An Old Friend's Return

by Thunderblast


Return of an Old Friend

The warm sun gleamed brightly in the sky over the spectacular capital city of Canterlot one late summer morning. Many of its citizens made their way onto the streets to begin their day, some to clean up some of the remnants of the recent Royal Wedding, which at first was going very awry, but ended up working out at the end. The Royal Guard remained on high alert subsequently after the event, and many of its soldiers were even surprised they lost ground that quickly. Even more so, a cluster of the ponies had resigned from the Royal Guard the day after.

At the Canterlot Palace, the day was just beginning for a dark grey pegasus. He rose from his bed, pushing the dark blue Lunar Guard covers off of him and yawning softly. His thick purple mane sat messily on his head from the long night of sleep, easily fixable with a few strokes of a comb.

The pony hopped out of bed, his hooves making faint clops on the polished hardwood floors of his quarters, then stretched his wings until they cracked. He let out a slight groan of pleasure, and stood up tall, folding his wings to his sides and trotting to the wooden door leading out into the castle halls.

Beside the door sat a small black metal mailbox, which also connected to the outside and made for easier checking. He opened the flap, picking up three white envelopes and a red one, which didn't immediately catch his attention.

He opened his wings, floating over to the fine wooden desk he had placed against the same wall as his bed, placed towards the door and below hanging swords underneath a silver shield. The stallion set three of the envelopes down, keeping one in his hoof and neatly opening it.

The pony's eyes were half open, a sign he was still tired and quite frankly overwhelmed by the blazing light of the sun as it pierced through the near ceiling-high windows to his left. Soon, he grew used to the light and opened his bright golden eyes, pulling the folded piece of paper out of the envelope and unfolding it out, then reading it line by line. It was a report given by one of the guards under his command, stating that that pony's shift saw no unusual activity.

He folded the paper again, then stuck it back inside the open envelope and setting it to the side, and picked up another envelope addressed to him. Once again, another report by a different guard with the same results.

When he moved to grab the next letter, it caught his eye that the envelope was red, meaning it was urgent. The pony quickly picked it up, then ripped it open and pulled the letter out.

Dear Captain Night Shadow,

Your presence is required at this afternoon's meeting in the throne room. Come in armor to meet with me, Princess Luna, my sister, Captain Shining Armor, and Captain Fallen Star of both the Royal Guard and the Lunar Guard. The meeting is at noon. All will be explained later.

The letter was finished off with a stamp of her highness' cutie mark, a white crescent moon with black splotches all around it. Night slowly set the letter down, looking up at his desk a little and thinking to himself. He glanced over to the wall to his right, checking the clock he had hanging on it for the time, it read nine past ten in the morning. There was still plenty of time to get ready, although he wanted to finish reading all of his mail. Night picked up the last letter, calmly opening the top flap of the envelope and taking the folded piece of paper out of it. To his surprise, this report was different.

11:35 PM - 5/7 ----- Sounds of hoofsteps but no sign as to where the sound came from.

12:29 AM - 5/8 ----- More hoofsteps, no source.

12:42 AM - 5/8 ----- Blue flashes of light, as well as faint sounds of magic being casted, still no source.

1:03 AM - 5/8 ----- Shadows of a pony occasionally seen, but still no source.

2:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

3:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

4:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

5:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

6:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

7:00 AM - 5/8 ----- Nothing abnormal to report.

The report had caught Night's attention more than ever, even more knowing there was an urgent letter in his mailbox as well, stating there was to be a meeting in less than two hours. He let out a small sigh and put the reports back in their respective envelopes, then filing them in a small compartment for later documenting in the right slots. Night stood up off of the chair, then trotted over to the bathroom to shower and inside, shutting it behind him.

Following a quick shower, Night made his way out into his quarters and over to a tall wooden dresser with two round-handled doors, with two smaller drawers beneath. He opened the taller doors, reaching inside and pulling out his armor set, piece by piece and slipping everything on, minus his helmet. Knowing it was a meeting, his helmet didn't seem to be required.

As time passed, Night Shadow had gone to the Lunar Guard barracks, questioning some of the ponies there. Knowing the reports he gets are only from Princess Luna's personal guard, he wondered if the other Lunar guards had anything to report. Unlucky for him, neither of the four guards he talked to had anything unusual to state. Once he finished, it was half past eleven, and it was almost time for the meeting. Night left the guard barracks and made his way into the castle, then down the halls and up to the throne room, where he was stopped by guards.

"Keyword?" One of the guards asked.

"The phoenix soars high," Night Shadow replied.

The guard nodded to the other, and the two stepped to the side, the unicorn lighting his horn and opening the doors for the captain. Night saluted the two guards, both returning it, and entered the throne room. In the middle of the room sat a round table, where Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Captain Shining Armor and Fallen Star, and even the captain's wife, Princess Cadence. Night Shadow walked further in, kneeling in respect to everypony.

"Please, have a seat, Captain Shadow," Princess Luna spoke in a calm tone, but with a slight touch of worry in it. The Lunar princess patted a spot beside her, between her and the Lunar Guard captain. Night trotted around the table, seating himself on a red and gold silk pillow.

"Now that all of you are here, I think it is best that we get this over with," Princess Celestia spoke. Night was surprised, realizing that neither of the princesses ever said such a thing. Something was definitely wrong. "Captain Night Shadow, I am sure you are aware of the strange reports flooding in by our guards, correct?"

Night nodded. "Yes your highness, I read the report this morning. Is that not the only one?"

"I am afraid not," Princess Cadence replied. "Guards of all branches are reporting these strange occurrences, especially the Lunar Guard, where most of the reports are coming from. We have reason to believe somepony might be stalking the castle grounds."

"Which only prompts us to increase security even more than before. If ponies are slipping by our guards, especially under such high lockdown from the royal wedding, we may have more reason to believe there are still changelings in the area."

"Changelings? That isn't possible, me and Cadence blasted them all away!" Shining Armor said.

"Anything is possible, Captain Armor," Princess Luna turned to the unicorn, who eased himself back into the pillow he sat on.

"But wait a minute, the report said there were blue flashes of magic being casted. Changelings use green magic auras, it has to be a pony," Fallen Star said.

"The captain's right, changelings don't use blue auras," Night Shadow turned to the princesses.

"Hmm...that is strange. But, it does not change anything. Security will remain high until we figure this out. Until then, we must keep everypony on high alert," Princess Celestia said, looking over everypony with a serious, but also concerned look on her face.

The three captains nodded in response, before Shining Armor spoke up. "Do we know anything else, your highnesses?"

"Unfortunately, no. But, we have a feeling that this activity may pick up if word gets out to the public that security will loosen up, which it will."

"Good enough for me, hopefully it will give us a chance to find out what's going on."

"Yes, we hope as well. That is all, captains. You are dismissed back to your duties."

***

Hoofsteps...blue flashes of magic...shadows of ponies...what could it be? Night thought to himself as he walked out of the castle and onto the streets. Nothing seemed to be adding up, which worried him even more. Once he was outside, his train of thought had screeched to a halt, and he soon realized his stomach was growling loudly. Night hadn't eaten anything yet, only making things worse. Without any other thoughts, he trotted off to find someplace to sit down and have lunch. As Night searched for restaurants, his ear suddenly twitched. He turned his head, staring down an alleyway and seeing faint flashes of light blue.

The flashes! He mentally said, then narrowed his eyes and slowly entered the dark alley. A cold chill went up his spine, ruffling his feathers a little as he scanned over the area. Soon, he came up to a separate alley, where the light seemed to be originating. As he approached the corner, he stopped and peeked around, his irises widening at what he saw. The darkness of the alley obscured the pony, but they appeared to be taller and more muscular. They wore a darker shaded hoodie, but was slightly lit by the aura of magic spells being casted.

"You!" Night shouted.

The pony abruptly stopped the magic, and whipped around to see Night. The pony's face was shaded by the hoodie, but what could barely be seen was a dark grey stallion's muzzle. In the blink of an eye, he teleported onto the rooftop of the building beside them. Night bared his fangs and flew upwards, taking pursuit of the unicorn. "Halt!"

The stallion maintained his gallop, turning his head back to see Night approaching from behind, and running faster. Night was surprised by the pony's speed, but kept a steady pace. He peered up, seeing where the buildings were split off and making way for a street intersection. Instead of stopping, the unicorn galloped faster, then leapt into the air and across to the other rooftop, as if he had invisible wings to help him glide over. Night briefly stopped, watching in awe as the stallion flew over the street, but hissed and flew even faster. He gradually closed the distance, before the unicorn jerked to his right. As he did, a stone chimney appeared out of nowhere, and before he could react, Night Shadow crashed through it with great accidental force, sending him tumbling into the roof.

He laid on the roof, completely stunned and dizzy from the impact, and was close to slipping out of consciousness, but rather shook his head and holding it with a hoof until the world stopped spinning, and he could see properly again without any blur. Night slowly stood, stumbling once or twice, before floating up and flying in the direction he thought the hooded pony had gone.

As he flew, he was suddenly clotheslined by what felt like a giant rock that was thrown and struck him square in the face. Night's head flew back from the hit, and slid back-down across the wooden rooftop. Once again, he was stunned by the hit, but the dizziness quickly wore off. When he moved to get back up, he found himself unable to move. Night peered to his hooves, noticing all four of them were being pinned by small blue auras of magic. He stared straight up, watching the hooded figure block out the sun above him. The pony chuckled, and spoke for the first time.

"You were a fool to follow me," the pony said. Night eyed him closer, suddenly noticing his eyes, which were blazing red, as if it was some demon from Tartarus.

Night groaned, his head still throbbing with an infinite ache. "Who...are you...?"

The stallion chuckled again, then moved a hoof up to the top of his hood, slowly pushing it back and uncovering his face. Night's golden pupils shrunk to pinpricks, and he slowly pinned his ears down as he stared directly up into the pony's eyes.

"Sh...Sharpblade? Is...is it really you?" Night whimpered.

The unicorn raised an eyebrow. "I have never met you in my life?"

Night investigated the pony further. His mane was a silver mohawk, which if was compared to a guard's helmet, would be almost spot on, and his coat color was about the same shade of his own. He slowly looked back at his flank, cursing himself mentally for doing so, and gasping. The unicorn's cutie mark was of a silver blade, seemingly shining under a light, with a black handle. It matched his late friend's cutie mark exactly, but something was different. The cutie mark seemed...mirrored, pointing the opposite direction. He slowly returned his eyes to the pony's staring up at him with surprise and fear.

"What happened to you...?"

Sharp slowly grew a smirk on his face, and leaned closer to Night's muzzle. "Oh, whatever are you talking about? I have always been this way," he raised his hoof, then everything went black.