A Bloody Funeral

“How sure are you about this plan of action?” Hades asked through the comms. He was sitting on the roof of the castle, watching the servants and groundskeepers working to prepare Bluebloods resting place. A few yards away, a tent was set up with several ponies already underneath it and more arriving by the minute.

“Very sure.” Aphrodite replied as she walked through the gate to the graveyard. “After all, I have you watching and Ares ready to move at a moments notice.”

“It will still take him a minute or two to get there in the first place. He couldn’t find anywhere close enough to provide support without being conspicuous. Until he gets there, you only have me and yourself.”

“Do you doubt either of our abilities?” Aphrodite asked. She walked right past some nobles. A few looked over at her, then broke off to head somewhere else.

“If I was closer, no. You move too fast to be able to reliably guess where I can shoot. I could fire a round, just for you to jump right in front of it. Without your armor, you wouldn’t survive it.” Hades replied. He leaned back a bit onto the roofing, the stone scraping against his armor.

“Aim for the ones farthest away from me. I’ll be too busy with the ones right up front to get to them. And it’ll keep them from running away when Ares shows up.” Aphrodite said, as she took a seat by the casket. She looked at the body of Blueblood, noticing how well done they had dressed him. “At least he could have an open casket funeral, not like that griffin.”

“I didn’t expect this to be the outcome of all of this.” A voice spoke up from behind Aphrodite, pulling her back to reality. She turned to see Xinrick.

“Oh, hello Xinrick. I didn’t expect that you would attend this. Or even talk to me.” Aphrodite said, a smile on her face.

“It is a sad day indeed, and I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for the part I played in his death.” Xinrick said, a sad smile on her face. “But at least he is at peace.”

“You have no responsibility to shoulder in what has happened.” Aphrodite said, smiling at her.

“But you do. For the murder of our great Prince Blueblood, you are hereby sentenced to death.” Another voice said from the tent. Aphrodite turned her head to see a group of thirty or so unicorns.

“And do you expect to fulfill that sentencing here, in front of your dead prince?” Aphrodite asked.

“We have a grave ready. All we’re missing is your corpse.” One of the smaller ones said, his horn charged with magic.

“And you expect me to just stand here and die?” Aphrodite asked, turning around completely. A few of the nobles stepped back, remembering everything she had done to Blueblood.

“We just expect you to die.” A grey maned one said, stepping forward. He drew a saber, and moved to attack.

“You have no idea who it is you’re fighting.” Aphrodite said, as she dropped into her fighting stance. “Xinrick, run and find someone in charge. Tell them that there’s going to be more bodies for the funeral.”

Xinrick nodded before scrambling away to find Princess Celestia.

“So, which one of you wants to die first?” Aphrodite asked, her eyes roaming over the group. Two in the back suddenly screamed in pain as parts of their torso exploded. The group as a whole turned to look.

Aphrodite smiled at the opening Hades had made, and moved up next to the one that had charged his horn. He turned around only to see her, with her hand drawn all the way back.

She wouldn’t take it easy on these guys, that wouldn’t be fun. She twisted her body, putting the full force of her augmented body into the punch. The guy’s face crumpled like a piece of paper, as her fist went all the way through his skull.

She removed her arm slowly, as the group looked on in absolute horror.

“That’s three down. Twenty seven to go.” She said, a grin forming on her face. This is what she enjoyed, the thrill of being right in the middle of the enemy.

“You are a demon after all.” The grey one with the saber said, the blade shaking in his grip as he pointed it at her.

“I thought you would have learned that after watching me take it easy on Blueblood. His funeral is open casket, yours won’t be.” She said, as she grabbed his blade and twisted it with her bare hands. “No, I doubt there’ll be a funeral for you guys, maybe only a ceremony.”

“There are still more of us than you. You can’t possibly win against so many.”

“How about we make the numbers more even then.” Ares said as he walked up, his boots crushing the bodies of the two that had been shot. He pulled his two large blades out of their sheaths, unfolding as he stood there. When they reached their full lengths, the one in his right hand took on a deep red glow and the one in his left a purple glow.

“You are still heavily outnumbered.” The grey one said, barely keeping his voice level. They hadn’t taken into account the fact that the big one might be here.

“And you are outclassed.” Aphrodite said, pulling her arm all the way back. “This isn’t a fight, it will be a slaughter.” She punched him full force, crumpling the side of his skull as he was sent flying.

The nobles scrambled to react, several of them sending spells flying at Aphrodite just to have them be seemingly ineffective. A few of the ones with blades drew them and moved to attack Ares, expecting his size to slow him down.

“This is going to be fun.” Ares said, raising his foot to kick the closest one in the chest. His body crumpled on impact, dying instantly. Ares’ blades swung out to the sides, slicing cleanly through the closest nobles and setting their corpses ablaze, melting the blades of the ones that had reacted fast enough to block.

“Very fun indeed.” Aphrodite said. She grabbed the closest noble to her, snapping his neck as she picked him up by his head and swung him like a bat at the other nobles. She battered two out of the way, before tossing him to knock over one that had gotten around behind Ares. She jumped over a blade swing, spinning around in the air and kicking the noble in the head. She landed, and ducked down while still spinning to dodge a few spells that two more right behind her had thrown.

She tripped their legs out from under them, standing back up as she finished her spin. She brought her right leg straight up, and then swung it down into the head of the taller of the two. His head collapsed as her heel crushed his muzzle, and kept going until she had caved in the front of his skull. She stopped long enough to look over at Ares, watching him go to town on the ponies around him. A sick grin grew on her face as she looked down at the other noble, her eyes traveling down to his crotch as she watched him piss himself in fear. She reached down slowly, grabbing him by his neck and slowly picking him up. She could see the fear in his eyes, and reached up with her free hand. He begged for mercy, as she slowly wrapped her fingers around his horn.

"I don't grant mercy to vermin." She said, snapping it off. He screamed in pain, before Aphrodite spun it around and shoved it through his eye into his brain. She dropped his limb body, and looked over at Ares. He had the rest of the nobles circling him, but none of them were strong enough to do anything.

Ares was having fun, the spells and swords just pinging off his armor as he cut through the nobles. He had let his two large blades sit in the corpses of a few of the nobles, and was now killing them with the two serrated daggers that collapsed into his gauntlets. As he spun around, decapitating a few nobles, he swung his fist up at one that had tried to stick his blade through the gap between Ares’ chest piece and helmet. The force cause a sickening crack before his blade extended itself, impaling the unicorn as he was already flying away. The serrated edge grabbed onto his intestines, ripping them out as the rest of the body flew off.

Two nobles took advantage of what they thought was an opening, just for them to be knocked off their feet by something hitting their chests. They looked down to see that there were several holes, and their minds tried to figure out where they came from. Unfortunately, they didn't have much time to think it through before their heads exploded as well. The other nobles started dropping one after another, until there were just three left. When they realized that they were the only survivors from all thirty of the nobles that had shown up, they dropped to their knees and threw away their weapons in surrender.

Ares looked at Aphrodite, an unspoken question passing between them. Aphrodite nodded her head, and the grin that was on Ares’ face grew even bigger. He retrieved his larger blades from under a pile of body parts and moved to stand in front of them, raising the one in his right hand.

“WAIT!” A voice screamed out. Aphrodite turned to see Celestia running towards them. “What is the meaning of this?” She asked, slightly out of breath.

“It should be obvious. We are culling the chaff.” Aphrodite said, turning back to Ares. “End them.”

“Gladly.” Ares said, as he swung his blade. It stopped a few inches from the neck of the first one, a golden glow around the unicorn.

“I won’t let you execute my subjects.” Celestia said, rage on her face.

“They tried killing me. They are not your subjects, they are enemies of the Aetherian empire. Just as you are now. Take her out Ares.” Aphrodite said.

A look of surprise appeared on Celestia’s face as Ares spun around and punched her in the face, sending her flying through several trees. She was stopped by a very thick oak, her magic swelling up to soften the impact so her spine wouldn’t be broken. She got back on her feet, rage making her magic swirl around her.

“You lay your hand on me, when I try defending my subjects?” Celestia asked, her eyes moving over to Aphrodite. She watched as Aphrodite walked behind the nobles that had surrendered. She had put on her gloves, and they were emanating that sickening magic again.

“Your subjects tried ambushing and killing me. The moment they drew their weapons on me, they declared war on the Aetherian Empire.” Aphrodite said, as she put her hands on the heads of the first two. They started screaming in pain, their eyes rolling backwards into their heads as blood started pouring from their ears. The last noble watched in absolute fear. After a few seconds of this, they writhed out of her grip and collapsed to the ground twitching.

Celestia’s rage boiled, and she moved to cast a spell towards Aphrodite. Before she could direct her magic, she felt a hand wrap around her horn and twist her head to the side. Her eyes closed in pain, as she was picked up by nothing more than her horn.

“That would have been a mistake that no amount of apologizing and begging could get you out of.” Ares said, balling his free hand into a fist. He let go of her horn, swinging up with his fist and catching her mid fall at full force.

Celestia lost her breath, her eyes going wide at the fact his punch had gone straight through the shields that would have stopped even a full grown dragon’s strike cold. She fell off sideways, collapsing on the ground as her magic rushed to fix what it could.

Aphrodite walked behind the only survivor left, and leaned down to whisper something into his ear. He broke into tears at what she said, nodding his head.

“Very well then. Since you asked so nicely.” Aphrodite said, grabbing his jaw. She twisted his head sharply, killing him painlessly. After he fell she walked over to Celestia, ignoring the crowd that had formed after the fighting had finished.

“Quite pathetic, little princess. You put your subjects before your own life, trying to protect them when they are being punished for their actions.” Aphrodite said, running a hand along Celestia’s face.

Celestia slapped her hand away. “You are disgusting. You executed prisoners that had surrendered.”

“We do not take prisoners from battle unless explicitly ordered. We see them more as disgraces than living beings if they surrender.” Aphrodite said, slapping Celestia’s cheek lightly.

“Why did you have to kill them? You have the skill to take them out without causing death.” Celestia said, trying to stand back up. She got into a kneeling position before she had to pause to catch her breath.

“I killed them because they thought to enforce a misguided justice upon me. By your teachings, I was guilty of murder when Blueblood accepted to fight by our rules. This was a lesson for all of your ponies, as I’m sure today will go down in your histories as a very dark day indeed.” Aphrodite said, looking down at her.

"Was such a bloody lesson necessary?" Celestia asked, magic charging in her horn.

"They didn't learn the first time, so it was obviously a necessity." Aphrodite replied, watching the glow around her horn grow.

"You arrogant bitch." Celestia said, as she cast out the spell. Before it could hit Aphrodite though Ares reached over and grabbed her horn again, wrenching her head back and smashing it against the tree. The pain caused the spell to break apart in flight, splattering against Aphrodite as nothing more than light.

"Bad idea little princess. Break it off." Aphrodite said, a sadistic grin on her face as she walked away.

Celestia was still processing what Aphrodite had said when there was an incredibly painful feeling in her forehead. She reached her hand up to touch it, and pulled it away to see that it was covered in blood.

"What did you do to me?" Celestia asked, her mind already starting to fade away under a tidal wave of pain.

"We broke your horn off." Ares said, holding it in his open palm right in front of her eyes.

Celestia's eyes widened, and rolled backwards into her head at the sight.

"Pitiful. Hades, contact Prophet. We have a tribunal to hold." Aphrodite said over the comm, watching as Ares picked up the unconscious princess.

They left through a group of spectators that had gathered after hearing the fighting, front and center being Luna. She gasped at the bloody image of her sister, her horn still in Ares’ hand.

“What did you do this time Tia?” She asked quietly as they walked past.

“Something we warned her against before. As of this moment, she will be brought before a tribunal consisting of the Council of Prophet. Her crimes are attempted assault on a diplomat, and violation of several articles of war of the Aetherian code.” Hades said, walking up on the group.

Several of the nearby nobles fainted, and Luna turned to look at him stonefaced.

“Explain these charges. She would do no such thing.” Luna said, outraged.

“She tried to assault Aphrodite as she executed the last of her would-be assassins, and the articles of war she broke are too extensive to go into detail now. Suffice to say she ignored several of our warnings that she knew would end in pain for her, and now we have no choice but to enforce them.” Hades explained, pointing over his shoulder to the pile of corpses.

“We have no assassins. Those are nobles of Canterlot. The same ones who were seeking-”

“Seeking justice, by your teachings, against Aphrodite for winning a fight by our rules. Be glad that we are only charging the white one. By all previous accounts, everyone of the governing body would be found as conspirators to the assassination attempt if nobles did it themselves.”

“Art thou suggesting that we would-”

“Before you finish asking that, do you really want to know the answer? We will allow one visit before the day of the Tribunal, so inform those that you wish to attend. Anyone caught trying to sneak her a message, heal her, or break her out before the visit will be executed on the spot followed quickly by her execution as well.”

Luna was stunned at the threats coming from this creature’s mouth. “Thou dare-”

“Yes, I dare.” Hades said, removing his helmet. Everyone around them gasped at his face, staring at his augmented eyes. “Know this now, we have gone easy on you because you are a child race. You have worn our patience thin, and now we are left with no choice but to punish you.”

Luna’s mouth hung open in embarrassment.

“However, from this point forward we are reverting to our normal protocol. That would be kill first, ask questions of any survivors. And for your information, there usually aren’t questions asked. You have lost our good will, and are now classified as a hostile species that we will not hesitate to destroy should the orders come down. You’ll stay out of our business if you know what is good for your ponies.” Hades said, putting his helmet on and walking away.

“Is there anything we can do to assuage your wrath?” Luna asked quietly, her voice coming back to her as he started leaving.

“Find our target, and bring it to us. That is about the only thing you could do.” Hades said, before walking off after his comrades.

Luna dropped to the ground, crying as the full realization of what had just happened hit her. The nobles all crowded around her, trying to comfort their princess but none of them knowing what to do. Xinrick pushed through the crowd of nobles, kneeling down next to Luna and drawing her into a hug.

Author's Note

Hello all. A few words here.

First, I had to rewrite this chapter a few times. I just couldn't get out the 'asskicking' I wanted and you all expected until this write here.

Second, as of this chapter there are two paths I can take with this thing.

I'm undecided which I want to write, so I shall ask of my readers.

What do you guys want to happen? Shall Celestia be punished, or will she be pardoned because she simply acted to try and protect her ponies?

Let me know in the comments.

And no Javik posts laughing at primitives.

...

Ok,you can post a few, but only because you are so convincing.

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