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It was almost midnight and Moonlight was almost done with his night patrol. He was in his bat pony form as he flew silently through the skies of Canterlot.

From the city below, a loud crash rang out. But thanks to his enhanced hearing. He heard the crash and decided to fly down to figure out what’s going on.

A window of a jewelry shop had been smashed in and it was obvious that somepony stole all of the jewels. He landed gently inside and looked around, hoping the thief is still around.

Suddenly, a mare ran up to him. “Please, you’ve got to help me! Somepony’s stolen my jewelry!” The mare said in a worried tone.

“Did you saw where the thief went?” He asked her calmly. “The thief went out the back door.” She said, pointing to the back of the shop.

He nodded. “Don’t worry, ma’am. I’ll bring the jewels back.” He said as he ran to the back door and opened it. Only to find nopony. He looked around to try and spot the thief but then suddenly there was another crash within the shop. He went back inside only to find that the mare from earlier had left...with everything in the shop.

He gritted his teeth in anger as he was tricked. But then calmed down as he used his magic to find where she went. The hoofsteps of the mare glowed as it trailed to where she went. He quickly followed where the trail ends, hopefully finding the thief. The hoofsteps traveled down the road towards a building before vanishing, not reaching the door. He landed at the end of the trail then looked around him. He didn’t see anything that might clue her whereabouts. But then a note fluttered to the ground. He took it with his hoof and read it.

’You certainly know how to treat a mare. Thanks for all the little trinkets. I’ll treasure them always. XOXO’

The name at the end was smudged out.He growled in anger but then calmed himself. He takes a look at the smudged name carefully. Part of the name was unlegable, but he could see that the beginning letters were JEW.

“Hm...” Moonlight decided to figure out the rest of the name and catch the thief another time. He flew back to the castle to report his findings to princess Luna, and after a short conversation he flew back home. He quietly opened the window to his room and went inside quietly not to wake up Ember as he closes the window and laid on his bed and fell asleep.

==========={TimeSkip}===========

Morning has arrived, and news about the robbery has already spread across the city as Moonlight was reading the newspaper.

“What’s the fuss about?” A voice said to him. “Huh?” He turned to the voice. Blake was looking at him, curious. “Heard that there was some kind of robbery in Canterlot.” He said. “Any idea what happened?”

He sighed as he place down the newspaper. He was in his pegasi form on daytime. He explained the situation that occured last night and then he hands him the paper that came from the thief. Blake took the paper and looked at it, then chuckled. “Wow... That must be so frustrating.” He said, looking back at Moonlight. He sighed. “Yeah...” He said. “Though this writing seems... Familiar somehow...” He said. Moonlight then looked at him. “What do you mean?” He asked. “I mean that this hoof-writing. I’ve seen it before but I don’t remember where...” He replied calmly.

Moonlight sighed. He sighed. “I know...” He said as he stood up from his chair. “I should go check on the barracks.” He said as he look at him. “Hey Moon, don’t let this get to you. I know you can get them.” Blake said. “Thanks, Blake...” He said with a small smile before turning to the door and walking out of the room.

Blake smiled at him as he left, then looked back at the note. “Who are you, Jew...”

Moonlight was walking on the streets of Canterlot on the road towards his barracks. He then suddenly bumped into a mare with a frizzled mane. “Oh! I’m so sorry!” She quickly said. He stumbled back a little as he bumped into the mare. “No, it’s okay. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” He said calmly as he look at her.

She was a black coated mare with a dark red mane. She looked at him nervously with her grey eyes. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten in your way to begin with...” She said. “It’s fine...are you alright?” He asked. She nodded at him. “Good...” He said with a sigh. “I should go.” He said to her as he walk past her and continued on his way.

She watched him go, looking at him curiously. When he was out of ears reach, she whispered to herself, “You certainly seem...familiar...” When he was far away from her. He whispered to himself as he walked. “She seems...familiar…” He said, remembering the thief last night. The distance between the two continued to grow as they headed towards their destinations.

==========={TimeSkip}===========

As nighttime came, Moonlight was now in his bat pony form once again as he flew above Canterlot for his nightly patrol. Though the main thing on his mind right now is to find the thief and catch her as soon as possible. As he flew over the city, he saw something duck into the shadows below. He quickly flew down silently and followed the figure. It dashed quickly between the shadows of the buildings, moving rather fast. Moonlight quickens his flight but kept himself hidden from the figure as he was catching up to it. He could see that it was a mare, but making out the details were a bit difficult. He continues to follow her until she slowly approached a building, looking it over. He stopped and hid in the dark corners of the buildings near where she is.

She took her place at the door and started to mess with it. He watched her carefully until there was a click and she opened the door. She took another look around before entering. As she disappears through the door, he suddenly turned into a mist before following her inside.

On the other side of the door was a hall decorated with strange relics and treasures. Some of which the likes have never been seen before. The mare walked down the hall past them all, not even glancing at them. He continued to follow her until she soon stopped in front of another door. Picking the lock, she opened the door and walked through. He quickly followed her inside.

The room was nearly completely bare compared to the hall. The mare trotted through the room, walking to an object covered in a tarp. He found a place to hide and returned to his normal form as he watched her walk to it. She walked up to the object and ran a hoof over the tarp, smiling. “Aren’t you just a thing of beauty...” She said softly. She grabbed the tarp gave it a tug, but it didn’t move. “Hmm?” She pulled it again and fell back as the tarp came off suddenly. “Woah.” Moonlight looked at the object.

With the tarp removed, he could see that underneath was a statue made of a strange material. It glowed dimly under the light as the mare stood up, smiling at it. “Don’t you worry... I’m here to take you home...” She said. “I don’t think so...” The mare looked around, wondering where the voice was coming from.

Moonlight walked out from where he’s hiding. The mare jumped back in surprise when she saw him. “What the hell? Who the fuck are you?!” She said, glaring at him.

“My name is Moonlight Sparks. And who are you supposed to be?” He replied and asked calmly.

“Scarlet... Scarlet Rose...” She said, her gaze not softening. “I’m guessing you’re the dipshit that stole this statue from my family, right?” She asked angrily.

“What are you talking about?” He asked. She pointed at the statue.

“That! I’ve been tracking it ever since your stupid goons broke into my family home and stole it, along with every other relic that belonged to my family!” She said with a hateful tongue. “Guess you didn’t expect the little daughter to be here to take it back, did ya?”

Moonlight was only confused. “I don’t know what your talking about here, clearly you mistaken me for somepony else...” He said. ‘Unless that pony is a chaos spirit that wants to plunge Equestria in chaos...’ He thought.

“Yeah... Go ahead and act like that. You work for Don Salvic! The pony that ruined my life... My family’s life! I’ll teach that asshole about messing with me!” She quickly charged at him.

As he charged towards him. He used his magic and put her inside a magical bubble and levitating it off the ground. ‘Don Salvic?’ He thought. He heard the name before but he can’t grasp who it was.

She growled at him. “Let me out of here!” She screamed. Then the lights turned on.

“What the hell is going on here?!” A loud voice boomed. Moonlight turned to the voice. There in the doorway was a gruff looking earth pony. He wore a silk fancy suit and was smoking a cigar. He looked at both of them with anger as two ponies gathered next to him. Both ponies visibly much bigger than any of them. “What in the hell are you doing in MY trophy room?!”

“Trophy?! You think of my family possessions as trophies?!” Scarlet yelled from within the bubble, drawing the attention of the pony.

“Is that... Jewel? You?! What the hell are you doing here? Did the old man send you here to pay off his debt?”

“Fuck you, you pig! You killed my father!” She roared at him, causing him to chuckle.

“Oh yeah... I nearly forgot that...” He said with a smile.

Moonlight narrowed his stare at the mention of her father killed by him and laugh about it. He’s really not liking this pony.

“And who the fuck is this? Your boyfriend?” The pony said, turning to Moonlight. “He is not my boyfriend!” Scarlet yelled.

Moonlight looked back at him. “The name’s Moonlight Sparks. Captain of the Night Raider.” He said in a serious tone.

The pony narrowed his eyes at him. “Captain, huh? Well, this is an honor. What is the Captain of the Night... Wingers, doing here? In my home?” He said.

“Well, I saw this mare breaking into your home so I followed her here...” Moonlight explained calmly. “To be honest this could’ve been prevented if there were somepony guarding the place.” He said, clearly not liking the way he talk about his army.

The pony looked at the buff pony to his right. “Weren’t you supposed to be on watch tonight?” He said, gritting his teeth. The pony only looked at him. “Geez, it’s like talking to a brick wall...”

“Now, if you’ll excuse us I must take her back to my barracks for questioning...” He said calmly as he suddenly disappeared and reappeared in one of the interrogation tents of his barracks.

“Good riddance to bad rubbish... Now, we still need to figure out who hit my shop the other night... Come on, you goofs!” The pony said after they left.

“What are you doing?!” Scarlet yelled at Moonlight, beating at the bubble. “You can’t do this to me!” She yelled once again. The bubble then disappeared as she landed in a sitting position in a chair. She looked at him with a scowl. “How could you? I was so close!” He sat on a chair on the other side of the table. “You realize breaking into somepony’s home and robbing jewelry shops are against the law?” He said calmly, looking at her. She didn’t look at him. He sighed. “Now, did he really killed your father?” He asked, even though he know the answer.

“Of course he did...” She replied. “He does to everypony that he deems as unreliable… No, he and his gang have been working across Equestria, doing horrible thing to those unlucky.” She said, keeping her eyes away from him.

“Hm, I see...” He said. ‘So this wasn’t the first time he done something like this...’ He thought.

“That pony, Don Salvic, correct? He mentioned the name Jewel…your name.” He said. She didn’t look at him. “Don’t believe anything that monster says... My name is Scarlet and I refuse to be known as anything else...”

“Alright then, Scarlet...That’s all I’m gonna ask for tonight. It’s almost midnight and I must report back to princess Luna. And you should go home.” He said as he stood up. She got up as well. “I hope you’re happy...” She said in a hurt tone before quickly leaving, not giving him a chance to say anything. He only watched her left and sighed.

As she leaves the tent, she saw batponies everywhere, some were guarding the place, somewhere sparring with each other. The Night Raider army was there for the night. She quickly maneuvered through them all, not drawing any attention to herself, before leaving for good. Moonlight walked out of the tent calmly and watched her leave. Then he look around to see everypony was there, he flew towards the castle to report to princess Luna before returning to his home.

(To be continued…)

Author's Notes:

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