A Jester's Way

Chapter 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.