Shattered Harmony

VIII

   The following morning Twilight awoke with a splitting headache. Her thoughts stressed her greatly and she was still unsure of what to make of everything at this point. More and more seemed to come each day, it seemed there was no respite. After collecting Falling Star yesterday Luna carried her up to a suite in the castle very close to her own, much to the dismay of many of the castle staff who saw her holding what appeared to be a breathing corpse on her back.

   Twilight was still questioning how she should even feel about Falling Star. For all intents and purposes she remained a traitor to Equestria, but the hinging factor was Celestia, who was now deceased. If she could be trusted and was everything Luna described, she could prove to be very useful, especially now. But there were so many different things that could go wrong. Falling Star would require blood from some source or another, but how would they supply it without drawing attention to it? If someone found out Luna kept a vampire in her personal entourage things could turn ugly very fast. What if Falling Star tried to kill her? Twilight was unsure she could defend herself from someone who could take on an elite member of Luna’s former guard. Everything felt wrong when she thought of Falling Star.

   And of all days, today was not a day she wanted to be thinking of it, if she ever wanted to think of it to begin with. Twilight arose and sat on the edge of her bed, putting a hoof to her temple she stretched her wings out as she applied pressure with her hoof to try and dull the pain in her forehead. Looking up she tried to wake Spike.

   “Come on Spike, time to get up.” Twilight yawned to her friend in his small bed below.

   “I’m up already, couldn’t sleep anyways.” Spike rose from his bed and let his blanket fall to the floor as he stood up. Taking a few steps to the vanity as Twilight did the same he mounted the stool in front of it and looked into the mirror for any shed scales as Twilight brushed her hair beside him. They swapped glances back and forth as they prepared themselves for the funeral. After they each finished their respective corrections of out of place scale caps, and unruly hairs they preceded to the front room of Twilight’s quarters where Luna had the castle seamstress deliver each of them an outfit the night before. Twilight’s outfit was a simple black gown with a veil, and Spike’s was a small tuxedo. They donned their outfits then waited silently in their room for Luna to come get them, knowing that if they tried to leave they’d be met with the royal elite who would stop them in their tracks. So they sat quietly in their room, alone with their thoughts until Luna arrived for them.

***

   “I’ll always remember those two days seeming to take forever.” Commented Spike, “I laid in bed the entire time, occasionally I’d get up and walk to the window to see what I could see, but it was always the same guards flying a few yards away. I didn’t even attempt to leave the room, I’m sure they would have let me if I wanted to.”

   “Time seemed to crawl by for me as well. I just wanted it all to be over, to lie in bed and cry. It was so overwhelming then, everything just happening so suddenly. You could hardly catch your breath before something else happened, I couldn’t think of a more exhausting time before that.” Twilight went to lie on a cushion she had near the fire as Spike shifted his mass to get more comfortable where he was. “I was so relieved when things slowed down after that day, at least in Canterlot. If I remember correctly when we got the news a week later, they’d started to purge the northern cities of loyalists the same day they assassinated Celestia. They knew it would take some time for us to react so they planned it all to happen on the same day. Killing the princesses wasn’t even critical to the success of their plan, it seemed it was just a side objective, understandably so when things got into full swing.”

   “There we so many of them by the time we were done. I’m surprised the gryphons didn’t try to make another attempt at Equestria after it all. You’d think with all the bad blood since the last war they’d of seized the opportunity to catch us so under strength.” Spike exhaled a small, but thick cloud of smoke into the fireplace where it was caught in the updraft of hot air and carried into the chimney.

   “They were too afraid to.” Replied Twilight as she gazed at the fire.

   “Of what?” questioned Spike, “Half of the country was decimated by a bloody civil war, and they could have taken us in their sleep. What possibly could have kept them in such fear to stave off an invasion.”

   Twilight looked Spike in the eyes and coldly replied, “The princess and her dragon.”

***

   Luna had come to get Twilight and Spike half an hour ago, they now stood at the rear of the Castle throne room as more and more guests piled in from the front door. Before them at the base of the steps leading to the throne was Celestia’s casket. The funeral would be held in the throne room, but Celestia’s burial would not be open to the public, instead the citizens would be sent home while Celestia was laid to rest in her favorite garden on the castle grounds. A bust of her was commissioned to adorn her grave as a marker with a small plaque, but it was days from completion; until it arrived Celestia’s grave would be marked by little more than simple stones and holy symbols.

   Twilight noticed as soon as they entered the room that royal elite were stationed all throughout the throne room. By the doors, in the corners of the room, on the stairs behind her, and some pegasi elites had even taken positions up in the rafters above, their white armor almost camouflaging them with the alabaster marble of the roof. Twilight felt a little less uneasy because of their presence. The room was filling quickly with ponies of all kinds, quietly sitting in the rows chairs that were brought in for them as they waited for the ceremony to begin. When the last of the seats had been filled, the elites at the door barred any further entry into the throne room, and forced all others to stand outside. Something that Twilight felt was extremely rude and betraying of Celestia’s memory, but she had no say in the matter.

   After every pony in attendance was settled in for a moment, the elites nodded to Luna from the front of the room. Luna then turned to the priestess at her side, who pulled back her white cowl and stepped forward to begin.

   “Welcome everyone to the final ceremony of our beloved princess.” The priestess’ voice was soft as silk, and soothing like the soft chords of a masterfully played harp. Her pure white vestments were bound at the waist by a chord of golden rope, and to the crowd before her, she was an angel sent by the goddess herself to retrieve her favored daughter. “Let us pray.” The congregation bowed their heads as the priestess began her prayer, “Goddess, hear our call. Your daughter has begun her journey to be at your side. We ask that you shepherd her across the void safely, and take our deserving sister into your loving embrace. We pray for her swift passage into your presence, and for her eternal peace at your side. And we ask that you watch over us, and keep us well until our time to join our brothers and sisters has come. Until we can be at your side, we pray.”

   “Amen.” replied the congregation. Twilight raised her head with the rest of the room to see the priestess in front of her begin walking down the steps toward Celestia’s casket, which was closed due to the grievous nature of the wounds she had sustained.

   “Our sister Celestia ruled over this land for time beyond our reckoning.” The priestess began once again, “She suffered many trials in her time, including the regrettable banishment of our princess Luna when the nightmare overtook her.” The chantry had obviously been instructed upon Luna’s return to alter the details of nightmare moon’s attempt on Celestia’s life to make it seem as though she was not acting of her own will, Luna said nothing, choosing to respect the ceremony rather than correct the priestess and worry the crowd further. “The dragon war those centuries ago that freed us of their tyranny. She saw those before us through the famine that ravaged the land five hundred years ago, leaving all but the crows to go without food, when the plague came two centuries ago she used her healing arts to cure the sick, and saw to the establishment of the chantry. And she led our mothers and father’s through five years of terrible war with the gryphon kingdoms, and emerged victorious against them.” The priestess paused, and began ascending the steps back towards Luna and Twilight by the empty throne.

   “But now she lies felled by assassins, an unfitting passing for our beloved sister.” The priestess stopped in front of the throne and turned back to the crowd, “But though we mourn her now, know that she will be with the Goddess soon, and that eternal peace shall finally be hers.” The priestess ended her speech and turned around to Luna who stepped forward to address the crowd herself, the priestess moved past Luna and took her place on the opposite side of the throne from Twilight.

   “Citizens,” began Luna, “It is our greatest sorrow that we should be here right now, at the funeral of our beloved sister. We cannot beg-” Luna’s words were cut off by deafening boom and a spray of blood upon the white marble tiles of the throne room. Scared by the thunderous blast Twilight’s gaze shifted from Luna to the priestess, who had been killed by whatever had made the noise a short distance from Luna, the front of her head was blown out chunks of meat and bone. Blood gushed from the fatal wound; at her side was a long stiletto blade, dripping with a viscous purple fluid.

   The entire crowd screamed and began a mad rush for the door as seven royal elite pegasi descended from the ceiling and slammed into the tiles in front of Luna and Twilight to create a barrier between them and the crowd. Spike who’d been standing next to Twilight the entire time now clung to Twilight’s front leg and buried his face in her side. The four elites in the front of the room near the door took to the side of the room and ran full speed towards the princesses as the guards from the stairs behind them jumped down to bring up the rear as all hell broke loose. Through the enormous crowd flooding out the door came at least a dozen ponies armed with small blades rushing the throne where Luna and Twilight stood amidst a fortress of steel. They were met with a completely merciless response.

   The seven elites in front of Twilight and Spike raised their weapons and leveled them onto the approaching assailants. Seven individual blasts, each fired within two seconds time, roared through the room. Five rushers went down immediately in the barrage of gunfire, two of which had been shot twice, and started bleeding profusely onto the floor with sucking wounds in their chests. Before the group could make it to the steps, two more shots rang out from the guards to the left and right of the stage, their bullets crossing each other in front of the line of guards atop the steps as they slammed into their marks sending sprays of crimson in opposite directions as two more assailants were downed.

   After the second volley three guards rushed forward while the remaining three stood in front of Twilight and Luna, and three from the rear guard advanced to the calls of their commander, who up unto this point hadn’t needed to say anything, his elites were well trained enough to know what to do. Twilight could only see between the guards all around her, and through the cracks she saw the three guards from the front line each dispatch an attacker and turn to the remaining five as the rear guard advanced around them to encircle them, but her visibility was as limited as her movement, and with Spike clinging to her, she couldn’t get a better view.

   Meanwhile the two guards who were running from the left front of the room came under attack by a group of five ponies who’d fought through the crowd to reach them. Three of them tackled one and attempted to wrest his weapon from him as his comrade dispatched the other two. At the same time another shot was heard across the room where Twilight saw an elite pulling his weapon up from having it aimed at the floor, on the wall and on his armor Twilight could see the spattered red contrasted against the white and gold.

   The crowd was almost entirely filtered out of the room when the last group made their break for it. By the time they had started their dash the elites had completely regrouped and formed a skirmish line in front of Twilight and Luna. All in all there had been twenty elites present, the entirety of the unit of Equestria’s finest soldiers were in front of them. As the last bits of the civilian crowd fled out of the door, the back fifteen turned about and rushed the throne. Twilight would always wonder why they didn’t just keep going, they may have lived had they fled. The remaining nine elite’s with a shot left in their weapons leveled their rifles and paused.

   “Fire!” yelled out the unit commander in a terrifying roar, even with his face completely covered by a helmet, he was audible above the screams and stampeding hooves that echoed from the front of the room. The nine shots rang out so fast it seemed as if only one shot had been fired. And six attackers went down to an explosion of smoke, blood, and steel. “Advance!” yelled the commander once more over the screams of wounded and dying attackers and the elites charged across the room. The assailants, their resolve broken by the initial barrage, attempted to flee; half of them tripped up over their fallen comrades, or slipped in the gore strewn about the floor. The guards caught up to them too rapidly for them to escape, the pegasi flew overhead and slashed down four of the remaining nine before landing at the door in front of them and blocking it off. The fourteen elites running across spread out across the throne room and encircled the would-be assassins.

   Twilight had to close her eyes as the royal elite butchered them, covering her ears with her hooves to try and silence their terrified screams. Spike kept holding onto Twilight with every bit of strength he had, and Luna remained completely silent; instead of rushing the attackers, she simply stared on in anger and let the elite do their job.

   After the last of the enemies lie bleeding on the floor, the elite formed into four ranks of five and approached the throne where Luna and Twilight stood, their armor spattered with gore, and black stains from the smoke of their rifles. Coming to a stop their commander spoke again.

   “All is clear princess Luna,” he bowed, “We count in all thirty-five assailants dispatched, they were no match.” The tone of the commander seemed a little cocky, rather than the standard stoic indignance they displayed.

   “Very well…” Luna paused for a moment and looked toward her sister’s casket, “The audacity of these rebels is astounding, that they would have the gall to make another attempt on our lives… at our own SISTER’S FUNERAL!” Luna slammed her hoof into the floor so hard it cracked the tile beneath it. “How many wounded?” Luna composed herself once more, but was still audibly angry.

   “Seven your majesty, but most will die soon enough.”

   “Bind them and take them to my quarters for interrogation, but first escort Twilight and Spike to their room… then clean up this mess.” Luna barked the orders to the commander and then went to her sister’s side amidst the bodies of dead. “We shall send for you later Twilight Sparkle when we lay Celestia to rest, until then we ask that you remain in your quarters.”

   Twilight, who’d only just a moment ago taken her hooves from her ears and opened her now teary eyes, nodded to Luna and waited for the guard to take her to her room. She picked up Spike and put him on her back as the commander sent six elites to walk her to her quarters, they stepped forth and took up their stance with the same formation as yesterday and waited for Twilight’s okay to go. Twilight nodded to them and they began their way to her chambers, tracking bloody hoof-prints across the tile floors.

   Luna was still at her sister’s casket, placing a hoof on it she spoke to Celestia’s body, “I will miss you sister,” a tear formed in Luna’s remaining eye, “until we meet again in the embrace of the Goddess.”

   The doors opened in front of Twilight, and she continued through sobbing hysterically.

Spike and Twilight’s trip to their quarters was quick. The guards kept a pace that was difficult for her to sustain as she tripped over herself in her crying, and she tried her best not to step on her dress as she moved. The elites at her side would perform the same drill at each door they came to as they did before, and Spike clung to her even harder, burying his face in her back, she was beginning to feel the wet sensation of his tears soaking through her dress as they moved. The entire party was a sight to behold as they passed by, a crying princess, her equally shaken dragon clinging to her back, and six fully armored guardsmen spattered in blood pacing down the hallways.

   After a few minutes of trotting through the halls they arrived at Twilight’s quarters, where the elites opened the door and quickly checked her quarters before letting her in. As soon as she could Twilight rushed to her bed and launched herself in. She quickly covered herself in blankets and allowed herself to completely let go of all pretense of control, hysterically sobbing into her pillows while Spike lay just behind her, still clinging to his companion like a child to his mother.

***

   It took a few hours for Luna to come for Twilight and Spike, by the time she arrived the two of them had soaked her sheets in tears. Luna entered the room quietly and walked slowly to the threshold to Twilight’s bedroom quarters, where she stood a moment in silence before saying anything.

   “Twilight Sparkle,” spoke Luna, her tone was uncharacteristically soft and sorrowful, “we would like to apologize to you. We feel we have failed to keep you safe once again, and we want to make it known that we will not allow things to continue as they have.” Luna sounded as if she took personal responsibility for Celestia’s death, which she probably did, “We have tried very hard to hold everything together in our sister’s absence, we’ve recently had to take on substantially more duties than we’ve had normally, and due to this, cracks have been allowed to appear in our defenses.” Luna took a deep personal responsibility for everything that happened on her watch, it was a conviction that Twilight could admire, but one that she could see being ruinous as well.

   “Initial estimations of the type of foes we’re dealing with have been proven false; they are quite intent on our destruction before they make any more moves.” Luna sighed, “For the next few weeks the castle will be on complete lockdown. As much as we know you hate being cooped up and away from your friends, we feel it is best that we ensure you are safe above all else. It would be the greatest failure we ever would have to suffer if something were to happen to you, our sister would never forgive us.” Luna paused for a moment before continuing, neither Spike nor Twilight had anything to add, in their state it was difficult to do anything except cry.

   “Quite,” said a despondent Luna who’d hoped for a response, “In any case we have come so that you may accompany us when we lay Celestia to rest. We know that given recent events you may not want to be there, and while it may be hard to take stock in what we say, we can assure nothing will happen. The castle garden has been completely closed off, non-essential staff has been sent home until further notice, and the entire perimeter is guarded by the royal elite. We only wish things were different Twilight Sparkle, but we ask that you come with us.” Luna sounded as if she was about to cry, it was rare when Luna showed weakness, and it made Twilight’s situation seem even more bleak than it was before.

   After a moment of lying in her bed quietly, Twilight shuffled to the edge of her bed and sat there for a moment. As much as she feared what happened beyond her quarters, she felt she owed Celestia this last respect. All her life Celestia had groomed her, and assisted her in becoming everything she is today, more so than her own mother. And she didn’t think that she could bear the thought of how she would think back on herself if she didn’t go; the guilt would drive her insane. So she moved from her bed weighted down by her heavy heart, and got on her hooves. She wiped the tears from her face and sniffled before turning to Spike who was hanging onto the covers as he let himself down. He looked up to her and tried to smile, but his worried and sorrowful eyes betrayed any comforting factor it may have had. The pair then shuffled over to Luna as Twilight picked up her now wrinkled veil and placed it on her head.

   Before they reached her, Luna turned about and headed to the door behind her with her two companions on her tail. The three reached the door and opened it to find that there was no guard escort this time.

   “We’ve arranged for the path to be guarded so we will not be escorted, we felt that the presence of the royal elite was unnerving to you, we could see it in your eyes when they were around.” Twilight was thankful for Luna’s powers of perception; she wasn’t looking forward to have to march next to the bloody guards that had just earlier today, ruthlessly butchered a group of retreating would-be assassins. The trio continued out into the hall and looking down to the end, Twilight could see two royal elite guarding the door to the stairs down on one end, and two more guarding the hallway intersection on the other. They moved down towards the stairs where the guards opened the door for them as they passed. The rest of the way was much the same, the three of them at a loss for words continuing through the near empty halls of the castle, passing by the posted guards and holding back the tears that threatened to drown their vision in a depressing blur.

   By the time they’d actually gotten to the garden the sun was low in the sky. The entire garden was shaded by the long shadows of the walls, and the bright star that warmed their world could not be seen beyond the ramparts that surrounded them. All around them the lights of each room surrounding the castle garden were brightly lit with no one in the windowsill of any room. Twilight figured the guards had seen to this so they could see when anyone came to the window so they could react accordingly; it was reassuring to think that someone had a plan at this point in time.

   Continuing into the garden they came to where Celestia was to be laid to rest, in the middle of a circle of rose bushes planted beneath a large willow tree. Right where Celestia used to teach Twilight about the ways of magic when she was growing up. Twilight couldn’t fight back tears any longer, before her was Celestia’s casket and the open plot where her body would spend eternity. Tears began to drip from Twilight’s muzzle as the Royal elite approached from behind them for the ceremony.

   Each of them was unarmed and stood in freshly cleaned armor without a helmet. Before Twilight stood Celestia’s most loyal soldiers, their faces were scarred and grizzled, but in this moment they appeared soft and fragile. Each of them bore upon their face a look of great pain, Twilight could see in their eyes that they held themselves responsible for the fall of their beloved princess just as much as Luna did. They exchanged looks with Twilight and Luna that seemed to ask for forgiveness that they were unsure they would receive. Instead of speaking they simply stood quietly, all twenty of them, as Twilight and Luna looked on. Among their ranks Twilight could see many familiar guards that she’d seen around the castle before, she figured that they only donned the elite’s garb when the time called for it, and now of all times demanded their appearance.

  “Devout soldiers,” began Luna to the guards behind her, “this is our darkest hour. Our sister was taken from us by an insidious foe, and her funeral was set upon by even more of those who would seek the destruction of our fair country.” Luna began to pace in front of Celestia’s casket, her wounded eye facing away from elites. “Tomorrow we shall begin to root out our foe, and destroy that which they stand for, but tonight we mourn that which we have lost. We know Celestia had personally picked you all, lest you would not be standing here today. It was upon her approval that you were accepted into the ranks of the royal elite, and it was upon your life that you swore to protect her. But it seems fate has dealt us a cruel blow that we could not defend from, and it is now that we know what our weakness has wrought.” Luna’s speech would be reprimanding if it weren’t so simultaneously self-deprecating, “This was something that we can say was not our fault, but in the end we hold ourselves responsible, and we shall never forgive ourselves for it, you all know it to be true. But it is here that we shall forge our redemption.” Luna’s tone picked up to a more stern pitch as she looked into the souls of each elite with her one remaining eye.

   “Tonight I ask that you take a new vow with me. Tonight we shall swear that we will be the end of those who dared to strike down our dear Celestia. Tonight we ask that you join us in a pact of vengeance for our sister that we may hunt down the enemies that hide in the shadows like cowards and wait until they believe the advantage is there’s.” Luna’s tone remained level and stoic throughout her call to the soldiers, this was not the time for fiery speeches, this was the time for serious conviction, “We shall scour this country for every last whelp that so dare take up the traitors mantle and oppose us, and we shall see to it that they fall with the rest of their ilk. Tomorrow we begin to set the machine in motion,” Luna came to an abrupt halt with her rally of the soldiers, “but tonight we ask that you assist us in laying our sister to rest.”

   The elites remained silent throughout the entire speech by the princess, Twilight assumed Luna didn’t need a response to ensure their cooperation; they were undyingly loyal to the crown and would do anything asked of them at the drop of a hat, regardless

of what the request was. They had also begun moving to either side of the rose circle and four of them had taken position at each corner of the casket next to the pulleys to lower it down, they stood awaiting the order to continue.

   “Is there anything you wish to say Twilight Sparkle?” asked Luna, looking down to Twilight with the saddest look she’d ever seen Luna display. Twilight looked away from Luna and wiped her eyes of the tears that flooded them, turning to Celestia’s casket she approached it and placed her hoof on the lid as if to try and confirm for herself that this was real, that this wasn’t just some nightmare she would wake up from.

   “I’ll miss you…” Though quiet, her words were heard by Luna a short distance away, who bowed her head as the single tear that breached her defenses ran off of her cheek and fell silently to the ground. The garden was silent as the sun fell to its resting point along the ends of the gyre, it would remain there for some time before the only two ponies who could do anything about it would leave the garden.