(Hi guys! this is my first fanfiction i have published and as it is not complete obviously i need opinions on the story so i can better develop the text as it goes along. So relax and enjoy!)

Chapter 1: Sights

Kudurak stood at the balcony of his cottage just outside Canterlot, staring out at the wide expanse in front of him. He was a Pegasus with large fuzzed wings and a long black and blue mane resembling that of Scratch. His coat was a dark black and his eyes had a deep blue color. He stretched his wings and smiled. All was at peace in his world. No worries shrouded his mind and his life was just how it should be. His financial situation with the royal officials was in decent shape as they had not visited him to collect in a long while.

With the expanse of land in front of him, the dark Pegasus looked around to see if anything was amiss. Even though he was not in his formal attire, he still had to be sure all was well. He was the commander of the Shrouded Knights, the order of guards that were unseen in the castle as they hid in the peaks of the hallways.

They stood watch in case a situation came up where the royal guard could not defend the royal mares. In order for them to stay hidden, they mostly were unicorns and wore light armor comprised of mostly leather plating to protect only what was necessary. Knives were kept at their hooves for combat and they carried a satchel of medical supplies and rations should they need them.

One would never know they existed, and that's how it was to be kept. He had to lie to Luna, who he had relations with in secret, to keep knowledge of their existence unknown. Even Princess Celestia had no idea that they were there. Only one pony knew of their existence: Shining Armor, his administrator and keeper of the secret.

Shining armor usually gave orders to them indirectly and even then he rarely did so. He was only there to ensure that they could prove that they were loyal subjects and not rebels.

Kudurak heard a thud at his door. He turned around and proceeded to walk to the door. When he opened it, he was brought face to face with his fellow knight: Photon.

Photon was the Tech expert of the group, able to hack any barrier with ease. He was the only Pegasus able to use magic and was also the only pony in the Shrouded Knight Corps that did not have a black coat. The requirement of having a black coat did not reflect racial status, but instead was required due to that it faded and hid easily in darkness. He had a short blue mane with a hint of teal showing through and he bore a scar over his left eye. His blue eyes gazed into Kudurak's with the silent message 'there's a problem.'

Kudurak immediately understood and hurried in to grab his gear. He loaded up and was about to walk out, but turned before leaving to see Luna resting peacefully in his bed. He knew he would be gone for a long while and leaned over to give her a kiss on the forehead. Luna smiled in her sleep and continued to dream.

Kudurak turned around and walked towards the door with traces of tears in his eyes, for he knew that this might be the last time he sees her. When Photon interrupted his day off, he knew it was of great importance.

The two looked at each other and nodded, then turned to face the city. As they turned, their shadows slowly enveloped them and they disappeared without a trace.

When they arrived at the city, there was no pony in sight. Not even Colgate, who took a walk down the city's side paths every day. The two Pegasi immediately rushed into a gallop as they went towards the castle, thinking that maybe the ponies would be there for a meeting or some event. Photon looked at Kudurak as he explained what happened:

Earlier that day, Princess Celestia was in the library of the castle studying in deep thought on something that had been bothering her for the past few days. The sun had been growing slower in its rise and decent, even when she used all her power to do so. She felt there was something amiss. Her eyes scanned the text she was reading, deep in thought and almost unable to be disturbed.

Suddenly, one of the royal guards rushed in and immediately chained the princess before she knew what was happening. She turned in shock as she looked into the eyes of a guard who gave her a sinister grin. He was not in any normal condition. His eyes glowed a poison green color and his pupils had gone into a vertical position. His teeth had been somehow sharpened and his coat has been deepened into a dark grey. Celestia tried to break free of her shackles but to no avail. She then attempted magic and quickly saw that her horn had been tied with a cloth that prevented her from using her abilities. She felt weak and powerless for the first time in her life. The guard simply laughed at her attempts to break free and started dragging her to the doorway. He thought his victory was unseen. However, he was unknowingly being watched by a pair of deep blue eyes that followed his path to the castle dungeon.

Photon then rushed off and gathered the Shrouded Knights in the courtyard. He told them to wait for him to return with Kudurak before entering. He then ran off to tell Kudurak when a pony on the street turned and bit him as he passed. He fell down onto the street as he felt like he was just stabbed by a serrated knife. He decided to ignore the pain and rushed to grab Kudurak, who stood at his balcony.

Kudurak's eyes widened as he heard the story, and before he had time to understand what happened to begin with, they had reached the front gates, where the Shrouded Knights stood in their shady glory.

Kudurak addressed them as their commanding officer, "Shrouded Knights. We have been attacked by one or many of our own. I have had very little time to understand the situation but I fear this is even worse than anypony here could possibly know. To be safe, I must know if anypony has been bitten or stabbed by the aggressors."

Photon reluctantly denied this question as he feared he would be deemed unable to assist. He simply shook his head as he asked.

With all others in clear knowledge of the situation, they all shook their heads no truthfully. As they gave their unanimous 'no', Kudurak arranged them by groups in squads of 3: Photon and 2 others were to guard Kudurak as he entered the castle. 2 others were sent to secure Princess Luna from his cottage. The rest were to enter and search the perimeter of any suspicious activity.

With one unanimous shroud covering them all as they nodded in understanding of their objectives, they disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter 2: The Torture

The inner halls of the enormous castle were silent and empty. It seemed as if nopony had been here recently. Kudurak was trotting along the marble floor, his hooves making a steady clop as he neared the Dungeon doors. Following closely behind him, but unseen to anypony, were the other three Shrouded Knights who were to protect him.

Photon stared with deep focus at the scenario, completely at attention to the task at hand, when he was suddenly struck with pain beyond his belief. His nerves tensed and his muscles twitched as the quick jolt of agonizing pain shot through his body, rendering him completely immobile for a good few seconds. He would have yelped, but the pain was so intense it dismissed the ability to speak or yell. The pain faded after a few seconds as he was left in immense shock. Why did his body do that? As he retraced the pain to its origin, he found that his wound from earlier was swollen and actually carried a faint glow. He ignored the open wound and forced himself onward, the pain slowly starting to creep its way back.

The Knights were no more than ten feet from Kudurak as he made his way through the halls. After a short 5 minutes of trotting along, he reached a pair of tall, rustic doors with double chain locks on them. Each door had half of a skull imprinted on them and when they were closed it formed a head. The normally brave stallion glanced in horror and disgust at the eerie set of doors. The long pause he had to take in the sight was just long enough for the Shrouded Knights to catch up and get into position.

Kudurak gulped and walked up to the doors. When he reached the rusted blocks of metal, he uttered the phrase: "In our Defeat, we learn discipline. In our Death, we learn nothing. In our capture, we are reformed."

The doors did not respond to this phrase. They sat with the ever-scarring skull imprinted into the center of the set. Suddenly, the doors started to creak and the chains shattered into dust. The doors opened with a loud screech as they drug along the recently polished marble floor.

Inside the doorway was a wall of darkness. A few barely lit torches dotted the walls as the four stallions entered the chamber.

Kudurak walked cautiously as the doorway slowly shut behind them. They were alone now, unable to contact the others even if the really had to. Kudurak still walked as if he was alone, even though he knew he had company with him. The dark Pegasus approached the inner halls of the dungeon, where he could hear faint sounds of laughter and muffles of cringing pain. The sounds grew louder as the knights approached a chamber with a faint glow. The muffles of pain grew more intense and the laughter became somehow distorted.

When they finally reached the entrance, Kudurak signaled for the other three to take up assault positions, and then proceeded to walk into the chamber.

The dark torture room that he had walked into was lined with skulls of stallions and decorated with splats of dried blood from centuries in the past when torture and death was common in equestrian society. In the chamber stood a royal guard with a hand drill and a tall mare with her hooves tied down to a torture bed. The hand drill mentioned was being drilled into her hooves as she tried to scream, but was halted by the rag tied around her mouth. Tears soaked her cheeks as blood slowly emerged from the wounds made by the drill. Her horn was tied off and placed into a machine that sat a mere few feet behind her.

The guard heard Kudurak enter and halted his actions to turn and face the furious stallion that stood behind him. He merely grinned at the dark Pegasus and looked around the chamber.

"Ah, Kudurak, I knew you would follow me but I did not think that you would be so foolish as to come alone."' The darkened earthpony said as he placed the drill on the torture bed.

"I knew you wouldn't be a challenge, so I decided it best to come alone." Kudurak said with confidence as he knew this was a lie.

"Hmpf. You don't think too far ahead do you? I might have the princess of the sun and you might have caught me in the act of killing her, but what of the Princess of the Moon. Oh, what was her name? Luna, was it?"

Kudurak's eyes widened as he spoke. What if his guards had failed and she was in trouble?

"you see, Kudurak, my kind cannot be defeated by the likes of mere soldiers. We are the disciples of the one and only true ruler of Equestria. "

"and who might that be?" Kudurak said with a hint of worry in his voice.

"His name is known by few, he lurks in shadows, and he is trusted by many. Many don't know of his secret alliance to the Corruption, So much so that he actually isn't aware of it himself."

"Whoever it is, I will find him and I will be sure he is brought to the guillotine for immediate execution!" Kudurak yelled as he grit his teeth. He could feel his impatience for this pony growing steadily.

"HAH! You are a fool Kudurak! You will never catch him! And I will be there to see that you never do!" the demented pony said as he charged at Kudurak with a dagger.

Kudurak rushed forward and dodged the dagger by mere millimeters, then turned and immediately brought his shurikens from his forehoof and threw them at the aggressor, pulling the dagger from his hoof and pinning it to the wall. The demented pony turned with rage and leaped at Kudurak with full force, knocking the stunned Pegasus to the wall with a loud thud. Kudurak quickly regained his stature and ducked to the side as he dodged another attack from the aggressor and returned the attack with a slash of his kunai that he kept on his left forehoof. The kunai cut into the side of the pony's face and ran across his eye, blinding the stallion in the process. The guard shrieked as his eye was cut through the iris and he fell over with his hoof over the incision. Before the guard could recover, he felt a sharp pain shoot through his nerves from his spine. The dark Pegasus whom he'd been fighting had gotten the upper hand, and used the opportunity to drive a kunai through his opponent's spine, separating the nerves from his spine and nearly cutting off all connection to his lower body. The stallion in question screamed in pain as his eyes widened and he felt his strength disappearing entirely from the trauma.

The guard shook in sheer horror as he felt a wet substance running down his side. He immediately turned to see what it was and found his dark grey coat soaked in blood. He was bleeding out and there was nothing he could do to stop it. As he tried to turn over in an effort to block the wound, Kudurak swiped again at the pony, shredding through his stomach and causing his internal organs to spill onto the floor where he started to choke on his own blood. He stared with absolute fear at his body, seeing his internal organs sprawled across the wood floor before him. He tried with all his remaining strength to pull his mangled tissue into his body again as he swapped his terrified glare to his opponent, who simply walked away as he slowly lost consciousness. His acid green eyes dilated as he finally leaned his head back and died.

Kudurak walked over to the princess of the sun, who was still in pain from the hand drill which lied upon the torture bed. He looked up at the recently tortured mare, who in turn gave him a faint glance. She was almost unconscious.

Kudurak knew this was not the time to sit idly by. He had to do something. He took out his kunai and slowly reached for the ropes holding the princess in place. With one quick twitch, the kunai easily cut through the worn ropes and set the princess almost entirely free. He reached over her head, releasing her horn from the machine behind her and letting her get down from the slightly suspended table.

She lay on the ground as he cut the cloth from her mouth, allowing her to speak.

"Who...who are you?" the princess said as she seemed to be more afraid of the stallion than the guard, even though she had plenty of power at her disposal.

"Fear not my liege, for I am Kudurak, a humble servant of your empire," Kudurak said humbly as he bowed to the towering mare before him.

"Why have you come alone to save me, and why have I never heard your name before?" she asked, confused.

"I…I…am not a regular servant of your empire, your highness," he said as he lowered his head.

"Oh? And how is that? I know everypony in Equestria and yet you are the only pony I do not know. Are you from here?"

"Yes, your majesty. I am from here, but I serve a higher purpose than even your guards do. The position I serve under is so important and crucial to the castle's safety that neither you nor Princess Luna know of us. However, this scenario calls for drastic measures and I cannot do so while you doubt my loyalty. I will tell you of my profession and my purpose."

"Very well. Go on."

"I am Kudurak, high commander of the Shrouded Knights. We are secret order of battle-hardened soldiers who have trained in silent and stealth arts. We are never seen by anypony and we sit in the darkest areas of the castle and wait for anything that the guards can't handle. We watch everything anypony does in the kingdom and if we see anypony doing something they shouldn't, we put them in line. In fact, there are 3 of us above you currently, watching your every move."

"Wha-What?" She said with her head moving around the room to try to find these knights the stallion spoke of.

Kudurak arched his head back and spoke with a commanding tone, "Knights! Relieve stealth protocol! Meet your ruler in person."

Suddenly, three shadows pulled from the ceiling and landed in front of the Princess. Two black Pegasi and a single grey Pegasus. The three acknowledged the Princess and all four bowed as they said:

"We are your humble servants, my liege."

Chapter 3: Corruption

The five ponies ran through the castle to the courtyard, where the rest of the ponies were to be waiting for them. As they entered the courtyard, two soldiers rushed to Kudurak, saying that Luna was in trouble. Kudurak froze when he heard this and Celestia raised an eyebrow at him, wondering why Luna wasn't in the castle with her to begin with.

Kudurak made a poor poker face and turned to address the situation at hand. He told the squad to meet at his cottage and to secure the perimeter. They nodded in agreement and disappeared into the shadows. He then signaled the other four to follow him and make haste.

Celestia had a slight limp to her gallop due to the recent drill wound in her hoof, and the other three decided to hold position in defending the princess as she made her way to the cottage. Kudurak, not wondering or knowing of what was going on behind him, bolted as fast as he could to his cottage, leaving the other four behind.

Multiple thoughts ran through his mind as Kudurak made longer and longer strides, narrowly avoiding benches and rocks in front of him as he dashed through the narrow walkways of the city. 'What if he was too late? What if Luna was dead? What if she was captured?' all these thoughts ran through his mind at once, causing him to start to shed tears.

They made their way around the last turn to his cottage, and smelled something different in the air. It smelled faintly like smoke…

Kudurak's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he stared at the burning mess that was his cottage. The flames engulfed the entire building and started to break apart the supports inside. Seeing the dancing destruction as she finally rounded the corner to see, Celestia brought a cloud over the cottage and put out the fire with a long drench of water.

Without any thought, Kudurak ran to the smoldering remains of his cottage and desperately tried to locate his lover and princess. He searched in every nook and cranny for signs of her, but with no luck to aid his struggle. He stopped and stood among the rubble with his head bowed.

The Alicorn who had been following them made her way to him, wondering why he had stopped looking around. When she neared him, she began to hear sobs from him and she placed her hoof on his shoulder. The stallion next to her turned his head to reveal his ever flowing tears from his eyes. She gasped as she wondered why he was crying like this.

"Why are you crying, soldier?" she asked sincerely.

"I… I loved her. She was the best thing in my life and now she is gone. After my days at guard, I would head to my cottage where she would be waiting for me, arms open for a loving embrace to welcome me home. We did everything together when we could, though her royal duties prevented us from being together in public. To me, there is nopony who is equal to her beauty." He said with tears still soaking his cheeks and sobs from his voice.

"Oh my… I never knew that's where she went off to all those times..." The Princess said as she tried to comfort him. She did not know, however, that Kudurak had developed an extremely strong emotional block during his career, and this had been the first time he had let his feelings go in years.

Kudurak accepted her comfort and relaxed his head onto her shoulder, letting more tears escape his eyes as he did so. Photon and the other two knights stood further back, standing guard. Photon glanced over to see the emotionally crippled Pegasus with the princess. In that instance, he began to sob as well, but not before another jolt shot through his body and caused him to shake and close his eyes in pain. he opened his eyes after the pain had worn off to reveal an acid green glow replacing his iris…