//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Breaking Stone 
// by Takarashi282 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1



100 Years Before Celestial Rule


That frigid Saddle Arabian morning, one would've heard peaceful silence as the pinkish dawn began to break over the horizon. But this silence was a lie. 
A once open-door neighborhood locked itself in and drew the shutters closed. Foals that were bold enough to try to look out into the streets were pulled away by parents in panic. The streets were empty save but a select few soldiers lining the streets and encircling two bound creatures. 
For all of these ponies, there was no peace in this silence. Instead, it was the heart-hammering adrenaline to run and hide. 
This was the same for Euryale as she struggled in her bonds, the sackcloth over her head blocking her sight. The freezing wind penetrated through her scales, making her shudder. An icy numbness lay under the skin of her hands, so intense that she couldn't feel the mechanism keeping her hands open in a praying position. She grunted through her gag, but to no avail. 
"They're in position," Euryale translated from one of the guards, his voice low.
"Good," a feminine voice responded. "Lead them to the square. They'll be after sister dear." 
Euryale's heart jumped as she began to be dragged by her wrists. The sentence shook her to the core. She was certain that she was going to be executed. But were both her sisters here? Why must they suffer the same fate? 
Light pierced through the sackcloth giving subtle outlines of the guards leading her. There were about ten, an even mix of male and female. She saw the serpent-like silhouette of one of her sisters, but she couldn't make out which she was. 
It wasn't long before the movement of the guards stopped, and she came to a slow halt. This was it. 
"E-Euryale! Stheno!" 
Anxiety filled her chest with an electric jolt. She screamed through her gag. That was Medusa's voice!
"What are you doing with them?" 
"They'll suffer the same fate as you," the same female guard as before spat. "Beheaded, by order of the law."
"What sick law is that!" she yelled. "They didn't do anything!"
"The rights of citizenry don't extend to monsters."
"The gorgon is right," a new voice chimed. A silhouette appeared in the square, wearing some type of a headdress.
"L-Lady Somnambula!” the female guard stuttered. She bowed, and the other guards followed suit.
As the silhouette of Somnambula nodded her head, Euryale’s eyes trained on her. Confusion stirred in her chest. Why would any pony stand up for them?
“Captain, you know I wouldn’t that there be any execution today.”
The captain stood up straight once again. “But madam, Medusa is dangerous! She’s laid waste to villages, killed many of our troops!”
“You say that,” Somnambula retorted. “But was has that got to do with her sisters?”
“They have the same abilities, pose the same threat!” the captain continued. “If they were to become our enemy, we would lose more ponies!” She stepped forward. “You may be the prince’s advisor, but you have no influence over me.”
A brief, intense silence filled the air. “Very well,” Somnambula relented. “Medusa will be executed. But I know the law. Unless you have a shred of evidence that they had any part in their sister’s crime, you will not execute them.”
At this point, the captain’s body was shaking. “No one will miss them,” her voice trembled.
“Maybe not,” Somnambula agreed. “But I know that if you go through with this, there will be a lot of ponies who will miss you.” 
The captain froze. “Fine. But we still can’t afford to have them roaming about freely.”
Somnambula nodded. “I will contact Starswirl. We will seal them away.”
Euryale’s heart sank. Was lifetime imprisonment so much better than death? 
“Very well,” Medusa sighed. “As long as they’re alive.”
“Of course,” the captain said after a brief pause. “But we must commence the execution. Any last words?”
The silhouette of Medusa shook and trembled. From the look of it, she still had the sackcloth on her head too. But nevertheless, she faced her sisters. “I love you,” she said, her voice breaking. “I hope to see you soon.”
Euryale hadn’t noticed the tears streaming down her face until the telltale sweep of the axe whistled through the air, landing with a brief but wet slice. Medusa’s body fell to the ground, lifeless, as if she were already dead before the axe swung.
Euryale cried out, frying her voice as her stomach turned sour and her eyes burned in tears. The corners of her eyesight turning red she strangled against her bonds, the guards jumping into position in front of her, holding her back to keep stress off the chain that held her. 
“Bring them into the desert,” the captain commanded, pointing behind the band. Then they started moving. Try as she might, she couldn’t escape her bonds, couldn’t lift the sackcloth from over her eyes to see her sister once more. The guards obscured whatever vision she had as the moved Stheno and her out of town and into the abrasive sands of the desert. 
Each step seemed like an eternity. Each tear shed crawled down her face as her willpower gave out and she accepted her fate. 
And yet, it was not peacefully. Her heart still pounded, her body still shook, but at the same time she knew that she couldn’t get out of this. And so her mind still screamed.
That frigid Saddle Arabian morning only began to warm, but no one had set hoof outside yet. Silence returned to the town, and an uneasy peace settled into the streets. But this silence was a lie.