you are a thief. Not just any thief, but the one who they have been tracking for months. By all rights, you should have stayed as hidden as you could. Yet instead of doing that, you jumped right into a hotbed of guard activity, just to rescue a few theater goers. Now, why did you do that?"

The pegasus said nothing. Celestia watched him for a while longer, then spoke again.

"Silence won't help you. I am not punishing you; I am simply curious for your motives."

Again, the pegasus said nothing. Celestia frowned slightly.

"Very well," she said. "I suppose you are not interested in telling me anything. However, I still require answers about what happened tonight. And as all the other suspects have been hospitalized by you, I will have to try a different approach." Her horn began to glow. "I am going to simply see some of your memories. I promise I will not look into anything personal, but I do need information."

Celestia felt her conscious slip away, as she detached her mind from her body. She slid into the head of the pegasus. Once inside, she began to look around.

An inky blackness surrounded everything. The princess could not make out anything. "Very impressive," she called out. "There are few ponies who could hide their minds from me. But I must ask you to disclose the information I need. Otherwise, the force which I will need to use could permanently damage your mind."

A voice echoed, coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "You want my memories?" It said. "See if you can take them!"

Suddenly, Celestia felt a flood of emotion. Pain, suffering and sorrow threatened to engulf her. She felt her control begin to slip, then she gasped. She jolted forward in her chair as her mind returned to her body. The guards were looking at her nervously. She looked at the thief. His expression had not changed, yet know she felt that she could see read more of it. Was that pain in his eyes? She quickly regained her composure.

"Captain," she called out. A pony hurried forward. "I have decided on this ponies sentence."

She did not break her gaze on the pony. "Send him to Ponyville. I will send word to my pupil, Twilight Sparkle. She and her friends will teach this pony to better his ways."

"Yes, your majesty." The captain snapped a salute, and then left.

"Will you at least tell me your name, before you leave?" Asked Celestia.

The thief looked at her. "My name is Stratus, your majesty." He said.

As he left, Celestia fell back into her chair, wondering just what she had sent her pupil into.