Shattered Harmony

IV

   The night of assassination the castle was night silent. Demoralized guards stood at their posts with dread and sorrow. All staff had been sent home after the day’s events and the halls were void of life. Castle guests stayed in their suites and were issued a guard to watch them over night. Twilight lay in her bed sobbing. Celestia, her mentor, her idol, her second mother... had been brutally murdered in front of her very eyes, and there was nothing Twilight could do to stop it.

   The shock had worn away when she was with Luna in the courtyard, where her emotions were switched to fear by the mercilessness of Luna’s onslaught against the assassin she had captured. Twilight ran across the banquet hall after Luna had finished with her prey and she reached the stage before Celestia had been removed, or even covered up. Twilight flew up to the stage and landed at Celestia’s side and threw herself atop her lifeless body and burst into hysterical tears. The wounded guard was feet away, lying on his side being seen to by a castle medic and several other guards were escorting people off the castle grounds. Luna had simply walked slowly across the hall and began up the steps, stopping to close the eyes of the deceased guard that lay upon them before walking to Twilight.

   “Twilight Sparkle.” Spoke Luna, “We request that you refrain from such displays at this time.” Luna’s stern voice did well to disguise her crumbling emotional state. “We understand that this has been a most traumatic day for you, it has been greatly distressing for us as well, but now we must speak to our subjects.” Luna’s tone was calm and dignified, even under these circumstances; she spoke as a true ruler.

   “How can you just stand there like that? How can you just be so cold?” Twilight sobbed.

   “We are deeply distressed by the present events Twilight Sparkle, do not misunderstand us. We have suffered greatly today Twilight Sparkle, more than you know. But we are princesses Twilight Sparkle, and we have a duty to our subjects. If they see us in fear they will surely fall to despair and panic. We must be strong in harsh times, especially now Twilight Sparkle. We must go to them and assure them that even though Celestia is no longer with us, we are still here to lead them through this time. Be strong Twilight Sparkle, our citizens need us to be.”

   Twilight looked to Luna from hugging Celestia’s neck. Her one remaining eye was fixed upon her, and looking into it she could see that Luna was trying very hard to keep her composure. Her soul burned in her body and she desperately wanted to give up her calm and exchange it for tears to lessen the pain, but she would not allow herself that luxury, not now. Twilight however could not compose herself. No matter how much Luna’s words tried to convince her, she simply wasn’t prepared for it. Luna looked down from Twilight and turned to her left back towards the banquet hall. Twilight could see the bolt’s exit wound on the side of her face had still refused to stop bleeding, though Luna had surely used her magic to suppress it. Drips of crimson kept steadily dripping onto the ground wherever she walked, and when she grimaced from the pain of her cut eyelid twitching from nerves, yet another drop would seep from her tear duct.

   “We understand Twilight Sparkle,” Said Luna turning back to Twilight, “you are still very new to loss, and just as new to being a princess. We will go them; you stay here for as long as you need. A troop of guards with be along shortly to see our sister’s remains to a safer place, be sure to let them do as they need. We advise that you return to your quarters when they arrive, we are sorry there is not much more we can say Twilight Sparkle.” Luna turned and walked from the stage towards the castle gate. Twilight remained on her knees crying into Celestia’s coat. After several minutes, as Luna had said, a guard troop with a gurney and large sheet came to her side.

   “Princess Twilight,” said Captain Steel Hoof.

   “A thousand pardons princess,” his words were spoken with great sorrow and worry, “but Princess Luna has ordered us see that Celestia’s body is seen to, I must ask you to relent her remains to us.” He was greatly pained by the gravity of his words.

   Twilight rose to her hooves, “Yes,” she sobbed, “sorry to be in the way captain…” Twilight wiped her eyes, “Carry on.”

   “No princess, it is we who are sorry, we have failed you all.” Twilight didn’t say anything to the captain’s apology; she simply started off in the direction of the tower her bedroom resided in. On the way to her room she had to pass through the great hall, upon entering the door, she was greeted with hundreds of ponies immediately in front of her. The closest few began to immediately assail her with questions before the two guards at the door charged in to block them from Twilight. Up towards the thrones Twilight could see Luna, staring at her through all the commotion.

   “Citizens!” Luna called out from the back of the hall, silencing the room, “Today is a day of great sorrow.” She began, “Today our very own sister, Princess Celestia had been struck down by assassins… but we have secured the traitors and have detained them within the castle dungeon where they await justice. We would have you all know that we plan on finding out the source that planned such a heinous act immediately and we will mete out swift and righteous judgment upon them. Today’s heinous act will not be forgotten, and we will not rest until we have seen those responsible for such a crime punished to the full extent. In the mean time we shall all mourn the great loss we have suffered today. Our sister loved each and every one of you greatly, and we know that she is looking down upon us all from the warm embrace of the goddess. Further news will be distributed in the days to come, until then we bid you all return to your homes and hold your families closely. We shall let it be known when the funeral will be held, and what shall be done with the traitors.” Luna held the crowd’s attention with her aura of absolute authority. During Luna’s addressing the crowd Twilight had been, with a guard escort, making her way across the great hall to the stairs behind the throne. By the time Luna had finished, Twilight was by her side, almost to the first steps.

   “We never were very good with addressing the subjects,” said Luna to Twilight, “perhaps in time you shall prove a better speaker than us, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight simply kept sulking by. “We will visit you later Twilight Sparkle. Before then, however, we must attend to something.” Luna’s voice grew quiet and sinister as she finished her last sentence. Twilight simply kept walking to her room.

***

   Back in the present, Spike had question for Twilight.

   “So where did Luna go after that?” asked Spike. Twilight looked up to him from the fire in the tower hearth.

   “She went to interrogate the prisoners. Weeks later I asked a guard later on what she had done and the story was just about as grisly as my encounter with Luna’s wrath.”

***

   Luna entered the barracks by throwing open the doors with a thunderous boom, “Where are they!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. The frightened guards pointed in the direction of the holding cells at the front of the castle dungeon. Luna moved with purpose and wrath, each step almost cracking the tiles beneath her hooves. Arriving at the door to the dungeon she threw it open yet again, knocking the guards in front of them out of the way without a word of apology. Turning into the dungeon she saw the guards had detained them to the same cell where they sat looking accomplished at the back of cell. “All of you out!” Luna ordered the guards. They rushed out back into the barracks and huddled around the door to try and see through the window.

   “So… these are the traitors.” Luna glared at the two ponies in the cell, one a large white unicorn stallion and the other a yellow pegasi mare.

   “You’re no princess to us!” spat the unicorn.

   “Silence!” Luna lifted the bench they sat upon throwing them to the floor before breaking it over the unicorn’s back. “You will speak only when I have given you permission to speak.”

   “We’ll speak when we damn well please, Princess!” the mare shouted back to Luna, sarcastically emphasizing Luna’s title.

   “I said SILENCE WHELPS!” Luna picked them both up inside the cell and threw them at the door with such force that it broke it from it’s bolts and sent it to the floor at Luna’s side. Rising to their feet they attempted to take up a defensive stance as the guards rushed in. “OUT, ALL OF YOU!” Luna boomed, throwing the guards from the dungeon and barring the door from the inside. Luna turned back to the pair of prisoners and saw the pegasus try to move her wing before flinching in pain from her now broken appendage, half of her wing hung limply from the solid end. “What’s the matter, is your wing hurt? Let me assist you you.” Luna mocked her, moment later her wing tore free from her body at the base, the mare screamed a blood curdling scream of pain. “There!, no more wing to ail you.

   “Ellie!” cried the unicorn with great worry in his voice before lifting a guards spear off the wall with his magic and throwing it at Luna. Luna didn’t even flinch as she stopped the spear and swung it around, striking the unicorn in the head with the handle before picking the both of them up and lifting them to her.

   “We have come to demand information from the both of you. Should you choose to offer it is purely up to you, but know that you’re not in the kind forgiving hooves of my sister, you have seen that she will never cast judgment over any pony ever again. You are in the cold, merciless hooves of Luna, princess of the night. If you should choose to remain resistant to my demands you will be met with a fate similar to that of your fellow conspirator.”

   “And what does the big scary princess of the night think she can do to make us talk!” the pegasi mare spoke bravely.

   “A strong one we see, your friend screamed and begged for mercy whilst we beat him into pulp before tearing his limbs off and  choked the last bits of life from his body. You will perhaps prove more satisfactory than that coward.” Luna looked to the unicorn to see him looking at the pegasus with worry. “Your fellow however is weaker than yourself; we believe he will give us what we seek.”

   “Not a damn word Quint!” the mare warned the unicorn.

   Gulping down the lump in his throat he replied, “Whatever you say Ellie.”

   “We see that you know one another quite well, might we ask your relationship” Luna’s tone shifted from pure hate to sinister inquiry. The two ponies in her grasp remained silent. “We have a QUESTION for both of you!” Luna threw them straight back into the bars of the cell behind them. “How do you know one another?” she asked yet again with an impatient yell. Still they remained silent, “At least you will not let us become bored, and we were worrying that you would.” Luna lifted the pegasus as she tried to get to her feet and held the unicorn to the ground. With the motion of her head she threw the mare into the stallion, impaling her side on his horn. The pegasi let out a pained grunt as the unicorn’s resolve broke.

   “Husband and wife!” he shouted

   “Oh really, how romantic.” Luna picked them both up and flopped them about like puppets in a theater as she spoke, “A husband and wife who do everything together I suppose, they hug, they kiss, they MURDER OUR SISTER!” Luna picked them both up again and slammed them against the wall, lofting a spear up from the weapon rack behind her she brought it’s point to the pegasi’s  chest, “Quint and Ellie correct?” Luna motioned the spear and cut a heart shape into the mare’s, “Quint and Ellie sitting in a tree!” Luna sang angrily, continuing on to carve their names into the mare’s chest as she grunted in pain trying not to scream. “K-I-S-S-I-” Luna was cut off by the pleas of the unicorn.

   “Please, I’ll tell you what you want!” he broke in on Luna’s macabre singing.

   “Not a word Quint!” yelled the pegasus through the pain, “You mustn’t, if they find out you squealed-”

   “Speak freely worm, we can assure you that whoever has put you to this cannot do worse than us.” As Luna spoke she finished carving “Ellie & Quint” in the heart she’d cut into the mare’s skin.

   “We’re…”

   “Quint! Be strong; don’t let this bitch get to you! Be strong for me!” Luna reacted very poorly to being insulted so.

   “Quiet whelp!” Luna shouted torquing the mare’s back left leg with her magic until a large pop could be heard as it dislocated. “Proceed.” Luna turned back to the stallion.

   “We… were…” The stallion’s words were full of hesitation.

   “Quint! Please!” the mare pleaded once more, though tears had formed in her eyes, she had not begun to sob.

   “We said be QUIET!” Luna threw her hoof into the mare’s neck pinning her further to the wall. “You had best provide an expedient answer, lest she die in my hooves before you can finish.”

   “Please, just… We’re not alone! We’re part of the army of the red sun, and we’re just the beginning, soon the rest will appear!” The stallion’s words were completely void of bravery of any form. He spoke hurriedly and panicked at the sight of his beloved being strangled.

   “What is the army of the red sun?” Luna questioned, her hoof still planted in the mare’s neck.

   “A rebel army, please release her!” In his panic he spoke out of context as to provide simple answers quickly in hopes of quickly saving his wife from asphyxiation.

   “A rebel army? Why do you seek to unseat the throne?”

   “To put an end to the matriarchy and put in place a government where the citizens will be heard.” He shifted between panicked glances between Luna and his bride.

   “What?” Luna yelled, retracting her hoof from the mare’s neck, who let out a gasp for the surrounding air to refresh her pained lungs. “Where the citizens will be heard? Our sister did nothing if not everything for you all! She always did! What could you possibly seek to accomplish by killing her!”

   “Ha,” the mare laughed between gasps for breath, “Celestia sat idle on the throne while fillies and foals died of starvation in the Northern settlements without batting an eye, we’ve suffered long under her rule and have received no assistance from Canterlot through all of our woes, and your dam guards are corrupt, taking what they want from us at every opportunity. Things will be better when you join your sister in Tartarus and the red sun works for the betterment of all!” The mare spat in Luna’s face.

   “You dare speak of Celestia in such a way!” Luna went into a blind fury and threw the mare across the room. Picking her back up she threw her once again and ripped her remaining wing off.

   “Please, you got what you wanted, now leave us to our fate!” cried the stallion. Luna turned picked him up and brought him alongside his wife in front of her. She was heavily bruised, and she bled profusely from her wounds, especially the places where her wings used to be, the stallion by contrast had only received minor injuries.

   “Ellie,” the stallion sobbed, “I’m so sorry. I couldn’t… I just couldn’t.”

   “Please Quint, just…” her breathing was strained by the pain, “I know…”

   “Now your wife here is far too bloodied for public execution, what would every pony think if they saw that marched out to the guillotine? They would surely want to know what had happened, not that they would care about a couple of traitors. She would also not be a very good show. How could some pony as strong willed as her provide any satisfaction to see accept her fate with quiet dignity, it wouldn’t be any at all. No, she will never see the light of the sun again. You however,” Luna turned to the stallion, “You will be marched out onto the executioner's block where your fear of death will be made apparent in front of a crowd that hates everything about you, and they will relish every last moment of your fear as the blade comes down upon your neck. Lucky for you, you don’t have any backbone, the blade will quite cut cleanly.”

   Luna stared at the stallion, whose gaze did not come off of the pegasus in front of him. “Before I release you to your respective fates, I will offer you both one last chance to embrace one another, you wouldn’t want to be leaving without saying goodbye.” Luna tossed them to the ground in front of her and the unicorn scrambled to the pegasus. He lifted her up and sat beside her holding her in his hooves as she lay in his embrace, exhausted from her ordeal.

   “I’m so sorry Ellie… I’m so sorry.” He spoke.

   “I know Quint, I just wish things could be different.” She replied in pained whispers.

   “I love you Ellie.”

   “I love you too Quint, I’ll meet you in the embrace of the goddess.” The stallion bent his neck in to kiss his wife and after short moment Luna froze them in place with their mouths pressed together.

   “How touching.” She spoke coldly, “We sure hope you made sure to use plenty of tongue, this was to be your final kiss. Also we have a request to make of both of you, well tis more of an order as neither of you has any say in the matter… Bite down.” Luna spoke and the pair was contorted by her magic. Both began muffled screams as blood began to run from their mouths. Tears formed in their eyes as they stared at one another. After several agonizing seconds Luna ripped the two apart and tossed them to opposite ends of the room. Both of them spat out the bits of each other’s tongues they bit off along with the blood that pooled in their mouths. The mare screamed a gargled scream of pain as the tears welled up in her eyes, and the stallion began crying hysterically.

   “Now then, tis about time we finished this don’t you think. We require something from you unicorn.” Said Luna as she walked over to him, “A moment please.” Luna forced her left hoof on the stallions head and put him to the floor. Raising her right she came down hard on his horn, snapping it off, leaving a jagged bleeding bone jutting from his face. “Wouldn’t want any magic tricks at the show would we?” The stallion screamed through the blood in his mouth as Luna picked up his horn with her magic. “Now then, we must be going, we apparently have a rebellion to quash. And if it’s full of cowards such as thyself we should little have trouble doing it.” Turning to the pegasus she propelled the horn with her magic straight into the mare’s forehead, her limp body fell to the floor facing the unicorn, her eyes wide open. Luna simply unbarred the door and walked out, “Clean up the mess, and prepare the unicorn for execution on the morrow.”  She said to the frozen guards at the door. Luna walked to her tower completely silent where she remained for several hours before she would go to Twilight’s room to inform her of the situation.