They were too late.
The mare had been long dead when the battle was done and the royal guard found her small, battered body. Her tail was nothing more than a heap of burnt hair on the ground, and her mane was burned away right to her scalp. Her right foreleg was broken in several places, the bone sticking out awkwardly through the skin, and gleaming unnaturally in the moonlight. The smell of the blistered flesh filled the small copse of trees, heavy and stifling. There wasn’t a whole lot of her left. The patch where the body lay was burned and blackened, and the last few brown stems of grass were soaked with thick black ash and drying blood.
Several guards immediately hurried away to relieve themselves of their dinners.
“In the name of Celestia,” Sharp Edge murmured, trying to cover his muzzle with a foreleg. The brutality of it stunned him. Such cruelty wasn't commonly found in Equestria but this...the poor mare must have suffered so at the hoofs of that monster. “What did this?”
“Something evil,” came a quiet voice from behind him and all the ponies present dropped to the ground out of habit.
“Princess! Are you alright?” Sharp Edge asked, pulling himself up to face their monarch. Her mane, blowing in a non-existent wind, was singed in places from dark magic and it would take a while for the uneven strands to grow back. Her armour was dented and dirty, and there were quite a few cuts and bruises on her gleaming white pelt. There was a rather large gash on her flank, oozing blood down her leg. She limped slightly – something had badly sprained an ankle and she was missing quite a few feathers where something had gripped her right wing fiercely and ripped.
She walked up to the corpse without any sign that she was disgusted by the sight or the smell. To the surprise of all present, she bowed her head low next to the mare’s torn muzzle and whispered something softly, that no one else could hear, no matter how they strained their ears.
“Your highness?” The Captain of the guard stepped forward, concerned. He had a large gash over one eye but had refused to let a unicorn medic help him. Sharp Edge didn’t fuss over wounds like some little foal. Not when there was a fight to be won and a city full off ponies to calm.
The princess was silent for a moment before she raised her head.
“Captain. Please start making arrangements for the wounded to be taken back to Canterlot when they are stable enough for transport. And increase the patrols on the border of the city, if you would. I doubt our foe would be so unwise as to attack again – as if he can…” she muttered darkly under her breath and those who heard shivered slightly in their horseshoes at the reminder that their ethereal goddess had just viciously banished a demon back to the darkness.
Sharp Edge nodded and made to summon those still able-bodied to help before the princess spoke again.
“And also, I would like her to be buried in the royal memorial garden.” Sharp Edge started at these words, stunned at her request.
“But your highness! The royal memorial garden is reserved for heroes and distinguished guards of Equestria!” he protested.
“This mare did more for Equestria than you shall ever know!” Celestia snapped, and for a moment, the flame-sheathed goddess was back. But then it was gone and only a battle weary mare was left.
“Please. I’d like her to have a proper funeral,” Celestia said softly. Her eyes drifted back to the body. Her expression was heavy but the set of her mouth was resolute.
Sharp Edge looked at his princess, confused for a moment. He had long suspected that there was a lot about the world Celestia kept to herself and this seemed to be one of those things. He bowed to Celestia briefly, before turning and barking orders. Guards immediately snapped to attention, eagerly awaiting orders to evacuate this dreary little copse, with its dank smell and presence of death. They marched away, under Sharp Edge’s watchful eye, leaving Celestia alone to grieve.
Celestia sighed and turned back to her poor former apprentice.
Kimono hadn’t stood a chance. The demon ram had brutalised her, tortured her and torn her to pieces, screaming all the while. For help. For salvation. And in the end, for death.
Celestia had failed. Again.
A tear dripped slowly down Celestia’s muzzle. Always, always, too late to save anypony.
“Oh, Kimono!” she sobbed. She bowed her head again, imagining Kimono’s pelt was a soft dusky pink again, her bright green eyes dancing with laughter. She didn’t want to remember her like this, some poor battered creature.
Finally, Celestia ceased her tears. Sniffling slightly, she raised her eyes skyward. Between the long, skeletal branches, the moon faintly glimmered.
The night was empty of stars. In her rush to join the battle, she had only just remembered to raise the moon. She wished she hadn’t: it felt like Luna was judging her from its cold surface. As it was, it barely lit the small grassy copse anyway. Its light seemed dim on this dismal night.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen!” she pleaded desperately. “I was only trying to do what was best for Equestria!”
But as always, her absent, moon-bound sister didn’t answer. Luna’s silhouette stared down silently. For a moment, Celestia imagined Luna’s soft voice in her head – once again, trying to drive her to madness, as Luna had always represented Celestia’s greatest failure – but then it was gone, taken away by a cool night breeze.
Celestia grit her teeth. She was princess, buck it! Equestria relied on her. There was hope yet. The Demon Ram was gone for the time being. More importantly, another mare would be born. That was how it worked, even a thousand years after she had first cast the spell. Another would be born to take on the mantle. It had worked well until now. But the Shadow had been too strong this time. Or the warrior too weak.
No, she would not fail again. Not this time. The next one would be stronger and well prepared. When she was recovered, she’d immediately start her search. With Kimono’s death, the next Sandmare would be born shortly, chosen by threads of harmony and dream magic. And Celestia had to find her before the darkness did.
Back in Canterlot, all was quiet now. Even those hidden in their houses had heard the unholy scream and the clash of magic that signalled the banishment of the Demon Ram. Celestia hadn't been able to banish him far, not without the Elements or the bell that had been his defeat so long ago. But her fury had been enough and her country was free of him again.
But now all was quiet and as ponies, one by one, began to creep out from under tables and open their windows and doors to stare up into the night sky, once again and hoped that soon the day would come.
Celestia summoned what was left of her strength to levitate Kimono’s body. She didn’t have the energy to fly so she turned and limped back the way she had come, out of the battlefield, ignoring the sharp thorns that snagged at her as she pushed through the branches, holding Kimono aloft. Her journey back to the city looked a long and painful one but Celestia merely raised her head and stumbled on.