The Story of a Royal Guard [OUTDATED]

by Himntor

Nightmare Moon

A week later Sword Shield was assigned to help escort and guard Princess Celestia to the Summer Sun Celebration, where the Princess ceremonially raises the sun for everyone to see. He was honored to be a part of such a great event, looking forward to it so much he literally fell out of his bunk in excitement once he realized it was the day of the celebration.

After standing guard for the morning and afternoon he met up with Celestia and two other pegasi guards that were to pull her chariot. The celebration was to take place in Ponyville, which was strange to him as he had heard it was just a small farm town.

"Ready to go, Princess?" he asked while shaping his sword to fly next to the Princess.

"Yes, thank you," said Celestia. She watched curiously as he climbed onto his sword and hovered by her side. "I must say I'm impressed how quickly you have learned to fly like that. That must have been a powerful enchantment you put on the sword."

Sword Shield grinned. "Thanks, I'm still practicing though." He motioned the guards to start flying. They floated upwards and dashed forward into the late afternoon sky while he followed from behind.

By the time they arrived the sun was beginning to hide behind the faraway mountains, and a deep purple hue took over the blue sky. The chariot touched down at the town hall building and Sword Shield led Celestia to the second floor.

"I'm going to get ready in the dressing room," said Celestia. "The Summer Sun Celebration will start shortly after midnight, so that leaves us a few hours. You may stay and guard the door. I shouldn't be too long, but if somepony comes by you may tell them I am getting ready."

He gave a nod and stood guard at the door. "So far, so good," he thought.

After an hour of waiting he was beginning to get anxious. This was a rather big event after all, and he would need to be at his best. The air grew thick around him and it became suffocating, unnaturally so. He shrugged it off for the time being, but as the next hour passed the feeling continued to mount, and he felt compelled to go outside for a moment. Surely the Princess wouldn't need anything if he was gone for a short break. He walked back outside to the chariot where the two pegasi guards were still waiting, conversing between each other.

"You two," he said to them. "You can both head inside and warm up, I'll keep watch of the chariot."

The guards looked at each other and quickly unhooked themselves from the chariot and made their way into the town hall's main room, while Sword Shield remained next to the chariot to take a moment and breathe, though it did not help him much. There was some loud noise coming from a library down the block. Music. He figured there was a party going on before the celebration. Nothing unusual with that, although a library was the last of places he expected a party to take place.

Right as he decided to go back inside something in the sky caught his eye. The moon had flashed once and depicted the face of what looked like a mare, and quickly disappeared.

"What the hay?" he thought. There had never been a face on the moon before, and he was sure something out of the ordinary was going on.

---

Back in the town hall's dressing room, Celestia was still coming up with her speech for the Summer Sun Celebration. She remembered that her student Twilight had warned her about the return of Nightmare Moon this morning, but Celestia already knew that she was coming. She acted as though it was no big deal, as she knew Twilight was smart and strong enough to figure out how to defeat her.

She was finalizing her speech when the room started to fill with a purple mist. A bright flash lit up the room, and appearing out of nowhere was a black coated alicorn mare.

Celestia's looked over to her with a gasp. She turned around and stood firm. "I see you've escaped, Princess Luna. Or would you prefer I call you Nightmare Moon?"

Nightmare Moon looked distraught. She shook her head and tried to focus on a single object, finally laying her eyes on Celestia. Her eyes narrowed.

"Hello, sister. Long time no see, hmm?" said Nightmare Moon, grinning evilly.

Celestia frowned. "Yes, too long. How are you feeling?"

Nightmare Moon chuckled softly. "How am I feeling? HOW AM I FEELING? I've been stuck on the moon for a thousand years, and the first thing you can say to me is 'How are you feeling?'!?" Nightmare Moon stomped on the ground causing the wood to splinter, her mane blazing like a wildfire in the northern lights.

Celestia nodded politely. "Yes, I truly wish to know how are you feeling. Is there anything I can get for you?"

Nightmare Moon calmed down and looked at Celestia curiously. "What do you want, Celestia? I'm sure you already know why I'm here, why ask me this?"

"I understand the pain and loss you've had, and I'm sorry that I've had to punish you so harshly, but you were becoming a threat to Equestria and my subjects. You had to be stopped. I simply wanted to help you, and I still do."

Nightmare Moon's eyes narrowed again. "No, you don't understand me. You don't understand anything I've gone through, you never tried to. You cannot help me, Celestia, nor can you help anypony else! You've all been ignorant of my beautiful night sky, cherishing your beloved sun, but no more! The night will last FOREVER!!!"

Celestia nodded slowly with a frown. "If this is the way it has to be, then so be it. I could have helped you, but you've let hatred and fear take too strong of a hold on your heart."

"You'll not stand in my way this time, sister."

Flaring her wings and aiming her horn she fired a beam of dark magic towards Celestia, who in turn aimed and fired her own beam of magic. The two beams crossed each other and began a tug of war. Celestia's magic was quickly overtaking Nightmare Moon's.

"No!" said Nightmare Moon in a panic. She let off another powerful burst and sent Celestia's magic back further, and further, slowly gaining on her beam.

Nightmare Moon let off one more burst of magic and this time it made it up to Celestia's horn, there was a flash and burst of energy in the room. Nightmare Moon shielded her eyes and when she opened them she found Celestia laying on the ground, her shining coat now scarred with burns.

Nightmare Moon laughed evilly to herself, "Now, sister, you will know what it's like to suffer for a thousand years in banishment!" Her horn began to glow, and magic wrapped around Celestia.

Celestia saw the magic surrounding her. She looked one last time at Nightmare Moon, and smiled. Nightmare Moon caught her smile and looked at Celestia in confusion, but she disappeared too quickly to find out what she had done. Nightmare Moon ignored the smile and continued on towards her victory.

"All too easy," she laughed once more. Suddenly the door burst open.

---

Sword Shield stood outside for several more minutes, still speculating what might have happened to the moon. He looked back at town hall and remembered that he was supposed to be guarding Celestia's door, and ponies were starting to go inside. He walked back to the dressing room's door and heard a faint laugh come from within.

"Now, sister, you will know what it's like to suffer for a thousand years in banishment!" said a muffled voice.

He hardly registered what was happening. One thing was for certain; that wasn't Celestia's voice. Panic overcame him, and then adrenaline. He rushed forward and kicked open the door. Standing in the room was a tall black coated mare, with what seemed to be a mane and tail made purely out of magical energy. To his surprise the mare was an alicorn, both wings and a horn.

"Who are you?! Where's Celestia?!" he asked furiously.

Nightmare Moon looked over in his direction curiously and laughed. "Silly colt, don't you recognize me? Don't you know who I am? I AM NIGHTMARE MOON! QUEEN OF THE ETERNAL NIGHT!"

Sword Shield stood his ground. "I don't care if you're the Queen of Coltland, let alone Queen of the 'Eternal Night.' What have you done with Celestia?!"

Nightmare Moon smirked. "What a foolish Royal Guard you are. Don't you see? She's gone, banished from Equestria for a thousand years! It doesn't matter, all you need to know is that you'll never see her again. There's no point trying to get her back."

Sword Shield pulled out his sword and took a defensive stance. "Doesn't mean I won't try."

"Don't be a foal, you don't honestly think you can defeat me?"

He ignored her and lashed out his sword. It sliced her magical mane and a small lock of it fell off and disappeared. Nightmare Moon gasped and took a step back. She used her mane to reach out and grab the sword away from him, but it slipped right through and was unable to get a hold of it.

She gaped at him in befuddlement. "How is this possible!? Why cannot I take your sword?"

He shrugged. "I've got a strong grip, and you know... using your mane is a very ineffective way to grab an object." He didn't truly know how she couldn't take the sword either, as he could feel her mane's magical aura just coming near him. She should have easily been able to take hold of the sword, but he decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She used her magic and fired a beam at him instead. With a quick burst of magic he changed his sword's form into a shield, and the beam bounced right off, surprising Nightmare Moon once again. He took the opportunity to go on the offensive and began spinning his sword faster and faster like a helicopter blade, then moved in on Nightmare Moon.

"Well, it seems you know how to fight," she teased. "It's a shame I'll have to get rid of you though, you would make a fantastic night guard." She created her own dark sword using magic.

"Not in a thousand years," he said.

"Who knows, I'll still be around then. You have plenty of time to reconsider."

He launched his sword at her head, to which she gracefully stepped aside and countered with her own. He launched it again, and again. They exchanged blows until Nightmare Moon fueled her weapon with a burst of magic and sent it hurling towards him. He raised his sword to parry, but the force of impact was too heavy and knocked him off his hooves. He quickly shook himself and stood back on the defense. A change of tactics was needed. Instead of continuing to defend himself he brought the sword back and transformed it to a board as fast as he could, jumped on and launched into the air. He began flying around Nightmare Moon in a circle, causing the wind to pick up.

"Oh, it has been a while since I've seen somepony do something like that before," said Nightmare Moon, only mildly impressed.

He grunted. "There is only one thing I may reconsider tonight, Nightmare Moon, and that is having to stop you. If you bring back Celestia, you have my word that I'll stand down."

"Hah! You're kidding me, right? You can't possibly win this battle."

"Doesn't mean I won't try."

He then began to spin faster and faster around Nightmare Moon, and never has he gone this fast. He adjusted his sword to be larger and used a spell to bind his hooves to the metal, and the wind began picking up. Outfits and costumes in the room were unhinged and thrown around, whisking by Nightmare Moon.

Nightmare Moon stomped her hooves on the ground. "ENOUGH! I have grown tired of this nonsense!" She let out a burst of magic through the room, knocking Sword Shield off his sword and flinging him into the back wall. Clothes and makeup were scattered about the room from the terrible storm. He let out a groan and looked back at Nightmare Moon.

She towered over him and seethed. "I'll deal with you later, foal." And with that she turned into a purple mist and vanished.

He shook himself and stood up. Celestia was gone, Nightmare Moon had escaped and he had no idea where either of them were. He levitated his sword from the mess and brought it back to him, shrinking it to its normal size and putting it away. A moment later a white coated unicorn mare with a (fabulous) purple mane walked in.

"Where is Princess Celestia? She is missing her cue!" she said.

Sword Shield shook his head in disbelief. "I... I don't know, she's gone."

She gasped and ran out as quickly as she came in.

"She's gone!" He heard her exclaim to the audience.

He lifted a hoof to his head, feeling a bump that had not been there before. He'd hit that wall harder than he thought, and finally feeling the pain come to him he collapsed on the floor, unconscious. It wasn't long before he woke though, and he could still hear voices coming from the main room.

"Seize her! Only she knows where the Princess is!"

"Stand back you foals!"

There was a terrible noise, thunder from what it sounded like. Sword Shield shook himself awake and pushed away the pain. He hobbled to a stand and walked into the main room to find ponies running around, screaming and panicking. There was no sign of Nightmare Moon however.

"No!" he cursed to himself. "I've failed the Princess."

He looked around in confusion, wondering what he should be doing. Celestia was gone, Nightmare Moon had escaped, and he had no idea where to find either of them. There was no telling who she was or why she was here either. He did the only thing he knew was correct and painfully poured magic into his sword and transformed it to fly. He took a moment to look up at the midnight sky. It should already have been day by now, but it was still the blackest of nights. He took off towards Canterlot and figured that's where Nightmare Moon would be next, to attack Canterlot and take the throne for herself.

He arrived about an hour later, flying as quickly as his magic would let him, and rushed down to the barracks. He found Shining Armor giving out orders to dozens of guards at a time.

He walked up to Shining Armor and gave a quick salute. "Captain, I need to speak with you."

Shining Armor looked at him urgently. "It'll have to wait, there's something wrong. It should be day by now, so something must have happened to the Princess. I'm alerting the Royal Guard to be on the lookout for anything suspicious and I need you to help with the search parties."

Sword Shield rubbed his still throbbing head. "There's no need, I know what happened. In Ponyville at the Summer Sun Celebration there was an attack. An Alicorn has apparently captured Princess Celestia, and I have no idea where either of them are."

Shining Armor gave him his full attention. "Another Alicorn? Who?"

"She called herself Nightmare Moon, and she's powerful enough to defeat Celestia it seems." He looked away with a pang of guilt. "It's... my fault this happened at all. I wasn't able to stop it from happening."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, if she is really that powerful there's nothing you could have done. What is this Nightmare Moon's plan?"

His guilt was replaced with worry. "She said something about 'Eternal Night'. It doesn't sound good for Equestria. Without the sun being raised by Celestia, we'll all begin to freeze to death in just a few days." National genocide was not his idea of a good time.

"Do you know where Nightmare Moon went? When she might attack?"

"No. I suspect if she hasn't attacked here already then she probably won't at all. It's not like she needs to, Celestia is already gone. She could probably just wait us out until we all freeze or starve."

"We have a large storage of food and supplies, it may be a while. I don't think I can risk leaving Canterlot to find her." A glimmer of hope appeared in his eye. "We still have Cadance though, I'm sure she could help fight Nightmare Moon."

One of the other Royal Guards came running up to Shining Armor with a worrisome expression. He gave a quick salute. "Captain Shining Armor, I have grave news. Cadance is missing. One of her guards has been attacked as well. Somepony has penetrated our defenses and left without a trace."

Shining Armor gaped at the guard in shock. "What?" He looked down and slammed his hoof into the ground. "No! How could this have happened so quickly under our noses!? Cadance might have been our only hope of defeating this Nightmare Moon."

Sword Shield brought out his sword and transformed it. "I'm going to go do some history research to see if I can find out who Nightmare Moon is and how she might possibly be defeated. If I find something that will allow us to defeat her I'll go after her myself."

Shining Armor stared at him seriously. "Are you sure you can do it?"

He nodded. "I'll be fine. If I find something and do go after her but don't come back," He looked away. "Just tell my father I'm sorry."

Shining Armor shook his head unconvinced. "How do we know when tomorrow is? You don't need to do this, I can use your help here."

"No, you can't. I'm the best choice to look for a way to defeat Nightmare Moon. Besides, it is my duty as a Royal Guard to protect Equestria and the Princesses. If I can't even search for a way to save them, then what good am I? If you need me I'll be at the Canterlot Library searching for a way to stop Nightmare Moon."

With those last words Sword Shield jumped onto his sword again and flew over to the Canterlot Archives to see if he could find out where Nightmare Moon might have come from. It was silly to think that there would be a book about someone like her, but it was worth a shot.

Author's Note:

We finally get to see Swordulan's display of power against one of the major villains. Powerful enough to surprise Nightmare Moon, not powerful enough to defeat her. In a longer battle he would lose, especially since he's got so little real combat experience, so he's no match for her.

Comments

[Lucky424]

Time to relax guys, Twilight's got this, right?
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