Execute Thy Will

Chapter 1

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Astral Shadow, staring at the scene before him, briefly wondered how it felt to be decapitated.

It was such an odd thought, but not one that had never crossed his mind. The few times he and the others had witnessed an execution of one of their own, he always wondered. Would he feel the toughened skin of his neck split? The ripping of muscle and sinew, the sounds that accompanied his demise- would he perceive them? Or would the world simply go black in an instant, leaving his soul to drift out towards the Cosmic Breeze and be forever lost in the great Void of Night?

Astral blinked.

These troublesome thoughts never led to anything productive, only served to distract him from what was going on. Focusing back to the execution, he watched the proceedings with neutrality. He and twenty nine other yunkiin were set in a semi-circle around the blood stained chopping block of the Order's main training cavern. The cavern was lit with a mix of torches and stalactites that glowed when infused with magic. Astral remembered a time when over two hundred had filled this place.

At the chopping block was a pegasus mare, bound, gagged and more then a little beaten. On either side of her were In, Masters of the Order. Both wore ceremonial cloaks, with hoods left down, and were armed with simple short swords; a look akin to boredom seemed to be permanently etched onto their muzzles.

The Master on the left, also a mare, stepped forward and spoke, not with a shout, but with a voice one would associate with a lecturing school marm.

"Newborns, take heed this day. One slip, one stray step from the path of loyalty and perfection we have taught you, can have consequences that could destabilize the world if severe enough. Your fellow yunkiin beside me failed to see that evidence of our existence was completely erased from the Royal Archives, an order given by our gracious Princess, Vulonro Rel. As a result, we and our task of service were nearly brought to light. Had that happened, this Order would have been disavowed by our divine Princess, hunted down, and slaughtered to the last."

The Master looked down at the mare, "The balance we help preserve would be utterly wasted had your hubris been discovered."

The mare on the chopping block silently stared at the ground.

Looking back up and at the group around her, the Master drew her sword and proclaimed, "For this crime, and the potential consequences thereafter, I hereby strike your name from our Order and sentence you to be dismembered and hacked until dead."

Astral Shadow, somewhat surprised at the lack of head rolling, saw the bound mare's eyes widen but said not a word. She instead bit through her lip as one of her wings was unbound and slowly hacked from her body. Next was the other wing, then came the tail and the fetlocks of her front and back legs. Eventually, she had begun whimpering as tears fell from her eyes and blood oozed from her wounds, gathering in a rapidly forming pool beneath her.

As he watched, Astral could not help but let his mind wander back to the earlier thought of decapitation, and idly thought of where she would go after she had slipped from this world. She was not a unicorn so would not be permitted into Elysium and she had not actually done anything so wicked as to be sent to Tartarus. By all rights, she would be sent adrift in the Void of Night, having lived a relatively short, morally grey life of servitude.

Could there be more? he thought as the mare's first shriek echoed through the cavern. The Master had begun slowly hacking away at the condemned mare's body, every rip of skin and squelch of fluid crystal clear in the nearly silent cavern.

Pondering on his thoughts of life after death, Astral tuned out the cries of pain and resolved to study the Command more closely; he would never be able to serve his Princess with all he had unless he was absolutely certain of her truth.

Astral blinked; the screaming had turned to gurgling. Soon, the gurgling would turn to silence and he might return to his studies.