Princess Celestia was not easily worried. But on a night like tonight, even the Alicorn felt a thrill of uncertainty ripple through her. The White-furred Alicorn was standing on her balcony, which overlooked the majestic city off Canterlot, her iridescent mane rippling in a non-existent breeze. Her violet eyes staring hard into the night-sky, watching the strange bolts of lights flicker across the black expanse. Celestia wasn't sure why but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss. The Moonlight made the golden plates covering her hooves and chest shimmer as the Princess turned back to her bedroom. It was a spacious, circular room, with a large, soft rug covering the floor and a large fire blazing in the grate. One corner of the room was devoted to a small writing desk, the surface of which was covered in stacks of parchment. A small quill lay upon one stack, quietly leaking ink onto the report. Celestia, ignoring the stacks, sat down in front of the fire.
Lights shining in the sky often attracted attention, whether fear or excitement was debatable but the lights in the sky often brought crowds to watch them. Most of the time, they turned out to be nothing more than a stray meteor shower. But Celestia supposed that it was more out of curiosity than anything else, that Ponies came out to see the lights. But in this case...Celestia frowned, glaring at the dancing flames, as though daring them to provide her with an answer. Meteor showers, she could handle but bolts of light, dancing across the sky, leaping from star to star like children playing a game, was not something Celestia could tolerate. She'd seen some strange things in her time but dancing lights amongst the stars was not one of them. She didn't understand it. And anything that Celestia didn't understand, she regarded as a threat.
She supposed that she couldn't be surprised. The land that she ruled over, Equestria, was quoted as being "The magical land of Ponies." by many visitors. Odd things often happened when magic was involved. Though those things tended to be benign, Celestia couldn't take the chance. Her royal subjects were counting on her. Her eyes flashed as she continued to gaze into the dancing flames. She sometimes felt as though her subjects relied on her far too much. It wouldn't hurt them to try to solve problems on their own. Contrary to most-ponies beliefs, she didn't have all the answers. There were limits to her knowledge. Especially when it came to things related to the night. That was her sister, Luna's department. Being the Princess of the Sun, Celestia's knowledge wasn't perfect about nighttime events. Though Luna was occupied with her courts so Celestia couldn't just barge in and demand to talk with her. And if these lights turned out to be hostile...
Celestia shook herself. She was being stupid. There was nothing she could do about it. She knew that stars were millions of miles away from her planet. Despite Celestia's power as an Alicorn, the farthest that either she or Luna had ever traveled into space was their moon. Luna amused herself for a moment, imagining the looks on her subject's faces if they found out that even their Princess's had limits. Celestia smiled to herself again. She knew what she would do. A golden aura enveloped her horn as she focused on the spell. With a poof of golden smoke, a large mug of coffee appeared, floating in mid-air, held in the power of her magic. Coffee and reviewing her guards reports. That was a good way of sending her off to sleep. The Alicorn paused at the door to her balcony then used her magic to move a large cushion to the balcony. Seating herself upon it, Celestia turned her gaze one last time to the heavens. The lights had continued their strange dance, leaping from star to star, dancing like the flames in her grate.
Captain Sword-Dance was not a patient pony. Nor was he a very composed pony. The Dark-furred Pegasus often wondered why Princess Luna had picked him to be Captain of her Night-Guards. Not many trainee's would've hoof-slapped his mentor during a sparring match, nor would any respectable Captain be put into solitary confinement for cursing at a superior when receiving orders. But the Night-Princess had strolled up to him during Graduation and promoted him. He had been pretty surprised. Though maybe it was his skill with a sword that had gotten him the promotion. Or maybe, it was just his irresistible charm with the mares. Yeah, that must've been it. Not even the Princess's could resist him.
Sword-Dance smiled to himself as he strapped on the dark-blue armor that Luna's guards were required to wear. Being a Captain was a good job. You got the best perks of any station in the Equestrian army and you could boss people around to your hearts content. As long as you didn't bad-mouth the Princess's of course. Sword-Dance chuckled watching his recruits get ready for the night-shift. He was proud of his unit. They did their jobs quietly and without complaint. Though tonight's orders were, even to Sword-Dance, slightly confusing and a little off-the-beaten-track. The Princess had instructed them to patrol the castle though they were also to keep an eye on the sky. The flashes of light that had been spotted had unnerved Luna. Sword-Dance had sensed it. Nothing ever happened in the Sky without Luna or Celestia knowing about it. But those lights had appeared out of nowhere. The event had mystified every scientist and meteorologist in Canterlot.
"Be sure to report back regularly every-pony." Sword-Dance ordered sharply as his unit stood to attention. "Make sure you keep your eyes peeled for any trouble troops!" The Captain added sharply. The group traded glances amongst each other. Sword-Dance's troops were young and inexperienced. They were also over-confident. And Sword-Dance knew that Overconfidence was the one thing to get you killed. "Dismissed!" Sword-Dancer grunted. The group broke off, walking down the many hallways that Canterlot-Castle seemed to be made up of. Sword-Dance chuckled walking down the main hall that lead to the throne room. The Pegasus would never admit this but the castle gave him the creeps at night. As a foal, he'd always thought that the castle had been haunted by the ghost of past kings and queens of Equestria. He knew now however that he'd been stupid. There were no such things as ghosts.
Something moved. Sword-Dance froze, staring into the darkness of the hallway. Nothing should have been moving down here. Well, nothing except for him that is. He gazed deeper into the gloom, wishing that he had better night-vision. The semi-darkness made it almost impossible to see what it was. He moved forward, carefully pulling his sword free from the belt wrapped around his armor. he creature standing in front of the door was taller. Taller than he was. It was covered in what appeared to be large tubes. It didn't seem to have skin. Greenish scales seemed to cover the creature, pulled tight like a rubber suit. Sword-Dance frowned. Something wasn't right.
"Who's there!?" He shouted. The creature turned. The sword fell to the ground with a clatter. Sword-Dance opened his mouth and screamed as the creature rushed forwards. The last thing Sword-Dance saw in his life, was the cold, dead-eyes, with the mouth hanging wide open, leaving a gaping black hole. Then the creature hit him and the Pegasus knew no more.