Fractured

Dawn was sitting in the living room listening to the plan for the following weeks. Like any of this is actually going to happen, Dawn thought. She began to plan a way for her to sneak along with Luna on their trip back to Equstria. In the back of her head a small sharp pain began to expand. Suddenly it roared to a peak and she fell to the ground writhing in pain. On the other side of the room Sweetiebell also fell to the ground in pain. Applebloom and Scootaloo called out, trying to find the source of their friend’s pain.

“Applejack! Luna! What’s happening?!?”

Their cries fell on deaf ears as Applejack struggled to help Luna who had fell to the ground only moments before. All across Equstria the scene was the same. Unicorns of all backgrounds collapsed in pain, the same message being said over and over.

“Run!”

Even the Queen felt the blow of the message. Her guards milled about in confusion, unable to find what was attacking her.

“You were a strong one, weren’t you?” she said to Night’s inert body.

Once Luna recovered she raced inside to check on Dawn. She lay between Applebloom and Scootaloo, sleeping. Tears were streaked across her face.

“Is anyone hurt?”

“Sweetiebell went to the kitchen, so I think she’s fine, but I’m worried about Dawn. Sweetiebell had just looked to be in pain, but Dawn was screaming. She would say over and over, “He’s dead! He’s dead! Their all dead!” What does it mean?”

Applebloom looked like she was about to cry. She must be terrified, Luna thought, I just shoved her into being a leader and in five minutes everything has gone wrong. Luna sat beside her and tried to calm her down.

“It’s Ok. This isn’t your fault. It was a freak incident.”

Luna sat down and began to think aloud.

“He must have been trying to say something. Or if we look at in another light, she’s right and he really did just die. He wasn’t meant to be here anyway, his staying could have had nasty effects.

“What do you mean? He looked fine to me, he was just more confident. A good leader.”

“That’s a story for another day, but for now we mu…”

Sweetiebell suddenly crashed into the room. She had a wild look in her eyes and her body looked scorched. She screamed at the top of her lungs,

“IT’S BURNING! IT’S ALL BURNING!”

“Sweetiebell calm down and speak at a lower voice so we can hear you.”

She jumped around like a nervous rabbit.

“I figured out what the message meant!”

“What message?” Luna asked

“THAT DOENS’T MATTER! But, anyway, I went to find out if what it said was true and it was! Everything is burning! Even the sky is raining fire!”

“Show me.”

With a flash they appeared on a hill outside the city. Luna turned to find everyone still with them.

“Sweetiebell I said me! Not to bring all of us.”

A crack sounded behind them. The sky was a sickly red. The defenders of the city clashed with the Queens troops in the streets. Slumped shadows littered the ground. Some were the size of dragons. The artist of the scene stood on the opposite hilltop with her troop of body guards.  Luna fought the urge to attack, but resisted. Now was not the time for personal vendettas. A large form cast a shadow over the hilltop.

“You picked a bad time to come back, luckily most everyone managed to escape. I will show you where we are gathering.”

Luna looked to the battle still taking place in the streets.

“But, what about the fighters? Can’t we help them?

“They’re doing their job, now let me do mine.”

They all climbed onto his back and he flew in the opposite direction of the slaughter. They came upon a large camp, where ashes rained from the sky.

“We moved here after Trixie and Fluttershy were captured. We feared with our leaders scattered we would come under attack. Nights message confirmed it.”

“Who received the message over here? I thought they were either captured or in a hospital.”

“Every unicorn collapsed at the same time, so I would assume everyone.”

They landed in a small clearing. Everyone climbed off his back, except Dawn who Luna had to carry. The little filly could really sleep when she wanted to.  Turning back to Spike Luna asked,

“So is everyone all right?”

Spike glared at her with one eye.

“Does it look like everyone is alright? Most of our soldiers are dead or dying and all of these ponies were just forced from their homes. Does that qualify as ‘all right’?”

He was really getting angry,

“And I’m not even getting started. Night is potentially dead. Same with Trixie and Fluttershy. Rarity is in a coma and you come out of nowhere asking if everything is all right? Who do you think you are?”

“I.. I don’t know what to..”

“I thought not. You don’t have any answers. You can’t help. It’s gonna end up with some more ponies dying and you’ll be left high and dry. Just like always. I don’t have to deal with you and I won’t.”

He turned back towards the battle and took off. Luna just stood there, taking in what she had just heard. Applejack rolled up behind her.

“He blames you for leaving when you did. Now with everything that’s happened, all the friends he’s lost. Seeing you, he can blame something.”

Luna nodded slowly. Then shook her head and turned back to the situation at hand.

“Well what are we going to do?”

Looking over the long rows of shelters she saw how much the world had changed in the time since she had left.

“We have to move everyone away into somewhere safer. We can’t leave them here.”

Pausing she added, “And I think we might need a more private place to talk.”

Around them a small circle had formed. Many of the looks were innocent and curious, but some had blame and hatred in them. Quite a view shared Spikes viewpoint. A familiar pink shape pushed through the crowd. Pinkie Pie shoved to the front and looked at the small group in the center. She vainly tried to shout over the growing noise.

“Follow me!”

The group followed her to a large tent filled to the brim with books. Two guards limped over to take post at the entrance.

Luna looked at the exhausted warriors and said,

“That will hardly be necessary.”

The guard with a sword wound down his back cut her off.

“It will be an honor to serve in the same place my father served years ago princess. He died fighting for you and I hope nothing less for me.”

Pinkie stuck her back outside the tent.

“Despite the welcome you received earlier, some still believe in you. Let them keep their faith. It helps keep everyone sane.”

Luna nodded and ducked into the tent. She didn’t even recognize who the guard was, let alone his father. She had so much to catch up on.

“Sorry for the mess” Pinkie huffed “right now this is where the library lives.”

“You look well; did you manage to get it all?” Luna asked

“You mean the books?”

“Yes, we don’t need the empires knowledge burned.”

“You mean the republics knowledge” Applebloom corrected

Luna put a hoof to her face.

“All of you know that I don’t like the name being changed. It was fine the way it was. Anyway that’s not important right now.” Turning back to Pinkie “Is everyone safe?”

“Almost, once we got the warning we began moving the population away. The attack happened very quickly, so we didn’t get everyone out. The fighting has been fierce, and...”

She walked over to a small fire and poked at it with a stick. She tried to change the subject to something else.

“So did you receive the message?”

Her eyes darted to the ground, avoiding Luna’s stare.

“What aren’t you telling me about the battle? You know something but don’t want me to know. Tell me.”

Pinkie’s eyes flitted to Dawn who was still sleeping.

“Who is that?”

Luna leaned forward and caught Pinkie’s eyes.

“That would be my daughter, now please reveal to us what you’re hiding.”

Pinkie shook her head.

“Not with her in here. She can’t know.”

“Know what? She’s sound asleep; she won’t hear you, now speak.”

Pinkie looked from Dawn to Luna with pleading eyes. She turned and sat on a small pile of books and took a large breath.

“I got this from the guard you talked to earlier. A few soldiers thought that if they could kill Tyrannus they battle would end, so they grouped as many as they could and attacked her. Most were cut down before they got close but a few…”

She broke down into a sobbing fit. Scootaloo walked over and calmed her down. She managed to coax her into continuing.

“Come on Pinkie what were you trying to say?”

She sniffed and attempted to continue.

“They saw, they… they saw.”

She began to sob again.

“Pinkie, look at me.”

Pinkie looked at Scootaloo with tears streaming from her eyes.

“Would it be easier if you just told me?”

Pinkie nodded and whispered into Scootaloo’s ear. Scootaloo’s eyes flicked to Luna. Pinkie finished and sat back silently. Scootaloo took a deep breath and spoke.

“Yeah, ummm. How do I phrase this? Yeah, whew Pinkie said that the soldiers told her that um, Night was helping to protect the Queen. She, she said that he was.”

Scootaloo lost her cool and broke into her own crying fit. Pinkie managed to finish the sentence.

“He was killing them! They said he was killing his own friends and looked like he was enjoying it!”

She broke down into another sobbing fit. This time though no one could comfort her. They all sat in shock at the revelation. Luna looked to Dawn who was miraculously still sleeping. If she knew what her father was doing her whole life would be crushed. Luna wondered what her little daughter was dreaming of.