Have you ever thought of the racial inequality of Equestria?
From common tools ranging from door handles to forks and spoons and even special schools for the gifted, society seems to have arranged itself to accommodate the presence of unicorns at the very top of our nation's hierarchy, thanks to our wise and ever-loving ruler, Princess Celestia. The pegasi, at the very least, have a big damned city floating in the sky for them. That very city is made out of a material that only pegasi can stand on, and maybe unicorns, if they take the time to cast the required spell.
What do earth ponies get?
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We have to construct our towns, completely race-friendly towns, from the ground up, with no 'governmental assistance' or anything approximating that. We can't depend on Celestia to help us survive; we can only depend on ourselves.
Keeping in mind that this lack of equality between the three races is all that corrupt diarch's fault, what happened next was honestly quite satisfying.
A sudden surge of magic caused Luna to immediately look up from the assortment of papers on her work desk.
Something is happening.
A bright flash lit up the room for a few seconds, and then the lunar princess was gone.
Celestia heard a noise from above, and she looked up just in time to see a cloaked shadow descend upon her, its claws unleashed and ready to strike The alicorn only had enough time to snap her head to one side, trying to divert the course of the blow as far away from her vulnerable skull as possible. Despite her attempt at evasion, her assailant's claws raked across her face, opening huge gashes across her left eyelid all the way to her mouth.
Gasps echoed across the crowd, and a shout of "Princess!" was accompanied by the owner of that voice, a certain purple unicorn, who was at that moment rushing to her mentor's aid.
Warm blood dripped from the Princess' wounds as she deflected the next blow of the unknown attacker, forcing it back towards a series of well-thrown blades.
The swords of the Aegis Guard cut neatly through the black cloak the assailant wore, pinning it to the back wall of the wooden stage. The attacker barely had time to process the fact that he was trapped before several more swords were held at his neck, restraining him thoroughly.
The entire event took only a few seconds.
As soon as the swords that had penetrated the cloak were removed, Blitz's signature grey aura surrounded the tip of the cloak, pulling the cloth off quickly to reveal...
"A griffin?" Blitz exclaimed incredulously.
A purple unicorn mare near the bleeding Princess- if he wasn't mistaken, that pony was the Princess' protégé Twilight Sparkle- spoke up with a dangerously level voice. "No. That's just a ruse."
Blitz knew enough about the opposite gender to tell when females were angry. And this one, based on her tone of voice that sent chills down his spine, was far, far past the point of infuriation. "What do you mean?" He asked, though he suspected that he already knew the answer.
Twilight did not move for a few more seconds, letting her horn levitate several bandages around her mentor's bleeding head. The guards who had provided the first-aid dressing were now occupied with holding the enraged crowd who screamed bloody murder at bay. After applying the last of the bandages, Twilight stood up and stepped over to Blitz, though the expression on her face spoke volumes of her unwillingness to leave her mentor's side. However, there was also something- albeit well-disguised- in her expression that Blitz recognised all too well.
Rage.
Despite the fact that he knew that most civilians didn't have the resolve to kill another creature (even he hadn't actually taken anypony's life before), the mare standing before him looked dangerously close to that point. Thankfully, when she approached the griffin, the spell that she cast was not a destructive one. The purple ray of light that emanated from her horn washed over the griffin, and the disguise slowly melted away.
Blitz nodded. "A changeling."
Twilight glared at it, whole infernos visible in her irises. "Why?"
The creature, as most of its kind did, said nothing.
"Well, at least all of this is over." Blitz sighed in relief. "Citizens! We have successfully defeated the assassin and unmasked it! Our princess is safe!"
Not so fast, guard. If my Pinkie senses are to be believed, this is not over. Not by a long shot.
I wonder how much it will take to break you.
"ARGH!"
Blitz whipped his head around just in time to see several more griffins- changelings, no doubt- descend from the ceiling and onto several of the Aegis Guard who were holding the crowd at bay. As the rest of the Guards on the stage rushed past him to aid their comrades, one particular pony's scream of agony, a pony's whose face had been slashed by one of the griffin's claws, froze Blitz's blood solid.
"KRAYT!" Blitz was about to rush to his friend's side when something stopped him. Another griffin fell from the ceiling before his eyes, straight onto its target. The true target of the entire attack, Blitz was sure- Princess Celestia. He watched, uncertain, as the Princess' protégé tried unsuccessfully to fend off the creature attacking the alicorn. Celestia herself was trying to throw the griffin off her back, though any spells that she unleashed would not be as likely to hit her attacker as it was likely to hit herself, or somepony else.
Blitz looked at the blade that hovered in the air in front of the captured changeling. Only one sword. Three situations. He looked at Krayt as he used his weapon to slash at the changeling on his face with little accuracy. My friend? He then turned to Celestia, who was still struggling to remove the griffin's tight grip on her back. My princess? He then glanced at the creature at the tip of his blade. Or my captive?
With whom does my duty lie?
Yes, I can see your hesitation. What will you choose?
This will be interesting.
Blitz surveyed the scene one more time. Thousands of thoughts whizzed through his head, paralysing him. Only his heart allowed him to finally settle on a decision.
I'm sorry. I have... to be loyal.
In one smooth motion, he thrust his blade forward and swung it, neatly decapitating the changeling before him. A flash of light indicated his usage of a teleportation spell, and he reappeared next to his target. Another precise slash took off the head of the griffin, its disguise dissolving as it fell to the ground.
Blitz bent down next to the pony. "Krayt, are you alright?"
The beige unicorn, whose face was mauled beyond repair, spoke up in a weak, raspy voice. "Blitz... the... the Princess..."
"I had to be loyal." He swallowed. "To... my friend."
The expression in Krayt's eyes reflected surprise, and then... was that sadness?
"I'm... sorry too."
Now it was Blitz's turn to be shocked. "What for?" The battle raging all around them was quickly being put to an end by the Aegis Guard, but the grey unicorn was totally oblivious. He was completely focused on Krayt.
"I'm sorry that... I can't stay by your side... any longer." Krayt violently coughed up a globule of blood, which landed on the ground beside him, before continuing. "I know... I know that I'm your... only friend. I saw that you... were so alone... I wanted to make life better... for you... but it looks like I won't be able to brighten up your life... anymore."
Thanks to his training, Blitz's face remained neutral, but his heart shattered into a thousand pieces. My first and only friend... he's dying... and he chose to become my friend... out of mere sympathy?
Blitz forced a smile. "Don't worry. You've already made my life much, much better." He wanted to say something about how Krayt wasn't going to die, but the copious amount of blood on his friend's face told him that neither of the ponies would believe those words.
In his state, death might be preferable to survival. A moment after thinking those thoughts, he mentally slapped himself, but his mental words flew around his mind anyway.
Krayt's smile was genuine. "I'm... glad to hear that."
The beige stallion's mouth closed, as did his eyes, and he was finally granted eternal rest.
Blitz shut his eyes as tears leaked out of them, splashing onto the dead body of his comrade.
He wept, not for a dead friendship, but for one that had never been.
Friendship before duty? A great pity. For a moment I thought that he might not be like other ponies... but it seems that I was wrong.
Never mind. Nothing has changed. He will continue to play his role in my plan.
With a final burst of teleportation, Princess Luna appeared within the confines of the town hall, thoroughly worn out but still capable of bringing a living Tartarus upon her opponents.
The only enemy that was still alive at that point was a sole griffin attacking her sister, which she angrily decimated and atomised before scattering the infinitesimal remains across the entire stage. Her sister's guards, who were in mid-gallop, slowed to a halt when the threat was destroyed, and used their momentum to propel them into a kneeling position.
Luna did not miss the bandages on Celestia's head. Temporarily ignoring the guards and Twilight, who bowed deeply the moment she caught sight of the lunar princess, she flew down to her sister's side.
"Art thou alright, dear sister?" Luna asked.
"I will be fine." Celestia replied, her gaze fixed on a scene before her.
The blue alicorn tracked her gaze to Blitz, who wept over the still body of a beige unicorn. "What thoughts do cross your mind?"
Celestia never took her eyes off Blitz. "It appears that I have forgotten the... less desirable effects of friendship."
"What hath he done?"
"He went to the aid of his friend and abandoned me." Celestia sighed. "He will have to be punished for that."
Luna observed the scene wearily, and several memories of the past swam to the forefront of her mind. Friends, a thousand years gone, brought tears to her eyes when she saw their faces in her mind's eye.
We too know the pain of lost friends. The agony did dull for us after the first few millennia. For weak mortal ponies, however... The lunar princess grimaced.
"Perhaps," Luna began slowly, "he has suffered enough already."
Now, finally, the doozy is over. And what a doozy it was! Thankfully, it hasn't disrupted my plans at all. In fact, things will probably go along more smoothly now.
At this point, I would be inclined to agree with Chrysalis on one thing.
This day has been just perfect.
Blitz stared at Krayt's body for what seemed like an eternity, until a hoof tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head, fully expecting to see a very angry Princess Celestia preparing to banish him to some faraway place. What met his gaze instead was the pink pony who had sat beside him previously during Twilight's speech.
The pony smiled nervously. "Um, hey?"
"Hey." Blitz replied listlessly, his gaze returning to Krayt.
"Are... are you okay?" The pink pony asked.
"My friend just died. What do you think?" He snapped at her. Seeing the hurt look in her face, however, Blitz lowered his head. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be." The earth pony sat down beside him. "My name's Pinkie Pie. What's yours?"
"Blitz." Deep down, the grey unicorn felt something stir within his heart.
"That's a nice name." Pinkie seemed to want to retch at the sight of a bleeding body, but she kept it in. "I don't think you feel up to a welcome party, do you?"
Blitz shook his head. "Not really, no."
"Then, at least let me tell you that your friend wouldn't want you to dwell over his death."
Blitz looked at Pinkie out of the corner of his eye. Maybe she is deeper than she looks.
The pink pony continued. "He would want you to move on and continue living your life. All ponies eventually pass on, as will you. Shouldn't we make use of the time that we have, rather than using it to grieve over unchangeable things?"
She is deeper than she looks.
A moving speech. Too bad I had to come up with it myself.
"Maybe I should." Blitz returned his gaze to the dead pony. "Then again, emotions are an essential facet of life. It is what makes us equine. I would naturally feel saddened by my friend's death. Grieving, instead of purging our sadness, is what distinguishes us from soulless monsters."
Pinkie was speechless for a moment, not only because the grey unicorn's words had caught her off guard, but also because she had absolutely no idea how she had spoken something as meaningful as what she had just said.
Did Daddy say that before?
She shook her head, clearing those thoughts from her mind. I don't want to think about that.
Her thoughts returned to reality, and she noticed Blitz staring at her expectantly. Oh yeah. I'm supposed to say something.
"My Granny Pie once told me that hiding from our fears wasn't the way to deal with them." Trying not to sound facile, Pinkie continued. "I'd like to think that sadness is the exact opposite."
Blitz raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Why be sad when we can be happy?" Pinkie asked. "Happiness can be found in the smallest of things, and it makes you feel all fuzzy inside. Isn't it better to feel the joy of happiness instead of grief?"
She could be deep when she wanted to, Pinkie knew.
"Being happy all the time is not possible." Blitz answered. "Sadness will come, whether you want it or not." At least he seemed to be distracted from his dead friend. "Instead of hiding from it, we should face it bravely. If we shy away from such things, all of it will eventually accumulate until it is too much to bear."
"Looking at life negatively results in sadness." Pinkie retorted. "We should look for the good in all things."
"Are you saying that my friend's death is a good thing?"
The pink pony winced. That didn't come out right.
"No." She responded. "But maybe it's time to move on anyway." This was one of the longest times she hadn't been her usual bubbly, nonsensical self. Why am I forcing myself to be sensible?
When she looked forward, she instantly knew. For him.
But why?
Hmm... this is an interesting conversation. But I think that it's going to draw to an end soon.
"Perhaps." Blitz glanced back at Krayt. "Or I might want to spend a little more time with him."
Pinkie stepped forward. "Can I stay with you?"
A part of Blitz, the part that yearned for companionship, practically screamed at him to accept Pinkie's request.
I can't do it. Not yet.
"I would like to be... alone for a while. Don't take it personally," he hastily added, seeing Pinkie's saddened expression. "i just want to mourn by myself for some time."
Pinkie nodded uncertainly before retreating from the scene, turning her back to Blitz and trotting towards another pony, Twilight Sparkle, who stood on the stage next to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Both alicorns were staring intently at him.
Between the battle, the debate, and the whirlwind of emotions that threatened to overwhelm his usually calm and level-headed self, he didn't have enough energy left to bow. He merely smiled weakly, tilted his head, and went back to staring at Krayt's body.
Celestia looked sadly at Blitz as the grey unicorn gazed at his friend's body. "Do you think that he has lost his respect for me?"
"We cannot say that he has not, sister." Luna replied.
"You were always the more emotionally connected of the two of us. What do you suggest that I do?"
"Comfort him." Luna immediately said. "Do everything thou canst to ease his troubled heart."
"What can I do?" Celestia asked. "His friend is dead. I can't bring him back to life."
"No, but thou art able to make his passing less painful." Luna told her sister. "Give him a funeral."
"Would that help?"
"Yes. But, perhaps, what would help the most would be for thou to cease thy manipulation of his life."
"I can't, Luna." Celestia looked away from Blitz, towards the animatedly chattering crowd at one end of the room. "I have to continue. For my ponies."
"I- no, all of Equestria- we do what we must."
Elsewhere
"Why? Because we can."
"My queen, I do not think that reason would suffice. Do you realise what you're asking for? We have to spend a lot of time and resources to fortify the hives as fast and as well as you request!
"Are you questioning your queen?"
"Um... uh... no! Not at all, your highness!"
"Good. Do it because I told you to. My word is law. I need not give you a reason. Is that understood?"
"Yes, your majesty. I will do as you command."
"Good. When I see the results, I will expect it to be..."
"Perfect."
"So, taking into account the death of your friend, you are forgiven for your actions, and I will put you in charge of organising his funeral."
Blitz looked up at the white alicorn. He was so sure that she was going to punish him in some way, and yet, here she was, giving him a- sort of?- reward for, of all things, refusing to defend her.
Is she truly as benevolent as everypony says she is?
Celestia turned her gaze towards the body of his friend. "Does he have any friends or family?"
Blitz shuddered involuntarily. That line was eerily familiar. "He told me before that he has none, aside from his comrades in the Aegis Guard."
"In that case, I want you to identify the ponies closest to him from my Guard. They will speak at his funeral." Celestia said.
Blitz bowed as far as he could while he was sitting. "I will, my princess."
Celestia nodded, and turned back towards the stage. Blitz's eyes followed the Princess' retreating figure to the stage, and when Pinkie Pie waved a hoof at him, he almost succumbed to the feeling in his heart to trot up to her and start a conversation.
Almost.
Blitz sighed and averted his gaze. He didn't want to get any friends for the time being. His heart, though, said the exact opposite, especially when the pink earth pony was in sight.
Maybe what he needed was something more than a friend.
One day later
"Cremation." Celestia noted as she gazed at the monolithic stack of wood that had been collected and on the outskirts of Ponyville.
"Yes." Blitz nodded. "He wanted to always be with everypony in their times of need. I will distribute the ashes to the members of the Aegis Guard later on."
"Quite a good idea." The princess gazed at the assembled ponies in front of the stage. "Out of curiosity, why are the only ponies here from my Guard?" Except Pinkie Pie, Blitz thought silently. Looks like she decided to see Krayt off. But she didn't even know him! Unless... she's here because-
The grey unicorn was snapped out of his thoughts by Celestia. "Shouldn't the residents of Ponyville be grateful to him for protecting them?"
A short silence prevailed before the answer came. "I lied to them." Blitz said quietly. "I told them that he was in a short-term coma that he would recover from soon." A sigh escaped his mouth. "I doubt any civilian would want to know the details of death."
"Do you think that you did the right thing?" Celestia asked.
"It depends on your definition of 'right', your majesty." Blitz turned towards Ponyville, which repelled the darkness of the night with the glow of several lampposts and fires. "I don't think that the ends ever justify the means, and I will bear the scars of my sins for the rest of my life. But I did what I did anyway."
"Why, then, did you lie to them?" The white alicorn tilted her head.
"Because I don't want to hurt them." Blitz replied. "As a soldier, my foremost duty, after protecting you, your highness, is to protect the ponies. I will sacrifice anything to keep them safe, even my very life if need be."
"The wrong action for the right cause." Celestia told him. "I understand."
"What about you, your majesty?" Blitz asked suddenly. "What would you have done?"
Celestia looked at the moon that slowly rose into the sky, accompanied by a plethora of shimmering stars. "Perhaps we should postpone this discussion. Full night approaches, and we should begin soon."
The grey unicorn bowed. "As you wish, your highness." He decided to file away Celestia's refusal to discuss the issue for future reference.
Celestia stepped onto the impromptu stage made of some of the excess wood from the pile and began to speak. "My little ponies." Celestia's horn glowed, and her magic amplified the volume of her words so that they could be heard by the crowd.
All of the ponies present immediately stopped chattering and bowed respectfully.
"Tonight, we are here to mourn the loss of a brave pony, who sacrificed his life to defend me." The solar princess said, her eyes beginning to moisten. "He, as most of you are, was a member of the Aegis Guard. His duty was to protect me, and he did, to the very end." A tear fell from her eye. "I am afraid to say that I did not know him too well, so I shall now allow his friends to speak for him." She nodded to the crowd.
One pony, a brown stallion with a grey mane, stood up and proceeded to the stage.
"Thank you, Princess." The stallion's horn ignited as he activated his own sound amplification spell. "My name is Shadow Slash, and let me tell you about our friend Krayt...
These speeches might take some time. I might as well sit back and enjoy the first stage of my plan unfolding.
It's been so long. A few more weeks won't make a difference.
I'm trying to remember what freedom feels like right now.
Pinkie fought the urge to burst into tears as one pony after another took the stage to give their eulogy for Krayt. Despite the fact that she only found out the pony's name an hour ago, she still felt connected to him in some way.
The mysterious connection was finally clear to her when Blitz stepped onto the stage, and the heartbroken expression he wore on his face cut to the centre of her heart.
"Hello, everypony." Blitz sniffled a little bit before continuing. "I'm sure that after an entire hour of ponies telling you about how great Krayt was, you're pretty tired of it." A pained smile rested on his face as he spoke. "So, I'm just going to tell you a story."
"There was once a pony who didn't like to socialise with others. This recluse aimed to join the Aegis Guard, and so, in the interests of remaining loyal to the crown and only the crown, he shied away from ponies and became lonely. So utterly lonely that he didn't even realise how lonely he was. Then, one day, a stallion, who so relentlessly butted his way into the loner's life, brightened it up, and the recluse finally realised what he was missing."
Tears flowed freely from Blitz's eyes now. "And then, a few days later, the stallion died. And, just like that, the loner's life lost all of its colours, and everything faded to grey, because not only did he lose his friend, he also knew what he had lost. He finally realised just how lonely he had been, and how lonely he was then."
"During his friend's funeral, he decided to tell the ponies a story, because by then everypony knew how wonderful the stallion was, but not why. He distributed urns of his friend's ashes to everypony, so that the stallion would always remain close to their hearts. He did so knowing that some of the urns would end up in the trash, because not everypony cared for his friend." Blitz's horn shone even brighter, and one of the smaller pieces of wood flew off the top of the pile and to the ground in front of the grey unicorn. "And so I will complete that story now. I wish that everypony here will respect him, and preserve those ashes, but I know that will not happen." His pained smile sagged almost imperceptibly. "And I'm hardly ever wrong."
"So, I, as that recluse, ask you all tonight to, at the very least, remember a good pony whose actions changed another's life, and I hope that you all will do the same and continue his legacy." Blitz struck the stick against a rock several times until the combustible wood burst into flames. "As long as we remember, he will live on in our hearts forever."
Shadow Slash trotted in from behind the crowd, carrying Krayt's limp body in his telekinetic grip. The beige unicorn looked just as he did before the battle, excluding the blood and wounds. Shadow levitated the pony all the way to the pinnacle of the pile of wood. At the same time, the burning stick hovered through the air towards the timber.
"Let us all take the sadness that comes with a pony's death, and add it to the fire. Tonight, a part of us will die and, like a phoenix, rise from the ashes, to be reborn and to continue living our lives the way Krayt would have us live them."
Blitz paused for a moment. "With joy."
The flaming stick made contact with the wood.
Almost instantly, a column of flame rose up into the night sky, aided by Blitz's heat spell. Celestia, in the meantime, hastily began to construct the illusion spell that would keep Ponyville from discovering the funeral.
The grey unicorn turned back towards the crowd. Many of them, including Pinkie Pie, were openly sobbing, while others were lowering their heads in a bow of respect, which also conveniently served to block their wet eyes from sight.
Dying hearts, to be born anew.
Not mine. Blitz thought. It's already been broken.
And I've emerged from it stronger than ever before.
It didn't take very long for everypony to leave.
One by one, they had all given their excu- reasons, and left the funeral to attend to whatever business they had to. Eventually, there were only two other ponies left to see Blitz gazing forlornly at the fire that was steadily dwindling in size.
The second last to leave was Celestia. The only thing she told Blitz was "I must be rested for the sunrise tomorrow." before taking flight towards the inn that she and her sister were going to stay in for the next two days. Evidently she had no intention on resuming their previous conversation.
The last to leave... had not actually left yet.
A tap on his shoulder made Blitz look back, and he almost smiled when he saw Pinkie Pie standing behind him.
"Are you okay?" Pinkie asked. "You've been staring at that fire for a really long time."
"I'm fine. I've just been thinking." Blitz replied. That sentence sounds almost painfully familiar.
"Been thinking? About what?"
"About... stuff." Now Blitz realised why it sounded so familiar, and that recognition wounded him like a knife to his heart.
Looks like my heart can break a second time.
"Mind if I sit down and think about stuff with you?" The pink earth pony wore a look that bordered on pleading on her face.
Blitz wanted to say no. He really did. Instead, the feeling in his heart won out. He merely said, "No."
"No, as in, 'No, I don't mind,' or 'No, don't sit down'?" Pinkie's eyebrows were raised.
"No, I don't mind." Blitz patted the ground with a hoof. "Come sit with me."
Pinkie obeyed, and soon the both of them sat together silently, watching the last dying embers of the fire go out as silhouettes against the dark night. Eventually, the final ember rose up into the night sky, rising until its heat had all dissipated, and then the two figures vanished into an all-consuming darkness.
Still, neither of them moved. Not for a good while.
Only one night has passed. One night. Yet, so much has been lost. Though I suppose I should be grateful...
Because so much...
...has been gained.