Celestia sighed as she finished raising the moon. Today is the one year anniversary of Luna's death. Officially, Luna had passed peacefully to some rare, unheard of disease that just so happened to affect alicorns directly. Unofficially, Luna was found in her tower covered in cuts and the blood of a missing prisoner. The medical examiner, who had been sworn to secrecy and paid in a very generous sum of bits, had found that these cuts were self inflicted and that, upon the performance of an autopsy, had found that Luna had ingested a small amount of red meat. It was later found to be the heart of the missing prisoner. As to what caused Luna to do this was anyponys guess. Perhaps she was poisoned and went mad or maybe the nightmare was not fully removed as Celestia had once thought. Although she hated to admit it, there was nothing she could do now except move forward and do the best she can.
Celestia looked towards Luna's tower and tried to supress a shudder. The site of this grisly affair. Not even a day after, she had ordered that nopony enters the tower under threat of arrest. To ensure that nopony enters, Celestia had a select few guards, who knew the workings of the tower, keep watch. Except for her, they had permission to enter if they had a suspicion of trespassers but they rarely ever did. They too were sworn to secrecy and given a pay raise as a bonus. But despite her best efforts, the ponies of Canterlot had insisted the tower was cursed and so it was. On one hoof, this made sure nopony would dare come near. But on the other, Celestia could not hope but feel insulted by this. It was as if they were insulting Luna. But what could she do when something was already set in stone.
Celestia sighed once more and was starting to move when a brief flash caught her eye. She looked to where she thought it was coming from and sure enough, another flash met her. It was coming from a window located at the top of Luna's tower. Somepony was in there. Celestia looked to the base of the tower and located a lone guard. Why was he not investigating? Celestia, more confused than anything, decided to investigate for herself. Perhaps this trespasser could give some insight into what happened. With a flash of her horn, Celestia teleported to the base of the tower and stood before the guard. For his part, the guard just snapped a salute.
"Guard. I wish to know why you are not investigating a possible trespass in the tower."
The guard looked confused. "Forgive me Princess but what trespasser? You are the only one I have seen for the past 4 hours."
Celestia, now getting frustrated, stepped closer to the guard. He tensed up but did not budge.
"I saw a flash coming from the top of the tower from my balcony. There is someone inside."
The guard looked towards Celestia's balcony and looked towards the window that was in the balconys line of site.
"Forgive me Princess but no one is inside. As I am sure you are aware, the tower is enchanted with spells that prevent teleportation into the tower. They can only come through the doors at the top of these steps and they would need the key that I have." To prove it, he pulled the key out. "The windows are also magically locked. They can only be opened from the inside. Not the outside. If somepony wanted to go in, they would have to go through me first."
Celestia bit her lip in contemplation. The guard was right. The only way into the tower was through him and the windows were locked magically. And he had the key on person. If it was not a trespassr, then what was it?
"I apologize for my aggression. But regardless, I saw something and I will investigate. Unlock the door and lock it again once I am inside."
The guard nodded and moved towards the door with Celestia in tow. Upon reaching it, the guard unlocked the door and pushed it open far enough for the Princess to enter. Celestia moved inside and walked forward as the door closed and the lock was put into place.
Due to the darkness, Celestia used her horn to illuminate her surroundings. Looking around, she found an enchanted torch sconce. Smiling, Celestia ignited it. As soon as the flames awakened, the other sconces in the tower came to life, effectively giving light to the abandoned tower. Celestia continued to look around until her eyes laid upon the spiral staircase that led upwards. Celestia, not wanting to walk all that way, spread her wings and flew upwards. It took maybe five minutes to reach the top of the tower. As Celestia hovered, she looked around in a full circle to see numerous rooms. All doors were closed except for one. Celestia landed and trotted towards the room and gently pushed the door open. This room looked like Luna's study. Books lined the shelfs and her favorite tea set was right on her favorite end table. It was here, in her favorite room, that Luna was found dead. Celestia felt her eyes watering at the site only to shake her head. She needed to focus. Looking around, Celestia realized that things had moved. Nothing was in its original spots. Looking to the center of the room, Celestia saw a faint glowing coming from beneath the rug. Using her magic, she moved the rug aside and was surprised to see a portal. Now her curiosity was peaked. Why was there a portal in Luna's tower? And in this room of all places?
Celestia looked at the portal closely. It looked like one of those portals you merely needed to touch to activate. Weighing her options, Celestia decided to get to the bottom of this and touched the portal. In a flash of light, Celestia disappeared.
Celestia stumbled as she came out of the portal. She now found herself in a dimmly lit cell. Why was she in a cell? Was she in the dungeons?
Celestia looked to see that there was no door barring her from exiting her cell. She looked back to the portal to see that it was gone. She was now trapped here. Wherever here was. Rather than wait, Celestia moved forward and poked her head out of the cell. The corridor was illuminated by the same sconces with the same designs that were found in Luna's tower. Was she under Luna's tower? Celestia shivered. She did not like this one little bit but she had to keep going regardless.
Celestia stepped out of the cell and followed the corridor, looking into the cells as she passed by.
So far the cells were empty save for a random bloodstain here and there. It was when Celestia had reached the tenth cell that her stomach turned. She looked inside to see a dismembered and partially eaten corpse. The face was unrecognizable but the cutie mark, a rose inside of a heart, was what Celestia recognized. It belonged to a missing prostitute whos name slipped Celestias mind. Celestia quickly moved on before she lost her dinner.
She kept on moving and, unlike the first few cells that were empty, most of the cells she passed were either occupied by dismembered corpses or had prisoners that were in various stages of torture. As she was about to round a corner, a mare crashed into her. Rather than stay and see if Celestia was alright, the mare just got up and continued running as if her life depended on it.
"Hey! Wait! Come back, I won't hurt you!" It didn't matter. She was gone. Either to far or to scared to care. Celestia continued on. Continuing on past the crying and the broken. The deceased and dismembered. All until she got to a metal door. Celestia pushed on it and was surprised to see that it was open. The moment she entered, the door slammed shut. Celestia tried to open it but it was no use. It was locked.
She looked around room. There was not really much. All except for a statue with an altar built into it. Celestia moved closer to it as a sense of dread started to build. The altar was covered in blood. Celestia looked up to the statue and covered her mouth. The statue was constructed, not from stone, but from a mix of body parts and bones. They were assembled in a way that looked like a macabre alicorn. Guess Celestia now knows why there were so many dismembered bodies.
As Celestia continued to stare at the statue, a shadow made its way from out of the corner.
"Do you like it Celestia?"
Celestia whipped around and was face to face, not with a monster, but with Luna.
"What trickery is this?!" Celestia demanded as she took on a defensive stance.
The creature cocked its head. "Trickery? Tis no trickery sister."
"Impossible! Luna is dead! Dead!"
The creature shook its head. "We are not dead sister. Perhaps an explanation is in order." The creature moved over and sat against the wall.
Celestia looked over this creature. It did look like Luna and acted like Luna in terms of mannerisms. But her voice. It sounds just like hers. Celestia looked up to the creature.
"Alright. If you are really Luna, prove it."
The creature smiled. "You had sex with a mare right after your ascension."
Celestia was speechless. This was Luna. Only she knew about that.
"Luna....what happened to you? You died. I saw and held your body. We buried you."
Luna smiled and Celestia saw that her teeth had gotten sharp.
"I am not sure I understand. I have always been like this. I just removed myself of all restraint. As for my body. Do you recall when Chrysalis disappeared after Thorax assumed the throne.? Well, I was not happy at the fact that a dangerous villain was loose so I hunted her down and brought her back to my tower. I then had an amazing idea. I had planned to embrace my nature anyways but this advanced my plans. So, I used my magic to make Chrysalis look like me. I then tortured her and forced her to eat the heart of one of the prisoners. Don't worry sister. I only used the criminals and dregs of society for my pleasure." Celestia looked in horror as Luna kept speaking. "I was actually surprised at how easy it was. And I am even more surprised that you did not find the portal during the investigation." Luna readjusted her position to make herself comfortable. "We were also impressed with our minion and his acting skills as he let you into the tower."
Celestia's eyes widened. "He was your minion? Why would he betray me?"
Luna smiled. "Celestia. He wanted something in exchange. In return for serving me, I promised him status, wealth and mares aplenty. A simple thing really."
Celestia looked down and her eyes widened again as a more disturbing thought passed her mind.
"Luna, have you been eating these ponies? And what was with that mare that crashed into me?"
Luna's smile got even wider and she licked her lips at the mention of "eat".
"What can I say. I like the taste. As for that mare. Think of her as sport. I will hunt her later and use her for more "intimate" purposes. And then I will eat her. She looks so sweet."
Celestia started to cry. "Luna. What have you become?" Celestia looked up and saw Luna standing over her.
"What I was always meant to be." With that said, Luna cast a spell on Celestia who then fell over and slept. Luna placed a kiss on Celestia's head. "And soon, you shall join in on this too." Luna opened a portal to her tower and cast a disguising spell on herself to look like Celestia and stepped through the portal.
-------------------------------
The guard turned around as Celestia walked down the steps. He bowed.
"Has the Princess been taken care of Mistress?" He asked.
Celestia looked at him with a gentle smile. "Indeed. She will come around after some "convincing". But she will see things my way." The guard started to fidget a little bit.
"And my reward?"
"Don't worry minion. You will be compensated."
Celestia got about ten feet away before casting a spell. The guard, hearing the sound of something being summoned above him, looked up. He didn't have time to scream as the immense weight of fancy clothing, bars of gold, and the corpses of dead mares crushed him to death.
Celestia smiled. "Status, wealth and mares. Just as promised."
