//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: The Nightmare Chronicles 
// by AkaneHime 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1



The wingbeats of leathery wings cut through the silence of the night, the chilly air biting at the skin of a young mare as she took flight after launching herself from the cliff face of the jagged mountain behind her, a swirl of dark grey dust rising into the air and dispersing in the night sky. A twirl in the air and the stars above spiralled, the moon casting its light on her dust grey coat and wild purple mane and tail, filling her heart with a sense of freedom.


Turning a full circle using her purple bat-like wings, the Bat Pegasus, cast a glance at her home—the dark grey, jagged, cave-filled Duskstone Peak that towered above all else in the area, dwarfing forests, grassy plains and flower fields down below and rising high into the clouds, ending in a pointed peak that reached a height that even her cold-resistant species could not live at.


With a nimble loop in the air, the pony pointed her nose directly at the ground, her mane and tail fluttering in the breeze and she descended rapidly, slowing and pulling up slightly as she reached the ground, her wings sending up a shower of golden petals as she touched down in the field of flowers at the base of the mountain.


She took a step forwards, retracting her wings as she looked out over the sea of evening primroses, the wind blowing her tail past her flank, briefly obscuring her cutie mark, the yellow primrose standing out against her dull coat. She inhaled deeply, savouring the cool, sweet night air that surrounded the mountain range, just out of reach of the snow that blanketed the Crystal Empire. The pony smiled softly to herself, cupping a small flower in her right hoof.


"Evening primroses, huh? You take care of these? Haha! That's ironic!"


The smile fell from the pony's face, a sigh escaping from her lips as a familiar male voice floated around in her head, disturbing her once-peaceful thoughts. She glanced up at the sky, noting the moon's height, trying to judge the time of night as a cloud drifted by the moon's glowing surface, creating an eerie glow.


"Midnight…" she muttered wistfully, a pang of sadness stinging her from deep inside her chest.


"Still going on about that, huh?" a rough, feminine voice asked from behind, the beating of wings filling the air around the pony.


The Bat Pegasus turned to meet another pony who looked very much like herself. Her dull grey coat was relatively the same colour—just slightly lighter than her own, but barely noticeably—and her purple mane was pulled into a short braid that reached her shoulders, her tail neat and tidy, the wind ruffling the furry tufts on the tips of her ears. A blob of deep blue was emblazoned on her flank, the image dotted with tiny stars. Looking up, the pony stared into amber eyes with long cat-like pupils that she knew mirrored her own, an expression of worry and pity filling them.


"Don't worry about it Starlit," the mare told her friend. The other mare, Starlit Twinkle, seemed to become even more worried, her hoof pawing at an upturned sod of dirt and grass on the ground.


"How can I not be worried, Primrose?" Starlit asked her friend, her voice shaking as she offered her a small, shaky smile, fear for her friend evident in her tone.


Evening Primrose laughed in a manner that she hoped sounded at least somewhat hearty. "I told you not to worry! I'm not going to do something stupid or anything like that! Don't be silly!"


"It's not that that I'm worried about… It's been a year and you're still hung up over Midnight Sentinel… He hasn't left you or anything!"


With wide eyes, Starlit raised a hoof, pointing at her. Looking down, Primrose saw that Starlit was gesturing towards a pair of bracelets that encircled Primrose's ankles. They were a pair of silver bands with smooth tops and bottoms that featured a succession of curved designs, two round, smooth, light purple gemstones that shimmered in the moonlight—amethysts from deep within Duskstone Peak, she recalled—set into the silver.


"I mean, he gave you those engagement bracelets before he left! He wouldn't just abandon you like that!" the other mare reasoned desperately, stamping her raised hoof into the dirt.


"I know that. He left to support our kind. It wasn't only him. I mean, a lot of other ponies left to join the Royal Guard, too. There's not much else that our species can do. There's nowhere to work around here and we still need money for trading," Primrose frowned, confused by her friend's apparent desperation.


Starlit paused, lowering her gaze before letting out a long, shaky sigh. Looking up, she offered her friend a small smile. "Midnight Sentinel is all right," she told Primrose, her voice still shaky. "I wouldn't be surprised if he managed to score a full-time job, and it's not like communication with Canterlot castle is easy." Wandering over to the field of flowers, Starlit plucked a small flower from the ground and turned towards Primrose again, placing the primrose in her unruly mane. "A day or two off wouldn't get him back to Duskstone Peak, anyway. He'll be back when he can and not a day before."


Lifting a hoof to fiddle with her engagement bracelet, Primrose looked away, a sigh escaping her throat. "I'm not so sure. It's not like he's left; I know that much, but he's been gone for such a long time. As you said, communication isn't easy, but it's still possible. The mailponies do deliver here, and he initially sent me letters, too. I'm worried that they stopped. Every week, the mailponies come and I stand there waiting for a letter that hasn't come in six months. I sometimes feel as though something's happened to him and he's never going to come home…"


Starlit pawed the ground, her gaze lowered. "Well, either way, there's nothing you can do. It's not possible to go looking for him, anyway." She met Primrose's gaze, her own eyes suddenly filled with determination. "I know Midnight Sentinel just as well as you do, Primrose. We were all foalhood friends—the best of friends, in fact. It's because I know him so well that I can tell you that he'll come back! You should know that, too!" Trotting over to Primrose, the other mare placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Come on. The cold wind is blowing in from the Crystal Empire. It'll be too cold to stand out here before long."


Primrose stared up at the mountain, watching as the warm glow of lights within the cave systems of the mountain began to flicker into life, candles and fires being lit in an attempt to stave off the cold night air and provide light in the inky depths of the mountain.


"I'll be there in a minute, Starlit," Primrose finally told her friend after a few minutes of silence, her voice eerily calm, even to her own ears.


A few moments passed with neither pony saying anything. Finally, Starlit opened her large bat-like wings, shadows dancing across her body as she inadvertently shielded herself from the moonlight. "All right…" she muttered, defeated. "I'll see you tomorrow… Don't do anything stupid…"


With a mighty flap, Starlit took off in a shower of golden petals, making her way back up the mountain at a pace that Primrose could never hope to match, her form becoming smaller and smaller until, finally, she dove into a lit cave about halfway up the mountain and disappeared from sight.


Her best friend gone, Primrose sat down in the field of flowers, staring up at the moon and stars. For a moment, she considered making use of her friend's special talent—telling fortunes through the stars—to get some sort of idea of what she should do, but quickly deciding against it, recalling how vague and unhelpful Starlit's predictions were.


Primrose raised a hoof to touch the flower in her mane. It reminded her of better times, living with her parents who had named her after those flowers. Her father—Stormy Skies—had left to join the military when she was younger. He was killed in battle in a changeling invasion when she was just a foal, leaving her mother—Dusky Petal—to care for her on her own alongside her job of tending to the flowers below the mountain.


The job was soon passed on to her, something that her mother knew would happen ever since she got her cutie mark for her love of the flowers and her talent in caring for them. Her mother was already getting on in years by the time she was born. By the time she was 15 years old, Dusky Petal was frail, ill and just entering her 60s, dying when Primrose was 20 years old.


Now 21 years old, the young mare lived on her own with plans to marry a stallion known as Midnight Sentinel. However, in a bid to earn more money for their kind, he and a few other ponies, both stallions and mares, had left their home on Duskstone Peak, but Midnight Sentinel had not left the mountain without getting down on one knee and giving her the engagement bracelets.


With the promise of contacting her as frequently as he could, he had left along with the others. For around half a year, this promise had been kept, but when the letters suddenly stopped, Primrose couldn't help but feel that something had happened.


Now, she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do. She had almost considered going to Canterlot to find out what had happened to him, but with Canterlot being so far away, she hadn't really considered it an option.


A cold wind blew over the area, ruffling her mane and tail and causing the sea of flowers to sway. She shivered, wrapping her thick, bushy tail around herself in an effort to stay warm. A flurry of petals danced off into the sky as she stood, looking back at the mountain.


Her resolve swayed by the prospect of warmth, Primrose unfurled her wings and, with a flap, she became airborne, swiftly making her way up the mountain towards the cave entrance and the warmth of a crackling fire…