A Jester's Hat

Chapter 4

The End

Taz is shouting jokes  up to the castle. The ponies in the city are all dead or are barricaded behind the walls of the castle. Taz is reading them jokes from his trusty joke book and is laughing at them himself while the grumpy guts soldiers look at him from above the wall. By the time he finishes the book, Taz is rolling on the ground, clutching his sides and laughing harder than ever before. He finally breathes deeply, still giggling, and looks up.

"Okay, I'll come up!" He calls. He then spreads his wings and giggles as he cuts down the guards on the wall. Oh, boy, this was so much fun! He cut down guard after guard as they rushed at him. Taz just laughed the whole time, killing them and getting splattered in their blood. Inside, Taz is trying hard to stop it, but he can't. He's too weak. All he can do is sit and watch as he kills these innocent ponies while laughing all the time. He just hoped they managed to kill him before he reached his nieces. If he killed them himself, he would have to kill himself again. They may be princesses, but he still saw them as his own fillies, no matter how old they got.

Celestia was pacing in her bedroom. Taz had attack Canterlot. Why? She'd sheltered as many citizens as she could, but countless others had been killed by the madman who was now slaughtering her guards. Tears were running down Celestia's face, and Luna was crying hard into a pillow. She knew the only way to stop their uncle now was to kill him. But what if they couldn't? What if Taz killed every single pony in Canterlot, and then Equestria? That made Luna cry harder. The same stallion who had comforted her for her whole life was now going to try and kill her. She couldn't believe it. Celestia sat beside her.

"It's alright, sister," she said softly. "He will remember us. I know he will,"

"B-but, what if h-he d-d-doesn't?" Luna sobs. "Wh-what if he kills us?" Celestia flinches at that.

"Now, come on, he loves us with all his heart. He raised us like we were his own foals and he protected us when we needed protecting. He will remember." Celestia reassured her, but inside, she was doubting herself. What if Luna was right? What if Taz did forget?

He was inside the castle now. He was covered in blood and was licking it off himself as he killed some more.  The ponies just kept coming.  Boy, it would be a feast after this! Taz laughed at the thought and cut down another pony.

Shining Armour was at the end of the hall. He saw his best friend killing innocent ponies with an insane laugh and small eyes. He could do this. He knew Taz wouldn't want to live like this. Shining Armour readied his sword and prepared to fight his best friend to the death. He knew he didn't stand a chance, but he had to try. And maybe... just maybe... the insanity had hindered his fighting skill just enough to Shining Armour to defeat him. He didn't hold on to that hope, though, as Taz looked as skilled as ever against all the other guards, solar and lunar alike. Shining Armour said his prayers, said good bye and prepared to die.

Celestia was kneeling by her fire. In it, she saw all the good time she, Luna and their uncle had shared. All the play times, lessons on honour and being a good ruler, raising the sun and moon. Tears rolled down her cheek as she remembers all those times, and how they could all disappear with a swing of a blade and a break of skin. She kept these thoughts to herself, though. She didn't want to frighten her younger sister who was terrified enough as it was.

Luna continued to cry. She had buried her face in a pillow as she heard and laughter and screams draw closer. They were still a long way off, but they were slowly making their way closer. This was only the second time in her life that Luna didn't want to see her uncle. The first was when he had told them both about their real parents deaths. He had kept it a secret for 1 hundred years before telling them. They had hated him for a few weeks after that, but they had slowly come to understand then had not wanted to hurt them. Luna didn't like thinking of that time. She liked to think of the good time they shared. Thinking about all the good memories made her feel a bit better, but them the ponies began screaming again, and it was a lot closer this time.

Shining Armour was face to face with Taz.

"Taz, please, don't do this!" He pleads. Taz just laughs and attacks. Shining Armour dodges - just - and lands a cut across Taz's flank. He jumps back as Taz's weapon swings at him. "Taz! Stop this!" He knows it's pointless, but he doesn't want to kill his best friend. He attacks again. He instantly realises it's a bad decision. As he gets within range and swings, Taz ducks, unsheathes his dagger and stabs Shining Armour  in the bottom of the stomach. Shining Armour chokes a bit and his eyes go wide. Taz then cuts  a huge gash in his stomach, giggling as the insides spill onto the floor. Shining Armour falls to the ground, lifeless. Taz laughs and dunks his mane in the blood. He laughs as the blood runs down his face. He turn and sees all the now hopeless guards. He whoops cheerfully and lays into them, cutting them down easily. Inside, Taz has given up. His best friend is dead by his own hand and there was nothing he could do. He was a failure.

Luna and Celestia looked at the door. There were screams and laughing right outside. The both tried their best to keep quiet. The sounds stopped apart from the giggling, and they could hear hooves approach the door. They stopped just inches from the door. The two sisters stayed silent, Luna clamping her hooves over her mouth. The hoof steps retreat and begin to walk away. Celestia closes her yes in relief. Luna accidently lets out a loud sob. The hoof steps stop. The giggles turn into a loud laugh. The door bursts open and Taz is standing there, a maniacal grin on his face and eyes full of insanity.

"Hello, grumpy guts!" he giggles and jumps forward.

Celestia and Luna jump to the side as the sword slashes into the ground where they just were. Luna is crying hard again and jumping behind the bed. Celestia is trying to get a clear shot at her uncle,  but he just chases after her, slashing at the mare continuously. He's laughing his head off as he tries to kill his niece. Luna is watching it all, terrified. She doesn't know what to do. She doesn't have the heart to kill her uncle and she can't do anything else but sit and cry. She doesn't want either of them to die, but what other outcome is there? Finally, Celestia is trapped in a corner. Taz is giggling.

"Let's put a smile on that face, shall we?" He asks with a smile of his own. He then swings, and Celestia just manages to duck. Taz swing again, low this time, and Celestia jumps over it. Finally, he draws his dagger and throws it at Celestia. She dodges it, but as she's momentarily distracted, Taz uses the opportunity to swing his sword. Luna gasps and Celestia's eyes go wide. Taz just giggles. Celestia raises a hoof to her neck and feels a small separation there. She looks at Taz, her head unmoving.  A single tear rolls down her cheek and her head falls from her neck. Her body collapses and Luna screams, rushing to her sister. Taz swings down at her and Luna gets cut in half. As she's dying, she looks up at her uncle, staring into those insane eyes. She coughs up blood.

"I'm so sorry," She croaks. Her eyes flutter closed and she collapses onto her sister. Taz just laughs hysterically and rolls in their blood. Inside, he's crying hard. His anger is beginning to boil. He makes his decision. He attacks the Jester inside, screaming and trying to gain just a few second of control over his own body. He gives one last push and he breaks through! He wastes no time. On the outside, Taz unsheathes his dagger and stabs it into his own throat. He draws and knife, hilt deep, across his throat, opening a huge gash. He collapses onto his nieces, his own blood mingling with theirs. His mane changes colour and becomes its usual black and red, and it collapses from the jester hat it was and flops in the blood.