Scipio marched his way to the castle at nightfall. Tonight, he did not care if anypony saw him, he knew what had to be done. Some say his eyes glew red with hatred to the point that they could be seen from atop the palace. Scipio quickly found himself at the foot of the palace, greeted by two guards. "Halt Scipio, you are wanted for crimes against..." The guard frozen when Scipio lighted up his head. His eyes pearced the heart of both guards and left them stunned. Scipio knew the crown was held in the upper most point of the tower, but that was his second stop.
Scipio entered the palace and managed to sneak his way all the way into the lower areas. It was like a maze of dark tunnels and little light. Soon, Scipio found the dungeon room and his friends. "Guys I came to rescue you. What happend?" Scipio was shocked to see that he was not greeted with smiles. Pick pushed at the bars of his cell as though he thought he could bend them. "It is all your fault Scipio. When you didnt show up for Raggamuffin's birthday party she thought she should try to do things on her own. When we figured out she went out to get a cupcake we all raced after her. Once we found her the guards found us. They quickly figured out that cupcake was feeding us and grabbed her too. Worst of all is now Raggamuffin is being held alone in the top of the tower. I hate you right now Scipio, you better get our sister back our you will wish that I never get out of this cage."
Scipio turned and made his way back to the door. "Dont worry Pick, im gonna get her back. Then once you are all free, I will personally take down Queen Golden Star." Scipio discovered that sneaking back through the palace was much more difficult then he first imagined. Finally he made it to the top of the palace and noticed two rooms. He saw the crown in one but more importantly, he saw Raggamuffin in the other room, caged up. "Oh Raggamuffin I am so glad I found you."
"Just leave Scipio." Scipio felt as though his heart was ripped from his chest. "This cage has no lock so you are useless. Just leave before you cause anymore trouble." Scipio started to cry and refused to leave the cage. "Dont worry, if I can get that crown to the Night Mother she will be in charge and she will set you free and you can have a normal life here in the palace so that you will be happy. I promise I will set you free one way or another." Scipio raced over to the other room to grab the crown but when he did, metal spikes shot through the floor and trapped Scipio. He then heard the laughter of the queen.
"Well it looks like the great Scipio was tricked by a simple decoy." Queen Golden Star was bright yellow with black souless eyes. Scipio looked down at the crown and noticed it was a fake. "Oh Scipio dear, that is not the decoy." Scipio seemed confused until he noticed that Raggamuffin was out of her cage and laughing at him. "See this is one of my guards who shapeshifted using his magic. Raggamuffin was swearing up and down that Scipio will come and save her and that the Night Mother will come and get me. Then after the baker told us about your feelings towards her I jst knew it would be the perfect decoy."
"WHERE IS SHE?" Scipio could barely contain his rage. "Calm down Scipio, she is back with her brother. Right when you left the dungeon we put her back in her cage where all the rift-raft belong. I also noticed that your little rhyming game is over, how sad. Now if you dont mind I am on my way to your Celestial Palace to destroy it." In a moment, Scipio was alone but he felt more alone than ever. No friends, no Night Mother, no mom. It was just like this all those years ago.
"Where did I go wrong? I was so happy then everything turned to ruin. It is all this stupid key's fault. Not only has it only caused trouble but now when I need it most it doesnt even work." Scipio took of his key and threw it on the floor. "Now why would you do that to my gift." Scipio turned towards the window and saw Luna sitting on the window. "Get away from me. My friends wouldnt be in this situation if it wasnt for you." Luna laughed and made her way to him. "How about this, what if I were to tell you there is more to that key then you know?"
An hour later Queen Golden Star had finally found the door to the Celestial Palace. "Well Cupcake was right about this door. Since it is solid iron there is no chance we can bust through. I guess we are just gonna have to destroy the rock around it. Once inside we can claim all of the stolen treasure in my name." The second she laid her hoof on that door a might explosion shook the ground and dusked filled the tunnel they were in. As the dust cleared the queen noticed Scipio standing in the moonlight. "How did you escape my trap?"
Only one thought went through Scipio's head, show time. "Im glad you asked my dear queen, for the answer shall soon be seen. My key unlocks doors of any kind, but more importantly, it unlocked my mind. I discovered the powers that I always had, that could beat any trap no matter how iron clad. I will now show you my power of the night, I just hope your ready for quite a fright."
Suddenly Scipio began to chance, his hooves grew fangs, his teeth turned to fangs, and he sprouted the wings of a bat. He was truely a creature of the night. His molevolent laugh echoed through the tunnel with great force. "The Night Mother gave me these powers so great, so I can use them to seal your fate. Since you used your rule to feed the gred that you own, I use the power of the moon to turn you to stone." Scipio's body glowed white with the energy from the moon. The energy was then blasted at Golden Star. It was so bright her guards were suddenly blinded. Once the light faded they all gasped in horrer as they noticed the queen was now nothing more than a statue. They all just sat back and watched as Luna appeared and reclaimed her crown from the statue.
"If you value your lives you will leave very soon, or you two can face the power of the moon. And remember this if you choose to return, come back here again and it will be your turn." The guards quickly ran back into the tunnels as Scipio returned to normal. "Now Scipio, rhyming return with turn, how lazy." Scipio laughted a little and gazed at his key. "I couldnt think of anything. Now I still have something to do so meet you at the palace.
Back at the palace Scipio's friends were excited to see him again. "See, I knew Scipio would come back for us. I just knew it." Suddenly all the cage doors flew open and Raggamuffin ran up and hugged Scipio. "Alright, Cupcake, Swift Hoof, Pick, get her to the throne room. There is something we need to do." The four headed out of the dungeon rather quickly. "So Scipio, care to explain how you opened the doors without using the key?"
"Lets just say I learned a few new tricks. Now lets skip over the small stuff and get down to it. I know that after this moment we will never see each other again. You are going back to your original home, before you found the key." Crypt laughed more in that moment then he had in years. "Im afraid so old friend. I wish to see my family before I pass. You will never know the need to do such a thing since you dont age." Scipio shook his head and pointed to his key. "I am afriad I might have broken it. It doesnt keep me from ageing but it still opens doors. I guess I dont need it anymore, want it back?"
"I wouldnt dare take that acursed key back." The two shared a finally laugh together and went their seperate ways. Scipio met up with his friends in Princess Luna's throne room. "Well Scipio I am happy to say that you completed your mission perfectly. Sadly to say that now that I am in charge I still have to hunt you down fro your crimes." Scipio laughted and headed towards the door with his friends. "It wouldnt be fun if you didnt Night Mother, see you around."
"Oh I forgot to mention, about you Celestial Palace, it seems I cant remember where it is. I guess it is still your safe haven." The door closed and Luna sat back and knew she had done things right. Outside the friends laughed about their ordeal. "Well I guess I cant go back to my shop now since I am a wanted pony. Mind if I crash with you kids?" Swift Hoof circled over her with a smile. "Of course, it will be great having a cook handy."
Raggamuffin started to walk along side Scipio. "Hyey Raggamuffin, I want you to have something." Scipio removed his key from around his neck and gave it to Raggamuffin. "Do you really mean it Scipio? I can have your key?" Scipio nodded. "I did miss your birthday so I think you deserve your cake and two bonus presents." Raggamuffin couldnt take her eyes off of the key. "Wait you said there is another present right?"
"Yeup, I got you a pretty new statue for out room. I know your gonna like it." Scipio laughed really hards all by himself. He looked up at the moon and realized his true life begins after this night. He will finally be able to grow old with the girl he loved. He also knew his mother would be proud. "Oh Scipio, tell us how you managed to stop Queen Golden Star and save all of us."
"How about I save that for story time tonight?"