It was mid-afternoon when Shatter Shield made his way to his home in a hurry. He ran through the streets of Canterlot pushing other ponies out of his way to get home and gather what he needed and his wife as well. A look of panic upon his face as he opens the door to hear….laughing? And it was more than one voice. He comes into the inning area to see his wife and...Zemrite sitting t the table, smiling and laughing as their conversation went on. His bow leaning against the side of the table and a warm smile on his face as he spoke to her, his hands clasped around a teacup filled with green tea

“Oh, don’t you worry. We will make sure all the issues are taken care of. Your husband will certainly be doing his best as well. After all…”

Zemrite’s gaze shifted to the stallion as he walked in.

“He is a loyal member of the royal guard. I would never dishonor that position.”

He said as he sipped on the tea for a moment. His wife was completely in the dark on what had just happened earlier that day. But the fact that Zemrite made good on his words made the stallion shake in his armor. She looks over at her husband just as soon as he stops shaking and gets up to greet him with a hug and a kiss. A gaze of love from her meeting his.

“Oh no, it has been his dream to be part of the royal guard ever since he was a colt! And with how hard he has worked for it, I believe he would never, ever do such a thing! I know he loves this kingdom just as much as he loves me. Isn’t that right my dear?”

“O-of course I do. And I always plan to keep you and it safe from any beings or creatures of evil.”

“Oh, this is Zemrite by the way. I finally got to meet the tall, dark, and handsome fiance of our princesses. He came to visit and check on me since you have been so busy as of late. Isn’t that kind of him?”

Zemrite chuckled lightly and finished off his tea before standing up and placing his bow on his back.

“Well, I must leave for now. May I speak with your husband alone for a moment, ma’am? It’s royal guard business.”

“Oh, of course! It was nice to meet you again, Sir Zemrite! Come by again and I will make you more tea!”

She said with a bow. Zemrite lifted a hand up and shook it side to side, dismissing the bow.

“Oh no, that is not necessary. You don’t have to bow in front of me, I...don’t really see any purpose in it.”

“Oh, he is so humble too! Very well, I will leave you two to your talk. I need to go out anyway and gather some groceries for dinner tonight. See you soon, honey!”

She said as she grabbed her purse and slipped out the door, leaving the two of them alone. Suddenly, tension filled the air. It was thick enough that you could cut it with a knife and still have issues getting through it. Zemrite crossed his arms and the smile he had before vanished.

“So,do you plan on telling her your real intentions? Or when the royal guards come to take you away, you will leave her in confusion and disbelief that her husband is a traitor? And don’t bother running away. I have my network of rogues and spies all over the city and are very informed of your actions. And they will stop you from leaving.”

“How dare you come into my home like this. Mark my words, I will be the one to wipe you from existence. And the order will have served its purpose in protecting our beloved princess from somepony like you. I will make your death slow and painful…”

Zemrite walked up to Shatter and took hold of the front of his cloak and lifted him up off his hooves. He bared his sharp teeth a gave a low growl as if he was in his garou form. Shatter gulps and grabs at his arm to try and pull away from him, lightly kicking his hooves.

“If I remember correctly, you are in no position to be making threats. I could kill you right here and now. And tell the princesses I was merely disposing of a threat to the kingdom. But that would be a waste, now wouldn’t it? You can save yourself and run with your wife...IF you give me information about this…”De Ordine Lux’ you are a part of…”

He reaches up with his other hand and extends his middle and index finger out and arches them over the stallion’s eyes, the sharp, bladed metal mere inches away from the soft, fleshy orbs. Shatter’s struggling became rougher now as his gaze locked onto those metal claws in terror.

“Tell me everything you know now. Or when they bring you to the interrogation room in the dungeons, these will be the first thing I ruin. Just think, you won’t be able to see your beautiful wife ever again. Plus, if you tell me everything I need to know now, I will not report your betrayal to the princesses. All you have to do...is give me what I want, and I will call of my rogues. And you and your wife are free to run. And you will get to live to try and kill me another day. It a win-win for both of us. Do we have a deal?”

Shatter gave a defiance glare and spat into Zemrite’s face. A wicked smile forming across his face.

“ will not give you anything on the Order. I’d rather die than tell you anything about them. We are going to make sure that you and others like you are purged from this world.”

Zemrite sighed as he wiped the spit off his face and suddenly slammed him on the ground face first, that heavy boot pressing his face into the floor as he reached under his cloak and pulled out heavy metal shackles and bound his arms behind his back with a wicked smile.

“I was hoping you’d decline the deal. Now I get to have some payback for all the hell you put me through.”

With a wicked, ethereal laugh, they both vanish into the shadows.

--Back At Canterlot Castle--

“So he is safe and well then…?”

Asked Celestia with a worried look on her face, his sister with an expression quite similar as they listened to Blazing and the others talked about what had transpired and the reason behind Zemrite’s sudden disappearance. Just as they were about to deploy the guards to go and collect Shatter Shield. Zemrite appeared out of a shadow in the corner of the throne room with the stallion in question with a frightened expression on his face. It seemed that traveling through the shadows and what he had seen in them had scared him. Zemrite dragged him by the front of his cloak again and then tossed him before the group of ponies.

“Seems like he doesn’t want to be very talkative with me, so I brought him here for you to decide what to do with him, my dear princesses. Also, I am happy to see you two again. I have missed you quite a lot. But this stallion he has quite a lot to answer for.He wouldn’t talk, so I brought him to you, my dear princesses.”

As happy as both of them were to see their beloved fiance once more, they looked down at the stallion who had been a trusted member of their royal guard for many years. Celestia was more upset than Luna since he was part of her guard.

“Ah, Shatter Shield. So you are the one who caused all this trouble? I certainly didn’t expect this from you. You were such a fine personal guard for me...and yet I find out that you are the one responsible for kidnapping my fiance. Why would you do such a thing? Even knowing that the consequences would be great for you? He may not be royalty, but considering the relationship between myself, my sister and him. You should have known better…”

Shatter makes his way up to his knees and looks up at Celestia and averts his eyes to Zemrite who was standing to the side with his arms crossed, then returned his gaze back to Celestia.

“My princess...do you not know and see what this…’thing’ is? He is a creature of the dark here to poison and corrupt your mind. The energy that radiates from him is foul. And those awful markings...that only proves that he is tainted by darkness and is an evil being. And yet, you throw yourself onto him each time you see him. There is somepony out there so much better for you. And to make matters worse, he could have this whole hidden plan to take over the kingdom or worse…”

Celestia grew angrier at the stallion’s words toward Zemrite. She wanted to kick him across the face with her gold plated hooves but refrained from doing so. But the expression of disgust and anger was present in her face. Even Zemrite knew what was coming.

“This ‘thing’ as you call him has done more for this kingdom than you ever have in your years of service. It is true that he is tainted by darkness. But his heart and his mind are always in the right place when it comes to those he cares about and even strangers that need help…”

She starts to breathe a bit heavily, anger welling up in her more.

“This stallion lead the defensive attack on the invaders that threatened our way of life and protected my sister and myself time and time again…”

She suddenly starts screaming.

“And you have to absolute nerve to call him a monster?! This man has been there for us always when we needed him! He has helped out finest warrior and even created a whole new subdivision for us! He has looked after my student other her friends as well as other ponies who have asked him and you accuse him of being somepony bad?!”

Celestia’s horn started radiating and sparking with magic. She was extremely mad at one of her trusted guards and the look of fear fell over his face as he wings flared up and that glare of death fell upon her usual soft features.

“B-But your highness, I was only doing what was best for you and the kingdom! This monster would soon hurt you and your sister soon if nothing is done with him! He has poisoned your mind with thoughts of love and his actions are only to cover his true intentions!”

“SILENCE! You will pay dearly for your words!”

She was about to strike him with a heavy magical attack when Zemrite walks up in front of her and reaches up, gently cupping her cheeks with his now gloveless hands and gently rub them.

“Tia, look at me. This isn’t part of your job. Leave the assault and battery to the professionals. Not to mention, this would reflect poorly on you. Now...calm down…”

He whispered to her comfortingly, leaning up to place a gentle kiss upon her lips. With those words and his actions, her anger falls and she calms down quickly. She wraps him up in her arms and squeezing him firmly into a hug and starts to sob quietly, Luna coming in to join the reunion as well. She looks down at Shatter Shield with a look of disgust as well who was now growling and glaring at Zemrite.

“You are lucky that he knows how to calm her down, or you’d be a smear across the floor right now. Guards…”

She calls out to the ones standing closest, they approach, ready for their orders.

“Take him to the lowest darkest dungeon we have. Make sure he never sees the light of day.”

Shatter’s eyes went wide as the guards lifted him up by his arms and started dragging him away kicking and screaming. A look of both fear and anger on his face.

“You can’t do this to me! I am a member of the elite royal guard! And what about my wife?!”

“Your wife will be notified of everything. And we mean ‘everything’.

“NOOOOOOOooooooo!”

The screaming eventually melted away the further he was taken. Once all was quiet, Zemrite gently patted Celestia’s cheekto get her attention. Her eyes opened back up as she gazed down at him.

“Tia...Tia, look at me. It’s alright. No more tears. I know you and Lulu are relieved to see I am alright. But we have things we need to discuss with my group of comrades here. Shatter is part of something much bigger out there. I will need to…’interrogate’ him later. But first, we need to plan for any more trouble that his order will cause. They will not stop until I am wiped off the face of the planet, and they believe that doing anything is necessary for that. And you know what that means. Everyone is in danger.”

She sniffles a few times and wipes her tears away and composes herself. But still holds onto him.

“Alright, letus all head to the war room then and discuss this….”

--In The War Room--

They all stood around the large table that had a map of Equestria displayed upon it. Zemrite places a small pin in the location where he had been taken and where Blazing and the others had found him.

“Alright, so this is one of their hiding places. They seem to favor underground bases that cannot be accessed but from one entrance. So it is safe to say that these places are all over Equestria. If my comrades haven’t informed you yet, their order is called “De Ordine Lux’ or “order Of light’. Shatter assumed that I wouldn’t make it out alive so he indulged me with a little bit of information. I plan on getting more from him. But from what he said. They have been an order that has been around for hundreds of years and have dedicated their entire lives to the well being and preservation of the princess of the sun. And they see me as a threat to her both mentally and physically. However, If there is such an order like that. Perhaps there may be an order dedicated for Luna as well. But since I haven’t heard from them yet, they either do not exist or they see me as a potential ally given what I am.”

Celestia leans over the table with an expression of confusion and surprise. This was certainly news to her. Never had she known there were ponies out there who were so...zealous towards her and her rule. And it worried both her and her sister that there may be one for Luna as well even if they favor Zemrite for their princess of the moon.

“This..this is unheard of. To think there are ponies out there with these secret societies. And here I thought we only had to worry about invading countries and otherworldly creatures that have been popping out of nowhere. If an outside nation or neighboring countries found out about this and struck a deal with these societies, we’d have a huge problem on our hands.”

Luna then chimes in.

“Perhaps if we were to reach out to this...dedicated order that had been created for me, and if it even exists, we could ask for them to give us any information that they’d have on the De Ordine Lux. Societies like that usually have a rather fragile truce, if any. The question is. How would we be able to reach out to them? We would need to stumble upon them somehow or go about finding them in a rather subtle way. Perhaps we could send out Zemrite’s specialized division for such things?”

Zemrite nodded at Luna’s suggestion. It seemed like the most logical thing but at the same time, you needed light to shine on things that are hidden in the dark. And that would be the best possible way to find such things.

“I will send a few of my shadow runners to search for these kinds of places. But if we are lucky, perhaps one of them may already be a member. I will have a talk with them individually once I pry more info out of Shatter Shield.”

He then turns to Blazing and the others.

“I want to thank all of you. You all when out of your way to come and find me. And I am very grateful for that. You all deserve some time off. But before all of you go…”

He walks over to Divine Shield and pats him on the shoulder, the large stallion looking down at him with a curious stare.

“Hey big guy, think you could help me out for a bit while I go and ask some questions to Shatter Shield?”

Divine knew exactly what he meant by ‘help’ and chuckled lowly, giving a thumbs up.

“I gotcha covered, buddy. Let’s go get this taken care. After that, I am hitting the local tavern.”

Zemrite nods and pats his shoulder again and looks back at Celestia and Luna with a warm smile.

“Don’t you two worry, I will be back in time for dinner. I love you both~.” He said as he walked over and kissed them both before heading out the door along with Divine Shield. Zemrite’s dark side was soon to unfold in the dungeons below...and it wasn’t going to be a very pretty sight.

Author's Note

Finally got another one done for this story, now that i thought long about its plot!

May the darkness grant you peace.