Shine Of The Silver Sun

by Nameless Narrator

Need For Power: Scouting

Nights in Canterlot were never dark. The number of glowing windows, electric, gas, and firefly lamps in the streets, and in some cases even unicorns themselves walking around surrounded by dim shimmer made the entire mountainside city cast a ray of light towards the sky like a searchlight. Aside from that, of course, ten o'clock during summertime wasn't the darkest affair anyway.

However, it was dark enough.

The shadow hiding a brown earthpony with only slightly withering blonde mane offered just the right amount of protection from prying eyes. Black Shield's head poked out of a trimmed bush surrounding a white, airy mansion she knew from her guard days belonged to archduke Elhart Goldhorn, a high-class noble held in high esteem among Canterlot nobility. This place wasn't his home, but rather a smaller affair near the city walls. Still, it held a ballroom rivalling the one in Canterlot castle, a tall observatory where one could see even Appleloosa on a good day, and enough garden space around to host several apartment buildings. It was pretty clear to Black Shield that the city would have much more space for normal ponies, possibly enough to accommodate the population of entire lower Canterlot if nobles didn't hog all the space.

Sneaking behind greenery whenever possible, she followed the mansion walls to a corner, pulled a head-sized sphere of blue crystal out of her saddlebags, dug out a small hole, and sat the item down into it. With how much space the thing took inside her bags, any observer would guess she had at least three more. Black Shield would correct such hypothetical observer by saying she had four left, and then she would knock him or her out. Thankfully, her orders were to position the crystal balls in each corner of the mansion plus on the observatory roof, and her 'master' had worded them in such way she could interpret them to herself as non-lethal to anypony trying to stop her. She hadn't been told what the balls were for, unfortunately.

Crawling behind the ornamental craft of some master gardener, she used the darkness to safely repeat the process of placing the ball three more times all around the mansion.

"Who's there?"

Almost safely.

She must have cast an outline against light coming from one of the mansion windows. The entire building was milling with servants and guests. Some event big for the nobility had to be going on inside. She had seen the line of ponies waiting to enter when her master deactivated the alarm spell on the walls separating the mansion grounds from the city and teleported them in. Such a big event, obviously, would be well-guarded, but she knew the habits of both private protection services and both Guard branches. Nopony would keep going in circle around a building over and over when all guests wanted to be inside, and thus nopony would catch them taking a little smoking break. Black Shield had used blind spots, places nopony sane would check, and lazy habits of guards to get where she was. Sadly, she stumbled on a vigilant one.

She bolted to the ground and froze. The guard knew she was there, but he would at least come close enough to cast light into the bush where she was to blind and surprise her. A unicorn. He would come close, activate the enchantment on his helmet to cast a cone of light spell, and then prep his magic for a counterattack if she tried to resist arrest. Unfortunately for the poor unicorn about to have his teeth knocked out, Black Shield's new body allowed for movement no guard was prepared for.

When the unicorn was not even in the spell's range, she shot out like a bullet, jumping several pony lengths with one leap and smashing him on the ground. He opened his mouth to scream but didn't even get a proper breath in when Shield's hoof shut him down. Her master may have improved her strength so that she could kill easier, but the same thing went for knocking somepony out, and Shield was not going to kill anypony unless directly ordered to and without a way to twist the command. She WAS a Royal Guard, and no mind-controlling criminal, no twisted magic was going to change that.

"Hmm," she pulled the unconscious unicorn into a thicker bush, checked his pulse, breathing, and the deep dent in his padded steel helmet, and smiled to herself, "Good, now the roof."

There was no way she could get inside, break into the observatory, and plant the crystal unnoticed. The entire plan she knew only a small fraction of stood completely on not being spotted. Looking up and down the wall of the three-story mansion full of alcoves, gargoyles, and balconies, Shield decided her body could use a real test. After all, if she fell and hurt herself enough it would prevent her master's plan for tonight completely. If not, then she would get a good gauge of her improvements.

A quick look around revealed no more watchful sentries about to spot her, and she set her eyes on a windowsil on the first floor. Shield jumped upwards experimentally, reaching about five pony heights into the air. It was impressive beyond belief, but still not enough. She was more than familiar with her weight and new overall strength though.

Hmm, if I grab that indent just above the ground floor window and prop myself on that ornamental ledge I just might make it.

That would make her briefly visible through said window, but she couldn't see any better way that didn't involve some unreal luck. She jumped, tapped the indent which sent her away from the wall rather than up.

Damn!

She swung her front leg towards the now too distant ledge, flicked her fetlock, and her curved hoofblades sliding out gave her just enough reach to gain a flash of stability in which she swung her other front leg towards the ledge and grabbed it. A wiggle is all it took for Shield to grab the ledge with both her hooves, now without the need for blades, and she hung there by her bent fetlocks.

Trembling only a little, and not at all from the exercise but just adrenaline, she pondered her next step, or swing. The first floor balcony was two pony heights above and slightly to the left from her. At about mid-point between her and the overhang but to her right an ornamental vampony gargoyle watched the mansion gardens.

If I make this then they can call me the princess of Saddle Arabia.

Testing her strength by pulling herself up few times, she heaved with her legs holding the ledge so hard she basically threw herself upwards. Hind legs coiled like springs, she kicked the ledge now under her and flew upwards. Correcting her trajectory with a quick kick to the gargoyle's head on the right, her front legs reached the decorated railing of the balcony and she pulled herself up and dropped on the floor not to be spotted through the glass panes in both the balcony door and windows. During the few seconds of heavy silence she heard a soft 'thud' from below. The gargoyle's head had cracked under her kick and landed in the shrubbery surrounding the mansion. No sounds came from the inside of the building, though. A quick peek through the balcony window to the first floor hallway showed a unicorn guard just rounding a corner. Thankfully, the bright lights inside completely blocked the vision of Shield in the darkness outside.

Yeah, all floors will be patrolled. Probably by one or two ponies at most, but that's still a problem. Wall again it is then.

After the guardspony left the visible hallway, Shield scanned the wall for more opportunities to climb. This time she could afford to take it slow, because the upper floors were less likely to be guarded, earthpony and unicorn guards rarely looked upwards, and she didn't want to end with all her limbs broken lying in the middle of the gardens. Granted, it would likely not hurt that much in her current state of un-life, but getting away with three legs broken and half of ribcage gone would be rather annoying. Being bound by the order to complete her mission successfully and without being spotted was testing her capabilities and limiting her chances to find a plausible way to stop her master before he could do what he'd come here to do.

After yet another fifteen minutes of climbing, now slow, thought through, and precise, she reached the domed roof of the observatory tower and planted the final crystal ball.

She looked down and finally remembered that her mission wasn't over with this.

Oh for Celestia's sake!

While it had been possible to climb up the dome using her horseshoes and unnatural strength, going down would be a short slide followed by a long fall. Sitting on the highest point of the roof, she looked down at the guests still arriving to the party.

Two chariots stopped outside and the queue of guests split before two majestic figures. Shield had joined the Guard to protect citizens of Canterlot, and had sworn her oath of service to one of the incoming alicorns. A spike of pain and sadness hit Shield when she imagined what would the princess of the Sun say to her in her current situation. She shook her head, there was no time for that.

Alright, no way around it. Gonna have to see how far this body can drop.

Inching herself on her belly down the thick glass dome, hoofblades leaving deep scratches in it and stabilizing her descent, Shield reached the wall and tried to grab some sort of twisted ornament sticking from it which had helped her get up. It couldn't hold her dropping weight, though, and broke.

She flailed her legs in an attempt to grab something, anything, and managed to slow herself down several times by breaking more gargoyles and ledges, but-

Crunch.

Some thirty pony heights under the top of the observatory on the main roof of the mansion, the motionless corpse of an earthpony mare stared up, stars reflecting in her lifeless eyes.

Minutes passed.

Shield's legs twitched. She blinked.

"That... sucked thousand ponuts," she relieved herself. Sometimes even the undead needed a good swear, or at least a decent one in a pinch. She carefully stood up, looking for bones poking through her skin. Nothing. She had fallen on her back, but her hardened though still yielding flesh cushioned the fall enough so that she could heal quickly, "Not doing that again in a hurry."

Walking towards the edge of the roof leading behind the mansion, Shield looked down again. This one would be easy.

This time she slipped right after the second windowsil and dropped only one story down. She landed on all fours easily with no damage done. All that remained for now was to return to the garden maze which she, after a good look around for any pegasi, batponies, and other guards, quickly did.

Her enhanced ears caught fragments of conversation coming from the maze.

"The set is here, Secret Seeker," said an unknown male voice, "the princesses brought both rings as a gift to the engaging couple. When your toy is done setting up the ritual all we need to wait for is the princesses releasing their hold over the rings. "

"Is the spell really going to put two alicorns out of action? I can't deal with them if they get loose, and I doubt you can," Black Shield's master's... Secret Seeker's voice was calm, but an experienced guard like Shield heard the harmonics of hesitation.

Well hello there, Secret Seeker. The master has a name after all. Now who is the other conspirator?

"It will work if you do it right. Just remember your role and your timing. There will be no resistance for a short time."

"And what if there is? Do I just teleport out?"

"You can't use translocation magic inside the mansion. If things go wrong for whatever reason just get out with the rings and then randomize your teleport location so they can't track you. It will be worth the short trip on hoof back."

"And then we part ways, you get one ring and I get the other."

"I thought of something better, Seeker."

"Oh?" Secret Seeker's voice filled with mistrust.

"You will get both rings. After all, somepony will go after you for the theft and you'll need to defend yourself. I doubt your flesh golem will be enough."

Thank you very much, whoever you are...

"You backing out of the entire deal at this point sounds too good to be true."

No, really?

"I am not backing out of anything, I am just being practical. I will still require you to present the rings to me for research, but when I'm not working with them directly you are free to use them as you please. After my work with them is done, you may keep them. I seek knowledge, not uncontrolled power."

"Deal."

"Just remember, I do not want bloodshed. A theft, even of two priceless antiques, is still forgotten more easily than a massacre. Use your magic very carefully, even for a distraction. You are an extremely powerful and talented individual, although you still lack precision," the other voice took a short break, "Your flesh golem is taking her time."

"Nothing major happened to her. I would know."

Nothing major? Oh screw you!

Black Shield stopped eavesdropping and snuck through the hedge maze only to find Secret Seeker waiting for her, completely alone.

"I had to knock one guard out, but the crystals are set," Shield reported.

"Excellent, now we wait," Seeker mumbled some words Shield didn't understand, and both of them turned see-through, "Let's find a good vantage point to see when the line of visitors is gone."

"Using this on me would have spared me having to climb up the freaking mansion," Shield hissed as they followed the outside wall to a corner where they had a clear view of the entrance and the incoming guests.

"Illusions and translocation spells don't work inside. Now shut up and wait, slave."

As usual, the word 'slave' turned Shield's legs to jelly and her crotch to a happy hot swamp. She was ecstatic for more reasons than the one forced on her by Seeker's magic, so she doubled down:

"Of course, master."

She could barely stop the surge of paralyzing pleasure at the admittance of her master's ownership, but she knew the real reason to be happy - now that she knew his name, she could get it out to somepony who could bring him to justice.

Secret Seeker...

She lay down onto the grass and watched each new guest. She knew some of them, nobles usually attenting princess Celestia's court with some request. Two figures arriving fashionably late, however, caught her attention. A well-built white griffon overshadowing anypony outside of princess Celestia herself, and a black and white unicorn mare by his side. They were not nobles, and yet she had seen them having personal hearings with either of the royal sisters. He was supposed to be some sort of ambassadorial contact between Griffon Empire Intelligence Service, and she was his assistant or something? Shield wasn't sure.

Oh well, if Seeker and his mate have everything planned out, it doesn't matter who anypony is. Anything that can stop two alicorns in their tracks can stop any normal pony or griffon.

Shield shrugged, trying to think of a better way to pass time.

Master, master, master, master, master...

"Oh stars this place smells like a whorsehouse in heat!" after a while, Secret Seeker's eyes bulged and nostrils flared, "What are you doing?"

"Just lying here, master," Shield moaned while grinning like a cheshire cat.

Seeker growled and rubbed his temples. This was going to be a long wait.

Comments

[The Villain in Glasses]

"Oh stars this place smells like a whorsehouse in heat!" after a while, Secret Seeker's eyes bulged and nostrils flared, "What are you doing?"

Why the hell are you complaining?

[Nameless Narrator]

7402526 Pretty sure Secret Seeker has different things on his mind, something like how not to get splattered by two alicorns when stuff happens.

[The Villain in Glasses]

7402760

Still... If I were an evil megalomaniac, I'd probably want to smell like I just did the nasty with my smexy slave/assasin/concubine everywhere I went!

[Anonymous Critic]

Black Shield had used blind spots, places nopony sane would check, and lazy habits of guards to get where she was. Sadly, she stumbled on a vigilant one.

'Sadly'? Why is it a sad thing that she's been sighted... getting sighted means drawing attention to herself... meaning drawing attention to her 'master'.

Hate to say it, but even though it is at the unlucky guard's risk, the added attention, and as such, increased chance of getting caught is worth it... as the 'master' would do far worse if left uncaught.

[Anonymous Critic]

7402791
They should make a perfu- err 'cologne' for that... probably would sell real well amongst the perverts.

[Teraunce]

Here's hoping Blackie manages to leak that name soon.