Half-Hour Horses

by HoofAndQuill

The Last One [Dark]

(The Prompt: Her first kill.)

(Time limit bit me again. I need to work on pacing.)

Celestia and her younger sister picked their way carefully down what might have once been a minor trading road. Luna stumbled here and there on the uneven footing, but angrily shook off her sister's attempts at helping with her magic. Celestia didn't take any offense from this; it had been a long road full of difficult decisions, and even with the end in sight, both of their tempers were a bit short.

She kicked at the stones beneath her hooves, and scowled as they broke open to reveal some kind of chocolate candy filling. So, His influence had spread this far already. She reached the bottom of the small hill, and turned to watch her sister navigating the rest of the trip. Luna flapped her wings and flew a bit awkwardly down the remaining distance, shooting a glare at Celestia after she landed, almost daring her to object.

She didn't, though. It was just something she had to get used to.

Her saddlebags jingled with the gems contained inside. Hopefully they would be enough to stop Him. If not, Celestia was frankly completely out of ideas. There were few ponies, if any, as capable as she and her sister. Their years of apprenticeship under Star Swirl The Bearded, their royal position as the Princesses of the Unicorn Kingdom of Everfree... if 'unicorn' still applied, anyway...

Celestia shook her head. "Come, sister. We are both tired, but if this works, we can rest in the morrow."

"If, yes." Luna's sour expression didn't do much to lift Celestia's spirits, but at least she was spared an argument.

Celestia bit back any reply, and turned to lead the way down the disused trade road. The Castle Everfree was far enough away to be spared Discord's influence, so far, but his random insanity had been causing problems throughout Equestria, far beyond his immediate reach.

One more day. Another perhaps twelve hours of travel, and they would face him again. Exhausted, broken, changed in a way neither of them fully understood, they would face him again. They would bring an end to things, one way or another.

It was already late evening before they met any other ponies along this stretch of road. By now the grass had begun to resemble a sort of checkered patchwork. Up ahead was a small, broken wagon, with crushed crates strewn about around it. No ponies in sight, and the cart looked like an Earth pony design. Celestia spoke quietly. "Stay here, my sister. I may need your help."

Luna nodded, and Celestia felt the smallest bit of pride in how pleased she looked. Luna always wanted to feel more important, and even the barest implication that she might be of help to her older sister always seemed to lift her spirits. Celestia refocused herself, and walked slowly toward the wagon. Nopony came to greet her, but there was something strange about completely abandoned goods this far from any town.

It wasn't until she was only three or four feet from the boxes that she noticed the ambush.

She reared back as quickly as she could, dodging the flying tackle from the large, brown, earth pony stallion. A few steps back and she was out of his immediate reach, though by no means directly safe. A lone earth pony? She lit her horn to make sure he understood who he was facing. "Calm yourself, pony! I am only passing through, there is no need to attack me!"

The earth pony grinned, and she only now noticed the knives attached to his forelegs. "A unicorn mare out here all alone? You must be feelin' pretty scared. Maybe if you dump out those saddlebags we ken talk about the toll. An' take that necklace off, looks like it'd be worth a lot of bits."

Celestia frowned, and the spread her wings, taking on the loud, formal demeanor appropriate for her position. "A common bandit? I am Princess Celestia of the Everfree, and I am on my way to challenge Discord. You would do well to step aside."

"What in Tartauros are you? Everfree's s'posed to be full a' unicorns." The earth pony stepped back, but then frowned and braced himself. "Princess is probably worth a ton a' ransom. Damn fool royalty comin' around here on their lonesome."

The pony rushed at her, and Celestia felt the world slow as her training guided her. She calmly sidestepped his barbaric charge, and whipped her tail around his legs to toss him to the ground. "Discord changed us to this when we last faced him! We challenged him in the name of all ponies, and he sought to make us like all ponies in return. Do you not seek freedom from him as well? Why do you attack me?"

He stood up again, turning to face her. "'We', eh? Finally admittin' you ain't alone?"

Celestia bit her tongue in annoyance. Foalish mistake. Hardly mattered though, really. Luna would be there any second, and perhaps outnumbering the oaf would convince him to at least let them pass. There was a clattering of stone behind her, and she turned to see what it was.

Only a moment later she was on the ground from the stallion's charge. He continued past her and slammed hard against her smaller and younger sister, knocking the alicorn sideways and down a small embankment and out of view. Celestia scrambled to her hooves and rushed to the side, finding herself twenty feet away from and above a stallion with a knife to her sister's throat.

"Alright, see, this is how we're goin' to do this. You're going to set them bags down, an' that necklace, and maybe I'll let th' both of you get back home in one piece." The stallion grinned, looking confident in his bargaining position.

Celestia flicked her eyes away from the stallion's, to the knife, and then to her sister's eyes. There was a moment of agreement, and the smallest nod from Luna. Luna suddenly jerked her head upward, against the stallion's muzzle. He didn't let go, but it bought Celestia maybe a second of time.

She charged. Her hooves were unsure on the unveven hillside, the ground was chaotic and ruined from Discord's influence, and she was half blinded in fury at this idiot stallion threatening what may be the last hope for this world. Celestia's horn lit, she called forth a spell to disable the stallion, hoping that a few hours of unconsciousness would leave him alive, at least.

She heard a short, familiar laugh in her ears. Discord's. The ground shifted just a bit, and she tripped, only a few feet from the stallion. She couldn't stop herself, and her horn pierced deeply into the stallion's chest.

Her unique position, her unforseen magical boost from Discord's change to her body, her training under Star Swirl, the dire misery of the situation... she wasn't sure what it was. But something now seemed to stretch time out. She thought about this stallion. What had lead him to this path? What had caused him to become so desperate as to waylay travelers on the road side? Did he have family? Did he do it to feed his foals? Was he truly evil, or just pressed into it by desperate circumstance?

The few seconds passed, and she pulled her horn back out of him. No unicorn gored anypony, if given the option. It was barbaric and unclean. But it was too late to save this one, her horn had pierced something vital, and he collapsed nearly immediately. Luna stared at her in shock.

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, and steeled herself as best she could. She tried not to sound cold, or at least not as cold as she felt. "It was Discord, my sister. He... this pony may be the first, but he will not be the last. There will be many who oppose our taking of Equestria. Come, we have another foe to face."

Luna stood, nodded slightly, and the two took a moment to look down at the fallen stallion. Celestia closed her eyes, and sighed as she felt Luna gently nuzzle her neck. Discord had changed so much already, this really shouldn't be such a horrible surprise. Certainly Discord had killed hundreds of ponies in his reign, directly or indirectly. The fact that this one had been her fault...

Celestia straightened up, and started back toward the path, sparing only one more regretful look back towards the body. "Come, Luna. We will make certain that this is the last pony that falls to Him."

Comments

[PresentPerfect]

I don't think I've ever seen an origin for Celestia and Luna like this before. :D