//------------------------------//
// All is Fair 
// Story: Children Of Night 
// by CheckerBoardAZN 
//------------------------------//

	Over half a millennium had gone by without the alicorn sisters, and in the absence of the deceptive Celestia, a new ruler had emerged and her kingdom was built upon a mountain formed during the great battle of the sisters. This kingdom was now called Canterbury. The land had recovered surprisingly well. Some say it was the leaving of the princess. It was like a golden age. We had a new Princess, the kingdom had recovered, newer generation ponies lived longer and healthier.
                
She was chosen by the people. She was everything they had hoped for in a ruler. Her name was Astraea, and Astraea was the alicorn of justice. In the year 1080 Before Liberation, Astraea was just a court lawyer. She never lost a legal battle. She had a great sense of justice, but she always doubted what she was doing. She doubted her ability.
         
        Twelve years prior to her ascension to alicornhood, one trial had pulled at her heart so bad, she even considered quitting. The trial began, the pony defendant was a serial rapist and guilty of murder. His name was Penta Graham, and was a cult leader. This time he was in court, Astraea was to defend him. She would take any job to prove how perfect she was as a lawyer, even if she was unknowingly was defending a pony that killed her sister.

The trial dragged on, and Astraea could not choose. Her morals kept her from defending Graham, but her reputation was on the line. The first day started just like any other trial. However, instead of a ragged mare or stallion always walked through the door, it was a silver maneless stallion. His eyes were bloodshot and his face covered with a mask. He was tied in chains and a pentagram in the shape of a sun carved into his head.

Weeks passed and this trial seemed to go nowhere, Astraea was able to disprove every piece of evidence and dismiss them as coincidences. In her ignorance, the detectives gave her one last piece of evidence that made her crack. Her sister’s murderer was Graham. She gave up on the case and left, believing her involvement would be partial to the trial. She was later to come back to the same case, only against the murderer of her sister. Keeping her personal problems out of the case, she strove for true justice and convinced the jury to plead guilty. He was locked up forever, and she ascended by will of the gods. That day the earth pony became an alicorn, the first one seen in decades. Ponies all around decided she had to become their ruler.
 
                Ten years after this trial, she became Princess of Equestria. With a new castle and ponies ready to obey her, she had nothing to fear except her suitors. She was a well-known pony, she was beautiful and powerful. She always knew what to do. She had to raise the sun during the Summer Sun Celebration in honor of their previous princess, Celestia. She never knew why, but she always had reservations about performing this task. Legend says that Celestia flew to the sun and resides there to heal from her great battle, but what of the moon? In this world there was balance. Every Yin had a Yang. Darkness had light. Land had the oceans. No record remained of the great battle. Any pony that she knew of who lived during that time had long since passed away. Life was still short for this golden age.
 
                It is 1050 BL, and the 550th Summer Sun Celebration has passed. Astraea became intrigued with the concept of balance in the universe. As she often did, Astraea took up a disguises to leave her castle to explore the town and market. She could not be seen, as suitors would be chased without end, and be scolded by the captain of her guard and suitor, Surya Tenshi.

He was always a peculiar fellow. He devoted everything to the sun with a cultish obsession. He made sure Astraea was always on schedule when it came to affairs with the sun. He may have even been more devoted to the sun than to Astraea. Even his helmet, which he never took off, was decaled with imagery of the sun. 

The day following the Summer Sun Celebration, a letter sent through magic mail had appeared before her. Her latest package had been picked up from her black market insider. Now it was time for Astraea to play the waiting game. For her first form of business, she must give have her captain of the guard retire for the night it was no problem, she did whatever she said. He was a very creepy fellow. Surya always tried to make his advances on her, blatantly flirting with her and always trying to obtain physical contact. She always had him around, he was her most skilled guard, but for some reason, he was nowhere to be seen this day. Astraea trotted along the courtyard to Surya’s residence. 

“Why, hello there my lady,” came the familiar voice of Surya from behind Astraea, “were you looking for me? I knew you could not resist” 

“Why yes,” stated the princess in disgust, “I have come to give you orders.”

“Direct orders from you? This must be important. Yes! I shall protect you in bed!” quickly called out the stallion.

“No... that is not it,” said the princess with a bright red face, “as you know this week is a week of celebration, so I am ordering you to visit your parents, tonight! You have not visited them in over 100 moons.”

“But I am your guard! I will not leave your side till death do us part! I shall protect you with my life, I do not need to give in to trivial things like family!” replied Surya confidently.

Astraea could not help but embarrassed, all of Canterbury could have heard Surya. She did not know what to say or do, but she knew he would honor her wish. She knew he was a knight, and there was one thing a knight could never back down from.

“Let us duel then,” stated Astraea, “as a princess, you must accept my orders. On top of that, you are a knight, and you cannot back out of this duel. If I win, you shall leave to attend to your parents from the end of the duel until the end of the week.”

“Alright then, I accept. I don’t mind exercising with you” moaned Surya.

The two ponies stood at opposite ends of the yard, they prepared themselves. Surya grinned, thinking he could best the alicorn before him. The leapt toward each other, and crossed hooves. Their eyes met. Astraea was disgusted with the lust in Surya’s eyes and shoved him back and he flew to the ground. She lifted her head tapped Surya on the head. The Dual was over.

On his word, Surya entered his abode to pack for his trip. She walked him to the door, and gave him a farewell, and walked away. as the door closed behind her, she felt uneasy.

That night, Surya had gone and the night was still. She put on her tunic, robe, face mask and left for town. Nausea fell upon her as she placed one foot into the shop of her dealer. 

“She is plotting something I had a vision from the sun goddess!”

Astraea turned around behind her, she thought she heard Surya’s voice. He was not there. She could not sense him, and she did not hear any hooves. Her nausea subsided as swiftly as it came.

Upon collecting her spoils, she paid the vendor and swiftly darted away toward her castle to the crystal mine below. She hid her goods for up to a month to not gain any attention from Surya, as he had become concerned and angered with her continual obsession with balance. He always had guards search the grounds for any… taboo objects, but to never any avail. The mines were well hidden. Nopony knew of the mines.
         
                August that year, she finally decided to dig up the spoils she hid the week of the Summer Sun Celebration. She crept down the hall, avoiding the guards. She came upon the hidden passage she knew too well, it was a set of stair wells and tunnels that lead her all throughout the castle. Upon the Final step of the stairwell, Astraea was plagued by a major headache. Her vision faded to blur and her eyes started spasm and she fell to the floor. Was this a seizure? She was not sure, but as suddenly as the ailments came they left. She shook off her worries and began walking.
 
                “Truth…” echoed a mysterious voice. Astraea stopped only after having made one step. Truth is something Astraea always sought. She continued to the dark hallway. At the end of the tunnel she felt cold, but she felt safe, safer than her own castle could keep her. The amethyst wall was the only obstacle left between her and her prized spoils. She walked up to the wall. She prepared her spell to pass through the opaque crystal. Midway through the dense metal, he spell had failed, and she was encased. She was losing air and panicked, then darkness.
 
                “Justice… seek the truth…” the voice called out to Astraea again. Astraea awoke in front of the adamantine wall. But something was different, she saw her shadow. Astraea turned around and it was not daytime, it was the light generated by the crystals. The dim blue light lit up the mine as she walked down the mine to her spoils. The box lay where it had been for the past month. The closer she got to the box, the more the light brightened. The mines had never done this before. She knew all too well it was a sign. The temptation was too great; she opened the box and inside, was a book. This was her first book from the black market. She eagerly sat down and turned the first page. The pages flipped through by themselves, and landed on the 1000th page.
 
                “The Astral Plane…” called a voice from the book. Astraea’s eyes went white, the lights of the crystals dissipated and in front of her stood a mare. She could not see who the mare was, but could make out her blue ethereal mane. She felt safe in the presence of this mare. Her eyes reverted to their former state and out of the corner of her eye; she saw a glint from behind her. Her lavender mane, it had become ethereal, she had ascended. Astraea had only heard legends of such an occasion. She looked up at the mare before her
 
                “Go, and do not falter, my child.” stated the booming voice. Astraea awoke the next morning in her bed, with her non-ethereal mane.
 
                “Are you ok m’lady?” questioned Surya, “We found you passed out in the hallway last night.”
 
                She didn’t want to answer, because all she could think about was what the Astral Plane could be. Surya told her it must have been just a dream. He told her to ignore it. The captain of her guard knew best. She kept her secret for some time.
 
                The following week, she returned to the crystal mine to find that her box had been unopened. Was it only a dream or did she never open the box? She saw fresh hoof prints her size on the floor. She opened the book as she did before, and remembered the page the book had opened itself up to. Page 1000, this time, contained a picture. It depicted the moon, a picture of a blue alicorn and an inscription below it. The inscription was structured in a poem of some sort. The only legible words left were on the first 2 lines.

“Children of night….. Princess of Night and Moon.”

Astraea stopped. What she longed to discover, had finally been revealed. She tried her best to stand, but could not get up. She fainted and fell to the floor.

                “We must commence with the communion soon” stated Surya with the Princess left half-conscious on the bed. Astraea did not understand what this had meant and she passed out once again.

                Astraea awoke in an area, saw stars; she did not know where she was. She looked up at the moon, and heard a voice.

“Under the guise of night, you shall go to the castle of the two sisters. You shall receive all the answers you seek.”
 
It is now January, and Astraea had been ignoring all her suitors. Even Surya began to worry. Astraea was the closest with him. He walked to her room. He gave her a quick glance and heard her mumbling. He chuckled as he had noticed that Astraea had been talking in her sleep for some time.

“Astral Plane” came out of Astraea’s mouth as she slept. Surya’s smile dropped.

“Gather the Communion.” He stated to his subordinates. He knew it was time. The earth pony took off his helmet and headed to the highest tower in the castle.
 
February came around, and it was time for Astraea to follow up on her vision. The night of the 12th day, Astraea came flew through the night in secret to the castle of the two sisters, as she told it was called. She knew it as the Castle of Old, and that nopony has lived there since the disappearance of the old Princess.

She landed in the throne room of what supposedly once was a glorious castle. The moon had shown down upon the mare as she looked to the sky. Her mane had glowed with an ethereal simmer. She heard the sound of hooves hitting the floor, she turned around and there behind her stood a mare. This mare was much different from the mare from her visions. The mare stood there looking at her.

“So the prophecy Apple Gem had spoken of has come true after all,” exclaimed the orange mare, “The last time I saw an alicorn was when she fell in battle.”

She could not believe her ears, Astraea thought of the princess of old. The legends do not say of any such things. The last alicorn in existence before her had been victorious over the evil natural forces of the land. In that moment, she remembered the book she once laid her eyes upon. She spoke out

“The Princess of the moon and night?” asked the alicorn.

“Yes, my dear Astraea,” spoke the old mare with a smile, “I have much to teach you.”

A pony came from behind the old mare with a piece of crystal. The mysterious pony and placed the gem before Astraea. She knew it well, it was Amethyst. With one touch the crystal gave her a vision. 

Astraea witnessed a blue manned alicorn locked in battle with a white alicorn. It was a great battle, one that reshaped the earth. A mountain rose from the ground, it was the very mountain Canterbury was built on. Rocks flew, crystals shot from the ground. Astraea looked up at the ensuing battle and saw the moon rise. the scene goes dark. She could not move. The darkness was frightening, Astraea was scared. Astraea cried out for somepony to save her and her plea was answered. She felt the embrace of a wing over her body, and Astraea awoke to the castle of old. The crystal she had come to contact with was used as a sort of vision medium. About to speak Astraea was interrupted by the mare.
 
“It is not a vision you are having dear, I have never seen someone with such a connection since my commanding officer Apple Gem. Anyways, I have one job for you. You must complete this task, the world depends on it. I shall give you instruction at a later time.” said the mare as she read Astraea’s mind. 

The day was already returning, and Astraea had stayed too long. Her guards would be up pretty soon. She could not 
fly back otherwise she would risk getting caught by the guards and seen by the citizens of towns along the way. She had had enough traveling for one night, so she closed her eyes as to rest. Astraea disappeared with the moonlight. 

She awoke upon her bed, with all her energy. The series of events was too much for her to understand, but of all things she remembered her task. She was hit with another headache, and she saw the old mare. Astraea was communicating with the old pony, the mare was projecting herself to Astraea.

“Hello again, Astraea. You know why I appear before you. You must go and find the same crystal my apprentice had given you. From this crystal, you shall make as many amulets before the return of your guard. The amulets, they must be rose cut and carve onto them what you saw in your book. Carve 'Children of Night' onto each amulet” The old mare closed her eyes and disintegrated into particles before Astraea could respond.

Astraea was ready for her task; upon the setting sun, she would head to the mine and create the amulets. She only had 4 nights left before Surya would return. Astraea worked as fast as she could, but only could craft 6 amulets. One task remained, it was the last night. She ran to town as fast as she could, something in her heart told her she needed to hurry. She reached her dealer, and put her bag of amulets on the table and left without any need of payment. 

The moon was out, it was full. the light shone upon Astraea and she looked up. Her mane entered it’s ethereal state. She appeared at the castle once more with a ghostly appearance. She saw the mysterious pony who was with the old mare, but the old one was nowhere in sight. She called out to the mysterious pony, and it looked at her, but did not say anything. it’s attention averted to the shadows. Astraea could not see the face, but could see that the stallion had a silver coat. She called out to the stallion but, the stallion did not notice her.

“What is the recipe, mage.” commanded a single, silver earth stallion hidden in the shadows.

“What shall I tell you?” asked the mysterious pony from the castle.

“You know what I need,” commanded the silver earth pony, “Give me the recipe from my vision, Star Seeker!”

“I am not Star Seeker, you just missed her.” replied the mysterious one.

“Do I look like I care? You are her student” shouted the stallion.

“You look as evil as the sun carved on your head.” stated the mysterious one.

“Do not play games with me. I am the king and grand-master of the Communion of Light!” snarled the silver stallion, “tell me the recipe otherwise I will you send you to your precious Astral Plane.”

“Very well then, I shall give you the recipe. You shall need one tuft of a cloud, a bright rainbow’s glow, and stir with a Pegasus feather, fast not slow. Then serve to a pony not in the know”