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// Night Guard: Nature and Customs 
// Story: Ink Blot's Unassorted Encyclopedia of Absolutely Everything 
// by Nevlamas 
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Note that the following articles are based exclusively on reports done by actual members of the Guard. I accept no responsibility for any possibly offensive material presented. 
-Ink Blot

Among the common folk of Equestria, little is known of the dark and enigmatic people commonly referred to as the Night Guard. Some call them demons or monsters, fiends that come out only at night to feast on the flesh of innocent children. Others say they are the lapdogs of Nightmare Moon, whose dark wings bring discord and despair wherever their shadow falls. 

Nothing could be truer, and nothing more false. 

The Night Guard are indeed nocturnal, and their outer appearance is unsettling to say the least. In general, they are a tall and slender race, pale of skin, with haggard features and cat’s eyes of amber, their gaze a frightful thing to feel. They sport hair of black or silver, the same colours dominating their clothing, arms and heraldry. Among otherwise unremarkable teeth, they possess a pair of sharp, vicious fangs which they use for hunting food.

It is another common misconception – this one widespread among the Royal Guard of Canterlot – to think the Night Guard brutal and ferocious, raw, barbaric savages that eat flesh and bite the necks of sleeping animals to drink from their blood. While there are some of them that have displayed such behaviour (much to the dismay of their siblings), for the most of them such accusations are not any more justified than the fairy tales of the common folk.

In truth, they are both peace- and faithful and even if they scarcely show it, they are subjected to love, joy and pity like anyone else. Cold they may seem, bitter they may be, but although many of them live and serve and die without a single smile on their face, they do Luna’s work all the same. They guard their beloved lady wherever she goes at night and stand vigil over her sleeping body during the day. They watch over the Equestrian people in their sleep, protecting their dreams against the creatures of darkness. With whispered counsel, they help them face and defeat the nightmares that spawn from their innermost fears, they plant seeds into their minds that ever so often bloom into brilliant ideas, they protect wanderers that have gone astray at night and guide them back to safety.

But not all nightmares come from fright. There are other ones, darker ones, spawning from the wicked forces of Disharmony. Those discordant demons will cling to their hosts like parasites, tormenting them with visions of terror and despair until there is nothing left but an empty shell, scared to insanity. It is those Nightmares that the Night Guard feed on, devouring the evil spirits, drinking them with their sharpened fangs, protecting the sleepers below from their influence and filling their own bellies in the process.

Speaking of the Night Guard is complicated, as they are a religious order, a military organization and an independent species all at once. It is obvious that they are not like other people. They do not age, and need no common food. The pegasi among them sport black, bat-like wings instead of feathered ones and their faith in the silver princess is fierce beyond common sense. At night, they move with the grace of cats and swift as shadows, but turn weak and clumsy in the daylight. Their true nature lies far beyond the borders of Equestria: they are Luna’s chosen children. 

They are the stars incarnate. 

Standing vigil beside the moon is their first and foremost duty. Their lesser lights – hundreds, once thousands of them – add to her radiance, and keep the horrors of the outer realms at bay. Rarely does a shadow escape their watchful eye, and if one does it is swiftly tracked and devoured. Most of the Night Guard spend extended periods of time in the higher spheres, which is why they show so little presence on Equestria below. Most of their common tasks do not require them to break their often century-long meditations; even if an incarnation is called for, they are like to show hesitation. The act is both tiring and dangerous to them, as the body of a man is that much more fragile than a watchful star. Most of them do not possess the strength to return to the skies under their own power, and should their bodies die, so do they.

In spite of their unworldly demeanour, though, every Night Guard was once a common pegasus, unicorn or earth walker. They are recruited from the ranks of mortal followers of the moon princess – once wandering groups of monks, now cults hidden away from society – whose dreams they carefully survey, looking for those worthy of ascension. If potential aspirants are found, they will receive a vision calling them to the stars. A ritual will be held, at midnight and under a full moon. At the climax of that ritual, the aspirants will stab themselves in the heart with a dagger of moonstone, shed their blood and die on the spot.

In their final dying dream, with their lives flashing past them, every single one of them will once in their existence face the silver princess in person. There will all their hearts be laid bare to her, and she will judge them for their strength, their courage and their faith. Who is found worthy will be lifted to the stars – and who is not will fade to black. However, a detail that they will not be aware of at the time is that no one undergoing the ritual has ever been condemned. The true test is one of trust: the willingness to throw away one’s life for the mere chance of serving the moon is what makes the aspirant worthy.

Only through this trial by fire may a mortal ascend to the ranks of the Night Guard. Once a new member has been welcomed into the order, they will be given a few decades to adapt to their new existence. After that, most of them choose a caste to join, as befits their individual talents and favoured duties. In doing so, they receive a title to bear with their name, a symbol of their full initiation. They will do their service there, until they either die or are promoted to a higher rank – usually to fill a seat left vacant by a passed-away superior.

And there will they continue their existence in service to their beloved moon and princess, as her favoured agents, servants and children. As lights in the darkness, and guardians of the night.