Luna was lying restlessly on her bed. The spot where Antheon had just been lying a few minutes was still comfortably warm. Unfortunately, their day had to start at some point. She wasn’t feeling it. There were only two creatures on this planet that really knew what had happened at this place where they wanted to announce humanity’s biggest achievement since their acceptance into the circle of the nations of Albion. The magic power plant would be put into operation today. It was built to create more than enough energy to support a city five times the size of Amissa Heaven for hundreds of generations.

No one besides Antheon and Echidna knew that it had been built on the place where, many years ago, a secret lab of one of the generals had been hidden. Luna had secretly entered the underground fortress on her own. No one had noticed the powerful alicorn as she had crawled over the walls as a shadow, further down into the deep. What she had found was not one of the giant mechanical monster but a whole dozen. One had even been operated by a pilot and performed exercises in one of the gigantic halls. On the back of the monstrosity were smaller versions of the power plant that were moveable and controllable.

Quickly, she had begun searching for hints and had found the conference room of the facility. General Jetho had sat with a few of his subjects around a large table where a blueprint of Heaven Tower had been printed on. They had planned to kill Antheon, take control of the city, and then overrun Equestria. That had been their death sentence. The ponies only knew what the avatars of sun and moon were capable of from legends. On that day, she had demonstrated that the legends had a true core. Appalled with herself, she had immediately teleported back into the Tower, directly into the arms of her loved one, and told him what she had found and did.

A reactor accident with a new energy source, it had been called. Antheon had doubted her story for not a second. He had covered everything up and assured her that the general would have been sentenced to death for treason anyway. Betraying your homeland in the times of need was high treason, and all his henchmen would have followed him directly. It hadn’t made things better for them that they had to hold a memorial for the supposed victims a few days later. Only after that day, Luna gave Antheon what she had took out of the complex. The blueprints for the reactors, where only one was built that was large enough to provide the town with energy... five years later. However, every time she let her gaze wander over the city, she stuck at the place for a second where she had taken hundreds of lives. What other darkness might still rest inside her? How would she react if she would really lose her beloved Antheon and not just because someone had planned it? She didn’t even want to think about that.

“Luna? Are you alright?” Her loved one came out of the bathroom into their shared room. He wore a towel around his hip, a few paper chips stuck to his chin. A bit of blood could be seen through them. “Ah, these.” He touched one of them. “You would think that a man of my age would know how to shave without cutting himself.

Luna giggled. “You are complaining about your forty years? Come, tell me. How is it to be so young?”

He grinned as well and sat down next to her. “Luna, this is about you. I stood for five minutes in the door, and you hadn’t even noticed me. What is it that is bothering you?” He wasn’t looking his age even though he was a human. The only sign Luna had noticed so far was a single grey streak that ran through his otherwise black hair.

“You know that I don’t want to go back to that place. I did something terrible there, and it is enough I have to be reminded of it every time I fly around the city.” He smiled, put both her hands on her cheeks, and gave her a kiss.

“Luna,” he said softly. “What you have done has prevented a war. Not to mention that you saved my life. And I know all of your arguments by heart now. If there are any more members of that cell, they are so scared that they never showed their faces again. I don’t say that it was right to act in blind rage, but someone had to. You showed me that day not just what I mean to you, but also Amissa Heaven.” They looked into each other eyes for a few seconds before they both smiled. “Luna, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. When this all is over, when there are no more tensions between us and Equestria, I would be glad to call you my queen. Miss General Field Marshal if you may.” Luna jumped out of her sitting position and threw her human on the soft bed behind him. “I take that as a yes?”

“Just wait until I tell my sister.” Luna stopped and leaned back again.

“Still a sore point?”

“A bit. We have argued a lot. And she still is not happy that you now have your first reactor. She thinks the humans are not ready to join the magical world. Why can she not see that if we all work together, the ponies of Equestria could introduce you to it? She is just so stubborn.” Antheon sat up and pushed her head against his chest.

“Everything is going to be alright, Luna. You will see. In a few years, we will be laughing about this.” He paused for a second. “Well, maybe not laughing. But we can look behind and be satisfied. Sounds still very good, doesn’t it?”

Blue Light looked through a gap between the curtains on the place where thousands of humans and other representatives of the other races had gathered to witness this historical day. The last decade had been hard for them, not that he had noticed much in the Tower. The building was the central point of the city and had to be kept operational so that everything could go in the right order. Servers and mainframes as large as a house in Canterlot were inside its walls and controlled the various automated systems of the city. The navigation systems of the transport ships, flying high above the clouds, used the signals of the Tower for orientation. And this would all be secured today.

For a moment, Light thought back to his mother’s letter. She didn’t seem to be very happy about the humans having built a generator or his contribution towards it. Since the beginnings of his studies here in Amissa Heaven, he had devoured the technology of the humans. Additionally, he had received his lessons in magic and other basic knowledge from his aunt. And with his nineteen years now, he could keep up with every scholar in this town. As part of his studies, he had even worked with a small team at some parts of the reactor.

“A nice look, isn’t it?” Startled, the alicorn spun around and released the curtain. “Humans, griffons, and even some diamond dogs. And do my eyes spot a zebra there in the crowd? They all talk and share their excitement for this big event.” Light knew the tall black creature that had appeared behind him. Echidna was really as tall as his mother. With her long, crooked horn, maybe even a bit larger. Her long grey silvery mane shimmered in the faint light that made its way behind the podium, and with dreamy eyes, she stared directly at the curtain.

“You can see through the curtains?” Light asked confusedly and stared at the same spot as she.

She giggled. “For a young scholar, you are incredibly easy to deceive. No, I don’t really see them. I see their auras. You could say that I rather feel them than see them. Something you will learn as well, I’m sure.” As good as he was with technology, he was as bad with magic. Outside of his talent, he barely managed to cast a spell, which was rather surprising for an alicorn. “Luna has created something wonderful.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I have said. Without Luna, there would be no griffon, no diamond dog, and no zebra here. They saw that an immortal goddess is putting her trust into this new species, and they want to see how it will turn out. No one knows what it’s going to be, but it will be big.”

“And why are you here?”

“My children live in solitude. Should the humans blossom, make their generator work, there would be hope for my children. We feast off of magical energy that we siphon out of others. I bet you can sometimes feel the mood a pony or a person is in, am I right?” Light thought for a moment before he nodded. “Everyone has an aura which carries emotion with it. We feast off this energy.” She nodded with her head over to the picture of the generator on the poster behind the speaker’s desk. “The generator, like every other magical object, will emit an aura, just without emotions. I am certain the humans can solve this problem as well. They could really become the new Crystal Empire.”

Confused, he looked at her. “The new Crystal Empire? What’s that? I have heard Cadance and my mother talking about it already.”

“Nothing you should worry about,” she murmured between closed lips. “Important is just that this will be a possibility to free my children out of their solitude. To let them live lives like every other creature. That’s why I am here. As long as Luna has influence here, this can work out. At first I was sceptical, having seen much darkness in the humans. But that changed with her, slowly but steadily.” She sighed lightly and made a short pause, then she nudged her hoof against the chest of the blue stallion. “Now let me ask you something, Blue Light. Why are you here?”

He didn’t need to think about that. “I’m here to learn. Why?”

“Then, my young friend, you are one of the few ponies that share Luna’s ideals. Learning from each other, living together.”

“If my mother would just see it the same way.”

“Oh, Celestia has her reasons to act the way she does. She is a burnt child, and I mean that without any allusion. She has seen many conflicts, more than Luna and I did. Do you know how much older your mother is than your aunt?” He shook his head, and Echidna smiled. “No one knows exactly. But what I know is that Luna is fighting for something here, and she is not. We wouldn’t be standing here today if it would be different.”

Blue Light stood on stage for almost half an hour side at side with a few others scientists from the team that had built the reactor. Antheon stood in full attire on the pedestal, speaking directly to the people of Amissa Heaven, promising them a golden future, bringing the humans back to their old glory, turning the city into an empire that reached out over the entire continent. With Equestria as an ally on the other side of the sea, that was why he was going to marry Luna as soon as the situation afforded the opportunity. Cheers were the answer of the crowd. Applause from thousands of humans that clapped their hands together. Griffons let out shrill whistles and the diamond dogs howled loudly. After a while, Antheon raised his hands again to calm the crowd. But it wasn’t his voice that sounded over the place next. “Death to the oppressors!” Guns were fired as the crowd scrambled to disperse. Confused, Light looked around to where screams were coming from. Suddenly, something fell against his side. One of the scientists had been hit and leaned lifelessly against his body.

“Behind me!” Luna’s magically amplified voice sounded over the entire place as she created a shield over the podium. Bullets were hammering against it, creating magical ripples, as though they were made out of water, directly in front of the face of the young alicorn. Then he saw the shooters. There were five, all humans in the formal uniforms of the Guard of Amissa Heaven. Weapon at the ready, they fired magazine after magazine against Luna’s shield. For Light, everything ran in slow motion. He looked over to his aunt. Anger was the most prominent feature displayed on her face. Blood was flowing out of her left foreleg and onto the ground. Antheon was directly next to her, a pistol in his hand as he talked to her. Over the sound of the screaming humans and the barrage of gunfire, he couldn’t understand what he said. Eventually, he turned towards the man that came from the back entrance of the stage. “Light, get into cover!” Luna suddenly turned towards him.

He stood there rooted to the spot. He just couldn’t understand what was going on. Why were these soldiers shooting at him and his aunt? “Are you insane?!” Echidna had appeared next to him, grabbed his tail with her magic, and pulled him behind the stage, out of sight of the attackers. “What’s wrong with you? Do you want to die?”

“What? What’s going on? What was that?”

“Not the right time and not the right place.” Suddenly, single bullets were piercing through the curtain behind them. Luckily, they were sitting behind the stage so that it all flew over their heads. “We have to get you out of here.”

She grabbed after Light again, but he was still rooted to the spot. “What’s going on here, Echidna?”

“Light, this isn’t the time…”

“What’s going on?!” he shouted at her.

She sighed hard. “When I said that your aunt was fighting for something here, I meant that literally. Years ago, there was a facility here. They had a prototype of this reactor back then. They used it to build weapons. They planned to overthrow Antheon and attack Equestria. To take the power of Albion. Luna had done the right thing.” Light’s eyes went wide.

“The accident…”

“Was Luna, who razed the place to the ground. It was the right call. Political games are nice and all, but she isn’t Celestia. It was right to act, and Antheon knew it. These five idiots out there must belong to the rest of that group. Now they aim to oust Luna. They didn’t seem to like that the two announced their engagement.” Light said nothing, and it went quiet. Too quiet. The gunfight had stopped. “I’ll have a look.”

With that, Echidna left the alicorn alone with his thoughts.

“You wanted to speak with me, Echidna?” Antheon entered the room where the friend, the Queen of the changelings, had asked him to come. Blood still stuck to his face and at his hands. He came directly after Luna finally fell asleep. After the amount of magic she had used on the spot to heal most injuries of the citizens, his loved one wasn’t just mentally exhausted. “I don’t have much time, so make it quick. I have to take care of a lot of things after this disaster.”

“That’s exactly the reason we have to talk. I don’t think your soldiers managed to protect Luna.” Antheon remained silent and crossed both arms in front of his chest. No one would simply talk about his soldiers like that. After all, he had been one of them a while ago as well. “And you know that I’m right. In an open fight, they might be the best that Albion has to offer, but they are not used to fight against shadows, not even their own.”

“You have to know what you’re talking about. Sneaking through my city for years now, eavesdropping on me and my personnel, and causing troubles in places you aren’t supposed to be.” He grinned at the slightly surprised look on her face. “Don’t act so surprised. I know what you are, and why Luna has invited you. I’m thankful for what you did, but my men can handle it.”

“Yes, I know about hiding, crawling away, and acting like I don’t even exist. More than any of you ever could,” she spat at him. “That’s exactly why I know whereof I speak and your men have no clue. And neither do you!” They stared at each other for a few seconds.

“So?” Antheon finally asked since he didn’t have to time to listen to this. “What are you going to do next?”

“Build my own shadow. A group acting against theirs. “

“If you mean a secret service, we already have that.”

“Not something so clumsy and stupid like that. I am beginning to think that you soldiers only have direct confrontation in your mindset. No, I speak about an independent group. One without direct command from some government, no commitments besides restoring the peace that Albion needs so badly. The peace that always should have been there.” The queen turned away from him and slowly walked towards the dark shadows in the corner of the room. “No, I’m speaking about a real shadow organization.”

Antheon tried to spot her, but not even her bright mane was to be seen. “And what would such an organization keep away from falling in our back? If our acts are seen as threats towards the peace?”

“Magic.” With these words, Blue Light entered the room. He came through the same door as Antheon before him. “A magical oath. Bound to the ideals that Luna follows. I’ve done some quick research.” He cleared his throat. “Together we are strong.” Antheon said nothing as he pointed at him. “With great power comes great responsibility.” This time he held his hoof against his own chest. “Love will bind us all.” He searched for Echidna who was still hidden in the shadows.

"You’re pulling the prince into that as well?” Antheon shouted through “He’s still almost a child, a foal.”

The General Field Marshal flinched as the voice of the changeling queen appeared right behind him. “A foal that has made a large contribution towards the building of your reactor with his team.”

“Does the boy even know what he’s getting into?”

“Today, I have seen a fight for the first time.” He remained silent for few seconds. “Seeing the life escaping the body of a colleague as he dropped to the ground.” A tear ran down his cheek through his blue fur. His white mane hung loosely into his face, not combed like always. “I never want to see something like that again. No one should. And if my mother isn’t going to help Aunt Luna, then I will. I am not a fighter, but my mind is sharp as sword.”

“And what are these lines?” Antheon asked both of them.

“They are the goals of our three races,” Echidna explained. “The humans have to hold together, not shoot each other.” The human nodded. “The ponies are strong, but passive. They have to learn to take the responsibility with their powers.” Light grinned sheepishly at her. “We changelings feast off emotions, preferably love. But instead of uniting with others, we are drifting apart. These are ideals, our goals for all of Albion.”

“All of these are things that Luna has realized before us. She wanted us to work together for years now,” Light added. “This is why I think our first step has to be to protect her. Something like this may never happen again.”

“And you want to start that here in Amissa Heaven?” Both nodded. “Okay, but only under one condition.” Echidna and Light exchanged a few looks, but then nodded again. “I want to be informed about everything.”

“No problem. I was going to ask you anyway if you want to join. You love my aunt and she loves you. She trusts you.”

“Alright. And what do we call this organization?” Echidna rolled her eyes.

“You don’t name such a bond. Names make things graspable, give them a face. Exactly what we don’t want.”

“The Children of the Night. At least we do this to achieve my aunt’s goals,” the alicorn declared proudly.

Antheon smirked while Echidna just looked at him, confused. It seemed like she had just noticed now that he really still could be a child sometimes.

Author's Notes:

I won't say much today, because there just isn't much to say. Meet the leaders of the children of the night.
Tell me your opinions, thoughts or just leave a comment. Maybe you want to check out my newest blog entry.

Thanks to Gron for translating this chapter.
Special thanks to JBL for proofreading and editing.

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