Chapter 1: Another Boring Night
Author's Note
I finally did it, I finally got to posting this story. Now before we start, I just got to say that this is a very old story, as in very old. This has been gathering dust in my story folder for years. First typed during 2013 and edited a couple of times throughout the years, this story is probably one of my oldest.
With it being one of the oldest, the plot and storytelling in this one is ~~certainly~~ probably terrible. I have somewhat improved over the years since I first wrote this and, reading and editing this again before posting this, I couldn't help but cringe at my old style of writing. But, despite thinking that this isn't one of my best stories, I decided to post it anyways. Because a story, no matter what it is, is no good gathering dust in a forgotten folder. Stories are meant to be shared, so here it is. 
Chapter 1: Another Boring Night
Dark Shadow stood with full attention at his post by the base of the Royal throne, keeping as still as possible and gazing intently as the large wooden entrance of the marble room. Standing there like a sentinel, silent yet always in full vigil, he did his best to ignore the boredom of the job and keep focus on his duty.
From under his dark gray fur and skin he could already feel his muscles grow cramp and tired from the seemingly endless hours of standing. His wings, which had been kept down and flat during the entire time, also felt cramp, wanting to be opened and stretched after a long time of inactivity. But he ignored these pains and groans of his body, knowing that it wouldn’t be proper for a guard on duty to conduct any unnecessary movement. So stiff and restless he remained.
Bearing the standard golden helmet and armor of the Solar Guard, Dark Shadow represented the elite house guard of Princess Celestia, in charge of protecting the Princess and defending Royal property all over Equestria. But ironically, tonight, he and a few volunteer guards were not guarding the Princess which he had sworn to protect. For instead he stood there guarding the Princess Luna, Lunar Princess and sister to Princess Celestia, as she sat on her throne attending to her duties as Princess of the Night.
Since Princess Luna’s return only a few months ago, there had been little time to organize and create a new group to guard and protect the recently returned Princess at all times. So Princess Celestia decided to send a detachment of her Royal Guards to Princess Luna, so that they may protect her during her night court and escort her while she conducted her duties.
But not many guards were willing to volunteer, mostly because of the late night schedule but some because of the fact that they did not like the idea of being close to the Princess of the Night. Even though the evil spirit of Nightmare Moon was removed from her, many ponies still think that she was still evil and that Nightmare Moon was just an excuse for her actions. To them Luna was still planning to take over Equestria, so they tried to avoid her as much as possible.
Nonetheless some ponies still volunteered, some ponies like Dark Shadow. Although his cutie mark was a scroll a quill, representing his talent in writing, it didn’t mean he was lesser than any of the other guards. He was trained to protect, and thanks to this training, he was as good as any guard. Besides, he wasn’t afraid of the Lunar Princess, unlike some of his comrades.
Dark Shadow didn’t believe the stories of Princess Luna still being evil and actually thought that she was nice. He had seen her during the times he stood guard for Celestia and managed to perceive that she was just misunderstood. Instead of the evil, soulless, monster ponies most see. She saw a kind hearted, fun loving alicorn who just needed understanding from those she lost contact with after her millennia exile. Hoping to prove that his belief was right and wanting to show the Princess that there were indeed ponies who still believed and care for her, Dark Shadow stepped forward and volunteered, even though it meant late night duties standing guard with full vigilance, while trying to fight the call of sleep.
So here he was now, standing at attention and guarding his Princess Luna from any danger that might come. Not that there was much danger, since night court proved to be unexciting. It was already the second week since night court opened, yet not a single pony attended to consult with the Princess. Whether it was because of the fact of the late night schedule or because the citizens were still afraid of Princess Luna, it was anypony’s guess. Frankly, Dark Shadow believed that it was combination of both, which annoyed him greatly.
So once again, the night proved to be very boring.
Princess Luna was sitting on her throne bored as everypony else, while Dark Shadow and his fellow guard stood below the stairs that led to the throne. Mentally pushing away his boredom and concentrating on his duty, Dark Shadow was trying his best to keep his eyes forward when he suddenly heard the sound of muttering from the Princess.
Unable to help but make a quick glance, he managed to get a short sight of Princess Luna, who was gloomily talking to herself. Despite being thankful on being back in Equestria, Dark Shadow could tell that she had a hint of sadness upon her return. But with most of Eqestria not accepting her presence here, it was not hard to see why. He only wished that he could help her in her more in her struggle, but what could a mere guard do to help a Princess?
“What should we do to convince them?” She murmured to herself, her words echoing inside the nearly empty room. “Maybe we can…” She was about to continue, but the large door of the room suddenly swung open, cutting off what she had to say.
Two Solar Guards pushed the door open, as a cloaked uniform trotted inside, revealing his presence to the Princess. Dark Shadow curiously watched this pony, keeping his eyes glued on him, as Princess Luna straightened herself on top of the throne.
Well, looks like Princess finally has somepony attending her court, Dark Shadow thought. Maybe the ponies of Equestria are finally beginning to accept her?
But despite being a guess to the castle and a citizen whom wishes to consult with the Princess, both Dark Shadow and the other guard kept a constant scan on the pony, making sure that he didn’t try to do anything funny. But with the large cloak covering most of his body, this task proved to be very difficult.
The guard should really have a rule about guess wearing cloaks when in the presence of the Princess. Dark Shadow thought crossly, knowing that anything could be hidden behind the cloth.
Since Princess Celestia was an equally beloved and respected leader, danger in the form of her own ponies were rare. But with this lack of danger, security procedures that were meant to keep things safe have slackened. One obvious slip that the guard managed to ignore was the wearing of thick cloaks that can cover almost anything. Dark Shadow knew that there were many more slips within the procedure and he could have named them all right here, right now.
But now was not the time for that. Right now, he had to make sure that he could compensate for all the slips the procedures had created.
The pony continued walking towards them, only stopping just a few steps before the steps of the throne. From there, Dark Shadow got a clearer view of the pony, as his emerald eyes gazed up and stared at the Princess, who now looked down upon him as she sat tall on her seat.
Taking a bow, the pony lowered himself beneath the Princess, as Princess Luna began addressing him.
“Rise my dear subject.” She said in her regal voice, a smile unable to hide itself on her face.
The pony below nodded and stood in front of her once more, clearing his throat before speaking up. “My Princess…” He began. “…I am here to ask you for help in a little problem I have.”
“What problem may that be?” Luna asked ready to help the first pony that would ask for her advice.
“Well my problem is…” The pony was saying as his horn started glowing. Dark Shadow’s attention was now fully on him, as he turned his head to face this pony. From the glow of his magic, Dark Shadow could see that this pony was making a grab for something hidden within his cloak. But to what this object was, he didn’t know. “…you Nightmare Moon.”
As he shouted this, was shocked to see the pony pull out a dark looking blade from his cloak. From what Dark Shadow saw, the blade looked like any other knife crafted, but a faint glow of darker magic surrounded it and as the pony waved the blade in front of him, it was clear who the target was.
Shaking of the initial shock, Dark Shadow let his training and instincts kick in as he quickly reacted to the sudden act of this pony. Without even wasting time to pull out his own weapon, Dark Shadow made a move towards the pony, hoping to close the distance before he could do anything rash.
As the armed pony prepared to launch the blade at his target, Dark Shadow slammed himself against him, hoping to tackle the pony to the ground and disarm him of his weapon. This sudden slam managed to take away the unicorn’s attention from the Princess, but it did not disarm him.
Responding to the contact of Dark Shadow, the unicorn brought the blade against the guard, shoving the tip against his chest. At first Dark Shadow thought that the steel of his armor would protect him from the thrust, but to his surprise the blade went cleanly through it like a hot knife through butter.
Jabbing the blade deep, Dark Shadow felt the cold metal penetrate his skin as it sent a numbing sensation throughout him. It was at this moment that his perception of reality became blurry, as time around him seemed to slow. But despite this, his initial momentum was still strong and he still managed to bring his full force against the unicorn, shoving him to the ground and pinning him down with his weight.
Unfortunately, this only made his situation worst, as it pushed the blade deeper into him. By now, the numbness was suddenly replaced by a great pain, which quickly spread throughout his entire body. A warm liquid dripped against his chest and he only let out a frightened gulp, knowing all too well what that was. The stab of the blade felt more painful than he originally expected and he felt helpless to save himself against the pain and the wound that the blade now created.
The next few moments seem to come as flashes to him, as he had great difficulty understand the world around him.
He could remember being gently yet quickly be shoved aside by fellow guards, as other guards subdued the attacker. He could remember being examined by the guards, as they gave him worried and shocked looks, while another guard shouted and called for a medic. He could remember Princess Luna coming to aid the guards, as she looked down at him and did the best she can to help him in his current state.
For how long this happened, he could not remember. His last memory of this time was the sight of ponies looking down at him, as they tried to remove to treat the wound and keep him alive.
Dark Shadow slowly opened his eyes to find a white ceiling staring back at him. Uncertain to where he was, his mind worked slowly as it tried to piece together how he ended up here. But as he did that, one thought emerged out of his subconscious. The blade! Panicking, he immediately shot up from his bed, only to wince at the sudden pain that emerged room his chest.
Instinctively grabbing his chest to control the pain, he felt the thick covering of gauze wrapped around his chest. Looking down, he could see layers upon layers of the white material spun around him in a tightly secured roll to ensure that it wouldn’t fall off. The clean material gave ample protection to his wound and in a way soothed the pain once it began to subside.
Sighing and trying his best to relax, Dark Shadow leaned against his pillow and tried to remember the events that got him here.
The unicorn, the blade. Those events happened so fast and he reacted carelessly and without thought. He then remembered the stab and the shot of pain, the agony of lying there as he bled from the wound. He shook his head, hoping to never experience such excruciating pain again.
“I wonder if they’ll give me a medal for this.” He jokingly said, letting out a small chuckle for his dark comedy.
“I’m pretty sure that you will receive more than just a medal for your actions, Sergeant Dark Shadow.” A voice from the corner of the room said.
Raising his head, he gaze towards the direction of the voice only to be surprised to see Princess Luna stepping into the room, gaze intently fixated towards him. At first, Dark Shadow made a motion to give her a salute, as was customary for a guard to their Princess. But still being weak and in pain, he immediately abandoned this effort.
Moving gracefully towards the side of his bed, Dark Shadow soon found him himself beneath the presence of the Lunar Princess. Although he had been under her presence many times before, mostly during Night Court, he was nothing more than merely a prop or a decoration back them. But now, now she had her full attention towards him. And it was making him feel nervous.
“You are one luck pony, Sergeant Dark Shadow.” She told him. “Doctor Red Cross tells us that the blade narrowly missed your heart and lungs. It just managed to go in between those two vital organs. Not that missing your heart and would have saved you, for that blade was a heavily enchanted one, meant to kill alicorns. It would have easily killed you, if it weren’t for my help in casting a spell the removed the killer magic from infecting your body.”
“T…thank you?” Dark Shadow stammered, slowly taking in how he narrowly missed death.
“No, Sergeant, it is we who are supposed to thank you.” She said, giving him a grateful nod. “If it weren’t for you, the assailant would have most likely threw the knife and hit us. With the magic behind that knife, a direct hit would have killed us in minutes. Your quick thinking and actions managed to prevent that from happening and because of that, you have saved our life. So we thank you for your bravery.”
“Well, you’re welcome, Princess…” Dark Shadow said, scratching the back of his head. “…but it was nothing, I was merely doing my duty.”
“Nonsense, Sergeant. You have gone beyond the line of duty in your actions, for you had personally risked yourself and received a mortal injury just to save our life. What you did was a selfless act that only a few ponies would do.”
“Now, your highness, I’m pretty sure that every guard is willing to risk their lives against any assailant that shows themselves against the Princesses.” Dark Shadow assured her.
But she only shook her head. “That may be true for my sister, but we have my doubts if that is true for us.”
There was an odd silence that followed after that, as Princess Luna just looked down, while Dark Shadow stared at her. Although he knew that she had point on what she said, he was not willing to admit it in her presence.
“Besides, if there indeed such ponies, they have yet to prove themselves. You on the other hoof…” Her voice trailed away, as if she was thinking on what she was going to say next. From what he had observed, Dark Shadow knew that she was hiding something, something important. On what it was, he was soon about to find out.
“I want you to command our guard.” Princess Luna said, direct and blunt.
Dark Shadow was caught off guard by what she said and responded by staring blankly at her. Shaking his head in disbelief, he continued to believe that he had just misheard what she said and had to ask her to repeat it.
“I’m sorry, Princess, but I think I heard you say that you wanted me-“ He said, making a gesture to himself. “-to command your guard.”
“Yes…” She plainly said. “…that is what we request from you. After the recent incident, our sister had decided that it was finally time for me to have my own guard. Having me dependent on her Solar Guard was just impractical, so she has given me permission to have my own separate guard. So she has given as all the available resources to reactivate our old Lunar Guard. To help create it, she will supply me all the ponies and material we need, all we have to do is choose what and who we needed. And the first thing one would need in creating a guard is a Captain for it, so we chose you.”
“Wha…what?” He asked, still in great disbelief, even after the clarification. “Me? To command your guard? Why me? Aren’t there better ponies out there? Officers who are a dozen times more qualified than a lowly sergeant like me?”
“That may be true, that may be true…” She said, pondering about it. “…but they wouldn’t be as loyal as you.”
“As loyal as me?” He questioned.
She nodded her head. “Like what we said before, Sergeant, you have done a great deed when you went beyond the line of duty. You have now proven yourself to us that you are not only quick thinking but also willing to protect us, your Princess, no matter what. After our return, it was hard to find such ponies with such dedication to us, for most still view us as a monster, a nightmare... But you, you are different, we can feel it. So we only ask you to accept the offer, for we would feel comfortable knowing that pony like you would be at the head of our guard.”
“And do not worry about not being qualified, for we believe that you have more qualities than you think. We have checked your record and after reviewing it, we think that you are more than fir to be a proper officer. With such experiences as being the former quartermaster of your company as well as being a squad leader, we think that your abilities would be more than enough in handling the creation and stable service of the Lunar Guard. All I have to know is, do you accept the offer?”
Dark Shadow thought about the offer for a moment, letting the thought play in his head. This was a big offer, probably the biggest one he would have in his entire life. Sure, being a Captain of a Guard was a big opportunity, especially for a guardspony like him, but it was no simple one.
This new position would mean more work, more dedication to the job. Stuff that Dark Shadow wasn’t sure he can do. His past experiences in command and organization was in a small scale level. But now, if he accepted, it would be large scale, bigger than he can possibly handle.
And yet, Princess Luna seemed confident about his abilities. Despite knowing him only for a short time, she had placed a lot of trust in him quickly. His selfless act must have done a lot to influence her and it was clear that somehow this was her way of repaying him.
Although he doubted it that he can fulfill the duty of being the Captain of the Lunar Guard, there was no way of knowing on whether he would succeed and fail unless he tried it. Princess Luna seemed sure enough that he can do it and this though seemed to give him a slight boost in confidence.
She herself had said that she would feel safe if she knew that he commanded her guard. In an Equestria where only few ponies liked her presence in the nation, she must have felt better knowing that those few were close to her. He himself must have been a standing reminder of those few ponies. For he gave her hope, hope that there were indeed ponies who cared for her.
Giving his final thought on the matter, he brought his eyes directly against hers before speaking up.
“I’ll do it, you highness, I shall serve as your guard’s Captain.”
Luna nodded and smiled.
“Then from this night onward, you will be known as Captain Dark Shadow, Captain of the Lunar Guard.”
