Twilight stared at the barrel between her eyes. The she could almost see herself in the reflection of the deep blue of the gunmetal. Twilight was transfixed with looking into the abyss of the dark chamber that may well mean the end of her. Then the abyss blinked.
*Click*
Or rather the drawing of the hammer from half to fully cocked roused her from her transfixed state. Twilight looked up from the revolver to the face of the orange mare holding it as just now registering her existence as well. The wielder of the gun held the same grim frown that she had been wearing for the past several seconds waiting for a response. All Twilight could do was move her jaw up and down as if willing words to come forth, but none did. After a few more seconds of this the dam finally broke and all the questions that had been racing through her mind sprung forth into the world.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? Where is the pony I'm supposed to meet? Are you her? What is this assignment I've been tasked? Why is it so secret? " Then she added lastly as if an after thought, "Why are you holding a gun to my head?"
Also why is she wearing sunglasses at night?
The fiery haired woman made no effort to answer any of Twilight's barrage, instead she reached inside her duster and drew a second hand gun from her belt holster with her left hand and pointed it at Twilight. Unlike the dark blue revolver, this was a more modern styled 1911 Colt colored with the same mix of red, yellow, and light orange that made up the unicorn herself.
"Before we go off playing Twenty Questions, how about you answer me? Who the hell are you, and why the fuck are you snooping around our castle?"
After getting her racing mind and heart under control Twilight answered. "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am a former cadet from Princess Celestia's School for the Gifted. I was given the assignment of Lunar Guard analyst but also received a letter telling me that if I so choose I could come here and take a separate assignment. I wasn't told what it was only that It was designed to help protect ponies. Now can you please lower your weapons and tell me what is going on?"
If Twilight had been told that the expression on this mare's face could get any colder or more hostile she would have objected, but at the mention of Princess Celestia the mare's eye's darted to the brightly colored .45 in her left hand and the scowl on her face grew deeper.
The mare shook her head in response. "I don't answer questions to ponies I don't know. They tend to have a bad habit of being untrustworthy, dangerous, or occasionally both. I wonder, which category you fall into? As for the guns, I think they'll stay where they are until I get some kind of confirmation on your story."
As if on cue a rumbling began behind Twilight. It sounded as if multiple large stones were being scrapped against each other forcefully before being dropped into place, She turned to look but was stopped by a look from the orange mare with the weaponry that made it clear she wasn't to move. A few seconds later the grating sound stopped and it was replaced by the sound of a pair of boots marching forward.
"Wolf, I see you found Cadet Sparkle for me. I do thank you for introducing yourself in the typical Nightmare manner. You can stand down now, I hereby give her access authorization." a male voice stated.
With that "Wolf", as the the orange mare was apparently called, withdrew the handguns from Twilight's face. Un-cocking the hammer of the revolver she returned both weapons to their respective holsters hidden under the black duster with practiced ease. The command to stand down however seemed to do nothing to ease the scowl on her face. Her arms now unburdened by weaponry crossed in front of her chest.
Now free to move without the risk of becoming the backstop to a shooting range, Twilight turned around to discover who the newcomer was. While she was unable to find the origin of the grinding sound she was delighted to see that it was Captain Hunter. He was still in his LDUs but now without the fancy armor and scoped carbine.
So I was right! He does have something to do with all of this!
"Hello again Cadet Sparkle. It seems that you have made your choice. To be honest I wasn't entirely sure that we would ever see you show. I assume you are probably quite interested in finding out why exactly you were asked to come to this old castle?"
"I would be lying Sir if I said I wasn't." Twilight replied with a nod. "The letter that I was given was much more vague then I would have preferred."
Captain Hunter replied with a nod of his own. "Yes our dear commander does like her vague wording. Not that I can blame her too much. This is an off the books unit operating outside the bonds of the rest of the Guard's oversight."
Twilight was taken aback by the information that she had just been supplied. "Wait, you're the Captain of the Night Guard. How are you not the commander of the unit? And what do you operate without oversight? No unit is without scrutiny by higher levels."
Twilight's words were met with an exasperated snort from "Wolf". Twilight turned her head to find the orange mare rubbing the bridge of her nose like she was having a migraine.
"In the name of Oh Merciful Luna, Where the hell did you manage to find this one Orion? When she told me she was a former cadet from Celestia's school I didn't think she literally meant she just graduated. Are we starting a damn orphanage for lost children now?"
"That's enough of that Shimmer!" barked the Captain. "The commander selected her for a reason. She has never selected an unqualified pony for any part of the team and you know that as well as I do. I'll admit her age was not on the top of my list of ideal traits but I can personally attest to her ability to perform. She was first on the scene during that mess up in Canterlot, even before I was."
"Is that so?" The mare gave another sidelong glance at Twilight. Then She stepped off away from the other two and back towards the door to the outside calling back, "I'm going to finish my patrol of the grounds then get in the back way. Don't wait up for me."
With that "Wolf" stepped into a shadow near the door and vanished silently as if she had become nothing but a shadow herself. Twilight blinked a few times like it had been a trick of the light, but no it looked like she had really dissolved into the shadows. It seemed awfully similar to what Captain Hunter had done a few days ago when he had walked out of Shining's shadow in the Day Guard training room.
"I get a distinct feeling that I'm not much liked by her," Twilight huffed.
Captain Hunter gave Twilight a sympathetic look. "Don't worry about Shimmer. Despite her crest being a sun she isn't exactly the warmest of ponies when it comes to new individuals."
With a shrug the captain continued, "Well I think it's about time I take you to meet the commander and give you a tour of the base."
Twilight glanced around the crumbling ruins of the former castle. The place truly looked derelict and condemned. "Sir if you don't mind me saying, this doesn't exactly look like the place I imagined a secret unit to reside. It looks awfully abandoned."
"Ah, yes that must be the keen sense of observation and deduction your brother is always going on about," the Captain joked.
Then beckoning for Twilight to follow he walked toward the organ that stood to the side of the raised thrones. "Watch this." With that he hit a series of four keys that seemed to have no melodic connection , but as soon as he did Twilight noticed that the stones that made up the steps to the thrones had started to shudder then slowly descended with the same grinding sound that Twilight had heard early while she still had a gun to her face.
"Fascinating! How did you get the system to work so smoothly and seal so seamlessly? Is it arcane or mechanical?" Twilight gushed over the discovery.
"Couldn't tell you. It's been here since before even I was part of the team." Captain Hunter shrugged "Anyways Please follow me." He descended down the newly created stairway under the thrones.
Twilight followed with the stairway sealing again behind her as she came to the bottom. The room that she entered was a modern style vestibule with muted white walls and midnight blue tile. The first thing that Twilight's eyes picked up was a giant version of the modified Lunar Guard crest, the one with the visage of the Mare in the Moon, displayed on the far wall. Encircling the crest was a phrase.
To Those That Threaten Dreams, We Are The Nightmare
Under the crest was a set of double doors that lead further into the facility. To the left and right of those doors were a set of stairs that descended deeper underground. The left hand wall bore a st of doors as well as a sign that labeled that room as the medical facility.
Leading Twilight further into the foyer Captain Hunter walked up to a desk stationed in the middle of the room where a bat pony stallion sat.
This new pony also wore a set of LDUs but his unit crest was the traditional crescent moon above a winged sword of a normal member of the Lunar Guard. His coat was a dark black and his personal crest was that of a Crow with outstretched wings.
The stallion at the desk looked up from his paperwork and greeted the Captain.
"Good evening Captain Hunter. Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes there is. I would like you too meet Ms. Twilight Sparkle. If she accepts the commander's offer then she will be our new addition to my team, so if you could set up a clearance package for her that would be appreciated," The captain replied.
The seated stallion turned and smiled at Twilight
"Ah, yes Ms Sparkle. You must be the one that all the talks been about lately. Welcome to Home Castle. My name's Nights Watch. I head the security and clearance around here." He extended a hand to Twilight. "I also want to say you did some damn fine work back there in Canterlot. You saved a lot of lives getting there as early as you did."
Twilight took the offered hand and shook it. He had a rather firm grip even more so then what you get from most of the military types that join the Guard.
"Thank you Nights Watch. Though I wish I had gotten there quicker. There were still a lot of civilians killed before we could drive them off. Part of why I'm here is so that I can get back at those that caused that."
Nights Watch nodded, "I can understand that. I hope you didn't have any family get caught in that. There didn't seem to be many survivors. Just a small colt and a shop owner that got trapped under an overturned cart was what the report said."
"Luckily, no when it comes to my family. Though I actually held that little colt in my arms before he got shipped off to Canterlot General," Twilight said.
"Now this is just a suggestion, but I think you should go see that little colt. I'm sure that he would love to meet his new hero. It also does the soul some good to see the little bit of hope this profession of ours claws back from the tragedies that we fight," offered Nights Watch. He sounded almost sagely for a pony that didn't look much older then Twilight herself.
"Thank you. That actually sounds like a good idea. I think I might just do that," Twilight replied
"By the way,Is there anything I need to do to help you with this clearance package?" asked Twilight
Nights Watch shook his head. "Not really. You being a former cadet and Captain Armor's sister means most of your information is already on file down below with the intel boys." He gestured towards the stairs behind him. "Just a matter of going down and getting it.
Twilight turned to face the Captain. "You have a file on me? Why?"
The Captain shrugged at her question. "We have files on a lot of ponies. Anyone that draws attention or has access to a decent amount of power gets a file. It also helps that the commander was scoping you for a position."
"I see." Twilight stated a little irritated.
"Anyway," Captain Hunter said turning back to Nights Watch "Is the commander in?"
"Yes, Sir. She's back in her office over in the command section." Nights Watch answered pointing to the far right wall that had another set of doors. The sign over these stated that they led to the "Command Section".
The captain thanked Nights Watch and walked towards the doors. "Alright Ms. Sparkle its time to meet the commander."
Twilight followed Captain Hunter through the set of doors that led to the command section and into a hallway. They passed the first door that had a name plate on it that stated that it belonged to the Captain of the Night Guard, meaning Captain Hunter. The second door at the end of the short hallway had no label. The door was made of solid oak painted in a dark blue. The only markings that the door had were a splotch of black surrounding a crescent moon. Things started to finally click in Twilight's mind.
For the love of Celestia Twilight, who else would that Captain of the Lunar Guard refer to as his commander. There is only one pony that was above him.
Captain Hunter knocked sharply on the door twice. A recognizable voice replied "Enter." from the other side of the door. The captain opened the door and walked through it. Twilight followed close behind and sure enough, just like Twilight had started to piece together, sitting behind the black wooden desk was Princess Luna.
Simultaneously Captain Hunter snapped to attention and reported in while Twilight started to bow.
A soft sigh emanated from Princess Luna's lips "I feel the need to once again inform you, Midnight Hunter, that you do not need to stand on such formalities with me when we are not in the public eye." The captain relaxed his poster a little but still maintained an air of formality.
"As for you Ms. Sparkle you may rise. I will tell you this now and hopefully you can take the message to heart faster then My dear captain here. While my orders and commands still carry the full weight of my Princess hood I would request that you treat me no different from how you would a fellow officer. Is that understood?"
"Ye..Yes Ma'am. Though... if I may make a statement. I...umm...I'm not technically an officer yet." Twilight answered with a bit a quiver to her voice. As confident as she was now in the presence of Princess Celestia, it had taken quite some time to evolve beyond bowing and stammering every other word while facing what amounted to almost a god. Now here she was facing a new Princess, one that Twilight had yet prove herself to. Sure she had met her mentor's sister before, but only rarely at formal occasions that Princess Celestia had taken Twilight to.
No! Bad! You're regressing. She even told you to act casual around her.
"Ah yes, that new tradition about not gaining your real rank until the commander appoints you a position after arriving at your first station. Quite a strange system. Why my sister changed it from the original method of Royal commission in my absence I'll never know, " Luna replied. "Well, I am technically the station commander, but I can't give you your commission yet. That is because until you make a choice I can't place you in a position."
Confused Twilight looked to the princess. "Is this about the letter that I was given?"
Nodding Princess Luna replied "Precisely." she looked over at the captain. "Midnight, would you mind leaving us so that Ms. Sparkle and I can talk?"
"Of course Ma'am," Captain Hunter replied. Turning on his heels he walked out of the office and closed the door behind him.
After the door had shut the princess gestured for Twilight to take a seat across the desk. Twilight stepped forward and took the seat as requested. Still not fully able to let down the formality of being in front of a Princess of Equestria, Twilight sat stiffly as if an iron rod had taken the place of her spine.
"May I call you Twilight? I'm not much of one for formality." Princess Luna asked after Twilight had taken her seat.
"Of course Princess." Twilight replied quickly.
"You can be at ease Twilight. I just want to have a conversation before I ask you to choose what path you wish to pursue. How much of my past do you know? I assume as my sister's apprentice she told you what happened?" Luna asked.
Twilight nodded. Celestia had indeed told her some tales of what had happened but they had been more like a bed time story then a recollection of historical facts.
"Yes, Ma'am. She told me that a little over thousand years ago you became distant and cold. Under her watch she had allowed you to become corrupted by an evil force that ate away at you. She said that she had been too blind to notice that you were being taken until it was too late. Finally, the corruption took over and turned you into a force of evil. Unable to find a cure for what had taken you she fell back on the only option at the time, and used the Elements of Harmony on you. While they did in fact purify you, they had the side effect of locking you in the moon until you were able to be released 20 years ago."
Luna listened to the recounting. When Twilight had finished she spoke.
"While the core of what you have been told is accurate, there are issues with the finer details. The main difference is in how I was corrupted. It was no magical cures or other purely arcane corruption that took me. It was an affliction of the mind.
" As it is today my sister has her Guard that protects the country from foreign attack. With her at the head of combat they were very apt at protecting the nation. However, even then the guard was unable to react to attacks of a more secret nature. That was where I came in. I could not stand by and allow the deaths of innocents to go unpunished. For evil to remain without a judge and executioner. I took it upon myself to root out those that brought harm our little ponies that the Guard could not. I acted in the shadows of night to find the evils that hid from sight day, and rid them from our land."
"So you started the Lunar Guard way back then? Why have I been led to believe that the Lunar Guard was a recently developed unit?" Twilight questioned.
Luna shook her head.
"No. That was the folly that drove me to my downfall. I took the action all on my own. When I went on missions I developed a persona meant to frighten and haunt those that wished ill on our land. Can you guess what this persona was?"
Twilight thought for a moment but the answer seemed pretty clear based on what Twilight knew of Luna.
"You named yourself Nightmare Moon didn't you?"
With a pensive look Princess Luna nodded.
"Correct. I became a nightmare. I assume you saw the crest in the foyer?"
When Twilight nodded Luna continued.
"Those words that have become the motto of my team are a direct quote from myself when I informed my sister of what I planned to do. When I started my operations I became just that. A Nightmare. I was a legend, a fable, a horror story that villains told each other in hushed tones. It was said that once you were on my list you were as good as dead, and for the most part they were right."
"So all of those foals stories about you were really true? How are they only considered fables if all of this really happened?" asked Twilight.
She was wrapped around every word that the princess was saying. This was history that no one, out sided of the ponies in this unit she was about to potentially join knew. This was information, that by the sound of it, even Princess Celestia only vaguely knew of.
With a light chuckle Luna replied,
"For the most part the stories are real, and they stayed legend because just about no pony ever saw me and lived. The only remains of my work were the bodies of the convicted that I left behind. I did however never eat any children, unlike what the legend of Nightmare Night would have you believe." Another chuckle escaped the princesses lips before she continued. "And even an offering of sweets would not have been able to save you from my fury once you had drawn my ire. Though I believe that one crime lord did try to bargain for his life by offering me his beautiful daughter's hand in matrimony just before I ran my blade through him..."
The princess trailed off looking away, her eyes glazing as if getting lost in a hazy memory of events long ago.
"Umm Princess are you OK?" Twilight asked hesitantly after seeing that Princess Luna start to slip deeper into her mental rendition of the past.
The princess blinked multiple times, snapping herself out of her escape into times historic Luna looked back at Twilight.
"I'm very sorry Ms. Sparkle. After two decades since my return I don't often slip back into my memories as I did in the first few years, but recounting the events will occasionally still trigger an unfortunate side effect of what I tried to repress. I waded deep into the world of the dark and deceitful and came back far from unscathed."
Wide eyed Twilight tried to digest everything that she had been told.
"Princess Celestia once told me something similar when I pressed her on the subject of how you two defeated Discord. Something about everlasting damage consuming those that tried to fight his madness with madness in return." Twilight interjected.
"Ah yes. If I am not mistaken the line you are thinking of is 'If you stare into the abyss and you blink first, it wins and you die. If it blinks first, you are the victor, but the prize is insanity.'
"You are correct that it is meant to talk about Discord and his chaos, but it is an apt description of my journey down the path that I took. It is not a path I recommend. That is why I tell you of my past when I have kept so many in the dark.
"It is through my stories that they were ready for me upon my return. Three ponies, two loyal Bats and a young unicorn, along with my sister nurtured that broken mare that I was back into the real me. Through my stories the devised a new method to the old madness. For Equestria still has its evils lurking in the dark, but they no longer face a sole Nightmare, but a host of them. Where I was alone and vulnerable, they stood strong together. And thus the Nightmare Team was formed."
Luna leaned forward focusing her dark teals eyes on the light purple ones of Twilight.
"So now I have one question for you. On this answer hangs my decision to offer you a place with this team. For what reason did you respond to my letter: to avenge the dead or to protect the living?"
With her question asked Luna sat back in her chair, steepled her fingers in front of her face, and fixed Twilight with a piercing gaze.
Twilight was swept away by the speech of Princess Luna.
Why did I truly come her tonight.
The faces of all the ponies lying dead on that market street rushed through her mind. All the death and destruction. All of the families now ripped apart by loss and senseless violence.
Those fallen ponies deserve to have justice dealt out in their name.
The faces continued to pass before they stopped on that one little colt that Twilight had found still alive. It was then that her answer solidified.
Twilight returned the gaze of Princess Luna with a determined one of her own.
"I came to honor those that died, but to protect those that remain." Twilight's tone came with a sense of resolution and resolve she was not even aware she possessed.
A small satisfied smile crept onto the princesses face.
"Good. Now please stand." Luna said
With that Twilight watched Luna rise before doing the same and assuming a position of attention facing the princess. Luna walked around the desk to join her. Opening the door to the office she called out "Captain Hunter I would like you to return and stand as my witness."
From down the hall Captain Hunter opened the door to his office and returned. Once in the room he assumed a position of parade rest and asked, "Has she accepted?"
"I am to offer that right now." replied Princess Luna.
Turning back to Twilight, Princess Luna began speaking with a royal tone of strength and formality.
"Twilight Sparkle. I now formally offer you the position on Nightmare team in the role of Shadow-walker. Do you accept?"
With a sense of pride beginning to well inside of herself Twilight responded, "I do Princess."
"Then I now hereby fully recognize you as both a member of this unit as well as a Lieutenant in the Lunar Guard. Congratulations Lt. Sparkle, Welcome to the Nightmares!"