Equestria's Other Protectors

It was a dark night for Equestria, with Lunas moon barely visible behind the thick clouds. In the streets of Canterlot, ponies trotted back to their homes a little faster than normal, unnerved by the thick darkness. There were some ponies however, that thrived in such darkness. One of these ponies was currently perched on a rooftop overlooking the city. “A perfect night,” he whispered to himself, smirking as he jumped off the roof and down into the darkness. He enjoyed the thrill of the free fall, the wind and weightlessness making him feel as though he was flying. He loved the feeling, even if he wasn’t really a Pegasus. As the ground approached, his body unraveled into shadows. The black glow of his horn fading out of existence and reappearing along with the rest of his body on the street below. If anypony had seen it, they would have identified the spell as black magic, a style forbidden by princess Celestia. But nopony did. His coat and mane were pitch black, making him practically invisible, even more so with the black cloak he wore. He looked down the now empty street, head held high with an almost intimidating confidence as he began to walk towards the center of the city.

Fifteen minutes later he was looking up at a large building with gold accenting every part of it, and a symbol of the sun above the door. This was the building that housed Celestia’s guard when they were off duty. He slowly approached the side of the building, scanning it quickly. He was looking for a specific window. Upon seeing it, his horn glowed, allowing him to run directly up the wall. He stopped at a window towards the top, looking no different than any of the others, but he knew it was the one he wanted. Using his magic, he opened the window and swung inside, the makeshift entrance bringing him to an empty hallway. He moved quickly, fiery determination in his eyes as he stalked past the many doors lining the side walls. Even in the dim light he was able to see a sun insignia on the door at the end of the hall. That insignia marked the door as belonging to a guard commander, and his target. Approaching the door, he used his magic to blast it open, revealing the shocked face of the pony inside.

He entered the room slowly, closing the door then stalking towards the guard. “Are you Bright eyes?” he spoke sharply. But the guard didn’t answer, instead he lunged at the intruder. The black pony reacted quickly, teleporting behind the guard and pushing him against the wall with practiced ease. Showing the hidden blade attached to his forehoof, he pressed it against the guard’s neck. “I will take that as a yes. I have some questions for you.”

Bright eyes laughed even with the blade to his neck, attempting to kick his assailant as he did so.  “I’ve known you would be coming ever since you killed my informant. As soon as you opened that door you set off an alarm, the princess herself is coming for you. You’re done, Nightmare blade.” The intruder growled in annoyance, dodging the kick and stabbing the leg with his other hidden blade. Bright eyes cried out and fell to the ground, no longer able to support his own weight. As he fell, Nightmare blade grabbed him in an aura of black magic and threw his body across the room and through the window. Instead of dropping him however, he brought the guard back inside, admiring the limp leg and multiple cuts on the guard’s body, before slamming him against the wall and knocking him out.

“I’ll be back for you, Bright eyes. You know who killed my parents, and I WILL get that information.” Night walker went over to the now open window. “Till next time,” He taunted, before jumping out and teleporting himself to the ground. Unfortunately, waiting for him on the ground were a squad of guards. “I really don’t have time for this,” he said, making no effort to hide the anger in his voice.

The guards called out for him to halt, but he ignored them. His horn’s black aura was unnoticeable in the darkness, allowing him to call upon one of his stronger spells without them noticing. As the guards approached, the darkness itself moved around them, lifting them into the air and slamming them together, knocking the whole group unconscious. He gathered his magic again so that he could teleport away, but before he could do so, a bright light filled his vision, forcing the shadows away. He struggled against the light, his anger fueling his power, but the light continued to get brighter, blinding him and burning his eyes. As he felt his consciousness slipping away, he heard a voice, but wasn’t able to make it out before the world went black.

As night walker’s consciousness returned to him, he immediately recognized the danger he was in. He was not wearing his cloak or hidden blades, and there was cold tile underneath him. But more than that, there was an aura of light permeating the air, like it was trying to suffocate him. As his sight returned, an image of the sun revealed itself on the floor, inlaid in the tile. Groaning, he attempted to stand, only to find that there were shackles on both his fore and hind hooves. This last detail finalized his guess as to where he was. Finally, somepony spoke, confirming his assumptions, “Ah, I see you are finally awake.” Princess Celestia’s voice was smooth and regal, a product of years of royal meetings. Struggling to his hooves, he looked up towards the princesses sitting in their thrones.

Equestrias flag covered the walls, images of the sun and moon resting about the twin thrones. There wasn’t much else to the throne room, to his dismay. No windows or doors except the door behind him, and upon a quick check, he discovered a magic inhibitor on his horn. As panic stated to set in, he calmed himself by focusing on the five guards standing behind him, thinking of ways he could possibly beat them and escape. But in the end he knew it was pointless, at least until he was no longer in the company of the princesses. Forcing his mouth into a smirk he buried his emotions and focused on the two alicorns once again. “I see you have gone all out with the security. Are you that scared of me?”

Princess Celestia smiled in response, “Well, you are nightmare blade, are you not? The famous assassin that has been plaguing equestria?”

He smiled indignantly, “Nightmare blade, the criminal who hunts criminals. So you have heard of me.”

“That we have. There are very few ponies in equestria who haven’t. You were supposed to be uncatchable, though we seem to have proven that wrong. Now tell me, why would you try to kill a member of my royal guard?”

Night walker laughed, hiding the rising panic. When he spoke again, he chose to use a more serious tone, “We have a misunderstanding. I wasn’t trying to kill him. If I was, he would be dead. I just wanted information. It was one of the guards under his command that killed my parents. I learned that from the black market informant he was using. Which I do believe you have a law against. So, if that’s all cleared up, I’ll just be on my way.” Taking advantage of Celestia’s shock, he turned around and faced the guards, taking a tentative step forward.

This time, it was Luna who spoke, “Information or not, thou art a criminal. Thou whilst not be leaving.”

“What are you going to do? You should know that no dungeon you have can hold me,” he said, turning around.

Celestia was the one to answer the question. “You are correct; your skills will make it hard to hold you. We do believe we have a solution, but first, we must see your skill. We want you to defeat the guards.”

He spoke slowly, trying to comprehend the situation even as he spoke. “I don’t believe I have much of a choice.” Celestia nodded, approaching him and removing the magic inhibitor from his horn. When she went to remove the shackles, he stopped her. “Keep them on, I want this to be a fair fight.” Celestia went to argue, but her sister held up a hoof, silencing her. The solar princess sighed, then nodded to the guards, who moved to surround him. He smiled genuinely, if there was anything he needed to calm himself, it was a good fight.

He shook himself, getting into the best fighting stance he could manage with the shackles. A guard from behind attacked first, attempting to stab him. He caught the spear in his forehooves, pushing it back so the hilt hit the guard in the stomach. He then pulled the spear out of the guards grasp and spun it around, hitting the side of his helmet and knocking him out. Now armed with a spear and with only four opponents, Night walker smiled even more, turning in a circle and waiting for the next attack. “Is that all you got?”

Two guards attacked at once this time, one from each side. He stepped towards the closest one, deflecting the spear up into the air and moving closer to the guard. After delivering a few punches to the guards head, he drove his body underneath the other pony, flipping him over and onto the other charging guard.

With them fazed, that left only two opponents, at least for the time being. They were getting smarter though, and used their magic to throw their spears. In response, night walker jumped, angling himself so that the spears hit his shackles, breaking both sets and allowing him full mobility. Upon his hooves touching the ground, he picked up the spears with his own black magic, hitting both guards in the head, knocking them out as well. Finally, he turned to the two guards who had recovered from before. They ran at him, the same mistake as before. The guards were well trained in hoof to hoof combat, but he was better. Matching them blow for blow, and soon bringing both to the ground.

After he made sure the last two were unconscious, he turned back to the princesses. “There, that’s what I can do. Now I would love to hear this idea of yours.”

Luna spoke before Celestia could, “Thou use black magic quite well.”

“Yes, I do. I learned it from my parents, who were some of its best practitioners. That is, until they were killed. I hear you are the best at it, Princess of the night.”

“Indeed she is, however this conversation can be saved for a different time. If that is fine with you sister. We have a much more important matter to discuss.” Luna nodded somewhat reluctantly, and Celestia continued. “Long ago, before my sister was banished, there were many criminals in Equestria. Among those, there were some like you that were too skilled to be kept in the dungeons. Such criminals began to cause too much of a problem for my sister and I, so we turned to the smartest pony we knew. Star swirl the bearded. He developed a spell that allowed us to track a pony, and stop them from doing anything bad if we saw the need. We could also remotely knock them out and teleport said pony back to us. With this spell, we were able to take the best of the criminals, and give them the choice to work for us. Those who agreed were given a protected version of freedom, as long as they followed the rules that they were given.”

Luna continued the explanation from where her sister left off. “This is what we offer to thou. If thou use your particular skills to protect equestria, and to help us assemble and a group of ponies like thou that will doest the same, thou will be given a place to stay, and will no longer be forced to run from the guard. Thou will still be able to perform your, craft, but only at times approved by my sister and I. Thou will of course be monitored, but if thou prove that we can trust you, it shall be removed. Also, we have decided to help thou pursue the death of thou parents, in a more, appropriate way, if you accept. The other option is spending the rest of thou life in a dungeon.”

Stunned by the choice he had been given, night walker decided to ask a question instead of answer. “If this was in practice I would know about it. Why don’t I?”

Celestia smiled sadly, “When my sister was gone I had too much to do to manage a team like this. With her back, this practice, as well as a few others, may finally begin again.”

He sighed, the answer made a lot of sense, leaving him again to ponder his answer. If he accepted, he would be basically free, and still able to do his job. But only when approved. He would be able to finally find his parents killer, but not kill the pony that did it. On another point, did he really want to lead a team of criminals? All of these things ran through his head as he considered the question. Finally, he made his choice. “I will accept your plan. But only as a trial. If I find it is acceptable, I will continue, if not, then I will accept time in the dungeons. If I chose this, I expect you to take the spell off of me and to be treated as a normal prisoner, as if this never happened.” Celestia nodded, seeming content with the answer. Luna looked unsure, but voiced to opposition to his answer.

“So what now? Should I just leave, or is there a process I must go through?” He was still anxious to leave the throne room, his nervousness not completely gone. Responding to the black ponies’ question, the sisters walked down from their thrones to stand on each side of him. Their horns glowed, and he was surrounded in a black and gold aura. He could feel their magic probing his body and weaving its way into his mind. After a few minutes, the spell was complete.

“What you do now is up to you,” said Celestia. “You will be given a room in the palace, and for now will be confined to the palace grounds. Otherwise, you are free to do what you please. For now your only task is to start finding ponies for your team. But we won’t expect anything from you until you get settled in. We will be talking to the guard you attacked, questioning him about both the death of your parents, and his involvement with a criminal informant. So you need not worry about that.” Celestia took off his shackles and walked over to check on the still unconscious guards, leaving him alone.

Night walker nodded to Luna, before leaving the throne room. Once outside he found a guard that led him to his room, which he assumed had been prepared beforehoof. He made a mental note to attempt to learn the layout of the palace, before stepping into the simple guest room. It contained a decent sized bed, a dresser, nightstand, and desk filling out the room. The door to a bathroom was off to the left, and a chandelier was hanging from the ceiling. On the desk were his hidden blades and cloak, along with the rest of his gear. He smiled upon seeing this, immediately feeling the comfort that having them gave. He put them on quickly, and decided to ponder his situation in the morning. With that choice made, he laid down on the bed and quickly fell asleep.