//------------------------------//
// The Midnight Meeting 
// Story: The Batpony 
// by Atlas INC 
//------------------------------//

Ventura is in a deep sleep. Sitting in his own little dream realm of unconsciousness. A world of him and his friends, a world where life is perfect and everyone lives in peace. Ventura is married to Amethyst in here, and they go on daring quests almost every day. The other days they do... something else. Currently Ventura is preparing to leap over a deep chasm to get the lost bell of Grogar. Then, in a sudden turn of events Amethyst is swept away and vanishes. The chasm and the bell magically disappear. The griffin, holding a red stained blade comes from the shadows. He points it to Ventura and shouts “you failed, you lost the batpony and the one you love. Such a shame really, who really cares it’s only one more pony dead.” 
He wipes the knife off with a rag and proceeds towards Ventura. Ventura backs up against the wall. The griffin is about to take him down when a bright flash comes from the sky. The griffin is instantly vaporized and the small room is transformed into a moonlit pasture. A certain dark blue alicorn floats down from the sky towards Ventura. She lands in the soft grass just a few feet away from him. “Did you do that?” Ventura asks.
Luna responds “Yes, now, what is troubling you tonight?”
“I’ve just started a journey with my friend Amethyst to get Sapphire, my bat pony friend, back to her home, while doing that we encountered a griffin who wants to capture Sapphire and we’ve barely fought him off these few times.”
“A griffin you say, I’ve lost quite a few of the night guards to a group of griffins. These griffins sell the Bat Ponies to rich investors who use them for work. This is serious, you and your friends are in serious danger of being hurt, they do not relent they keep attacking until you die.”
“I’m willing to do it, I’ve been in worse places” he pulls back some of his blue mane to show a scar running up the back left side of his neck. “I was attacked by a bugbear” Ventura starts “while driving home a bugbear attacked, I crashed and the new boards in the back became spears, almost killed me, then the bugbear would not stop trying to kill me, eventually I fought it off shoving a metal piece of the car into the bugbears... I’d rather not say.”
“I see, but you do not understand, these griffins won’t stop until they get what they want, they have blown through the outer walls of canterlot to just steal some of my guards.” Luna replies.
“I do understand, I just care too much for my friends to stop right here and now.”
“Well then, safe travels and good luck” with that Luna flys off into the moon, ending his dream. 
Ventura wakes up breathing rapidly. His breathing slows down and he thinks for a bit. If some of Luna’s guards have been captured what chance do we have, he thinks to himself. He walks out of the tent the fire is a nothing but a few small embers. Ventura grabs his notebook and pen again. He also takes a map of the Crystal Empire for reference. He copies the map into the notebook. He begins to mark a path, Making sure to go by all the landmarks that he thinks Amethyst would like. Sapphire steps out of her tent out into the dead night and sees Ventura, scribbling in his notebook again. “You really have it bad for her don’t you?” Sapphire states. 
Ventura freaks out and jumps up in the air, landing face first into the grass. He realigns himself and picks up his things. “I was just planning our route through the Crystal Empire” Ventura says. 
Sapphire seizes the book despite Ventura’s efforts, she glares at the page then says “so our route is through the most romantic areas? Seems a bit odd, like somepony is trying to get another pony to like them.”
Ventura swipes the notebook back and responds “I’ve told you this already but I guess I’ll have to tell you again, I really-.”
Sapphire puts her hoof to his snout quickly silencing him. “I was joking with you” she begins “you forgot the Crystal library by the way.”
“Uh, thanks, why are you going to help me?”
“You helped me, it’s my turn to help you.”
“Oh thanks.”
“No problem, also because of the time we will be arriving the Crystal Heart Festival will be happening, so draw a couple of places here and over here.”
Sapphire helps him until it’s perfect, then Ventura goes back to bed with Amethyst. After a meeting with The Princess of the Night Luna and finishing his plan for the Crystal Empire nothing can stop them, at least they think nothing can stop them.