Luna paced through the cavernous apartments. Angel trailed behind. Soon the day would end and her night would come. Since her return every night had brought with it some excitable majesty. Tonight Luna didn’t know how to paint the stars.

“Your majesty, its time to raise the moon. We should get out of here.”
Angel’s somber frown served to darken her mood. In her celestial clock the time was about 9:00. Her unhurried trot was noticed by her guard.

“Your majesty, shouldn’t we hurry? Your sister might get worried if you don’t raise the moon soon.”

“We do not ‘raise the moon.’ We allow Our sisters sunlight to diffuse out into the cosmos. Our moon is on a set path. You are, however, correct. We should not dally any longer.”

“What did you say? Did you just say you don’t control the moon?”

“Not since the beginning days have I tampered with the stars and worlds out there.”

“Worlds! What are you saying?”

“Ah, we near the exit. Would you like me to show you?”
Her naturally reserved demeanor was broken now that they reached the last bend of the cave. While tonights night may not be inspiring it still had to be done. Each night that had come since her return was special to her in some way. Tonight was no exception.

“Your majesty, does it seem bright outside to you?”
Angel’s exit was shadowed by Luna bursting through the entrance. Spreading his wings Angel prepared to take off after her. Luna hovered above the valley. When she turned to face Angel he cramped his wings and froze. Her yellow eyes!

“Where is the moon! What affront is this? WHERE IS OUR NIGHT? THE SUN SHOULD NOT BE OUT THIS LATE!”
Her horn began to crackle with midnight energy and enervated the heat and light around her. From what Angel could see, her whole body began to tremble with effort.

“CELESTIA! WHAT IS THIS? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”
His years as guard had trained him well enough to realize she was about to fly away.

“Wait! Luna wait!” She paused only briefly to look at him before powering away. “Your consort! You can’t leave without her!”
Luna paused and glided violently towards the ground. Her hooves nigh obliterated the ground she landed on. Closing her eyes her horn was surrounded by strange, eldritch symbols. She exhaled slowly as Angel began to approach.

“What’s wrong? What happened? Are you alright?”
She opened her pointed blue eyes and stared at the guard.

“Where is the sun?”
He looked up at the bright sky. The heat seemed to come from everywhere. He scanned the mountainside, but could find not find it.

“That is what is wrong. I can feel her magic keeping the sunlight here.”

“How is that possible? Why would she do that?”

“We do not know my little pony. Whatever reasons she had we don’t know.”
Her eyes were now back to normal and she looked back at the mountains.

“Eternal day...” Her voice trailed off until Angel looked at her with concern. “We are accomplishing nothing here. Can you find your mate? She must have met up with Our consort by now. That they are not back yet is indeed worrying.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”
The bat pony’s link to his mate served as a beacon of sorts. With him sending out sonic messages so frequently Molly would surely hear them and answer back. Angel’s ears soon swiveled northward and they rode down the rising mountain air. Approaching the city ruins from above they could see the planning that had gone into the place. Clearly rivaling Canterlot, its triple parallel lines winding over the slight hills, its tail and head stretched from the caverns behind them to the horizon. In regularly intermittent sections a large cubic building would sparse the smaller “scales” of each diagonally fitting structure. All of the larger cubic structures were covered in the dried remains of some kind of ivy. Angel was still perked up and headed dead on towards the parkland in the distance. The miasmic haze billowing off the parkland smelled of burnt electricity.

The swaying trees welcomed their landing. Walking towards the large mansion at the end they noticed the raised mounds surrounding the property. Luna could hear somepony talking around the back.

“All have been accounted for, yes? There are no more?”

“Yes ma’am. Thank you ma’am.”

“I told you not to call me that didn’t I? I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Sorry sir. I can’t help it sir.”
Luna smiled in spite of herself. Who would be here, now, calling Molly a ‘sir’? Turning the corner she spies Molly talking cordially with a changeling. Before she can even blink Angel is in the air hooves forward. His teeth bared he barrels into his mate’s “attacker.”

“Get down! Its got you in its spell!”
Molly immediately gets onto Angel and the changeling, and begins to roll around the grass with them in an effort to separate them. The tangle of hooves brings Luna to smile again. She flies up in the air then collapses her wings over them.

“Ponypile!”
With her longer limbs she grabs them all up in a group hug and starts rolling back and forth through the grass. The grass was imbedding into not only their fur but had boken off in clumps in the changeling’s holes. With Luna’s friendly endeavors they had gotten too tired to continue fighting. Angel looked indignantly at Luna.

“Princess, what are you doing? This is an enemy!”
The changeling’s smile quickly faded. Their romp had left it and Molly in a good mood. Angel looked up at her in a crowned frown.
Luna extricated herself from the tangled mess of ponies and stood up.

“Perhaps you should explain yourself. Who are you? Why are you the only changeling We’ve seen since we got here?”
It shifted uncomfortably and spoke with its head raised.

“My name is Tandaxchara. I am charged with sending my brothers and sisters to the afterlife. From here my sisters feed us and distribute food through the chaksara.”
Molly stepped forward to speak.

“Her job is to send the rites of the dead. We’ve just finished burying the rest of them. Those green pods we saw during the invasion were in a sense feeding tubes. Once inside they would enter a small sleep to absorb the positive energies from the priests on the outside. Your highness you may not have noticed, but they speak mostly with their wings so her name might seem strange. If it translates at all through our own bat pony language it would be Crystal Light.”
She stepped back having said all she thought necessary to say.
His hackles still up Angel started to question Crystal.
“Why are you still alive? Where is your queen? Stick your hooves up!” She complied and raised them. “Just like that! No, don’t wave them!”
Crystal began to cough shallowly and her knees buckled. Now on one bent hind leg she still had one hoof up. Luna followed suit and crouched down. She started spitting and chuffing into her hoof. Her head bobbing side to side she smiled and spoke to the changeling.

“Psh! Wcha Wcha Wch! Unce Unce!”
Her terrible rapping skills combined wither her incredibly serious frown caught Crystal’s attention and she started chuckling as bits of green blood trickled out down her mouth. Cradling the changeling she winked at her.

“Now. You rest while We decide what to do.”
Crystal’s now heavy eyelids began to close. She struggled to talk, but managed.

“No, we can’t go sleep yet. My queen is still very sick down in the caves below. I cannot pass until she has first.”
She turned to Molly and spoke directly to her.

“Just down the stairs in the corner lies an antechamber. Through there you’ll find the Queen’s chamber. In times of emergency she takes us all down there. Please, take me to her.”
Angel about to protest Luna straightened up to stay him with a hoof.

“Then come here and We will take you to her.”
In short order Crystal fell asleep and in Luna’s cradled arms began to descend the oak stairs that wound down through the formless black. Each wall that surrounded them was as obliquely lightless as each corner they turned. Free from the darkness they saw Pinkie talking swiftly towards Queen Chrysalis.

Author's Note

Sorry for the day delay but I've been cold out here. I'll be storing up a 3k entry in 3 days with another 1k topper that night on account of work. Stir gently my friends. Stir gently.