In complete darkness, a candle was lit, then another, and another. They flashed slowly in the dark, and every movement of the head had to be accompanied by a bow. A bow of respect and humility.

It was the work of Ebony to light ritual candles, but each lit one candle, repeating every movement and gesture with a wing or hoof. This ritual required a complete immersion in the process and awareness of the situation. The mind must be filled with the right proportions of the senses.

“And darkness will overtake us for our sins.”

Only two did not participate in this; one only for the time being, while the other was perplexedly watching his new detachment violate laws and rules, applying more religiosity to what is happening. In his view, a company of criminals should not risk so much by performing dangerous rituals that look more like a call from the forces of darkness than a sentimental rite similar to the sanctification of machine spirit.

“We give you our souls and bodies, Princess of the Night. Our father gave us a guiding light to redemption."

They surrounded the sanctuary in the unity of their voices and thoughts, folding their wings, forming an incomplete circle, where Ebony broke the line and depicted the deepening of a crescent moon.

"You chose us, and, looking at the abyss, inviting secrets, we did not give themselves. We - betrayed the law and betrayed the essence."

They flapped their wings, dispersing the smell of incense and extinguishing the candles.

“For we are bandits and murderers! We are the Night Lords!"

***

They came out one by one, led by little Ebony in a tactical formation. They were all Bat Ponies, from a distance similar to each other, like brothers and sisters, different only in size, eye color and small details, such as wild eyes or a soft gait. Noble Grimhart supported the weeping Songa, who, together with tears, wanted to get to her supply of goodies and alcohol as soon as possible and move on to prisoner diamond dogs. Next came the angry hissing and jealous of Songa TremorClaw, held by Havok, who was huge compared to them. Valdes accompanied them with a faint gleam of joy in his soul, ignoring the questioning glance of the new member of the department.

"Akhm, Sergeant, you must understand that what is happening can cause many questions, and as a member of the department, I do not want to participate in such. And I'm not going to hide it eithe..."

Valdes only looked at him with a melancholy look, already beginning to realize that he would have to handle this newcomer on his own, without the power and position that he had before. It's one thing when your sergeant tells you what the rules are, and it looks like protocol bypass and hidden violations. Another thing is when it was said by the Master Claw, responsible for the fighting spirit, whose word was indestructible, was the basis of the entire emotional component of the company.

“... and I will immediately bring it to the captain!”

The stallion proudly puffed out his chest, even slightly fluffed out, which spoke of real feelings. This was not surprising. Valdés could only lower his head with a heavy sigh, turning and going up to the only remaining candle that stood unlit. The last candle for him, the last candle for all of them. It inflamed by him and his weak suppressed magical potential, to which the newcomer, still dressed in power armor, looked spellbound, coming closer, almost stepping on his sergeant's wing.

“I dedicate my service to the service of you, Great Mother. Demand with me, for my loyalty is absolute, and let the darkness of my soul devour me if I prove unworthy. Father gave light guiding. Bowing in front of him, remember, he thought only of us ..." - he whispered it quickly, without fail, without hitches or long pauses, like a spell or mantra, while others said it as something that taught them. The sound of his voice made LicanBlood think that this is his life, and he does it in front of him, as if this is not the betrayal of everything that the Liberation Crusade is going for. He grabbed the handle of the battle knife, wanting to interrupt this insane fanaticism. - "... when we make the shadows shudder, the Father is with us both in spirit and in body!"

His voice trembled sharply, echoing no further than their ears. The blade stayed in the sheath when the bat pony jumped up sharply, extinguishing the fire with a wave of its wings and hanging up directly from the ceiling.

"Go with them, LicanBlood, go with them and find out who you are with. I don’t know who you were in the Moon Ponies, I don’t know yet the sin that lies behind your soul, but now you are the “Terror Squad”, now you are the Eighth claw. Now you are a murderer and a monster. Now you are the Night Lord."

He jumped back. Lican bounced back, fearing attack, but Valdez just headed for the exit.

“I need to make inquiries about your account, Lycan.” Go with the rest of the squad and rest, because soon we will have a hard work. And I want you to be ready for it.

He was going to argue, it was visible on the ears. Valdes mentally cleared his throat and shouted:

• EXECUTE, PRIVATE!!!

He did not have the gift of the Song of War. But he had the good old "sergeant's voice", which made Lican hastily catch up with the rest of the Claw. Valdes just sighed again and went to work, whispering under his breath only:

• Rookie... Who did you put on my head, Sanguinis?

***

The ships landed in turns, while the rest took up the line, receiving guests from another company. Everything will be as usual: Lunar Ponies will march across the parade ground, almost spitting each of us in the face, leaving the ships, finding a couple of enemies in our company...

• Hey! HorizonFall! How is your sister?! I did not ask?

StormSiege, Ninth Claw. Rape, escape from law enforcement officers, threats of physical violence, theft of state resources.

-YOU?!

An undisciplined cry, the landlords already took acceleration when the rest of the group took it, trying to reassure them in every way while he was puffing nostrils, trying to stimulate his anger. In the end, he lay tied together. When he did, he remembered the face and voice. And Storm does not keep his mouth shut.

At the same time, I watched my faithful StormEagle unload. Yes, on this machine at one time I led my company to the attack. I touched the hull, and the engines purred, recognizing his pilot and master. Havok also pulled out three massive metal boxes, in which there was obviously something hidden from the eyes of the Lunar Ponies, because their lieutenant was looking at them with suspicion. The First Claw, Atramentar, brothers and sisters according to their fate, bastards, whom only hatred united, came out in their massive terminator armor. All five accompanied NightmareFlower to meet with the lieutenant, take the machines and a couple of brotherly rituals inside the Legion.

Songa tried to jump on my neck, which was stopped by a grip on the tail of a Tremor and a sharp blow to the ground with a full turn. Grimhart jumped out to me, while Tremor and Havok put Song in one row.

In a slight bow, his face took a predatory grin, speaking of bloodlust.

“We have not been broken, and we are free again, Talon Master. The "Terror Squad" is again at your disposal."

Before my appointment, Grimheart was their sergeant, and this is not surprising: he is the purest of them. Caught in the distribution for "excessive cruelty", he got accustomed perfectly. Now he is with them in the same line, but still their sergeant is spiritual.

• What's in the boxes?

Songa and Havok grinned, while Moon Ponies were about to leave as soon as possible, until all of this developed into something more dangerous. It will be necessary to talk heart to heart with Storm.

GrimHeart rose.

• A gift for ours, sir. After we were locked in the hospital, it seemed to us ... It is worth a little to please the rest with our return.

I raised an eyebrow. I wonder how they were going to do this?

“Songa bought a StarWolf drunk barrel ... As long as we borrowed two more barrels.”

I missed out on awareness. It was deadly. If we do the dirty work for the Princess of the Moon, the Star Wolves do it for Celestia. Let them not be so dangerous or strong, their “dirty work” is more often - just fights, where loyalty needs more brains. But they are a full-fledged Legion, and we are just a company.

• So happily I thought that for the sake of something small I give him my “flowers”!

Songa rolled with wild laughter that her face strongly mixed with genetics expressed itself particularly terribly, and it was not Princess Luna who was to blame for this: Songa had an “eastern” grin, as they sometimes call him. She was obviously a half-breed, but finding parents of an orphan is not always easy.

"At ease, fighters. In honor of your return, I propose to proceed to the ritual..."

The newcomer in the group stood with them, still, apparently, unaccustomed to such a low level of discipline and eerie colors, even though he was a Bat Pony. Although, it seems, he is from these "northerners." Strong but puny clans.

***

The two barrels went to the rest of the claws in hoofs, in the shadows and silence. Ours remained on its own binge, for Songi’s multiple caches here and there with various food items. She loves to pamper her taste. And today, to the mango, the music of GrimHart and a couple of captured diamond dogs was added a new box of fresh mangoes, just from the fridge.

Since it was necessary to hide that we were still doing this, we had to hide in underground rooms for ordinary ponies and score everything so that the sound would not pass. We had a table, playing cards, a radio, a lot of cards and notes that Lhikan had buried in, trying not to pay attention to two target diamond dogs in muzzles and chains, chained to the wall. One dog whined in horror - one of the commanders, "nob." The second tried to giggle through the muzzle, looking at his companion. This is one of the "commandos", caught him there only one. It was still important to understand where his gang had disappeared: they were not found during the battle. GrimHart tuned up his saxophone, Havok tuned in the radio, Tremor and Songa wiped and prepared instruments.

Suddenly, Ebony entered the room, along with two hard-working earths who were carrying a box. She sent them on, coming up to me.

“Scull says, sir: his vital organs have been altered, his own waste flows into his blood, and he has already been found a point for connecting to the drain system. Should I execute the order? ..

I didn’t want to think about it, I was not in the mood for the usual problems of the dog: I was looking at the file of a certain “Mare do well.” I heard about this image before the Campaign, even when the world was intact, and now - such a surprise, someone with such a nickname rushes along Las Pegasus, trying to eradicate crime with a simple fear of retribution. It will be interesting to look for him ...

• Yes, connect. Write down his screams if you want. Maybe we will need for a new video.

One of the landies with a murmur pulled out a video camera, to which Ebony nodded.

• Everything will be, sir, I will follow the execution of the sentence.

Well, we have already done everything so that he would not be seized: he died, someone from revenge dumped him on the spikes, before this forcing him to pohleat water from the waste system. Simple practice.

Only now will find him so in a week.

Songa had already begun to drink straight from the tap on the barrel, struggling with the flow of alcohol. Usual we will not overthrow, so she has to dodge and get alcohol from the Star Wolves. Rainbow Dash nobody said that she could not get drunk after the improvements, and as soon as she found out, she immediately with the new government ordered to develop alcohol for drunk thunder. They say it is cooked on the basis of our promethium... Song told me that yes. However, when she then tried to drink two such barrels and verify the result with the contents of my “StormEagle” gas tank, she was already drunk.

"Nob" shuddered more strongly, as soon as GrimHart tuned up the saxophone and began to play one of his melodies. The little dog was no longer holding back and crying with joy, while the second one panicked in horror, trying, it seemed, to shut him up. Songa, meanwhile, was testing her favorite jar with its parasprites that follow her song. The Tremor was a bit simpler: she was fixing her repair kit on herself. A small claw-shaped manipulator with hydraulics, a plasma soldering iron, a drill ... It constantly changes the details to taste. Now took a horizontal claw. Probably going to rip the bones.

Havok, along with GrimHeart, just hummed. One works in size and brute force, the second works with ordinary medical instruments and weapons. Lhikan looked with horror at what was happening, sitting next to them, constantly pointing to one or another instrument and asking questions, to which he received absolutely accurate and colorful answers.

"Why does she need a burner?!"

"Probably, he wants to burn his eyes, maybe he is going to insert his ear, I don't know. These dogs are not here for information” said Havok, thoughtfully eating mangoes, while Lhikan, with his jaw open, watched one of Parasprites, whispering Songi back to the bank.

"Small mine. Take the "nob"."

The tremor was determined decisively, as soon as everything was set up, heading for the dog, who still did not believe in what was happening, just smiling from under the muzzle. To the second, Songa came up in complete curtsy, beginning to sing a desperately whimpering dog and trying to calm him down.

She didn't like it when they turned off too fast, so she stuck a dose of adrenaline into him; Tremor did the same. Grimhart pointed my hoof at this.

“Any thoughts on why she’s so excited, sergeant?”

This diamond dog found an exhausted filly, who seemed to serve as a slave. I learned this from one of the Krieg tankers; He said that the Scars had taken her and were going to transfer to the Alikornes, and they quietly handed over the dog to us under the blows of requests and persuasion.

Tremor ripped off a muzzle. The dog instantly spat in her face and did not hold back the laughter. The claw sticking into the mouth, causing him to choke and shut up, trying not to move his lower jaw. The pneumatic motors were buzzing to the breath of a low thunderbolt.

"Scream, bitch"

Claws-clips pierced the nose, grabbing the central cartilage, and began to pull back under the loud cheek and try not to scream. The tremor was not appeased. Lican watched quietly and silently, while GrimHeart became interested in creating a new symphony.

• This is monstrous and immoral! Why does she do it?!

Havok raised his hooves questioningly while sitting on his stool while I continued to watch reports on Las Pegasus. News bulletins, history: ordinary ponies who went to the city just to live, have already begun to merge information to relatives and friends, telling what they have and how. It was a disgusting city: foal prostitution, drug trafficking at the state level, and all this is covered by “noble advice”, which constantly fights with someone and “protects” unicorns andeartpony. Simple and working scheme.

Songa took the battle knife and took hold of her claws. The dog tried to grab it, fight, fight and throw it off, but the mare, holding its magnetic hooves like a spider, surrounded it, letting its parasprites climb under the skin and slowly enjoy the meal. He screamed at the muzzle while she cut off his claws and poured it all with hot wax.

• Hey! Lycan! Do you want to process it ?! Tremor you small will not leave! I bet that she will burn his scrotum and break his spine!

Songa was in her element and just danced on the wall, moving around. She kissed the dog on the forehead, then sprinkled ammonia solution into his eyes. Soon she probably will throw up or let her pets.

I was interested in one news item... So, they have mares disappearing there now... Foals disappear... There are many who can send the Eighth Claw, it was only necessary to send them to the business correctly...

Lycan whipped out a knife and shouted:

"Enough! You were punished to stop this madness, but you continue! You will all be executed!"

I just raised my eyebrow, leaving it on GrimHeart and Havok. The girls now had to keep their business, and I didn’t want to.

A soldering iron entered the eye. The creature screamed, opening its mouth, and under this cry the pressure of the hydraulics increased. Looks like she wanted him to tear his jaw off himself under her pressure.

Grimmheart pointed to the dogs, as the pony points with a fork on a plate of salad.

“These creatures killed, terrorized, and committed many other crimes against the entire nation of ponies. I do not know where you have been all these years, in which joyful lie lived, but here it is true. They deserve their punishment, Lycan."

The tremor whipped out a knife and began to prick the stomach wildly, trying to gut it alive, before it broke its skull. Blood and organs fell on a cold metal floor beneath the characteristic cotton of a skull bursting under the hydraulics.

The tremor did not breathe throughout the entire process; she did it all in about a minute, while Songa was going to leave this dog with parasprites inside here for a few days. Tremor does not bring joy, but the feeling of retribution is more than joy.

Havok jumped up, picking up her, slightly reeling. The second dog no longer cares what happened to his comrade. He was dying, and he was dying slowly, in agony. He will not faint until his flesh is eaten in pieces for a long time. Songa jumped off the wall, helping the Tremor resist and take off the instruments.

"Hush, dear, everything is fine, he is dead, he fell from your hoof."

Since Tremor has always been like this. She was perhaps too bloodthirsty for an ordinary maid, but she did not want to put up with it. Even becoming a thunder and finding in it his destiny and vocation, the little servant was still the same servant.

Lycan would try to build a noble Lunar Pony out of himself, but I found what he was sent to: he was a bastard, brother of Prince Sanguinis, and was so angry that he tried to kill him, beating his servant until he was half dead, to gain time. He is one of us, just does not believe in it. He is a Bat Pony, and he is a traitor, and a murderer, he is the Night Lord.

Author's Note

We reached her hands through the translator just now. I'm afraid to imagine what to do with the next one, I’m still writing in the Russian chapter, there’s so much text that I don’t have enough strength to finish it off (haha, you have such small chapters and you say you want to cut the biggest, asshole ). People, I understand that I am writing in a very niche format and with very poor quality .... but can I have some feedback, please?