Midnight

FIVE YEARS LATER

(PRESENT DAY)

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The Royal Palace’s throne room was gigantic. The polished, white marble floors made every step echo throughout the vast space. A large golden chandelier hung from the ceiling, tapestries hanging off of it towards the edges of the room. Stained-glass windows lined the walls, depicting designs in the colours of all four princesses. A red carpet made it's way from the doors up toward the dais fit for a sun goddess. Solid gold was ornately forged into a massive throne. Water fountains poured to either side to keep the mood calm and the mind flowing.

Luna observed the company before her with barely concealed boredom. Certain hoof-picked ponies made up the Equestrian Royal Court. An official Court session was hardly ever held, when they were they were often held in the early morning. So she was hardly awake.

“...And while the mime did survive, he’ll never walk again…”

The concerns voiced by her subjects were beginning to sound muffled, like she was under water. Not only was she barely staying awake, her eyelids heavy, but the Court session had been going on for hours.

“Sister,” came Celestia’s soft voice, “What troubles you?”

“Nothing,” she replied with an exasperated sigh. She doubted she would be able to stay conscious for much longer.

The gigantic doors suddenly swung open, striking either side of the entrance. Luna nearly jumped in her seat at the sudden noise, but her body only tensed further when a unicorn stallion galloped inside in a panicked frenzy. His brown mane and tail were a matted mess of twigs, dirt and dried blood. His chest rose and fell as he panted, clearly out of breath, a still-bleeding scar below his right eye. His gaze was wide and terrified, as if he had seen some kind of gruesome slaughter.

Luna swallowed the lump in her throat. The stallion was Captain Ironhoof, a pony that had been sent to guard Equestrian delegates while they attempted to make peace with Queen Chrysalis. But it seems that those weeks she and Celestia had spent tracking down the changeling had been for nothing. She clearly didn’t want an alliance.

Now there would be no other choice. They would turn to Plan B.

Twilight Sparkle, who sat on her own throne to Celestia’s left and had been silent until now, gasped. “Wh-What… happened… to...?” she pointed a shaking a hoof at the Captain.

He looked to each of the princesses in turn, his voice weak with fatigue. “Queen… Chrysalis… she… has birthed more… changelings. They were waiting for us. We were ambushed.” He lowered his head, staring at the ground, his eyes filling with a mix of shame and sadness. “I… I was the only survivor.”

There was a blur of purple, and Twilight tackled the unexpecting guard, pinning him to the ground. Her eyes wide, she pressed her face nose-to-nose with his and spoke all at once without a single breath. “Did you see her? Did she say anything? How many changelings were there? Did they kill ponies or just drink their love?” She then grabbed the stallion’s shoulders and began to frantically shake him, as if she hoped the answers would fall out.

This only caused the crowd to go into an uproar. The room turned to a cacophony of noise, the Canterlot nobility demanding answers or simply screaming in terror.

Celestia frowned, using her magic to lift the Princess of Friendship into the air and place her back on her throne. Despite how she wanted to scold the younger pony for her actions, her voice was calm. “Twilight… this is not how we handle things.” Twilight fought against the magic for a moment, before settling down, and collected her resolve.

Luna stared at the chaos of the crowd. Clearing her throat, she straightened her posture. “Everypony, please, calm down!” However, the panic and noise only continued, and she narrowed her eyes. Why don’t they listen to me?

Celestia, seeing her sister was struggling to calm the members of the Court, spread her wings and raised her voice. “Everypony, stop this! Please, this is pointless! This madness will lead us nowhere!”

Instantly the noise stopped. The room growing quiet enough to hear a pin drop, everypony in attendance turned their attention to the Princess of the Day. Seeing she was successful in regaining control over the situation, the white alicorn folded her wings with a satisfied smile. “Now then, shall we continue?”

Luna glanced up at her older sister, her heart feeling heavy. Even after five years of ruling by her side again, a part of her still felt pathetic next to Celestia. Her voice was meek, almost timid, like that of an embarrassed foal. “How do you do that?”

Celestia glanced down at her in confusion. “Do what?”

“Getting everypony’s attention like that...how do you do it so easily?”

Celestia’s gaze softened, “Oh Luna...someday, you shall accomplish wonderful things. Someday, such an act as controlling a Court will be nothing to you.”

Luna took a deep, calming breath, returning her attention to the gathered crowd before them. Her mind whirled, wondering how she was supposed to address them. Deciding to mimic her sister’s actions, she drew a deep breath, spread her wings and projected her voice. “EVERYPONY, MAY I PLEASE…”

Celestia placed a hoof on her sister’s shoulder, “Luna,” she said gently, “Um...inside voice, please.”

The Night Princess blushed nervously, “I’m sorry.” Pursing her lips, she attempted to address the noble ponies again. “Everypony, may I please have your attention.” After a pause, she continued. “We have attempted to make peace with Chrysalis, but it seems we are now left with no other choice. That is why we have hired a...specialist to dispose of any changelings that even think of threatening Equestria.” After the small introduction, she turned her attention to an unseen figure and nodded her head.

A pony stepped forward from the side of the room, where he had been waiting and watching in silence.

To the surprise of the Court members, the stranger was a young unicorn colt, clearly no older than fourteen. His mane and tail were black as onyx. His coat was grey, his build slim, and his cutie mark displayed a falling wine glass spilling what appeared to be red wine.

Luna nodded to the crowd, “May I present Debonair Shard. He will stand as both our butler and the...pest exterminator.”

A red earth pony - Strongheart Valentine - pointed a hoof at the colt, his face twisted in anger. “Do you seriously expect me to believe a useless foal is going to protect us?”

Seconds later, a long cut appeared across the stallion’s hoof, a thin line of blood rising from the wound. Strongheart let out a yell of pain, cradling the injured limb. His lip curled back into a snarl as he watched a smirk dance across Debonair’s mouth. His eyes widened when he noticed that the young unicorn’s horn was surrounded by a pale blue aura of magic.

What appeared to be ten incredibly thin piano wires swirled around him, controlled by his horn. They were almost invisible, aside from the occasional flash of blue as they caught the light.

Debonair chuckled in apparent amusement. His voice held a clear accent, refined and articulate, yet the pitch was still slightly feminine from his age. “As you can see, Sir Valentine, I am not the useless foal you claim I am.” His bright blue eyes narrowed at the earth pony. “Not to worry, your wound will heal quickly. Had I truly meant to hurt you, you’d currently be on the floor in pieces.”

Celestia cleared her throat, directing the attention back to her. “As you can all see, Debonair is more than capable of his duties. As my sister said, not only shall he serve as our butler, but he will also eradicate any changelings that threaten Equestria.”

Debonair couldn’t help but grin slyly at the white alicorn’s words. He supposed the princess wasn’t entirely lying… she just wasn’t telling the entire truth. His duty was not restricted to simply changelings, but all threats to Equestria. It wasn’t that he minded his job either. He did, in fact, revel in the bloodbath of a fight.

Celestia spoke up again, bringing him from his thoughts. “Debonair Shard...do you accept your place here and the responsibilities that come with it? Do you swear your complete loyalty to us and to Equestria, and promise to do your duty?”

Debonair closed his eyes, gracefully sweeping into a gallant bow. “Yes, Your Majesty.”