The Everfree Chronicles: Altered Chances

Everfree Castle, Nightmare Moon's and Nightshade's Chambers, Midnight

After placing the armor of Nightmare Moon on the bed I covered it up in the finest of blankets the castle had to offer, and singing the stolen lullaby to her was a beautiful sight to behold when her spirit was laying in her armor trying to retain her form while fighting to stay out of the spirit realm.

Looking her over I saw that as long as she was weakened she could not do anything to stop anypony from harming her, so a plan must be made to ensure her survival...and my own.

"Good night my little queen, for the next night shall bring with it a glorious sky filled with the stars that you have created and with the moon that shall be the sigil of our reign." I bowed as I left the room, making sure our new guests were comfortable in their new home for the rest of their lives.

Trotting down the hall I saw that the darkness from the halls sprang to life and animated the old suits of guard armor that was lining the walls and at the passing of each set of armor they all saluted me with the armored skeletal shadow hoof as each one stared at me with their glowing red orbs, each suit of armor a shadow of a former pony that moved onto the afterlife that swore service to the Nocturnal Queen...now they come back knowing that the night shall last forever.

Nodding at each one I moved silently into the Guards Barracks and saw that each of the new ponies that I have 'recruited' are shaking in place as four of the shadow guards are standing at attention with their spears pointing at them incase they tried to escape. I waved them off and told them to wait outside until further ordered, they saluted and marched out without emitting a single sound, true professionalism.

Slowly walking past each one I looked into their eyes, looking for their fear, their dread that if they tried to back out of it now that they will know that they will be put to the sword and meet a fate worse than dying by a blade. Staring into their eyes I also saw that they are afraid that if they died now than their families might suffer a similiar fate or that they could actually do better than the Solar and Lunar Guards and do the things that they couldn't do. Satisfied with my looking I turned to all of them and motioned for them to sit down, half of them did, the rest just stood there, waiting for me to say something.

Clearing my throat I spoke loud enough for all of them to hear my words and to know my anger against them.

"Welcome new recruits...you have betrayed your country and your throne to serve Us, you should know that if you back out now that you will be killed, maybe not by me or maybe not by the pets of my forest, but by the blades you once stood by, the blades of Equestria will strike you down if you back down from your new post. You now serve the Queen and King of the Eternal Night, Myself and Nightmare Moon. Follow our commands to the letter and you shall be spared from out wrath along with your families, disobey them and you shall know pain on an entirely new level. Are we clear with each other?" I said while eyeing every single pony in the room, Greaves and Sapphire were standing behind me while smirking at the rest of the recruits.

Turning my gaze to my two friends I smile and nod at them, "My friends...I have succeded, I have the armor and most of their ancient relics, take the bag to the vault and drop it off onto the alter. It will do the rest, and do make haste, I want you two here to train the new recruits while I tend to our undead comrades." they both smiled at me as they raced off to see who is the fastest of the two, hearing them yell at each other.

"Move it featherbrain! You have no chance against this gryphon!"

"So says the peckerface that couldn't even handle a mare in bed!"

"Why you little! Get back here you whore and say that to my face!"

I suppressed a deep chuckle as I heard the two bolt down the corridor down toward the vaults to secure our new prizes, turning my head I saw that one of the recruits, a dark blue mare that went by the name Corrosive, was looking at me with a blank stare the entire time, a stare that had a sparkle or a glint to each pass I made around my recruits until I saw a flash of green in those brown eyes of his before it went back to normal. Thinking of it nothing more than a trick of the light I than began to instruct them of their new roles.

"Listen up and listen well recruits, this training is alot worse than the one up in Canterlot. This regiment will drill you to the bones and to your very core, if you fail this it will kill you and I will be there to watch it happen. So train hard, rest when you can, and if you break a hoof or a leg, snap it back in place and keep going since the magic in the training room will fix it immediately." I sat down on a cushion before yelling out, "Master Joint Breaker! Train these maggots till they drop from exhaustion!" and with that a spectral pony rises from the stone floor and bows to me before he began to bark orders at the ponies, all of them scrambling to get up and to get into formation before the drills began. Their scrambling was amusing and once again made me smile before I wiped it away before any of them saw it.

Quietly leaving the room I stroded down the halls before I met up with Prism and Pylon, both of them now mostly alive than dead but their skin still was grey and had the faint scent of decay amongst them. Quickly looking them over I moitioned them forward until they were within ear shot. "Prism...Pylon...I have a mission for the two of you...I need the two of you to find us more recruits for our army...we both know that the Solar and Lunar Guards outnumber us ten to one....even with our shadow soldiers they are still weak to the light and that they are limited to certain areas. If you have found a pony that meets our requirements drop off a letter at their homes and resume duties, we need as many ponies, gryphons, diamond dogs, and other beings that exist out there...I don't care how you manage it just get it done. Are we understood?" they looked over at the letters and grinning darkly they nodded before leaving me alone again in the room. Turning quickly I exited the small quarters before entering Beatrix's chambers, the room is filled with odd objects that confuse me, voodoo dolls line one of the walls as one of them was covered in glass casings filled with perfectly preserved body parts from many species that I know and don't know.

Taking a deep wiff of the air I smelt something most odd and at the same time most foul, the scent of decaying meat and lavender oils, like someone was trying to mask the smell of something dead with the odor of a fragrence most sweet and strong. To me it was an experiement that was in mid-process and that if I honked this up than I would have to deal with an angry mare that would never stop complaining to me if I did ruin something. Gingerly taking a step into the room I heard the sounds of whispered chatter until the yelp of somepony getting stabbed

"Beatrix...when you are not to busy putting together whichever of our undead friends back in one piece, I need to speak with you." my voice echoed in the room as if it was an expansive cave, even though it felt like it since the bloody room was converted from an old storage chamber to one of scientific endeavers and the occasional madness-induced laughter.

What would have been two-to-five hours of waiting has actually turned out to be five minutes of me trying to figure out what this lever does on the wall, not once have I seen it there or not once even build the thing, following my gut instinct I placed my hoof on it to see if it was rigged, it wasn't, slightly putting pressure on it to move, it snaps in half like a twig. Quickly looking around I throw the broken lever near a box of...unmentionables...I would have to later ask her why that box is even inside the science lab.

"Yes Master Umbraspark...what is it, you were lucky to catch me fixing up that idiot's head, he did a sharp turn and nearly snapped the bloody thing off at the base of his neck...I almost had to use tape to keep it on since we nearly ran out of stichings and thread." Beatrix said while whipping the blood and dark ooze from her head with a towel, not even wanting to know what some of those fluids on her head were...

"Beatrix...I would question what you two were doing...but for now I have a request for you..." I said while passing over to her a letter, and as soon as she opened it a large devil grin forms on her muzzle.

"Ha ha ha ha, this I can do, this and more! Master Umbraspark how much time do I have to be able to create this formula and get it test ready?" she said with a glimmer of scientific brightness in her eyes.

"You have two months...after that it must be ready for the Gala...we will show ourselves to them on their most special of days...and when we do, they will know that the night will be respected and loved...or they will suffer for their insolence." and with that I got close to the door before turning my head back and coughing a bit. "You know...that box of dildo's near the boxes of limbs is never a good place to hide them...hehe...seems like you need a stallion real bad, maybe when you are done patching those two up you can probably get them to be alive again. I bet they would love to see how warm you are hehe." I said until a large butcher knife flew by my head and embedded itself into the wall followed by three more and an axe.

Closing the door I return to the barracks and to my eyes was a wonderful to sight to see.

Every single recruit was passed out tired on the floor while Greaves and Sapphire were positioning all of them in different, sometimes funny, and from what I just saw Greaves do to the two mares, sexual positions.

"Greaves...don't mess with the recruits like that. We are giving them a chance to worship the night, not have them rutting each other to wits end. Put those two back where they were...you can mess with them later." his groan of annoyance was followed by a loud smack as Sapphire hits him upside the head. Music to my ears.

Ponyville, Umbraspark Residence, Midnight

"Now Scootaloo, we know you are trying to learn how to fly but is chasing that mare Rainbow Dash really going to help you fly? You should be like your step-brother Storm Kicker and be constantly practicing and flapping your wings. Not to be rude Scoots but...your wings are small as a foals...they should be larger at your age." said an older mare resting on the sofa in the living room.

"But..but I have been practicing...its just...they haven't been growing is all...I can barely hover...its just not fair." a small orange filly said while looking down at the ground, her eyes red from crying and from a few bandages all over her legs from a fall.

"Ha ha! Scoots is a grounded pegasus! I was right!" said a colt that was flying over the orange filly's head, teasing and laughing at her.

"Storm! Apologize to her right now!" said the older mare, yelling at the young colt.

"Fine. Sorry Scootaloo...chicken" the colt said while still flying around room.

"Now Scootaloo, go to your room it is way past your bedtime." the older mare said, her voice sounded disappointed.

"Yes mother..." said the filly as she slowly shuffled her way to her room.

As Scootaloo got to her room she slammed the door shut and locked it by pushing a drawer in front of it, keeping it closed to anyone wanting to get in. In the few weeks she has been in her new room but to her it still felt that it belonged to the only pony that knew what she went through in life, and actually showed any signs of care for her. The pony that rescued her friends and herself while putting himself on the line to keep them alive and prevented them from being turned into a meal for a rampaging manticore. Her older brother.

Sighing sadly she climbs onto my bed and lays down on the pillow, sad that I was sent to prison to be executed just for trying to help some mare with her plan, but even she wanted to know what it would be like if the night did last forever. Would there be school or would it be canceled, would it be cold or still be warm? So many questions are buzzing around her head that she didn't notice that the lamp in her room slowly dies down until it is dark. Reaching her hoof to the lamp she finds that it is encased in a dark barrier made of inky smoke, and as she tries to figure out what is going on she felt a presence behind her and as she was about to scream she stops herself when she recognizes who it was.

"Big brother!" was all she said before she pounced ontop of me, actually knocking me off balance and onto my back.

"I came to check on you...I heard a bit of what my family said...your wings are too small...they need to grow but because of what you had to go through...never had the proper training..." I said as I gently poked her wings, making them slightly make a flittering noise as they tried to get away from my hoof.

She looks down at her hooves as I said that her wings were too small, and I hear a small sniffle come out of her.

"It's true....what everypony says is true...I can never fly...my wings are so short they can barely even lift me up...I will never fly..." she begins to cry as she curls up into a ball and tries to cry herself to sleep.

"Do not cry my little Scoots...just because you can not fly at this moment does not mean you can not fly in the future....believe in me Scoots...on your birthday...come to the Everfree Castle...I will have your present for you...and you will fly...with me...and Rainbow Dash....anypony you want to fly with...just do not cry...do not show anypony weakness...you are strong and brave...you must be both for your friends...." I heard the sound of hooves knocking on the door, and quickly glided over to the door, moving the drawer out of the way but leaving the door locked.

"Scootaloo...do not tell anypony that I was here....everypony but Celestia and Luna believe that I am dead...do not tell anypony about me..." she nodded before going to the door, about to unlock it, she turns to look at me and I was already gone.

Canterlot Castle, Throne Room, Morning

"Lt. Moonbloom....what is the status of Captain Shining Armor." said the solar princess from her throne, looking down at the temporary replacement for the Captain.

"Well...he is recovering...but he is pretty bucked up ma'am...whatever Nightshade done to him....he broken something from within...it will take a while...maybe a few months....I don't know."

"Than until the Captain gets better I hereby place you as the new captain. You are in charge of Equestria's defenses, and during any events with the elite of Equestria, you are to be by my side, schedule the patrols and routes, and ensure the safety of everypony. Am I understood Captain Moonbloom."

"Yes your majesty." she bows and is waved off, to start her new role.

On her way to her room she stops by to check up on Shining Armor, and just by taking a peek she can see what the traitor has done, all of his legs are broken, his horn cracked, his body damaged, almost completely wrapped up in a cast.

She shakes her head and sighs, goes on her way and finds her new chambers, nods at the two guards at their post, goes into her room and locks the door behind her. As soon as the door is locked she quickly moves to the desk, pulls out a scroll, ink and a quill, and starts writing down.

From: Captain Moonbloom Solis

My friend, it has been a long time since we have spoken or seen one another, and it is good to know that everything is going well on your end of your life. You have done much to make us proud and even more to ensure that everything that was planned will go well and without any hinderance. I have been promoted to Captain of the Guard until Shining Armor is fully healed and back on his hooves, and to what he has done to him will ensure that will not happen until after the Gala is long over, we can move ahead with our plans.

Your Most Loyal Servant

Moonbloom Solis, Child of the Night

"Send this letter out at once Private Smiles, to Ponyville."

"Yes captain."

Ponyville, Mail Center, Afternoon

It was almost lunch time in Ponyville Post Office, the workers slowly troted over to the town's local eateries, seeing what would fancy them for their mid-day meal until one worker was called into her boss's office for one last deliever.

"Ditzy, we have an express letter that came in a few minutes ago, sent all the way from Canterlot, and I need you to take this letter and give it to the pony who is on the recieving end. You got it?"

Ditzy on the otherhoof, did not get it, her eyes were looking at two different directions until she saw the seal on the letter, and in an instant it flashed from the golden seal to the dark grey seal before going back to gold. She nodded rapidly before taking the scroll and jumping into the air and taking it to the proper pony.

The mailmare was not used to flying into the Everfree Forest unless the letters were for the town's local zebra who prefered to live out in the forest than with the rest of the ponies, but the instructions for the letter says otherwise and without even blinking properly, she does a quick corkscrew before landing near a randbom stump, placing the letter on it, and than flying off, not even knowing why the directions says to leave it at that stump.

A few minutes later a shrouded pony comes up to the stump, picks up the scroll and undoes the seal, reading it quickly before looking up and reading it again, finally understanding the letter he begins to laugh to himself, laughing like the crazy pony that I am, in all very crazy at this point.

"Yes...excellent....soon...three months the Gala...hehe...good work my minion...Moonbloom...you shall be rewarded once this is over...for now...let us celebrate."

In three months, the shadows and the night will rise...forever.