Shattered Harmony

VI

   The following morning Twilight awoke and lay in place for almost an hour according to her clock, the sun had crested the horizon and Luna was not to be found in Twilight’s room having left to begin the day an unknown amount of time before. Spike similarly lay in his bed, fully awake but silent. The pair lay gazing at the clock watching the minutes pass slowly by. After fifty-two minutes, by her count, of lying in place Twilight rose to her hooves and began her day. Upon seeing Twilight move from her bed, Spike followed suit. Casting off his blanket, he rose to his feet and shambled on with Twilight. Twilight turned around and seeing her companion in tow greeted him good morning.

   “Good morning Spike.” said the melancholy Twilight.

   “Morning.” replied an equally despondent Spike.

   “Breakfast?” asked Twilight.

   “Breakfast.” the pair continued into the next room where neither bothered to stop and check their appearance before heading to the door, Twilight’s hair was an absolute mess and was in drastic need of combing, and Spike didn’t even bother to deal with the little white bits of shed scale caps on his arm and stomach. Opening the door they were immediately greeted by a cadre of royal elite stationed outside her door.

   Royal elite were not like normal guards in any way shape or form. To be selected for the royal elite you had to of proven yourself in combat to be above your peers, whether in the sparring rings or on the battlefield. Once selected for the royal elite you would then be put through what is known as the crucible, where you are put through an incredibly difficult series of tests of both physical fitness and skill in combat. Each royal elite cadet that survives and passes the crucible is ready to join their brother’s as the toughest soldiers in Equestria. The royal elite also reflected their status in their dress as well.

   Each elite’s armor is custom made to fit perfect instead of the royal guards, one-size fits all style back plate and helmet. The elite wore a series of gold-trimmed alabaster plates that covered their entire bodies. The helmet of each soldier was rounded at the back but came to a point in the front, with the top visor coming down angled at the front with a slit in the helmet to allow it’s wearer to see. Up the back of their necks were large white and gold manes made of sectioned armor on each band of the neck plate that slid into one another and shifted on the back of the plates to allow natural movement and provide another showpiece to the armor’s craftsmanship.

   The body plates were straight in the long sections of each limb with a cap over each joint, the armor was enchanted so that each plate glided completely frictionless across one another, allowing for nigh unhindered movement. The armor was also constructed of extremely light-weight but extremely strong metals that could take a blow from just about anything without so much as a dent. And on the large flank plate of each elite’s armor was the royal elite emblem, a gold-trimmed, white shield bearing Celestia’s sun in glorious fashion.

   Their weaponry was just as different to the standard guard’s as well. Each elite did not carry the normal halberd of the royal guard; instead they carried weapons Twilight had only ever read about before. Twilight recalled the book she’d seen them in, “Royal Security Doctrines” a book about the evolution of the guards in Canterlot throughout the last two hundred years. If she remembered correctly they were called rifles.

   The stock had two rings on it that hooked onto the front gauntlets so it could be steadied for aiming as well as triggered by the turning of the ring that stuck out on the right side of the weapon; the action was a ‘flint-lock’ design by what she could see, although she wasn’t sure what it meant. And at the front of the rifle was a two-foot long curved blade that stuck out past the end of the barrel by half of its length to turn the weapon into an equally effective slashing weapon as a bayonet.

   “Princess Twilight.” Formally greeted the sergeant followed by the detachment saluting her, their armor clinking with each movement. “We’ve been ordered by Princess Luna to escort you in everywhere until further notice. She, having seniority, has also commanded that we only take orders from her directly; we cannot abide a request to leave your side unless it’s a matter of upmost privacy such as restroom visits. Other than that we have been commanded to not leave your side, we apologize for the inconvenience. “

   “I see.” said the tired Twilight as she turned to Spike who just shrugged his shoulders while maintaining his dower expression. “Very well,” she sighed, do as you must. We were currently heading down to see about some breakfast.”

   “I’m afraid you have to stay here until the execution later this afternoon Princess, we will have anything you request brought up to you, but we have been ordered to keep you here until Princess Luna comes to fetch you.” Twilight couldn’t see the sergeant’s eyes through his visor, it was too dark, but even if she could she’d imagined them to be the stone cold eyes of a consummate professional. In his voice there was no emotion, simply duty. Unlike everyone else who was distraught at the loss of the princess, the elite in front of her seemed completely collected. His eerie calm, stern tone and professionalism was out of place in the atmosphere of sorrow. Twilight guessed that was just another quality that was sought after in the elite.

   “Oh… Alright then, I suppose I’ll just have a bran muffin brought up then, and some jewels for Spike I guess.” Twilight’s mood was not helped at all by her new imprisonment in her quarters, even if it was only for a few hours, or at least she hoped it was only for a few hours. The pair moped back into the bedroom where Spike took back to his little bed and curled up in his covers to lie there with his eyes open, Twilight went to the window and laid down looking outside. Not far from her window she could see more elites hovering outside her window. The wings of each elite had the same sliding plate armor that covered their bodies running up the bone of each wing; the reflections of the sun off the golden trims of their armor plates would occasionally cast an intense glare into Twilight’s eyes.

   Though Twilight knew that Luna had her kept to her room to keep her safe, it didn’t help comfort her in the slightest. Twilight and Spike waited in the room silently for their breakfast to be brought to them. After about ten minutes of silence there was a knock at the door. Twilight rose to her hooves and shambled over to the door. Opening it she was met with a royal elite standing beside a food cart.

   “Your breakfast princess.” he said plainly before gently pushing the cart in the room with his armored hoof. Once the cart was inside her room her nodded and grabbed the door handle and gently pulled the door shut without another word. Twilight levitated her muffin to her mouth and took a bite as she lifted the bowl of gems and carried it to Spike’s bedside, placing it down beside him and laying down on the rug beside him.

   “Eat up, we have a long day ahead of us.” said Twilight, Spike replied by grabbing a single gem and tossing it in his mouth as he stood up quietly chewing it. The pair sat quietly eating their food for a few moments before Twilight broke the silence. “I should write to my friends today, let them know I’m okay and tell them what happened. I’m sure they’ve gotten news by now, gossip traveled quickly from Canterlot, and I’m sure news of the Princess has traveled even faster.”

   “Might not be a bad idea.” Spike solemnly kept pecking at his bowl of precious stones.

   “I’ll write it up while we eat, we’ll send it after breakfast.” Twilight went to her desk with her muffin, picked up a quill, rolled out a parchment, and began writing.

   “My dear friends, you may have heard the recent new about the assassination of the princess.” Twilight paused from her writing, the words hurt to write, but she needed to continue, “I am writing to let you know that despite the circumstances I am safe. While I currently mourn the loss of Celestia, Princess Luna has seen to it that I am taken care of in this chaotic time.” Twilight couldn’t think of what else to write to her beloved friends, her mind clouded by the pain of her recent loss, “The castle is currently on lockdown and Princess Luna is being very thorough with the security detail, I’m unsure if I can get you access to the castle as Luna has even had me shut away in my chambers for the time being, but I will see if I can have permission to invite you into the castle for a visit soon, it would be really nice to see all of you right now. You will likely be granted entry for Celestia’s funeral tomorrow if it’s possible for you to make it, I figured it would be best I inform you myself rather than let it slip by you due to distance. I will be writing to you in the near future, but until then I am merely assuring you that I am alive and uninjured. Until next time, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight’s quill came to a rest at the side of the parchment as she looked over it for anything amiss, and unable to think of anything else to add she rolled it up and bound it with a ribbon. Turning about she floated the letter over to Spike who was still making progress through his ever smaller pile of gems.

   “Send this to Applejack when you get the chance, she’ll be sure everyone see it.” Spike nodded with a dower expression as Twilight gently dropped the letter beside Spike’s bowl of gems and took the last bite of her muffin, finishing it off before wiping her muzzle with her hoof and climbing into her bed. She lay on her side staring at the threshold into the next room of her chambers. After a few minutes of nothing but the quiet crunches of Spike’s chewing she heard him pick up the parchment and send it on its way with a quick gout of green fire before returning to his bed and curling back up in his blankets. The pair waited in complete boredom with nothing but their thoughts to keep them busy until Luna’s arrival, thoughts they both wished they didn’t have.

   After an eternity of waiting strewn out in their beds with nothing to say there was a knock at the door, Twilight staggered from her bed and shambled to answer it with Spike right behind her, just as dour. Opening the door they were met by the Princess, she had returned to her dignified posture and demeanor and her wounded eyelid was stitched up, in place of the old eye was a jet black glass orb that reflected Twilight’s surroundings on its parabolic surface.

   “Good morning Twilight Sparkle, we are pleased to see you are awake this morning.” Luna moved on before Twilight could respond, “We apologize for the inconvenience of keeping you in your quarters, but until we have more accurately identified and seen to the protection against our new threats, we will be under tight security at all times.” Luna had moved into Twilight’s room and was walking toward the window opposite the door as she spoke. “Come here Twilight Sparkle.” said Luna as she reached the window. Twilight trotted to the princess’s side and beheld to her surprise a large crowd gathered in the large triangular courtyard below her tower quarters.

   “They’ve gathered here to taste for themselves retribution. Today we will present to them the surviving assassin, and they will feed off the grisly spectacle that will be made of his demise. It is truly barbaric, what we shall do today, but it is necessary if we mean to provide for our people. Celestia was dear to many of them; even those who had never met her face to face loved her from afar.” Luna paused; her dignified tone was gently accented by the malice and hatred she garnered toward the victim of today’s events, “And now these ingrates have taken her from them.” Luna turned from the crowd to Twilight.

   “Now Twilight Sparkle we must show our enemy that it is we who have the upper hoof in all of this, that it is we who are in control. Our enemy will be hidden amongst the crowd, to gauge our reactions, to seek out weakness in our expression, to sense any wavering in our voice. And we must show them that we are not afraid of them.” Luna looked sternly at Twilight.

   “I will instruct you on how you will need to present thyself to the public. Before we go out there, I will assess that you are ready to be shown, your presence is required, if you do not show up they will see you as a weak point, and will adapt their strategy to work upon that. So then, to begin, you must be stoic throughout the event, stoic and commanding. Your presence must act as the image by which our subjects will remember us in the coming days. Stride forth with a look of cold anger, do not appear eager to return to the castle’s chambers, let the enemy know that you do not fear them. If you must speak, speak with fiery inspiration, inflame their passions and focus their anger. Stand tall and commanding, as a beacon amidst the chaos of shouts and calls. Let it be known that we are their leaders, and that it is us who are in control.” Luna’s words were spoken with a passion that lifted Twilight’s spirits to hopeful levels; a smile even began to cross Twilight’s face as Luna spoke to her.

   “Now Twilight Sparkle, go on, show me how you shall present thyself to your subjects.” Luna stopped then looked on at Twilight, raising the eyebrow of her wounded right eye when Twilight did not immediately move. Catching on quickly after Luna’s changed of expression, Twilight walked back a short ways away and paused, stood up tall, turned her expression from the hopeful smile to a commanding look of indignance and authority, and with as much grace as she could muster, advanced a short distance to Luna’s right and paused, before assuming a rigid pose and maintaining her expression, trying to look as confident as she did controlled. And though Twilight’s courage was shaken by her mentor’s death she tried to her best to appear as if she was unafraid. Luna followed Twilight as she moved and then nodded to Twilight and spoke of her approval.

   “Yes, that will do nicely, let it be known that Twilight Sparkle will not buckle under the weight thrust upon her, show to them that you are strong and charismatic. Up unto now you’ve had no real opportunity to prove yourself to your subjects, but your time is now. Amongst all this turmoil, it shall be you who emerges triumphant at my side as we defeat the foes that hide in the shadows. Now then, we’ve tarried long enough, let us go and begin the spectacle lest the crowd grow restless.” Luna motioned to Twilight and headed for the door. Twilight looked over to Spike and knowingly motioned to him to stay in his bed; she knew that he wouldn’t want to see this. He was still a baby dragon after all.

   Luna opened the door and motioned to the cadre of soldiers outside the room, each of them rose to their hind hooves, clicked their gauntlets into the rings of their rifles and holding them with blades pointed up to their left waited for the princesses. When Luna and Twilight were out in the hall they walked in unison beside them. Two in front, two beside them, and two in the rear, Twilight felt both secure and uncomfortable as their armor seemed to make one noise as they moved in their unnatural stance. Most ponies couldn’t stand on their hind legs for any longer than a few moments, but after intense training they moved effortlessly in their strange position. Looking to one of the guards in front Twilight could see he was casting some form of spell, although she wasn’t sure what. The thin white glow surrounded the horn jutting from his helmet, the base of which was met by small armor plates that came up at an angle to meet the horn about an inch off the helmet and then angled back out, this modification to the armor was designed to dead-stop any blades that ran along the helmet before they struck the horn, keeping it attached to the owner’s skull.

   “What is it you’re casting sir?” Twilight timidly asked the elite.

   “I’m searching for invisible threats your highness; you never know when your enemy is hiding in your shadow.” The elite didn’t even turn his head, and his horn never stopped glowing.

   “Ah.” The answer Twilight received was much briefer than she was hoping for; instead of prying further she simply continued walking in silence alongside Luna. They continued down the halls and through the courtroom out into the courtyard where the public had gathered in a massive crowd that filled the courtyard in front of the line of guards that formed a line in front of the execution platform that cleared a walkway to the barracks and courtroom.

   This imparticular courtyard was reserved specifically for executions, and had not seen use in centuries. The castle groundskeepers had all been rallied to work through the night by torchlight to ready the courtyard for the public the following morning by Luna’s command. The courtyard was a large triangle formed by walls between Twilight’s tower, the guard barracks, and the castle courtroom. Directly beneath Twilight’s tower was a large marble platform with five square tiers, each a foot higher than the last and atop the last tier sat the headsman’s block. Opposite the execution platform at the ‘base’ of the triangle was the gate, only to be opened when the time was called for.

***

   When the door opened Twilight could see that the roaring crowd filled the courtyard in front of the guards, and ran out beyond the gate. The din created by the mass of angered citizens was incredible, and Twilight could barely hear herself think as they entered the courtyard. The entire time they walked to the large platform in the corner of the courtyard shouts calling for the blood of Celestia’s murderer would occasionally escape the blur and become audible as individual yells. “Bring him out!” “To the block!” “Vengeance for Celestia!” The crowd’s demands were savage and barbaric, Twilight was even more unsettled by this as she maintained her briefly practiced pose, her face looking dead ahead as if she were intent on seeing the villain brought to justice.

   The calls grew louder and louder as they reached the steps of the platform. Looking at the steps Twilight could see they were designed to aid in the theatrics of public executions. Below the block there was a depression in the white marble that made up the platform, running out to points all along the front edge of the top tier were angled grooves cut into the stone. The tier below simply held a basin with a drain in the middle of it. The block itself was a table with a yolk at one end where the accused’s neck would lay to await the cold embrace of the headsman’s axe. The macabre craftsmanship of the executioner’s block sickened Twilight; she wondered why Celestia would have had it made in such a way, or even at all. She’d never seen the block before, the castle courtyard was closed off at all other times, and the platform sat at the base of her tower so she was unable to see it from her window.

     Twilight maintained her expression and stature when they reached the top of the platform where Luna stopped her as the elites fanned out across the platform, two stayed at the bottom where they came up, two went to the corners on the front of the platform, and two went to the side facing the barracks. “Twilight, remember you must remain composed throughout the execution, and you must watch it. No matter what you have to watch with the crowd as our enemy falls beneath us, do not look away even as the axe falls, understood?” Luna asked very seriously.

   “Yes Princess Luna.” replied Twilight with a quavering voice.

   “Alright then, take your place at the opposite side of the block near the front of the platform. I’ll address the crowd and we’ll get this over with. Afterward you will accompany me to retrieve someone who will be of great importance to us in the future; we will not tarry here long so I’ll try to make this move quickly.” Luna’s words were puzzling to Twilight, who could they be getting that would prove so valuable? After her cryptic message Luna approached the front of the platform and began to speak in the old royal Canterlot voice, exceedingly loud, and terrifyingly commanding.

   “Citizens, we would ask that thou allow us to speak!” Luna bellowed above the crowd, her voice smashing any competition the crowd’s incredible din would provide to be heard over her. An abrupt and eerie hush fell over the courtyard before Luna began “Today we are gathered to see to it that no crime against Equestria shall go unpunished, especially one as heinous as the murder of our sister! Today we shall make the last of the assassins pay for their crime against us all with their blood!” Luna finished her sentence with fire in her voice, the crowd exploded into a hateful roar that demanded retribution, once again raising her voice to overpower the crowd she called out to the barracks, “Bring out the accused!”

   The crowd exploded once more into cries as the door to the barracks opened, out in front was an incredibly large black minotaur bearing and enormous bearded axe over his shoulder. His head was covered by an iron mask that hooked around his horns and clamped around the back of his neck. The mask bore a bovine skull in exaggerated effigy that seemed to be smiling, creating a terrifying last image to be seen by the accused. He slowly approached the block dragging something by a chain behind him. As soon as he rounded the corner and was fully in view Twilight could see a pony, bound up in chains and screaming hysterically while struggling against his bonds. Even though he was still a distance away, Twilight could see tear stains on his face. Every time the minotaur would take a step he would jerk at the chain and skip his unwilling guest across the stones of the courtyard where he would struggle more and inaudibly try to scream over the crowd. After a minute the minotaur reached the platform steps and dropped the chain. He picked up the hysterical pony, who Twilight could now hear screaming unintelligible cries, she was reminded of yesterday and was hoping she would not be put through anymore unneeded stress.

   The minotaur climbed the steps with his victim and placed him upon the slab at the block. Placing the pony with his neck in the yolk at one end of the table and locking him in face up. He squirmed and writhed the entire time, but to no avail. Once he was locked into the yolk the minotaur removed the bindings from the unicorn’s hooves, and his legs began to flail wildly, and press against the yolk in desperate attempts to free himself.

   The unicorn looked to Twilight with wildly scared eyes, his eyes were overflowing with tears, and blood had even begun to surface from his broken horn. He begged and pleaded to her, but Twilight stood looking at him with the look she had been told, hateful indignance. Inside Twilight was panicking, unsure how much longer she could stand this, death was such a new concept to her as it was, but vengeance and retribution were completely alien, she’d never felt the need or want to harm anyone, even this assassin before her, the one who’d had a hoof in killing Celestia, her lifelong mentor and she’d been as a second mother to Twilight. So she held back her feeling and turned to Luna, who could sense Twilight’s growing distress through her outer facade and decided to move along with the ceremony.

   “Citizens, now we shall mete out justice to this lowly worm who would dare take our dearest Celestia from us! Headsman!" Luna called to the executioner, "To Tartarus with him!” The headsman nodded and picked up his enormous axe, the blade of which was as long as Twilight was tall, and thick as her torso at its widest point, and lofted it above his head. Twilight did as Luna had told her and turned to the accused to watch his final moments pass before her. His legs flailed wildly as the headsman began his stroke, he begged unintelligibly for mercy with even more fervor and terror than before. And possibly the worst part of his situation was that he couldn’t look away from the axe that was about to take his life. The last thing he would see would be a giant minotaur with a smiling skeletal face bringing down a great axe to cleave his neck from his body, few things could be more terrifying in Twilight’s mind at that point. The headsman began his downward stroke and in mere fractions of a second the axe connected with the unicorn’s neck and severed it from his body with a spray of blood onto the axe. Rather than allowing the axe to sash into the platform the minotaur held it in place as soon as the neck was severed, right in front of the bleeding stump of a torso left lying on the table. The blood that initially would of sprayed Twilight was blocked by the headsman’s axe, and simply ran off the blade into the basin below, which worked exactly as designed much to Twilight’s disgust.

   Twilight managed to hold her gaze onto the execution as she was told, even as the last nerves in the unicorn’s body sickeningly kicked the limbs of his decapitated corpse to and fro wildly impulsively from the still active nerves. Four streams of dark crimson drained across the platform and over the first step and into the catchment below, she did not break her stance, and at least ensured she could leave without disappointing Luna. Turning to Luna she was met with a simple nod before Luna turned to the crowd to address them once again. Twilight also turned to face them while Luna spoke.

   “Today justice has been done, but we are nowhere near done with our enemy! The assassination of our sister was merely the beginning of much bigger events. In the coming days we will be looking for the enemy to reveal themselves in earnest, and we shall see to it that they are ground into the dust for the transgressions, and that our sister will be able to rest in peace knowing that Equestria is safe once more!” Luna’s words fueled the crowd’s fiery temperament, rather than making them question what Luna had said as Twilight would have thought it would. But in the end it was for the best, better they keep their spirits and go about their lives than question their leaders and begin to think ill of them. Twilight stood on the platform for a moment longer until Luna came to her and beckoned her to follow, the elites formed up around her and they headed to the courtroom amid the shouts and cheers of a bloodthirsty crowd that would have gladly taken more if the opportunity had arisen. Twilight felt extremely unsure of the coming days, and almost wanted to throw up from her most recent encounter with death. But she held it in, and pressed on with Luna into the courtroom wondering who they were going to retrieve.