Chapter 1
It was your typical day within Canterlot castle. Maids; and butlers cleaning every inch of the palace. The chefs busy preparing the meals for the princesses; and other occupants. Guards standing attention at their designated locations. Yes, everything is as it usually was except for a guard who patrols the halls of the furthest end of the castle grounds.
A Pegasus guard by the name Hazy Nimbus drew the short end of the patrol list. A lone patrol of the old west wing. Now normally something like this wouldn't be so bad. However the old west wing hasn't been used in several years. Some say it is because it is haunted by a vengeful spirit. Others say that it is where princess Luna keeps a monstrous pet that has a taste for pony flesh. Though no pony knows the real reason as to why it was no longer used.
Hazy makes his way to the large black iron double doors that bar the entrance to the old west wing. Gulping he looks at the metal doors and fumbles with the keys to unlock them. Placing the iron key into its keyhole he turns it. A distinctive click tells him that they are now unlocked. Pushing the doors open an ear splitting shriek fills the hall as the ancient metal doors slowly scrape against the stone floors. Hazy folds his ears against his head to muffle the horrible sound.
Hazy looks into the ancient hall. Dust; and cobwebs cover virtually everything. Taking his first step into the ancient hallway the torches that align the walls light up with red fire. Hazy jumps back as they do. He always hated it when they did that! Though he would much rather them be lit then to walk down a dark; and abandoned hallway.
The sound of hoof on stone echoes through the hallway as he makes his way through them. An unusual scratching sounds starts to prick at his ears. These halls were supposed to be empty, but something besides him was there. With chattering teeth, and wobbling knees Hazy makes his way towards the sounds.
"It is just a rat! It is just a rat! Confirm that it is a rat then get the buck out of here!" Hazy tells himself.
Following the scratching sounds Hazy finds himself at a burned wooden door. Barely touching the door it falls off of its hinges. Sending a plume of dust into the air. Hazy's mouth fills with dust. Coughing he looks into the room. It was much darker than the other rooms he had previously seen. A cold sweat clings to his coat as he steps into the room.
Squinting his eyes Hazy peers into the darkness. There were serval strange figures at the edge of his vision. With teeth chattering Hazy pulls out a flashlight out of his armor. Turning it on he flashes it into the room. Revealing...statues lots; and lots of statues. However these weren't your prototypical statues of legendary heroes that would be out in the hedge maze; but rather statues of various bat like creatures.
"Huh!? Bat ponies? Why would some pony make statues of a monstrous myth like them?"
Hazy looks closely at one of the statues. It looks so life like. As if the statue could jump to life at any moment. Hazy inspects one of the statues something moves in the corner of his eye making him jump.
"H...hello whose there!?"
A faint scratching noise answers from deep within the room. Lowering his head Hazy makes his way to the back where the sound was coming from. A beautiful statue of a female bat pony laid before him her eyes seemed to be drawing him in. Before he could even realize it he was making his way over to the statue. Climbing up the base; and looking her straight in the eyes. His face was now mere inches away from hers. She was so beautiful so life like. It was as if she calling him to come; and wake her from her eternal slumber. Closing his eyes he puckers his lips; and goes to kiss the statue.
A faint rasping noise breaks the trance he was in. Looking up at the rafters Hazy sees a pair of glowing red eyes looking down at him. Before he could react the creature lunges at him. He falls back screaming like a little filly. That is when a chorus of laughter soon erupts from behind a cluster of broken statues.
"Huh?"
Three guards poke their heads out from their hiding spot laughing up a storm. Hazy looks at the creature that had lunged at him. It was one of his friends in a bat costume; and colored contacts laughing as well.
"That's not funny!" screams Hazy as he tries to calm himself down.
"Dude you should have seen your face!"
"Yeah I thought you were going to pee yourself there near the end,"
"You guys know I hate bat ponies! Why would you do that!"
" One because nothing ever happens on patrol; and two it was bucking hilarious," answers the one who was dressed as a bat pony.
"You guys are plot holes,"
"Yeah, but we're not the one who was about to make out with a statue of a creature that we supposedly can't stand,"
"Shut up! I have no idea why I was about to do that,"
"Sure you don't," says one of them sarcastically.
"Seriously I have no idea where that came from! There is something strange about that statue,"
They all stop their laughing; and look up at the statue. As theystare at it the air itself seemed to grow colder. A bitter chill creeps through their bones.
"Well whatever the fun is over now. Time to get back to patrol guys,"
"Ye...yeah lets go back to our stations,"
With that they all leave the wing; and head back to the castle. As they do the eyes of the female statue seem to glow as if watching them leave.
Making their way back to the castle something catches their eyes. Something that makes their hearts stop cold. Princess Luna was talking to their captain. Looking at one another they approach their captain; and princess of the night.
"And I swear she was just sitting there cake all over her face," chortles princess Luna as the guards come within earshot.
"Bwahaha! Oh how I would have loved to see that. I bet princess Celestia wasn't amused," laughs the captain of the guard.
"Oh she wasn't! You should have...oh! Hello there good sirs!"
The guards salute their princess; and captain.
"Your highness," they say in unison.
" Why aren't you on patrols like I assigned!?" asks the captain in a serious tone.
" I was ah...coming to look for you sir. Patrol of the old west wing is complete nothing is out of the ordinary there...sir," answers Hazy in a nervous tone.
"The old west wing? Captain why are you having guards patrol that wing?" asks princess Luna.
"It is just a standard routine to make sure we don't have any squatters; or undesirables too close to you; and your sister," replies the captain.
"Oh...I see. While I admire your diligence any pony foolish enough to step hoof into that wing wouldn't be a threat to us for very long,"
"Princess?" asks the captain a twinge worry in his voice.
"No matter please make sure you lock that wing back up. Then remove it from your future patrols good captain. It isn't safe...even for our guards,"
The captain bows to princess Luna as do the other guards as she makes her way to her room.
As soon as princess Luna turns the corner; and out of sight the captain glares at his subordinates with fiery anger.
"You heard your princess go back; and make sure that you locked that wing back up! Than stand guard over those doors until the end of your sift,"
The guards salute their captain before they turn on their heels; and make their way back to the black iron doors.
"What do you think that was about?"
"Something about cake,"
"No not that...well that too; but I meant with the old west wing? What do you think she meant by not safe even for us?"
"Who knows I'm just glad we won't be going back in there! That place gives me the creeps,"
"Yeah, we just have to stand guard in a long creepy hallway in front of a big creepy door. To the most creepy part of the castle that is rumored to be the home of a flesh eating monster. For the rest of the day because that is soo much better," answers Hazy whose teeth were now chattering again.
"Ease up there Hazy at least you won't be alone this time,"
" That is a small consolation,"
Their eyes grow to the size of dinner plates as they look at the black iron doors. They were wide open!
"Did we forget to close the doors?" asks Hazy as he tries to swallow the lump in his throat.
"uh...maybe? I don't remember hearing that grating sound it makes when it moves so...yeah that's it! We just forgot to close it that's all,"
They all chuckle nervously as they look at the entrance to the old west wing. Hazy; and one of the others grab the handles to the doors; and pull. The sound of metal on metal fills the halls. With a loud thud the doors shut. Hazy immediately locks the doors before he lets out a collective sigh of relief. The guards stand there as they were told. However an eerie presence keeps them from relaxing. It was as if they were being watched from the shadows.
Luna enters her bedchamber; and heads over to her desk. She still had an hour before she had to set the night sky. So she decides to do a little light reading. Grabbing one of the many books in her collection she sees an old note from when she first came back to Equestria as princess Luna; and not Nightmare Moon.
Dear Princess Luna,
Here is a collection of my personal favorite authors. I figured that they might be useful in helping you catch up on the thousand years you have missed.
Sincerely yours,
Princess Celestia's student Twilight Sparkle.
Luan smiles as she rereads the thoughtful note. She was right the massive collection of books has helped her with assimilating back into Equestria. Looking at the book that she had decided to read tonight she stares at the cover. It depicted a bat pony standing over a dead pony with bite marks on its neck. Luna frowns.
Personally she never believed that they ever existed; but the fact that they were supposedly creatures of the night that fed on ponies; and stole foals from their beds. Did nothing to help ponies understand her night as a thing of beauty; and not a thing of horror. Maybe it wasn't a good idea for her to dress up her guards like bat ponies when she went to Ponyville on Nightmare Night after all. With an annoyed grunt Luna opens up the book; and reads.
Much as she expected it was filled with nothing; but stories of bat ponies doing atrocious things to ponies. Story after story it was all the same thing. A lone beautiful mare walking down an empty street only to be ambushed; and drained of her blood. After the fourth story of the same thing Luna closes the book; and steps away from her desk. It was time to raise the moon.
Luna steps out onto her balcony. Closing her eyes she lights her horn. As if a faithful pet waiting to be called by its master the moon begins to takes its place in the sky. Followed by the night sky; and stars. Just as she was about to finish setting the night the sound of loud thunder cracks across the sky.
Startled by the sudden explosion Luna opens her eyes. There were only a couple clouds in the sky; but they weren't storm clouds. Then another crack of thunder erupts. This one violently rattles the stained glass windows. Luna squints her eyes as to see the reason behind this unnatural phenomenon.
There high up in the sky were two shadowy figures flying around each other. Were they fighting? Another burst of thunder erupts above the castle. Luna's teeth rattle from the shock as she is forced to close her eyes; and cover her ears. Now intent to see just what the buck was going on Luna locks onto the two figures. Looking into the sky Luna sees one of the shadowy figures was falling straight for her. While the other one was falling somewhere into the city. Luna grunts as she is tackled by the figure; and sent sprawling across her bedchamber.
Recovering from having the wind knocked out of her. Luna feels something warm lying on top of her. Using her magic Luna moves whatever it was that had hit her. With the extra weight now off of her Luna gets up to see just what it was that had tackled her. Her eyes narrow; and her lip quivers as she looks at the figure cradled within her magic.
"Well this complicates things,"