The moon was high as Acropolis walked through the Everfree forest, along the path towards the ancient castle. The dark trees and gloomy vines seemed to crawl towards him, reaching out with their gnarly fingers. Being on the Ponyville night guard made it so that he was aware that this was mostly his mind. That and he had spent more time than most in the Everfree forest, his house being closer to the forest than Fluttershy’s. And being constantly so close to the forest meant he was mostly immune to the creep factor. Mostly. He still didn’t like being out here at night.

He came out to the clearing where the old rope bridge to the Everfree Castle was. Recalling the story of Nightmare Moon‘s return, as told from Rainbow Dash‘s perspective, he was wary of the ancient bridge. Well aware that the bridge had since been secured, he still didnt trust it.

The trek had taken him a bit longer than he had expected. He had slipped in some mud and it took him several minutes to free himself from the aggressive muck. His brown coat was smeared with black mud from his fall, the red mess of his short mane peeked out from under his guard hat. The Ponyville guard had a rather lax dress code considering its constant peril. They were given a simple belt with some basic tools and restraints. He didn't like the hat, it was ugly. The bright beige of the hat made him look silly. Rarity had confirmed as much. Wiping some of the mud from his backside he revealed his cutie mark, a column made of dark stone. Recalling the story of how he got his cutie mark made him frown, as it was far more depressing than most of his peers. Shaking these thoughts away, he looked at the castle, where he could see faint lights.

“Ah, she must be in the throne room!” he said aloud.

Come. A voice echoed through the trees.

He looked around, and saw no pony. He wondered if the sound was the forest playing its tricks and waited to see if he could hear it again. There was no more noise and only silence followed. He gave a passive shrug and walked carefully across the old bridge to the derelict castle. This wouldn't have been the first time some pony heard strange things in the forest.

Twilight Sparkle was milling about in the old throne room. She had done an impressive job of restoring the old castle entryway into a somewhat livable state. The new wood roof blocked out most of the night sky but there was still some natural light coming in from the still missing windows. A folded divider was set up with a small sleeping area, she had converted one of the old braziers into a cooking station. Spike was asleep one of the thrones with a rather large gem in his grip. Acropolis was surprised that Twilight had actually taken to staying here. Of course knowing her he knew she always took any study she did very seriously.

“Princess Sparkle.” his deep voice broke the silence. “You wanted assistance with something?” His supervisor’s command still fresh in his mind. Being sent out here this late at night was something only he would have liked, he liked the nights more anyway. Twilight looked up with a smile.

“Ah! Yes! Thank you for coming!” He could see that faint light behind her eyes, he hoped there wasn't some friend problem she was creating, again. He remembered that incident rather well, while he wasn't directly involved he did get the story from Big Macintosh. “I needed some help while I did some organizing in the lower levels. They aren't the safest anymore, what with all the wolves and monsters about.” she smiled as if one pony could protect her from an army. He felt rather silly, the element of magic, Celestia’s direct pupil, newly turned Alicorn, magician extraordinaire, and savior of Equestria AND the Crystal Empire was asking for his protection.

“Princess, no offense, but you hardly seem to need my protection.”  

“Well, that and I needed some help moving some books," she paused and gestured wide with her wings, "a rather large amount of books,” she admitted, “and they are rather deep in the castle, in the old Lunar barracks.”

“Lunar barracks?” his interest peaked. Acropolis had a thing for the night, he enjoyed the quiet and dark. He has always felt Celestia’s night had lacked passion, but after Luna’s return he thoroughly enjoyed her beautiful nights. The night sky was alive with her divine art. He loved it. Since he had such an affinity for the night he had heard of the Lunar Guard. An elite guard devoted to Luna and defending her nights. No one stood against them, they were the stuff of legend. But alas had been dispersed or exiled after Nightmare Moon made for the throne. Twilight knew of his interest in the Lunar guard and most likely this was her way of repaying him for his assistance. A chance to touch a piece of Equestria’s past few would ever get.

“Yes, they had their own library too, and most of those books never made it to Canterlot. Since Princess Luna was gone most of the Lunar library was left behind when they relocated to Canterlot.” she mounted up with her saddle bags, she gestured to a set ready for him. He grinned and gathered up his saddle bag. Tonight was going to be interesting.