The halls echoed with hoof-steps. The walls seared with spell fire of now long past. The halls of Memoria wanted for warmth, children's laughter, and murmur of life.
The gardens withered in their courtyards.
The plaster cracked and wood molded.
The horror gnawed at her insides as she wandered the halls. The blast marks increased the closer she trotted to the council room. Outlines of all-ponies and piles of melted slag lined the halls behind half-destroyed remains of barriers.
The heavy ironwood door, blackened, was ajar. Luna wished to turn back. Wanted to turn back. She owed them though. More than anything, she owed them.
She pushed through the gap.
Death reigned in the gloom. Her light revealed the gleam o f white, gray, and black. Her nostrils flared at the stench of death and blood.
They fought to the end. Every pony, from babe to elder, had been prepared for the end. Even in the bare remains, Luna could read the resignation.
The only thing remained intact was the throne. Impaled and crucified, Luna recognized Nue's skeleton. The jawbone twisted in silent, eternal agony. The eye sockets and cheekbones stained black. The draconequus's last tears for those she could not save.
"Why are you torturing me with this?" Luna snarled.
"Am I?"
Luna twirled on her hind legs and glared at the white alicorn. The alicorn's eyes gazed at Nue's remains. The larger alicorn finally looked at Luna.
"Come."
Reality twisted around the two. Luna couldn't break the elder's grip. However, when reality reinserted itself, Luna's body slacked in disbelief.
Canterlot may had glistened in the daylight but Luna's attention was drawn to those scurrying below in the gardens. Collared beings of ever type prepared for some sort of gala. Unicorns with their horns filed down worked in concert to adjust a stage. Even from her position on the balcony, she could see no hope. Even the guards displayed such things.
Then if by some unseen signal, the non-ponies disappeared and the rest took their position. The doors from the castle opened and a herd of unicorns cantered out.
Unlike the others, these unicorns stood well-fed, haughty, and long horned. Their cutie marks framed by cloth and jewelry made the most absurd display Luna had seen. Even the galas had not been this bad.
Luna realized as her eye was caught by a familiar pair of forms among the statuary. Luna's horror intensified as she took stock of the detailed statue. Her sister and Discord, back to back, in fighting stances. Her sister's semi-serene face unable to hid the sorrow there and Discord's profile screamed ugly grieving rage. Their vessels emptied of their souls.
Luna left the elder's side and flew around the garden. None of the ponies bothered to notice her.
Cadance and Shining Armor stood protectively over their daughter, petrified for all eternity in a quiet nook. Twilight and the Elements of Harmony caught probably in what had been the last moment of joy, only Futtershy displaying dawning fear sat in the middle of a hedge maze.
Nue's spirit surprised her when she discovered the statuary of Spike, sleeping forever. The spirit looked up at her with wide colorless eyes. The holes from the swords were merely gaps in the ectoplasm. Nue looked more stripped, more scarred.
The ghost beckoned with a claw. Wordlessly, Luna followed.
Luna's own statue, her preserved corpse was placed near the slaves' quarters. A small shrine had been placed behind it, only visible to those coming in and out of those quarters. Her statue was quiet dignified grief. The ghost caressed the statue's cheek before entering the quarters.
Luna followed. Here was the whisper of hope. Stories of the Alicorns, of draconequus, and of freedom murmured and told between moments of work. Luna listened, an unseen guest, to the tales of woe, the darkness across all of Equestria, of the Unicorn queen who had not much room in her heart, and dreams of a future.
Nue's presence faded as the elder Alicorn arrived. Luna turned her head to see Nue bow to the elder before fading away. The Alicorn beckoned her with a wing. That horrid reality faded and her original room reinstated itself.
"It is a warning?"
The elder didn't not answer before dissolved into mana motes. The Alicorn's voice echoed in the room.
"A reminder."