Judge and Jury

by Tearsintheshadows

Chapter 4

Blake was called before both Celestia and Luna to eat breakfast (dinner for Luna), and Blake obliged, even though he knew they were going to ask him to stay. To his surprise however, Meadowlark and Nocturne were with them, both looking very tired. Blake sighed, the two people he had considered friends: Meadowlark because he was fun to fight, and Nocturne for not running away from him. Nocturne looked to Luna, who simply smiled at the unspoken request for sleep. “Can you guess what the conversation will be?” Celestia smiled, the only one in the room that did not want to be somewhere else.

“There is no one here who wants me to stay. Even you were afraid of me, and I saved your life. Maybe next time I will let them through?” Blake took his seat. “Why are Luna, Meadowlark, and Nocturne here?”

“They insisted on being here.” Celestia replied, “At least Meadowlark and Nocturne did. Luna just showed up.”

“I still want you to join the Night Guard.” Luna cut in, glaring angrily at Celestia, “Please Blake, I-we don’t want you to leave.”

“What about your soldiers?” Blake asked, spearing a pancake with a fork. “They seemed pretty content to ignore my existence. It is only a step away from being actually gone.”

“I want you to stay.” Nocturne spoke up. “You are fun to talk to and have many great stories.”

“And you still need a base of operations.” Meadowlark added.

Blake ate the pancake without saying a word, but he was honestly considering staying if they would have him, but another part of him, the judge, told him he needed to get started anyways. He looked at their faces and, after only getting a decent read on Nocturne’s face, muttered for Night Terror to delve, harmlessly, into their minds and find out how many wanted him gone.

“What was that, Blake?” Celestia asked.

“Nothing, I was just trying to figure out why you of all people want me to stay.”

“Luna seems happier with you here. Having someone she knows from-" Celestia jumped when Blake slammed his hand on the table.

“Why do you want me to stay?” Blake asked. Celestia opened her mouth then turned away. “You don’t, do you?” Celestia shook her head. “Thank you for the honesty.” Blake looked to Luna, who told him, and Night Terror confirmed, that she had always respected the zeal he pursued his goals with. Meadowlark admitted to being afraid of the ability but, as long as Blake used his abilities for Equestria, it made no difference. Nocturne agreed with Meadowlark but added that she had grown up with stories of the Claw of the Night, his nickname when working with Nightmare Moon. Blake did not doubt her and therefore called Night Terror back. “Fine, I’ll stay, but I want to be able to go into town.”

“I suppose I can’t deny you that.”

“And an escort,” Blake asked. Celestia raised an eyebrow, “unless you are authorizing my version of self-defense.”

It had been years since Celestia had walked around Canterlot, even longer when she did it as a regular unicorn. She only did this when she needed a break from living in the palace. The only problem was that she had to keep her eyes on Blake. “Thank you for letting me tour the city, milady.” Blake bowed, admitting to himself that he did not know her name in this form.

“Solaris will be fine.”

“Very well.”

Blake walked around with ‘Solaris’, ignoring, but not forgetting the looks of disgust he was getting from the citizens. Solaris told him that many unicorns in Canterlot had a swelled opinion of themselves. Blake just mentioned that it would go in his report. Solaris sighed. Blake noticed a white unicorn with blue hair and a mark with three crowns looking over at him with what seemed to be pure curiosity. “Who is that? He doesn’t seem to be disgusted with the mere look of me.”

“Oh his name is Fancy Pants. And before you laugh at his name, he is one of the most respectable citizens of Canterlot.” Blake looked at Solaris, who waved at the unicorn. “You should go meet him. I’ll come with you so he doesn’t scare you.” Solaris smiled. As they approached the unicorn, Blake felt a strong chill in the air. Night Terror’s way of saying something was wrong. He clenched his fist, activating the core on the claw. It was ready for combat as soon as he designated a target.

Blake introduced himself with a bow and pulled out a seat for Solaris, who nodded her thanks and sat down. Blake simply listened as Fancy Pants and Solaris began to talk about politics and how Equestria as being run. Blake refrained from smiling, couldn’t she just read a newspaper to figure that out? When Blake felt an icy wind blow, he stood and began looking around. He calmly walked next to Solaris and whispered an apology as he pushed her out of her chair. Fancy Pants stood up, shocked by the rudeness, until he realized a crossbow bolt stuck in the table. “Must be getting old.” Blake replied. “I should have been able to catch that.”

“You could have told me to duck.” Celestia replied as she stood back up. She looked around, realizing that her disguise was gone. “And now everyone knows. I’ll need a new disguise now.”

“If it makes you feel better I could shoot another crossbow at you.” Blake offered.

“Thank you.” Celestia replied. Blake looked into the distance. “What are you waiting for?” A gray pegasus wearing a color-changing cloak flew towards them sloppily, as if he did not know how to fly properly. He carried an empty crossbow and collapsed next to Celestia. “Is this your doing?”

“Nope, I don’t know who this one was.” Blake looked at the blank eyes that stared back at him. “Perhaps we should head back, I’ll take him to the dungeons.” Celestia nodded and began to walk back. “Sorry about the disguise. I’m sure you can find another.” Blake walked Celestia back to the palace as he was led to the dungeon to turn in the criminal. “Now that she is gone, what is your name?”

“Me or the body’s?” The pegasus asked. “The body belongs to a pegasus named Skill Shot, ironically enough. My name is Umbra, the darkest part of Shadow. Thought I would bring a peace offering. Might I speak with Luna?”

“Why ask me?”

“So you don’t cut me to pieces. A thousand years ago I possessed a princess and made her lead an army against her sister."