//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Lullaby // Story: A Cold Night's Sleep // by CamoBadger //------------------------------// Chapter 1:Lullaby         The halls of Canterlot Castle lay dark and silent in the night as usual. Only the occasional passing of a royal guard broke the emptiness with the clop of hooves on the polished floors, though the noise was hardly enough to wake anypony sleeping within the castle. The only chamber which remained lit was that of Princess Luna as she kept her vigil of the night.         Just beyond her doors stood two of her own guards, a pair of Bat Ponies hailing from lands far away. Luna had always chosen to recruit the foreigners for her own guard, both for political peacekeeping and for their natural affinity for the night. They provided a perfect partnering with the Princess of the Night, and were loyal beyond reasoning to their guard. Many had often speculated about the Bat Ponies holding ulterior motives for providing the charge, but Luna aggressively denied those rumors, holding complete trust in her guards.         The Princess had very little to do that evening, as her sister had completed much of their shared duties during the day. Any meetings held for the royal sisters were long over, and any laws or ordinances which had been presented had been dealt with while Luna slumbered. In this absence of work, the blue Alicorn resorted to occupying herself with reading most nights between her usual rounds through the dreams of Equestria. She had found great enjoyment in adventure stories, most notably an old series about a daring Pegasus adventurer which had been provided to her by the head librarian in the Canterlot library.         Reading by the light of scattered candles, the Princess immersed herself in the world of Daring Doo, often times picturing herself as the heroine as she raced through temples and saved the world from evil time and time again. While she read, her magic subconsciously reached out to the moon, pulling it slowly across the sky to where it would eventually lay to sleep on the western horizon.         A soft knock rang from the heavy door of her chamber, pulling the Alicorn from her story. “Enter,” she offered politely.         The door slowly swung open until the slender head of one of her guards could fit into the room. His grey coat hid him well, even in the candlelight, so well that he could’ve been overlooked was it not for his tufted ears and the large ornamental fin sticking from his helmet. The pony’s serpentine eyes once served as a grim reminder to Luna of her dark past, but that had since lost its effect as she grew to accept it as a mistake, and nothing that she should dwell on.         “Yes Felix?” she asked the guard softly.         “Highness, there is a pony here requesting to see either you or your sister,” the guard informed her urgently. His crackly voice was far different from that of an Equestrian Pony, but to Luna this was a welcome change from the voices she heard much of the time.         “Did this pony inform you of what they require?”         “No, Princess. All she said is that it involves…” the Bat Pony halted and gulped dramatically. “Tartarus.”         Luna’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the hellish prison. Any news from Tartarus was not only unheard of, but could be presumably bad for everypony. Only ancient evils were kept imprisoned there; those who had once wreaked havoc upon the world in one way or another.         “Send her in immediately Felix,” the Princess sternly commanded.         The guard gave a small nod before closing the door. The sound of galloping hooves trailed away from the door, leaving Luna with a moment to consider what this news could be. Had one of the prisoners escaped? Or are there fears of a possible attempt? No, no, the guards of Tartarus could quell any attempt with the assistance of Cerberus. It must just be that the three headed mongrel had run off again, distracted by some shiny ball. Generally she never heard of the easily distracted dog running off, or at least not until weeks after he was found again, but perhaps he had been gone a little longer than usual.         One day they would have to chain that dog in place, but his antics were so few and far between that the issue was forgotten long before he ran away again. But Celestia was insistent that the job of guarding Tartarus was boring enough for the dog without being chained in place, sometimes even an eternal protector needed a break. So Luna sealed her lips about the problem whenever it came up, not willing to get in an argument when the runaways never ended in disaster anyways.         After around five minutes a second resounding knock came at Luna’s door, and the Princess pulled it open with her magic. Once the blue aura had faded, the entry was filled by a rather slim mare clad in black armor, her coat stained by soot from her duty station.         “I apologize for arriving unannounced, Highness.” Her voice was deep and raspy, the result of working long shifts over the fires of Tartarus for years. The armored pony ducked into a low bow until her chest plate clinked against the tiles.         “It is fine, what news do you bring?” Luna asked impatiently and waved for the guard to rise.         “I’ll get right to it; one of the prisoners is missing, and-”         “WHAT?” the Princess screamed with the full volume of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “What do you mean a prisoner is missing?”         The guard recoiled with fear in her grey eyes, her mane blown back from the sheer force of Luna’s voice. “W-w-we were one s-short during t-t-today’s count.”         Luna’s eyes flashed a brilliant white, timed perfectly with a strike of lightning outside her window. The blast of thunder shook the entirety of Canterlot Castle, causing every guard in the halls to jump in terror. The Tartarus guard before her shrunk lower to the ground, squeezing her eyes shut in fear of what may come next.         “WHO IS MISSING!?” the Princess yelled, her voice echoing through every room.         “W-w-we haven’t found out yet H-highness” she stammered while keeping her head low.         The number of expressions on Luna’s face could not have been counted as she flashed through every stage of anger known, and many unknown. But in the end, her eyes returned to their normal calming blue, and the Princess composed herself before speaking. “Get out, find out who is gone, and inform us as soon as you know more.”         Without hesitation the guard jumped to her hooves and spun, galloping from the castle as fast as her hooves could carry her. Once she was gone, the two Bat Ponies still standing vigil outside Luna’s room stuck their heads into the door. “Highness, should we ready a search party in the meantime?”         “Yes, Felix. Thank you,” the Alicorn said, followed by a deep breath to calm her frayed nerves. Her eyes fell onto the open book between the extinguished candles, cast in her shadow from the light in the hall.         It seemed that Daring Doo would have to wait for another time. < < < > > >         It was a cold night in Appleloosa, the last remnants of winter still keeping its hold over the night. The sun had been tucked away by Princess Celestia and the moon rose to begin its own cycle, casting Equestria into a pale glow. The stars twinkled in the sky above, filling the city with a peaceful atmosphere to match the silence in the streets. Homes and businesses up and down the main street began to darken as lights were turned out for the evening.         One light which still remained lit was that of the nursery in Appleloosa General Hospital, a small room tucked away on the second floor with one window looking out upon the street. Inside, a warm yellow bulb lit the room while Nurse Carefree went about tucking the foals to bed as she did each night. Only ten foals were in her care this night; a relatively small group compared to what she normally had.         On a usual evening, Carefree would be responsible for almost thirty foals from parents who lived in any of the small towns throughout the Appleloosian Desert. Everywhere from Dodge Junction to Saltstone, Appleloosa General was the only hospital until Canterlot with a well maintained neonatal ward. A few of the smaller clinics in the outlying towns had the ability to deliver and care for one or two newborns for a few days, but they were almost always filled up, leaving only Appleloosa for most families, if they didn't choose home birthing.         But no matter how many fillies and colts she had to care for, Carefree would enthusiastically accept her role. The young mare had always loved foals, and often dreamed of one day having some of her own if she could just find the right buck to raise them with. The blue maned pony just couldn’t find time to get out and look between her graveyard shift and the daylight hours spent sleeping or doing chores around her apartment while her roommate was at work.         “One day you’ll find him Carefree,” she always told herself with a smile. All she had to do was be patient.         She gently placed a yawning blue colt into his crib while caressing another two foals in her wings, softly humming the lullaby her parents had always sung to her when she was just a baby. She wasn’t sure how she had remembered it after all those years, but it always seemed to calm the babies and put them right to sleep, just as it had with her. Once the colt began to softly snore, the white pegasus quietly shuffled to the next crib and tucked a filly into the covers.         Hush now quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed. Drifting off to sleep, the exciting day behind you. Drifting off to sleep, let the joy of dream land find you.         The filly let out a squeaking yawn before closing her eyes and softly snoring. With a smile, Carefree turned away and repeated the process with each of the babies. Each fell asleep without incident; no crying, no fits, not a peep from any of them. Once they were all tucked in for the night, the nurse whispered a last “good night” to the room before dimming the light until it was barely noticeable.         She stepped into the similarly lit hall of Appleloosa General, pulling the door closed behind her until only a sliver of light escaped between the frame and door. With gentle steps she trotted across the hall and into the staff lounge where one doctor and a few other nurses nibbled on fruit and chatted quietly about their weekend plans.         “…and I was thinking about going to that new store in Dodge Junction, some big designer from Ponyville opened it up I think,” whispered the shift leader for the night, Nurse Scalpel. The green earth pony’s name was fitting, as she had a sharp temper and required a bit of time to get used to. She was very demanding of her nursing staff, and had caused more than one new nurse to quit with her criticism. Luckily for Carefree, Scalpel rarely had any reason to criticize her work with the foals that always seemed perfectly content while she was around.         The pony she was talking with was a young doctor who had finished his internship just a few months before and had decided to stay with Appleloosa General, Doctor Gentletouch. His black coat shone under the lights in the hospital, and did a fantastic job of showing off his lean body, at least Carefree thought so. She had developed a bit of a crush on the buck since he started at the hospital a year or so back, and still held a little hope that he would ask her out sometime. Unfortunately, he was more interested in the bigger personalities such as Scalpel and a day-shift nurse by the name of Flitterheart.         “A designer? Is she any good?” the doctor asked with mock interest.         “Well I don’t think she has much for bucks, but she’s been designing dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala for years now. She’s very popular among the classier mares.”         “And that somehow interests you? I thought you were all about keeping the rugged look,” he flirted.         Carefree pulled her attention away from the conversation and lifted a small bag of popcorn from her locker, sitting to the side to enjoy her snack until she was needed for a chore somewhere in the hospital.         She had almost finished the entire bag when a soft noise garnered her attention. From across the hall a soft sniffling sound crept into the lounge, causing Carefree’s heart to skip a beat for a moment when she realized what it was. The nurse quickly placed the almost empty bag into her locker and swiftly made her way across the hall to the nursery.         Inside, the sniffling began to grow louder, until it eventually broke into a high pitched squeal. Carefree pushed open the door and soon found the crib where the crying was coming from.         “Shh, shh, it’s okay little one,” she cooed to the yellow filly. The pegasus gently lifted the baby from the crib and began rocking her back and forth while humming her lullaby.         Hush now quiet now, it’s time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now quiet now, it’s time to go to bed. Dear don’t dream of him, keep your mind off of his hymn…         She stopped mid song and went back through her mind, unsure of what had just happened. She had sung that lullaby to foals every night for almost three years now, and those words had never entered her mind as she went through it. They weren’t even the real words, so why did she think of them now?         The mare began humming again, but each time she got to that point the same wrong words filled her thoughts instead of what she knew. No matter how hard she tried to think of the right words, she just couldn’t seem to remember them. It was as if they’d been replaced entirely.         As she tried to calm the foal, the cries only grew louder until the doorway was filled by the faces of everypony who had been in the lounge.         “Is everything alright in here Carefree?” Scalpel asked aggressively, but still careful to keep her voice low as to not wake the other foals, who had somehow managed to stay asleep through the wailing.         “I don’t know, she just won’t stop.”         As if on cue, each of the other babies began wailing down the line, starting from those next to the yellow filly Carefree now held, and ending with those furthest away. The nurse’s panic rose as she continued rocking the baby in her hooves in a futile attempt to quiet her. The ponies gathered in the door each entered and began rocking a foal each, all desperate to silence the screaming.         But the more Carefree worked to silence the baby in her hooves, the more her panic began to grow and slip over the line into pure fear. She didn’t know why, but her mind was suddenly flying through every class she took on newborns, and all of the issues that could arise in the days following birth. No matter how unlikely or unbelievable they were, Carefree’s thoughts were fighting to convince her that every one of these foals was going to die, and that there was nothing she could do to stop it.         As she looked around the room, looks of fear which likely mirrored her own painted the faces of the other nurses and Doctor Gentletouch. Even Scalpel looked afraid for the lives of the foals, and she was always so vocal about her dislike of babies.         Crying foals shouldn’t have this effect on ponies. Why are we all so scared? The nurse thought to herself.         Suddenly the foals stopped crying all at once, as if it was scripted for them to do so at that exact moment. The room fell completely silent for a moment, and seconds later the familiar soft whistle of sleeping babies returned. The room suddenly felt lighter, like it had been filled with water only moments before, and it had instantly all been let out. All of the fear Carefree had felt only seconds before dissolved in an instant. But she didn’t feel happy, didn’t feel relief, she didn’t even feel confused.         She felt nothing.