//------------------------------// // Protector of the Night // Story: Defender of the Night // by DayDrifter75 //------------------------------// All that was needed to catch the eye of the night princess was a swift movement and a slight glimmer. It was not much to go on, but there seemed to be at least something happening. She leaned forward and touched the glowing tip of her horn to the pools surface. A simple spell, one that would allow her to view the unknown event more closely. The image in the water grew slowly, the picture homing in on a relatively small house near the edge of Canterlot. While the darkness of the night would normally be trouble for any normal pony, Luna was well-adjusted to the witching hour; in fact, she preferred it. Her eyes beamed through the shroud of darkness with ease. Let's have a quick look at what we have here... "Hey, Head Honcho," said an unknown stallion dressed in a black sweater and ski mask. He was currently at the front end of a large, extremely detailed painting. He and his partner Head Honcho were in the process of carrying the painting to— Nothing. As soon as the stallion stepped past a certain point away from the residence, he disappeared. The same held true for his partner. Soon enough the two were gone and the night was silent. But all is not always as it seems. To any observer, there was nothing to be seen, but in reality there was a box. A box made from the magic of one unicorn stallion. "What is it, Shadow Sneaker?" Honcho replied, setting down his end of the painting. His features could not be seen beneath his own mask, but his lack of pants showed his brown flank. Upon it was a cutie mark that resembled a pair of broken handcuffs. He looked to his partner while letting the painting lean against the wall of the mystical box. "Do you ever get the feeling someone's watching you?" Shadow wondered. "Sometimes, but I wouldn't worry about it. Thanks to this cloaking spell of yours, we'll never get caught with anything again!" He was right. Why should he be worried? After all, Head Honcho was a master criminal, practically incapable of getting caught, and Shadow considered himself a pretty good thief, even though he was only an amateur. But he just couldn't shake off that strange feeling, it was as if he really was being watched, which would be impossible because of the shroud of invisibility he had cast over their moving cart. "Get over here, Sneaker, we still have more stuff to loot," beckoned Honcho. The accomplice hesitated for a second before shrugging off his uncomfortability and following him back to the target. Luna watched the pair of bandits reappear out of thin air, the two of them trotting back to the house. Probably to snatch more goods, thought the princess, intently watching the in-progress theft. To say that the citizens of Canterlot had little financial trouble was an understatement. Being the capital of the country along with the home of the princess sisters, only the highest society ponies could afford to live there. This caused a great trouble, pinpointing it as the number one target for robbery, though it was not a common topic among ponies. They chose to ignore it, to leave it be and hope it goes away. But it never does. Though they did not think it, even her own night guards along with her sister's were full of corrupt ponies willing to let things go for a certain price. Now, in this situation Luna had two choices. She could alert the night guards, and they could be sent off to monitor the area, though the process would take far too long and by then, the criminals would be literally out of sight. The second option was to deal with it herself. She could not resist the idea of handling the situation on her own. In fact, it beckoned to her. It was her duty as co-ruler of Equestria, a position she took seriously. The only way she could make it up to her little ponies was to help them through her royal duties, which, surprisingly weren't very many. Yes, it seemed this option was the one she not only had to choose to be successful, but also the one she had to choose for her own sake, for her mental stability. She made up her mind. Off came her black regalia. She was gone. Down flew the dark as night alicorn, a star speckled foggy contrail left behind along her path. Luna burst through a patch of clouds with ease and landed in the street. The clip clopping of her hooves was soft, as near to silence as it could be. If not for the robbery that was taking place under her own nose, it would be the perfect night for a stroll. Stillness. Silence. Peace. But neigh, peace was unwittingly being held at bay, the resilient night a blanket to cover crime. It was Luna's night, her responsibility being exploited by the scum of the city. Ergo, it was her job to stop it. "Heh, this job is easy as pie." It was the familiar voice of the leader of the crime duo that caught her ear, his scratchy voice was emanating from seemingly nowhere, but Luna knew better. Somewhere in the area was the invisible cart. All she would need to do was find it and stop them. Still trotting, slowly and silently, she sidestepped a small box with articles of clothing that a Canterlot citizen decided to scrap because they were out of season. A personality flaw of those that lived such a high society lifestyle. The invisible transport was somewhere around there. She was was sure that she was nearing the spot the voice originated from. Just a few more steps and— FTAANG! There it was. Planting her face into the metal wall of the invisible vehicle had been more than enough to startle the mare, causing her to jump back and headlong into the box of discarded clothing. "What was that noise?" came the voice of a very disturbed Shadow Sneaker. "I don't know. Let's check it out," his comrade responded. The shuffling of hooves could be heard from inside. The fallen princess lifted herself up from the heap with her forehooves, head pounding from the collision with the unseen cart. It was worse than when she had learned to fly as a filly. Or maybe it was due to her pampered lifestyle as princess that caused her to become soft. In any case, there was no time to be thinking about such things. The thieves had found her out. Now was the time to act. As she lifted herself up onto all four of her hooves, she noticed that the feeling of fabric stayed wrapped around her head. A hat had latched itself onto her head, along with a ripped black dress. It was tucked just under the brim of the hat, running along her neck and draping itself over her back, giving off the appearance of a long robe, or a cape. As much as she would have loved to get rid of the ridiculous apparel, she was already out of time. The two masked colts were now standing face to face with her, their eyes staring her down from under their covers. "Who the hay are you?" asked one with a hint of hostility. His voice gruff voice was easily recognized as the one called Head Honcho, who Luna knew would be trouble. "You look awfully ratty for a Canterlot chick." The alicorn mare was taken aback by such a statement, being of royal descent. Though, it was understandable considering the garb she was currently wrapped in. And it was that garb that hid her identity from him, somehow keeping him from recognizing one of the royal sisters herself. As fun as it would be to reveal herself and wipe the smug look off of his horsey face, the cloth and hat seemed to have tangled themselves up in her ethereal mane, keeping themselves stuck on. Attempting to remove it would give the robbers too big a window for their escape. "Who I am is none of your concern, criminal. What I can tell you is that it is my duty-" She paused. As well as my redemption, she thought quickly, "to stop you from committing such a heinous act." With her hooves planted firmly against the ground, Luna prepared herself for what was to inevitably come. Lightning flashed. "Pffffttt— HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you kidding girl!? What are you, some kind a' superhero wannabe? Look girl, the stallions are playing here. You're gonna want to run home and play superhero there. So move along, or somepony's going to get hurt." How dare he speak in such a way to a princess! The fool does not know to whom he speaks. His partner was obviously nervous. Though he held up a pair of small daggers with his grey magic, his four legs were shaking, and moisture was building up on his mask. "Hey, umm, Honcho? I think we'd better get going with what we got. If she reports us to the guards, we're done." He backed away slightly. "Are you kidding, it's just some mare. It's not like she's a princess or anyth—" Not a chance. Not one more second would pass by that Luna would allow the criminal scum to finish that, or even any other sentence. This pony was to go to jail for his insults, and the first step to getting him there was with a right hoof to his lower jaw. She could even feel the cracking of his skull, the sound loud enough to discourage his partner from any such shenanigans. Blood stained her hooves. She turned to face the other pony, leaving the first rolling on the ground rolling in pain. But he was not to be seen. The spell. He cast the same invisibility on himself that he put on the cart. Which meant he was around somewhere. Due to her natural capability when it came to the night, seeing in with such little light was hardly trouble for her, but her foe had an invisibility spell that sought to conceal every bit of movement he made, giving him the upper hoof. At least she had one... Except, she didn't. The other pony had disappeared from sight. His moaning was gone too, so the unicorn must have put a silencing spell on them. That meant she lost them. This alicorn princess had somehow managed to fail to stop a simple robbery. There would be no redemption, there would be no responsibility over the night. She couldn't help anypony. The thought of Celestia locking her up in her room seemed inevitable. Does she really love me? she thought. Does she really care? Maybe she does care; maybe she cares enough about me that she'd have me contained to my room. For my own good. Luna, dwelling on her mistake, and what the future held, flapped her wings, ascending above the street. The castle came into sight. She tried for a moment to remove the hat and torn cloth with her magic, but it was too tangled to get off without careful precision. She sighed. Energy formed around Luna's horn as she prepared to teleport back home and stay in her room the rest of the night, hoping for the best. But then something caught her eye. A slight glimmer skated through the nearly empty streets of Canterlot, wavering in and out of sight before finally it revealed a large metal vehicle fading into existence. Was that-? No answer was needed. It must have been, it was the only possible thing. The thief had undone his cloaking spell. He was magic fatigued. A normal unicorn could not hold a sight spell for such a prolonged period without having to deactivate it or risk passing out. And that mechanic was Luna's window of opportunity. Discharging her magic, she reared up and gave her wings a single powerful flap, sending her hurtling down towards her target. Stardust trailing behind her, the Princess quickly caught up with the moving vehicle. Upon further inspection, it was found that the stallion pulling was the earth pony, Head Honcho. That meant the unicorn fellow was sat inside, probably counting the profits they'd made off of the heist. Here we go. A deep cobalt field of energy engulfed her horn, the same energy wrapped itself around the carts back end, lifting it up off the ground, leaving Honcho running on the spot. "What the—" he yelled confusedly. He looked back. "Dear sweet Celestia. That chick's an alicorn!" He obviously still did not realize the mare he and his lackey were messing with, though, he seemed to be getting the idea. Sneaker popped his head out of a side window to sneak a peak at their captor. Surely enough, there was Luna, hovering behind them, a smug look plastered on her face under the brim of the hat. He looked down at the floating vehicle and frowned. It was supposed to be his best heist. He himself fired up his own magic. The green energy took hold of the vehicle and sent it crashing to the asphalt. And they were off once again. "Oh no you don't," Luna whispered, now enraged while speeding towards the cart. All of her efforts to magically lift the vehicle were all countered by the duo's unicorn. The key to catching the two was to take him out first. Boosting her flight speed with a bit of magic, she caught up and landed on the roof, cart continuing to rush forward. She had to admit, the pony was a fast runner. But now was not the time for admiration. It was time to heat things up. With a fire spell. A small blue flame burst forth from the very tip of her horn. With it, she cut open a large square hole in the metal roof, sparks flying. She tore the useless sheet away, sending it flying in whatever direction. Inside was all the stolen goods, presumably all from the last house. Looking back up at her in fear was just the blue unicorn she was looking for, clad in black, his mask now removed and sitting next to him on the floor. "This just is not your day, is it?" asked the shrouded princess before snatching up with a bit of magic and slamming him against the roof. The sound of his body thudding against metal echoed, causing lights to begin blinking on throughout the city. All the better, maybe somepony would actually alert the royal guard so they could imprison the two, if Luna stalled long enough. A simple bubble trap would keep the unicorn from causing any trouble with his own spells. A sphere the same colour as Luna's magic formed in front of her. Anypony caught in it would not be able to escape. The problem was the lack of a target. Sneaker had slipped away with his invisibility spell again. Reappearing behind the flustered Luna, the colt blasted her with a small bolt of magic. It definitely was not much to an alicorn, but it was enough to knock her off balance for half a second, the momentum of the vehicle lending a hand in knocking her off. Down she tumbled, managing to grab onto the edge of the roof at the last moment. She would have fallen, quickly losing the battle... Had she not have wings. The easy task of floating back up was followed by the not quite as easy task of finding the once more invisible unicorn stallion. He was somewhere near, there was nowhere to go. "Where are you, thief?" she called out into the silence. Somewhere. Somewhere. There. Luna twisted around, her hoof smacking the re-materializing stallion across the face. He vanished. "Your trick shall no longer work on me, for I have figured out the secret." She spoke directly to him. Shadow Sneaker revealed himself, smirking. "I did not notice it before," Luna began, standing still, "but your cloaking spell is not perfect." She looked down. "Being invisible does not make you unseen. Your shadow still appears." It was true, though the spell perfectly hid ponies or objects, it could not hide shadows. "Clever girl," he responded, "but I have more than one trick. "Gaaaaah!" Being immortal did not mean she was not vulnerable to physical harm. Luna could be killed like any other pony, which is what her foe took advantage of. An ethereal dagger that was plunged into her side de-materialized. Blood dripped. "I'm sorry, I didn't want anypony to get hurt, but you forced my hoof." Another dagger appeared above the stallion's head. She teleported right on time, because the magical weapon narrowly missed her. Finally, he was down for the count. The nighttime mare tackled the bandit to the edge of the roof, not letting him escape this time. With one hoof on his shoulder, she punched him. There was no way she'd once more let him catch her off guard. When the stallion tried to cast another spell, he was cut off by a quick jab to the horn before taking another hit to the jaw. Now time for the partner. Princess Luna turned around to see that Honcho was also now on the roof. Nopony steered the cart, nopony pulled. The vehicle was now heading down a long hill that rad down the center of the city to the train station. "Look, lady, if you don't leave us alone, I'm gonna have to—" What a joke. A quick rope spell was enough to keep him from going any further. Along with a bit of duct tape to shut the cretin's ignorant mouth. A sharp pain. Her hind leg. Shadow Sneaker. He was more trouble than he was worth, especially because he was casting a spell after taking such a hellish pummeling. Luna turned around to see Sneaker casting a spell. It didn't look to be doing anything, but Luna felt it. The unicorn was slowing the momentum of the cart. Ahead, she could see the train station, small groups of ponies standing here and there. Was he...? "I know when I'm beat, unlike my partner..." the unicorn whispered before falling into unconsciousness. It can be said that Shadow Sneaker was one of the more respectable crooks, especially with him thinking of the safety of innocent ponies. Luna smiled. Maybe someday she could be like him. Not the whole criminal part, she felt she had enough of being evil, but his personality. *SNAP* She turned. A pony stood below with a camera hung around his neck. More ponies were gathered behind. Their faces began to glow, the sun beginning to rise. Then she remembered. The sun. That meant her sister had awoken to raise the sun. And she was meant to be in her new watching room. This was bad. She teleported, light flashing, leaving the gathered ponies standing in awe. As fast as she possibly could, Luna dashed down the spiraling staircase that lead from the Night Pool back down the the floor that housed her living quarters. She needed to get to her room unnoticed, which was tough considering the amount of guards patrolling the castle. Luckily, it was dusk, which meant that her night guards would be rotating with Celestia's royal guard, meaning there would be empty areas where the day guard had not taken over yet. Arriving at her room safe and sound, he slammed the door shut. Now she had to try and remove the hat and torn dress without ripping portions of her mane out of her own head. Simple telekinesis did not work, so she would need to check get into the bathroom and use a wide array of hair styling supplies to fix the mess. Knock, knock, knock. Oh no. "Luna, are you in there?" Oh no. This was bad. Luna needed to work quickly, before Celestia got in. A small spell from her horn would delay her sister from opening the lock, though she was not sure the spell would last long enough. Come on, come on! Get! Off! MY! HEAD! SCRIIITCH Close enough. Holding back her cries of pain, she incinerated the scraps of cloth and jumped into her malicious bed. As if on cue, the spell she had cast finally broke, allowing her sister, Princess Celestia to open the bedroom door. The sun princess looked around. Ahhh, there she was. Luna must have gone to bed early. So sweet and peaceful. Celestia was glad to have a sister such as Luna. It had been a tad disturbing since she returned from her imprisonment in the moon, but at least she wasn't causing any trouble like when she was just a filly. Celestia smiled. Oh the adventures they'd get into. She left, shutting the door behind her. I wonder where she got that torn-looking bow. It's cute. I think I could pull it off.