Silently, the sun slipped below the horizon. It was not Equestria's sun, but Equinox's sun. It had been one full century since Luna stopped visiting the empire, and a batpony stallion in the highest tower of the empire quietly sighed as he looked out the window. He didn't remember Luna, but his dad before him had, and he had grown up as a prince to stories of the beautiful, caring mare. His dad was long gone now, and he was the king of the empire, a position that asked much of him. After all, even after decades and decades, there were still new problems every day for a growing empire.

Behind him, his bedroom door opened. Perking his ears curiously, he turned arond to see what it was, since his guards usually asked if somepony could be let in. The sight that greeted his eyes was not a pretty one. Both of his bedroom guards were laying on the floor, frantically struggling against deep, black magic that was enveloping their bodies. And between them, stood the shadowy form of what looked like a mare, except with deep red eyes that sent chills all the way to his bones. The other defining feature of its face was a wide, sharp toothed grin, which didn't bear fangs like the batponies themselves did. In fact, it had no wings either.

It took a step into the room, and the king decided right away that this was not something to be bargained with. Being one of the rare batponies who were born with a horn, he lit it up with his magic, picking up the two decorative swords in his room. One of them, he flung at the beast, and the other he used to cut open the curtains to his balcony as he dived towards it.

A wave of the inky magic crashed into the wall where he had been, and the mare let out a screech of anger as the sword impacted her, the first few inches of it sinking into her chest. What would be a mortal wound for a normal pony was a mere annoyance to her, and the stallion's own sword came flying over his head as he took off from the balcony. Catching the gaze of some of the guards stationed outside of his castle, he barked "Sound the alarm!" as he turned to look at the beast with his sword held in front of him. He wasn't fast enough, though. Tentacles of magic wrapped around his body, knocking the sword aside and he let out a scream that was muffled halfway through as the magic coated his body, dragging him back onto the balcony where the mare was waiting, flanked by what were originally his guards. Now they wore similar smirks to her, just with fangs, and they looked to her as she wordlessly gave them her commands.

As the bells in the city began to ring, the city began to swell, as ponies waking up were welcomed to alarm bells instead of their usual quiet breakfast. Every mare and stallion with a weapon began to step out of their houses, searching for whatever the danger was, but none of them were able to do anything about it. Every time the deep black mare wrapped a pony in her magic, her power grew stronger and her army grew larger, and within a minute, she had captured every pony within the central castle. With a loud bang, the doors to the castle flew open, and her army of enslaved ponies flew out into the streets, her infectious magic snagging every pony she could find.

As the streets began to overflow with her magic, ponies still within their houses tried to hide, but every stallion and mare and foal inside of the great city was eventually hunted down and captured. By the time the moon was in the sky, the bells had fallen still, and everypony within the Lunar City had been enslaved, now obeying the mare who had brought their lives to a halt. In one large group, the mare marched nearly every single batpony from the city into the forest, to a clearing that she had prepared. Once she gathered the empire in place, she commanded them all to lay down, then her magic began to solidify around each pony, sealing them each in a rock tomb in the shape of their own body, just like the Equestrians had done to Discord to end his maniacal reign.

Once they were all imprisoned, the mare left, to round up what was left of the Empire. To make it even easier, ponies had begun to travel into the city to find out what the alarm was rung for, which made it even easier for her to find them. And even the ones who hadn't, or the ones who were in hiding, well... she had years and years of hunting experience.

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Miles from the city, a batpony stallion was asleep at his post. He was at the top of a watchtower, one of hundreds that were posted around the borders of the empire. Equinox had no actual animal life other than the batponies, but the empire had decided to post guards around the borders of the Empire, just in case. Most of the planet was still unexplored, so it was seen as essential to keep watchponies at the border. Little did they know, they would be the last free ponies of the Lunar Empire.

It was quiet at the watchtower. The stallion posted there had slept in, and he grunted as he opened his eyes to see that it was dark out. "Ugh..." he grunted, rubbing the back of his head as he tried to sit up. When he did, he bumped into something above him, and he fell back onto his bed with a confused grunt. He opened his eyes again, and this time he realized that it wasn't just dark, he was staring up at something that seemed devoid of light.

Not only was it devoid of light, it had two red eyes and a wide smirk full of sharp teeth... the creature, a pony he realized, was standing over his bed, black, wispy magic encircling both him and it. His heart began to thud with fear as he stared up at her, unable to look away from her eyes. She brought her snout closer, and her nose came within an inch of his as she opened her mouth. The guard was the first- and last- pony she spoke to that night. "You are the last batpony to take a breath on this planet" She hissed, her voice filling both his ears and his head with its malice.

Following the words, the stallion felt a terrible surge of fear, and he squirmed on the bed in desperation, trying to push her off, but his thrashing was useless against her magic. She watched with a perverse smirk as her magic enveloped the helpless stallion, and minutes later, she left the watchtower with him in tow. By the time the sun rose again, the bustling empire was dead silent, devoid of all life or movement. And it would stay that way, for Centuries.

In the dark forests, as the sun continued to rise, the blackness-enveloped mare relaxed, laying down among two frozen batponies. Instead of killing them, she had decided it would be more fun to turn them all into little statues. After all, she would need help if anypony came to rescue her prey, and what better fighting force than the very ponies they hoped to rescue? For now, though? She closed her eyes, and she fell asleep. Her magic began to fade, and she closed herself off within a statue, just like all the others.

Author's Note

F for all the house plants that ain't gonna get water no more