Aftermath

After the incident, the days went by so fast. I honestly don't know where time went. All I really remember is seeing a bunch of running guards at the castle, a medic guard running towards the princesses rooms and the castle going into lockdown. Nothing really could prepare you for this kind news, after all how do you truly prepare to learn your fillyhood friend and princess was killed all at the same time? I was the first of my friends to find out. Only on accident, I overheard two guards talking who walked past the kitchen.

"Did you go in the room at all?"one guard asked his partner.

"Nah, but Fastlane told me about it. The room was a bloody mess he said". The other guard replied.

"Thank God I wasn't assigned to guard the scene. I'd prefer to not throw up my breakfast, thanks".

"You said it. I don't know who would hate Princess Twilight enough to straight up murder her".

Hearing that, I dropped the plates I was holding in my magic. Both guards glanced in the kitchen and said,"shit" simultaneously. The few cooks and boss in the kitchen stared at guards in shock. I remember running out the room and almost getting to the exit of the castle before I ran into Princess Celestia. Literally. I slammed into her chest hard and laid on the ground in a daze for a few seconds to see her staring down at me.

"You should be a bit more careful", the princess said, helping me up.

I bowed and got a good look at her. She looked exhausted and angry but not at me surprisingly. I worked up my nerve.

"Princess, can I ask you a question?", I asked nervously looking down.

"You just did", she replied.

I blinked before shaking my head. "No uhm I meant about Twilight". Staring straight into my soul it felt for eternity before she answered me. "How did you find out?"

"I overheard two guards talking about it when they walked past the kitchen".

Celestia sighed. "Yes, it's true". I breathed in fast as millions of thoughts ran through my mind.

"Did you know her?" I was shaken out of my thoughts and nodded.

"We were friends growing up. We went to your school together. We still go out and get donuts with all our friends".

Celestia brightened up a bit and looked over me again. "You must be Lemon Hearts. Twilight spoke quite fondly of you all. This is your loss just as much as mine. You should go home. You need to process".

I nodded softly," and tell my friends".

Celestia shook her head, "I'll send some guards to do it. Who do you have to tell?"

I told her the names except Minuette and Twinkleshine. Knowing how Minnie felt about Twilight, it'd be best hearing it came from a friend, not a royal guard. I'd much rather have her hit me than a guard and get tossed in jail. I practically kicked her door down when I got to her house.

She stumbled down the stairs, half asleep. I forgot it was one in the afternoon and Minuette liked her sleep on her days off.

"What in the everloving hell is going on? You have a key, did you really have to destroy my door?" She glared at me.

"Sorry", I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "We need to talk".

"And it couldn't wait till a reasonable hour?"

"Minnie, it's one in the afternoon. You've slept all morning", I commented rolling my eyes.

"Exactly!" She said, "an unreasonable hour. Anyway, I'll make some coffee and tea for us both and I'll meet you on the couch". I gave a quick nod and worked my way to the couch.

A few short minutes later, she trotted in carrying her coffee and my tea. "Lots of guards out today, I see a bunch flying around out my kitchen window. Wonder why there's such a heavy presence".

I took a deep breath as I prepared to shatter my innocent blue friends world.

"One of the princesses was killed, sometime late last night".

Minuette spit some of her coffee out in surprise before bursting out laughing. "That's a good joke. Bit dark for you, I expected something like that from Moondancer". She punched me lightly on the shoulder.

"I'm not joking", I replied as seriously as i could. Minuette had such a contagious laugh, it was always hard to not laugh when she did.

"It was Twilight, wasn't it?" A voice at the stairs startled us. Looking up, I saw Twinkleshine standing there. I forgot she lived here too.

Taking another deep breath, I sighed and said, "yes. I overheard two guards talking about it and Princess Celestia confirmed it. How did you guess so quickly?"

Twinkleshine looked away before commenting, "lucky guess I suppose. Not so lucky though". She joined us on the couch as we looked over to Minuette who sat there with an expressionless face.

"Oh" was all we got as she slumped deeper into the couch. I knew inside she was heartbroken. I knew she had loved Twilight more than friends would. I was still surprised she trusted me to randomly tell me out of the blue one day but I supported it.

After that, everything went by fast. And then it was execution day for all involved. It was going to be the first time I saw all our friends together. I saw Twinkleshine and Minuette daily, Moondancer became a drunk after finding and spent most her time in the drunk tank. Lyra never left her house. The only person who spoke to Lyra and saw her was Bon Bon and thats because they live together.

I remember all us sitting down close to Celestia. After we talked that day, we became very close and considered each other friends. She pulled strings to get us the safest(and highest) seats next to her with a bunch of guards. The executions went on for about three hours till the last one was brought out.

Seeing one of the guards playing a part in the murder shocked us all. The guard had a slightly pink mane and white coat. The arena was quiet as he got chained to the post. He stared up at the crowd and smiled. At that, the crowd started booing and throwing items at him. It took Celestia a few moments to get everyone quiet.

She nodded at a guard down at the post, who nodded back and brought out a torch. She pushed the flames towards the chained up guard and all we could hear were screams as he was burnt alive. I'll never get those screams out of my mind nor the smell. It was gross and I vomited into my bag we all got given at the entrance. I think the guards knew some ponies might need them.

Years passed and I still think about that day. What could have been different. Maybe if I found Twilight before her fateful night and invited her to sleep over, maybe she'd still be alive today. I know it's unhealthy to push blame onto myself but there's a lot of that going around. None of us ever truly moved on. As depressing as this sounds, I look forward to the day I die. To be reunited with my friend. She's probably up there right now, badgering God about how to make it easier for ponies to get into heaven and driving him absolutely nuts. I can't help but chuckle at the thought.