Pete Powell in Equestria

“And you say this thing was large?” Luna looked up from the report Pete Powell, her captain of the guard, had turned in the evening before. Immediately on his return from Ponyville, days short she would add, he submitted a report documenting an encounter with a large, glowing eyed creature. However, the report also said he had not seen the beast in full. It had hidden in the shadows and fled when antagonized by Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty.

“Yes, ma'am.” Pete stood before both Princesses, arms folded behind him, and posture at military ease.

“Yet you said the beast never came further than the treeline,” Celestia had already read the report several times and had no need to look at it further. “How could you tell it was large if you never saw it in the light?”

“Princess Celestia, the racket that thing made running into the trees was loud enough to wake the dead. It sounded like whatever it was crushed a whole tree trunk into splinters.” The Captain was holding his temper back now. It was the guard's duty to protect the citizens, however the delay in response time was aggravating to say the least. He was beginning to think he should have ran after it. Perhaps then at least the guard would have sent scouts out to look for his corpse.

“I believe him,” the Princess of the Night said, setting the paper down on the desk before her.

“Sister, please. There are dozens of creatures in the Everfree that get that large. You know that as well as I do. The beast ran when Rainbow Dash shouted at it, and she's small even for a pegasus.”

“That may be so,” Luna conceded, “but I trust Pete's judgment on this. If he believes the creature was a threat then it is worth checking out.”

“And if he is wrong?”

“Then we, and the ponies of Ponyville, will sleep better knowing they are safe. How many times have you sent scouting parties out only for them to turn up nothing?”

Celestia moved awkwardly in her seat. Apparently there was truth in Luna's accusation.

“You did not keep this country safe by ignoring potential threats. You did so with vigilance. Now, be vigilant about things within our borders as much as you are about those outside of it.”

Pete raised an eyebrow. “What's outside our borders to be worried about?”

“Nothing,” Celestia shifted her gaze to the human. “At least, nothing we don't already know about.”

“The griffons most usually,” Luna added. “They are not the point tonight. The point is that I will order a scouting party to the Everfree. We will find out happened when they return. Until then, Captain, resume your usual duties.”

Awkwardly, Pete bowed and walked out of the room. The tension between the co-rulers of Equestria was palpable. Clearly they had a difference of opinion when it came to matters like this. That didn't matter though, what did was that Luna had promised to send somepony out to check on the forest. As long as they found out what caused the ruckus Pete didn't care what the sister's personal philosophies were.

Despite being given several days off for his trip to Ponyville Luna had told him to resume his usual duties. After a quick stop at his room to change, Pete proceeded to the barracks of the Night Guard. He passed by Shade, one of the larger batponies, on his way in, and walked straight to the main office where he usually sat doing paperwork. Lieutenant Wisp was at the desk, balancing a pen on her nose and looking at the ceiling.

“Glad to see those pens came in,” Pete leaned on the door frame and grinned.

Wisp bolted up, the pen falling off her face and rolling across the stone floor. “Captain!” she shook her head and then stood up, “I mean, what are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to be in Ponyville for the next two days?”

Picking up the fallen pen Pete replied, “Yeah, and then I saw some kind of monster in the Everfree. Figured that needed reported since it was barely outside of town.”

“You could have just mailed the report in. Celestia's student does have that little dragon fellow.”

“I could have, yeah, but the princesses wanted to talk to me about it before sending anyone out. Celestia didn't want to do it at all.”

“Well she has a point. The Everfree is a damned cesspit of monsters. We could magically blast the whole forest from the sky and still miss something under a rock and the place would be full by next week.”

“I admit that I don't know much about places like that around here, I'll defer to you on what is and isn't a cesspit of monsters. But if something is coming up close to the edge of the forest near town I think that warrants looking into.”

The lieutenant rolled her eyes, “Yeah, or they could stop building closer to the forest. Anyway, now that you're here I can go back to patrolling.”

Pete looked at the empty desk and turned back to Wisp. “What am I supposed to do?”

She shrugged and walked away to put her armor on, leaving Pete alone in the office as usual. With a sigh he sat down behind the desk and kicked the chair back on two legs. Eventually he knew he would have to assert his authority and go patrolling whether Wisp wanted him to or not. Weighing his options though it made sense to be ready at the barracks until the scouts went out and returned from the Everfree. It wouldn't do him any good to be told there was an active threat and be too tired to help with that. He wanted to protect Rainbow Dash and the community she lived in. That wouldn't be possible if he was injured or exhausted from wandering around Canterlot.

He was half asleep when the heavy doors to the barracks were shoved open with a loud crash. Startled by the sudden noise after hours of spacing out Pete fell to the floor as Stellar Glow came speeding into the room. The small mare was panting heavily and there was blood on her armor. Without thought the Captain stood up and moved to her side. No wounds were visible on her anywhere that he could see, so whose blood was on her?

“C-Captain,” she panted, “There's... we've got a runner.”

Pete tilted his head, “But no one has ever escaped the Night Guard.”

She shook her head in response, “They knocked out Shade. Griffon, big.”

“Slow down, breathe. In, out. What's happening?”

After several deep, but quick, breaths she started again. “We were chasing a smuggler, griffon. Shade stopped him and asked what he was doing out this late. Griffon bashed him into a wall, I saw it from above and alerted the others and then went to check on Shade. He was fine, but that griffon is huge. If he manages to get away into the sky...”

Stellar Glow left it hanging, but Pete could see the problem. Whatever this griffon was smuggling he was willing to try and fight the guard over it. They couldn't let him get away, but Shade was a huge stallion. To knock somepony like that out would take a lot of power. There wasn't time to think on it any more. Wordlessly Pete ran out of the barracks, sword on his back. Running at full speed he scanned the skies and saw the direction the remaining guards were flying in. With his sketchy knowledge of the city Pete made a guess and began weaving through streets and alleyways.

There was a series of warehouses for business storage on the West end of Canterlot. He figured the griffon hadn't bolted immediately into the sky because there was something he needed to take care of first. A shipment of illegal goods in one of those warehouses would make sense. Maybe he was stopped on his way there anyway and figured he might as well try getting his product before flying coop.

Wings beat over Pete's head and he knew he was close. Pulling deep within himself he managed to push a little faster and arrive just in time to see a succession of Night Guards plummet from the sky. Above, the griffon was fighting hard, swiping his claws against steel and flesh. Batpony after batpony shrieked in pain and fell. There were only seven on patrol. Stellar Glow was back at the barracks, safe. Shade was unconscious but safe, and there were three more on the ground in front of him. Another yell and a thud, four. Lieutenant Wisp was the only one left and she came out of nowhere, just as she had in training.

The smaller mare slammed into the griffon with all of her might and the two spun in the air for a moment before the griffon recovered. Wisp was good, smart, but the griffon was much bigger. His size would beat her strategy eventually, which meant Pete had a very short time to figure out a plan. Drawing his sword he tried once more to create a ranged weapon. He needed one, he needed to hit that griffon with something, anything. He couldn't jump that high, or fly, so he needed something to reach for him.

The sword reacted. Pete watched as it twisted and shined into the familiar shape of the serrated dagger. Anger welled up in the human. He couldn't throw this, not with Wisp twisting around up in the sky with the target, and if he waited the griffon could dodge. How hard could a simple bow be to form?

“How are you supposed to help me?” he growled at the metal in his hand. A memory came to him as he looked at it in the dark. The emptiness of the night around him making the dagger feel more familiar than ever before. A man leaping high into the sky and then landing with tremendous force, but he wasn't hurt. Because of the dagger.

Clenching it tightly in his fist, Pete stepped forward and crouched. This had to work. There was no time and no other choice. He pushed upwards with all of his might as the griffon shoved Wisp off of himself towards the ground. The lieutenant stopped herself and moved to tackle the suspect again when Pete shot by. Surprised, the griffon floated in the air as the full grown man blasted into him from below. Pete felt light, agile. That was what the dagger did. His speed when he held down the assassin before, the ability to leap this high up.

Grinning he twisted the griffon around and slashed at its wings, a shout coming from the smuggler as the blade nicked him. Several missing feathers caused a loss of balance and the pair plummeted to the cobble stone below. Angrily, Pete held the griffon under him. After seeing so many guards fall from the sky it was criminal's turn. A sick crack shattered the silence followed almost instantly by a squawk of pain from the griffon's beak. The Captain reeled his arm back and punched the smuggler in the face.

“Shut it! You don't get to make another damn sound tonight.” Adrenaline fueled his words and actions. His heart was pounding and he had to focus not to get tunnel vision.

Lieutenant Wisp stepped up, stunned. “How did you do that?”

Pete looked up at her and shown off the dagger. “I've been training.”

Minutes later Shade came trotting up with Stellar Glow in tow. Wisp had shackled the griffon, including a special harness to keep him from flying away again. Pete had checked the rest of the Night Guard in the meantime, most of which were fine. A couple would spend some time in the infirmary but none of them were in danger. The next shift of the guard were coming on duty to relieve them and take the wounded to the castle. Stellar Glow trotted up to Pete and gasped.

“What happened?”

Pete followed her gaze down to his chest. In his rush he'd forgotten his armor and there was now a shallow gash on his chest. He hadn't noticed it in the heat of the moment, but it only stung a little. The tear it had made in his shirt was the worst part.

“Captain Powell,” Wisp said with only a slight trace of irony on captain, “managed to subdue the suspect.”

Shade laughed and smiled wide. “She's calling you captain now, huh? Guess that means you did something right.”

Pete rolled his eyes, “I did something useful you mean.” Ignoring his scratch Pete turned to Wisp. “What was he doing out here? I'm guessing smuggler means he had something in a warehouse.”

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow. “Smart guess. We caught up to him coming out of this one here, warehouse six.”

“Anything in Equestrian law saying we can't go in there?”

“Good guess again. I'd say that a suspect beating up several guards is grounds to search their last known location.”

“Just to be clear,” Pete said as they walked over to the warehouse door, “You saw him exiting the building, right? He was definitely coming out, not trying to break in?”

“I'll swear it in front of Luna,” Wisp said without hesitation.

“Good enough for me. Then by the power invested in me by Luna, someone open this damn door.”

Wisp wanted to correct the captain on several things he had just said wrong, but Shade was a step ahead of them both. The large stallion reared back and bucked the side entrance in, the door clattering against the floor inside. Seconds later the big doors were open and he walked out, his face hard.

“You might not want to come in here, Stellar.”

Squeak stopped in her tracks. Shade never used her name.

“What the fuck is in there?” Pete couldn't imagine what could be so bad, and moments later he wished he had.

Pete, with Wisp bringing the suspect along behind him, entered the warehouse and stopped cold. His blood froze in his veins, all sound was replaced with a sharp tone, and he could feel his heart beating in every fiber of his being. Everything was simultaneously numb and hypersensitive. He swore he felt his eyes contract into pinholes. Fists clenched so tightly he began to shake. Nausea was there too, dull in the back of his mind at the sight before him. A mixture of anger and adrenaline coursing through is veins again.

There were several mares, muzzled and tied up. Pegasi were bound, unicorns had a device on their horns, and all of them had brands over their cutie marks. Some looked thin, too thin to be healthy, and others looked like they had just arrived. Pete sneered at that thought, arrived. Like this was a place someone came to willingly. Arrive wasn't right. Brought, they were brought here like packages, like things. Without a will of their own. It didn't take a genius to figure out what this was. Slavery.

Roaring in a more primal way than he'd ever sounded before, Pete wheeled around and charged the griffon in shackles. Once on the floor the human began pummeling the helpless criminal. He alternated punches, but always hitting the face. Right, left, right, left, right, left. There was blood, from his own knuckles making contact with the griffon's beak or from the griffon himself Pete didn't know. Didn't care. His rage still unabated, Shade wrapped his forelegs around Pete's chest, holding the human's arms in place as he roared again.

“Let me go! I'm gonna fucking kill him!”

“That's the point of stopping you, Captain.” Shade squeezed tighter.

Wisp turned, looking out the empty door frame to the warehouse, her body turned towards Pete. “It was an accident,” she said slowly, Shade looking at her confused.

“What was?”

She turned fully and looked at her comrade. “Pete killing the suspect.”

The griffon looked up, his eyes as wide as they could go. “Wh-what are you talking about? This-this monster is trying to kill me right now! You have to stop him. You are stopping him, just keep doing it.”

Pete panted and looked at the griffon. This was the first time he looked scared since he'd been arrested. Discovering the slaves, nothing. Being dragged out of the sky, shocked but not afraid. Having the human wailing on him, ready to end his existence? That was making him afraid.

“We put in a report. Pete pulled the suspect out of the sky, and when he hit the ground... snap. Broken neck.” Wisp turned and looked out the door again. “A tragedy for sure, but running away from the Night Guard is a bad idea to begin with. It was his first night on patrol after all. He wasn't ready.”

Shade looked at Wisp and then slowly let go of Pete. “This is your call, Captain.” He looked back into the warehouse and then stepped out the front and stood there. Wisp and Shade were keeping look out. Making sure no one would stop him.

The griffon started begging quietly as Pete reached up and put his hands around his neck. Begging turned into choking and Pete increased the pressure. Air became a commodity for the criminal as he struggled against his bonds, eyes bulging. There was nothing he could do. It would feel so good, to end him. One less slaver in the world was a good thing. Pete didn't look away, his eyes remained locked on the griffon's. He wanted to see it. He wanted to watch a monster like this die at his hands. One jerk, a twist, and it was over. A simple motion, like opening a bottle.

A chill moved slowly from his shoulders to his hands, as if they were going numb. They didn't feel numb though, they felt stronger. Shadowy tendrils moved up his arms and encircled his hands, causing him to stop and fall backwards off the griffon who gasped loudly and shouted. Shade turned around and swiftly knocked the griffon into a stupor and then looked at Pete. The man was staring in shock at his hands which were now jet black claws. Lieutenant Wisp had turned and was staring too. Worry settled into the trio, and with that emotion the shadow moved up into Pete's palms and turned back into his longsword, sheathed as if nothing had happened. Mouth agape, the captain looked at his two subordinates, their reactions confirming what he had seen. It wasn't a trick of the light or an illusion.

“That definitely counts as something weird.” Shakily he stood up and dropped the sword. “Get the mares out of here. Cut whatever is holding them and get them out of here,” Pete said as he slowly walked towards the door. “And someone take this guy to the dungeon on the double. Before I change my mind.”

A guard darted forward and grabbed the griffon, flying him off with the help of a second batpony. With the adrenaline coming down and the cold night are cooling him, Pete thought about what he'd just done. What he'd been enabled to do. It was the kind of thing that he'd chastised police for back on his world. Executing a criminal instead of arresting them. It was a heinous abuse of power. Whether he would have gotten away with it wasn't the point. The question was if he could really live with himself after doing it.

Pete walked over to a rail, the warehouses were on the very edge of the city overlooking a cliff, and threw up loudly. Several guards, including Stellar Glow and Wisp watched him from afar. In the moonlight they could see his body shaking even after the vomiting subsided. Wisp, concerned, turned to Stellar Glow.

“Take him back to the castle. He really wasn't ready for this tonight.”

The small mare nodded, barely noticing the second use of her actual name that night, and she trotted over to the hunched over human. It took him a moment to collect himself, but the pair began a slow walk up to Canterlot castle.

Lieutenant Wisp walked back into the warehouse and looked at the sword her Captain had dropped. Once more it looked like a normal sword. Nothing of note, except that it had just seemed to partially swallow a human. She looked around and pointed at another Night Guard that was poking around the building for anything other than slaves.

“Get this up to the castle, it goes straight to Princess Luna. No detours, as fast as you can.”

The stallion saluted and grabbed the weapon, taking off into the sky towards the castle. Wisp followed with her eyes and sighed. Brushing off a murder as an accident would have been easier to report than this.

It was almost sunrise when Luna walked into the chambers of her captain. Stellar Glow had left hours before, unable to get a response from the man any longer. Pete was on the bed, staring at his hands. He could still feel the feathers in his hands bending under the weight. Flesh giving way underneath, the way the throat flexed and struggled to work. Anger was all that was inside him, a fury he'd never known before. The Elements of Harmony worked in secret, which meant they were safe from being targeted for their actions, but it wouldn't protect them from what he'd seen. From being randomly targeted. Seeing the mares in the warehouse had brought, unbidden, images of Rainbow Dash tied down and branded. Treated like property, taken from the sky where she belonged. Even now he could feel the rage bubbling inside, simmering now.

“Pete,” the calm voice of Luna beckoned him from his thoughts. Slowly he looked over at the princess. “How are you doing?”

He tried to speak but he had no words so his mouth hung open for a moment before closing uselessly.

“I can't imagine what that was like for you,” the princess sat and kept eye contact with the human. He needed something to anchor him to the moment. He had to come back from the edge. She knew that. “Wisp told me what you were going to do, and what happened. I think I have figured some things out. Some things that may make you feel better.”

There was a light in his eyes, a look of disbelief even though he remained unchanged. Luna smiled and levitated the sword from behind her back and laid it on the bed before Pete.

“When we investigated this I overlooked something. Something I shouldn't have. Back on Earth, your Earth, you made a deal with a piece of the Nightmare magic within me that nested inside of you. In your darkness.”

Pete remembered that night well. Traveling the dreams of the Elements of Harmony, coming face to face with what he assumed to be his own form of Nightmare Moon. A living darkness within his body and soul.

“This sword is that fragment of darkness.” Luna said it coolly, unflinching. It wasn't a joke.

The human recoiled, pushing away from the sword on his bed.

“It is dormant, for now. It seems to only truly come to life when you're angry or otherwise susceptible to its influence.”

“Like being calm?” They were his first words in hours.

“Perhaps, if it sensed you were inactive, so to speak.”

“But I sleep every day.”

“And it's never on you. It's isolated. Away from you it does no good, if you fell asleep with it on however that would be another story.”

Pete shuddered. “Guess it has to go then.” He dreaded to think of a repeat of this night.

“I think you need it.” Once again Luna said this calmly, matter of fact. “It allows you to cast magic, as it is born of magic.”

“Without it, I'm nothing,” Pete completed. He couldn't do anything without its powers, but it was a deal with the devil.

“Perhaps, but with it...” The princess opened the door with her magic and on cue a mare walked into the room. Confused, the human watched her walk in and stand next to Luna. She bowed and looked Pete in the eyes.

“My name is Meadow, and, umm... I-I was one of the mares in that warehouse.”

“Y-you were in the...”

She nodded, her horn was unadorned now and Pete had seen her cutie mark was restored. He would have never guessed she was in that hell only a few hours ago.

“You,” she paused and looked at Luna for a second, “Princess Luna says you saved me. Us.”

“It wasn't just me,” he shook his head, “A lot of guards were there.”

“But you were the one that caught the griffon. If you hadn't been there he would have gotten away. He... he might have done all this again.”

Pete exhaled slowly. That was true. There was no telling if he would have gotten away and done it again, he could have been caught later but they had stopped him there, that night. And he could have stopped him forever. Not that the Princesses were going to let him get away with what he'd done.

“So, I just wanted to say thank you. I know what you almost did. It's understandable.” The mare shook lightly as she exhaled. “I would have done the same thing if I could have, but I wouldn't have stopped.”

Luna placed a wing on the mare's back and nodded. Meadow nodded back and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“You were in the wrong, Pete. At least when it comes to the law. No one would fault you for what you have done. It was shocking to say the least. You're suspended for the next few days. Take the time to think over your actions.”

He understood; he needed more time to process. That was clear even to Luna, but she had gotten him to speak. It was just as important. He knew now, the sword and his actions were potentially linked. A link which went both ways. Just as he could be used by the darkness so too could he use it. It was a choice Luna herself had made many thousands of years ago. She never wished it on anyone else but she could certainly guide anyone it fell to down the path she thought most fitting. Pete could handle it. He was stronger than he knew, as long as it didn't consume him first.

“Thank you, Luna.”

“Take your time, Captain. But do remember, the scouts will return from the Everfree soon enough. Whether you turn in your sword and badge and go back to being just another human in Equestria or whether you take it in stride are up to you, but only one of those choices lets you protect Ponyville.”

Manipulation at its finest, but Pete expected it. He knew from the moment he said he was nothing without the sword there was no other choice for him. Power was needed to survive in this world, to help him protect the ones he cared about. Even if it meant living with a Nightmare.