The Shadow Guard
written by Twilight Sparkle
Very little is known about the Shadow Guard, mainly because of all the secrecy surrounding it. What few historical documents that have been found regarding this very elite section of the Night Guard label them as monstrous abominations, looking more like predators than the ponies they originally were. They were considered meat-eating freaks of nature that were shunned from pony society if ever they were discovered.
Such documents, however, were from over a thousand years ago, and thus are likely biased due to the reputation Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon had back then. Unlike more modern times, most members of the Shadow Guard had to live in secrecy, sneaking out of their own homes and doing everything in their power to never be seen, even by those they had to keep tabs on.
The job of the Shadow Guards is one that can never be perfectly and accurately defined, yet every Shadow Guard knows it as if it were a secret only they could understand: defend Equestria from those that would make it less than it can be. While this is basically what all members of the Royal Guard do, this statement has a much more powerful meaning for the Shadow Guard.
In modern times very few common and law-abiding ponies even know the Shadow Guard exists, mostly because unless they wind up in trouble, it's a rarity if they would ever see a member of the Shadow Guard at work. These ponies, hoof-picked by Princess Luna herself, only operate at night, the darkness one of their foremost weapons against anything and anypony that would threaten Equestria.
Nowadays, pretty much all members of the Royal Guard know about the Shadow Guard, and those that work in the Night Guard encounter and even wind up working for or with them occasionally. While the identity of a Shadow Guard is privy only to Princess Luna and those a Shadow Guard trusts with such knowledge, such night-loving ponies have been dubbed a very fitting nickname due to the blessing Luna gives them: Batponies.
When a pony that Luna chooses is judged and found worthy, Luna uses magic that no mortal can replicate to infuse a 'blessing', as she calls it, into that pony. A very appropriate name due to how much it enhances almost everything about that pony physically.
This blessing imbues the gifted pony with night vision as well as enhanced forms of hearing, to the point of echolocation. One would assume this would give them a vulnerability to loud noises or sound when in abundance, but due to them having echolocation as well as keen and 'normal' eyesight, this weakness is obliterated completely. On top of that, even if they could be overwhelmed by way of an auditory overload, they can just as easily 'switch off' their hearing, as one trusted source has said.
Other obvious changes are to the kinds of wings that batponies have, namely the bat-like wings that replace their normal feathered wings. Most would assume that a batpony would have to re-adjust to flying with wings that have wing membranes instead of feathers that let some air escape between them in the process of flying, and they would be right. On the other hoof, most batponies that have been asked have stated that it doesn't feel all that different, and feels more like re-learning how to fly without having to re-learn all the basics. In other words, it's very easy, and usually only takes a single night.
On top of this, batponies say that having wing membranes allows them to fly faster and beat their wings with less intensity to go at the same speed they would normally, though they can attain much faster speeds when they try harder. Combine this with the increases in stamina and physical strength that they gain, and you have a pony that is far more than what they already seem.
Beyond these changes, all members of the Shadow Guard have oddly mysterious powers, no matter what type of pony they are. Of course the wings only belong to Pegasi that get turned into batponies, but whether you're an Earth Pony or a Pegasi or even a Unicorn, you have unusual magical powers that no Unicorn can replicate with normal Unicorn Magic.
They don't have a lot of them, but the ones they do have, their night vision included, are extremely effective. The one that is easily the most useful for them is their passive ability to completely disappear from eyesight to the point of their physical form actually melding with the shadows themselves. They can turn this ability on and off as necessary, but it's rare that they actually cease to use such an ability since outside of the castle, they have little reason to allow themselves to be seen.
The last unusual ability they have is similar to their ability to meld with the shadows. Along with being able to hide, with proper concentration any batpony can move through them with ease. Going hoof in hoof with this ability is the ability to return to Princess Luna's side at any time, though all members of the Shadow Guard know on a night-to-night basis whether they should or should not be intruding on the Princess's privacy. They are the few ponies in Equestria that would ever be allowed to arrive in the Princess's quarters unannounced.
What makes the ability to move through the shadows so unusual is the one exception to the rule: where there is bright enough moonlight, batponies can move through that light as well. The only reason given for this is that the magic used to bless the batponies comes from the Princess's divine connection to the moon itself. Therefore, it would make sense that where the light is strongest, their connection to such a source of mystical power would allow them to put it to proper use just as the Princess can.
One thing that causes a lot of controversy among those that know is the level of freedom that the Shadow Guard has. Both of the Princesses have agreed on granting absolute freedom of operation to the very small and elite branch, giving them the power to operate outside of the restrictions of the law. While this may very well make it possible for somepony to abuse their station, to date not a single batpony has ever done so. This could be considered incredible, but there is a reason that Princess Luna uses divination to judge their very souls before giving them such freedom.
There is something very simple to keep in mind when you meet a batpony: if they arrive with hostility, you've done something very wrong, and are in deep trouble. Even one batpony is a large amount of trouble, and they can take a lot of punishment, even to the point of normally fatal wounds, before going down. Whether this is because they are unusually tough or because the blessing can keep them alive long enough to get patched up is unknown. Even my source is unsure of that, and believes it varies from pony to pony.
My source tells me that at the moment, most all batponies lack any sort of significant other, mostly because of how dedicated they are to their work. It's rare for them to have downtime, though this is of their own choice. All members of the Shadow Guard may quit at any time and submit themselves to mandatory mind-wiping, much like members of the Royal Guard that learn about Rune Magic, but if the Princesses feel they can be trusted with what they know, their memories will be left alone.
This lack of free time is mostly due to them being so personally committed to what they do. All ponies in the Shadow Guard have a reason for being so driven to safeguard the peace in Equestria, and some reasons are more tragic than others. What they all do agree with at the moment is this: if they had loved ones, that would only allow those with ill intent to have a way to get to them, should their identity ever be discovered. For their own peace of mind, they all choose to be single for however long they are in service.
Note that not all members of the Shadow Guard are batponies, but all of them are considered clandestine peacekeepers. Even members of Celestia's branches of the Royal Guard are rumored to secretly be working in, for or with the Shadow Guard. The total number of confirmed batpony operatives is twenty-seven, but they could very well have far more or far less than that. Aside from reports to the Princess, what position a batpony has within the Royal Guard itself, outside of their station as a Shadow Guard, is considered unimportant. What is important is what they do with the power they have.
While Princess Luna does not keep absolute tabs on every single Shadow Guard, she does pay attention to their activities. Regular reports of what the Shadow Guard is up to and what it has been up to since the last report are requested at random times, keeping members of the Shadow Guard on the tips of their hooves at all times. The Princess has stated that its a 'necessary evil', for fear that allowing too much leniency would cause at least a few ponies to give in to the temptation to abuse the power they have been trusted with. Even she does not fully believe in her judge of character, through divination or otherwise.
good chapter!
i was wondering about the shadow guard, now that we've seen one.
are all batponies as fanatical about protecting luna as he is though (didn't seem like it, but i had to ask)? or is he simply "special" in that way?
and one thing i was thinking about; he said that his reason for going in without his batpony gear (would have said powers, but gear makes it sound like he's the pony-version of batman dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Rainbow_dealwithit.png ) was that he wanted the nightmare to underestimate him the next time, but seriously; how much can he really do? take more damage before ending up in the same state?
just because one has keen hearing doesn't mean that they can hear much better than anyone else in terms of volume, maybe a little depending on the size of ones ears (or magic i guess). what is common though; is that they can hear sounds of lower decibels or/and tolerate higher decibels without pain. most importantly though; is hearing a larger array of frequencies (we can hear roughly between 20hz and 20,000hz). when using echolocation it's usually a rare frequency they home in on if i remember correctly.
and about having lovers; one nearly had one, but RD broke it up!dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/sillyfilly_Rainbow_Dash.png
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There are a lot of things that he can do, and do keep in mind that for the most part, having that blessing taken away was only a small part of what he didn't let the Nightmare see. Aside from the fact that he's stronger, faster, his perception is more keen and exact, he can see in the dark and he can disappear into the shadows at will as long as it's nighttime or a dark place, he also used a Rune Layer to seal away a lot of his power in general. He wasn't just pretending to be winded, he legitimately was digging deep into the bottom of the barrel, so to speak, when he faced her. Only thing is, the barrel kinda had a false bottom, if you catch my drift.
Mostly he did this because he didn't want to take any chances. If the Nightmare had the presence of mind and the skill needed to look inside of him and measure just how much power he had, his entire ruse would've been pointless. So, he decided to go all the way....Luna just doesn't know about the part involving the Rune Layer, and he sure as hell isn't going to tell her if she was already so upset about everything else.
How much can he do? He's not one of Luna's personal guards for no reason, she didn't just choose him because of his dedication and good looks.
As for his willingness to die if it can safeguard Luna's life....he's not the only one that SAYS they're willing to go that far, but words don't equal guaranteed actions until you can prove it. Does Luna believe he actually would? Yes, she very much does, because she knows him very well, and she is very worried about him because of it. Still, it IS a big part of his job, so she would never do more than get on his case about it.
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what i mean is; even at his most powerful, how much can he really do against nightmare, is he an actual threat then or is he just more of a nuisance than before? sure, he'll be able to do a lot more than last time, and that will undoubtedly be helpful, but against the nightmare, in the same scenario, would the nightmare actually have to stop playing around?
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Short answer: yes and no.
Long answer: While Strider can indeed pose a threat, he is mostly a threat to her plans and any creatures or ponies that she consumes and uses as her thralls. Just conjuring up a shadow body to use to enter the outskirts of Ponyville was a massive drain on her power thanks to the seal on the device she's locked away in. Instead of doing that, however, she can create shadows that consume ponies, and through them she can siphon her power into them over time and freely take control of them at her liesure, like a hive-mind. Still, a pony's body can only contain so much of her dark magic before it's basically fried, so there are limits.
So while Strider is very much a threat to any of the creatures she consumes and uses to further her plans, he is NOTHING to her if they were to ever meet face-to-face. The only ponies that are a threat to her face-to-face are Luna, Celestia, and Twilight. Nothing that anypony else could wield against the Nightmare, at this point in the story, would be more than the equivalent of a gnat bumping into her forehead over and over until she swats it away. However, in the state that Strider was in before, he still had to struggle with something as simple as Wild Shadows, they had a noticeable drain on his stamina. Not only that, the Nightmare was entertained by his attempts to keep her at bay, even though she could've ended him at any time.
Now, while she still could if she were to ever somehow get out of that prison she's locked in and actually face him herself, Strider has a lot more strength, stamina, speed and overall magical power at his disposal. She'd still be able to rip him apart, but the only thing that makes him a nuisance rather than a threat now is the fact that he doesn't have some kind of divine magic power like Twilight does. Rune Magic is one of the most powerful forms of magic that mortal creatures can wield, and it's dangerous enough as it is.