Author's Note: Hello everyone, I haven't really done this sort of thing in a while so I may be rusty. I had an idea I wanted to get to writing and think it is about time I actually started.
All constructive criticism is welcome but I'm hopeful that you will enjoy this more than anything else. Without further ado, the introductory chapter of the Vesper Guardian.
Vesper Guardian
Chapter 1
The Streets of Phillydelphia
Phillydelphia was one of the more metropolitan centers of Equestria, yet this very moment could have easily made it seem more like a quiet suburb. Everything was quiet and still, no commotion or traffic to speak of just the gentle sounds of a few hooves clacking along the cobblestone streets.
It was easily another few hours before dawn and the two unicorns walking along one of the city's secluded neighborhoods were slowly making their way towards the edge of town. The pair were an unlikely duo with stark contrasts that immediately made it known they were not related, at least not like blood relatives to say the least.
The first of the unicorns was a male, his fur was an azure blue that seemed almost unnatural in its dazzling brilliance. To the untrained observer it would almost seem like there were flecks of white dispersed throughout the blue coat covering his body but that was only an illusion. This illusion was enhanced mainly due to his gray and white two-tone mane, which seemed to divide the differing colors to his left and right sides, respectively, without crossing over into the other color's side. His eyes were something truly awe-inspiring to those who took the time to look at them, an amber color with deeply orange hues that almost sparkled as they reflected the light from the moon directly ahead of him. He was in his late twenties, at least judging from his appearance and was relatively tall even by unicorn stallion standards.
To his right, walking beside him was a mare unicorn who was keeping pace with his longer strides but she seemed to be straining to keep up. She was easily half his age, maybe in her early teens and seemed to be looking at the male beside her with a deepening and conflicted interest in her emerald eyes. Her coat was a fuchsia color resembling a pinkish purple mix with a mane of deep lavender with one fine teal streak running through the length of the mane. Her cutie mark was a scythe and scimitar crisscrossing with four tiny stars in between each of the intersecting sections, one on the top, bottom, left and right quadrants of the cutie mark.
The male seemed to have already realized that his partner on this long walk wanted to ask something but didn't know if she should interrupt his thoughts. Admittedly he was distracted with the recent events going on throughout Equestria, it just didn't seem normal.
Princess Celestia had been very clear in her orders, go to Phillydelphia and find the reason behind the recent rise in criminal activity which seemed to include everything from arson to theft as well as some petty vandalism. Honestly this seemed like a wild goose chase and far below the normal responsibilities he was generally tasked to handle by the princess. The local law enforcement were more than equipped to deal with items like organized crime in his opinion.
He only agreed to the task at hoof mainly because his new student required some in the field training. Originally, he had vehemently declined to take such a young pony on as a protege but her unyielding resolve and months... and months of determination to gain his acceptance won him over if not begrudgingly so.
The reason behind the recent influx of this new crime wave was, in part, due to an expansion of problems from Manehattan where certain elements had been finding new untouched cities to gain a foothold in untapped resources. Handling this wasn't really a problem for somepony with their set of skills but Princess Celestia did make it clear that they were not to draw attention to themselves, of course this just complicated things.
After a few short weeks or reconnaissance, the two of them had been able to map out the area and pinpoint the leaders of this group of pony thugs. It wasn't really a very big challenge, the term "organized crime" was really being lenient for these stallions. There wasn't a game plan to speak of, just hoodlums looking to make easy bits by terrorizing the city's inhabitants.
Earlier in the evening the two unicorns had gotten the drop on the majority of this gang when they attempted to hold up a charity function involving rich business ponies, being led by none other than Canterlot's elite figurehead and trendsetter Fancypants. It hadn't been an extremely exerting exercise, just a stop and disable tactic before things became out of hand. Between the two of them, they had taken out roughly fifteen to twenty ponies using various arrays of magic and some military style combat training. Afterwards the local Phillydelphia authorities took custody of the rabble-rousers and that was that. Nothing out of hand for their specialties but the male unicorn was still pleased with the results and how far his new student had progressed already.
Finally deciding that the silently waiting mare couldn't be ignored any longer the male was the first to speak. "Scylene, if you have something to ask the direct approach might be the best approach", he stated with a barely noticeable sigh.
"Commander Seraph, why?" Scylene said without any further elaboration.
It was the first time Seraph had turned his head away from the night's sky since their walk to the outskirts of town began that night. He looked at the young mare with his piercing eyes radiating power and an age well beyond what one might think possible from somepony apparently so young... both of them shared this characteristic. As he looked at her, he saw the same forest green aura he has noticed every time he looked at her emanating from Scylene's body.
It was something he could always see when he looked at a pony, a colored aura to indicate personality and emotions radiating from the individual. He wasn't sure why he could see this but it had been apparent early on in his life that this was a unique trait to him alone as far as he knew. The color for unicorns and alicorns that he looked at was generally easy to identify as the colorful hue their horns took when using magic nearly always matched their aura's unique color. Pegasus and Earth ponies were not as simple, they had an aura with specific colors but their lack of magic and horns made sure that only Seraph could identify these traits.
"Scylene, the direct approach doesn't mean you have to be vague. Just asking why doesn't tell me what you want to know." He tried to give her a meaningful look but showed the same caring smile he had shown her after the earlier events that evening seeing to the criminals being subdued and perhaps some pride in his student's talent. "And how many times have I told you to stop saying Commander, it is just Seraph." Scylene still hadn't taken this request for informality well even after the last few months of him reminding her.
"Seraph, why did Celestia send us here... this doesn't seem like a suitable job for the commander of the royal guard." Scylene had gotten to the heart of the matter quicker than Seraph had thought she would have, but he didn't seem to be surprised in the slightest.
In all honesty he had wondered if she was going to ask him about this tonight. "Scylene, you know very well we are not the Royal Guard... we are the Vesper Guard. The Royal Guard protects the "Princess" in a very visible function to display authority." Seraph wanted to make clear use of the term of princess that his student clearly omitted when mentioning Celestia's name earlier without the title.
"And what about us! We protect her too... and her interests." Scylene was a bit impatient with her mentor due to her clear dislike of his play on semantics of the title of the two different guard squads.
Seraph turned back to the moon at this point, which caused Scylene to follow his lead as they continued to walk away from the city and the thinning of houses becoming apparent as they continued.
"You're right Scylene, we do protect everything the Royal Guard does... and more. The difference, is that we do so in a covert manner." Seraph wanted to get this point across, "we stay in the shadows, never being too visible to the population. Equestria doesn't need to know who we are and we don't need accolades to prove our worth.
"If ponies started to focus on us and our role, it would only make it that much more difficult to do our duties to the royal family. Look at the Royal Guard, everyone knows who they are and if one of the uniformed ponies in that guard walks into a crowd everypony knows it. It makes blending in a nightmare, trust me", Seraph stated with an experienced tone that conveyed he knew what he was saying.
Scylene didn't seem fully satisfied with the response and decided to continue the conversation. "Yes, you've told me that we are, and I quote, "the shield and sword of Equestria" but that doesn't explain why we came here for this."
Seraph began to smile inwardly, he was impressed she wasn't being distracted from the original question too easily. For somepony so young, Scylene was remarkably focused and perhaps too perceptive as he thought about it to himself.
"You're right again, Scylene. Princess Celestia's domain is all of Equestria, us protecting Phillydelphia from dangerous elements is one of her interests." Seraph was hoping this would satisfy her for now, it wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either.
There was one more reason they had come to Phillydelphia and it was Seraph's true ulterior motive, but the zebra's prediction so far had not come to pass during their stay in the metropolitan area. He wondered if this had been a bit of a waste of time as his gaze continued to focus on the moon slowly lowering across the night's sky.
Scylene had, for the moment, let the inquisition drop although she suspected he wasn't telling her everything. This was part of the nature of their relationship, even during training exercises he constantly withheld details from her, forcing her to figure out the subtleties of the lesson on her own. She appreciated this fact to be completely honest, as it showed her that Seraph either had enough faith that she would figure things out on her own or he was intent on watching her learn from her failures as much as her successes. Either way she was content on being his student, his right hoof if you will, which is all she ever wanted since she discovered the existence of the Vesper Guard years ago.
Scylene had been adjusting her gaze between the moon that Seraph had been looking at most of the night and Seraph himself. Then she noticed it, his ears that had been laying flatly against his head most of the night were currently pointing straight up... he was listening for something.
She began to listen for whatever it was that Seraph had honed in on, considering they were outside the city's limits by this point there wasn't too much ambient noise interfering. She heard it, hooves stepping along the ground nearby in a gingerly manner. Whoever they were, they were keeping pace with the two of them but requiring far more steps to keep up than the two of them were actually taking.
Scylene turned to Seraph and said, "Sir, should I handle it?"
Seraph seemed to contemplate her words for a moment, "so you heard it too?" was his only reply.
"Yes, what are your orders?" reminding him about her suggestion.
Before Seraph could respond, the source of the light hooves along the ground had stopped. A small shadowy figure darted out of a bush nearby. Scylene took this as her cue and tackled the figure to the ground immediately, hooves crossed around its neck and her horn was glowing its forest green hue in a threatening manner.
Before she was able to do anything further Scylene had been engulfed by an extremely pale blue aura that could have easily been mistaken for white. Her entire body was lifted off the intruder and she quickly realized it had been Seraph himself that was moving her. Once she had been returned to the ground she turned to Seraph giving him a confused and almost hurt look as though she could not see why he intervened.
Seraph just turned his head toward the figure she had pounced on and Scylene followed suit.
It was a young pegasus colt, no more than 8 years old with a brown coat that had a gray hue and a black mane. The striking characteristic was his eyes, a vibrant blue which seemed quite light compared to his other darker color schemed features.
Seraph spoke up first as the colt got back to his feet. "Forgive my student's rash actions. She is eager to prove herself to me, sometimes she acts on instinct alone. I'll work on honing that skill with her in the future." Scylene felt she was being reprimanded by Seraph indirectly but he wasn't speaking harshly, on the contrary he seemed to be saying it with a caring tone. If anything he was trying to open a dialogue with the young colt.
"My name is Seraph, what's yours... and what are you doing out here at this hour if I may ask?" Seraph had narrowed his eyes slightly to make sure the aura he had been viewing on the colt was accurate. It had been rare for him to see such a bright color almost resembling white on any being before, this child had a white aura with just a hint of yellow shining through. Rare indeed, Seraph thought to himself...
The pegasus colt seemed very calm for such a young one after being assaulted by a mare like Scylene. "My name.. is Nightshade", was the young one's response. "And what are you doing out her at this hour?" He asked of the two unicorns, repeating Seraph's question right back at them.
Seraph saw no point in lying if he was going to get to the bottom of this anyway, after all he and Scylene weren't on confidential business at the moment. "We're just walking to the train station to go home, and what about you Nightshade?" Seraph's tone was kind but this time much more serious implying he wanted the answer he was waiting for. "And where are your parents?"
The last question had a hint of accusation since the colt should not have been out at this late hour in the middle of nowhere and his parents should have been keeping a closer eye on him.
This was the first time Seraph noticed a slightly watery look in the colt's eyes, albeit briefly, as Nightshade quickly refocused his efforts to hide that expression. "I don't... I don't have any... parents." It was soft but clearly audible without any other noises to conflict with out here in the open area they were standing in.
A light breeze was making its way through the air, it was a late Spring morning so the temperature was quite comfortable, unfortunately the conversation was no longer as pleasant. Scylene seemed to lower her jaw slightly and raise her eyebrows in an imperceptive manner while Seraph just nodded slightly. Very little seemed to be surprising him tonight, to be honest not much surprised at all lately.
"I won't ask you what happened to them", Seraph said trying to be kind but still touching on the subject anyway. "Where have you been living?" Now Seraph wanted an answer, there was no way he would leave an orphan on the road alone out here at this time of night.
"Out here... I was in an orphanage until a few weeks ago but the bad ponies came and... burned it down..." Nightshade's response took a moment to settle in. Seraph and Scylene had heard about some of the arson going on in the city but were not aware an orphanage had been destroyed.
"What about the other orphans, where are they... did they make it out safely?" Scylene said, joining in the conversation feeling like she had to ask this for her own conscience.
"Mmm... yeah they made it out ok but everyone was split up to go to new places... I didn't want to go somewhere else again, so I ran away out here." Nightshade looked at the empty area around him to show the two of them where he had been living. Upon a second look, Seraph noticed the malnourished look on the young colt.
"You know we can't leave you out here alone, right?" Seraph's question was more of a statement than anything else. He came to his decision rather quickly about how to handle this... remembering to give the zebra named Zecora his gratitude later for her prediction about the events unfolding at this moment. This would result in far greater implications down the road and he knew it, however there were only a few options available. If Seraph was right then the colt might have heard enough about the Vesper Guard to be a problem for everypony.
Scylene caught on quickly, her eyes widening with an incredulous impression. "You can't be serious... he's half my age!" she exclaimed now looking directly at Seraph. "First that new unicorn brat Twilight Sparkle gets Princess Celestia to notice her and takes her on as her personal student... now you're replacing me with another colt the same age as her too..." Scylene said in a hurt tone as though she thought herself being abandoned, her head now ducking dejectedly towards the ground.
"Who said you were being replaced?" Scylene raised her head in one fluid motion, a look of renewed hope in her eyes after Seraph's last question. There was a pause but Seraph just thought of something Scylene said, "And how do you know Twilight Sparkle is a brat or not? I didn't realize you two had met yet, even I haven't met the princess's new student yet... although I heard her entrance exam was a sight to behold." Seraph voiced in an amused sort of inflection thinking of the stories he had heard just one month prior.
"Come on Seraph, a filly that young getting the princess of the sun's attention at that age with magic most adults would find themselves at a loss to perform has to be a brat." Scylene said this in a way that made it sound like the truth rather than an assumption which it obviously was. She was noticeably more upbeat than she had been just two minutes ago when she thought she was being replaced... well upbeat for Scylene anyway, Seraph had always thought she took herself far too seriously for a mare her age.
Nightshade had just been watching the two unicorns talking back and forth, thinking for a moment that he had been forgotten, until Seraph turned his head back to the young colt one more time looking him straight in the eyes. Seraph's amber-orange ones piercing Nightshade's blue eyes giving a brief appearance as if Seraph was looking into his soul for a brief moment.
"Nightshade, have you ever been to Canterlot?" Seraph asked, when the young pony shook his head no in response Seraph continued, "I think you'll like it, there's a castle with beautiful buildings, houses and shops as far as the eye can see. It is on the side of a cliff making the view of Equestria incredibly spectacular from every vantage point." Truth be told Seraph always thought the city was a marvel in its own right for where it was and how it was constructed but trying to convey that into words just didn't get the point across about the land's majestic capital.
Nightshade seemed to hesitantly consider his options, it was either this or stay out here and slowly starve... or get attacked by somepony or something far worse. He nodded slowly to Seraph but looked over at Scylene who was currently sizing him up in a none too kind manner, as if annoyed by this change of events.
Nightshade was looking at Seraph again and seemed to have a question, "Seraph... what kind of cutie mark is that?" It was boldly stated for someone so young in an unsure situation like the one he found himself in tonight but even so Nightshade was pointing to the cutie mark on Seraph's flank with one of his front hooves.
Seraph chuckled to no pony in particular as he noticed the blank flank on Nightshade, thinking to himself that the curiosity the colt had may just be that, innocent curiosity. Seraph turned his head towards his own flank to view his cutie mark and took a moment to really appreciate something so simple and yet complex as it reflected a pony's natural talent.
The cutie mark was a relatively large bird of a yellow color with waves of red and orange protruding from the edges of the feathers. It was facing outward with its wings spread fully and talons pointed downward at the sides of its own body, clearly in flight.
"That Nightshade, is a phoenix." Seraph did not say anything more, knowing it would elicit a response.
What he did not expect was that Scylene would be the one to ask the next question. "What is a phoenix? I've heard of them but never really studied the magical bird myself... And how is that a cutie mark?" Seraph realized he had never explained his cutie mark to Scylene or anyone other than the princesses, not that were still alive anyway.
"One day I'll tell you both if the time is right... just not tonight." Seraph didn't sound angry but he was still making it clear that this discussion was off-limits, at least for now. "Anymore questions you two?" Both Scylene and Nightshade shook their heads, unable to come up with anything else for the moment.
"Good, we'll head to the train station together... and when we get there we'll figure out where we go from here." Seraph stated as he looked from Nightshade to Scylene before taking the first steps on the path once more leading the group, which seemed to follow him in silence.
Seraph knew he was not good with children, he just didn't have that parental instinct anymore... bad memories sprang to life for just a moment before he locked them away once more to the recesses of his mind trying not to dwell on the past if he could avoid it. There were few alternatives available right now and time was short, they had to get going before dawn arrived if they were going to make the train.
Seraph looked up at the moon one last time that night, seeing the image of the mare on the moon glowing as it had for the last nine-hundred and eighty-seven years since Princess Luna's banishment. He missed her council, she was far better at handling situations than he was when it came to children... although she usually scared them away before they could see through her masked personality. He smiled to himself at the thought of Luna frightening the two young ponies next to him, things would have been so much easier.
To be continued...
