Normally when one thinks of Canterlot, of it's magnificent structures and regal design, they envision it to be a brilliant place with gleaming white walls that reflected the beauty and grace of the Princess for whom it was built for. It was home to many ponies, whether they be nobles or common ponies. And at the literal pinnacle of it all was undoubtedly the great palace situated on the side of the mountain, a resplendent monument to the Princess and all that she stood for, like a brilliant alabaster crown upon the head of the city. Whenever one looked upon it, oftentimes they could not help but stop to marvel at the craftsmanship and artistry that had went into its grand design. In the daytime, under the light of the radiant sun, it was a truly marvelous structure to behold.
But anypony that had spent any amount of time at the palace, especially an all nighter, would also say that the otherwise majestic and inviting atmosphere transformed after nightfall, when Celestia lowered the sun to give way to the course of the moon. And when that happened, and when all was still and quiet, when there was nothing to see by in the palace interior but the light of a few crystalline magic lamps, anypony would agree that that the place seemed to adopt a rather eerie quality.
At least that was what the pony currently standing guard felt about it as he continued his rounds through the tall arching halls of the palace, before eventually coming to a stop at a place where three of the massive corridors intersected, right where he was stationed. Lance Heart may have been little more than a recruit when he was assigned to his station in the castle, but he was far from the scared little stereotype that had somehow been branded on him and others like him. The dark did not frighten him like it did others.
Even so however, he would still be the first to admit that he did have a tendency to be extra cautious at times, making sure he checked down every alcove and recess he came across, if only to assure that there would be no surprises, especially ones set by his fellow recruits. Just last week Candle Wick and a few others from his regiment had decided it would be a great idea to prank him when it was his turn to patrol the palace for the night. Their plan was flawed however, as instead of screaming his head off at the very sight of the "Gluemaker" like any sensible pony would have, Lance Heart did the exact opposite to what they were hoping for and called for backup before he proceeded to beat the snot out of what he perceived as an intruder. He had received a number of commendations from his superiors for it as well, while his fellow recruits got to experience what it was like to hoof clean every scrap of dirty rusted armor that was brought to them. He still found it rather funny to this day, and allowed himself a small chuckle as he surveyed the intersection.
Lance Heart felt an unexpected chill run up his spine as he stood at his post with a halberd gripped in the fetlock of his right foreleg. He was standing underneath one of the magic lanterns, so he decided to just chalk it up to having only recently donning his silver armor. The metal was still cold to the touch. The lantern helped, though only slightly as he stood in place as it gave off no actual warmth. The steadily flickering light also helped to steady his nerves a little bit. He actually found it to be a little strange they only lasted slightly longer than the traditional candles. One would think that given its properties the lanterns would remain illuminated indefinitely. That was not the case however, as they had to be regularly recharged by a unicorn with specialized knowledge of how they work. Lance Heart was at the moment unable to recall how long ago it was since that had last happened, and in his opinion it was a highly inefficient means of illuminating the palace.
He decided it did not matter all that much at the moment, as it would only be a little while longer until his shift was done and another guard took over for him. He just hoped it did not take too much time, as he could already see that a few of the lanterns farther down the hall to his left were starting to dim, steadily going from a bright warm gold to a dull cold bronze.
At least he would not have to worry about-
Lance Heart's head snapped to the left, his ears standing erect through the port holes on his feathered helmet as he peered down the hall with wide eyes. He could have sworn that he had just heard something shuffling around on the marble floor. But as he looked, Lance could not detect any trace of anypony or anything there. The hall had returned to an eerie and hollow silence aside from the gentle thud of his heart pounding away in his chest. The only movement he was able to discern was the soft billowing of the drapes in front of an open window.
However, after a few moments of inactivity he eventually started to wonder if he was not just letting his nerves get the better of him, making him imagining things that were not there to begin with. He could almost imagine what Captain Stalwart would say about it. He would shake his head and berate Lance for getting spooked over noth-
Lance whirled to the right, the single spiral horn atop his head lighting up, ready to fire off a stun spell at. . . nothing. The hall was devoid of anything. Despite the emptiness however, Lance's instincts were screaming at him that he was far from alone.
"Alright, who's there?" he called out, his voice bouncing off of the hard marble. He tried to sound intimidating, but if he were completely honest he was more anxious than frustrated. He was absolutely sure that he had heard something this time, although just like before he could see nothing in the hall that seemed out of the ordinary. He briefly considered the possibility that his fellow guards were playing another prank on him, but discarded that as being very likely.
"Hello?" he said when he received no reply to his earlier question. He waited another few moments before deciding to just ignore it, passing it off as his own imagination.
That was when he noticed the lanterns at the end of the hall beginning to dim. Their wan lights gradually faded from a bright golden glow to a dull yellowish flicker, until they went out completely. One by one they went out, as though being snuffed by a puff of wind, getting closer and closer to Lance. While he did not know that much about how they were supposed to work, Lance knew that what he was seeing should not be possible, not unless somepony was doing this intentionally.
"Whoever's doing this, you'd better cut it out right now and show yourself!" he exclaimed, although there was hardly any bravado to be heard in his voice as he began to shake in fearful anticipation. He still received no answer, and eventually every single lantern went dark, leaving just the one above his head. Lance backed up, retreating as much as he could into the small area of light, until his flank bumped against the wall. He considered making a break for it, but thoughts of what might be lurking in darkness just out of sight kept him rooted to the spot.
Then he heard something quite unexpected echoing out of the gloom. It sounded distant and far away, yet near at the same time oddly enough. Straining his ears, Lance Heart listened to it intently, noting that it sounded like music, not unlike a lute of some sort, but with a bit more of a twang to the soft and airy notes of the unknown melody.
And then, just as abruptly as it had come the music stopped, replaced by dead silence, and all that Lance could hear anymore was the sound of his heart trying to break out of his chest. He could not help but feel that at any moment now something was going to leap out of the shadows and-
"Excuse me," a gentle voice said from behind him.
Lance screamed in absolute terror as he whirled around to face whatever had snuck up on him. Reacting on instinct he fired off the stun spell he had been holding, directly into its face.
It just so happened to be that the face belonged to none other than Princess Celestia herself. Lance Heart yelped in fright, more from the fact that he had just blasted Princess Celestia than the fact that she had just inexplicably appeared right behind him with no warning whatsoever.
"Princess!," he exclaimed in a slightly higher tone of voice than what was appropriate for a stallion his age. Bowing low before her he quickly apologized. "I am so sorry your highness! I swear I didn't see you there! Please forgive me for my mistake!"
"Mistake?" Celeste questioned in a calm voice, like a mother addressing her foal, completely ignoring the fact that she had just taken a stun spell at point blank. It did not look like she had even blinked. "Why, whatever do you mean my little pony? I do not see where you are in the wrong."
Standing up, Lance Heart looked up at the alabaster white alicorn, stuttering as he replied, "I-it's just that I d-didn't know it was you that was doing all of that stuff, with the lanterns and whatnot. I mean, I know it's not really my place o tell you what to do your highness, but You really made me nervous."
Celeste tilted her head, her multicolored ethereal mane following her movement as she stated, "I am afraid that I do not know what you are talking about. I was not doing anything to the lanterns. I was just stretching my hooves a little when I happened upon you."
"Really?" Lance asked, suddenly confused. "But then why are all the. . ." He faltered when he saw that behind the Princess the hallway was no longer as dark as it was just moments ago. In fact, it seemed that there had been no change whatsoever as they shone brightly, casting their gently flickering light on the marble floor and walls.
"But. . . but I thought that. . ." Lance muttered as he struggled to articulate his thoughts, trying and failing to understand what he was seeing.
Looking at him with an expression of genuine concern, Celestia asked as she put a hoof to his forehead, as though trying to gauge his temperature. Lance did not bother to tell her it was impossible with his helmet on as she asked, "Are you well? You look as though you could use a rest from your duties. Perhaps it would be best if you retire to your quarters early this night."
Lance wanted to decline, to tell the Princess of the sun that he did not require a break from his duties, but the way she had said, along with the thought of staying i the hall alone while strange things were happening for seemingly no reason, was enough for him to say, "M-maybe you're right. I'm probably just imagining things anyway, probably from all of the late nights."
"That would seem to be the most likely cause," Celestia said in agreement.
Nodding his head, Lance began to quickly trot away in the direction he knew led to the barracks. "Well uh, have a good night Princess. See you in the morning I guess."
"And to you as well my little pony," Celestia replied with a soft smile as she watched the guard slowly recede in the distance, until he disappeared around a corner. The moment he was out of sight, Celestia's smile fell as she scanned her surroundings. Her long spiral horn became lit in a brilliant golden aura, and all at once the lanterns lining the hall slowly dimmed, fading away until they finally gave way to utter darkness.
"I know that you are there," Celestia said in a low voice, contrasting completely with her normal motherly tone she reserved for her subjects. The only source of illumination she had now was her horn that created a circle of light around her about eight feet across. "I know you are here, hiding from me."
Celeste received no response, but she was not fooled into believing that she was alone for even a moment. Even now she could feel its presence, though she could not pinpoint its exact location as it lurked unseen in the shadows no matter how much she strained both her physical sense and her magic.
Cautiously, Celestia strode forward, her violet eyes panning left and right, on the watch for any sign of movement. She was then brought to a halt when a melodic, feminine voice echoed out of the gloom.
"You did not have to go and spoil my fun you know," it said in a mocking tone, reminding her all too much of another entity she had once confronted, now sealed in stone. "After all, you already keep me behind closed doors, out of sight of your precious subjects. Must you prevent me from entertaining myself every once in a while?"
Celestia's ears flicked in every direction as the voice bounced off of the hard walls, unable to locate its source.
"I have told you before that you are not permitted to walk the halls while the Night Guard is on patrol. I do not fancy having to explain to them your presence should one of them happen to see you out and about."
"That would require me to be seen in the first place," the voice replied with a gentle laugh. "After all, I only wanted to give the young one a scare. He never would have actually seen me." Before Celestia could offer any sort of retort or reprimand, the voice cut her off, the mocking tone replaced by a more menacing one. "I grow weary of this confinement hat you have placed upon me Celestia. If I'm being honest I oftentimes wonder what would happen if I broke our agreement and revealed myself to your ponies, let them know what has been hiding beneath their feet. Maybe that way I will convince you give back what was stolen from me."
Celestia felt herself stiffen when she heard that, and a seed of worry that had been planted in her mind ever since Canterlot's founding grew a little bit more, as memories of when she had first encountered the strange entity resurfaced.
"I will not say this again," Celestia stated, pushing those thoughts aside for the time being. "You are not to allow yourself to be seen by anypony except myself and whom I allow."
"You mean those stuffy, pompous individuals that dare think themselves as nobles?" the voice questioned. "They bore me, as do you."
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, only to cut herself off when she saw a slight shift in the shadows as something retreated into the gloomy depths of the hall, accompanied by a sound Celestia could only compare to a collection of needles clicking on the marble floor.
"Very well then," the voice added, sounding bored. "I will attempt to follow your request, your highness. But know this. Eventually, whether I intend it or not, one of your precious ponies will see me, and on that day you will learn that there are some things even you cannot control."
Scowling fiercely, Celestia poured magic into her horn, and the darkness that surrounded her was cast aside in a flash of golden light. The hall was empty save for her however, with no trace of the entity to be seen. Sighing in frustration and worry, the Princess released her hold on the illumination spell, keeping just enough light for herself to see by as she made her way to her bedchambers for yet another sleepless night.
