Author's Note
The first two chapters of this story are being revamped, and will be renamed upon completion. (Chapter 1 is already done, 2 has been unpublished while I work on it, and is coming soon.)
Dawn
Silence hangs heavy in the air of Canterlot Castle, as if the very life of the capitol city had been drained. As if the city was waiting with baited breath for something that would never come.
Celestia was used to this silence. She had come to expect it. The pre-dawn hours were always so quiet. The world still slept at this time of day, and it is only now that Celestia can fully appreciate, though never completely understand, the solitude of Luna's nightly post. Her steady hoofsteps break the chilly ice sheet of the quiet as she approaches the highest balcony.
It's a simple act of magic to open the doors, and Celestia steps outside. Her lungs fill with the cool, damp air that always seems to cling to the edge of night. Her routine has been the exact same since Luna's return. She embraces her sister briefly, and then watches as the moon goes down, the stars fade, and the sky turns a vacant grey at Luna's will. Luna then leaves, following the route that Celestia took on to the balcony in reverse.
The next part comes on instinct. The raising of the sun. Celestia bows her head to begin her duty, but it is at that exact moment that she realizes something isn't right. The quiet tapping of tiny hooves was audible beside her. A foal? She moved to look, but as she began to raise her head, a horrible pain flared through her. The pain was not just physical agony, but also magical. It wasn't until she saw her own horn, jagged and bloody at one end, lying on the ground before her, that she fully comprehended what had happened. A cry of anguish escaped her.
"Sister!" Luna's shout echoed in the air as she turned around and rushed to Celestia's aid. Few things could make a pony scream like that. Her sister had clearly been attacked. But by whom? Who would dare attack a princess? How had they slipped past the guards? How...
Her thoughts slowed to the speed of molasses as she saw Celestia's horn, broken on the ground. Not even the strongest earth pony possessed the strength to break a unicorn horn. What was this? She looked around, and as she met the eyes of their assailant, a shiver ran through her.
A foal stood before the princesses. A mere child. It was near impossible to tell if they were a colt or a filly. Their mane was the same brilliant red as the blood now pooled on the ground, as was one of their eyes. But it was their coat that was the most surprising. It was as if the foal had been split directly down the middle. One side, the side with the red eye, was black. The other side was a pure, snowy white, save for the hoof that was now spattered with blood. The foal grinned, revealing impossibly sharp teeth. Sharp enough to strike fear into the heart of the night princess.
That fear was quickly followed by rage. Whoever -- whatever -- this foal was, it had attacked her sister. And that could not go unpunished. She reared up, flaring out her wings and rolling her front hooves in an intimidating display before slamming downwards towards the foal.
The foal, moving faster than should have been possible for someone the age they appeared to be, simply dodged to the side. They braced, and as the princess came down hard enough to crack the tile flooring, they bucked her in the chest. There was a sickening crack, and Luna cried out in pain as she felt several ribs break.
Magic flared from Luna's horn as she blasted a defensive spell, but the creature, whose immense strength made it clear once and for all that they were no mere foal despite their appearance, seemed unbothered. The spell had hit with full force, and it had done nothing.
Terror washed over Luna, and her attacks became more frantic, putting all her physical strength and magical energy behind them, but every attack that hit didn't seem to bother the black and white monster. It returned fire with blows stronger than what any earth pony could inflict, and before long, Luna's whole world was pain. Though her horn hadn't been broken, the thing was doing a lot of damage. And as Luna caught sight of her sister, who had lost consciousness from shock, she felt a kick hit her squarely in the jaw. Her vision turned red, and then black, and she was out before hitting the floor.
~
The black and white foal smiled as he looked at his work. Three of Equestria's four princesses sat before him, bound in chains. The sight of their suffering brought him joy, one of the few emotions he was able to experience. The chains were mechanical in nature, and coiled around the princesses like constrictor snakes, tightening at every movement from the desperate alicorns.
He examined them, one by one. Cadence had by far been the easiest to capture. The killing blow to Shining Armour's head had been enough. Her spirit had shattered with his skull, and she had simply surrendered. She hadn't ceased crying since that moment. Celestia had gone down easily too. Once her horn had been broken, she'd been too overcome with pain to do much. And lastly, Luna. Luna had fought the hardest. And even now, in spite of the chains, in spite of her shattered ribcage and broken forelegs, she attempted to maintain her dignity. She sat up proudly, her expression hard with anger, where her sister and niece sat with empty eyes and tired souls.
Though Luna and Cadence still possessed their magic, there was little they could do against the chains. For all its power, unicorn magic was still weak when used against machinery.Metal on its own was incredibly resistant to magic, but macines were made to do one specific thing, and little could stop them. This was the foal's greatest advantage. His master's greatest advantage.
"You won't get away with this." Luna spoke over Cadence's wails with certainty as she glared into the two-toned eyes of their captor.
"Really?" The foal's voice sounded much older than the body it came from, and was the only thing about him that implied he was male. "Because I think I already have. Do you even know where you are, princess?"
Luna huffed. "Be that as it may, ponies will look for us. We will be found."
He chuckled. "Not anytime soon. Not soon enough."
Celestia, bolstered by her sister's boldness, lifted her head. "You've made a mistake, child."
"And what mistake might that be?"
"One princess remains free of you."
Cadence ceases her bawling for a moment as she's struck by Celestia's words. "Tw-Twilight..."
"That's right. Twilight is still out there. She'll save us!"
The foal's expression dropped. "Oh... oh, how could I have made such a stupid mistake?! Now my plan shall never succeed!" He began to sob.
Celestia smiled, but her smile dropped as the foal's sobbing rapidly turned into maniacal laughter. Suddenly, his impossibly strong hooves slammed into her throat.
"Do you really think I'm a moron?! Do you?! I'm sure you'd love to know Twilight's fate! Observe!"
The foal projected an image onto the wall, and smiled as he heard the trio of princesses gasp in horror.
"No!" Cadence cried. "No, how could you?!"
"How could I? How could I? You're asking the wrong question, girls. The real one is; why didn't I sooner? And you won't get an answer to that," a sickening grin split the foal's face, revealing unnaturally sharp face on the left side of his mouth, "because it's punishment time!"
The princesses glanced at each other nervously as the chains stopped constricting them, as if they had been given an unseen command. The foal left the room, leaving the door open so the princesses could see him rear up, and then slam his front hooves down onto a red button. After that, the door swung closed.
Now free of the chains, Cadence charged at the door and began pounding on it violently with her front hooves.
"Let us out! LET US OUT!" she screamed desperately. "This is treason!" She continued her tantrum, banging on the door, trying to use magic to break the lock, anything she could think of, until the door swung open seemingly on its own. The space outside the door was also blocked with bars.
Celestia joined Cadence in her attempts to break free, and Even Luna, though she couldn't walk, did her best to help with her magic. The princesses tried desperately to break the bars, but it was no use. The metal stood strong against their magic and failing strength.
"Oh stars above..." Celestia's voice was quiet, and fearful as she looked through the bars blocking where the door had been. "Fly."
"What?" Cadence looked at her in confusion.
"Fly! Now!" Celestia took flight in the small room, and Cadence was quick to follow.
Out in the hallway, the foal was standing in front of a large generator. Had that been there before? Neither of the princesses were completely sure.
"Luna, you have to fly!" Celestia cried.
Luna attempted to stand, but her injured forelegs gave out on her, and she simply crumpled to the ground. Though her wings were unharmed, she was unable to jump to take off.
With a cruel smile, the foal put his front hooves on the power switch.
Celestia felt sick to her stomach as she realized what was about to happen. "No... please..."
"Goodbye, princesses!" He pressed down the switch, and the generator sparked to life. Electricity began to crackle through the bars in the walls, floor, and ceiling.
Hovering in the small room, all Celestia and Cadence could do was watch in horror as the electricity hit Luna. She screeched in agony, and began to convulse.
A cry of despair escaped Celestia, and she began to sob heavily.
"No! No... my sister..."
Her tears fizzled and popped as they hit the electrified metal below.
Through the corner of her eye, Cadence could just barely see the foal messing with the generator. Suddenly, electricity began arcing through the open air between the bars. Before she could warn Celestia, a bolt hit her.
Cadence's painful screams tore through the air as she dropped and hit the floor below, twitching and spasming before falling so horribly silent.
Terror, disgust, and sadness filled Celestia's heart as she stared at the unmoving bodies of her family below. She could scarcely stand the sight of it.
And then suddenly, pain seared through her body. Releasing an undignified cry, she began to feel herself falling. Time seemed to slow as she lost all control of her limbs. She didn't notice when she hit the ground, unable to control her writhing legs and wings. As the shock claimed her body, stopping her heart, Celestia finally gave in to the release of death, with a final prayer that somehow, Twilight would be okay.
The castle at the heart of Ponyville always looked incredible in the light of the rising sun, and today was no exception. However, on this particular day, Starlight Glimmer had no time to enjoy it. She was running late, after all. The previous day, Princess Twilight had sent her a note, asking her to meet at sunrise in the castle's library, and now the sun was cresting the horizon, and Starlight was just entering the castle.
She wasn't nearly as obsessed with punctuality as her former teacher was, but still, one was not simply late to a meeting with a princess. Even if said princess was a good friend of yours, and would probably forgive you. Starlight's mane and tail streamed behind her as she sprinted through the familiar halls, her hoofsteps echoing on the tile floor.
She skidded to a stop at the library doors, and quickly entered.
"I'm sorry I'm late! I- oh..." Starlight fumbled over her words as she saw that the library was occupied by several ponies, none of whom were princess Twilight.
"What...?" Starlight frowned in confusion.
"I'm guessing you got a note too?" There was a hint of confrontation in Rainbow Dash's voice.
"Yeah, I did... did everyone here?"
"Looks like," Applejack confirmed. "Everypony here has one."
Starlight frowned and did a headcount. Including her, there were fifteen ponies. She recognized most of the ponies, and some were even close friends of hers, but a few were new faces to her. Every part of her wanted to run to Sunburst, or Trixie, but she hesitated when she heard another set of hoofsteps behind her.
"Huh? What... what's everypony doing here?" Twilight's familiar voice carried a tone of confusion.
"I could ask you the same question." Starlight looked around for the source of the unfamiliar voice, and realized it had come from one of the ponies she didn't know, who was now making her way to the front of the room. She was a tall, serious looking pony, with a plum coloured coat and a short pink mane. The pony had a scar over one eye, and Starlight had to fight back nausea as she realized that the stranger had once had a horn, but it had been broken. This was one of the most painful things that could happen to a unicorn, and Starlight pitied her instantly.
Twilight ran past Starlight as she recognized the stranger. "Tempest! What's going on?"
"You should know, princess. Apparently, you're the one who invited everypony here." She passed Twilight a note that looked nearly identical to the one that Starlight had received.
Twilight looked over the note and frowned, her wings shifting anxiously. "I didn't write this... Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see you all, but I didn't invite anypony here."
The room filled with murmurs of confusion.
"If you didn't ask us here, who did?!"
"Do we have to stay, then?
"What's going on?"
"The notes were fake?"
Starlight felt unease pricking in her stomach as she listened to the others' concerns. One voice began to rise above the others, drowning them out as they paused to listen. The voice wasn't saying anything. Instead, it was laughing. It sounded like a foal, but in the wrong way. It reminded Starlight of the laughter of cruel young ponies tearing off the wings of a dragonfly.
The doors to the library slammed shut behind her, and the sound made Starlight whirl around with a yelp. Things were happening so very fast. Much too fast for her liking. It made her anxious. The air was still full of laughter, but the source of it couldn't be pinpointed, or even guessed at. Everypony was making noise. Everypony was scared. Nothing made sense. None of it made sense.
Nobody noticed the sleeping spell that had been cast throughout the room, until ponies began to drop one by one. Starlight's vision began to blur. She stumbled as the joints in her legs turned to jelly. Her rear legs gave out first, and she landed hard on her rump, the dull pain from her landing going barely noticed. Her head was too hazy now. She barely had enough conscious power to fold her forelegs before they gave out too, and carefully lower her head to the floor. It was so incredibly difficult to keep her eyes open, and her head swam as she struggled to stay awake for just a little longer, to fight the spell even as the ponies around her succumbed to it.
One pony stood out to her, though. One that hadn't been included in her head count. Standing in front of the library doors, laughing, was a black and white foal. The foal seemed unaffected by the sleeping spell, but he couldn't possibly have been the one to cast it. He was an earth pony. But then who had?
Starlight whimpered quietly. Trying to think only made her head spin more, and she wasn't sure how much fight was left in her. It seemed like none of the others were even still awake. She was the last one.
The black and white foal had noticed this as well, and calmly cantered over to her. When he put his hoof on the back of Starlight's head, another hazy thought bubbled in her mind. He was cold. Living ponies were not supposed to be that cold. He was too strong for a mere foal as well, and something inside Starlight stirred with a deep feeling of disturbance. Everything about this foal was just as unusual as everything else that had happened today. It was fitting in a way.
The foal leaned down, his muzzle just barely brushing against Starlight's ear. She couldn't feel the breath that should have been coming from his nostrils. Whatever this foal was, it wasn't natural.
"Nighty night," he whispered, then drew back and slammed his hoof into the back of Starlight's head. The very last thing Starlight saw before losing consciousness was the two-toned foal walking away, her own blood staining his white front hoof.
