Shadows of the Night

              The target stopped, having come up into a dead end in the alley systems in the market district. Turning swiftly around it proved to have particularly good night vision as its crowbar sailed through the head of the shadow apparition I’d sent before it.

             Pulling at the darkness of the night I began to flow into the small alley like a fog into the lowlands, blocking the thin slivers of moonlight that made their way through the miniscule cracks of the thick clouds above. It was now pitch black, though my sight remained unimpeded. Taking a small breath I stepped into the alley and went down the list:

1.       Recall the darkness, the sudden light, no matter how dim, would be blinding

2.       Flair hands backward in a show of power with arching back then swing forward into crouching position as hands hit the cobbles (make sure to never break eye contact with the target, even if they can’t see your own eyes)

3.       Have the darkness below the hands gush up like an oil spout and have it curve forward just in front of the target’s hooves (should the target move it’s hooves back it is a sign of submission, but should they remain induction of low level psychological warfare will be introduced)

             The plan goes off without a hitch, and I can’t help but give myself a mental pat on the back as the two spouts of darkness end in the gaping maws of two giant snakes which then disappear into the ground, seemingly waiting for me to recall them as a pungent odour begins to fill the alleyway, the origin of which is directly behind the target as it lays down. With the near pitch blackness around me I can hear the target’s soft whimpers nearly twenty-five feet away, though they noticeably quiet as I step into the shadows and reappear next to the target as I slap a pair of hoof-cuffs on both its fore and back hooves.

             Threat eliminated.

***

             The smell of rancid coffee, fruit, and doughnuts that not even a starving cop would touch greeted my nostrils as the alley next to the police station faded into view as the darkness fell away. The light from the station bent around just enough to keep the burglar, some three foot earth pony with green fur with a yellow mane and tail which had been gelled into spikes of one kind or another, to keep from completely tripping over himself as he kept trying to hobble into the police station and away from the shadowy nightmare that had caught him breaking into a bakery and emptying out the bits from a safe just below the register. I knew I’d done my job by the way his ears kept trying to swivel around trying to hear me as the gruelling twenty-second walk took its toll on him.

             Opening the door I greeted the officers inside with an emotionless, “Got another one,” as the creature slinked his way to the safety of the herd, even if they were just as unhappy to see a thief as I was, at least they weren’t something that seemed to bring out demons out of the dark.

             A chestnut colored unicorn with a leafy green mane rolled his amber eyes and brought the paperwork out from his desk for me to fill out for my report. I believe his name is Oakly. Sitting down I saw Slipstream, a watercolor blue pegasus, flapped over and begin the process of corralling the earth pony along the hallway and back to the cells, whom was only too glad to leave my presence.

             As I filled out the simple form, mostly just time of crime, what type, and a few other details to help keep things legal with the bureaucracy of the city Oakly leaned over his large, for a pony, desk and said, “You’ve really shaped up quite well these past couple of weeks.”

             “Thank you,” I said a bit quickly, not unpleasantly mind you, but I was busy filling out the form work and it was hard for me to concentrate on more than one thing at once, and I had a bit of a one track mind.

             “Man, there’s no need for you to be modest, you’ve already brought in five criminals these past two weeks, and with nary an extra scratch to help get the job done. Maybe you're just the thing to help scare these ponies straight,” Oakly said, laughing at his own joke, causing a few of the closer ponies in ear-shot to groan, but I couldn’t help but laugh with him, it had a slightly infectious quality to it, and even spread to a few of the groaners as well.

             “Well I certainly wouldn’t mind losing my job if that was the case,” I said as I brought my laughter under control.

             “I hear ya’, still it might happen if you keep things up this way. From the gossip around the water cooler I hear you might be changing your rounds pretty soon. Eh well, guess you’d better head back out.”

             I nodded, though the action was a bit muted by the hood I still wore, mostly to keep the excess light from bothering me, and stood up, and headed back into the night.

***

             Stepping back onto the sidewalk in midtown and coming out the dark overhanging archway into a metallic apartment complex labelled ‘The Silver Dandelion’ I was greeted with the stern face of Ragtime, “You didn’t wait for me,” he said, using a cop voice that had been honed for years, making me hunch my shoulders as I tried to fold away from his words. He sighed, his tone becoming gentler, “yes I know you can handle yourself, but the point you have to remember is that something could have happened to you during the chase, and no one would have been there to help you. And all of it could have been avoided if you’d simply pointed out the crime to me rather than teleporting into the shop yourself, leaving me on the sidewalk to wonder which way you’d gone.”

             “Yes sir,” I managed to say, rather ashamed of myself, not from having disregarded protocol even if it was a rather intelligent one, but because I’d made Ragtime worry. I didn’t like having people worry over me, it made me feel ashamed, for them to spend such energy. But that thought was quickly brushed away, as well as Ragtime’s slight frown as it grew into a large grin.

             “So tell me, how did you do it this time?” he asked, ready for me to recount the scared expression of the criminal I’d captured. I recounted the short tale as we finished our rounds in the bakery district, and found no more crime, though I was pretty sure we had deterred a small group of three Pegasi who took flight from the front of a candy store once we rounded the corner.

***

             Two nights later I was given a new assignment, it was to help augment security at a Sapphire Shores concert. I wasn’t much into pop music, and neither was Sprocket so the sound of a concert had surprised me, but Ragtime had only smiled as we were brought into the conference room with another eighteen other cops as we were given a basic rundown of the concert stage we’d be in as well as the potential blind spots in security plans the concert staff had given and how we’d augment it.

             All of that became a moot point as I was given the job of keeping an eye in the lot around the edges of the entire thing, which was taking place within the city’s own park. That far back it would be easier to move around without causing much commotion for the more liberally juiced party goers, as well as optimize my own surveillance abilities by being closer to the dark which I had already given ample show that it was no hindrance to my own sight. A few of the Pegasi were also given the outer ring, but only for aerial surveillance.

             While no one was expecting much, we each brought with us our standard gear, as well as a few crowd controlling elements due to the sheer size of the expected crowd.

***At the Concert***

             The concert was set in the middle of a great field which was now packed completely with ponies. The air fared only little better as clouds filled the air for those who had come merely to listen and stay above the densely packed  crowds that slowly made their way to the gated section for the concert. This housed a great circus tent in it, from what I’d heard around the crowds apparently a great number of light and fireworks were as much a part of the show as the touted music. But as far as I was concerned I was glad for the distance as the thrumming bass made its way through my skeletal structure even though I was practically two-hundred feet from the tent and practically by the street.

             Shaking my head to regain focus I mentally went over my route. I was quite familiar with it by the time I’d clocked in for work having previously braved the daylight to better know the area beforehand. And due to the large amount of ground that need covering, of which much of it was covered in trees, preventing the Pegasus teams from being the only thing necessary, my eyes easily caught the strikingly familiar form of a unicorn with shining hooves galloping her way across the rooftops just across the street as I made my way around the north section of the park, near the banking district.

             I knew I should have called for help, or even tried to signal one of the Pegasi, but by that time I would have lost the target completely, and for all I knew she might have already committed her crime. But as I stepped into the shadows my regret vanished as I jumped my way through the clouded night.

             Quickly ascending the nearest wall, by way of cloud covered fire-escape; I circled around and caught sight of a white mane flashed just to the right as it caught a hint of moonlight. Quickly latching onto the shadows I moved from one to the other in rapid succession and was rewarded with the clear sight of the same midnight-blue ninja get up with slightly luminescent red goggles which were amplified by the small glow of the unicorns red horn as they used their magic to jiggle the lock of the roof’s door which seemed to be giving the thief only a modicum of trouble as it gave way only a few seconds later as the thief slid a pair of silver-grey pins into her snow-white mane.

             But before the thief could reach for the knob, “You are coming with me,” I said, in a voice that, despite myself, held more disgust for criminals that I usually let on.

             To the thief’s credit she didn’t jump, though she did silently whip around, her horn charging at the ready as the light played off of two metallic items, which were just hidden enough for me to keep from making much else out, under her hooves.

             “Oh dear, you’re not dead,” she said in a tone that held no such surprise but only disappointment, “now I’m going to have to put all my plans on hold until I remedy the situation.”

             With that she let loose a blast of light from her horn, then immediately threw the two metallic objects behind it. The only reason I’d caught the throw was from the shadows that fell behind it as my eyes got over the flash. While my adrenaline was beginning to rise I’d spent too long thinking on what happened last time and side stepped into the returning darkness, avoiding the metal projectiles as the needled ends buried into the ground.

             I was already raising the sleeve as another hoof full of sharpened metal flew at me, this time the trio of metal flew close enough together that I could see the sparks arcing off one another, rather than fear a strange sense of anger was beginning to fill me as I again stepped into the darkness, this time directly behind her, while a natural blind spot for ponies, this one had quite obviously been trained well enough to not only check behind her, but also fling out another flash of light. As my eyes once again began to ache the speeding shadows that came afterward were met with some slight trepidation as I raised my hand and brought power into the extended brace’s spiraled crystal. Focusing on flowing the power through it rather than into the gem the magnetic charge formed a few feet away from the gem rather than at the gem itself, the three electric death balls stopping in flight, their hateful sparks spitting off each other as they rubbed against each other in the magnetic ball they were trapped in.

             Releasing the power the three needles pronged marbled sized balls fell the roof, still sparking, “Oh my, that’s interesting,” the thief said in a voice that sounded far too aroused for the current situation. She then pulled a fore hoof through her mane, a small black ball falling out, which then expelled a large amount of gas, blocking her from view. Much to my astonishment rather than run away she came at me, my ability to distinguish shadows through more than a semi-clear medium had been another power I had come to realize the gifted cloak had given me as the masked face of a unicorn burst through the smoke, her horn ablaze as energy arced down to her hooves which were tipped with angry red claws which began to pierce into my chest.

             The hard-light claws had a double edge on them that cut through my chest like a hot-knife through butter, the pain doubled as I became fully aware of the feeling of death in my body. My punctured lungs refusing to regenerate as light filled the pulsing wounds that held the shining claws within. I could feel my body going numb as my heat turned to ribbons as it beat against the hateful light, causing my chest to ache with pain that was slowly fading. My arms grew numb, unable to even draw out the night-stick I’d been given and possibly knock out the mare atop my chest.

             I was of two minds, or at least I thought I was as I couldn’t help but admire the professionalism of the silent thief, though the way her lips seemed to be moving against the fabric by her mouth might have suggested otherwise, and on the other half it felt, not quite like me as a great cry of wrath began to throb in the place where Caligo normally sat quite placidly, but this thought too began to slip away with my deadening pulse.

             Everything became sluggish, the pain finally beginning to subside as the bright, hate filled, red light came off of the unicorn above me, her lips still moving soundlessly through her cloth-covered lips.

             I really didn’t want it to end this way. Evil triumphing over good? That couldn’t happen. Wasn’t the good guy supposed to win in the end?

***Enter the Mind of a Child***

             “Bombasstik’s journal: sometime late at night. I dunno, I don’t got uh watch, you figure it out!... uhh where wuz I… oh yeah. Oops, almost forgot the scary voice, a-hem:

             Found some totally sweet parts in the bins. Gonna pimp out Nurse Goodhead like nopony’s bizniz. Anyway, there seems to be some sw-eeeet tea-party happenin in the park tonight, gots ta keep aware. You never know when….

             Ohmyglob… there’s totally a ninja fighting a… some kinda billowing scarecrow over on the other roof, I’ll be right back.”

             The sounds of loose gravel pass over the recorder, bereft of any tape, as the child scrambles out of her hiding place in an empty air-conditioning unit. Her eyes sparkle as the fight continues, lights sparkle and flecks of metal hang in mid-air like shrapnel frozen in time, the metaphor felt familiar, causing the filly to shudder some as she edges over to the roof. She can’t place why this should be, so she pushes it away with a lopsided grin. The next building is a good twenty foot jump, not easily done, but the thought never occurs to the little filly as she stretches out her left wing and leaps off the roof right-side first. The singular wing flaps valiantly as she comes up at a steep angle, but manages to not only make her way to the other roof in a few flaps, but also manages to land without damaging herself, though she can’t help but wait a few moments afterwards as she regained her sense of balance and folded her wing back under a loose white cape with a rather childish looking cat painted upon it.

             The filly pauses as she listens to the ninja lady begin talking. Initially she thought the ninja had been the hero that was fighting off the dreaded corn-field guardian that had come to life, but the ninja has a really mean sounding voice that causes a frown to grow on a face which found such actions to be hard to even imagine. The voice makes the teenage filly shudder, though she can’t remember why. All she knows is that five marbles in her wing will be more than enough to make the hateful noise go away. The sound of beeping follows as five marble sized balls glow a bright green as the calming sound of explosions greet the filly’s ears and rocks the evil ninja-pony off the scarecrow as her demonic red claws pull out of him.

             The light from the claws go off as the scorched frame of the ninja-pony rolls back up to her side, seemingly unfazed by the hit, the site of some enchanted armor beneath the singed clothe she wore over it acting as way of explanation. But rather than show emotion the ninja only looks up then jumps over the side of the building.

             The young filly is filled with pride as the ninja runs away like the coward she is, but her fears again creeps into her as three clouds come down from the sky and three pairs of angry looking Pegasi give her the evil eye as she backs away, and into the scarecrow. Its claw suddenly twitches with a life it shouldn’t have, locking into her back-leg causing her own screams to mingle with the harsh coughs of the mouth-blood expelling scarecrow as it sits-up.

***Rumor***

             The ringing in my ears continued as I sit up, and my eyes begin to function again as excess blood drained away from them. I see three pairs of officers looking down at me with looks of confusion that I can’t quite place. Not that it mattered, as I was glad enough that one of them had noticed the occupied roof and come to my assistance.

             The ringing paused for a moment, followed by a great inhalation of breath. The ringing came back with a vengeance as it finally took the sound of a scream, looking down I finally noticed the hoof in my hand which I was somehow clutching. Letting it go the small pony continued to scream as I clapped my hands over my ears and four of the officers made a dive for the pony and set her in hoof-cuffs. I finally get enough presence of mind to ask what they’re doing.

             “We came when we heard the explosions. We found this one trying to escape.” One of the officers said in a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ voice to the whimpering child.

             Looking down I saw the bloody ribbons of the top half of my cloak, and was far from happy, a frown clearly on my face as I looked back up. “Let her go, I’m pretty sure she just saved me.”

             “…I whu? I mean, dat’s right! I put the woopin’ on some nasty ninja-pony and saved his ass,” came the quick reply from the now smiling pony, seemingly at ease. She had a pale creamy colored fur, and a white mane that sat in brambles atop her head, her cloak kept me from guessing whether she was a Pegasus or not, but that didn’t matter as the officer who had thought he’d cuffed a monster quickly undid the restraints and did his best to remain professional as I filled out what I’d seen and done. The kid also gave her own two bits, which ended up raising more than a few eyebrows at someone of her age having explosives, let alone using them.

             Since the thief had again gotten away, there wasn’t much else to do but for everyone to go on their way and return to patrolling around the concert, excepting me who was relieved and told to get out of clothes that were still wet with blood.

             Taking my word that I was really alright, removing the top half of my cloak with a few more tears in the fabric to show them none of my wounds had remained, the Pegasi gave a cursory glance to the not quite a filly,  and left in a hurry returning to their clouds above the concert.

             I was just about to take a step and head off the roof when I felt something tug at my pant legs, looking down it was the filly. She just looked up at me, though I couldn’t help but notice one of her eyes move out of focus, though in the dark of the night I’m sure she thought no one had noticed. The silence eked on for a few moments more until I said, “Thanks for the help, kid.”

             The filly’s face grew stern, “Ex-cuh-use me? Who did you just call a kid? Do I look like I’m sporting any chinnly chin hair?” she said sticking her lower jaw out in a small pout.

             Right, different species. “Apologies, Miss?

             “It’s Mite, Dyna Mite,” she giggled.

             “Well thank you Dyna, you saved my life tonight,” it hadn’t seemed like a big deal at the time, but having said it out loud, my heart began to race in my chest. I’d almost died, again, and it kinda pissed me off, “I owe you one.”

             “Foh realz?!?” she squealed, hopping a little off the ground, “well in that case Boo, you are going to be my bodyguard,” she finished, her voice taking on a more posh accent.

             “Excuse me?” I managed to mumble out before stating, “And it’s Rumor by the way.”

             “Yeah yeah yeah, well, regardless, you said you owes me, and so I’m gonna own you! Ha-HAA! Annnny-way,” she said, now circling around me, “I’m gonna have to train you up, can’t have a scare-crow lose out to some evil ninja-pow. Okay,” she said stopping in front of me, adopting as serious a face as she could manage while trying not to laugh and handed me a slip of paper, “meet me here tomorrow night so we can get your training on so’z you can be a proper bouncer for when I break out the tea-party crumpets ‘kay?”

             I hadn’t the time to give more than a nod before I saw her lift a single wing as she leaped over the side of the building, and ran off into the night, as the small scrap of paper flittered in my hand before a placing it into one of the rear-pockets that hadn’t gotten any blood soaked into them.

             As the enormity of what occurred began to start its first rounds of sinking into my consciousness a long sigh began to pour its way out of my mouth. I couldn’t help but feel like I’d just inadvertently agreed to something regrettably stupid.