Staying in the shadeby Jonny BenchChaptersPrologueChapter oneChapter 2PrologueDate: Oct 7, 4 ALR Place: back alleys of Manehatten, next to an old warehouse Objective: send a message that can’t be ignored Plans: L.E.T.S.P. (Lots of Explosives That Start Panic) Time: 22:37 hours “… and then I said to him, you must be the most holy man on Equis now!” One guard said to the one sitting next to him, causing the both of them to erupt in a bout of laughter “Hahahah… anyway, that’s how i lost my job and ended up here, how about you al?” “Oh, that’s an easy one king! As you know, I am a radical yes. So one day, i go out to purchase supplies from nearby town to help us make statement. When I get back, encampment is burned to ground, and my comrades are captured or dead. Next day, I get phone call from somepony looking for others to join his gang. That is how i come to work under boss man.” “Al” explains to his partner. The two door guards continue to talk about their past, before moving on to weather and sports. However, while they are chatting, they fail to notice the shadow being cast upon them from the warehouse “What do you mean, The Boulder is better than John cya? John Cya has won almost every fight that they’ve been in!” “Yeah? Well if the fight’s weren’t so scripted, then The Boulder would wreck John Cya in ten seconds flat!” “Personally, I must side with him, John Cya is a much better wrestler than The Boulder.” A third voice coolly interjects, causing both of the stallions to jump in fright “Wh-who’s there?” Al says timidly as both he and king stand back to back, searching the alleyways around them. Suddenly, something falls off of the roof, landing next to the two ponies. They turn to look at what fell, but see that it’s only a rock. They both let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. However as they turn around, they are surprised to see what appears to be a young colt standing in front of them, holding a tattered brown piece of cloth around him, shivering in the crisp fall air. “Hey, come’ere kid, we won’t hurt ya!” King says to the colt, causing the the youngling to back away. King steps towards the colt cautiously, as not to frighten him. “Come on, kid, I don’t bite.” The stallion says, trying to coax the colt towards him again. Suddenly, a large bang is heard, followed by a flash of light. “What the heck…” “I’m blind!” Al shouts as he stumbles about while rubbing his eyes with one of his forehooves. As King moves to help his fellow guardspony he is struck from behind, just at the base of his neck, causing him to crumble to the ground instantly. “King, are you there?” Al shouts as his eyes readjust to the lighting in the alley. Before he is fully adjusted though, he feels something hit him right in the back of his right forehoof, forcing him down on one knee. Before he has time to react, he too is hit in the base of the neck, rendering him unconscious as well. When both ponies are out cold, the colt from before scans the area for any sign of security cameras and ponies who may have heard or seen the flash bang. Once the coast is clear, he removes the cloth from his head, revealing a colt with a hazel colored coat, and a two tone violet-yellow mane. Moving quickly, he rushes over to the door of the warehouse, picks the lock, and quietly walks inside. He then pulls out a flashlight, and starts to examine some of the numerous boxes, looking for something specific among all of them. He comes to a stop next to a box labeled “experimental” and prys the lid off using a crowbar he had hidden under his cloth. He smiles as removes the contents of the crate, and puts it into a saddlebag he had hidden within the depths of his cloak. Once the items have been secured, he removes a small sphere from the outer pocket of the bag, throws it into the crate, and puts the lid back on it. With his task complete, he gallops back to the entrance of the warehouse to make his escape. When he reaches the door however, he puts his ear up to it to listen to see if the door guards have woken up. Hearing movement and voices from outside the door, he pulls a small box out from his bag. The box has a short antennae, with dials and a view screen on it. He pushes a small button on the side, then turns one of the dials until it has 1:00 on it, before setting on the ground and pushing another button on the side of it, causing the numbers on the view screen to decrease at a steady rate. “1, 2, 3, go!” He says to himself as he kicks the door open and bolts down the alley he arrived from. The noise from the door being kicked out, jerks the two guardsponies to their senses “Hey, you get back here!” King shouts as both he and Al take off after the colt. The colt continues to run, jumping over trash cans and fences with the two guards lagging behind. “Hey, look! That alley’s a dead end! We got him now!” King says as he and his partner both reach the last alleyway that they had seen the colt go into. When they entered the alley though, nopony was there. “What the, I thought that he went down here.” “He must’ve tricked us. Come on, lets get back to the warehouse before the next shift gets there, we’re in enough trouble as it is!” “Ha, nothing will be able to upset the boss more than leaving our post to chase after some stupid kid!” Suddenly, a large flash of light is seen followed by a deafening explosion and large tremors shaking the earth. Both guards throw themselves to the ground to brace themselves against the force of the explosion. After a minute or two of waiting, al speaks up. “That was huge! Somepony must’ve tampered with the chemicals in the warehouse, they’re highly volatile, or at least were.” “Do you think it was that colt?” “No, it would’ve taken either a bomb placed outside of the container to cause the explosion, or he would’ve needed to cut through 6 inches of celesteel. There is no way that he had the resources needed to cause the explosion!” “We need to go find the boss and tell him about this, he’s not gonna like it one bit.” King finishes as the two guards gallop off to find their employer. Meanwhile, on a rooftop above the alleyway, the colt looks at the rubble that remains of the warehouse through a pair of binoculars, while holding a radio transceiver to his mouth and saying “Mission complete, I’ll meet you at the same place as before.” “Roger that, over and out!” ____________________________________________________________________ Date: Oct 8, 4 ALR Place: The Drunken Oyster objective: meet with previous employer Plan: recieve payment, use force if necessary Time: 0:00 hours “So, jobs done. I’m untraceable. I was only noticed by the door guards, and they believe that i was some random colt on the street looking for a quick buck. They’ve got nothing on me.” “Do you have the goods?” “I do Miss Pommel. Sixteen concealable firearms, completely undetectable, with a built in cloaking device. The Polomare’s have also received your message bright as day, with no way to prove you were involved.” “Well done Mr. Shade. I am pleased with the quality of your work.” “It was my pleasure ma’m.” “There’s something that you might want to hear though shade, the princesses are looking for you.” “They’re finally trying to lock me up eh?” “Actually no. From what I’ve heard, they want to hire you for a job.” “Really now? I guess I’ll have to go pay them a little visit. Well, i must be going now, princesses to interrogate, ideas to create!” “Wait, shade what about your payment?” “Keep it Miss Pommel. I have no use for it. Especially if the princesses want me for a job.” The colt says as he finishes his conversation with his previous employer and hands her the bag of experimental weapons, while keeping one extra one for himself. He proceeds to walk out of the bar before disappearing into the night. Author's Note I have decided to start up a new fic with my OC, but he has a few changes. I hope you all enjoy it and i promise to work on my other stories more often. Until next time see ya! Chapter oneDate: Oct 8, 4 ALR Place: The Royal Palace objective: meet with both princesses to discuss... business Plan: A.V.O.I.D (Avoid Various Other Individuals in Darkness) Time: 01:00 hours After having scanned the castle grounds for guards for the past 30 minutes, Shade finds a gap in the guard’s pattern of sweeping through the gardens in which he can reach the base of the castle. He packs up his equipment, and prepares to make a run for the canterlot gardens from his position atop an old bakery next to the castle wall. Once everything has been secured in his cloak, now with bits of grass and leaves woven in to provide more camouflage in the garden, he counts down in his head, bolting from his position towards the wall just as the guards in the garden are nearing the half-way mark near where the statue of Discord once stood. He scales the wall with great ease, landing in the garden as the guards reach the ¾ mark in their sweep of the garden. Shade runs as fast as he can, sticking to the right hedgeline of the maze to avoid being spotted by the next patrol. By the time he has reached the pedestal that Discord’s statue was once placed on, the first patrol had disappeared behind the left corner of the castle, while voices can be heard coming from the right side. Shade steps it up as he continues to run towards the side of the castle, stopping to hide behind a row of hedges that was planted right along the side of the castle. As the voices of the next patrol reach his ears, shade peeks out of the bush, trying to find where he will go next. Scanning the courtyard, he finds only one entrance to his left that has two guards standing in front of it. “That’s one way to get in, but I’m going to keep my options open.” he says to himself as he continues to search for another way into the castle. However, he cannot find another doorway on his side of the castle and is contemplating using the entrance he spotted earlier until he hears “It sure is lovely tonight, you did an excellent job Princess.” “Thank you Silver Scroll, it is nice to hear praise about my night coming from somepony other than my sister for once.” “Tis my pleasure Princess. Oh my, look at the time, you need to get back to night court! The recess is almost over!” “Let us be off then! For justice and making fun of nobles using the tongue of old!” Shade looks up just as the sound of hoofsteps recede down the hallway to find a balcony overlooking the garden. Thinking for a moment, he decides to go through with his original plan and to use the balcony as an exit should he need a quick escape. He pulls out a small pad and lays it out under the balcony, so he would have a safe spot to land should he need to jump from the balcony. The mat is a dark brown with green splotches mixed in, rendering it hidden from anypony who may poke their head over the hedge. With his exit secured, Shade quickly, but quietly ran along the wall of the castle, making sure to stop whenever a patrol would walk by. While he was running, he continued to think about how he could sneak past the guards, until an idea came to him. “I if this works, I have a pretty good idea as to what job the princesses have for me.” he mumbles to himself as he stops to pick up a rock. He takes aim at a bush that is a few feet to the left of the guards, and throws it, hitting the rock and creating a rustling sound. All of the guards within an eight foot radius swarm the bush, including the door guards. One stops to pick up a rectangular device and shouts “We have a disturbance in the garden, requesting backup from all available units! Code omega dusk!” He walks into the castle, completely unnoticed by the overreacting guards, all of whom were surrounding the bush preparing for a stand off. “ I really should have a talk with Celestia about how her guards are trained. At least this explains the wedding.” As he slips into the castle, he pulls out a map of the castle he had snagged from a group of tourists doing some late night sightseeing. After locating the entrance he had used to enter the castle, shade traced the quickest route to Princess Celestia’s room, through the west wing hall and through the kitchens in which he could take a dumbwaiter up to his destination. However when he tried to put his plan into action, a few minor “complications” arose. In the halls, there were still guards either running to help their comrade in the garden, or standing in front of various doors. Thinking quickly he hid behind a door and waited for a guard to pass by. After only waiting for a minute or two he heard the sound of hoof steps coming down the hallway. Once the sounds were outside of his door, he kept out grabbed the pony and pulled him back into the room. However he wasn’t expecting to have nabbed “Princess Cadence?” “Unhoof me! My husband will not take this lightly!” “Oh great, the one pony in the entire castle I had hoped to avoid other than Luna.” They said to each other while Cadence was being held in a choke hold. Suddenly she breaks out of it, charges her horn and turns around to face her foe. However when she sees Shade, she is confused. “Wait, what? Who the hay are you? You’re parents must be worried sick about you! Come with me, I’ll see if I can help yo..” “You honestly have no idea who I am, do you?” “What do you mean?” “Well Princess Mi Amore Cadenzia, I’ll tell you, albeit against my better judgement. I am Night Shade, the one of the most ruthless mercenarys Equis has ever had.” “And why are you here?” Cadence asks nervously “I caught wind that one of the royal sisters was in need of my services, so I came for a house call.” Shade replies. Suddenly from the other side of the door a loud voice can be heard “Comb the castle, we have reason to believe that changelings have invaded and have foalnapped Princess Cadence. I want everypony to be on high alert and call in everything that seems out of place!” Cadence facehooves after hearing her husband’s suspicions. “Seriously? It was the one time! Now it’s all changeling this and changeling that! anyway shade, I think that prince… where did you go?” She says after realising that she was alone. Meanwhile, Shade was crawling through an air vent that had been conveniently located in the back corner of the room he left the princess in. “Glad that I got out of there, if the guards had spotted me with Cadence, they’d ruin my plans for sure.” Shade says to himself as he continues to crawl, trying to remember the directions to Celestia’s quarters. After only a few minutes of crawling, he catches the scent of cooking food and decides to follow it, remembering that the kitchens were located underneath his destination. Soon the smells become more distinct, and Shade decides to slow down to avoid detection. He comes to a complete stop as he hears the sounds of ponies working in the kitchen. “I’ll tell ya five, those guards have been on edge ever since those changelings attacked.” “You can say that again slice, whenever anything happens, the first response is changelings invading. It’s a miracle that nopony’s been hurt yet!” This causes Shade to think, could the job be a hoax made by changelings? Or what if the job was something to do with changelings? Either way, he was going to find out and soon. He continues to move onwards, and begins his ascent towards his final destination. Meanwhile It’s early in the morning and Celestia has just woken up due to an extreme hunger that only the most perfect of foods can satisfy. A craving so great that if not dealt with correctly, could cause a pony to give away even their most valuable possessions. Celestia craved… Cake! She sat on her bedside, waiting for her heavenly treat to arrive, while contemplating how she should go about the “problem” that had arisen. However she is snapped out of her thoughts as the dumbwaiter arrived, carrying the cargo that she had so desperately wanted. She cuts a piece of the cake using her magic and levitates it to her mouth, taking a bite out of it before starting to walk towards her bed. When she turns around though, she drops her cake in surprise as she sees another pony sitting on her bed. Before she can speak the new pony says “Don’t bother trying to call the guards, the doors are soundproofed, and locked. Now, I heard you needing somepony with a particular set of skills for a job?” “Yes, I am.” Celestia says slowly “but may I ask who it is I am talking to?” “Ah, where are my manners princess. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Night Shade, one of the most lethal ponies in Equestria.” Author's Note Sorry about it taking me so long to update, but school's been crazy. Thankfully exams will be wrapping up next week, and I'll make sure to have some nice holiday themed chapters for fun. I hope you all have a nice day, and I'll see you all in the next chapter! Chapter 2“You are Night Shade?” Celestia asks, “I thought you’d be older, or at least taller.” “Yes, yes I know. Most ponies expect me to look more intimidating, but rest assured that I am the pony you are looking for.” Shade replies “Well, enough chit chat, I suppose you wish to know why I have need of you here.” “Yes, that would be quite nice. Now from the rumor I heard, this job is one that will leave me set for life. Whatever it is you wish for me to do, it must be important.” “Your source of information was correct. You shall not need to find another job for as long as you live, if you chose to accept it.” “Well then, lay it on me. I haven’t got all night!” “Very well then, as you know Equestria has gained a new princess recently and as of yet, she doesn’t have a guard to protect her. I was hoping to hire you as a bodyguard to her as well as the Elements of Harmony.” This causes much surprise to Shade, not having expected a mission of this level of importance. “Why would Princess Twilight need a bodyguard? I mean who would be stupid enough to try to harm one the only defenses Equestria has! Wait, forget I said that, at least half of Equestria doesn't;t even realize that she has a connection to the elements.” “Sadly, that is true. There is still a large portion of Equestria that has yet to realize what she has done for us. But back to the topic at hand, will you accept the job?” “Well princess, with the last idea in my head, I must say that I accept this job. When would you like me to begin?” “As soon as you can possibly mobilize.” “Very well princess.” He says as he starts to walk towards the window “I look forwards to the job and will send you weekly reports. Lastly, would prefer that she does or doesn't know about me?” “I wish for her to not find out about you until I deem her ready. However may I ask what you are doing?” “Leaving my dear princess. Allonsy!” He shouts before jumping out the window, flipping in midair before landing on the air mattress that he had set up before. The inflatable bed quickly deflates, allowing Shade to hide it under his cloak once more. He checks both ways from his hidden position in the bush to make sure that the coast is clear before he bolts for the edge of the garden, becoming harder and harder to spot as he gets farther from the castle before reaching the wall and quickly climbing over it. Celestia watches from her balcony as he leaves, silently thinking about her decision. “I sure hope that this was a good idea.” Suddenly the doors to her room burst open, revealing Shining Armor. “Princess, we may have a changeling intruder in the castle!” “Stand down Shining Armor, I have dealt with the intruder and we shall receive no further problems from him.” “Yes princess, I understand. I’ll tell my guards to discontinue the search.” Shining Armor replies before exiting the room, closing the doors behind him. Once all of her distractions are gone, she turns her attention back to the cake she had ordered earlier that night. “Now, where were we little one?” She says to no one in particular, licking her lips all the while. Author's Note It has been forever since i have uploaded. Currently there is one thing that i can guarantee, there will not be a regular upload schedule for a while. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will see you all in the next upload!
PrologueDate: Oct 7, 4 ALR Place: back alleys of Manehatten, next to an old warehouse Objective: send a message that can’t be ignored Plans: L.E.T.S.P. (Lots of Explosives That Start Panic) Time: 22:37 hours “… and then I said to him, you must be the most holy man on Equis now!” One guard said to the one sitting next to him, causing the both of them to erupt in a bout of laughter “Hahahah… anyway, that’s how i lost my job and ended up here, how about you al?” “Oh, that’s an easy one king! As you know, I am a radical yes. So one day, i go out to purchase supplies from nearby town to help us make statement. When I get back, encampment is burned to ground, and my comrades are captured or dead. Next day, I get phone call from somepony looking for others to join his gang. That is how i come to work under boss man.” “Al” explains to his partner. The two door guards continue to talk about their past, before moving on to weather and sports. However, while they are chatting, they fail to notice the shadow being cast upon them from the warehouse “What do you mean, The Boulder is better than John cya? John Cya has won almost every fight that they’ve been in!” “Yeah? Well if the fight’s weren’t so scripted, then The Boulder would wreck John Cya in ten seconds flat!” “Personally, I must side with him, John Cya is a much better wrestler than The Boulder.” A third voice coolly interjects, causing both of the stallions to jump in fright “Wh-who’s there?” Al says timidly as both he and king stand back to back, searching the alleyways around them. Suddenly, something falls off of the roof, landing next to the two ponies. They turn to look at what fell, but see that it’s only a rock. They both let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. However as they turn around, they are surprised to see what appears to be a young colt standing in front of them, holding a tattered brown piece of cloth around him, shivering in the crisp fall air. “Hey, come’ere kid, we won’t hurt ya!” King says to the colt, causing the the youngling to back away. King steps towards the colt cautiously, as not to frighten him. “Come on, kid, I don’t bite.” The stallion says, trying to coax the colt towards him again. Suddenly, a large bang is heard, followed by a flash of light. “What the heck…” “I’m blind!” Al shouts as he stumbles about while rubbing his eyes with one of his forehooves. As King moves to help his fellow guardspony he is struck from behind, just at the base of his neck, causing him to crumble to the ground instantly. “King, are you there?” Al shouts as his eyes readjust to the lighting in the alley. Before he is fully adjusted though, he feels something hit him right in the back of his right forehoof, forcing him down on one knee. Before he has time to react, he too is hit in the base of the neck, rendering him unconscious as well. When both ponies are out cold, the colt from before scans the area for any sign of security cameras and ponies who may have heard or seen the flash bang. Once the coast is clear, he removes the cloth from his head, revealing a colt with a hazel colored coat, and a two tone violet-yellow mane. Moving quickly, he rushes over to the door of the warehouse, picks the lock, and quietly walks inside. He then pulls out a flashlight, and starts to examine some of the numerous boxes, looking for something specific among all of them. He comes to a stop next to a box labeled “experimental” and prys the lid off using a crowbar he had hidden under his cloth. He smiles as removes the contents of the crate, and puts it into a saddlebag he had hidden within the depths of his cloak. Once the items have been secured, he removes a small sphere from the outer pocket of the bag, throws it into the crate, and puts the lid back on it. With his task complete, he gallops back to the entrance of the warehouse to make his escape. When he reaches the door however, he puts his ear up to it to listen to see if the door guards have woken up. Hearing movement and voices from outside the door, he pulls a small box out from his bag. The box has a short antennae, with dials and a view screen on it. He pushes a small button on the side, then turns one of the dials until it has 1:00 on it, before setting on the ground and pushing another button on the side of it, causing the numbers on the view screen to decrease at a steady rate. “1, 2, 3, go!” He says to himself as he kicks the door open and bolts down the alley he arrived from. The noise from the door being kicked out, jerks the two guardsponies to their senses “Hey, you get back here!” King shouts as both he and Al take off after the colt. The colt continues to run, jumping over trash cans and fences with the two guards lagging behind. “Hey, look! That alley’s a dead end! We got him now!” King says as he and his partner both reach the last alleyway that they had seen the colt go into. When they entered the alley though, nopony was there. “What the, I thought that he went down here.” “He must’ve tricked us. Come on, lets get back to the warehouse before the next shift gets there, we’re in enough trouble as it is!” “Ha, nothing will be able to upset the boss more than leaving our post to chase after some stupid kid!” Suddenly, a large flash of light is seen followed by a deafening explosion and large tremors shaking the earth. Both guards throw themselves to the ground to brace themselves against the force of the explosion. After a minute or two of waiting, al speaks up. “That was huge! Somepony must’ve tampered with the chemicals in the warehouse, they’re highly volatile, or at least were.” “Do you think it was that colt?” “No, it would’ve taken either a bomb placed outside of the container to cause the explosion, or he would’ve needed to cut through 6 inches of celesteel. There is no way that he had the resources needed to cause the explosion!” “We need to go find the boss and tell him about this, he’s not gonna like it one bit.” King finishes as the two guards gallop off to find their employer. Meanwhile, on a rooftop above the alleyway, the colt looks at the rubble that remains of the warehouse through a pair of binoculars, while holding a radio transceiver to his mouth and saying “Mission complete, I’ll meet you at the same place as before.” “Roger that, over and out!” ____________________________________________________________________ Date: Oct 8, 4 ALR Place: The Drunken Oyster objective: meet with previous employer Plan: recieve payment, use force if necessary Time: 0:00 hours “So, jobs done. I’m untraceable. I was only noticed by the door guards, and they believe that i was some random colt on the street looking for a quick buck. They’ve got nothing on me.” “Do you have the goods?” “I do Miss Pommel. Sixteen concealable firearms, completely undetectable, with a built in cloaking device. The Polomare’s have also received your message bright as day, with no way to prove you were involved.” “Well done Mr. Shade. I am pleased with the quality of your work.” “It was my pleasure ma’m.” “There’s something that you might want to hear though shade, the princesses are looking for you.” “They’re finally trying to lock me up eh?” “Actually no. From what I’ve heard, they want to hire you for a job.” “Really now? I guess I’ll have to go pay them a little visit. Well, i must be going now, princesses to interrogate, ideas to create!” “Wait, shade what about your payment?” “Keep it Miss Pommel. I have no use for it. Especially if the princesses want me for a job.” The colt says as he finishes his conversation with his previous employer and hands her the bag of experimental weapons, while keeping one extra one for himself. He proceeds to walk out of the bar before disappearing into the night. Author's Note I have decided to start up a new fic with my OC, but he has a few changes. I hope you all enjoy it and i promise to work on my other stories more often. Until next time see ya!
Chapter oneDate: Oct 8, 4 ALR Place: The Royal Palace objective: meet with both princesses to discuss... business Plan: A.V.O.I.D (Avoid Various Other Individuals in Darkness) Time: 01:00 hours After having scanned the castle grounds for guards for the past 30 minutes, Shade finds a gap in the guard’s pattern of sweeping through the gardens in which he can reach the base of the castle. He packs up his equipment, and prepares to make a run for the canterlot gardens from his position atop an old bakery next to the castle wall. Once everything has been secured in his cloak, now with bits of grass and leaves woven in to provide more camouflage in the garden, he counts down in his head, bolting from his position towards the wall just as the guards in the garden are nearing the half-way mark near where the statue of Discord once stood. He scales the wall with great ease, landing in the garden as the guards reach the ¾ mark in their sweep of the garden. Shade runs as fast as he can, sticking to the right hedgeline of the maze to avoid being spotted by the next patrol. By the time he has reached the pedestal that Discord’s statue was once placed on, the first patrol had disappeared behind the left corner of the castle, while voices can be heard coming from the right side. Shade steps it up as he continues to run towards the side of the castle, stopping to hide behind a row of hedges that was planted right along the side of the castle. As the voices of the next patrol reach his ears, shade peeks out of the bush, trying to find where he will go next. Scanning the courtyard, he finds only one entrance to his left that has two guards standing in front of it. “That’s one way to get in, but I’m going to keep my options open.” he says to himself as he continues to search for another way into the castle. However, he cannot find another doorway on his side of the castle and is contemplating using the entrance he spotted earlier until he hears “It sure is lovely tonight, you did an excellent job Princess.” “Thank you Silver Scroll, it is nice to hear praise about my night coming from somepony other than my sister for once.” “Tis my pleasure Princess. Oh my, look at the time, you need to get back to night court! The recess is almost over!” “Let us be off then! For justice and making fun of nobles using the tongue of old!” Shade looks up just as the sound of hoofsteps recede down the hallway to find a balcony overlooking the garden. Thinking for a moment, he decides to go through with his original plan and to use the balcony as an exit should he need a quick escape. He pulls out a small pad and lays it out under the balcony, so he would have a safe spot to land should he need to jump from the balcony. The mat is a dark brown with green splotches mixed in, rendering it hidden from anypony who may poke their head over the hedge. With his exit secured, Shade quickly, but quietly ran along the wall of the castle, making sure to stop whenever a patrol would walk by. While he was running, he continued to think about how he could sneak past the guards, until an idea came to him. “I if this works, I have a pretty good idea as to what job the princesses have for me.” he mumbles to himself as he stops to pick up a rock. He takes aim at a bush that is a few feet to the left of the guards, and throws it, hitting the rock and creating a rustling sound. All of the guards within an eight foot radius swarm the bush, including the door guards. One stops to pick up a rectangular device and shouts “We have a disturbance in the garden, requesting backup from all available units! Code omega dusk!” He walks into the castle, completely unnoticed by the overreacting guards, all of whom were surrounding the bush preparing for a stand off. “ I really should have a talk with Celestia about how her guards are trained. At least this explains the wedding.” As he slips into the castle, he pulls out a map of the castle he had snagged from a group of tourists doing some late night sightseeing. After locating the entrance he had used to enter the castle, shade traced the quickest route to Princess Celestia’s room, through the west wing hall and through the kitchens in which he could take a dumbwaiter up to his destination. However when he tried to put his plan into action, a few minor “complications” arose. In the halls, there were still guards either running to help their comrade in the garden, or standing in front of various doors. Thinking quickly he hid behind a door and waited for a guard to pass by. After only waiting for a minute or two he heard the sound of hoof steps coming down the hallway. Once the sounds were outside of his door, he kept out grabbed the pony and pulled him back into the room. However he wasn’t expecting to have nabbed “Princess Cadence?” “Unhoof me! My husband will not take this lightly!” “Oh great, the one pony in the entire castle I had hoped to avoid other than Luna.” They said to each other while Cadence was being held in a choke hold. Suddenly she breaks out of it, charges her horn and turns around to face her foe. However when she sees Shade, she is confused. “Wait, what? Who the hay are you? You’re parents must be worried sick about you! Come with me, I’ll see if I can help yo..” “You honestly have no idea who I am, do you?” “What do you mean?” “Well Princess Mi Amore Cadenzia, I’ll tell you, albeit against my better judgement. I am Night Shade, the one of the most ruthless mercenarys Equis has ever had.” “And why are you here?” Cadence asks nervously “I caught wind that one of the royal sisters was in need of my services, so I came for a house call.” Shade replies. Suddenly from the other side of the door a loud voice can be heard “Comb the castle, we have reason to believe that changelings have invaded and have foalnapped Princess Cadence. I want everypony to be on high alert and call in everything that seems out of place!” Cadence facehooves after hearing her husband’s suspicions. “Seriously? It was the one time! Now it’s all changeling this and changeling that! anyway shade, I think that prince… where did you go?” She says after realising that she was alone. Meanwhile, Shade was crawling through an air vent that had been conveniently located in the back corner of the room he left the princess in. “Glad that I got out of there, if the guards had spotted me with Cadence, they’d ruin my plans for sure.” Shade says to himself as he continues to crawl, trying to remember the directions to Celestia’s quarters. After only a few minutes of crawling, he catches the scent of cooking food and decides to follow it, remembering that the kitchens were located underneath his destination. Soon the smells become more distinct, and Shade decides to slow down to avoid detection. He comes to a complete stop as he hears the sounds of ponies working in the kitchen. “I’ll tell ya five, those guards have been on edge ever since those changelings attacked.” “You can say that again slice, whenever anything happens, the first response is changelings invading. It’s a miracle that nopony’s been hurt yet!” This causes Shade to think, could the job be a hoax made by changelings? Or what if the job was something to do with changelings? Either way, he was going to find out and soon. He continues to move onwards, and begins his ascent towards his final destination. Meanwhile It’s early in the morning and Celestia has just woken up due to an extreme hunger that only the most perfect of foods can satisfy. A craving so great that if not dealt with correctly, could cause a pony to give away even their most valuable possessions. Celestia craved… Cake! She sat on her bedside, waiting for her heavenly treat to arrive, while contemplating how she should go about the “problem” that had arisen. However she is snapped out of her thoughts as the dumbwaiter arrived, carrying the cargo that she had so desperately wanted. She cuts a piece of the cake using her magic and levitates it to her mouth, taking a bite out of it before starting to walk towards her bed. When she turns around though, she drops her cake in surprise as she sees another pony sitting on her bed. Before she can speak the new pony says “Don’t bother trying to call the guards, the doors are soundproofed, and locked. Now, I heard you needing somepony with a particular set of skills for a job?” “Yes, I am.” Celestia says slowly “but may I ask who it is I am talking to?” “Ah, where are my manners princess. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Night Shade, one of the most lethal ponies in Equestria.” Author's Note Sorry about it taking me so long to update, but school's been crazy. Thankfully exams will be wrapping up next week, and I'll make sure to have some nice holiday themed chapters for fun. I hope you all have a nice day, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!
Chapter 2“You are Night Shade?” Celestia asks, “I thought you’d be older, or at least taller.” “Yes, yes I know. Most ponies expect me to look more intimidating, but rest assured that I am the pony you are looking for.” Shade replies “Well, enough chit chat, I suppose you wish to know why I have need of you here.” “Yes, that would be quite nice. Now from the rumor I heard, this job is one that will leave me set for life. Whatever it is you wish for me to do, it must be important.” “Your source of information was correct. You shall not need to find another job for as long as you live, if you chose to accept it.” “Well then, lay it on me. I haven’t got all night!” “Very well then, as you know Equestria has gained a new princess recently and as of yet, she doesn’t have a guard to protect her. I was hoping to hire you as a bodyguard to her as well as the Elements of Harmony.” This causes much surprise to Shade, not having expected a mission of this level of importance. “Why would Princess Twilight need a bodyguard? I mean who would be stupid enough to try to harm one the only defenses Equestria has! Wait, forget I said that, at least half of Equestria doesn't;t even realize that she has a connection to the elements.” “Sadly, that is true. There is still a large portion of Equestria that has yet to realize what she has done for us. But back to the topic at hand, will you accept the job?” “Well princess, with the last idea in my head, I must say that I accept this job. When would you like me to begin?” “As soon as you can possibly mobilize.” “Very well princess.” He says as he starts to walk towards the window “I look forwards to the job and will send you weekly reports. Lastly, would prefer that she does or doesn't know about me?” “I wish for her to not find out about you until I deem her ready. However may I ask what you are doing?” “Leaving my dear princess. Allonsy!” He shouts before jumping out the window, flipping in midair before landing on the air mattress that he had set up before. The inflatable bed quickly deflates, allowing Shade to hide it under his cloak once more. He checks both ways from his hidden position in the bush to make sure that the coast is clear before he bolts for the edge of the garden, becoming harder and harder to spot as he gets farther from the castle before reaching the wall and quickly climbing over it. Celestia watches from her balcony as he leaves, silently thinking about her decision. “I sure hope that this was a good idea.” Suddenly the doors to her room burst open, revealing Shining Armor. “Princess, we may have a changeling intruder in the castle!” “Stand down Shining Armor, I have dealt with the intruder and we shall receive no further problems from him.” “Yes princess, I understand. I’ll tell my guards to discontinue the search.” Shining Armor replies before exiting the room, closing the doors behind him. Once all of her distractions are gone, she turns her attention back to the cake she had ordered earlier that night. “Now, where were we little one?” She says to no one in particular, licking her lips all the while. Author's Note It has been forever since i have uploaded. Currently there is one thing that i can guarantee, there will not be a regular upload schedule for a while. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I will see you all in the next upload!
