Two months... for two whole months, I haven't been able to do anything. I had my suit, gear, and I buried my head into the magic book Luna gave me. I didn't get a single letter or note from the princesses about any high-level crimes. I was allowed to wear the suit at night and patrol for any high-level crimes, but that gave me nothing. I was bored, seeing my dream of protecting my people go up in flames as I realized that Equestria didn’t need a lot of protection on a normal basis.
As my boredom grew, I started wondering what to do in my free time. At times like this, I’d call my brothers over and have them work on inventing stuff with me, but it felt like my mind was stuck on my mask. I wanted to prove that I could do what I vowed to do, but I felt like I was failing. After a while, I was starting to get tired, barely putting any effort into my normal job.
One day, I was just sitting in front of my house, waiting for some random pony to invade Ponyville again when two royal guards walked up to me. “Mr. Knight, we need you to come with us.”
“I sent the monthly report yesterday. They should be at your superior's office by the end of the day.” I said, not really interested in what they had to say.
“It’s not that. We have direct orders from the princesses to take you to Canterlot. We can’t take no for an answer.”
I sighed a bit as I sat up. “May I ask what this is about?”
“It’s classified, but we were ordered to tell you to pack for a high-level incident and keep quiet about it.”
My heart felt like it skipped a beat as the words ‘high level’ rang in my ears. “Wait! Do you mean like a real crime?”
The guards looked at each other, clearly not knowing more than what they were ordered to do. “Well, we don’t know anything else that would classify as high level, but we were told that they’d brief you when you got there. Luna emphasized bringing ‘the suit’, whatever that means…”
I immediately jumped up and cheered. “YES SWEET LUNA!!! I AM IN BUSINESS!!!” I then hugged both of the guards in pure joy and excitement, knowing that all of my training was finally going to be put into use. “Thank you! You two made my day! I’ll go pack!”
I promise you that I had a week's worth of clothes, my suit, and my gear packed in less than a minute and was following the guards to the train station.
Now some of you are probably wondering what I was doing on the train ride. I was mentally preparing for the fight to come. The mental battle is just as important as the physical battle. I went over every scenario in my mind. I pictured myself fighting large numbers of several races and asking myself what was the worst-case scenario. I knew from the books from war heroes that were alive before I was born that prepping for the war in my mind would only make it easier when the real fight would come.
I have to admit that even though fighting crime is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, but I was looking forward to this. This was my honor and country I was standing up for. This was my time to make a stand.
As I was escorted to the castle, I was calm and collected, ready for whatever the princesses requested of me. I was taken to a room which I’ve never seen before. It was a private room in the center of the castle with a small table and a few chairs.
Celestia and Luna were sitting at the table as if they were waiting for me. Celestia had an extremely stern look on her face as Luna had a rather smug look on her face.
“Good evening Book. Please take a seat.” Celestia said as I obeyed, still feeling rather excited about this. She laid a few files out on the table and started going through them. “Recently there has been a string of robberies in the area. Have you heard about them?”
I didn’t. “Sorry. I don’t keep up with the news in Canterlot. Can you elaborate?”
“Well, for the last three weeks there have been a string of robberies from a group that seems to be organized. They are able to enter and exit any store they rob from in less than fifteen minutes. They have hit several jewelry stores and other high-end stores and have stolen over a hundred thousand bits in merchandise.” Celestia told me as she showed me the photos and investigation reports.
I was now intrigued as I was reading about my new mission. This was a definite high-level crime due to it being an organized string of robberies. “Why wasn’t I brought in sooner?”
Luna grinned as she looked at her sister. “My sister was constantly telling me that she trusted her guards to handle it. They haven’t, and now things have gotten out of control due to her stubbornness.”
It looked like Celestia was going to glare at her for a second, but then she sighed. “She’s right. A few days ago a few guards got hurt trying to confront them. They were outnumbered, and those criminals weren’t ready for something like this to happen. This escalation could lead to them attacking in the daytime and hurting other ponies. I… I’ll admit that I didn’t want to call you in on this, but we are out of options. I want you to be serious with me, can you handle this?”
I started looking at the evidence. I was basically the entire police force in Ponyville and was waiting to sharpen my mind. I started organizing the evidence and looking for a pattern. “Let me see… They have everything timed. Not just the heist itself, but the patrols too. Your last guards got attacked because they went off of their route.”
Luna looked impressed. “Nice, but how did they learn about this?”
“It’s rather easy. One of them goes into a store to check it out, and then that night they stake it out to check their security and to time the guards' patrol patterns. Rather good planning on their part.”
What? It was good planning.
“But how do we stop them?” Celestia asked.
I took a look at the times and locations and started to see that pattern. “They found a loophole. Whenever a crime takes place you focus the guard in that area for a week. So they do their heists every four days when the perimeter is the smallest, and then they go to the other end of town. I believe…” I did some looking at the map and then came up with my most likely guess. “Fancy Pants' accessory shop, specializing in high-end jewelry. Give me the route for the guards in that district.”
Luna was now smiling as she was handing me a few papers. “Okay, there are a few time slots where they can strike… but none that scream “Rob me!”. I’ll have to stake it out. Your Highness, may I have your permission to stake out the place and handle the threat?”
Celestia had a worried look on her face. “Are you sure that you can handle this? There are eight thugs in this gang according to the guards who were beaten. I doubt you can fight that many ponies.”
I gave her a grin. “I don’t have to fight them all at once. I just need to pick them off one by one before the rest catch on, then I’ll fight them.”
Celesia still looked concerned, but Luna put a hoof on her shoulder and nodded to me. “Go and bring them to justice.”
I nodded as I walked out, ready to do what I was born to do.
I took an hour’s nap, knowing that I had a couple of hours before the store closed. I didn’t want the whole castle knowing what my position was, so I pulled on my suit and used my new spell to sneak out of there. It’s called Shadow Step, a stealth-based teleportation spell. It’s not as quick as Twilight’s spell and requires some form of darkness at both locations. It doesn’t have the same range as she did, but it’s silent and not as noticeable. In my mind, it was worth the trade.
I teleported to the rooftop of a nearby building with a perfect vantage point to the store. I knew that this wouldn’t be some quick and easy catch. I had to keep hidden from my prey, lowering my body close to the roof to keep from being spotted from any patrol. In spite of my having permission from the princesses, I had no intention of revealing who I was to those guards. The Shadow Knight’s true name is a secret, and I intend to keep it that way.
I kept every moment when this heist crew would most likely strike in mind. All I could do was play the waiting game as I watched carefully for any activity. I’ll have to admit that I was pretty excited… for about an hour. I started to learn how tedious and dull stakeouts are. It’s like watching a pot of water, waiting for it to boil. I got slightly irritated, but then I reminded myself that this was more than a little hobby. This was my job, my mission, and I was sworn to put an end to this heist crew.
I watched as the guards passed on the first rounds of this area for the night, nothing happened. After another hour the second patrol passed by, and there was still no activity. It was at this point where I had to second guess myself. I was trying to mentally think about all of those photos and maps, wondering if I had missed anything, or if something else happened. There were a few things that could have changed. They could have been satisfied with their haul and have skipped town, they could have chickened out from the attention of the fight. Maybe they wanted to wait another day or two. This stakeout could take longer than expected. All I could do was wait and see if my hunch was correct.
After the fourth shift, I grew rather accustomed to the building. I shifted my position around so I could tell what all the entry points were, and in hindsight I should have gotten that done sooner, before the stakeout. I started realizing that I had not taken into account a lot of the evidence, like the size or description of the crew. This was my first mission, and I had a lot of things to iron out, namely my thoroughness.
As I was trying to rethink my research process, I suddenly got what I wanted. Eight ponies, three earth ponies, three unicorns, and two pegasi. They all were wearing black clothes and wore ski masks. I was so tempted to jump in then and there to get into the action, but I remembered the tactics that the dark knight used. I had to be tactical about this, waiting till they were thinned out and taking them down quietly and quickly.
The unicorns undid the lock, using some form of spell against the security wards set up on the door. They went inside with one of the earth ponies to start their raid while the pegasi each took a post at the corners of the block to keep an eye out for any patrols, leaving two earth ponies at the door.
I then took a moment to assess who to take out first. The pegasi were the biggest problems, knowing that they could easily get away or warn the rest of the gang with their wings and mobility. I elected to go for the on by the alley next to him, being in a darker and more secluded place.
As a silently moved above him to attack I remembered that I needed to take him down silently and quickly. I was already equipped with some restraints, but I had nothing to gag them. My best shot was to knock them out with brute force. I jumped off of the roof, putting the grappling cable Fuze made to the test. I shot it at the roof I jumped off of and lowered myself right behind him. I grappled his body, taking care to keep his mouth covered as I activated the climb setting on the device, pulling him up as I slammed his head against the wall, just hard enough to where he’d be knocked out. As I pulled his unconscious body onto the roof, I realized that this was my first take-down of a criminal. It wasn’t long or iconic, but it was memorable in a way, like a baby’s first steps.
I tied the thug up and then started making my way towards the second pegasi, having to deal with a more open area as he was at the corner of the road on the other side of the street. I had to make a calculated risk as I took to the ground, waiting for him to turn his back before running towards him, tackling him out of the line of sight as I slammed my hoof into his head, easily knocking him out as I dragged him behind a nearby building. Two down, six to go.
I went back to the roof but choosing to use Fancy’s building to get closer. I was hoping that one of them would check on the pegasi so I could pick them off, but they seemed to be busy chatting.
“Man, can you believe those guards? Of all the days they had to break from the routine.”
“Well, I guess Black Hoof couldn’t be right all of the time. Either way, it was getting a little too easy, and I liked the change of pace.”
“Yeah, but what if they start changing things up? What if they start catching on?”
“Let them come, I’ll be happy to fill a few more hospital beds.”
I was running low on time, risking the others coming out, and was getting ticked at the guy laughing about hurting those guards, so I hopped down and tapped them both on the back. “I’m sure you’ll only need one for yourself.”
I know it was a bad time for a joke, but it didn’t come off as funny in my delivery.
Both of them turned to me, ready to throw some punches at me. I knew that this wouldn’t be as quick as the others, but I wasn’t deterred. I kept my personal training in mind, countering their blows and landing brutal hits to their chests, heads, and joints. They were able to get a few hits in on my back, but my armor was doing its job.
I wanted to end it as quickly as possible, so I managed to grab both of their heads and slammed them into each other, knocking them both out. Even though I was able to take those two down, my ambition to take them down exposed me to a group of ponies who were ready to make a getaway, only to see me standing over their ally’s unconscious bodies.
“W.. what… get him!!!” The earth pony barked as all three unicorns were charging their magic.
I had to use my only ranged weapon in order to buy a few seconds. I quickly drew out my shurikens, otherwise known as throwing stars. They were Batman’s signature weapon with their unique design. As much as I would have liked to have had a design of my own, I couldn’t find one that would signify my identity well enough, so I went with the traditional star style.
Now, if you think it’s hard to master throwing them, even with magic, think about the precision I had to train to master. I vowed to never kill, so every shot had to count. I had my shurikens designed to where they couldn’t sink in too deep, but then there was my aim, and I was launching several ones at once. My aim wasn’t refined yet, but I made sure to avoid the head and neck. I landed a star in a unicorn’s right leg, hit another one on the side, creating a long cut on the side, and landing the last one in the lower chest.
I ended up missing the earth pony by an inch, but I threw off their focus enough to where I could close the distance without worrying about getting blasted by magic. The unicorns were reeling back while the earth pony charged at me. Part of me wanted to face him head-on, but I knew that leaving the unicorns would leave me vulnerable to a magic attack. So, I vaulted over the pony as he tried to tackle me, and started attacking the vulnerable ones.
Now, I cannot stress the complexity of fighting several ponies at once. You need to have a good sense of your opponents around you, keeping each one off guard and not letting them gang up on you at once. It’s like having four balloons filled with air, trying to bounce them in the air with your hooves and keeping them from touching the ground. There needs to be precision in your strikes, organization so none of them disappear on you, and a lot of skill and training.
For most ponies, this is a daunting task. Just ask the main six about the changeling invasion. (I’m still ticked about not being in Canterlot at the time for that.) However, I am stubborn and wanted to thrive during training. So I got the other trainees to help me with combat training. I made a circle and had them take turns attacking me so I can learn to take them down. I got beaten up at first, but eventually, I got to the point where I could take them all down. After that, some fool got the idea of trying to attack me while another pony was, so I had to up the ante a bit. My Sargent called it 'king of the hill for guards', and made it a thing. The only pony who had a habit of beating me was Shining. He’s stronger and tougher than me and was smart enough to wait for a dozen or two guards to fight me before taking me on.
Now I know that this sounds weird when talking about fighting a bunch of crooks at once, but something felt right in me at that moment. Every blow I received was like a mark of valor, and every blow I dealt was like a blow to the darkness that threatened all that was good in the world. I felt like I was embracing the call of the dark knight as I laid waste to these criminals. That day, that mask did more for me than just conceal my identity. It hid my large grin. Fighting criminals shouldn’t be taken lightly, but it feels good in my opinion… no… it feels great.
The unicorns were falling quickly, clearly not ready for physical combat. My bet is that they were there to get around the magical safeguards and to break into anything locked while the rest of the group was to handle lookout and any combat. Sadly, that left one earth pony to stand against me. So that left him with one decision. He started booking it, probably wanting to lose me. I wasn’t willing to have any loose ends, so I took my grappling hook out and fired it at him.
It tore into his thick leather jacket and stopped him in his tracks as I yanked hard, pulling him back to me as I barked out to him. “Get over here!!”
I picked him up and rammed him into the store wall. I pulled the mask off of him, revealing his yellow mane and white coat, revealing how they knew the routes for the royal guards. Judging by his haircut and build, he was a royal guard. Now, normally I would be ticked at such an act of treason, but his face showed his fear, unlike anything I had ever seen.
This trained soldier's voice was shaking as he spoke out of fear. “W… who are you?”
I grinned under my mask as I pulled him close to me, saying the words I had been wanting to say all night. “I am the Shadow Knight!” I then slammed my hoof into his head, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.
So there I was, eight criminals taking naps at my hooves, and I had fifteen minutes to spare before the next patrol came along. I felt a little mischievous, so I took some extra rope I had and tied them to the roof where they were hanging off of it, just a few feet off the ground. I then wrote a quick note that read “We’re criminals, arrest us.” just for fun. I was careful not to use my own writing style and stuck the note onto them, leaving their loot underneath them.
I wasn’t dumb enough to leave them out for some random chance to find them, in spite of my growing love of theatrics, so I went back to my hiding space and kept a close eye on them and the surrounding area. You should have seen the looks on the patrol’s faces as they saw the crooks tied up with no sign of an assailant. I would have loved to have stuck around for the whole show, but I knew that my mission was accomplished. I left quickly, using shadow step to get back to where I could change without being watched and then teleported myself and my gear to my room. I was ecstatic, having done what I had set out to do from the first day I read a comic that inspired me. I made a statement that night. Somepony was out there that every criminal needed to fear.
Me!