The House of Lyon: A Griffin's Tale

The sun was rising over Canterlot. Or rather, Princess Celestia was rising the sun for the morning, harnessing her usual magic. For years, she rose it gracefully and expertly into the sky, signaling her ponies a new day for work and play had come. While Celestia rose the sun, the moon was waning under Luna's guidance. Every evening she safe guarded the dreams of her subjects, and crafted a beautiful night sky that select few enjoyed. Each star was shimmering in it's place, and the night was a symphony of blues, blacks, indigos, and violets. The sky at night blended better than any canvas a pony could paint. Every evening it was subtle and new, but not many could spot the differences, excluding Luna of course.

Comparatively, the daytime sky was all manner of blues and whites, and it was always there, like a warm blanket providing reassurance to those under the Princesses' rule. While anypony loved the day or night, to some who knew just how special the day and night were, both held secrets. For Celestia, the sky paved over the planet, hiding and obscuring the realm beyond. For Luna, it showed endless stars and dark colors, but even the night veiled the magnitude of space. No matter who looked, none could have guessed that legends existed out there in the cosmos. And who would guess that they would show up just beyond Equis orbit?

Luna had rose the moon to its place for the evening. As she regaled her work, many ponies wound down from their day jobs. The castle wound down in activity as her Centurions replaced the Royal Guard for  the night as per usual. From her tower she observed downtown Canterlot. It was lively this evening, as restaurants and clubs stayed open, music was faintly heard while ponies went about entertaining themselves. After having endured a thousand year exile, changelings, and other fiascoes, things in Equestria had simmered down considerably. For that Luna was grateful. And seeing ponies look out at the sky this evening, well, that warmed her heart a bit.

But in the sky, ponies of any age began to notice something near the moon. A dark shape that was hard to describe obscured the stars near it. It was too dark to be the sky. Faintly, a subtle shape was noticed. As ponies murmured, tension was building.  Luna hurriedly looked for the disturbance. She quickly spotted it herself. She knew the night sky's layout better than most. After all, it was her special talent.

"Pray tell... What are thou?" Luna questioned to herself. Quickly getting up, she headed off to her sister's chambers, realizing she needed her sister's opinion. She ran hastily  As she crossed the castle walls she descended the stairs and into the inner keep. She quickly navigated the castle, failing to realize teleporting might have been quicker. In her panic she ran as fast as her hooves carried her until she came upon the double oak doors that led right to Celestia's room.  She promptly barged in.

"Celestia! Wake thyself! I have dire need of you before night court!" Luna quickly spoke, tone beginning to rise. Celestia, to her credit, had not gone off to bed quite yet. Instead, she was quite transfixed on the night sky from her balcony, eyes wide. Slowly she looked to Luna, who was fidgeting quite nervously. "Luna. Something isn't right." The plain spoken mare said. From Celestia's gaze, it was easy to figure out she looked concerned. It didn't take an expert to know something felt wrong. The usual stoic faced sun goddess was clearly unsettled.

As the two rulers looked back to the sky, the black shape had grown, so to speak. It clearly had come closer, as faint red lights were becoming visible. The night it seemed, was going to very busy. Both mares promptly teleported to the main hall where court was held. It was the unspoken rule that both would skip trotting or walking in times of concern or danger. For now, it fell into "concerned and possibly very dangerous until otherwise." As the nobles for night court had assembled, both Princesses Luna and Celestia had assembled to address the court.

"Councilors and noble ponies, her us now." Spoke the sun ruler. Luna stood at the left, ready to clearly use the Royal Canterlot voice if need be. "It's still early to tell what the black shape is, but send word to everypony to be calm. Luna and I will investigate it." "Aye, we shall investigate the black shape posthaste. Centurions! Inform the public of our news. Thine subjects must be calm!" Luna spoke authoritatively. Quickly, the Centurions and nobles ushered out, dispatching news to the citizenry at large.

Among the crowd that had had been near the castle, the guards of  the Centurion division ushered out to dispel the crown who began speaking louder than before, stating that the Princesses had issued for everypony to remain calm while they investigated the slowly growing object in the sky. Ponies were shouting things like "Griffin airships are coming!" and "It's dragons!" The fervor of panic was growing, but with the Centurions issuing orders and showing a measure of control, rioting hadn't quite gripped ponies like it might have usually done.

Midnight Ink, a local librarian, had watched the shape grow in the sky, but had not panicked. Instead, he gazed out, wondering exactly what might be happening. Like any rational pony, he figured it was best to leave. He swished his white and grey mane and left the scene. Trotting briskly on the streets, he made his way home down to Quill Avenue where he entered the alley and up the stairs to his home above the locked up book shop. Entering his dark home, he quickly illuminated his blue horn and lit up the dark home until he found a candle. Once the house had been sufficiently lit, he promptly made for his kitchenette, and gathered up his dishes.

After the menial chores and requisite dinner for one stallion, he made for his bed. Tonight, he would sleep well, and perhaps it would be his last night of genuine night of solid rest.