> Establishing Luna's Royal Guard
>  by Zeck
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Forming A Place
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Shadow Echo was struggling to hold on to the bag of food she had managed to gather as she sped through the night, but it was becoming painfully obvious that she had to let it go if she had any chance at escape. She pulled into a steep climb into the clouds, hoping that the trick would work on her fifth try and that she would be able to hang on to her food.
As the water from the clouds whipped against her charcoal colored coat, she turned her head to look back. Her eyes cut through the darkness with ease, and the trail she had left in the clouds allowed her to see directly behind herself. For a brief moment she saw nothing and started to relax, but then she saw the shadow flash behind her again.
Blast it! What is this thing? She rolled onto her back and twisted in midflight, shooting off in a new direction with a turn that no pegasus should have been able to match, and yet this pony followed the maneuver with ease. Whoever it was, they were good, and that was cause for alarm.
No pony was supposed to be able to keep up with a batpony’s maneuverability in the air. Especially at night. The night belonged to Shadow Echo and her kind. It had for over a hundred years, and in all that time not a single pegasus had been able catch a bat pony.  True, pegasi tended to be faster all around, but their wings did not allow them to make the same type of sharp turns and tight rolls that a batpony could do. All a batpony had to do was find some cloud cover, or a forest, and they simply vanished from sight.
Yet somehow this creature was keeping pace with Shadow Echo flawlessly. Was this some new breed of pony? Was it even a pony? Shadow Echo had tried to get a good look at whatever it was that was following her, and while it had four legs like a pony and wings like a pegasus, it was larger than any pony she had ever seen. She hadn’t been able to get a clear look at it, even with her night vision, because the creature seemed to be cloaked in darkness itself.
Not that she had seen very many ponies up close in her lifetime. She, like many of her kind, preferred to stay far away from the other three races. 
Shadow Echo bit her lip in frustration, her fangs scraping against her face as she tried to think of a solution. Fine! If this thing wanted her food, it could have it. She could always go and collect more later in the night, after she ditched this creature. She turned around and yanked off her saddlebag with her teeth, then flung it at her pursuer. 
“Take it and leave me alone!” she shouted even as her stomach growled as she watched her dinner sail away. It had taken her over two hours to collect all that fruit, hay, and wheat for bread, and it nearly killed her to watch it start to tumble away.
Except that it didn’t tumble away. 
Shadow Echo’s yellow eyes went wide as her saddlebag began to spill open, but then froze in midair. A blue glow surrounded the bag and held it and its contents firmly in place. 
Magic? This thing could fly and use magic? Shadow Echo’s heart threatened to choke the life out of her as it jumped into her throat. That didn’t make any sense! There was nothing in Equestria that could fly and use magic except Princess Celestia, and her blinding white coat would certainly stand out in the night sky. There was no pony else who could use both except—
Except him.
Shadow Echo’s blood ran cold. She couldn’t lead him back to her village. She had to lead him far away. As far as she could possibly fly, and then hope she could somehow lose him. If not, then…
She wouldn’t tell him anything, no matter what he did to her. She would kill herself before that happened. 
“Halt!” a voice suddenly boomed, no doubt belonging to the creature. It seemed to echo off the very clouds that now surrounded Shadow Echo and threatened to tear the night open with its power. Lightning flashed through the clouds, some of the bolts so close that they nearly blinded her and threatened to singe her fur. 
Shadow Echo folded her wings as tight as she could against her body, covering the shadow silhouette of a pony that was her cutie mark, and dove toward the ground. She went so fast that she was no longer certain if she was diving or simply falling. She plunged out of the clouds with such speed that she felt several still clinging to her body and one managed to even stick in her mouth. She spit it out and watched as the ground rushed up to meet her, threatening to welcome her in a deadly embrace.
At the last second she flared her wings and pulled out of the dive. She felt the shockwave of the air push back against her as it hit the ground and filled her wings. She flapped them once just at the right moment and took off like an arrow let loose from a bow. She was only a hair’s breadth above the ground and she knew that one small error in her judgment and she would slam into the earth at a speed that would likely cripple her, if not kill her outright. 
But her eyes did not fail her. Every stump, every rock, every slight bump in the soil was crystal clear to her in the night as she raced across the ground, dodging objects with ease and precision. Smiling to herself because of her skill, she looked over her shoulder to see if her pursuer was still behind her. She looked up first and saw nothing but the dark sky and the clouds that blotted out the stars and moon. Relief began to flood her body as she turned to look ahead again. She had done it. There was no way he would be able to catch up to her now.
“We command thee to halt!” the voice boomed again. Shadow Echo jumped and whipped her head around, this time looking directly behind herself. It wasn’t possible, and yet her eyes were showing it to her. Her pursuer was skimming along the ground just as she was with little effort.
Baffled and horrified, Shadow Echo continued to look back longer than she meant to. Her wing barely clipped the top of a rock, but it was enough to make her lose control. She began to stagger out of her form and her mind began to race as she realized she was moments away from serious injury or death.
As Shadow Echo began to tumble into an uncontrollable spin, she closed her eyes and waited for the instant when her body would smash against the ground and smear her across its surface. She hoped it would be over instantly and that she wouldn’t feel any pain.
I also won’t have to worry about leading him back to the village, she thought bitterly.
As the thought completed itself, another thought took its place in her mind. She wasn’t dead. She wasn’t even injured. She felt no pain beyond the pounding in her chest as her heart race and forced her blood to flow too fast through her veins. How was that possible?
Carefully, she opened one eye and found herself staring at the sky, but it was no longer moving at a blinding pace. In fact, it wasn’t moving at all. No, wait. She wasn’t moving. 
Shadow Echo looked down at her body. She held her hooves up before her eyes and then turned to look at the wings on her back. Everything was in its right place, but she was completely surrounded in a glowing blue light that was suspending her in the air. Was she dead? Was this what death felt like? If so, it didn’t seem too much different from life. Still, there was something off about the blue light around her…
As she stared, Shadow Echo suddenly realized that she recognized the blue aura. It was the same aura that had captured her saddlebag. But then that meant—! 
She looked around until her eyes fell on the form of her pursuer. He was on the ground now, slowly walking toward her. She struggled against the magic that enveloped her, twisting and kicking against the invisible prison that held her. She had to break free. She couldn’t allow him to take her prisoner. The things he would do to her would be beyond imagining, and she knew that she’d be powerless to stop him. She had to escape.
“Let me go!” she shouted, and was stunned when she found herself flat on her back as the magic surrounding her disappeared. For a second she stared at the sky, trying to comprehend why he had let her go. It was probably just some dumb game he was playing, giving her a false sense of hope. He probably thought she was going to run in another effort to escape, but Shadow Echo knew that was useless now. Running wasn’t going to work, but she doubted he expected her to do what she planned instead.
Taking half a second to collect herself, Shadow Echo then sprang up and flew toward her pursuer. She bore her fangs and hissed, a display that usually sent other creatures skittering away in terror. Her pursuer did not flee however, but instead continued to stand where he was. Fine. If he was dumb enough to let her get close, she was going to make him regret it. 
Shadow Echo lunged at him from the air, trying to tackle him to the ground so she could sink her fangs into his neck. She didn’t like the taste of blood, but she knew that sometimes her fangs had to be used for things other than peeling skin off of fruits.
Her opponent simply stepped aside and Shadow Echo flew past him. She landed on the ground in a skid and spun around, then charged again, this time throwing a punch with her front hoof at her attacker’s face. He ducked the blow with ease and once again Shadow Echo flew over him. She tried two more times before she landed a bit away from him, huffing for breath and glaring at him.
“I…I don’t…know what game you…you’re playing,” she heaved, “but…I’m not…telling you anything. You’ll…you’ll have to…to kill me…before I talk.” She look to the air and charged her opponent again, but this time she came to a screeching halt as she was once again in enveloped in a magical aura. She struggled for a moment, but it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to break free. She hung in the air, glaring at the figure before her. As she stared, she noticed that he had a cloak and a hood over his head. Why was he wearing a hood? He’d already made it obvious who he was.
“Well?” she asked. “What are you waiting for? Come on, do it! Change me into some sort of monster. Pull my wings off. Kill me!” She felt tears stream down her face as her heart was swallowed by despair. “DO IT!”
“Why would we do such a terrible thing to thee?” the figure asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Because it’s what you do, monster!” Shadow Echo shouted back through her tears. “We exist because of your twisted sense of enjoyment, but no more! I refuse to tell you anything!”
That seemed to strike a nerve. Two white lights appeared in the shadow of hooded face and Shadow Echo felt the wind begin to whip around her. She looked up at the sky and watched the clouds begin to swirl into a maelstrom and white veins of lightning flashed through them.
The magic around her began to squeeze her tighter and she felt her fur growing warmer. This was it. He was going to crush her like a grape.
“How DARE thou speakest to us so!” the figure shouted in a voice that nearly deafened Shadow Echo. She could feel the air from the words slamming against her face even as the wind from the storm beat her fur. “Thou accuses us of being a monster! The nerve thou doth posses. Doth thou not know who stands before thee?”
“Cut the act,” Shadow Echo said, her fear and despair giving way to anger. She wasn’t going to let him get away with pretending to be someone else. “I know it’s you, Discord.  There’s—ooaf!” 
Shadow Echo suddenly found herself on the ground, the magic holding her gone along with the terrible storm that had been raging just moments before. The night had gone back to its peaceful stillness and she was still alive. Carefully, she raised her head to look at Discord.
“What? Nay. We are not that foul creature,” the hooded figure said in a voice that Shadow Echo thought sounded genuinely surprised and horrified. He reached up with one hoof and pulled his hood down. A cascade of literally flowing night sky sprung from the back of the imposter pony’s head and the two white lights dimmed to reveal two striking teal eyes. “We are thy Princess of the Night. Princess Luna.”
“Yeah right,” Shadow Echo said, picking herself up and glaring at Discord. “Nice try, but there’s only one princess. And her name isn’t Luna.”
“But we speak true!” Discord shouted as he stomped his hoof. “We are who we claim to be! How else would we be a pony?”
“Discord can change his appearance,” Shadow Echo said coldly as she glared at this so-called Luna. This pony, if that’s what she really was, didn’t seem to be the cruel, tormenting monster that her grandmother spoke of, but that didn’t mean that Luna was who she was either. Shadow Echo had never heard of a Princess of the Night.
Still, here hair was doing that weird…flowing thing, like Princess Celestia’s.
“Very well, we shall prove our innocence” Luna said calmly, standing up a bit straighter and tapping her chest. “Can Discord command the winds and lightning as we have just demonstrated?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Shadow Echo said. “Discord can bend the very fabric of reality. I’m sure whipping up a maelstrom like that is something he can do with a snap of his talons.”
“But we…” Luna took a step forward, stretching her hoof out toward Shadow Echo. Shadow Echo immediately took a step back and winced, waiting for a blast of magic to turn her into…whatever. When she opened her eyes, she saw that Luna had stopped moving toward her and a look of…was that pain on her face? Sadness maybe?
The expression vanished in a flash, replaced by the confident look she had been wearing before. “Can Discord fly and wield magic?” she asked confidently. “There are but two ponies who posses both abilities, and we are one of them.”
“No,” Shadow Echo said coolly, “there’s one pony who posses those abilities as far as I know. And you are not the one I’m familiar with.” Granted, Shadow Echo wasn’t exactly familiar with Princess Celestia either, but she had at least heard of her on the rare occasions when she had been able to get close to other ponies.
The look that crossed Luna’s face first appeared to be nothing but anger and jealousy, but as Shadow Echo continued to stare she saw the same sadness and hurt buried under the rage. It flashed in Luna’s eyes and softened her face for a brief moment before vanishing again. Shadow Echo was certain that the only reason she had seen it was because she saw it nearly every time she looked in a mirror after trying to speak with other pony tribes.
“Can Discord control the moon?” Luna demanded, stomping one of her front hooves on the ground and raising her other to point toward the glowing white light in the sky. “No! Only our sister and we can command the heavenly bodies to rise and fall with each passing day.”
“Prove it,” Shadow Echo said.
Luna froze for a moment, then looked at the ground. “We…we cannot.”
“How convenient,” Shadow Echo said with a smirk.
“No! It is not that we lack the power to do so, but that we cannot move the moon before its proper time, less the entire day be ruined,” Luna protested. 
“Fine,” Shadown Echo said. “If you are who you say you are, and I don’t believe that, then I’m going to turn around and leave. Don’t try to follow me or stop me.”
“No!” Luna shouted and Shadow Echo jumped at the volume of her voice. She would have left right then. She no longer believed the pony standing before her was Discord in disguise—after all, the stories said that he had been defeated many years ago and none of the information the batponies had heard indicated that he was still around—but that didn’t mean she believed this Luna to be who she claimed to be. She would have ignored the shout and flown away without looking back if it hadn’t been for two things.
The first was that the shout hadn’t been an order, but a plea. There was a desperation behind the word that Shadow Echo was painfully familiar with. This pony, whoever she was, was so alone that she was begging for companionship.
The other thing that gave Shadow Echo pause were the tears that were threatening to spill from the teal eyes.
“Please, do not leave us,” Luna said, her voice so quiet now that it sounded like a little filly’s. “We…we have never met any other ponies like thee.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Shadow Echo said bitterly. “The other ponies are terrified of us. They see us coming and they panic. Say we’re monsters from the Everfree Forest that have come to suck their blood and eat their manes. Do you have any idea what that’s like, to be hated and feared before you even open your mouth?” Shadow Echo was about to continue, but the look on Luna’s face shocked her into silence.
She did know. The tears streaming down her face showed that she was all too familiar with the feeling Shadow Echo had just described, and the smile she was struggling to hold was that of a pony who was desperately hoping that the feeling of loneliness was about to end.
“Then,” Luna said hopefully as she wiped away her tears, “there are…others than thee?”
Shadow Echo nodded. “There are quite a few of us. We live in the dark places of Equestria. Caves and deep inside the forests. We prefer the darkness those places offer, as well as the cool night. Sunlight hurts our eyes.”
“May…may we meet them?” Luna asked, the look on her face changing to one of a little filly waiting for a birthday present. Her ears were perked up now and her eyes had gone wide. 
“No,” Shadow Echo said firmly. “Our laws forbid us from bringing any outsiders back to our village. We don’t want an angry mob to burn our home down.”
Luna looked as though she had just had her heart ripped out and Shadow Echo felt horrible for making her feel that way. She nearly changed her mind, but she forced herself to remember why her kind had such a rule: they were feared throughout Equestria, and ponies did crazy and terrible things when they were afraid of something. This was for her own protection, and her village’s.
“Very well,” Luna said, hanging her head and digging her hoof into the ground. “Thou…best be on thy way. Here. Thou dropped this.” Luna floated Shadow Echo’s saddlebag up into the air and gently placed it on the batpony’s back. Without another word, she turned and spread her wings.
“Wait,” Shadow Echo said. Luna turned to look at her over her shoulder. “Why were you chasing me?”
“It is our duty to guard our night,” Luna said. “We had heard whispers of flying monsters roaming the skies in the darkest hours, so we decided to investigate. It is…rare for any creature to be active at such a late hour. Our curiosity got the better of us. We had…hoped that we had found a creature that appreciates our work.”
Is she doing this on purpose? Shadow Echo thought even as the next words left her mouth. “Well, I appreciate it. All of my kind does. Night is really the only time we came come out in the open and stretch our wings.”
“We are glad to hear that,” Luna said without turning around completely. “Farewell.” She flapped her wings once and took to the sky. Shadow Echo watched her go for a few moments, then stomped her hoof on the ground in frustration.
“Wait. Again.” She took to the sky and flew up to where Luna was waiting for her. She hovered in front of her and studied the so-called princess’ face. She didn’t seem evil. She seemed lonely, just like Shadow Echo and her tribe were. And if she was who she claimed to be, then it couldn’t hurt having a princess as a friend to the batponies.
Hoping she wasn’t making the biggest mistake of her life, Shadow Echo held out her hoof. “I’m Shadow Echo. Would you like to come to my home?”
Luna’s eyes shot open as she stared at the offered hoof. After a moment, she eagerly shook it with both front hooves. “Yes, please, dear Shadow Echo!”
“Very well, Your Majesty,” Shadow Echo said. She wondered why she had addressed Luna as Your Majesty as she pulled her hoof away and gently massaged it. Not only did Luna posses pegasus wings and unicorn magic, but she clearly had an earth pony’s strength. She turned and headed toward her home. “I’m trusting you. I hope I’m not making a mistake.”
“We shall be on our best behavior,” Luna said with glee. “May we ask where thou art taking us?”
Shadow Echo debated whether she should tell Luna their destination, but if she was already taking Luna there, she saw no harm in telling her where they were going. “My home is just past the Fowl Mountain, deep in the forest on the eastern side. It’s a small village called Hollow Shades.”
“Fascinating!” Luna said as she flew next to Shadow Echo. “We have never heard of this place.”
“Well, I’ve never heard of you,” Shadow Echo said with a smile. She looked over and saw that Luna had lost some of her cheer at that. “But, that probably our fault,” the batpony said quickly, trying to keep Luna’s spirits up. “We…don’t really socialize with other ponies. That’s made our information on the outside world a little…incomplete. Perhaps you could fill me in while we fly?”
Luna’s childish smile returned instantly. “We would be more than willing to regale thee with tales of our adventures as well as the happenings of Equestria. Tell me, how familiar are you with our history.”
“Um…” Shadow Echo blushed and was grateful that it was dark outside. “We…don’t really know much since Discord was defeated. He created the first of my kind and we’ve been in hiding ever since.”
“But, our sister and us defeated Discord decades ago,” Luna said in a baffled voice. “His magic should have failed the moment he was cast down.”
“It did,” Shadow Echo said. “My grandparents woke up one evening to find that they were a pegasus and earth pony again. But magic didn’t make my parents. Or me.” She blushed and stopped before she began explaining something that a princess no doubt knew about.
“Ah,” Luna said and she flew in silence for a few moments. “Well, we are certain our sister and us could find a way to change thee back to a normal pony, if thou so wished.”
“I am normal,” Shadow Echo said with a smile. She had grown up as a batpony, and being anything else was unfathomable to her. She turned and smiled even wider at Luna, making sure her fangs gleamed in the moonlight. “Besides, I like having these. Makes eating fruit a lot easier. And there’s not a single pegasus that can keep up with a batpony in terms of tricks.”
Luna smiled and narrowed her eyes. “We kept up with thou.”
“You don’t count,” Shadow Echo said. “You’re special.”
“We thank thee for such a kind remark,” Luna said with a genuine smile. “If it matters, we did not find it easy to keep up with thee.”
“High praise, coming from a Princess,” Shadow Echo said. She and Luna both chuckled slightly as they continued to fly through the night. 
	
> Building From Tragedy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Shadow Echo stood in the middle of Hollow Shades and gazed up at the moon. It seemed wrong somehow for it to be fully visibly and shining it all of its glory. It was as if the moon was mocking the tragedy that had befallen not only the batponies, but all of Equestria. It should have been veiled behind clouds, mourning the events that had taken place, instead of being out in all of its splendor.
She looked away from the moon and at the faces that surrounded her. All of them were somber, eyes downcast or looking off into the distance. A few ponies were whispering to one another in hushed tones, or holding a loved one close under a wing, but none were making more than a few quiet sounds. Noise just did not seem appropriate. 
Shadow Echo pulled her helmet off and felt her dark blue mane spill down her neck. She held the helmet in front of her face. It had been the source of so much pride for her and all the others who wore it. It was a symbol that their kind had finally been accepted in Equestria, even if the general populace still shuddered slightly at their appearance and whispers of vampire ponies still hung in the air behind them.
Now, it may as well have been nothing more than a piece of scrap metal. She, and all the others who had worn the uniform with pride, would soon have no reason to wear it. The Princess was coming tonight to speak to them about their fate, and Shadow Echo doubted that she would still be wearing her armor tomorrow night. But she couldn’t bring herself to cast it off just yet. She had been Captain of Luna’s Royal Guard. The first Captain ever, because she had been the first pony to volunteer. The first pony to bring Princess Luna back to Hollow Shades and introduce her to all the other batponies. The first pony Luna had ever called friend. 
The armor held too much pride, honor, and happiness for her to simply peel it off and toss away. She would keep it tucked under her bed, even if all the others in the Guard threw theirs away. It was more than a set of armor for her, and it always would be. 
Smiling sadly at her reflection in the purple helmet’s shining metal, she placed the helmet back on her head and continued to stare at the sky to the west, waiting for the Princess to make her appearance. 
She didn’t need to wait long. 
When the Princess appeared, it wasn’t with trumpets, a flash of light, a golden carriage and an escort of pegasi. She wasn’t even flying. Shadow Echo didn’t even notice her at first, and probably would have missed her if she hadn’t heard the sudden pick up in whispering. She looked down from the sky and toward the edge of her village. A lone figure emerged from the woods, wrapped in a hooded cloak and walking toward the center of town. She was tall, taller than any other pony Shadow Echo had ever seen, and for a brief moment, hope returned to the batpony’s heart, but it was crushed a second later when the moonlight glistened off of the pony’s white legs.
Shadow Echo stomped her hoof once and all the ponies behind her immediately fell silent as they stood at attention. Even during such a depressing time, Shadow Echo still found herself filled with pride at the sound of dozens of ponies clad in armor clanked in unison. She and Luna’s Royal Guard had worked hard to be worthy of their title, and it showed. Another thing she would always take pride in, no matter what the outcome of tonight was.
As the tall figure approached Shadow Echo, the batpony bowed deeply, her chin touching the dirt as she closed her eyes. She heard the sound of all the other ponies making the same motion as their armor clinked. 
“Princess Celestia,” Shadow Echo said somberly. “It is an honor to welcome you to Hollow Shades, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”
“As do I, Shadow Echo,” Princess Celestia said. She did not speak like her sister had. Luna spoke using the royal we constantly, and while Shadow Echo had often heard Princess Celestia use the same speech during her time in the capital, the Princess of the Day rarely used it when she was outside of the castle and speaking with normal ponies. She was also much softer spoken than Luna.
“I believe I know the meaning behind your visit, Your Majesty,” Shadow Echo said, still kneeling.
“Do you now?” Celestia said. “Very well. I would like to hear your theory behind my visit, but not while your face in on the ground. You must rise and look me in the eye if you are going to tell me my business.” 
Shadow Echo swallowed once and picked her head up off the ground, along with all the other batponies. She had thought she knew why Princess Celestia had insisted on speaking with her and Luna’s Royal Guard, but now she wasn’t so sure. 
“Well?” Princess Celestia said. “I’m waiting.”
“After Luna’s, I mean, after Princess Luna’s…fall, the rise of Nightmare Moon, and her defeat and banishment at your hooves,” Shadow Echo hadn’t meant to sound so accusing, but she couldn’t help herself, “you are here to formally disband Luna’s Royal Guard and relieve me, and all of us, of our posts.” Shadow Echo did her best to hold back her tears, but she still felt one slide down her cheek. She blinked rapidly, hoping to push the others back. All the while, she continued to meet Princess Celestia’s gaze.
“And what makes you think I have come to do these things?” the Princess asked calmly. 
“We failed, Your Highness,” Shadow Echo said. It was like a knife had been plunged into her side and now somepony was twisting it. “We…we were suppose to protect Princess Luna, but we couldn’t. I was…I mean, we were her friends, but we couldn’t save her. And with her gone, there is no longer a need for Luna’s Royal Guard.”
“Very true,” Princess Celestia said. Shadow Echo’s heart shattered. A small part of her had hoped that Princess Celestia would show mercy and allow the batponies to keep their post. At the very least, she had hoped the Princess would have been…gentler in breaking the news, but that was not the case.
“As you say, Your Highness,” Shadow Echo said, hanging her head. Her helmet suddenly felt extremely heavy and her armor picked at her skin. She wanted to peel it off right then and stomp it into the ground, then go cry herself to sleep, but she couldn’t. She was still the Captain. “We will all hoof over our—”
“What I mean,” Princess Celestia interrupted, “was that all of you were my dear sister’s friends. You especially, Shadow Echo.” The batpony looked up and saw a face that wasn’t condescending and angry, but one that was just as heartbroken as Shadow Echo’s. “If there is any pony would can understand the pain I feel from my actions, it is you. Luna loved you dearly. She often spoke of the adventures you two went on, or the games you would teach her to play, or how you two would simply lay on a cloud at night and try to count all of her stars.”
Shadow Echo felt several more tears trickle down her face as she recalled her memories with her friend. “Thank…thank you, Your Majesty,” she whispered. “But…I, I couldn’t…save her.”
“Nor could I,” Celestia said. “Luna fell to a power than none of us could have foresaw. I tried to reason with her. I begged her to come back to me, but the Nightmare power was already too strong. I had no choice but to use The Elements of Harmony against my own sister. She must battle her own demons now, I fear, without our help.”
“I understand, Princess,” Shadow Echo said. She had heard the story behind how Princess Celestia had been forced to cast her sister down, but she had hoped they were just rumors. “Will…will she ever return?”
“Certainly,” Celestia said as she gazed up at the moon. “And when she does, I pray that Equestria will be able to save her, as I failed to do.” 
Shadow Echo looked to the moon as well. Was Luna up there? Could she still see Shadow Echo? Was she aware of how much her friend missed her? Was she lonely? Would they ever see each other again?
Shadow Echo pushed the thought from her mind. It was too depressing to dwell on such things when the wound of what had happened was still so fresh. “Begging your pardon, Your Majesty, but what is to become of us?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Well, that is the official reason behind my visit,” Celestia said, her gaze lingering on the moon for a moment longer before looking down at Shadow Echo. 
“Official, Your Majesty?” Shadow Echo asked.
“Yes. I was hoping that, after this matter is concluded, you and I could talk. I would like to hear your tales about my sister.” Again, Celestia’s gaze drifted skyward. “Though it has barely been three weeks, I feel as though she has been gone a thousand years already. I fear I may forget her face, or her voice,” she said softly.
Shadow Echo chuckled despite herself. “Oh, I doubt that very much, Your Highness,” she said as she recalled her friend’s constant use of the royal Canterlot voice.
Celestia looked down and smiled. “You’re probably right. But on to business. As you said, there is no need for Luna’s Royal Guard if she is no longer with us.”
“Then…we are dismissed?” Shadow Echo whispered.
“Yes, though I hope I can convince you to take on another responsibility.” Celestia bowed her head and Shadow Echo suddenly felt very, very uncomfortable. Princess Celestia bowed to no pony. Every thought in Shadow Echo’s head was on overdrive as she tried to process what she was looking at. 
“With my sister gone, and I using The Elements of Harmony on her, I fear Equestria has suffered a terrible blow to its defenses,” the Princess of the Day said, using her royal voice to speak so everypony could hear her, despite her head being bowed. “The Elements are no longer bound to my sister and I, and thus have gone dormant, taking away one of our most powerful forces against evil. Worse, with my sister gone, the night is now without its protector. I would be honored if you and your fellow ponies would take on the responsibility of guarding the night.”
Shadow Echo was stunned into silence. She was still grappling with the fact that Princess Celestia was kneeling at her hooves. “Do we get to keep the uniforms?” somepony called out and she snapped her head back to glare at the ponies assembled behind her. She would deal with whoever that was after her meeting with the Princess.
“Of course,” Celestia chuckled as she stood up. “Well, Captain Shadow Echo? Will you help me guard the land that my sister and I have protected for so long?”
“Princess Celestia,” Shadow Echo said as she closed her eyes to hold back tears. “I can think of no better way to honor my friend than to make sure her home is kept safe. Until the day she returns and resumes the responsibility herself. The batponies would be grateful beyond measure for such a task.”
“I am relieved to hear you say so,” Celestia said. Then, in a louder voice so that every batpony could hear her, she continued. “I hereby establish the Night Guard, and name my sister’s dear friend, Shadow Echo, as its first Captain.”
Cheers erupted throughout the village and Shadow Echo heard the sound of dozens of batponies clad in armor crashing into each other as they hugged. She even felt several hooves raise her into the air and being tossing her up and down. For the first time since Luna’s fall, Shadow Echo felt as though she could carry on with her life. She would miss her friend dearly, but she planned to spend every night staring at the moon, talking to Luna in hopes that she could hear her and know that Shadow Echo still thought about her every night. 
A warm yellow light enveloped Shadow Echo and she found herself floating away from the crowd of cheering batponies. She drifted slowly back down to the earth until she stood next to Princess Celestia.
“So, shall we get started?” Celestia asked with a sad smile. 
For a moment, Shadow Echo’s joy was tempered as she remembered the loss of her friend, but that just made her want to talk about her more. She didn’t want to forget her dear friend. She would keep Luna’s memory alive, and patiently wait for the day when they would see each other again. “Certainly. Come, I know a place that serves some excellent pumpkin spice juice. Are there any stories you want to hear first?”
Celestia and Shadow Echo began to walk toward a small restaurant. “I would like to hear them all, although I heard that you and she once stirred up an entire pack of Timber Wolves.”
“Oh, that one,” Shadow Echo said, smiling as she recalled the adventure. “Yes. Luna never was very good at learning when not to use the Canterlot voice, was she?”
	
> Reforming The Guard
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Silent Wing paced nervously in the throne room of Canterlot Castle. Though she was part of the Night Guard and had visited the castle on countless occasions—even been in this very room many times when Princess Celestia was here—she had never been in the room by herself. She had always been there with other Night Guard ponies to make reports, or hanging in the shadows while court business was attended to before the Princess spoke with her. She had always found the room too bright and colorful for her tastes, but she had never felt threatened in it. 
Now though, with literally no other pony around save for her, the room felt terrifyingly imposing. The ceiling towered above her, seeming to bend at impossible angles the higher it went. The stained glass windows, usually so bright and full of life, now looked as though they were broken. The figures that were depicted on them no longer showed triumphs over evils, but instead appeared to be laughing at her in silence, mocking her frantic pacing.
Get a hold of yourself! You are a Night Guard! 
Silent Wing stomped her hoof, perhaps a little too hard, on the tile floor to stop her pacing. It echoed throughout the entire room, enhanced by the fact that she was wearing her Night Guard boots. She was dawned her entire outfit, save for the helmet, in honor of tonight. She winced slightly as the sound bounced down the hallway. She hoped she hadn’t woken anypony up so late at night. 
There’s nothing to be scared of. The others are right outside. Remember, this was your idea. Relax.
Silent Wing took a deep breath and forced herself to stop shaking. It was unbecoming of a Night Guard, and especially one who held the honored rank of Captain. If her fellow guards could see her now, they’d never let her live it down.
Silent Wing licked one of her fangs and stretched her wings, taking comfort in the familiar sound they made when she flexed them. There was nothing to worry about. Princess Celestia was a kind ruler, and she had graciously allowed this meeting tonight. If anything went wrong, Princess Celestia would be there to handle it. 
As if sensing that Silent Wing was thinking about her, the white alicorn entered the room. Even in the nighttime, Princess Celestia seemed to radiate light from her being. Her soft rainbow mane continued to flow behind her head, as though trapped in a never-ending summer breeze. 
“A pleasure to see you again, Captain Silent Wing,” Celestia said with a gentle smile.
Silent Wing bowed deeply. “An honor as always, Your Highness.”
“I must admit, I was rather…surprised by your request,” Celestia said as she walked forward until she stood directly before Silent Wing. “Pleasantly surprised, mind you. Who’s idea was this?”
“Mine, Your Highness,” Silent Wing said, coming out of her bow. “I…I hope that it’s acceptable.”
“Of course it is, my dear,” Princess Celestia said. “I honestly cannot think of a more fitting present. It filled me with joy when I read your request. But I must ask, what made you think of it?”
“Well, um…” Silent Wing kicked gently at the ground and diverted her gaze. She was going to feel really stupid over what she was about to say, but she had to say it. “I…I grew up hearing the stories. My great grandmother would tell me them when I was little. They’re the main reason I joined the Night Guard. And now, with a chance to…” Silent Wing trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. She felt so foolish discussing her dream from when she had been just a little filly. 
“I see,” Celestia said, patting Silent Wing on the head. The batpony instantly wished that she had elected to keep her helmet on as the Princess ruffled her blue mane, but she had to admit that she rather liked the sensation. It made her feel young again, like when she would sit by the fire and listen to her great grandmother tell old stories about the Night Guard, and Luna’s Royal Guard before that. Those stories had been so magical to her then, and now she would have a chance to see part of them herself.
“Shall we go?” Princess Celestia asked, raising a hoof to lead the way. She started walking and Silent Wing followed right next to her. Too many times, Princess Celestia had insisted that Silent Wing walk next to her instead of behind her. It was still a little odd for her, but she had finally started to feel at ease next to the Princess instead of tense.
Princess Celestia lead Silent Wing through a wing of the castle that she had never been in before, and then up some stairs and down another hall with a plush blue carpet. They stopped in front a gorgeous door that was decorated in priceless blue gems.
“Is…is this it?” Silent Wing asked, her knees shaking despite her best efforts to control the nervousness racing through her.
“Yes, it is,” Princess Celestia said. “Would you like me to knock for you?”
“Yes please,” Silent Wing said. She was unsure if she could control her body if she tried to do anything other than stand at the moment.
Celestia raised a hoof and knocked gently on grand door. “Luna, you have a visitor.”
“Enter,” came a soft voice. Princess Celestia looked over her shoulder and smiled at Silent Wing, then pushed the door open, but didn’t enter. She tilted her head, indicating for the batpony to proceed. Princess Celestia wasn’t coming with her? That wasn’t good. What if Princess Luna didn’t like her? What if Princess Luna was disgusted with what the batponies had become since she had first met them? What if Princess Luna laughed in her face, or told her that her idea was the worst thing she had ever heard?
What if Silent Wing’s fillyhood idol didn’t like her? 
Silent Wing swallowed and stepped forward. She peeked her head into the room. “Princess Luna? Are…are you here?” she asked quietly.
“We are here,” a soft voice said from somewhere. Silent Wing’s eyes instantly went to the bed on the far side of the room. The drapes around it were partially closed, but her eyes cut through the darkness easily. There she was! The Princess of the Night. The pony who had welcomed Silent Wing’s kind back into the society of Equestria and had given the batponies a place to belong and a purpose in their lives.
Silent Wing was suddenly at a loss for words. She stood perfectly still, her head peeking around the door like a filly trying to snoop on her birthday presents. She didn’t regain the ability to speak until she felt Princess Celestia gently push her into the room and then close the door behind her.
“Um, uh, Your…Your Majesty, my name is Night Guard and—no! I-I mean, my name is Silent Wing and I am a member of the Night Guard.”  Uh! She was making a complete fool of herself! She needed to get herself under control. Princess Luna would never go for the idea if she thought this was how the Night Guard behaved now. 
“Thou art one of the batponies that took our place?” Luna asked from her shadowy bed.
“Yes!” Silent Wing said, her wings perking up instantly. So the stories were true. Luna did speak with the royal we! Silent Wing felt her wings perk up even higher as she listened to the legends come to life in her mind. “Er, I mean, no! I mean, we watched over your night in your stead. While you were gone. I-I mean, we would never want to take your place, Your Highness.”
“But why not?” Luna asked. Silent Wing really wished the Princess would come out from the shadows of her bed. She wanted to see the Princess of the Night clearly. “Thy kind hath done an excellent job in our stead. And thou hath never fallen to darkness as we have.”
“Well, um…” Silent Wing was at a loss for that.
“Thou must hate us,” Luna whispered. Her voice was so quiet that Silent Wing thought she had heard wrong.
“What?” she said, startled. “Why in Equestria would I hate you?”
“Not just thou,” Luna said. She picked herself up off of her bed and finally stepped out of the shadows and into the soft candlelight. “All the batponies must despise us for what we did.”
Silent Wing did not reply, but simply stared at the pony before her. Luna was only slightly taller than Silent Wing herself. She certainly wasn’t as tall as Princess Celestia, and if Silent Wing hadn’t been told by Her Highness otherwise, she would have doubted that she was speaking with the Princess Luna. Where was the flowing mane and the starry tail? Where was the pony who embodied both the fierce power and gentle soothing of the night itself? 
Silent Wing still found the Princess beautiful though. Her coat was a soft royal blue, also the same shade as a clear night sky. Her mane and tail were sky blue, and while they weren’t glistening and flowing like her sister’s, Silent Wing was still hypnotized by them. Her cutie mark ran nearly the length of her entire flank, a dark night sky with a crescent moon in it. That, at least, matched the tales Silent Wing had heard about Princess Luna growing up.
But the eyes were what erased any doubt Silent Wing had about whom she was speaking with. They were the same teal color she had heard from the stories, but more importantly, they were filled with sadness, the same sadness that her ancestor had empathized with a thousand years ago. The eyes refused to look up at Silent Wing for more than a moment or two, and whenever Silent Wing did manage to lock with them, her heart broke a little. Such beautiful, soft eyes, but they were holding so much pain in them, and so much loneliness. 
“We…apologize for our appearance,” Luna said, crossing her front hooves and letting her mane fall across her face. One of her eyes peeked out from the sky blue mane and Silent Wing couldn’t help but smile at the sight. “We lost a great deal of our power when we were freed from the influence of the Nightmare forces.”
“Your Highness, why would you think we hate you?” Silent Wing asked, her mind finally registering what Princess Luna had said to her earlier. 
“We…we betrayed thee,” Luna whispered. The lone eye peeking through the mane shifted away from Silent Wing and down to the floor. “We allowed ourselves to fall into darkness. We terrorized Equestria because we were too weak to resist the call of darkness. Ponies once again fear us, and fear our night. And…fear thee and batponies once again.”
Silent Wing wasn’t certain if what she was about to do was appropriate. She wasn’t even sure if it was allowed, but at the moment she decided it didn’t matter. She walked forward until she stood directly in front of Princess Luna. When Luna looked up, Silent Wing smiled and wrapped her front hooves around the Princess’ neck, then folded her wings around her as best as she could. She smiled to herself as she felt Luna go completely stiff in the embrace.
“Your Highness, I came here tonight to meet my hero,” Silent Wing said as she pulled out of the hug. “I grew up listening to tales about The Princess of the Night. How she formed the foundation of the Night Guard. How she befriended the batponies and brought them into Equestria’s society. About how my great grandmother’s grandmother would sit up every night and talk to the moon until the day she passed because she missed her beloved Princess. And friend.”
Luna’s teal eyes blinked and Silent Wing saw tears forming. “You…you are Shadow Echo’s descendent?”
“One of many,” Silent Wing said. “All batponies have grown up hearing about the kindness of Princess Luna, especially my family. But I think it’s about time I show you the gift I brought for you.”
“Gift? We could not possibly accept any—”
“You don’t want to hurt my feelings now, do you?” Silent Wing said as she walked toward Luna’s balcony. She turned around and threw her best sad face at the Princess, even though she was bursting with joy. Luna relented and followed her out onto the balcony. 
“What is thy purpose for leading us out here?” Luna asked.
“Just wait.” Silent Wing brought her hoof to her lips and then blew. Because of her fangs, the whistle came out in a very peculiar pitch, sounding also like a quiet, slow release of air instead of an actual whistle.
“Thou…thou knows how to do the signal?” Luna asked, baffled that the call she and Shadow Echo had come up with centuries ago was still being used.
“Every batpony in the Night Guard knows it,” Silent Wing said as she turned to look at Luna. She watched as the expression the Princess’ face changed from bafflement, to confusion, to disbelief, and finally to joy so strong that tears began to run down her face and she had to cover her mouth with her hoof. “Every. Single. One.”
Silent Wing did not need to look behind herself to know why Luna was so stunned. The whistle had been the signal to her fellow Night Guards to appear, and she knew that dozens of batponies, all wearing the same purple and blue armor that Luna had first designed so many years ago, were now hovering in the air behind Silent Wing.
Silent Wing smiled and bowed her head all the way to the tiled floor, just as her ancestors used to do. “Your Highness, long ago you formed Luna’s Royal Guard. Your sister disbanded that order, but established the Night Guard in its place, as well as in your honor so that we batponies would never forget what you did for us. We who have served have done so with immense pride and have done our best to honor your memory while you were away. I myself dreamed of serving in the Night Guard ever since I was a filly. But now that you’ve returned, I no longer wish to serve in that order. None of us do.”
“But…why?” Luna asked.
“Because the batponies have awaited your return for a thousand years,” Silent Wing said, raising her head and looking up at Princess Luna with a smile. “I did not think I would live to see the day, but the Princess of the Night has returned. As such, I feel that, as Captain of the Night Guard, the Princess needs her royal guard back. We ask that you knight all of us into Luna’s Royal Guard once again.”
“Of…of course,” Princess Luna said as tears continued to run down her cheeks. She wiped them away and did her best to smile, and then cleared her throat. “By the power vested in us, as one of the ruling Princesses of Equestria and Princess of the Night, I hereby bestow the title of Royal Guard on Silent Wing, who shall now, until she choses not to, serve as one of our own personal guards, and be bestowed with all the privileges that such a title grants.” Luna tapped both of Silent Wing’s shoulders with her horn and then pulled away. “Welcome to Luna’s Royal Guard, Captain Silent Wing. Though, we hope thou will reconsider disbanding the Night Guard. We rather like that name.”
“We’ll keep both of them, Your Highness,” Silent Wing said. She struggled to stay still, but she was failing miserably. She let out a squeal of delight as she hopped up and down on her hooves while her wings fluttered rapidly behind her. She couldn’t believe it. She was in Luna’s Royal Guard! The very first organization of batponies. Not only that, but she was the first captain of it in a thousand years. All of her fillyhood dreams were coming true, and to top it all off, she had met the Princess of the Night! Things could not have gone any better.
“Captain Silent Wing, we would ask thee for a favor,” Princess Luna said.
“Anything, Your Highness,” Silent Wing said, managing to control her excitement long enough to answer.
“After we have knighted all of these fine ponies into our Royal Guard, would thou…stay with us?”
“Er, um, well…” Silent Wing was suddenly blushing so hard that she was certain her face was on fire.
“It has been a thousand years since we have spoken with anypony,” Luna said, and Silent Wing felt relief flooding her body. Of course Luna just wanted to talk to somepony and not…that. Silent Wing cut the thought off before it went anywhere she was too embarrassed to follow. 
“Let alone a batpony,” Luna continued, snapping Silent Wing completely out of her embarrassment. “We would like to hear about what has transpired since our…banishment. And hear what became of thou’s ancestors. We could occasionally hear Shadow Echo’s words when the darkness threatened to consume us completely. They were a small glimmer of light that we would cling to, and their warmth would fight back the darkness and fill our heart with light for a brief time.”
“I was taught that Shadow Echo made sure all of her children, and their children, spoke to the moon every night so that you would know we missed you. I made sure I did.” Silent Wing smiled and made sure her fangs were showing as she did. “And I would love to stay and talk with you, Princess Luna. There’s some much I want to ask you, and I’d be thrilled to answer your questions too! This is going to be the best night ever! I know! While you’re knighting my kin, I’ll go find the biggest, softest, fluffiest cloud I can and we can lay on it and stare at your sky and sip pumpkin spice.”
“Just as we and Shadow Echo did,” Princess Luna said quietly, a small smile slipping across her face. 
“Of course,” Silent Wing said as another batpony landed on the balcony and bowed his head. “I’ll be back as quick as I can. You and I are going to have the best sleepover ever!” 
Silent Wing spread her wings and soared high into the night sky. She wasn’t sure if it was just the sheer bliss she was feeling, or if Princess Luna returning had anything to do with it, but she swore she felt a warmth to the night air that had never been there before. The moon seemed to glow a bit brighter and the stars twinkled with a tiny bit more energy.
The night was back in the hooves of its rightful owner, and Silent Wing and her kind had their beloved Princess back. Silent Wing couldn’t believe she had been lucky enough to see such a perfect night.