Traversing the Chaotic Shadows

Chapter 01: Taking It Into Your Own Hooves

Standard Disclaimers (such as the ponies, the eight-pointed star, and the Secret Service) Apply

Prince Blueblood was in his personal quarter’s bathroom, busy washing off all the various pieces of cake on his body. Grimacing, he forcefully pulled an especially big one out of his wet, blonde mane.

This cake’s a lot stickier than I thought, Blueblood thought to himself. Of course, one would question as to why there would be cake on him in the first place. The answer to that question though, could be found in a donut shop, currently having a discussion with her friends while bemoaning the fact that her dream stallion was a complete and utter jerk.

Said ‘dream’ stallion was busy pondering on whether or not his idiot mask, as he so eloquently put it, was effective and convincing while he was at the Gala. He had spent years practicing and perfecting the façade, but it never hurt to be too careful, especially in a position such as his.

Stepping out from underneath the showerhead and in front of a mirror, the Prince took a while to simply observe his reflection. His white coat was as pristine as always, if a bit wet, as were his blonde mane and tail. He had the look of someone who had never had to work for a single day of his life. His eyes though, his light blue eyes told a very different story. While awhile ago they were coy and charming, yet condescending, now they were weary and sharp, as if on a constant lookout for any threat to the pony those eyes belonged to.

Suddenly, there was a knocking noise coming from the entrance to his room.

“Come in!” Blueblood said, in the midst of wiping himself down with his towel.

The door opened, and in came a member of the Royal Guard, specifically one from the Earth Pony Regiment. He was large, packed full of muscles, and covered in scars. The most prominent one though was a diagonal one stretching from the bottom of his left eye to the right side of his mouth. He had a dark grey coat and a white mane and tail, as was typical of many of the Royal Guard. The pony was dressed in typical Guard armor, sans the helmet.

“Ah! Sergeant! Any news from the front lines? Good news I hope?” Blueblood questioned hopefully, taking the time to return all of his toiletries to their original places.

“My Lord,” the Sergeant began, taking a bow as he did so, “I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we have found another one.”

The monarch suddenly froze in his tracks, his hopeful countenance almost instantly becoming grim. He trotted out of the bathroom, in thought.

“Exactly like before?” Blueblood asked.

“Exactly, my lord. The same name, the same markings, the same clothes. They were even based in a very similar location to the last one.”

Blueblood scowled as he began to started to move around the room, hoping to find some sort of solution to this problem. Sadly, he could not find any inspiration.

This situation may be more troublesome than I originally thought, Blueblood silently said to himself. Maybe it was time he went out into the field as well? It had been awhile since the last time he undertook a personal mission, and this seemed like something that none of the normal members could handle.

Yes, Blueblood though grimly, I shall have to take this matter into my own hooves.

Stepping out of his room’s door and gesturing for the Guard to follow him, Blueblood told the other pony, “Sergeant, prepare a chariot. It seems that I shall have to directly involve myself with this case.”

Though he followed, the Sergeant was quite obviously shocked.

“My Lord! Are you certain about this? Though we have captured all the cult members, we have not taken the time to scour the entire building! There may yet be traps, and you could get- Gah!”

Rubbing his now throbbing cheek, the Guard slowly turned his head to look into Blueblood’s now cold eyes.

“What is your name, Sergeant?”

The Prince said it quietly, but with such menace that the Sergeant froze in fear for a few seconds before snapping himself out of it.

“M-my name is Jet Black, my lord.”

Blueblood continued to stare menacingly at Jet, before responding in the same tone of voice as before.

“Listen, Mr. Black. Do not dare to presume that I cannot handle myself. I worked very hard to get where I am now, and I assure you that though I may be a little rusty, there is a very good reason why I was made Leader of the Secret Service. You ins-”

“Nephew?”

Only noticing now that Princess Celestia was approaching, Blueblood immediately started acting all idiotic and prissy again.

“Next time, do well to remember to- Oh hello, Auntie!” the Prince said as he turned to his aunt.

There was Princess Celestia, smiling as regally as ever, but looking at Blueblood with a faint touch of disappointment in her eyes.

“Nephew, what are you doing here? I thought you were in your room? And why is that Guard hurt?” Celestia asked, suddenly turning stern as she said the last question.

“I just thought that I would go take a walk through the gardens, Auntie! After that simply dreadful Gala, I just felt as if I needed some peace and quiet. As for the Guard, he was simply passing by my room when I opened the door, thus accidentally hitting him in the face. Isn’t that right?” Blueblood quite smoothly stated, the Sergeant, who happened to have a stoic expression again, nodding his head in order to ‘agree’ with the last part.

The Princess simply sighed, before smiling at her nephew again, the glimmer of disappointment present again in her eyes.

“If you say so. Either way, I must be off, nephew.”

“Of course, Auntie!”

Quite smartly stepping out of Princess Celestia’s way, Blueblood turned back to Jet as soon as his aunt’s tail disappeared around the corner.

“As I was saying, you insult me with your presumptions. You are not to question me again. Do you understand me?”

Properly chastised, Jet bowed his head as he stated out an apology.

Nodding in acceptance of said apology, Blueblood then spun around before heading towards the chariots, Jet following behind him all the while.

~TtCS~

Blueblood was troubled.

Equestria was a peaceful country. It’s Princesses were kind and caring, it’s inhabitants very harmonious, and the surrounding wildlife lush and green.

The only troubles that Equestria ever had to face were other countries, various monster attacks, and Tartarus, and even then they were few and far between.

Or to the public, at the very least. The sad and honest truth was that many other countries were jealous of how much the Gods had blessed Equestria, that monster attacks were actually very common, and that the various Hellgates needed constant guarding, in case any unlucky pony or very lucky demon managed to discover their location. The town of Ponyville was actually extremely lucky when the Hellgate near it was discovered, since Twilight Sparkle happened to be there in order to calm the beast that had escaped, and promptly sent it back through the gate.

It was, and still is, the Secret Service’s mission to keep Equestria safe from all these major dangers, and more, while making sure that no one, not even the Princesses, bless their tired souls, ever got wind of it. A Prince led each and every generation, and though being the Leader was a tireless and thankless job, the Princes took comfort in the fact that at the very least all of the ponies that lived in Equestria were happy and content with their lives.

Until now, that is.

A few months back, Prince Blueblood, nephew of Princess Celestia, and five-year veteran Leader of the Secret Service, discovered through one of his spies that a group of ponies did not want Princess Celestia on the throne any longer, and were planning to try and assassinate her. Though they were young, they still had to be put down, and they were put down with great satisfaction. Hoping that that would be the only incident, Prince Blueblood immediately directed his attentions to other concerns of the Service.

Such was not the case.

Within those few months, the groups that rose up in protest grew and grew in number. Though all of them were put down before the public heard about it, what was most disturbing was that in the last two months, almost all of the groups were bearing the same banner, and the same insignia. They were even calling themselves ‘cults’, a term eventually used by the Secret Service to address them as well.

Currently, Blueblood was at the location of the latest cult to be put down. Their headquarters was this time located in the Everfree Forest, which was just nearby the quaint town of Ponyville.

He was in the building’s central chamber, where the cult’s symbol could be seen: an eight-pointed star. In the middle of the room was a circular wooden table, clear of any object. Aside from those, the only other things that could be found in this room were weapons: spears, swords, daggers, wingblades, brass hooves, and more. All other agents were sent out in order to allow him to concentrate, with the exception of Jet who was there to make sure that nothing would attack Blueblood from behind.

Blueblood found it strange that the weapons were kept in the central chamber, and not in the armory, where the armor could be found. He had his suspicions though….

Suddenly thinking of something, he went towards the table and started examining it from the surface all the way to the bottom. Though it was extremely hard to make out, he thought he saw a good number of small holes carved around the post the tabletop was on. Quickly using his unicorn magic to grab eight of the spears, he pushed each one into a hole, forming a vague mimicry of the cult’s symbol.

Suddenly clacking and cranking noises were heard, as if a large number of gears were moving in tandem. Stepping back, Blueblood triumphantly grinned at the stairs forming around the table, leading downwards. Jet was looking on in shock and awe as the stairs formed. He wouldn’t have been able to spot that if it was he looking around.

“Call the others, Sergeant. Have them form a perimeter around the staircase, and make sure that nothing else aside from you and me will be able to get in. Understand?”

“Yes, my Lord!” Jet quickly saluted, before heading outside to follow his Leader’s request.

~TtCS~

AN: Hey guys! This is captain_n00b here, and this is also my very first fic. Hope you guys like it, and if you don’t, don’t hesitate to tell me so! Just please give a reason.

This is n00b, signing off.