Dark Terrors

by Dragon Angel Knight

Prologue

Dark Terrors

Princesses Luna and Celestia stood on the balcony that overlooked Canterlot from their grand palace. It was a fairly simple looking balcony, the only thing that stood out was that the tile on the floor was of a crescent moon in-layed with the rising sun. It signified that Celestia and Luna were equals, to each other and to anypony who happened to be trotting by.

"The night sky is beautiful, as always, Lulu," Celestia said with a loving smile.

"Thank you," Luna said with a blush, "I am grateful that our ponies enjoy the night now."

"Of course!" Celestia said with a chuckle, "Although, I can honestly say that I never had the same penchant for art that you do, dear sister. My own attempts at the night sky always seemed so...."

"Unmoving, ugly, static?" Luna supplied in a teasing tone.

"I was going to say bland, but I guess those will work too," Celestia said with an amused huff. She and Luna turned to walk back into the hallway where the Lunar wing met the Solar. Celestia turned and gave Luna chaste kiss on the lips, as was the custom between sisters and said, "Have a wonderful night, Lulu, and I'll see you for the morning meal."

Luna smiled and replied, "Sweet dreams, my sister, as always, I shall watch over the night."

Celestia smiled happily before retreating to her chambers for the night, leaving Luna to move to the Lunar throne room for the beginning of her Night Court. As she reached the doors to her throne, the Thestral guards standing to either side snapped a crisp salute before opening the doors and announcing Luna's presence to the small number of petitioners whose schedule meant that they needed to attend Night Court rather than day. Which was fine for Luna, because it meant that she could help her ponies out in one way or another. And the rare nights that there was not at least one pony coming to her with some problem or another, Luna was free to help more ponies with their Nightmares.

Tonight, however, the petitioners came forward with rather simple problems, that were settled fairly quickly, for which Luna was thankful. The first petitioner came forward with a proposal to start a fundraiser for orphaned foals by using a traveling carnival of volunteers to set up games, rides, and concession stands to gather bits. Granted, only about three fourths of the proceeds would go to the orphanages, which was understandable because volunteers were required to be payed for their time and maintenance needed to be done on the equipment, but it was all for an extremely noble cause. Needless to say, Luna agreed whole-heartedly and said that she would help in any capacity necessary to ensure that this undertaking was brought to fruition.

The second petitioners came forward with a proposal to build a huge school/boarding house for foals whose parents had lost their lives in service to the crown. Again, Luna approved it without a second thought, saying that it was an idea that was worthy of praise, but that the location was not all that great. Luna suggested that the location be changed to a more rural area, to keep the fillies and colts safe from any unwanted attention or criminal activity. The two ponies agreed and left to find a suitable area to build the school.

The next few petitioners were similar. They brought forth ideas that would help those less fortunate than themselves. Some petitioned for grants to help veterans, others to help foals, and still others to help those who simply had not had the ability to help themselves due to one reason or another. The one petition that nearly ruined Luna's increasingly good mood was a royal who petitioned to have a law instated that would ban anypony not of noble birth from entering the castle.

"If this law passes, not only will both Your Majesty and your sister, Princess Celestia be safer, but it will prevent the common miscreants from disgracing the castle with their vulgarity and inane babble," The noblepony said smugly.

Luna, overtly, kept a calm and cool visage. Underneath the surface however, she was beyond livid at the audacity of this pony. She took a deep breath before booming out in a slightly watered down version of the Royal Canterlot Voice (her guards had already grinned knowingly at each other before covering their ears)

"HOW DARE YOU?!" Luna's voice reverberated along the walls, "THESE FINE PONIES HAVE BEEN NOTHING IF NOT COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL ALL NIGHT! THEY BROUGHT FORWARD ADMIRABLE PROPOSALS TO HELP THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN THEMSELVES AND THOUGHT ONLY OF HOW THEY COULD HELP OTHERS!!! IF I EVER HEAR YOU REQUESTING ANOTHER LAW LIKE THIS AGAIN, I SHALL HAVE YOU FLOGGED AND THROWN IN THE DUNGEONS!!!!"

The noble pony recoiled in shock and fear before asking in a shaky voice, "W-what does flogged mean, Your Majesty?"

Luna smiled deviously and said in her normal voice, "A flog is a long stick with length of rope or leather attached to it. At the end of this length of rope or leather is a stone or metal sphere. Think of it like a weighted whip with an extended hilt."

"O-oh," the noblepony said, "I-I believe I shall take my leave now, Ma'am."

"Yes," Luna said, trying to hide a smile, "I do believe that would be best."

The noblepony turned and stumbled out of the throne room amidst poorly concealed grins and barely contained laughter. After he had left the room, the whole of the guard currently on duty in the throne room burst into laughter. Even Luna shared in a chuckle before silencing the court by asking, "Are there any other petitioners for this evening?"

"No Ma'am," Luna's guard captain, Shadow Flare said, "Are you going to dream-walk this evening?"

"Yes, I believe I will, Captain Flare," Luna said with a smile, "Please ensure that I am not bothered, as per usual."

"Of course, Ma'am," Shadow Flare said, a quick motion of his hoof calling forward the Unicorn contingent of Luna's Night Guard. The unicorns bowed to Luna, who inclined her head, then began to cast protective spells around the throne room. Spells for detecting intruders, for repelling them, and a shield that had been designed by Captain Shining Armor to prevent the entry of Changelings.

Finally, after the security precautions were in place, Luna closed her eyes and ignited her horn. When she opened up her eyes, the silvery plane of dreams greeted her like an old friend. She flew around for a moment, before noticing a slightly darker patch of the silvery dream stuff looming just underneath her. She turned towards it and stepped into a very familiar dreamscape, one that belonged to Celestia.

Author's Note:

Here's the prologue! woo!! Let me know what you think of the story.