The night was clear, if a little windy. Rain I could stand, but wind ? You try standing out in the dark with cold air blasting through your ears for hours ! I’d taken up station in a musty abandoned tool shack, now used as a dump for damaged and unwanted dockers equipment. I had to watch my footing, nearly crying out in fright when a coil of rope slithered from its hook up in the rafters and brushed against my flank on its way down. An image of a deadly Everfree forest snake, fangs dripping venom, materialised briefly in my imagination. I stamped my hoof down hard on the thing, subconsciously ‘killing’ the snake and re-focussing on the task at hoof.

Sweet Luna, I was bored. We’d been here for hours and nothing, not an iota of movement from the single warehouse on the wharf. Could my contact have had the wrong day ? the wrong time ? I began to question whether I had read the note correctly, oh Goddesses ! Had I blown months of investigative work through carelessness ? “No”, I whispered to myself under my breath, it was not the time to start doubting myself. It was the right day and the right time, though something, something I couldn’t quite put my hoof on, was ringing alarm bells in the back of my head. I pushed the thought away and gave a snort, we were all on edge, I just had to keep focussed and push any intrusive thoughts away. The plan would work.

The teams were assembled in packets across the wharf area, signals would be given by magical flare and the Watches trans-etheral devices, or ‘TED’s as we called them. These were handy little magical articles which slipped over ones head and ear, another concoction of Speak Easy’s ingenious department. Once tuned to the crystals in the other devices, we could hear and speak to one another surprisingly easily. It sure beat the old days of whistles, shouts or screaming at the top of your lungs to one
another. If I ever found out which of Speak Easy’s ponies had invented these, I’d kiss them. Metaphorically of course.

I rubbed my forelegs together for warmth, never taking my eyes away from the window. It was dusty but I daren’t try to rub it clean in case some pony noticed the movement. This night, or rather morning as it was rapidly becoming, had to go without with a hitch.

Moving my hind legs to keep cramp at bay, the minutes ticked by and I resisted the urge to call up the other officers of the watch for reports on any movement. They were good, trained by Mitre himself, I knew these ponies would do their part. We trusted one another with our lives, and we had, on occasion. That was back even when the majority of Manehatten’s reported crimes were nothing more exciting than stolen flowers, apples or Celestia forbid, fashion designs !

A crackle from the TED caught my attention and I pressed a hoof to it, “Fairlight” I whispered. The voice that came back sounded tense, “We’ve got movement. From the river, looks like a barge. No lights, I count four, maybe five on deck. Hard to see in this light Cap’”. Crumble Top was an experienced watch mare, a lieutenant of several years in the Manehatten watch alone. Her violet eyes never missed a trick and the ponies who knew her, had quickly learnt never to try and sneak things past her vigilant gaze. I had always known her as a pony to rely on, her icy calm was infectious with the ponies around her and they trusted her implicitly. Tonight, the strain in her voice was testament to the pressure we were all under. “They’ve got at least one unicorn with them, I can see the glow from here. They’re pulling in to the dock side now. Crumble out.”

The TED went quiet, a few moments went by and the gruff voice of Cloud Spiral crackled, “Affirmative on the movement, counting five ponies here heading towards the main warehouse. Unicorn up front with a lantern, four ponies, possibly earth type. Unknown if armed.”

Another voice, Dawn Rush this time, “No pegasi detected, maintaining perimeter sweep”.

Silence. I had asked for minimal TED communications in case the targets had unicorns who could detect it. “Highly unlikely”, I had been told by the court procurator, “but still, a possibility. As their use is new, unicorns wont necessarily know to look out for their magical wavelength”. I was a little unsure of these new devices, their efficiency however had proved to be exceptional. Still, I wanted to take as few chances as possible. I extended this to the flying squad, Dawn was keeping her squad hidden set up in the cranes and buoys out in the bay. Any flight ran the chance of being detected even against the stars by an eagle eyed pony. If they had pegasi of their own, they would more than likely be using them as scouts to check the wharf before docking. These guys knew what they were doing and to catch them, we had to be one step ahead. Tonight, was that step.

The ticking of my pocket watch felt deafeningly loud as I plucked it out of my pocket. Later than planned, but still, pre-dawn. I could feel the seconds inexorably dragging by, clunking one after the other after the other. A slight shuffle behind me caught my attention. Looking round I saw watch sergeant Heather rubbing the sleep from her eyes, then giving me a nod. She looked as tired as I felt but the fiery blaze of determination in her eyes removed any shred of doubt about her resolve.

I turned back to the window.

Through the gloom, I could make out the windows of the warehouse by the glint of moonlight off the glass. The building was in darkness, not, I suspected, for much longer. Sure enough, the warm yellow glow of a lantern appeared, almost imperceptibly, through the dirty windows nearest the large waterside doors. The light disappeared, reappearing a moment later at another window as the lanterns holder made their way through the cavernous buildings interior.

I activated the TED, “Stand by. Stand by”. I slipped out my truncheon from a coat pocket. The cherry wood heirloom was dented and scratched from years of service, old, but effective. Nicknamed ‘donkey wallopers’ by the watch, I wondered whether my trusty sidearm would have a chance to thump some ‘donkeys’ tonight. I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Behind me, the silken sound of Heather drawing her truncheon was re-assuring, good to know some pony had by back. Meadow would kill me if I came back with more injuries for her to heal. Tonight, I silently prayed to the Goddesses, would go without a hitch. Surprise them and they’d give up without a fight, we’d done it before and everything was in place to ensure it happened again. Of course, things never ‘quite’ went to plan, but improvisation was a skill encouraged within the watch. Mitre knew his ponies well.

I could almost sense the tension building in my officers, the watch ponies with them would be preparing to make their move on the officers command. This was it, finally !

And there…there it was. The now unmistakable silvery blue swirling light, radiating from the windows like a beacon from the beyond. It still filled me with wonder and awe every time I saw it. Catching one still in operation was the trick, and hopefully tonight would be the night. I hit the transmit button on the TED. “This is it ponies ! Officers take charge of your teams. Stick to the plan everyone, comms open, weapons out. We go on three. Three….two….one…..move !”

As one, the well practiced and co-ordinated ponies of the Manehatten Watch moved into action. Even now, after all these years, the sound of dozens of ponies moving almost silently in to engage an opponent was a huge adrenalin rush. Most ponies probably had no idea what was going on right under their noses, and that was the way we liked it. The days of finding lost kittens and birds was over, we had all had to adapt to a new Equestria. One I was determined to keep as safe for every pony as I could.

Our black watch barding whispered as we closed on the building, every member of my squad barely visible in the moonlight but for the occasional glint on a eye or teeth gripping a sidearm.

We stopped by the side entrance to the warehouse, a rusty old steel door scouted earlier by the ‘dock workers’ who we’d sent in to help with ‘maintenance’. The locks had been checked, oiled and working keys found for any locks. Planning for the operation had been meticulous, all we’d had to do was wait for the mouse to walk happily into the trap.

I looked to my watch sergeant, she held the padlock from the door in her teeth and placed it quietly on the ground. “Ready ?” I mouthed silently. She nodded back in response.

I whispered into the TED, “All teams report status.”
“Raven team in position.”
“Eagle team in position,”
“Condor team in position”
“Sparrow team in position”

“Budgie team ready to run interference”

Oh Goddesses, there was always one wasn’t there ? “Y’know”, Dawn had told me, “Ya might think ah’m a bein’ flippant. But y’all remember the name though don’tcha ?”. I remembered the name, Dawn would remember her role. Right now, all pegasi would be preparing to leave their positions and circle the target area keeping lookout for any unknown threats to emerge and to help with co-ordination should it become necessary.

“On three everyone, three…two…one….lets move !”

Yule, the big ex-boxing mare, bucked the steel door open. The oiled hinges swinging open as another pony rolled in a flash bug. The casing split open a moment later. The furious green creature inside, incensed by its sudden rude jolting, defended itself the way all flash bugs do in their time honoured fashion; It blasted out a blinding white light as bright as a thousand suns. As if this wouldn’t be enough to deter a would be attacker, the bug had another defense which it used in combination. Releasing a rapid pulse of flammable gas from glands on its body, the light would ignite it creating a satisfyingly loud ‘pop’.

Multiply this by four and you have what, we hoped, would be a sufficient distraction to any pony in the warehouse giving us enough time to take them down without anyone being harmed.

We charged in. Shouting in unison, all four team poured into the warehouse converging on the now visible group of cloaked figures standing together in a huddle. Staring out at their attackers, they all lowered their forelegs and heads in a fighting stance. This wouldn’t take long, we outnumbered them four to one, a quick tap on the noggin and it would be goodnight Maisie.

Something was off. I didn’t know what the hell it was, but this was…wrong. The other officers of the watch, steeped in the experience years in the watch brings, slowed their rush too. The teams, sensing their leaders change, also slowed but still kept position and alertness. I had a bad feeling about this. I held up a foreleg, halting the watch.

“This is the equestrian watch, you will lay down your arms and surrender. All of you are under arrest. You will be read your rights as dictated by the laws of Princess Celestia.”

Nothing.

Yule took a step forward, lowering her head and snarling at the cloaked ponies. “You heard the captain, take off those cloaks and lower your weapons. Do it ! Or I’ll crack your heads open”. She had a way with words, bless her hooves.

Frustrated with the lack of movement from the group, Yule gripped the corner of one of the ponies cloaks and pulled hard.

With a flurry, the cloak fluttered into the air, revealing a black stallion with a white mane, tail and intense blue eyes. The imposing size of the pony would have been enough to balk any pony, with the exception of Yule of course, if it hadn’t also been for the strange contraption strapped to the earth ponies back and head.

The ethereal light from the swirling magic of the trans-dimensional mirror portal behind him, glinted off the black metal the pony wore. He nodded to his companions and together, they each removed their cloaks revealing more of the devices. Nopony moved, I stood there like a foal, perplexed at what I was seeing. Shaking myself, I took a step forward and opened my mouth to speak. Just as I did so, the light in the mirror flared and a hoof emerged, followed by a tall white pony. When I say tall, I mean huge ! This, yes, a mare…just checking, looked at least double my height. As she stepped gracefully though the mirror, she ducked to allow her horn to pass under the mirrors frame. Celestia, she was amazing, so……tall !

Mentally slapping myself, I took in all I saw. I wasn’t the only one either, every eye in the warehouse was focussed on the spectacle before us. This was going to be some report when I got back to the watch house.

The metal clad ponies spread out, forming a barrier between us and the white mare. Her yellow mane and tail flowed out behind her like a river of flowing gold, a white silk dress covering her cutie mark and flank. Almost regally, she calmly surveyed the scene.

“What is this ?” She asked, or more accurately ‘announced’ to the assembled ponies.

“I’m sorry ma’am” I spoke out in my most polite but authoritative voice, “I must place you all under arrest until enquiries can be completed. If you are innocent of charges, you will be free to go.”

She held up a foreleg and wave her hoof nonchalantly, “Arrest ?”. She let out a girlish chuckle, endearing in any other circumstance. In this one, I felt my blood run cold and I took a stronger grip on the truncheon.

The mare smiled, “I don’t think so, mister…… ?”

“Fairlight, Captain of the Equestrian Watch, Manehatten division”.

“I see….’Captain’…..”, She looked down her sleek, smooth muzzle at me with those azure eyes. “I’m afraid my….employers….will not take kindly to any ‘watch’ interference in our activities. I regret, my dear captain, that we must end our discourse.” She shook her mane. Not a hair out place either, ohhhhhh Celestia !

The mare backed up to the mirror and closed her eyes, raising her head.

“Oh hell…Stop them !” I shouted, but it was too late. A large purple bubble popped into existence around the five. Yule’s bucks proving completely ineffectual against the glowing shield.

“Damn it !” I cursed, nodding to our magic users to prepare a counter spell. We would still take these ponies down, but now, it would just take a little bit longer, that was all. Nothing to worry abou……….

What was the strange noise ? A weird metallic whining sound had started up inside the purple magic bubble. As I peered in, I saw a rotating set of tubes, strapped to the back of one of the ponies, begin to lower. The stallion pointed the open end of the now rapidly spinning tubes at the assembled watch, who stood there perplexed at what they were seeing.

The white mare looked at me with a sad look on her face, “Its been a pleasure meeting you captain…. ‘Fairlight’ wasn’t it ? But sadly, all good things must come to an end. I hope you will forgive me.”

A panicked voice, Dawns, screamed over my TED, the other watch officers heard it too, looking at each other in alarm….”Get out of there ! Get out now !”

The white mares previously seductive look had been replaced with one as dark as the night sky. “Goodbye Captain Fairlight of the Equestrian Watch”