Every resident of the Canterlot Castle of the Two Sisters was busy, bustling from here to there and back again. In the endless kitchens, chefs and bakers alike cooked up a storm, the older, more experienced of their craft barking orders to the rookies and snapping at any slackers. The grand palace, as well as the rich streets of Canterlot, were decorated with banners all bearing the insignias of both the moon and sun princesses, accompanied by lanterns and fairy lights of every possible color. The cause for celebration? On this day, for the first time in over a thousand moons, was The Eclipse Festival.
To celebrate the ongoing rule of the royal sisters, and the return of Princess Luna to her throne after her thousand - year imprisonment in the moon, Celestia and Luna would be aligning the sun and moon, one in front of the other, to form a spectacular Lunar eclipse. From all across Equestria and beyond, ponies, griffins, changelings, and countless other creatures serving under the royal sisters flocked to the city to enjoy the festivities set up before the real event started. Every creature from high and low, near and far, was there.
All of them except the bat ponies, however.
The bat - like equines were one of Equestria's greatest mysteries. Only known to service the Princess of the Night, their heritage, culture, even where they lived was a complete enigma. They were like spirits, and very few ponies knew they existed. Legends and rumors arose that they were bloodthirsty creatures that fed off of the blood of small fillies and colts in their sleep, and they flew about at night transformed into vampire bats, disguising themselves from the wandering eye. It was also said that they were in fact created by Princess Luna herself during her time as Nightmare Moon, carefully crafted from darkness and children's nightmares. Fortunately, these rumors died down in time, and with them, the knowledge of the bat ponies. No pony figured, if they even did exist, that they would show up anyways. That's where they were wrong.
The bat - winged figures whisked from tree - to - tree, remaining hidden in the darkness the leaves and thick branches provided. They didn't normally think to show up for an event involving Princess Celestia; in fact, some of them didn't even know who she was. They were here for their princess, Princess Luna. Every once in a while a unicorn's eye or a pegasus' sharp ears would turn in the direction of the low rustling these creatures caused, but they were never seen. Most of the focus was directed towards the grand palace that stood as the centerpiece of the city, where the princesses were preparing themselves for the festivities of the day.
Princess Celestia was cornered.
Nobles and castle staff crowded her one by one, giving updates on every bit of progress made on final preparations, complaints about the behavior of some creatures, and most of all, inquiring the whereabouts of her sister. More than used to this type of busy living, Celestia handled each new situation and question brought to her attention with an easy calmness that completely contrasted the thoughts going through her head.
Waves of fear, apprehension, nervousness, even irritation banged at the back of her brain. This was one of the first large events held since Luna was brought back from the moon and ultimately defeated by Twilight Sparkle and her friends. For as long as she could remember, Luna had never been a morning pony, but she was never one to just go missing on the morning of an extremely important event, especially one she was so involved in. The sun princess almost had a right mind to storm down to her sister's room herself, but these thoughts were brought to a halt by a particularly frantic guard from her own brigade rushing to her side, gesturing for her to lean down. She worriedly complied, eyes widening in fear and horror as the guard whispered into her ear, never breaking his military look of cold emotionlessness.
Without a word, Princess Celestia spread her wings and took flight, much to the shared concern and irritation of the ponies who had been trying to get her attention. The alicorn flew down one of the darker corridors marked as the North Wing, the appearance of which deeply contrasted from the main ballrooms and hallways of the dense palace.
Gone unused for years since Luna's banishment, this wing of the castle was dark and still riddled with spider webs in every possible corner. Vines had grown over the windows and crept through the openings, as the royal gardeners had always been too afraid to venture up here and tend to them. In a vain attempt to brighten up the dark and almost spooky appearance, lavender curtains had been draped over the walls, and the tapestries that had grown worn from years of neglect were in the process of being properly laundered and fixed to the moon princess's liking.
Princess Celestia landed in front of the door that would lead to her sister's room, stepping into the parlor and immediately gasping at the sight in front of her.
Sprawled out across the floor was Princess Luna, her cerulean complexion pale and sickly. Her pale blue mane was mussed and part of her bangs obscured her eyes, which were peacefully closed, as though she had only been taking a nap. However, it was clear to see that she most definitely was not breathing, made even more obvious by her violently snapped neck. Celestia choked back a sob, and two guards took her side. One of which was a dark grey bat pony from Luna's personal guard with eyes that were, quite noticeably, two different colors. While the right was a brilliant sea green, the left, straight down to the pupil, was a pale, ghostly yellow. The other was a common unicorn guard.
The unicorn saluted, standing at attention. "We found her this way at about oh - eight - hundred hours, Your Majesty. There are no clues directing towards it being a murder or an attack, at least none that we could find."
The bat pony nodded sullenly, seemingly struggling to keep her eyes on the princess. To her disdain, the sun goddess turned and addressed her next.
"Private Candy Shade, is that correct?"
The bat pony mare jumped slightly, but it was thankfully unnoticeable enough to go unrecognized by her superior. "Yes ma'am."
"How many members of her guard were here at oh - eight - hundred hours?"
"None ma'am. She requested privacy, ma'am."
Celestia's brows furrowed deeply. It was never unnatural for her sister to want to take some time to be alone, even on important days like this. Undoubtly, somepony could've taken advantage of her being unguarded and struck her down like this, the task only made easier by the weakened magical state the younger princess had been in once brought back from the moon. The sun princess found her pale magenta eyes surveying the room, confirming that there was, in fact, no visible sign of struggle or attack. The room was neat and orderly, the dark blue curtains hanging peacefully over the windows as though nothing were wrong, the bed was neatly made and the pillows fluffed. Luna's stuffed tabby cat sat neatly on top of them. Her sights landed on the small alicorn still lain across the floor, and a single tear fell down her cheek, followed by another, and another. Before Celestia knew it, she was crying, and quite heavily at that. The unicorn guard gestured for Candy Shade to further take care of the situation while he escorted the princess out.
Once they were gone, Candy did her own look - over of the scene. It seemed obvious that Luna had possibly tripped and fallen over, breaking her neck. This could have easily been a freak accident, a result of her being so unused to her surroundings. That would be the obvious answer. But something in the air just seemed... wrong. Candy stepped out of the bedroom and into the parlor, her armor clinking softly as she moved. Two pegasi from the Celestial Guard met her with a nod, and she returned with a salute, heading out and making way for them to take care of the newly deceased princess.
However, it was clear, at least to the young mare who made her exit from Luna's chambers, that this case would not be closed so quickly.
