The Night Mare's Guard

by Shadow Quill

3 Silver Shields and Shining Armor

The morning light that shined through my window awoke me just as the first rays peaked over the horizon. I grumbled and rolled over, hoping to get some more sleep, although my would-be late start was cut short when I remembered what it was I had to do. While my training as a guard wouldn’t start until tomorrow, that did not mean I could sit idle while the entire city of Canterlot was at my disposal to recon and investigate.

I pushed away my sheets and rolled into a sitting position, rubbing my face with one hoof before letting out a huge yawn. Had it been any other day, I would have gladly slept in. But, duty called, so I stood up and walked over to the door, ignoring the details of my room as I had the night before. It was a place I could sleep and plan my next move, nothing else mattered, given I would not be staying here from this point onward.

The door opened with a slight squeak, and I let myself out before closing the entryway behind me. I ruffled my feathers a bit and shook out my legs to get my blood pumping, and started off down a random hallway, wondering how far I could get before the security stopped me. Nopony else seemed to be up, and the few guards I saw were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes as they took their posts. I waved to a few, thinking that being friendly couldn’t hurt, especially if I was going to be one of them before too long. Most simply nodded back, although one young mare averted her gaze and tried to hide the blush that formed on her cheeks. I basked in the vanilla flavors of attraction, letting my body take in as much as I could before I walked around the next corner.

I smiled to myself, now feeling energized and ready to seize the day. While I could have easily grabbed a snack from the castle kitchens, the raw emotion I had just absorbed would be enough to last me all day, even if I picked up nothing else from anypony before I went to sleep. While it was nowhere near the amount of power that I would have received from love, the strength would be enough for a while and would suit my tastes far better than the other emotions I could feed on. Royal changelings could feed off of any emotion, unlike drones, who could only process pure love. The only drawback was that any emotion that wasn’t love supplied a reduced amount of power, with the emotions unrelated to love providing less than more positive emotions. Attraction or happiness would produce a fairly large surge, while more negative emotions like anger and fear would do little more than act as a light snack, even in very large quantities.

I shook my head to clear the stray thoughts from my head. I needed to focus, and I had a feeling that my first destination should be the castle barracks. While I wasn’t scheduled to report in for training just yet, that didn’t mean I couldn’t look around the place and figure out my surroundings. Rule number one during infiltration, know your location and all possible routes for either escape or ambush sites. It was the first thing all changelings learned before our first hunt, followed quickly by the other two. A changeling must never reveal his or her identity while on mission, and must always have a second disguise ready in case of discovery. I had already logged the image of Crystal Crier into my mind, knowing that if things got out of hoof she would be the last pony anypony would suspect.

The winding halls of the castle passed like an oversaturated painting, the bright purples and white marble almost enough to make me squint. Little of the décor interested me, save for the stain glass windows that seemed to be everywhere I looked. There were ones that had to be centuries old, while the more recent ones looked like they had been molded out of liquid rainbows. I paused under one particular pane, my stomach twisting in anger as I looked up at the gilded image.

In the center were two ponies, their bodies bent into the general shape of a heart and waves of pink magic radiating from their bodies. The pony on the left was a white unicorn stallion with a dark blue mane and tail, while the one on the right was a pink alicorn with a tricolor mane and tail. Below them were twisted green images that I could barely recognize as changelings, and I resisted the urge to shatter the glass as I turned away. It was one thing to hear of our defeat at the hooves of Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, it was quite another to have that defeat rubbed in my face in such a spectacular fashion.

I moved on to the outer courtyard of the castle, letting the sunlight warm my fur for a moment before I made my way towards a squat building on the west side. It wasn’t much to look at, given the splendor that surrounded me, but then again, it wasn’t meant to be impressive. The guard barracks was a two-story rectangle that was made of simple grey stone, flanked on one side by a fenced training ground and two smaller buildings on the other. A quick glance at the secondary structures proved my initial suspicions correct, one was almost certainly the armory, as it was secured with heavy iron locks and the windows were barred. The second building, partially hidden behind the armory, was a tavern. There was a signpost swinging idly over the door, displaying the image of a mug superimposed on a guard’s helm. The words, The Iron Tap were carved into the wood under the image, and I could imagine the residents of the barracks were quite happy to enjoy their time off shift within these walls. After all, what better way to blow off steam then over a cold drink with comrades who have to do the same boring tasks day in and day out.

From what I could tell the Night Guard members were already in bed, if the loud snoring coming from the barracks windows was anything to go by. The Day Guard had already taken their posts on the city walls and within the castle hallways, although I was slightly puzzled when I heard the sounds of metal on wood coming from the training grounds.

I spread my wings and flew up and over the building, spotting the lone pony along the far right side of the grounds, a sword held in his telekinetic grip as it pounded against a wooden dummy. His helm was resting on a bench behind the line of training targets, so his dark blue mane was open to the air as his head whipped back and forth as he slashed and bashed his sword against the ironwood mannequin. Even from a hundred yards away, I knew in an instant who it was I had stumbled across, Prince Shining Armor, captain of the Royal Guard.
I waited for a moment, content to observe as he alternated between sword strikes and magic attacks, the spells impacting the enhanced wood with enough force to knock it back several feet. It was no wonder that a unicorn with so much magical power could defeat my brothers and sisters. Combine that strength with the might of an alicorn and I was surprised that mother even survived the blast that banished us to the Badlands. Although, in truth I wasn’t that surprised. Even with all that power at their disposal, the ponies were soft-hearted and that made them too weak to finish us for good. Now their mistake would cost them everything, and I would take great pleasure in killing the stallion before me myself, once his wife had been properly dealt with.

Shining Armor stopped his seemingly endless assault on the dummy, taking several deep breaths as he lowered his sword and moved over to the bench his helm rested on. I took that moment to fly down towards him, calling a quick hello as I went. He looked up and acknowledged my approach with a nod, his magic picking up a large container that he quickly drained of its contents.

I landed a few feet from him and walked up, noticing that despite his obvious workout, the prince had barely even started to sweat. “Hi. You’re Shining Armor right? I was taking a look around and I couldn’t help but see you practicing.”

He wiped his mouth with a hoof before answering, “That’s right, and you’re the new trainee I heard about. Silver Shield if I remember correctly. You caused quite a stir among the ranks when you volunteered to be a member of Princess Luna’s personal guard. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony with more guts than you for asking the princess like you did.”

I averted my gaze, faking bashfulness, “You heard about that?”

He laughed, a warm sound that made me want to puke, “Oh everypony knows about the pegasus that was crazy enough to sign up for guard training. Most of us are here because we need the bits, not because we want to be. I don’t know if I should wish you luck or try and talk you out of it, but either way you have my support. I will be in charge of your training after all, so I might as well see what you’ve got.”

I looked up, my eyes wide with honest surprise, “Come again?”

He smirked, a face that I found to be both irritating and unsettling at the same time, “You heard me trainee. Your official training starts tomorrow. Your initiation starts right now.”

He tossed a set of pads into the air and attached them to my body with his magic before I could get in a word edgewise. Before I even knew what was going on, he grabbed me in his telekinetic grip and lobbed me into the air, my wings flaring just in time to stop me from crashing into the dirt. I shook my head to make the world stop spinning, just in time to dive to the side as a blast of magic whistled past my head.

“Come on trainee,” Shining Armor called out as he fired more magic bolts at me, “you’ve got to do better than that if you want to be a guard.”

I realized I had no choice in the matter if I wanted to get out of this without getting flattened. So, I pumped my wings and flew straight up, positioning myself in the glare of the sun and diving straight for Shining Armor while his vision was knocked out. He sent a few magic blasts my way but quickly switched to defense when he realized what I was doing. A pink dome formed around his body and I was forced to break off or risk smashing my teeth in. I growled in frustration as I went back to dodging magic bolts, Shining Armor’s lips turned up into that damnable smirk of his.

I ducked and wove through the air, trying to figure out a strategy. I knew fighting the captain head on was a foolish idea, and with the strength of his shield spells, I had no chance of getting at him once he put one up. So, my only option would be to get past his attacks without giving him cause to put up a shield. Then, it hit me. I could use his pony compassion against him. It would hurt, but I had a feeling it was a tactic he would never see coming.

I dodged bolt after bolt, making it look like I was trying to get close to him. Yet, just as I anticipated he was about to put up a shield, I did the unexpected. I faked one of my wings cramping, causing my flight path to change directly into the trajectory of one of his bolts. I curled my wing into the path to try and soften the blow, but it still hit me like a brick wall as the force pinned my wing against my side and flung me across the field. I grunted as the air was knocked out of my lungs, but at least my wing took the brunt of the blow, meaning the spots that flashed across my vision didn’t fade to black as my side impacted the hard-packed dirt. I slid for several feet, forcing my body to go limp as I bumped over rocks and dirt clods, coming to a slow stop with my right wing pinned under my flank.

I closed my eyes and pretended to be unconscious, knowing that the captain would check on me if he thought I had been injured. I wasn’t disappointed as he cursed under his breath, the sound of his rapid hoofsteps reaching my ears as he raced towards me.

“Are you alright?” He yelled as he slid to a stop next to me, “Speak to me Silver Shield!”

I stayed perfectly still, barely breathing as I sensed him move closer. Then, just as I felt his hoof touch my flank, I sprang into action. I pushed off of the ground with as much force as I could muster, grabbing onto the captain as he yelped in surprise. We tumbled for a moment, my superior speed getting the better of him as I spun us around, pinning his chest against the ground as I twisted one hoof behind his back.

I bent over and chuckled as he struggled in vain under me, “Gotcha. Never assume an opponent is out unless you put a sleep spell on them. Nice power bolt though. If I hadn’t got it with my wing first I would have been out cold for real. What were you trying to do, knock my teeth in?”

He stopped struggling as he turned his head to meet my gaze, “Just giving you a proper Guard welcome. Nice trick, faking being hurt like that. I never would have thought of pulling a stunt like you did just to get the drop on somepony.” He glanced at my hoof holding his behind his back, “You mind letting me up now?”

My answer was to release him and step back, shaking the dust out of my fur as he stood up. His armor was coated in dirt and his mane was a complete mess, although his smirk had been replaced by a true smile, his eyes glowing with the barest hint of respect.

“Nopony’s gotten the best of me like that in a while.” He said as he offered me his hoof, “We should spar again sometime, if you can survive the training I’m going to put you through that is.”

I smirked, shaking his hoof with my own, “I look forward to it, although I think I’m going to need something more than pads if I’m going to be taking you on anytime soon.” I winced as I shook out my wing, “Those bolts of yours sure pack a wallop.”

He nodded, the slightly spicy taste of pride coming off him as he lifted his head, “Runs in the family. Nice to talk with you Silver Shield. I look forward to seeing how you do in the actual guard training. If you can do stuff like that every day, I’m certain you’ll have no trouble making it through.”

I waved farewell as he picked up his helm and canteen, watching him for a moment before turning back to the training dummies. I checked over my shoulder to make sure he was truly gone, and then used a quick burst of telekinesis to snap the dummy’s head from its body.

“Just you wait Shining Armor.” I hissed under my breath, “I’m going to make you suffer for what you did to my hive, right after I finish draining you wife of every scrap of magic that she has.”

I turned and walked back the way I had come, the dummy’s head dropping to the ground with a dull thud, rolling along the ground before coming to a stop against the now headless body’s leg. My mission would come first, that would never be a question, but I had a score to settle with that unicorn, and the first chance I had, I was going to make sure he regretted ever crossing the changelings. After that, I was going to do the same thing I had done to the dummy, only it wasn’t going to be nearly so quick or painless.

I took a deep breath to calm my frayed nerves as I made my way back through the halls of the castle, letting my hooves take me wherever they might. I thought about exploring the rest of the grounds, but I also needed to make certain that the castle itself wasn’t hiding any unwelcome surprises. I had no doubts about what would happen to me if I was discovered, so my first priority was to make sure there wasn’t anypony inside the castle that might see through my disguise. The alicorns would be able to in a heartbeat if they had cause to worry, but without evidence to support such an invasive breach of privacy, I knew they would never dare alienate one of their precious ponies.
I had just passed what seemed to be the thousandth identical doorway in another brilliantly colored hallway, when I ran straight into another pony coming around the corner. We both stumbled and ended up in a heap on the floor, my right wing bent awkwardly under the other pony’s body as I struggled to disentangle our legs.

“Watch where you’re going you featherhead!” I grumbled as we finally pulled apart, “You just about ripped my wing out of its socket.”

My irritation was near boiling after my interactions with Shining Armor, so I was quite tempted to blast my unwelcome companion through the nearest wall. However, my anger was cut short as a powerful wave of both attraction and sour mortification washed over me. I took a moment to actually see who it was I had run into, and saw it was the mare I had passed before during my morning walk around the castle. Her armor was gone, revealing a soft peach coat with a deep red mane and tail, her dark green eyes wide with horror as she averted her gaze. A set of neatly preened wings were flared over her back, nearly ramrod straight from what seemed to be both nervousness and something else. While I had heard of something pegasi called the ‘stiffies’, I had never actually seen a pegasus’ wings get like that other than when they prepared to take off. I moved my gaze from her wings to her flank, noting the sunbeam cutie mark that adorned her side, the light ray breaking through a dark grey cloud like a spear through cotton. Glancing back up at her face, I saw her cheeks were flushed to the point that her entire head and neck had turned a deep red. It came as a slight surprise when I realized that she seemed to have developed quite a crush on me, given the short time we had known each other.

“I’m so sorry!” She yelped as she ran over and pulled me to my hooves. “I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going and now I bumped into you and I’m such a klutz.” She continued to ramble as she checked over every inch of my body, her hooves brushing off nonexistent dust as she fawned over me like a foal.

Finally, as she made her third run around me, I pulled her to a stop and tried my best to keep the annoyance out of my voice. It wouldn’t do me any good to antagonize such a vibrant source of energy, if the veritable nova of attraction coming off of her was anything to go by. I had already halted my absorption of her energy, lest I get greedy and begin actively draining her.

“Hold up there, settle down.” I said in a placating voice as I held her still, “No harm done alright. Now take a deep breath and let’s start over fresh, okay?”

She took several gasps of air as her wings slowly folded back at her sides, her eyes returning to normal as she stepped back. She coughed once into her leg and brushed her mane out of her eyes, smiling meekly at me as she lowered her head.

“Sorry about that. I can get a bit chatty when I get nervous.” Her eyes roamed over my body and I felt a fresh wave of attraction radiate off of her, “I saw you this morning while I was on post. You’re the pegasus that volunteered to be Princess Luna’s personal guard, right?”

I nodded, “That’s me. I always knew that I was destined to be a guard, but when I found out about the Shadow Sword, I realized that my calling was much greater than just a regular Night Guard.” I raised my chin and put on a confidant smirk, “Do you like what you see?”

This time her blush wasn’t so strong, but the faint extension of her wings and the slightly spicy zest of lust I felt coming from her informed me of her answer before her nod could confirm it.

I extended my hoof to her, “The name’s Silver Shield. What’s yours?”

She seemed to realize that she had yet to introduce herself, standing straight and shaking my hoof in a firm grip, “Where are my manners? I’m Sunstreaker, but my friends call me Sunny. It’s nice to meet you Silver Shield.”

I smiled, “Sunny huh? Well, it’s nice to meet you too. Will I be seeing you around once I get started with my training?”

She bounced slightly as she pulled back her hoof, “I hope so. There aren’t that many pegasi in the Guard, so I’ve been a bit lonely when I get put on aerial post.” She scuffed her hoof against the ground as a twinge of uncertainty crossed her features, “But you’re going to be on the night shift while I’m stuck here during the day. Maybe I could put in for a unit transfer, but I’m not sure my commander would allow it.”

I placed a hoof on her flank, feeling her muscles tense slightly as she looked up at me, “Don’t worry about it. You have the afternoons off from what I can see, so we could hang out while neither of us are on shift, since I probably won’t start until after nightfall. Sound good to you?”

Her face lit up as the uncertainty faded away like morning dew, “That sounds wonderful! See you tomorrow after your training lets out for the day?”

I nodded, “I’ll meet you at the Iron Tap once I get away from Shining Armor.” I chuckled for effect, “From what I hear, I’ll need something to wash away the pain after he gets through with me.”

She smiled like the sunbeams she was named for, her eyes lidding as she walked past me. Her flank rubbed against mine, and I was very tempted to join her for the remainder of the evening, but I pulled my emotions back into check. If I let myself get carried away with this mare, then I could very well lose sight of my mission. No matter how tantalizing her emotions were, I had to remain focused and do my absolute best to win over Princess Luna. While Sunny’s attraction would provide me with enough strength to last for weeks on end, my true prize would be far worth the patience I was practicing now. After all, compared to Sunny, the raw magic of an alicorn would make her emotions look like a candle next to the sun.

I walked around the castle for the remainder of the day, committing the layout to memory while also familiarizing myself with the daytime watch. It seemed that there were two shifts, the first starting at dawn while the second picked up after lunch. I assumed that the night shift would run the same way, so that would leave me with time to spare if my training followed a similar schedule. I only hoped that if I did end up with that much free time, I would be able to occupy myself without raising suspicion. After all, exploring the castle was one thing, snooping where my nose didn’t belong was quite another.

I climbed back into bed as the moon began its accent of the sky, letting my tired eyes close as I prepared for the assault I was going to face in the morning. I had a feeling Shining Armor wasn’t going to go easy on me, now that he knew I had some idea of how to fight, so I had best get as much rest as possible before I was pounded into the dirt. The soft chirping of crickets filtered in through my open window as my mind faded into sleep, the pale light of the moon the last thing I saw before unconsciousness took me away.

Author's Note:

Oh boy. Talk about plot advancement. Also, Silver Jacket is a filly's stallion if I've ever seen one. Way to go buddy, you're slaying 'em! Anyway, I hope to have the next chapter up by tomorrow or the next day, so keep things kicking my faithful readers. I don't plan to disappoint!
See you next chapter,
Shadow Quill, Messenger of the Moon.

Comments

[Moonlover]

Go sliver get all them booty.