//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Shine of Day 
// by yikkscast;e 
//------------------------------//

It was a warm night that night as a certain pony slept in one of the barracks in Canterlot. It was unusual for mares to join the day guard as Princess Celestia found them ‘unfit for combat’ for their smaller frame and more sensitive nature which made sense, most ponies were up in the day time and it would make the citizens feel more protected for a stallion to be their protector instead of a mare. From being the daughter of the owner of one of the largest mines in Equestria, to being a school filly in ponyville, Nickeline somehow made it into the Royal Canterlot Guard, where she slept in the largely vacant Mare Dormitory, she shared the dorm with only 3 other guards. That night was disrupted by a loud ringing coming from the emergence bell that, once rung, summoned every guard from every rank to gather for further instructions from the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor.

Both Day And Night guards stood to attention, every ear and eye was turned toward the Captain who was preparing to make his speech “Tonight, we have lost a few of our comrades to a fiend who dared to break into the castle, it happened not too long ago, the beastly pony should not be far and when one of you find it, kill on the spot. You will meet with your platoon leaders and follow orders from there. Good luck to all of you. Now move out!”

Through the shoving and pushing Nickeline found her squad leader. Gathered with her were mostly stallions but there was one other mare which was a rank below Nickeline. They all stood in attention as the platoon leader gave commands “alright we have been assigned to search the eastern part of Canterlot. There will be groups of five except...” he glared at Nickeline with a devilish smile on his face. “Nickeline, if your as well trained as they say, you should go by yourself.” Nickeline glared back, it wasn't too long ago that Princess Celestia was needing a royal messenger, and to decide who will fill this new position a contest was held and Nickeline, who was just out of Hoof camp, won by just a hair and has been training with some of Equestria’s best ever since then, but because she was such a low ranking guard, she did not get the job of royal messenger immediately, instead she had to move through the ranks like every other guard until she finally becomes a knight.

It was normal to have guards wander Canterlot but this was different, for there was a mixture of day and night guards,  they all were heavily armored and seemingly ready for a war of epic proportion. Nickeline’s mind started to wonder as the day guard dragged her armored self down the street, a sudden shout from down the street awoken her senses, with her body tense for war, she quickened her pace to a run as she moved to the shouting which was at a local diner not too far down the street, and there she witnessed a muscular blue mare with lime,sky blue and bright purple mane walk out of the restaurant with a rather deathly looking sword. Nickeline’s instinct was to confront this strange mare but was stopped by a pony wearing a rather ragged light grey cloak “excuse me” the pony did not move “excuse me...uh...I need you to move!” You shall not touch that mare right now! For she is your best friend and worse enemy!” Nickeline was shocked “Now take this bag for you must find the light and the dark!” the pony threw a bag at the startled pony, and when Nickel looked back to the being, it was gone. “Great, first I was chosen to go by myself to find a murderer and now I let the murderer walk free...” Nickel slipped the bag into her armor and continued the grudge match between her exhausted body and her mission.

All of Canterlot and surrounding areas were searched top to bottom. Every day guard was exhausted, their schedule was from daybreak to sunset and last night, and they had just went from daybreak from last day to daybreak of today with a 2 hour nap, after the sweep of the city all guards turned in their findings, no pony found anything except for Nickel, who lied through her teeth about her findings.


By the blessings of Celestia, the day guard were allowed 3 hours worth of sleep before they were to go back to their posts. Nickeline didn't bother to hang up her armor as she flopped on her bed and fell into blissful sleep.