//------------------------------// // Chapter Seven // Story: War Comes // by Proper Noun //------------------------------// Luna looked out over the Royal Gardens of Canterlot. The day was too beautiful for Equestria to be in mourning. Even though she had requested rain, the best the weather teams could do was a light cloud cover. They, too, had lost friends and loved ones. She did not permit herself to sigh, and instead continued with the matter at hoof. Celestia, still too hurt and in tears, had backed out of a personal presence at the ceremony, and it was left to the younger sister to officiate. She felt she'd done fairly well so far. "But we have spoken long enough of the lucky ones," Luna said, finishing up her speech. "We shall now step aside. It is time for any pony who so wishes to pay their respects." Stepping away from the shrine hastily erected around a plaque in honor of the fallen, Luna finally let herself sigh. She'd made it. The hardest part of the memorial ceremony was over. She could watch, say her own goodbyes when it was time, and - as she had awakened early for the occasion - be done just in time to begin the night. Prince Blueblood was first of the assembled ponies to step forward. She was almost surprised, before she remembered that the real Blueblood had been sent to "assist in the recovery efforts at the Crystal Empire," which meant Princess Cadance and her husband would get to employ him at whatever they wished - and they wished a lot. He'd protested, of course, but - no. This was, by Shining Armor's hateful glares alone, Queen Chrysalis. "He" looked over the enormous plaque's list of Equestrian dead, muttering a few names. "Mr. Sparkling Windows... Mrs. Cup Cake... Mrs. Lunch Rush..." Blueblood's clone turned the Prince's usual bored, vapid expression on the Princess. "Auntie," he complained, "Why are we bothering to remember the peasantry? I am certain their own families have already forgotten them. Why should we - " "Be quiet, 'nephew,'" Luna snapped. As much as she wanted to make an example of the idiot princeling - Queen, rather - she could not afford to blow up at him, and restrained herself. "Leave. Now." "But Auntiiieee - " Luna grimaced. Chrysalis had even perfected his awful, nasal whine! Why?! "Now!" she ordered, bringing her right forehoof down hard on the Garden path. The light pavement audibly cracked, and "Blueblood" backed up a step in obviously-faked fear. "...yes, Aunt Luna," the faux-Prince said, stiffly. Chrysalis still kept Blueblood's snooty, better-than-thou bearing, 'harumph'ing on the way out of sight. Luna finally broke her furious gaze away from the path "he" had taken, and closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself. As if one Blueblood was not bad enough, now I must deal with his perfect imitation. I know the many horrible things I have done, and still I wonder why I deserve this. She opened her eyes again, prepared for the backlash to her short temper. Fleur-de-Lis and her new husband - two of precious few "nobles" in Canterlot actually worth that title (and, consequently, permitted to attend the memorial) - were actually golf-clapping, and while most of the other ponies held solemn or miserable expressions, a few actually smiled at her. "I say, Your Highness, thank you," Fancy Pants said, just loudly enough to be heard. A few other ponies nodded. "May we continue?" Luna managed to nod through her surprise, and the couple stepped forward together. They bowed their heads before the list of those lost, offering silent reverence for a few moments before turning to face the gathering. "A short speech, if I may?" Fancy Pants inquired. Nopony objected, and Luna nodded. "Again, Princess, you have my gratitude. I will keep my words brief, everypony, despite my reputation." There was a forced chuckle somewhere, to which he only smiled. "Last week saw a day of loss and suffering unparalleled in modern times. My beautiful wife and I have agreed that leading Equestria by example requires far more than our now-customary small gestures of benevolence. "You see, everypony, it was three and a half years ago today that we had the honor of meeting one of the very ponies laid to rest beneath this shrine of heroes, a fine young mare named Rarity. I am truly ashamed that at first, I treated her as another pawn to increase my already-considerable standing. But when I cared to learn more, I was impressed beyond belief by her selfless generosity. I dare say all of Equestria could stand to better live by her example. "Therefore, Fleur-de-Lis and I are creating the Rarity Trust Fund, into which a full two-thirds of our combined wealth shall be placed. This fund shall be used solely to help Rarity's home of Ponyville, the cities of Manehattan and Fillydelphia, and all other towns that suffered the unspeakable ravages of war. We have already provided emergency relief for those left without food, water, medicine, and shelter. We will rebuild homes, restock businesses, restore schools, construct hospitals. We shall, additionally, impose a seventy-five percent income tax upon ourselves, well above what we owe our nation on paper, to supplement our Princesses' VOW program - which provides all kinds of assistance to veterans, orphans, widows and widowers - and the Red Heart Initiative, a valiant effort to extend our free and modern health care to even the most distant corners of Equestria. "But enough of my soap box. I am now done talking," Fancy Pants said abruptly. With Fleur, he turned to lay a hoof over Rarity's name on the plaque for a few solemn, silent moments. As they stepped away, Luna made a mental note to find a way to reward the couple. Several more ponies took their turns at the shrine, most openly weeping and without words. Golden Touch, Cadance and Shining Armor, Sapphire Shores, Ruby Star... she lost track after that, until Twilight Sparkle swallowed hard and stepped up. Celestia had let Luna be the one to tell her what she'd done, and Twilight had taken it hard, abdicating on the spot. She had then gone straight to the Canterlot Police Headquarters, demanding and receiving a clunky but effective military-grade magical dampener, normally reserved for the most dangerous and cunning of unicorn criminals, for her horn. Luna had also heard that the former princess was going to be meeting with a surgeon to have her wings removed; Celestia would know better whether or not to intervene. But unlike most of the others, Twilight spoke. "I'm sorry," she said. Her tone was soft and weak, broken by tears and, apparently, her own heart. The youngest alicorn was completely deflated, and her eyes hadn't lifted from the grass and pavement all afternoon, "All of you. My friends, my family, my... " She hesitated for a moment. "Everypony. I killed so many, and failed all the rest. I am so, so sorry." Twilight turned and beat a hasty retreat from the shrine, in tears and with her wings drooping to the ground. Pinkie Pie was next, and last. Luna thought it strange, for a moment, as she had been the first to arrive. Days in advance, actually - she had shown up during a private meal that was simultaneously Celestia's supper and Luna's breakfast to deliver invitations to their own then-unscheduled memorial service. They had shrugged and given her a place to stay until then. She seemed unaffected by the whole ordeal at the time, but now she was crying openly, her usually-poofed mane pulled straight back into a bun. The normally-talkative little pony could only push out two words. "I'm sorry." Luna raised an eyebrow at this, but did not interrupt as Pinkie made her way over to Twilight. The other ponies began to disperse. "What do you mean, you're sorry?" Twilight asked, her voice struggling feebly for an incredulous tone. Pinkie hung her head. "Well, I had such awful twitchy-knees that I could barely walk! I don't even know what twitchy-knee means, but it was all four of them, so it had to be something big, and I..." Pinkie Pie drifted back to melancholy from her momentarily-normal tone. "... I left to go visit my parents, because they hadn't even sent mail to me in a super-long time, so I was worried they might not know where I was, and I did that instead of stay until... until... I should have stayed and helped!" "Pinkie." Twilight deadpanned, as her friend started crying again. "Pinkie!" "Yes, Twilight?" Pinkie said with a sniffle. "You're upset because you think you could have stopped this from happening, or at least saved everypony from the zebras." It wasn't a question. Pinkie didn't answer. "I already checked the numbers four times. I killed more ponies than they did. You couldn't have stopped me." "I know you're feeling all guilty too, Twilight, but that doesn't mean you actually - " "I killed Rainbow Dash." Pinkie sat down hard. "But... but..." "The others, too. And the Cakes, and Scootaloo, and the Rich family, and Cheerilee and her marefriend, and - and you get the idea! I knew every last one of their names!" Twilight was becoming visibly and audibly angry. "There are only four hundred ponies in Ponyville, Pinkie. I killed one hundred and seventy. The zebras, a quarter of that many. Because they all came to me, Pinkie Pie! They fled to their Princess, the Element of Magic, and I killed them!" "But... Dashie..." Pinkie stammered. Celestia had always advised not stepping into conflicts between friends, but as Luna watched silently, she wasn't sure they would even be friends after this. Still, she hesitated. "I don't know, Pinkie." Twilight hung her head, her tone weakening again. "I don't know why. I just know that I found her attacking Zecora out near the forest, before that day got really bad, and when I tried to stop her because I didn't know, she came after me too. I tried everything, but she was just too fast and too strong. I had to hit back and... and I don't know my own strength." "But... but I... you..." Pinkie's face shuffled confusion, fear, betrayal, and anger. The result was a flood of tears as the pink pony fled. A cloud seemed to descend over Twilight, and she simply collapsed like a deflating party balloon, crying into her hooves. Luna glanced around, saw everypony else had left, and sat herself down next to the former princess with a sigh. This would not be easy, but it needed to happen. "I understand, Twilight Sparkle." She deliberately forced the royal mannerisms out of her words. Twilight herself had taught her they were out of place among friends, and she imagined they would be even more so when trying to console a pony. "How could anypony understand?" Twilight forced out between sobs. "I betrayed them all." Luna braced herself. The admission always hurt, but she hoped a pony as intelligent as her sister's former personal student would be reasonable enough to take it with a shift in perspective. "I was Nightmare Moon." "But - " "But nothing. You would not let me be alone and friendless, nor will I permit you the same. You are my friend, and I will prevent you from destroying yourself." "So you heard about the surgery," Twilight said, her tone turning sheepish. Luna nodded. "Yes, but that is not what I refer to." "Then I don't -" "I betray my friends. I murder ponies. I'm a monster. I wish they had stopped me when they had the chance." Twilight froze, and Luna saw she had struck a nerve. She might have struck one of her own, as well, but she had to finish her point. "I spent a thousand years on the moon pitying and hating myself, Twilight Sparkle. I know exactly how it feels. But you saved me from that, no matter how insane and unwilling I was, or even how many times I tried to kill you on the way. I will do the same for you." It was probably best to leave out the part where she owed the same to all of Twilight's closest friends... all but one of whom were now dead. There was a long pause. Luna watched Twilight intently, and the younger mare sniffled. "Now, we believe you had a report for us regarding the apparent magical immunities of the zebra lieutenants?" Twilight nodded quickly in response, and began to rattle off a whole presentation of what she'd learned, looking more and more the familiar student in her element the longer she went on. For the first time in a week, Luna found cause to smile. "Come with me, Twilight. It's almost time I raised the moon."