Lady Rhodonite, Keeper of Order, Sorceress of Secrets, Madam of Crimson, and all the other names and titles that had been granted to her by ponies, griffons, minotaurs, and so many others. None of that seemed to matter at the moment, for all she was at that moment was just a tired and hurt unicorn. She had failed in her duties to protect one of her own, and even though the guilty party was quickly apprehended, the dead would never return.

"Ret," Councilor Sirius said, using the name that was far more familiar to her than all her titles. She knew he only used it in an attempt to comfort her, but in truth, he probably needed the reassurance more than anyone else. Ever since the incident, the ghostly look hadn't once left his face, and even if she told him otherwise, he'd probably keep blaming himself. "Are you sure about this?" He said. "The Elysians won't look kindly on this."

An annoyed grumble echoed from Ret's throat as she took a slow and frustrated breath. "They should've thought twice before making an attempt on my life," she said. "While I might've dismissed it had she come after me herself from the start, using Jet the way she did is something that cannot be forgiven."

Their eyes drifted down the narrow street, where the procession had already started. A unicorn was being led down the road, guided by the heavy chain tied to the thick manacle around her neck. She didn't fight her captors. In fact, she showed little to no sign of life aside from walking onward in silence. Not even when the bystanders made their disgust known did she show any reaction. Dogs and griffins threw rotten fruits and vegetables, llamas and goats spit at her passing, but through it all the minty green pony didn't show even the slightest sign that she cared.

As for the other ponies watching the procession, while many of them looked ready to jump the line and expedite their own version of justice, they only resorted to hurling insults. Even those among them who had never uttered more than a foul word in their entire life had their two bits to say. But among all of them, none were near as outspoken as the pegasi, and rightly so.

"This will mean war," Sirius reminded her. He hadn't once let her forget that fact for last few hours.

"We're already at war," Ret said yet again. She knew what the histories said had happened. How the pegasi had subverted a peace conference and killed one of Elysium's greatest leaders, but she had her doubts. However, none of that really mattered. All that really mattered was what happened here and now.

"Even if I do nothing," Ret continued, sparing a brief glance for the condemned pony, "even if I let her go, there will be no saving her. The denizens of Pandemonium wouldn't stand for it. Even a jail cell wouldn't be enough to keep her safe. It's far better we do this now, while there is still something we might gain from it."

Ret left him standing there with those words. She had a job to do, and everyone needed their Lady Rhodonite to see them through it. "Lord Discord, give me strength," she uttered a silent prayer. She'd been doing that a lot more than usual lately. "And forgive me," she said. "Your servant must once again invoke order to keep something far worse from taking its place." As per usual, her deity never deigned to answer her prayers, but she still felt all the better for having given them.

Lady Rhodonite took a deep breath, steeled the rest of her nerve, and strode into the square. She was still burdened by her grief and her injury, but she couldn't allow others to see her falter. They needed to see the strong and resolute mare they all believed her to be, else the foundations of their fragile lives crumble around them.

The reverence they held for her made itself all too apparent as she approached. The first to see her coming was a griffin, well known for their keen eyesight. Following that was one of the minotaur, their large stature letting them see well over the heads of others. After those two, it came down to pegasi, diamond dogs, various types of goats, llamas, earth ponies, and lastly, the few unicorns who had chosen to turn their backs on their ancestral home. All of them, without exception, parted like the turning of the tide as she approached. She didn't once raise her voice. She didn't once ask them to let her through. She didn't have to. The countless days and sleepless nights she had sacrificed had earned her a place in each and every one of their hearts. Many of them would even die for her, for she had given them something that many of them valued far more than their own lives, something that was in very short supply these days. A sense of hope and purpose.

She continued onward, making her way to the raised stage that now lay clear before her. She didn't hurry, no, she wanted to make sure they all saw her and the state she was in. She wanted them to see the blood that marred her gray coat, that spread out over her chest and onto her robe, to know how close to death she had come, and that she wouldn't let it stop her from standing before them. Many of them gasped in disbelief at her state, while others whispered to their neighbors about how she must truly be immortal, she'd need to stamp that rumor out again, hopefully for good this time.

Others were far more focused on the crimson band she had painted around her left foreleg. It was fresh, it was sticky, and it still smelled like death. Most of the creatures in the city knew what it was for, what it symbolized, and those who didn't were at least wise enough to keep from asking. Fathers bowed, and mothers wept, but the only group that showed complete unity in their response to the mark were the pegasi. Each and every one of them, regardless of age or gender, stood proud and saluted. There were still those among them that had tears in their eyes or otherwise looked like they might collapse from the overwhelming emotion, but even with that sorrow weighing them down, not a single one failed to acknowledge her as she did her best to uphold their customs and traditions.

The only one whose reaction to her presence had been different was that of the minty unicorn. Her face may have been scarred beyond recognition, and her will may have been shattered along with her horn, but a spark of life returned to those eyes when she saw her. Those eyes, eyes that had once gleamed with curiosity and intrigue, now they were filled with nothing but hatred.

She lunged at Ret with everything she was worth. Whether her intention was to gouge her with her jagged mess of a horn, or bite at her throat with teeth that had never been intended for that purpose, neither revenge would be exacted that day, or ever for that matter. The chain, having already been fastened to the stage, snapped taut just before she would've reached her target. That didn't stop her from continuing to try, though.

Through it all, Lady Rhodonite didn't once flinch or show concern that she was in any danger. Instead choosing to quietly study her from behind a furrowed brow. "So," she said, breaching the silence that had fallen over the plaza the moment she took the stage, "this is what you've been reduced to. A snarling, shackled beast."

"You're the beast!" The once Ambassador Mint roared as she pulled against her restraints. Any dignity she may once had being laid as bare as the rest of her body. Her once elegant toga was now shredded and barely held onto her form. The only reason she had been allowed to keep it was so that everyone knew who she represented. "When my mother finds out what you've done, she'll..."

Thwack! Ret's hoof backhanded Mint across the face so hard that she was sent sprawling to the ground. She didn't breathe for half a moment, and when she finally did, it was in a bloody cough along with a discarded tooth.

"I did not give you permission to speak," Ret said coldly. "Nor do you have any rights at all for that matter, except for that which justice allows you."

Not once during the exchange had anyone spoken out, either for or against, what was transpiring. This wasn't the first time they had seen their Lady Rhodonite mete out justice on the plaza, even if this was a particularly special case. They just sat there and watched on as she carried out all the pain and suffering in their stead. If nothing else, she was a mare of the people.

"You lawless pigs!" Mint spat out, her rekindled spirit not yet re-extinguished. "What would you know about justice?! You're just a collection of criminals and outcasts. What would you know about...AHHH!!!"

The tip of Ret's hoof had come down on her back leg, breaking it and bending it in a way it was never meant to bend. Through it all, she didn't once show any hint of sympathy. This was far from the first time she had hurt another pony, and much of what she did was intended to sate the bloodlust of the people. Her people. Those who had suffered at the hooves of this enemy. She looked down her nose at the broken unicorn. "Law is decided by those who uphold it," she said. "Not by invaders claiming divine right and not by you. Elysium may be powerful and control most of the known world, but they do not control this city, and it is this city's law you have broken. Bind her!" She ordered.

Powerful claws pierced the wailing unicorn's skin as the two griffin guards effortlessly hoisted her up and carried her over to a bloodstained pedestal where the manacle around her neck easily slid into a slot that had been built for it. Once that had been done, they went to work securing straps over the rest of Mint's flailing limbs until all that remained of the once proud unicorn was a bloody mess and an extended neck. She continued her fruitless struggle, even after her captors had finished their work and departed, only stopping when a new form climbed the stage.

Heavy hoofsteps reverberated through the platform as a minotaur bigger than any other climbed up the steps. The sack he wore over his head seemed pointless as his chiseled body and shapely horns would have made him recognizable in any crowd. But what had really brought peace to stage, what had really caught Mint's attention to the point she had been shaken into silence, was the massive gilded axe the minotaur carried.

"You have been judged, Ambassador Mint of Elysium," Lady Rhodonite said with steel in her voice, "and found wanting."

It was now that the fear finally showed in the unicorn's eyes. She didn't struggle against her restraints as she had up until now. Now she only sat there transfixed on a weapon that clearly had only one intended purpose.

"This is more than you deserve," Ret said so quietly that only Mint could hear her, "but I would still carry your final words if you choose to give them."

Mint's breath, and no doubt her pulse, started to quicken as her eyes shot back to meet hers. This was also where Ret usually expected them to beg or bargain for their lives. Sometimes even soil themselves, but so far, they had been lucky on that front. However, when she did finally deign to speak, the words that came out of her mouth hadn't quite been what she expected.

"Why?" Mint said, tears flowing down her eyes. "Why are you doing this? Where's your pride as a unicorn? It was just a pegasus..."

It had been the wrong thing to say.

"Just a pegasus..." Ret repeated. "Just a pegasus? Just a pegasus?! It was a child!" She roared. She lunged forward, her magic lashing out at her surroundings. Anyone watching from the front row, especially those who had seen her lose her temper before, took a hasty step back. Even though he stood closer than anyone else, the minotaur was still spared the worst of it by nothing more than just his sheer bulk. As for the condemned unicorn, more power than any unicorn could ever hope to handle raced through every part of her body. Her fur smoked, her teeth clenched, and now everyone was finally graced to the smell of someone losing control of their bowels. "It was a child," Ret repeated again, still not having burned through her rage, "a child, and you stole his whole future from him. And for what? For the sake of upholding your stupid unicorn pride? What good is your pride when you burn the whole world to achieve it?! Grandma Hecate was right about you lot. Heads so far up your own rears, you may as well enjoy a second course."

Ret's fury carried on for a few moments more until an eye darted back out to the crowd. When she saw the fear she had induced into her own city, her own people, it forced her to calm her temper. She pushed the tide of her magic back inside herself until it once again rested safely behind walls she could control.

"Hecate..." Came the pained and stretched voice that no longer sounded like it belonged to another mare, "was your grandmother?"

She would've laughed had the situation been any different, not many knew she was a direct descendant of Hecate the Mad. Even fewer knew that she had also studied under her while she had still been alive.

"I'll let that be your gift to the underworld," she said as she drew in a deep breath. Ret pulled herself up to her full height, a height which had her towering over all but the sturdiest of pony kind and lifted her marked hoof high in the air. At the same time, the minotaur hefted his mighty axe, lifting it so high that even those standing far in the back could clearly see what was happening.

"I," she announced, "Lady Rhodonite, Keeper of the Crimson Order, and Ruler of Pandemonium, the City of Change, hereby sentence you to death. May the gods have mercy on your soul, for you will find none of it here." Ret met Mint's eyes one last time, eyes that would soon have the light of life leave them for good. "When you see the boatman, tell him who sent you, and that more are on the way."

With that final word, Ret dropped her hoof, along with the minotaur's axe.

Author's Note

I know everyone who's been keeping up with me saw this months ago when I leaked it on my blog, but what do you think of it now? Now that you borne witness to the events that led up to this point.