A Jester's Wayby tazdarkstripe13ChaptersPrologueChapter 1 - A ThreatChapter 2 - BetrayalChater 3 - The TruthEpilogue - A ChoicePrologueThe Great War Prologue Taz Darkstripe was flying over the ocean, enjoying the smell of the salty sea and the wind in his mane. He was going to Equestria for a fwe days to visit his nieces. He hadn't been there in almost 50 years and he was looking forward to seeing what had changed. His wings were getting a little tired, so he headed for a small fishing boat that was a little bit ahead. He landed and folded his wings. "Sorry, good sir," Taz said to the startled fisherman. "Would it be okay if I rested here a while? I'm going to Equestria to see my nieces, and my wings are getting awfully tired." "Well, I suppose so..." The fisherman looks the newcomer over. He's an alicorn, very tall and very muscular. His body is laced with countless scars and he has bat wings. But, the strangest thing is that he has 2 extra horns on his head... well, technically 4, but they're twisted around each other, so it looks like 2 extra horns. "What lands do you hail from?" The fisherman asks, drawing in a net of fish. "I come from the cold north," Taz replies. "It's been 50 years since I felt the warmth of Equestria and I can't wait!" Taz breathed in and sighed. "Ah, i love the smell of the sea in my nostrils! Nothing beats it, except a good game of chess with my assistant, but I always loved a good game of chess." The two ponies stayed like that for a while, one of them saying something every once in a while, but staying silent most of the time. Eventually, Taz flexes his wings. "Well, good sir, it has been an honour being aboard your vessel, but I'm afraid it my time to leave," He tosses the man a bag of bits. "For your generous hospitality." He then flies up and resumes his flight south. He could see land on the horizon and if his calculations were correct, that was Equestria. He flapped his wings harder, eager to see his nieces again after so long. He lands in Canterlot. It hasn't changed since the last time he was here, except one or two new ponies. he makes his way up to the castle and gets stopped by the guards. "Princess Celestia is expecting me," He tells them. "What's your name?" one of them asks. He's white, with a blue mane and cobalt blue eyes. His cutie marl is a shield and stars. "Taz Darkstripe," Taz replies to him. The blue-maned stallion whispers to one of his comrades and the other guard scurries off. "We'll need to confirm that with her highness," The stallion tells Taz. "You must be Shining Armour, am I correct?" Taz asks him. The stallion nods. "How's Candence? I' m so happy everything worked out for you both. I wish I could have been there, but there was a brytal war going on back home." The stallion just ignores Taz, so he sighs. The other guard scurries back and whispers into Shining Armour's ear. "You're free to pass," He tells Taz. "Thank you, Shining," Taz says, then proceeds to make his way to the throne room. When he gets in, it's empty except for Celestia, who runs towards Taz with her head down when he closes the door. She then jumps at him, and he catches her and spins her around, the both of them laughing. "I've missed you so much, uncle!" Celestia says after he puts her down. "I've missed you, too, Celest," Taz says, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry i couldn't be there for the wedding," "It's alright, uncle. I understand there was the war." Celestia looks down. "What's wrong, Celest?" Taz asks, lifting her head so their eyes meet. "Uncle..." She begins to sob. "There's been an attack... Luna's been hurt. Badly," She then breaks down and throws herself at Taz, crying into his shoulder. He hugs her and strokes her mane, muttering soothing words. B ut, inside, he's just as worried as she is. Why would somepony attack Luny? And who in all the kingdoms was it? Chapter 1 - A ThreatChapter 1 A Threat Taz Darkstripe walks around Canterlot, looking for something to do until nightfall. He's worried for Luny. From what Celestia said, she'd been brutally beaten, 2 of her legs were broken and she had multiple fractures. Taz was worried, yet angry at the same time. He'd raised those fillies to be who they are today after their parents had been killed. He stops when he thinks of Lightning. Taz closes his eyes and a single tear rolls down his cheek. For most of Lightning's life, they'd been best friends. All they had was each other, until Lightning found his special somepony. The three of them were so happy together, then the two fillies were born, and life was better than ever. But, a week after Luny was born, somepony decided we were too happy. His brother and sister were killed in a brutal fashion, and Taz was forced to raise the two fillies himself. Taz sits down on a bench and thinks about all the good times about raising Celestia and Luna. The first time Luna raised the moon, the first time Celestia raised the sun. But then there was Taz's guilt. He had waited until they were both 200 years old to tell them about their parent's death. They had hated him for a week after that, and he expected them to hate him forever, but the two fillies came into his room one night, crying. They explained how sorry they were and from that day forward, Taz loved them with all of his heart. they were his only living family, after all. Taz waits on that bench for hours, watching the sun. Finally, it goes down, and Celestia raises the moon. At that time, Taz takes flight and flies for his other niece's castle. He approaches her castle and just charges past the guards. He wants to see his niece, and he didn't care who he had to hurt. He barges into Luna's room and sees her lying in her bed, bandaged and weak. Taz walks up to the edge of the bed and takes her hoof in his. "Uncle... you came..." Luny whispers, weak. "Of course I came," Taz replies softly. "I love you." Luna smiles at that. "Who did this?" Taz asks her. Luna coughs violently, and blood appears on the tissue she was using. "It was... things..." Luna croaks. "I'd never seen them before... they were big... and strong... and fast..." Luna cough some more. "WHERE THE BUCK ARE THE DOCTORS!?" Taz shouts out the door. A unicorn and a Pegasus run down the corridor and go to Luna, where they give her some medicine and run some tests. They then walk up to Taz. "We're sorry, sir, but from what we can tell, she's too weak to continue much further," The unicorn tells him. "What?" Taz asks. "Are you telling me that Luna will die?" The Pegasus looks at the unicorn, then slowly nods. Taz just stands there, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. The two ponies leave the room and a tear rolls down Taz's cheek. He goes back over to Luna's bed. "What did they say?" She asks, the medicine helping with her speech. Taz looks at her and considers telling her a lie, but then he remembers what happened last time he kept quiet. Tear run down his cheeks and he sobs. "They said... they said..." Taz breaks down, putting his head in his hooves. Luna lays a hoof on his back. She understands. "I'm so sorry," Taz sobs. "I'm so sorry..." "It's not your fault, uncle," Luna says. "We all have to die, there is no avoiding it," "But you're too young!" Taz tells her. "You're my little Luny..." Taz sobs again. How did this happen? Everything was going so well... and then this. Taz stays beside Luna's bed for as long as he could, and that was long enough. On the fifth day, Luna smiled at him. "I love you..." She said, then sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't wake up. taz shook her, called her name, splashed cold water on her face, but her eyes stayed closed. Eventually, Taz cried again. His ears splattered on the floor, making a big puddle. His little Luny... was gone. Taz stayed there for a week afterwards, only leaving the room for the funeral. He sat in the same chair he sat in when he was comforting her, never moving. Not even blinking. The sadness inside him had been replaced with anger. Whoever had done this would pay. Taz would make sure of it. He looked up at the moon outside, and the sadness overwhelmed him again. He sat there, sobbing, until Celestia walked in. "Uncle," She said. Taz looked at her, eyes red and puffy. Celestia walked over to him and hugged him. Taz held her tight. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He sobbed. "I should have been here..." "Uncle, it's not your fault," Celestia said. "You had a war to fight, and you never knew this would happen," Taz looks down at her. "Do you know who did this?" Taz asks, tears still running down his face. Celestia nods. "They are a race from the south," She tells him. "They spend their whole lives training to kill. What they did to Luna was not their usual style. They hate love and friendship, so they seek to destroy it." Celestia looks down. "They call themselves 'The Jesters'." Taz looks at his hooves as she says that, and when she's done, he looks up at her. "Please, double the security on yourself," He pleads. "I couldn't bear to lose both of you. You're all I have le-" He's cut short by something on Celestia's head. On her forehead, a stick has grown. On the end, there's a feather, and a small piece of paper. A small line of blood comes from the end of the stick that is in Celestia's forehead. Too late, Taz realises what has happened. "NOOOOO!" He screams, and rushes forward to catch Celestia before she hits the ground. He stroke her face frantically, tears starting again. "Please, please, stay with me now, please, come on, Celest, don't die, please, please..." Finally, he realizes he's too late. He sobs and hugs Celestia's head, sobbing into her mane. He grits his teeth and groans angrily. Guards rush in and see Taz hugging Celestia's head, sobbing and rocking on the spot. The guards take off their helmets and hold them over their hearts, lowering their heads as they do so. Taz looks up a few minutes later to see them all there. He then unfurls his wings and flies out the window, still sobbing. He goes to the Everfree Forest, where he yells his anger and sadness out while kicking trees down. He finally sits and leans against a tree, sobbing with his head in his hooves. He takes a picture out of his saddlebag. It's a very faded picture, but he can still see it just fine. It's of him, Lightning and Lucy, with Celestia and Luna sitting at their hooves. They're all smiling and happy, but there's a small splatter of blood coming from the right side. Taz had found this the same day he found Lightning and Lucy lying in a poll of blood. He had taken this picture and kept it all these years. But, now... this picture was all he had left of his family. He was all alone... all alone... Taz cries again. "I'm sorry, Lightning, I'm so sorry..." He sobs, staring up at the sky. It begins raining, but Taz doesn't care. He was alone... the rain didn't matter. He'd never be happy again. Suddenly, somepony takes a piece of rope and wraps it around Taz's throat, tying it to the tree. Taz chokes and tries to loosen the rope, but then his arms and legs are tied to the tree too. Then, a masked pony kneels down in front of him. "Taz Darkstripe," He says in a very cheery voice, but his eyes are filled with madness. "We've had our eyes on you, oh yes we have! Your two little girls were just the start, yes it was, and we are going to annihilate love and friendship, oh, yes we will!" The pony laughs and rolls on the floor. "Oh, it's so great! Nothing can stop us now! We will shroud the world in hate and sadness! And we've already got a head start with you!" The stallion giggles and runs off, others following. Taz grunts and struggles with the ropes, but they're tied good, and they're strong. Taz takes a deep breath in and screams. Just screams at the top of his lungs, hoping somepony will hear him. After a minute or so, the scream dies down to more sobs. Eventually, a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane peeks her head around a tree. She sees Taz crying and goes over to him. "Um, are you okay, sir?" She asks in a soft voice. Taz looks up at her with red eyes. "No, not alright." Taz tries to hold out a hoof, but is stopped by the ropes. "Oh, let me help you," The yellow Pegasus says. She goes behind the tree and unties the knots. Taz stands up shakily, and the yellow mare backs away when she sees his size. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, um, I think I have... something... to do..." she begins to back away. "Please, wait," Taz pleads. His voice is filled with sadness and sorrow. The yellow Pegasus stops, then slowly walks forward. She stay a distance away, though. "Um, what's wrong?" She asks, her voice still the softest he'd heard. "My nieces... dead... all alone..." Taz breaks down again when he remembers his only two family he had left. The Pegasus just stands there, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry, sir, I...I..." She begins to sob, too. Just watching Taz cry makes her sad. Eventually, they're both sobbing on the forest floor when a purple unicorn mare walks around a tree. "I heard a scream, what's going o-" She stops when she sees the two ponies crying. "Oh, Fluttershy, did you do something to this stallion?" When none of them answer, the purple mare walks over to Taz. "Excuse me, sir, but do you have anywhere to spend the night?" When she asks that, Taz cries again, that word reminding him of the first time Luna raised the moon. The purple mare sighs. "Alright, come on." She says. When Taz doesn't move, the purple unicorn uses her magic to create a small shelter over Taz's head. "If you ever need to talk, just as for Twilight Sparkle," she tells Taz, then walks away. Taz looks up and watches her go. Did she just... help him? Why? Taz decides not to think about it right now. He hadn't slept since Luna died, and he was exhausted. His eyes closed and he fell into a nightmare-filled sleep. Chapter 2 - BetrayalChapter 2 Betrayal Taz wakes up thrashing and sweating. He knocks down the shelter the purple unicorn had made and it comes crashing down on him. He kicks it off and stands, rubbing his head. Then, he remembers the events of the past week. Taz sighs and feels like he's going to cry again, but the tears don't come. Eventually, he walks through the forest. he looks up at the moon, still up because there's nopony to lower it. Taz's horn glows slightly and the moon goes down, to be replaced by the sun. He continues to walk until he comes to the edge of the forest. It stops almost instantly, the dark mud ground replaced with bright green grass. Taz walks down the gravel path and comes to a small town, the sign saying "Welcome to Ponyville!" Taz walks into the town and looks at everypony. They're all wearing black, heads down and some crying. They've heard about the death of Celestia and Luna. He sighs and walks up to an earth pony who's wearing a black, pinstriped suit and has a scruffy-looking mane. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Twilight Sparkle?" Taz asks the stallion. The stallion looks at Taz. "'Ello, friend. She's usually at her library, just 'round the corner," The stallion tells him. He then lowers his head again and a white stallion walks up to him. This stallion has purple sunglasses, and a black and white that's just as scruffy as the suited stallions. "Thank you<" Taz says, then walks in the direction the stallion indicated. He comes to a very large tree, but it has doors and windows in it. Taz knocks on the door and waits. the door opens and a baby dragon answers. He's purple, with green spines and a yellow underside. "Yes?" he asks, sadness obvious in his voice. "Could I speak to Twilight Sparkle, please?" Taz asks. "Uh, yeah, sure," The baby dragon opens the door for Taz and closes it behind him. he then goes upstairs. taz takes a seat on the couch and looks around. It's definitely a library. All the walls are bookcases, and there's a bust of a pony's head on the table. Moments later, the dragon comes back down with the same purple unicorn from last night. When she sees him, she nods. "Who are you?" She asks when she sits down. She's looking at Taz curiously. "My name is Taz Darkstripe," Taz tells her, then proceeds to tell her his story from the birth of Princess Luna. As he's talking, Twilight listens intently and nods every now and then. Once he's done, Twilight lays a hoof on his shoulder. "Princess Celestia was close to me, too," She says sadly. "She was my mentor... she taught me everything I know. But I can't hope to relate to the pain you are feeling right now. I just wish there was something I could do to help," "There is something you can do," Taz tells her. "What do you know about 'The Jesters'?" A few hours later, Twilight and Taz were on a pile of every book in the library, and they had found out everything they could about The Jesters. "Why do you want to know about them, anyway?" Twilight asks Taz as she puts a the last book in the pile. Taz sighs. "Do you really want to know?" Taz asks. Twilight nods. "I want to kill them all." Taz tells her bluntly. "They took everything I had ever loved in this life, and I plan to make them suffer. I want to wipe out every. Last. One of them." "Taz, death isn't the answer," Twilight says softly. "Killing never makes anything better, no matter the cause." "But if I don't kill them all, I'll end up going insane," Taz tells her. "I don't care if I have to go by myself, I will kill them all." "But you're our ruler now!" Twilight tells him. "You are the only family of the princesses, so you must lead us!" As she say this, Taz's eyes widen. "No, no, I couldn't rule. I'm not that kind of pony..>" Taz looks at Twilight and sighs. "Fine. But be warned; I will not do a good job. And first of all, I'm going to gather the army and march against The Jesters." "No!" Twilight says, but she know it's too late. One week later, Taz is sitting in Canterlot Castle, looking over maps and planning strategies. The same stallion he'd seen on his first day in Ponyville walks in, wearing a brown pinstriped suit. "Sir, we've got the creatures ready to be released. Are you sure about this?" the brown stallion looks at Taz with concern in his eyes. "Good," Taz replies. "And yes, I am sure about this. Those ponies killed my only family. I want vengeance." The stallion walks over and looks at the maps. "I would suggest releasing them here," He says, pointing to a point on the map. "That way, the army can attack from the front and the creatures can block their retreat." Taz looks at where the stallion's pointing and nods. "Good thinking, Doctor," He says. "Get them in position. We haven't got much time." Doctor Whooves salutes, then rushes out of the door. Taz studies the map some more, then moves a coloured piece of metal into the place Doctor was pointing and moves a different piece to another position. "You will pay," Taz mutters. "I will not rest until every last one of you is dead." After he moves the last piece, Taz walks back to his own room. He hesitates just before he opens the door, hoping against hope that Celestia and Luna will jump at him when he opens it. He turns the handle and pushes the door open, a big smile on his face, but it collapses when he sees the room is empty. Taz goes over to the bed and lies down, thinking about all the times he'd been unfair to those two... all the times he regretted... He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Taz wakes up during the night, and uses his magic to raise the sun. As he does that, his heart cracks a little more. Celestia used to do this at this time. She would raise the sun every day, and Luna would raise the moon. Just thinking about that makes Taz's heart ache, but then he remembers who killed them and the sadness is replaced with hate and anger. Taz grabs his scyxe and dons his armour. He then goes downstairs and is greeted by the army - his army - all ready to fight. Doctor Whooves walks up to him and salutes. "Sir, the troops are ready, but I still think this is a mistake. These are living ponies we're going t be slaughtering, isn't there another way?" Taz shakes his head. "Until I kill every last one of those jokers, I don't think I'll be a le to live with myself. If you don't feel like killing them, join them." Taz explains, and Doctor Whooves hesitates before answering. "Okay. But I don't want to have any part in the killing," He says. Taz just nods. "You do what you want." With that, Taz begins walking out of Canterlot, the army following him. War was something he'd been in more times than he cared to admit, but now he was fighting ponies who were obviously insane, yet so skilled they can kill 2 princesses without any casualties. But he doesn't think of that. This was a time for marching, and that was just what he was doing. They march for 2 weeks, not stopping except for breaks and to sleep. After that time, they come to The Border. It's just a large wall, and the gatekeeper's said to be as old as Equestria itself. Taz walks up to said gatekeeper. "Gatekeeper, we request passage through the border," He says. The Gatekeeper looks up. "And what is your reason?" He asks. He's still pretty young. "War," Taz replies. "A threat has been made against Equestria and I wish to quench it before it is fulfilled." The Gatekeeper nods, then lifts the gate. The army marches through and is met with a wasteland. Taz continues walking, acting as if this was just everyday scenery. Suddenly, the ground erupts around them, and ponies jump from the mud and begins slaughtering the army. One goes for Taz, but he unsheathes his small dagger and buries it into the pony's eye. he then unsheathes his scyxe and lays into the attackers, gritting his teeth and killing as many as he can. Even when they're being killed, the ponies laugh and giggle, insanity in their eyes and a smile on their lips. Taz kills them all by himself, the soldier still shocked at what happened. When they're all dead, Taz is standing alone in the middle of a ring of Jesters, covered in blood and breathing hard. "You. IDIOTS!" He shouts at the army. "You get attacked and you just stand there doing nothing?" The troops look down, ashamed. But one walks forward. he's got a smile on his face. As he walks forward, most of the army look up and also walk forward. The one in front of Taz looks into his eyes and giggles. Taz raises his scyxe to split him in half, but is hit over the back of the head and falls to the ground, unconscious. Chater 3 - The TruthChapter 3 The Truth The sound of laughter and music is loud and the smell of death is in the air. Taz opens his eyes to find himself hog-tied on a table. The table also has meat on it, and Taz isn't sure he wants to know where it came from. The music's coming from a stage, where a group of Jesters are playing instruments shaped like bones. Again, he wasn't sure he wanted to know where they came from. One of the Jesters notices that Taz is awake. "Everypony!" He calls happily. The music stops. "Our guest of honour is awake!" Everypony cheers. "LET ME GO, YOU FREAKS!" Taz yells, struggling against the ropes. The head Jester stands from his chair, which is made of dirt. "Now, normally we wouldn't allow such language," He says with a giggle. He gestures to the instruments and the meat on the table. "But... you are our special guest, so we will allow it. Now, do you have any questions about our humble society?" As he says that, the whole room erupts with laughter. "Yeah. Would it be too much bother to let me go?" Taz asks sarcastically. The head Jester claps his hooves, and strangely enough, a group of them untie Taz and place him on the ground. Taz is shocked. "Why did you do that?" He asks suspiciously. "You are out guest of honour, so we want you to feel like it!" The head Jester guffaws. He then takes a large bit of meat and takes a bit out of it. "Mmmm... Lunar meat was always my favourite," He says, and smiles at Taz. "Would you care for some?" Taz hears what he says, and the anger builds up inside him. He struggles to keep it in check, but seeing that clown eat his niece - his daughter - is too much. Taz screams, unsheathes his scyxe and blacks out. While he's unconscious, Taz enters Blind Rage. Blind Rage is when a pony becomes so angry, that the rage fills them completely, taking over all emotions and making the pony black out. It makes said pony much stronger and faster, and also makes them very resilient. Blind Rage makes the pony practically invincible. But, it comes at a price. The pony no longer knows the difference between friend and foe. He or she will kill everypony who is in the immediate vicinity, and kill as many ponies as possible before the rage runs out. In Taz's case, he has so much anger built up, that he kills every single Jester in the building. Even with a monster chasing and killing them all, the Jesters didn't stop laughing and giggling. When Taz finally regained consciousness, he was outside, his scyxe just swinging and cutting the head off a Jester. He stops after that kill and looks at himself. He's caked in dried blood, although some of it's wet. He looks at his surroundings. He's in a forest, one he hasn't seen before. Taz walks around a bit, looking for a path or a familiar sight, but there's just trees, trees and more trees, as far as the eye can see. Taz sits on a rock and sighs. His scyxe was very bloodstained, but the metal was so smooth that he just wipes it off easily. Taz takes this chance to study the scyxe. He's had it ever since he began smithing over three thousand years ago, and never once has it chipped, bent or cracked. Taz smiles as he thinks of the first time he used it to cut down a tree, but then the smile drops when he remembers defending his brother. Lightning was always the brains of the two, and Taz was the muscle, due to him doing all the chores around the house. Lightning got picked on a lot just for being clever, and Taz took a lot of beatings defending the one pony he was friends with. The bullying had gotten worse when their parents died, but Taz toughened over the years, and soon enough it was him giving out the beatings. Taz got in trouble a lot when he was younger, but he took the tongue-lashings and waited until he could see his brother again. Then, Lightning met his special somepony, and Taz loved her as a sister. When the 2 fillies were born, life was better than it could have ever been for Taz. But then a group of assassins brutally killed both his brother and his new sister, and he took Celestia and Luna into his care. Now, Taz sheathes his scyxe and continues trying to find out where he is. "Oh, it looks like the guest has calmed down!" A cheery voice says from behind a tree. Taz unsheathes his scyxe and chops the tree down. "Over heeere!" the voice calls from behind another tree. Ta cuts that tree down, too. "Oh, you're getting warmer!" Taz cuts down tree after tree, but doesn't find anypony. Finally, he stops and thinks. "You're so warm!" the voice says, and Taz finally realises it's HIM that's talking! But it can't be him, he doesn't sound like that! "Oh, you do now!" He says. Taz closes his eyes and focuses. He'd dealt with something like this before, and he knew what to do. He slowed his frantic breathing down to a steady pace and reaches deep within his own mind. He senses a disturbance, and he mentally poke it. When he does, his mouth flies wide open and a large stream of smoke flies out of his mouth. Taz coughs violently, and when he recovers, he hears somepony laughing their head off. It's a very high-pitched laugh. Taz looks up and sees a... thing. It's got 4 legs, but it's standing on its hind legs. On the ends of its front hooves, which are flat, there are 5 tentacle-thingies. And the face is flat. "Oh, that was the most fun I've ever had!" The thing says. It's wearing a motley outfit with a jester hat. "Who are you?" Taz asks, unsheathing his scyxe again. "Oh, Taz, you really must lighten up! I'm-heehee-I'm..." The jester drops to the floor laughing. "I'M YOU!" He finally shouts. Taz's eyes widen and he crops his scyxe. "You... you've been inside me my whole life?" He asks, shocked and surprised. "Yes!" The jester chokes. "You... first... Jester..." The jester chokes on his own words. "No... no..." Taz drops to his knees. He was responsible for the deaths of his nieces... for the deaths of his comrades... "Yes, it's... true... you... killed..." The jester rolls on the ground. Taz is staring at the ground, too sad and dishonoured for tears. "I killed them all..." Taz looks up and sees Luna and Celestia, smiling down at him. He blinks, and they're gone. Taz looks at the jester rolling on the ground. He picks up his scyxe, walks over to him and brings the scyxe down on the jester's neck. The blade passes right through, and the jester continues laughing, completely oblivious to the attack. Taz stays silent, just reaches out to the jester's mind, finding a jumble of things, but most prominent is... Taz's life. Suddenly it strikes him. This jester WAS him. They were joined, and Taz was the organic body. He looks at the scyxe, then reaches out to Doctor Whooves's mind. Doctor had been hiding during the battle and had followed Taz all the way. "Go back to Canterlot," Taz sends t him. "Tell them... tell them we all died." Taz feels worry coming from the Doctor's mind. "It's the only way. I know you'll understand." Then, Taz severs the telepathic connection and places the axe blade of his weapon against his own throat. The jester looks up and sees what he's doing. He stops laughing. "Are you crazy, you'll kill both of us!" The jester yell at Taz, jumping to grab the weapon, but it's too late. Taz draws the sharpest blade in Equestria and beyond across his own throat, and the jester screeches, evaporating before his eyes. Blood gushes from the slit in Taz's throat, and he collapses, the world turning black. Epilogue - A ChoiceEpilogue A Choice Taz wakes up in a warm bed. He rubs his eyes and feels his throat, but it's flawless. He gets up and goes over to a full-sized mirror. All his scars are done. He's just plain black, and his wings are feathered, and he's only got one horn! Taz feels his body, making sure it's all real. "Don't be worried, brother," A voice says from behind Taz. He freezes when he hears it. That voice... he hasn't heard it in over 2,000 years... it couldn't be... taz whirls around and finds a white stallion. He has a yellow mane streaked with black, and his cutie mark is a lightning bolt. "Lightning..." Taz whispers, shocked at what he's seeing. As he's taking it all in, Celestia, Luna and Lucy came into the room also, all in perfect health. "Brother, welcome home," Lightning says with a small smile. Taz is still shocked. "But... it can't be... you're all..." Taz tries to talk, but he's just so shocked at what he's seeing. "You're dead too, now," Lucy tells him with a smile. "And now, you have a choice." Taz looks at her and gives her a puzzled look. "A choice?" He asks. "Yes," Celestia says. "A very important choice." "You can stay with us," Luna says. "Or you can go back to the real world and rule Equestria." Taz looks at them all. He could stay with the ponies he loved... but, what about the Jesters? he still had to stop them! "The Jesters all died when you destroyed the original," Lightning says. Taz sits on the bed and puts his head in his hooves. "Can I have some time alone, please?" He asks everypony politely. Lightning nods and ushers everypony out. Once they're gone, Taz thinks about his choices. He could stay here, for all eternity, with the ponies he'd loved his whole life, or he could go back to Equestria and rule... which included protecting the land. But, there was no more royalty in Equestria, except Cadence, but she had Shining Armour to take care of. On the other hoof, he'd be so lonely in his live body... here, he had his whole family for all of eternity. Taz thought about his options for a long time before he finally came to a decision. He called the others back in. "I've made my decision," He tells them. "I've decided to go," When he says that, Lightning smiles. "I knew you would choose that, brother," He says. "I will do all I can to help you from this side." Taz looks at each of them in turn, and tears roll down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I just don't belong here," He sobs. Lucy smiles and sits beside him. "Your true time will come," She reassures him. "And when it does, we'll all be here for you." "But, one more thing," Taz says. "Is it possible for Celestia and Luna t come back with me?" He asks. Lightning looks at Lucy. "It is, but that's up to them to decide," Lightning says. He turns to the two princesses. "Uncle, we've thought about this a lot, too," Celestia says. "And we've decided to come back with you," Luna says. Taz smiles and hugs them both. "Thank you," He says. He then turns to Lucy and hugs her. "Be strong, " She tells Taz. Then, he turns to Lightning. He grabs Lightning and hugs him tight. "Goodbye, brother," Taz sobs. "Until next time," Lightning replies. He steps back and Luna and Celestia walk to either side of Taz. "Are you ready?" Lightning asks. Taz nods. Lightning's horn begins to glow. "I love you," He says, a tear rolling down his cheek. Then, Taz gets sucked through a tiny tube and lands in his bedroom at Canterlot. He looks around and finds Celestia and Luna sitting beside him, shaking their heads. He hugs them both tight, tears streaming down his face again. It's been two weeks since the Jester incident, and the three alicorns are resuming their normal lives, except Taz. He's decided to stay in Canterlot and watch over his nieces. He doesn't want to leave them again for fear that something like this will happen again. Every dawn, the three of them gather and discuss their dreams or what happened that night. Every dusk, they gather to discuss their dreams or what happened that day. Life is peaceful and good in the land of Equestria, and Taz is with the ones he loves. Every once in a while, he gets out that old picture of the five of them, and he knows that eventually, they'll all be reunited again. This fanfic was an original idea from the mind of Taran Brodie, age 16 and residing in Aberdeen, Scotland. If you enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate some feedback.
PrologueThe Great War Prologue Taz Darkstripe was flying over the ocean, enjoying the smell of the salty sea and the wind in his mane. He was going to Equestria for a fwe days to visit his nieces. He hadn't been there in almost 50 years and he was looking forward to seeing what had changed. His wings were getting a little tired, so he headed for a small fishing boat that was a little bit ahead. He landed and folded his wings. "Sorry, good sir," Taz said to the startled fisherman. "Would it be okay if I rested here a while? I'm going to Equestria to see my nieces, and my wings are getting awfully tired." "Well, I suppose so..." The fisherman looks the newcomer over. He's an alicorn, very tall and very muscular. His body is laced with countless scars and he has bat wings. But, the strangest thing is that he has 2 extra horns on his head... well, technically 4, but they're twisted around each other, so it looks like 2 extra horns. "What lands do you hail from?" The fisherman asks, drawing in a net of fish. "I come from the cold north," Taz replies. "It's been 50 years since I felt the warmth of Equestria and I can't wait!" Taz breathed in and sighed. "Ah, i love the smell of the sea in my nostrils! Nothing beats it, except a good game of chess with my assistant, but I always loved a good game of chess." The two ponies stayed like that for a while, one of them saying something every once in a while, but staying silent most of the time. Eventually, Taz flexes his wings. "Well, good sir, it has been an honour being aboard your vessel, but I'm afraid it my time to leave," He tosses the man a bag of bits. "For your generous hospitality." He then flies up and resumes his flight south. He could see land on the horizon and if his calculations were correct, that was Equestria. He flapped his wings harder, eager to see his nieces again after so long. He lands in Canterlot. It hasn't changed since the last time he was here, except one or two new ponies. he makes his way up to the castle and gets stopped by the guards. "Princess Celestia is expecting me," He tells them. "What's your name?" one of them asks. He's white, with a blue mane and cobalt blue eyes. His cutie marl is a shield and stars. "Taz Darkstripe," Taz replies to him. The blue-maned stallion whispers to one of his comrades and the other guard scurries off. "We'll need to confirm that with her highness," The stallion tells Taz. "You must be Shining Armour, am I correct?" Taz asks him. The stallion nods. "How's Candence? I' m so happy everything worked out for you both. I wish I could have been there, but there was a brytal war going on back home." The stallion just ignores Taz, so he sighs. The other guard scurries back and whispers into Shining Armour's ear. "You're free to pass," He tells Taz. "Thank you, Shining," Taz says, then proceeds to make his way to the throne room. When he gets in, it's empty except for Celestia, who runs towards Taz with her head down when he closes the door. She then jumps at him, and he catches her and spins her around, the both of them laughing. "I've missed you so much, uncle!" Celestia says after he puts her down. "I've missed you, too, Celest," Taz says, kissing her forehead. "I'm sorry i couldn't be there for the wedding," "It's alright, uncle. I understand there was the war." Celestia looks down. "What's wrong, Celest?" Taz asks, lifting her head so their eyes meet. "Uncle..." She begins to sob. "There's been an attack... Luna's been hurt. Badly," She then breaks down and throws herself at Taz, crying into his shoulder. He hugs her and strokes her mane, muttering soothing words. B ut, inside, he's just as worried as she is. Why would somepony attack Luny? And who in all the kingdoms was it?
Chapter 1 - A ThreatChapter 1 A Threat Taz Darkstripe walks around Canterlot, looking for something to do until nightfall. He's worried for Luny. From what Celestia said, she'd been brutally beaten, 2 of her legs were broken and she had multiple fractures. Taz was worried, yet angry at the same time. He'd raised those fillies to be who they are today after their parents had been killed. He stops when he thinks of Lightning. Taz closes his eyes and a single tear rolls down his cheek. For most of Lightning's life, they'd been best friends. All they had was each other, until Lightning found his special somepony. The three of them were so happy together, then the two fillies were born, and life was better than ever. But, a week after Luny was born, somepony decided we were too happy. His brother and sister were killed in a brutal fashion, and Taz was forced to raise the two fillies himself. Taz sits down on a bench and thinks about all the good times about raising Celestia and Luna. The first time Luna raised the moon, the first time Celestia raised the sun. But then there was Taz's guilt. He had waited until they were both 200 years old to tell them about their parent's death. They had hated him for a week after that, and he expected them to hate him forever, but the two fillies came into his room one night, crying. They explained how sorry they were and from that day forward, Taz loved them with all of his heart. they were his only living family, after all. Taz waits on that bench for hours, watching the sun. Finally, it goes down, and Celestia raises the moon. At that time, Taz takes flight and flies for his other niece's castle. He approaches her castle and just charges past the guards. He wants to see his niece, and he didn't care who he had to hurt. He barges into Luna's room and sees her lying in her bed, bandaged and weak. Taz walks up to the edge of the bed and takes her hoof in his. "Uncle... you came..." Luny whispers, weak. "Of course I came," Taz replies softly. "I love you." Luna smiles at that. "Who did this?" Taz asks her. Luna coughs violently, and blood appears on the tissue she was using. "It was... things..." Luna croaks. "I'd never seen them before... they were big... and strong... and fast..." Luna cough some more. "WHERE THE BUCK ARE THE DOCTORS!?" Taz shouts out the door. A unicorn and a Pegasus run down the corridor and go to Luna, where they give her some medicine and run some tests. They then walk up to Taz. "We're sorry, sir, but from what we can tell, she's too weak to continue much further," The unicorn tells him. "What?" Taz asks. "Are you telling me that Luna will die?" The Pegasus looks at the unicorn, then slowly nods. Taz just stands there, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open. The two ponies leave the room and a tear rolls down Taz's cheek. He goes back over to Luna's bed. "What did they say?" She asks, the medicine helping with her speech. Taz looks at her and considers telling her a lie, but then he remembers what happened last time he kept quiet. Tear run down his cheeks and he sobs. "They said... they said..." Taz breaks down, putting his head in his hooves. Luna lays a hoof on his back. She understands. "I'm so sorry," Taz sobs. "I'm so sorry..." "It's not your fault, uncle," Luna says. "We all have to die, there is no avoiding it," "But you're too young!" Taz tells her. "You're my little Luny..." Taz sobs again. How did this happen? Everything was going so well... and then this. Taz stays beside Luna's bed for as long as he could, and that was long enough. On the fifth day, Luna smiled at him. "I love you..." She said, then sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't wake up. taz shook her, called her name, splashed cold water on her face, but her eyes stayed closed. Eventually, Taz cried again. His ears splattered on the floor, making a big puddle. His little Luny... was gone. Taz stayed there for a week afterwards, only leaving the room for the funeral. He sat in the same chair he sat in when he was comforting her, never moving. Not even blinking. The sadness inside him had been replaced with anger. Whoever had done this would pay. Taz would make sure of it. He looked up at the moon outside, and the sadness overwhelmed him again. He sat there, sobbing, until Celestia walked in. "Uncle," She said. Taz looked at her, eyes red and puffy. Celestia walked over to him and hugged him. Taz held her tight. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." He sobbed. "I should have been here..." "Uncle, it's not your fault," Celestia said. "You had a war to fight, and you never knew this would happen," Taz looks down at her. "Do you know who did this?" Taz asks, tears still running down his face. Celestia nods. "They are a race from the south," She tells him. "They spend their whole lives training to kill. What they did to Luna was not their usual style. They hate love and friendship, so they seek to destroy it." Celestia looks down. "They call themselves 'The Jesters'." Taz looks at his hooves as she says that, and when she's done, he looks up at her. "Please, double the security on yourself," He pleads. "I couldn't bear to lose both of you. You're all I have le-" He's cut short by something on Celestia's head. On her forehead, a stick has grown. On the end, there's a feather, and a small piece of paper. A small line of blood comes from the end of the stick that is in Celestia's forehead. Too late, Taz realises what has happened. "NOOOOO!" He screams, and rushes forward to catch Celestia before she hits the ground. He stroke her face frantically, tears starting again. "Please, please, stay with me now, please, come on, Celest, don't die, please, please..." Finally, he realizes he's too late. He sobs and hugs Celestia's head, sobbing into her mane. He grits his teeth and groans angrily. Guards rush in and see Taz hugging Celestia's head, sobbing and rocking on the spot. The guards take off their helmets and hold them over their hearts, lowering their heads as they do so. Taz looks up a few minutes later to see them all there. He then unfurls his wings and flies out the window, still sobbing. He goes to the Everfree Forest, where he yells his anger and sadness out while kicking trees down. He finally sits and leans against a tree, sobbing with his head in his hooves. He takes a picture out of his saddlebag. It's a very faded picture, but he can still see it just fine. It's of him, Lightning and Lucy, with Celestia and Luna sitting at their hooves. They're all smiling and happy, but there's a small splatter of blood coming from the right side. Taz had found this the same day he found Lightning and Lucy lying in a poll of blood. He had taken this picture and kept it all these years. But, now... this picture was all he had left of his family. He was all alone... all alone... Taz cries again. "I'm sorry, Lightning, I'm so sorry..." He sobs, staring up at the sky. It begins raining, but Taz doesn't care. He was alone... the rain didn't matter. He'd never be happy again. Suddenly, somepony takes a piece of rope and wraps it around Taz's throat, tying it to the tree. Taz chokes and tries to loosen the rope, but then his arms and legs are tied to the tree too. Then, a masked pony kneels down in front of him. "Taz Darkstripe," He says in a very cheery voice, but his eyes are filled with madness. "We've had our eyes on you, oh yes we have! Your two little girls were just the start, yes it was, and we are going to annihilate love and friendship, oh, yes we will!" The pony laughs and rolls on the floor. "Oh, it's so great! Nothing can stop us now! We will shroud the world in hate and sadness! And we've already got a head start with you!" The stallion giggles and runs off, others following. Taz grunts and struggles with the ropes, but they're tied good, and they're strong. Taz takes a deep breath in and screams. Just screams at the top of his lungs, hoping somepony will hear him. After a minute or so, the scream dies down to more sobs. Eventually, a yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane peeks her head around a tree. She sees Taz crying and goes over to him. "Um, are you okay, sir?" She asks in a soft voice. Taz looks up at her with red eyes. "No, not alright." Taz tries to hold out a hoof, but is stopped by the ropes. "Oh, let me help you," The yellow Pegasus says. She goes behind the tree and unties the knots. Taz stands up shakily, and the yellow mare backs away when she sees his size. "Oh, I'm sorry, sir, um, I think I have... something... to do..." she begins to back away. "Please, wait," Taz pleads. His voice is filled with sadness and sorrow. The yellow Pegasus stops, then slowly walks forward. She stay a distance away, though. "Um, what's wrong?" She asks, her voice still the softest he'd heard. "My nieces... dead... all alone..." Taz breaks down again when he remembers his only two family he had left. The Pegasus just stands there, not sure what to do. "I'm sorry, sir, I...I..." She begins to sob, too. Just watching Taz cry makes her sad. Eventually, they're both sobbing on the forest floor when a purple unicorn mare walks around a tree. "I heard a scream, what's going o-" She stops when she sees the two ponies crying. "Oh, Fluttershy, did you do something to this stallion?" When none of them answer, the purple mare walks over to Taz. "Excuse me, sir, but do you have anywhere to spend the night?" When she asks that, Taz cries again, that word reminding him of the first time Luna raised the moon. The purple mare sighs. "Alright, come on." She says. When Taz doesn't move, the purple unicorn uses her magic to create a small shelter over Taz's head. "If you ever need to talk, just as for Twilight Sparkle," she tells Taz, then walks away. Taz looks up and watches her go. Did she just... help him? Why? Taz decides not to think about it right now. He hadn't slept since Luna died, and he was exhausted. His eyes closed and he fell into a nightmare-filled sleep.
Chapter 2 - BetrayalChapter 2 Betrayal Taz wakes up thrashing and sweating. He knocks down the shelter the purple unicorn had made and it comes crashing down on him. He kicks it off and stands, rubbing his head. Then, he remembers the events of the past week. Taz sighs and feels like he's going to cry again, but the tears don't come. Eventually, he walks through the forest. he looks up at the moon, still up because there's nopony to lower it. Taz's horn glows slightly and the moon goes down, to be replaced by the sun. He continues to walk until he comes to the edge of the forest. It stops almost instantly, the dark mud ground replaced with bright green grass. Taz walks down the gravel path and comes to a small town, the sign saying "Welcome to Ponyville!" Taz walks into the town and looks at everypony. They're all wearing black, heads down and some crying. They've heard about the death of Celestia and Luna. He sighs and walks up to an earth pony who's wearing a black, pinstriped suit and has a scruffy-looking mane. "Excuse me, do you know where I can find Twilight Sparkle?" Taz asks the stallion. The stallion looks at Taz. "'Ello, friend. She's usually at her library, just 'round the corner," The stallion tells him. He then lowers his head again and a white stallion walks up to him. This stallion has purple sunglasses, and a black and white that's just as scruffy as the suited stallions. "Thank you<" Taz says, then walks in the direction the stallion indicated. He comes to a very large tree, but it has doors and windows in it. Taz knocks on the door and waits. the door opens and a baby dragon answers. He's purple, with green spines and a yellow underside. "Yes?" he asks, sadness obvious in his voice. "Could I speak to Twilight Sparkle, please?" Taz asks. "Uh, yeah, sure," The baby dragon opens the door for Taz and closes it behind him. he then goes upstairs. taz takes a seat on the couch and looks around. It's definitely a library. All the walls are bookcases, and there's a bust of a pony's head on the table. Moments later, the dragon comes back down with the same purple unicorn from last night. When she sees him, she nods. "Who are you?" She asks when she sits down. She's looking at Taz curiously. "My name is Taz Darkstripe," Taz tells her, then proceeds to tell her his story from the birth of Princess Luna. As he's talking, Twilight listens intently and nods every now and then. Once he's done, Twilight lays a hoof on his shoulder. "Princess Celestia was close to me, too," She says sadly. "She was my mentor... she taught me everything I know. But I can't hope to relate to the pain you are feeling right now. I just wish there was something I could do to help," "There is something you can do," Taz tells her. "What do you know about 'The Jesters'?" A few hours later, Twilight and Taz were on a pile of every book in the library, and they had found out everything they could about The Jesters. "Why do you want to know about them, anyway?" Twilight asks Taz as she puts a the last book in the pile. Taz sighs. "Do you really want to know?" Taz asks. Twilight nods. "I want to kill them all." Taz tells her bluntly. "They took everything I had ever loved in this life, and I plan to make them suffer. I want to wipe out every. Last. One of them." "Taz, death isn't the answer," Twilight says softly. "Killing never makes anything better, no matter the cause." "But if I don't kill them all, I'll end up going insane," Taz tells her. "I don't care if I have to go by myself, I will kill them all." "But you're our ruler now!" Twilight tells him. "You are the only family of the princesses, so you must lead us!" As she say this, Taz's eyes widen. "No, no, I couldn't rule. I'm not that kind of pony..>" Taz looks at Twilight and sighs. "Fine. But be warned; I will not do a good job. And first of all, I'm going to gather the army and march against The Jesters." "No!" Twilight says, but she know it's too late. One week later, Taz is sitting in Canterlot Castle, looking over maps and planning strategies. The same stallion he'd seen on his first day in Ponyville walks in, wearing a brown pinstriped suit. "Sir, we've got the creatures ready to be released. Are you sure about this?" the brown stallion looks at Taz with concern in his eyes. "Good," Taz replies. "And yes, I am sure about this. Those ponies killed my only family. I want vengeance." The stallion walks over and looks at the maps. "I would suggest releasing them here," He says, pointing to a point on the map. "That way, the army can attack from the front and the creatures can block their retreat." Taz looks at where the stallion's pointing and nods. "Good thinking, Doctor," He says. "Get them in position. We haven't got much time." Doctor Whooves salutes, then rushes out of the door. Taz studies the map some more, then moves a coloured piece of metal into the place Doctor was pointing and moves a different piece to another position. "You will pay," Taz mutters. "I will not rest until every last one of you is dead." After he moves the last piece, Taz walks back to his own room. He hesitates just before he opens the door, hoping against hope that Celestia and Luna will jump at him when he opens it. He turns the handle and pushes the door open, a big smile on his face, but it collapses when he sees the room is empty. Taz goes over to the bed and lies down, thinking about all the times he'd been unfair to those two... all the times he regretted... He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Taz wakes up during the night, and uses his magic to raise the sun. As he does that, his heart cracks a little more. Celestia used to do this at this time. She would raise the sun every day, and Luna would raise the moon. Just thinking about that makes Taz's heart ache, but then he remembers who killed them and the sadness is replaced with hate and anger. Taz grabs his scyxe and dons his armour. He then goes downstairs and is greeted by the army - his army - all ready to fight. Doctor Whooves walks up to him and salutes. "Sir, the troops are ready, but I still think this is a mistake. These are living ponies we're going t be slaughtering, isn't there another way?" Taz shakes his head. "Until I kill every last one of those jokers, I don't think I'll be a le to live with myself. If you don't feel like killing them, join them." Taz explains, and Doctor Whooves hesitates before answering. "Okay. But I don't want to have any part in the killing," He says. Taz just nods. "You do what you want." With that, Taz begins walking out of Canterlot, the army following him. War was something he'd been in more times than he cared to admit, but now he was fighting ponies who were obviously insane, yet so skilled they can kill 2 princesses without any casualties. But he doesn't think of that. This was a time for marching, and that was just what he was doing. They march for 2 weeks, not stopping except for breaks and to sleep. After that time, they come to The Border. It's just a large wall, and the gatekeeper's said to be as old as Equestria itself. Taz walks up to said gatekeeper. "Gatekeeper, we request passage through the border," He says. The Gatekeeper looks up. "And what is your reason?" He asks. He's still pretty young. "War," Taz replies. "A threat has been made against Equestria and I wish to quench it before it is fulfilled." The Gatekeeper nods, then lifts the gate. The army marches through and is met with a wasteland. Taz continues walking, acting as if this was just everyday scenery. Suddenly, the ground erupts around them, and ponies jump from the mud and begins slaughtering the army. One goes for Taz, but he unsheathes his small dagger and buries it into the pony's eye. he then unsheathes his scyxe and lays into the attackers, gritting his teeth and killing as many as he can. Even when they're being killed, the ponies laugh and giggle, insanity in their eyes and a smile on their lips. Taz kills them all by himself, the soldier still shocked at what happened. When they're all dead, Taz is standing alone in the middle of a ring of Jesters, covered in blood and breathing hard. "You. IDIOTS!" He shouts at the army. "You get attacked and you just stand there doing nothing?" The troops look down, ashamed. But one walks forward. he's got a smile on his face. As he walks forward, most of the army look up and also walk forward. The one in front of Taz looks into his eyes and giggles. Taz raises his scyxe to split him in half, but is hit over the back of the head and falls to the ground, unconscious.
Chater 3 - The TruthChapter 3 The Truth The sound of laughter and music is loud and the smell of death is in the air. Taz opens his eyes to find himself hog-tied on a table. The table also has meat on it, and Taz isn't sure he wants to know where it came from. The music's coming from a stage, where a group of Jesters are playing instruments shaped like bones. Again, he wasn't sure he wanted to know where they came from. One of the Jesters notices that Taz is awake. "Everypony!" He calls happily. The music stops. "Our guest of honour is awake!" Everypony cheers. "LET ME GO, YOU FREAKS!" Taz yells, struggling against the ropes. The head Jester stands from his chair, which is made of dirt. "Now, normally we wouldn't allow such language," He says with a giggle. He gestures to the instruments and the meat on the table. "But... you are our special guest, so we will allow it. Now, do you have any questions about our humble society?" As he says that, the whole room erupts with laughter. "Yeah. Would it be too much bother to let me go?" Taz asks sarcastically. The head Jester claps his hooves, and strangely enough, a group of them untie Taz and place him on the ground. Taz is shocked. "Why did you do that?" He asks suspiciously. "You are out guest of honour, so we want you to feel like it!" The head Jester guffaws. He then takes a large bit of meat and takes a bit out of it. "Mmmm... Lunar meat was always my favourite," He says, and smiles at Taz. "Would you care for some?" Taz hears what he says, and the anger builds up inside him. He struggles to keep it in check, but seeing that clown eat his niece - his daughter - is too much. Taz screams, unsheathes his scyxe and blacks out. While he's unconscious, Taz enters Blind Rage. Blind Rage is when a pony becomes so angry, that the rage fills them completely, taking over all emotions and making the pony black out. It makes said pony much stronger and faster, and also makes them very resilient. Blind Rage makes the pony practically invincible. But, it comes at a price. The pony no longer knows the difference between friend and foe. He or she will kill everypony who is in the immediate vicinity, and kill as many ponies as possible before the rage runs out. In Taz's case, he has so much anger built up, that he kills every single Jester in the building. Even with a monster chasing and killing them all, the Jesters didn't stop laughing and giggling. When Taz finally regained consciousness, he was outside, his scyxe just swinging and cutting the head off a Jester. He stops after that kill and looks at himself. He's caked in dried blood, although some of it's wet. He looks at his surroundings. He's in a forest, one he hasn't seen before. Taz walks around a bit, looking for a path or a familiar sight, but there's just trees, trees and more trees, as far as the eye can see. Taz sits on a rock and sighs. His scyxe was very bloodstained, but the metal was so smooth that he just wipes it off easily. Taz takes this chance to study the scyxe. He's had it ever since he began smithing over three thousand years ago, and never once has it chipped, bent or cracked. Taz smiles as he thinks of the first time he used it to cut down a tree, but then the smile drops when he remembers defending his brother. Lightning was always the brains of the two, and Taz was the muscle, due to him doing all the chores around the house. Lightning got picked on a lot just for being clever, and Taz took a lot of beatings defending the one pony he was friends with. The bullying had gotten worse when their parents died, but Taz toughened over the years, and soon enough it was him giving out the beatings. Taz got in trouble a lot when he was younger, but he took the tongue-lashings and waited until he could see his brother again. Then, Lightning met his special somepony, and Taz loved her as a sister. When the 2 fillies were born, life was better than it could have ever been for Taz. But then a group of assassins brutally killed both his brother and his new sister, and he took Celestia and Luna into his care. Now, Taz sheathes his scyxe and continues trying to find out where he is. "Oh, it looks like the guest has calmed down!" A cheery voice says from behind a tree. Taz unsheathes his scyxe and chops the tree down. "Over heeere!" the voice calls from behind another tree. Ta cuts that tree down, too. "Oh, you're getting warmer!" Taz cuts down tree after tree, but doesn't find anypony. Finally, he stops and thinks. "You're so warm!" the voice says, and Taz finally realises it's HIM that's talking! But it can't be him, he doesn't sound like that! "Oh, you do now!" He says. Taz closes his eyes and focuses. He'd dealt with something like this before, and he knew what to do. He slowed his frantic breathing down to a steady pace and reaches deep within his own mind. He senses a disturbance, and he mentally poke it. When he does, his mouth flies wide open and a large stream of smoke flies out of his mouth. Taz coughs violently, and when he recovers, he hears somepony laughing their head off. It's a very high-pitched laugh. Taz looks up and sees a... thing. It's got 4 legs, but it's standing on its hind legs. On the ends of its front hooves, which are flat, there are 5 tentacle-thingies. And the face is flat. "Oh, that was the most fun I've ever had!" The thing says. It's wearing a motley outfit with a jester hat. "Who are you?" Taz asks, unsheathing his scyxe again. "Oh, Taz, you really must lighten up! I'm-heehee-I'm..." The jester drops to the floor laughing. "I'M YOU!" He finally shouts. Taz's eyes widen and he crops his scyxe. "You... you've been inside me my whole life?" He asks, shocked and surprised. "Yes!" The jester chokes. "You... first... Jester..." The jester chokes on his own words. "No... no..." Taz drops to his knees. He was responsible for the deaths of his nieces... for the deaths of his comrades... "Yes, it's... true... you... killed..." The jester rolls on the ground. Taz is staring at the ground, too sad and dishonoured for tears. "I killed them all..." Taz looks up and sees Luna and Celestia, smiling down at him. He blinks, and they're gone. Taz looks at the jester rolling on the ground. He picks up his scyxe, walks over to him and brings the scyxe down on the jester's neck. The blade passes right through, and the jester continues laughing, completely oblivious to the attack. Taz stays silent, just reaches out to the jester's mind, finding a jumble of things, but most prominent is... Taz's life. Suddenly it strikes him. This jester WAS him. They were joined, and Taz was the organic body. He looks at the scyxe, then reaches out to Doctor Whooves's mind. Doctor had been hiding during the battle and had followed Taz all the way. "Go back to Canterlot," Taz sends t him. "Tell them... tell them we all died." Taz feels worry coming from the Doctor's mind. "It's the only way. I know you'll understand." Then, Taz severs the telepathic connection and places the axe blade of his weapon against his own throat. The jester looks up and sees what he's doing. He stops laughing. "Are you crazy, you'll kill both of us!" The jester yell at Taz, jumping to grab the weapon, but it's too late. Taz draws the sharpest blade in Equestria and beyond across his own throat, and the jester screeches, evaporating before his eyes. Blood gushes from the slit in Taz's throat, and he collapses, the world turning black.
Epilogue - A ChoiceEpilogue A Choice Taz wakes up in a warm bed. He rubs his eyes and feels his throat, but it's flawless. He gets up and goes over to a full-sized mirror. All his scars are done. He's just plain black, and his wings are feathered, and he's only got one horn! Taz feels his body, making sure it's all real. "Don't be worried, brother," A voice says from behind Taz. He freezes when he hears it. That voice... he hasn't heard it in over 2,000 years... it couldn't be... taz whirls around and finds a white stallion. He has a yellow mane streaked with black, and his cutie mark is a lightning bolt. "Lightning..." Taz whispers, shocked at what he's seeing. As he's taking it all in, Celestia, Luna and Lucy came into the room also, all in perfect health. "Brother, welcome home," Lightning says with a small smile. Taz is still shocked. "But... it can't be... you're all..." Taz tries to talk, but he's just so shocked at what he's seeing. "You're dead too, now," Lucy tells him with a smile. "And now, you have a choice." Taz looks at her and gives her a puzzled look. "A choice?" He asks. "Yes," Celestia says. "A very important choice." "You can stay with us," Luna says. "Or you can go back to the real world and rule Equestria." Taz looks at them all. He could stay with the ponies he loved... but, what about the Jesters? he still had to stop them! "The Jesters all died when you destroyed the original," Lightning says. Taz sits on the bed and puts his head in his hooves. "Can I have some time alone, please?" He asks everypony politely. Lightning nods and ushers everypony out. Once they're gone, Taz thinks about his choices. He could stay here, for all eternity, with the ponies he'd loved his whole life, or he could go back to Equestria and rule... which included protecting the land. But, there was no more royalty in Equestria, except Cadence, but she had Shining Armour to take care of. On the other hoof, he'd be so lonely in his live body... here, he had his whole family for all of eternity. Taz thought about his options for a long time before he finally came to a decision. He called the others back in. "I've made my decision," He tells them. "I've decided to go," When he says that, Lightning smiles. "I knew you would choose that, brother," He says. "I will do all I can to help you from this side." Taz looks at each of them in turn, and tears roll down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, I just don't belong here," He sobs. Lucy smiles and sits beside him. "Your true time will come," She reassures him. "And when it does, we'll all be here for you." "But, one more thing," Taz says. "Is it possible for Celestia and Luna t come back with me?" He asks. Lightning looks at Lucy. "It is, but that's up to them to decide," Lightning says. He turns to the two princesses. "Uncle, we've thought about this a lot, too," Celestia says. "And we've decided to come back with you," Luna says. Taz smiles and hugs them both. "Thank you," He says. He then turns to Lucy and hugs her. "Be strong, " She tells Taz. Then, he turns to Lightning. He grabs Lightning and hugs him tight. "Goodbye, brother," Taz sobs. "Until next time," Lightning replies. He steps back and Luna and Celestia walk to either side of Taz. "Are you ready?" Lightning asks. Taz nods. Lightning's horn begins to glow. "I love you," He says, a tear rolling down his cheek. Then, Taz gets sucked through a tiny tube and lands in his bedroom at Canterlot. He looks around and finds Celestia and Luna sitting beside him, shaking their heads. He hugs them both tight, tears streaming down his face again. It's been two weeks since the Jester incident, and the three alicorns are resuming their normal lives, except Taz. He's decided to stay in Canterlot and watch over his nieces. He doesn't want to leave them again for fear that something like this will happen again. Every dawn, the three of them gather and discuss their dreams or what happened that night. Every dusk, they gather to discuss their dreams or what happened that day. Life is peaceful and good in the land of Equestria, and Taz is with the ones he loves. Every once in a while, he gets out that old picture of the five of them, and he knows that eventually, they'll all be reunited again. This fanfic was an original idea from the mind of Taran Brodie, age 16 and residing in Aberdeen, Scotland. If you enjoyed it, I would greatly appreciate some feedback.
