In the Vanhoover town hall, Princess Celestia was visiting with the mayor of the city. Around midmorning, a unicorn dressed in the armor of the royal guard sprinted into the building, heading to the room where the captain of the guard was.
“Captain Steel Thunder!” shouted the blue unicorn as he burst into room, startling the grey Pegasus that was already there. “There is an emergency!”
Steel Thunder, steadied himself on a desk, recovering from the fright, “What in the heavens are you on about, Mythic Haze?”
“A manticore is loose in the city!” the guard gasped out, between breaths.
“Where did it come from?”
Mythic inhaled deeply, “I don’t know sir, but the officers of the Vanhoover Police department are trying to corral it
before it heads this way.” He stammered between breaths.
“Where are they?” The captain asked, sliding his helmet on.
“Four blocks west of here on Winglet Way.”
Steel stepped into the hallway, “Firelight! Stormhowl!” he called out. Turning back to Mythic Haze, “Catch your breath and let Swift Feather know what’s going on and that I’m heading to give assistance with Firelight and Stormhowl.” The blue unicorn nodded, continuing to pant. The captain turned and started running down the hall and was joined by a red Pegasus and deep blue earth pony.
Quickly, the trio of guards made their way down the street to where a large commotion was happening, coming to a stop at the entrance to an alleyway with a dead end where several officers were keeping ponies from entering. Recognizing the armor of the Royal Guard, the officers allowed the captain and his guards to enter the alley. At the end of the alley, a manticore roared and crashed about, its tail striking at the building. Partway down the alley was a single sand colored earth pony in a police uniform, chewing on a carrot, however the manticore is facing away from the officer that was standing alone.
Steel Thunder stepped up next to the sand colored pony, “Chief Vines.”
“Cap’n,” Vines responded, never looking away from where the manticore was rampaging. “What brings you out ‘ere?”
“Heard there was a manticore loose in the city and wanted to find out more about it.” The Pegasus stated. The two guards accompanying him watched manticore intently, trying to see what the creature was after in the shadows of the alley.
The chief finished eating the carrot he had been chewing on and pulled a silver case from his shirt pocket, opening it revealing a few dark red carrots. After taking one, he held the case out to Steel Thunder, “Fire carrot?’
“No thank you.”
Vines nodded and closed the case, putting it away. “Circus is in town, someone let the beast out.” He put the carrot in his mouth, holding on the side to gently chew on it. “Got officers looking into who did it, an’ we are keepin’ it here ‘til the trainer comes to an’ can come get it.”
The manticore roared, rattling the windows around the block and swung a paw at a dark shape on the wall. Before the strike could land, the shape moved, causing the sharp claws to spark on the brick of the building, leaving deep groves behind.
“THERE’S A PONY BACK THERE!!” the red Pegasus, Firelight, shouted as he took to the air. “I’VE GOT THEM!” The guard dashed forward, charging at the manticore.
“STOP YA IDIOT!” Chief Vines shouted as the Pegasus darted forward, almost losing the carrot being held in his lips. He put his hoof out and stopped Steel Thunder and Stormhowl from charging forward. “You two stay put!” He growled.
The beast turned towards the charging flyer and lashed out with its stinger. A half second before the point of the stinger would have slammed into Firelight, a dark shape leapt from the wall of a building and tackled the Pegasus, knocking him out of the path of the attack. The Pegasus found himself in the arms of a deep purple colored mare wearing the uniform of the Vanhoover Police department. The officer landed on the wall opposite the one from which she had launched herself, sticking to the side of building like a spider.
Firelight blinked, “Wha-?” He stammered.
“Stay out of the way, please.” The mare calmly stated as she let go of the guard, letting him hover next to her as she stood on the side of the building. “And please get to safety.”
“But-” Firelight said, however the rest of his sentence was cut off as the officer shoved him. The manticore’s tail struck where the guard used to be, catching the purple mare with a glancing blow on her shoulder that she managed to soften by rolling with it.
“GET BACK ‘ERE!!” Chief Vines shouted at the guard, keeping the other two next to him. “SHADOW, YOU OKAY?” The manticore turned towards the police chief as Firelight flew quickly back to where the pony was standing. Meeting the hard stare of sand colored officer, the beast froze for a moment.
“Yes, sir!” The mare called back to Vines, as she scampered up the wall, taking advantage of the manticore’s distraction. “Glancing strike to my shoulder, I’m still mobile.” Shadow pulled a small dark star from her vest and threw it at the creature’s hind paw. Though the star bounced off thick hide, it still caused the manticore to roar and resume trying to swipe at the fast-moving officer that was galloping on the wall.
Chief Vines spared a brief moment to glare at the red Pegasus as he landed next to Captain Steel Thunder. “Stay behind me, ya got that?” He snarled to Firelight. The chief turned his gaze back to the manticore.
“Why hasn’t it flown away yet?” Asked Captain Steel, as he pulled Firelight behind him.
“Sergeant Shadow Star there,” Vines gestured towards the mare as she sprinted down the building, dodging another swipe from the manticore’s paws. “Managed ta tie down one of its wings.”
“How is she able to run on the walls?” Stormhowl asked.
“Resident ninja o’ the department.” The chief smirked.
Captain Steel tilted his head, watching the manticore continue to try to catch the elusive Shadow. “Ninja, huh? So, she’s the only one fast enough to keep from getting hit, isn’t she?”
“Yup.” Replied Vines, shifting the carrot to the other side of his lips.
“Shadow Star, the name sounds familiar.” Steel tapped his chin thoughtfully.
“Should, she’s applied ta join the royal guard a couple of times.”
“How many ponies were injured before Officer Star got here?”
“About 16, nothin’ serious, for the most part.” The police chief paused as he finished his carrot. “Officer Wind Sheer took a hit that broke her wing when she was pulling a pony out of the things way.”
The Captain shifted on his hooves and glanced around. “Any idea what made it rampage rather than flying off?”
“Still under investigation. Shadow noticed that it had some green powder on its nose,” Vines shook his head. “Other than that, we don’t know.”
The manticore roared again, this time the roar sounding slurred and the beast fell to its side, its eyes unable to focus as they closed. Shadow dashed to the creature’s side, quickly shifting it so she could remove the rope binding its wing, keeping the wing from breaking. The beast softly mewed as it pawed the air, losing consciousness.
“WAIT FOR THE ALL CLEAR!” Shouted the chief as several officers started to move towards the unconscious beast, causing them to stop. “The sergeant will signal when we can move in!” He pulled the silver case out again and took another fire carrot. “I swear, no one follows protocol anymore.” Vines muttered as he placed the spicy vegetable in his lips and put the case away.
Shadow slowly walked around the manticore, watching for movement. After a moment, the officer turned towards the chief, “ALL CLEAR!” She called out. With the All Clear having been given, the officers started moving towards the manticore again.
Vines looked at Steel, “We got this under control, Cap’n.”
“Very well then,” The captain said, looking around. “My boys and I will head back to city hall.” He turned and started to head back, but stopped and asked, “Can you swing by and let me know what the investigation turns up?”
“Sure, I can do that.” Replied Vines. The Royal Captain nodded to the police chief and led his guards back to city hall while the police officers dealt with the unconscious manticore.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was early evening, and the Princess was attending a dinner being held in the ball room of the town hall, when a knock was heard at the door to the room that Captain Steel Thunder was using as an office.
“Come,” The captain called out. He stood up from the couch he was sitting on, setting aside the magazine he had been reading as the door opened and police chief Vines stepped into the room with a file held in his mouth. “Ah, Vines, I was starting to worry you wouldn’t make it tonight.” Steel said, extending his hoof to the officer.
Vines shook the captain’s offered hoof, “Investigation took a bit longer than expected,” He said, taking the file out of his mouth.
“Really?”
“Yup,” Vines sat on the couch opposite of the captain and set the file down on the table between them, opening it. “The green powder's a concoction called Dark Dust, makes anyone that gets a whiff go crazy, and when the effects wear off,” He clops his hooves together. “Out like a light.”
“How did the manticore get dosed?” Steel asked as he sat back down.
“Ever heard of the Dawn of Night cult?”
The captain shook his head, “No, I haven’t. But I feel like I should have.”
“Well, they’re a dooms day cult.” The police chief slid some papers from the folder to Steel. “Trying ta get rid of the sun and bring about the rule of Nightmare Moon.”
Steel looked puzzled as he picked up the papers, “Why in Equestria would anyone want to do that?”
Vines gestured at the papers that Steel was holding, “Take a look at their recruitment flyers.”
“Let’s see here. ‘The Sun, the Scourge of the land and burner of Ponies.’ then ‘Celestia, Despot of Fire.’ And ‘Embrace the Gentle Night of Nightmare Moon.’ You have got to be kidding me!”
“Oh, there’s a lot more, I only picked a couple of ‘em to bring.”
Steel set the papers back down, “And I take it that you’ve dealt with them before?”
“A few times. This time we found their headquarters an’ arrested the lot of ‘em. I’ll send a full report later.”
“Great, I look forward to reading it. Will you send copies of the pamphlets too?”
“O’course.”
The captain chuckled, “I have a feeling that the guard will get a laugh out of it.” He looks at Vines, “How is Sergeant Shadow?”
Chief Vines pulled the silver case out of his vest, “The sergeant suffered four cracked ribs, a sprained shoulder, and a lot of bruising.” He opened the case and pulled a deep red carrot from it, placing it in his lips.
“Was that all from when she saved Firelight?” Steel asked with a concerned look.
The officer held out the case to the guard captain, “Nah, most o’ it was from having ta pull officers an’ civilians out o’ harm’s way.” Vines replied as Steel took one of the offered carrots. “And that brings me ta somethin’ I want ta ask ya.”
“And that is?”
“Why don’t ya want her in the Royal Guard?”
Steel put the dark red carrot into his lips and winced, “Dang it, Vines! I forgot you like these things really spicy!” The Pegasus cried as he pulled the carrot back out of his mouth. “I’ve never seen her application, turns out I remember her from an issue of Martial Arts Monthly.” Putting the carrot back in his lips, he picked up the magazine he had been reading when Chief Vines entered the room. “February’s issue actually, she took first place in forms in the Starlight Competition in Fillydelphia back in January.”
“I forgot about that. The precinct teased her for weeks about it.” Vines smiled warmly at the memory. “Officer Shadow, our very own celebrity.”
“Well, I would love to have her in the Royal Guard, but why are you asking?”
“Shadow’s always wanted ta be in the Royal Guard. It’s been her goal all along. An’ she’s applied twice. First time she didn’t get a response, second time she received a letter stating that her qualifications weren’t what the guard was looking for.” The officer slid another set of papers over to the captain who picked them up.
Steel shook his head, “I’ve never seen this, and her qualifications exceed what we are looking for. Heck, she has police training and that’s a lot more than what our recruits have when they join.” He looked over the documents as he and Vines chewed on their fire carrots for a moment. After a bit of silence, Steel looked up from the papers, “Lieutenant Platinum Chalice, I’m not surprised.”
Vines tilted his head, “Problems with the Lieutenant?” The officer asked as he finished his fire carrot.
“Platinum thought he was in the running with me for Captain of the Royal Guard when Silver Ace retired.” Steel said, then paused and shook his head. “Actually, he thought that he was next in line to be captain. It was a big surprise to him when he didn’t get it.” Setting down the papers, the Pegasus continued, “The lieutenant was a fine guard, just a bit full of himself. However, I’ve come to find out that he has been trying to undermine my command.” The Captain gestured at the papers on the table. “And this is an example of one of the ways he’s been doing it. Keeping good candidates out of the guard.” He sighed, “It’s never easy is it?”
Chief Vines shook his head, “Leadership never is.”
“So, looking over her qualifications and application, I’ll put my stamp of approval on her joining the guard.” Captain Steel smiled as he put all the papers back together and slid them over to Vines. “I’ll take care of the paperwork when I get back to Canterlot and send Shadow Star a letter accepting her into the Royal Guard.”
“She’ll be thrilled.” Vines said as he picked up the papers and put them back in the folder. “Shadow will be missed on the force, but I know she’ll be a perfect fit for the guard.” He stood up, “I’ve got ta get home, it’s almost time for me ta read little Sandy his bedtime story and he doesn’t like it when his mother does it.” The officer held his hoof out to the Royal captain.
Steel stood as well, “Thank you for the update and bringing Shadow’s application to my attention.” He shook Vines hoof, “Tell Cymbal hello for me.”
“I will. See ya around, Steel.” The police chief said as he turned and headed out of the room.
“See you, Vines.” Replied Steel.