"RUN LUNA! RUN BEFORE CAPTAIN CRUNCH GETS YOU AND LECTURES US BOTH ON PRINCESSLY BEHAVIORS!"

Okay, maybe putting super-burn hot sauce in Captain Star's armor was a bad idea. And running past him and smacking the back of his head with a fish Luna and I caught wasn't a good idea either. And the tripwires rigged all throughout his quarters to cover him in dirt.

Yeah today hasn't been a day of good ideas today. On the upside, Luna was screaming with laughter as we ran to escape the Captain's clutches.

"THOU SHALT NEVER TAKE US ALIVE CAPTAIN! NEVER!"

The two of us reached a dead end, with the Captain dead behind us. I panicked, and grabbed Luna and leaped out the window, my legs morphing into the tail of a Leaper necromorph to hook onto the windowsill. The two of us swung around, landing in a lower level of the castle.

"Huzzah! We have escaped the Captain!"

Luna exclaimed this as we landed onto the floor, and I thought of how happy I was that Captain Star had no power over any member of the Night Guard since he would undoubtedly try to expel me for all this.

"So I take it that you two are the reason that Captain Star has been scrambling about the castle in an enraged frenzy?"

Celestia stood above us with a small smile. Luna and I replied unanimously.

"Nooooooooooo..."

Celestia smiled further at this. From what I could tell she'd begun to warm up to me a bit. She spoke again.

"Well I am sorry to end you two's fun, but Luna there's a matter which I'd like to speak privately with you about."

Luna nodded and then turned to me.

"It seems I am needed. I will see you later Jack, until then the library should have some further books relating to transformation magic for you."

I nodded and waved them goodbye.

"See you guys later."

I went to the library and retrieved the books mentioned, and then returned to my quarters to get a quick nap, as I would need to adjust my sleep schedule to that of the Night Guard and Luna, being able to sleep and be awake at any hour of the day. I laid down for only a moment before I sank into unconsciousness, an aware of what was about to hit me.

---

I looked around, and found myself standing in the throne room of the castle. I looked around, and saw that the entire area appeared... ruined. The ceiling was blown apart, revealing a toxic looking green sky, and...

No.

NO.

There in the sky lay a number of brethren moons, slowly approaching. I ran to find Luna, Celestia, SOMEONE. There was blood scattered across the wall and floors, but no bodies. I reached the Library before hearing a faint scratching somewhere else in the castle. I ran forward alone, before running out one of the exits to the castle. I looked around after I exited and that's when I saw it. It was a necromorph, unlike any I'd seen. It was a massive monstrosity, towering over me, with a form somewhere between a pony and the Snowbeast Necromorph. It had a twisted horn, almost resembling a Black Marker. It roared at me, showing a mouth of malformed teeth and tentacles. A pair of bone plated wings spread on its back and it lunged for me. Darkness took me and I found myself standing alone on the edge of a wide, pitch black pit. I looked down the mountainside opposite the pit, and saw a field of broken bodies, belonging to Night and Day guards alike. Mixed amongst them were the bodies of various other creatures, wearing the armor of the two guards or simple black armored robes. I heard a rumble echo from the pit behind me. I turned around, and that's when I heard it.

They cannot be saved. The end has come for this planet as it did for all those before it. This place will be consumed, and then return to the darkness of its birth.

And you cannot stop these events from overtaking this place.

The last thing I heard was the sound of Celestia sobbing. The last thing I saw before the darkness in the pit swallowed me, was a red outline deep withing the pit.

The outline of a marker.

---

I shot awake, drenched in a frigid sweat. I didn't move, laying in bed staring at the ceiling locked in numb fear. It took me a moment to remember where I was, and I stood up from bed. I looked over and jumped back in fear before calming down. Standing in the doorway was a pale gray mare, with a a limp hanging white mane, long enough to touch her forehooves. Her eyes were lacking in any feature other than a uniform white glow. Her body was adorned by a ragged blue cloak. She spoke in a strange voice, sounding as multiple unanimous voices speaking in an alien tongue but still understood by me.

The blood moons will come for this place on the eve of war, when there is blood spilled on the sacred stones. First their followers shall emerge, and the first waves of the dead will come forth. Then, on the thousandth anniversary of the day the sisters of sun and moon are parted will the pit open, and the world will flow red with blood of the demons and of the warriors who halt them...

I stood unmoving, afraid of what the mare before me had said, and the way it paralleled the nightmare I had just seen. The mare shook her head as if clearing fog from it. She looked up at me in surprise.

"Sorry dear, did you say something?"

I shook my head.

"Well alright then."

She turned and left, and I burst from the room. I charged past everything in the castle and found Luna standing alone in the throne room. I ran straight for her, and sank into her hooves, sobbing. Luna didn't say a word, merely stroking my back and telling me it would be alright. After a few minutes I told her of all that I had seen and the words of the unknown mare. She told me the mare was the Oracle, a mare that carried the voice of prophecy within her. She told me that my dream may have been a premonition of things to come in the future. But even premonitions were only predictions, and could be changed with the proper effort. It was a good effort, but made no difference in the dread I felt.

Luna helped me with getting my worries of things to come off my mind, and so I poured myself back into study, practicing with my magic until I was able to levitate objects and cast light.

---

Eventually the time came for me to start training with the guard. The first class was fairly simple, we were all lined up one night, each of us partnered up with another recruit and entered into practice against other guards that already passed training. I looked over at my partner. He was a tall lanky stallion with a deep yellow coat and a short, dark pink mane. He was a thestral pegasus, with a pair of wngs big enough to match his height. His cutie mark was of a pair of armored thestral wings, showing a set of wingblades. He spoke with a medium voice, and in a quiet tone. I could tell he wasn't quiet out of fear, but out of thought for his actions and those around him.

"Uh. Hey, you're that thing from the forest that Luna brought in, right? I heard about you from some of the other guards."

I nodded.

"Yeah. Name's Jack, yours?"

He smiled.

"Wing. Razor Wing."

I smiled back.

"So we're partners then?"

He nodded.

"Seems that way."

The first guys we were put against were a green thestral unicorn mare with a purple mane, and the same stallion from my entrance test, who claimed to be a test of strength. The mare had a cheerful look about her, and seemed fairly nice. The stallion, Iron Shield if I remembered correctly, had a look of murder in his eyes. It would seem he held a grudge over the way I skipped over him. Well this'd be a load of fun.