Cloak and Dagger

by Lordxana0

After the Nightmare

“Okay I got one for yah, a squad of Griffons vs. a Hydra.” two ponies walked calmly through the lamp lit streets of Canterlot. One was an Earth pony with a salt and pepper mane and light green fur a bit on the heavier side, and the other was a Unicorn with blue fur and green fur who looked to be a bit skinny and lanky. Both wore tan coats over their bodies, seemingly to hold off the chill of the night. The Earth pony had a small Stetson atop his head, and the Unicorn held a toothpick between his teeth.

“Easy one, Griffons have numbers and can fly, if yah gonna make the question as easy as that you might as well not bother even askin it,” the Earth pony said with a shake of his head.

The Unicorn took a moment to look offended before looking up toward the castle. “Okay, how about a tougher one then, a Hydra with
Unicorn horns and magic against a squad of Griffons?”

The Earth pony simply gave the Unicorn a dull glare. “Why not just throw in the Headless Pony and Bighoof while you are at it?”

“Because we made up both of those, there is a difference between real creatures with added features and fiction,” the Unicorn rolled his eyes and paused as the two came before the castle walls. “Welp, here we are.”

The Earth pony nodded and reached a hoof into his coat, pulling out a long rope with a metallic hook attached to the end of it. He bounced it twice in his hoof before launching it skyward, over the castle walls and directly into a position where it would latch on. “Good to go.”

The Unicorn nodded and quickly lit his horn, which cast a dull blue color that slid from his horn to their hooves. “Stick it spell good to go.”

The Earth pony gave a single nod and began to climb the rope, keeping his back hooves on the wall in order to stabilize himself. Once he reached the top he waved down for the Unicorn to join him. After a few minutes of climbing the Unicorn made it up with the Earth pony, both of them ducking to avoid a group of Pegasus guards flying above them.

“So you never did answer the question,” the Unicorn pointed out in a whisper. “Magic wielding Hydra or Griffons?”

The Earth pony gave a death glare to his companion. “Does this really seem like the time to be asking yah stupid questions?” with a quiet huff of annoyance the Earth pony took the rope between his teeth and began to pull it up. “Get ready to cast the invisibility spell.”

The Unicorn rolled his eyes and drew in a small breath. “I can only hold both for five minutes, so as soon as I do we need to get moving.”

The Earth pony gave a single nod and waited until the coast was clear, typing the end of the rope to the wall before making a second throw, ty. His aim was true and the hook landed in the window of one of the rooms, helpfully left open by a servant they had managed to bribe earlier.

“Now.” the Earth pony said under his breath.

The Unicorn nodded and cast his second spell, turning both ponies and the rope invisible. A few drops of sweat rolled down his face from effort, but he still managed to hold it together. “Five minutes, and remember this doesn’t cover noise.”

Both ponies began to slowly trek across the rope, the Stick It spell keeping their hooves firmly on the rope. Of course both still needed perfect balance, but they had trained for years to never make a mistake. They both managed to make it and slid silently into the room, the Earth pony made a signal and the Unicorn dropped both spells, quickly using his magic to untie the rope so the Earth pony could pull it back in.

Once they were both inside the Earth pony made signals with his front hoof. 'Maintain silence.'

The Unicorn gave a nod and followed alongside the Earth pony as they approached the bed at the end of the room, pausing in front of it to look at their target. The Princess of the Night herself, Luna.

The Earth pony reached into his coat and pulled out a small ball of thread that was a pale shade of white. At the same time the Unicorn used his magic to silently pull out a small ring from his coat. Both gave a nod before moving into action. The Earth pony tossed the ball of thread above the bed of the Princess, and when it reached the height of its arc the ball suddenly came apart to take the form of a net that fell over
Luna’s bed. The edge of the net attached itself to the ground like a spider’s web. Once the net had settled the Unicorn quickly moved the ring to slide over Luna’s horn, and when it was placed it locked in place, a small red light at the end of it sparking.

As soon as the ring was put in place Luna’s eyes shot open and she quickly tried to pull herself up. Yet despite her efforts the net kept her firmly stuck in place. Once she realized what was happening she tried to light her horn in order to release a spell to destroy the net, but the ring seemed to prevent her horn from being fully lit by her magic, preventing her from casting a single spell. “Who dare trap the Princess of the Night?” she asked, anger plain in her eyes.

“Eh, nobody important,” The Earth pony gave a shrug.

The Unicorn nodded in agreement and tapped his hooves hard against the floor. Since the guards weren’t running in it meant the rumors of the staff had been correct. The entire room had been sound proofed with a special spell, meaning they wouldn’t have to worry about any guards. “Yeah, just cleanup crew honestly.”

Luna’s face was that of pure rage, glaring at her captures with a stare that might have set lesser ponies aflame. “For what purpose have you entrapped me here scoundrels?”

“Scoundrels?” both ponies replied at the same time.

“Wait whatsa ‘scoundrel’?” the Unicorn asked, tilted his head to the side.

“It means criminal you bozo.” the Earth pony smacked his hoof into the back of the Unicorn’s neck and shook his head.

“Hey!” the Unicorn gave a rather hurt look to the Princess. “Just cause we do a bunch of illegal stuff doesn’t make us criminals, yah words can be hurtful you know.”

“Suck it up, we got her tied to a bed right now with Spider Thread, she has the right to call us any name she wants,” The Earth pony put his hoof to his face and sighed. “The things you have to do for a job.” when he lowered his hoof he saw a smile on Luna’s face.

“Spider Thread you say?” she began to struggle under the thread.

“Won’t do you any good Princess, once it’s in place Spider Thread is near impossible to break, it would be easier to get a Dragon away from its hoard.” the Earth pony began to reached into his coat.

“Ain’t that being a bit speciest?” the Unicorn asked with a frown. “I mean sure some dragons” are greedy and all, but you can’t just go tossing out generalizations about entire groups yah know?”

The Earth pony paused and looked toward his partner for a moment. “We are in the middle of an operation, and you are choosing now of all times to talk about this?”

“Well boss you know the first step toward changing yah views on things can be taken any time, the earlier the better?” the Unicorn looked away from the Earth pony and to Princess Luna, who was now towering over the Earth pony from behind. “Ain’t that right Princess?”

“Verily.” Luna said in a tone that dripped with venom.

“See even the Princess…” the Unicorn blinked and looked up at Luna, and then down at the Earth pony and gulped. “Uh boss, you might want to turn around.”

The Earth pony slowly turned and looked at Luna, before turning back to his partner. “Luna is standing behind me, isn’t she?”

The Unicorn nodded. “Yep.”

“Probably angry about the Spider Thread?”

“Indeed.” the Princess of the Night answered, vengeance in her eyes.

“Well…” the Earth pony raised his hind legs and bucked backward, sending the Princess flying back toward her bed. “Plan B!”

“Run away in terror while begging for mercy?” the Unicorn asked with a frown.

“That’s plan C you idiot, plan B!” The Earth pony cried out, dodging the beams of magic that Luna was now firing at him, having already removed the ring around her horn. “Before she roasts my flank!”

“Oh right plan B,” the Unicorn coughed once and pointed his front hoof at Luna. “Stop right there Nightmare Moon, you will not harm another pony!” the voice of the Unicorn changed, now taking on a much more commanding and strong tone to it.

Luna froze in mid attack at the name that she had been called only days earlier, before she had been cleansed by the Elements of Harmony. Images of her attacking other ponies flashed through her mind, the voices of the brave soldiers who had confronted her only to be struck down. For a moment she was frozen.

And a moment was all the Earth pony needed to gather his baring. He quickly slammed his hoof into the stone floor and smiled with satisfaction as the stone shot up and surrounded all but the head of the Night Princess. The Unicorn quickly joined in, summoning a shield around the Princess.

Luna quickly fired a ray of magic at the shield, but instead of breaking through the magic was absorbed by the shield, only making it stronger.

“An absorbing shield?” Luna let out a curse in a language that neither of the other ponies could understand. “That spell was erased even before my fall.”

“Yeah, you already called us scoundrels, so honestly is it that big of a surprise that we have things we shouldn’t?” the Earth pony pulled out a small box like device with a dish like attachment on the front and pointed it at her. “Now then, time to finish this.”

Luna struggled against the stones she was trapped in, knowing that it would do little good. This was an ancient Earth Pony spell, one that filled the ground with a pony’s inner power in order to trap foes. It worked on the same principle that Earth pony farmers used when harvesting their fruits, pushing their will through their bodies and into the plant that they needed to harvest. Along with the shield spell there was no way to break free. When the device was removed from the Earth ponies pocket she closed her eyes and sighed. If this was the payment for her past sins then she would accept it. For all the pain she caused, she was willing to pay this price.

The device beeped for a moment and the Earth Pony nodded. “Okay she’s good,” he slammed his hoof into the ground and the stone retreated back into the ground, remaking the detailed and beautiful pattern it had held before being disturbed. “Sorry for bothering you in the middle of the night Princess.”

The Unicorn looked over the results the device had shown and gave a nod. “Sweet, we don’t have to do something awful tonight.”

Luna opened her eyes and looked toward both of the ponies, surprise clear on her face. “Pardon?” she asked, confusion plain to hear on the single word.

“Well your Majesty we were just a bit worried that you still had a bit of the dark magic from the Nightmare you contracted with in order to become Nightmare Moon,” The Earth pony stowed away the device in his coat and gave a bow to the Princess, taking off his hat when he did so. “But you have a clean bill of health, nothing to worry about.”

“Who…are you?” Luna asked, still confused by the turn of events.

“Ah, right probably should do introductions now that we broke into your place and all,” the Earth pony waved his hoof over himself. “My name is Cloak, that bozo over there is Dagger.”

“Hello,” Dagger gave a wave toward the Princess with a large smile.

“We are part of the Blackguard, it’s our job to clean up after heroes,” the Cloak laughed a bit. “You see most heroes tend to beat the bad guys but don’t do much more then leave ‘em humiliated and hurting. Most of the time that’s fine since the motto of Equestria is that everyone deserves a chance at redemption. But sometimes if a threat is too big to be left alone.”

“We wack ‘em.” Dagger announced proudly.

“Idiot,” the Cloak smacked his companion in the back of the head. “You think a Princess whose been livin on the moon for a thousand years is gonna understand what wack means?”

Dagger rubbed the back of his neck and with wince. “Sorry boss, wasn’t really thinkin about that one.”

“Story of yer life,” the Cloak said under his breath. “Anyway we remove the threat in a permanent sense.”

The idea clicked in Luna’s head. “We are surprised that our sister would agree to such a Blackguard existing.”

“Well….” the Cloak coughed nervously into his hoof. “We aren’t exactly an official organization, more like funded by a few well-placed ponies to further protect Harmony and all that jazz.”

Dagger chuckled, earning a glare from his partner. “Sorry, just you were gettin on my case about her not knowing what a word meant, and you just mentioned a style a music that didn’t come out till years after she was locked up on the moon.”

Cloak blinked for a moment before letting out a small laugh. “Okay you got me on that case,” he turned toward Luna and smiled. “Now then if you could not tell Celestia we were here that would just be super, we don’t exactly get a lot of love around here because our job basically contradicts the basic sense of right and wrong around these parts.”

Luna stayed silent for a moment as she processed that request. “The device you used, is what you said true that we are cleaned of our infection?”

“Yeah, this thing was designed to detected possessing spirits, and it’s never been wrong before.” Cloak answered, warily waiting for Luna to answer his previous question. Celestia had never actively hunted for them before, because they usually stuck to the shadows and she couldn’t bring up any proof to actually charge them. But if Luna informed her sister of tonight they would be deader than a Timberwolf surrounded by a family of Phoenixes.

“Knowing that the Elements have fully rid us of the stain of the Nightmare is enough for us to suffer this indignity in silence,” Luna let out a small breath and gave them a rather warm smile. “We thank you for your service, and should you ever need aid know that our opinions are not mine sisters, and we do see why you and your Blackguard are needed in this land.” after all if she couldn’t be rid of her infection her sister would never have had the will to cleanse it of her. And she doubted that the being she once was would have been so easily defeated a second time.

“Right, well then we are going to be off.” Cloak dropped a small box on the ground and brought his hoof over it.

“Wait wait,” Dagger waved a hoof in front of him. “I still need to ask the Princess something important,” he paused for a moment before leaning forward. “Who do you think would win in a fight, a squad of Griffons or a Hydra with Unicorn horns and magic?”

The Princess blinked for a moment as she tried to process the question that had been leveled at her by the would be assassin. “Pardon?”

“Pretty straight forward question, you know if they met and had to duke it out which one would come out on top?” Dagger dodged Cloak’s hoof and stuck out his tongue. “Ha, say that one coming a mile…” Cloak bumped against Dagger and sent him to the ground. “…away.”

“You idiot, stop trying to bother the Princess with your dumb questions, don’t you think we caused her enough trouble tonight?” Cloak shook his head a bit.

“We believe that the Griffons would seize a victory in that battle,” the two ponies looked toward the Princess, who was smiling a rather amused smile. “After all, in a battle of one against many it is the teamwork of those who stand together who will seize the day.”
Dagger stood up and gave a small bow. “Thank you Princess, you are as wise as you are beautiful.”

“Stop trying to act all fancy around the Princess, if the mares at the dives aren’t going to fall for that what makes you think a Princess will?” the two ponies began to argue as Cloak brought his hoof down on the box, surrounding them with a green field of energy and teleporting them away from the castle.

Luna looked at the blank space that the two had left as the force field around her dissipated. With the excitement out of the way she collapsed back on her bed and laughed freely, tears flowing from her eyes. “I am free.” she said into the night. Tomorrow she would take back her duties raising the moon when the night came, and guarding the dreams of the precious ponies that her sister loved so. It had always been hard for Luna to understand why her sister cared for them as she did, but after meeting the Elements, and then the two of the Blackguard it was easy to see why. Even if they weren’t as strong alone, they had the potential to be great.

Author's Note:

Thank you all for reading. If you enjoyed it feel free to leave a comment, comment if you didn't like it either, always open for critics. Oh and I am in need of an editor for this story, so if it tickles your fancy feel free to message me about it.

Comments

[neorenamon]

So these guys can attack a Princess with immunity? How does that work?

[Lordxana0]

6275176 Well they fully admitted they would have been hunted down and destroyed if Celestia actually caught wind of it. Luna is too happy from the fact that she is completely cleansed of Nightmare Moon to really care about being attacked.

Sorry, I had hoped that came out a bit better in the writing.

[Jeffrey1225]

I loved it! You had a few tiffs with quotations, but other then that it was a fantastic read. Stories don't usually make me properly laugh, yours did. Defiantly continue the chronicles of Cloak&Dagger! I will forever read them!