//------------------------------// // The call // Story: Vampires, Punk Rock, and other Equestrian secrets // by Inkheart_tails //------------------------------// Luna leapt up from her bed with a soft yelp of shock. She wasn't one to awake screaming, or even one to do anything aside from expect nightmares. But this one was different. This time, Luna had a vision. It wasn't normal for her. Her sister, of course, had visions and prophetic dreams often. Usually Luna's sleep was occupied with nightmares or visiting others. But she knew why this vision had come to her. It was no sight that her own magic had brought to warn her. This was an intrusion. Somepony was bragging that they would be coming along soon, and it wasn't a good somepony. Luna began to pace- slowly and clumsily, on account of tiredness. How did she know if it was true? Perhaps it was a false alarm? Did she really have to...? Soft afternoon light poured into her room through her round windows. The hour was rather early for her, on account of her odd sleep schedule. She sighed. Of course she did. Since her return, this was her duty as much as raising the moon and stars. Quietly Luna made her way to her workable and took a note, then proceeded to roll it up and pass it to a barn owl perched near her bed. With an annoyed screech at its early awakening, the bird deftly took it nonetheless and flew out the window. Luna sighed, feeling the sentiments of the annoyed screech would soon be mirrored by the guard who had to receive the note. "I only hope it may be received early enough", she whispered, a soft prayer to the wind. -/------------- “Harken, my fair subject, for I fear there is another threat. The malicious and powerful sandmare seeks hold upon our city. Thou must make immense haste to ready thyself, and meet me in my chamber. Bring the fellows of thy watch, to assist in the apprehension before the time comes too late, which could be soon as the sunset. “ ~ Luna, Princess of the night ------------/-------- The receiver, a white batpony by the name of Sapphire Song, repeated none of the sleepy annoyance of Luna's messenger. She was already wide awake, pacing as the princess had been. She scarcely slept well, anyway. Especially these days... Her small, simple quarters (not much more than a bed with a trunk at the foot and a small dresser, with hardly a pony's length between) provided so little room for pacing that she quickly noticed the owl at her window and let it in. The owl perched on the edge of her bed and handed her the note dutifully before going back to sleep. She smiled at the bird's determination to return to rest before moving to look over the note in her hooves. Sapphire carefully unfurled the letter and read it, her eyes widening as she processed the contents. She quickly brushed through her blue-and-black streaked mane to appear presentable, woke the owl, and opened the window wide enough that she could leap out into the wind. She winced at the brightness of the sunlight, so abrasive to her delicate bat senses, but otherwise did not hesitate. There was no time to waste. The owl and pony then flew off on their separate paths, bound to meet again soon in the bedchamber of the moon princess. ------------------- 11 residences. 11. That was how many guard homes Sapphire had to desperately knock on and attempt to enter before she found one who was awake (or even movable for that matter)- a light blue Pegasus with an ink-blue and teal mane- and she was a rookie. Luna would certainly not be pleased... But truly there was little Sapphire could have done. Many bat ponies go to ridiculous measures to keep out the bright and noisy daytime world. When they go to sleep... For most, they stay asleep. The only reason she'd been able to round up this one pony was because she was a normal pegasus. There were only 2 non-bat pegasi on the specialized night guard for obvious reasons, and realizing this Sapphire changed her course for the home of the other. Time was of the essence, and Sapphire wasn't willing to waste more attempting to wake the nocturnal members of the guard. "Nice weather today, huh?" The rookie asked somewhat uncomfortably. Among pegasi, this was less of an awkward question seeing as they took so much pride in their work. This particular rookie was indeed part of the weather team in Canterlot, and Sapphire guessed that she'd assisted in today's cloudless beauty. "Beautiful indeed ", Sapphire remarked. It was a lie, though. As a batpony it was hard for her to appreciate sunny days. "Some pegasi did some lovely work today" " Yeah, my team sure is somethin' special. You should've seen the way Sketch cleared the Cumulus clouds, he was a beast - hey, there's his house now!" Sapphire carefully alighted down next to the home of her fellow guard, knocking carefully on the door. A light cream-colored Pegasus stallion with a wildly spiked black-and-white mane answered and agreed to join their quest promptly, and they were soon flying again. This was Rough Sketch, or Sketch as most called him. He was a good fighter and a fast flier, and he had been on the night guard for almost as long as Sapphire. "I was just talking about you!" The rookie piped up. "You know, you did a real good job with the cloud busting this morning!" "I was hoping that would be the last job I had to do before dark", came the grumbled reply. Apparently he hadn't taken the early summons as well. They chatted a bit more about the morning weather set-up, but the conversation quickly simmered away with the heat of Sketch's tired anger. It was almost surreal to see him this way- he was typically very lighthearted in nature. This caused the rookie to fix her gaze on the ground, trying to find enough below to distract her from the awkward flight. Thusly, it was silent for the rest of the trip as the ponies made their way to Luna's room in the castle. -------------------------- On the distant horizon of Canterlot, enjoying the sunny weather and a peaceful afternoon meal on the cool green grass, their threat waited for them... And she was not to wait long. Soon she would strike, and this would be the last day those fools would roam freely in the sun.....