Between Needles and Knives

by Dancewithknives

The End the Night: Part 2 (DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER)

“Abandon hope all ye who enter here.”
-Dante, The Divine Comedy

It helps to read this segment first.

A long day’s night. Princess Luna had never imagined that she would ever look forward to a good night’s rest, heaven forbid how hypocritical that sounded, but as with her sister’s push to make her more modern with the changing times, an eight hour sleep sounded appetizing.

It had been a very busy day full of the normal executive clutter, and with the usual wear and tear of listening to the problems of others, coupled with a packed schedule of lunch, breakfast, and dinner meetings, and a slew of spontaneous interruptions could make anyone feel dirty. So dirty, that the only way to relax and unwind was to clean up.

Which, as Luna walked into her bedroom and had her guards close the doors behind her, cleaning up sounded like a great way to start her night. And, with the holy invention known as “The Shower” and its close cousin “The Royal Water Heater”, she had a quick and relieving means of doing so.

So, after gently placing all of her regalia atop of her bed, Princess Luna casually walked towards her washroom and closed the door behind her. The tiles on the floor were the very epitome of clean, the wallpapering of her walls, a personal touch by her sister upon her return, were a dark blue with actual gold inscribed into it to look like the immaculate heavens above.

She walked past the common bathroom appliances such as the towel rack, sink, and medicine cabinet –all of which were made of precious metals- and stepped right into her pearly white bathtub. She turned the two golden faucets, the hot one more than the cold, to cause water to shoot out from the head. She finally closed the curtain and gave herself some needed super-privacy.

As always, the water was first cold, but she did not mind, as with the other advantages of being a Princess, her priority water heater brought it up to its more enjoyable temperature within seconds, causing steam to flow around the tub.

Water, true to its name, was a universal solvent. Just like how it could dissolve molecular compound and break apart stone, it washed away the outer appearance, the façade, the way that Luna wanted to be seen by the outside world and left her as who she truly way. Without the makeup, without the blush, without the mane products, and without coat conditioners. She stepped forward and placed her front hooves on the wall below the showerhead, angling her neck up and causing the water to fall directly onto her face. The warm liquid from the showerhead saturated her mane, creating a damp sponge-like funnel down the back of her neck and onto the center of her back. The warm water embrace down her spine was so relaxing that her wings released from their closed position and drooped down, letting the purge of water cover relieve all of the stress from the previous day.

She had reached a state of pure relaxation, a mellow state of ease that everything in a state of bliss. The only thing that she could focus on was the dull tapping of water droplets and the pleasure they delivered.

She shouldn’t have done that, though. For as much as she thought she deserved the ability to relax, she should not have let her guard down so much to the point that she was vulnerable. Upon returning home from her exile, her sister had told her always mind her surroundings and be careful, for the walls had eyes.

Literally.

As in from the corner of Luna’s shower two eyes had opened up right in the middle of the tiles.

Blending into the surrounding tiles perfectly, a pony shaped figure silently stepped down from ledge of the tub and, in a rearing position, stepped into the basin of the shower. Its camouflage, once so impeccable that it blended into the tiles perfectly, now looked out of place as a pony-shaped with shower tile-pattern fur stood behind the bathing royalty.

The Princess, with her eyes still closed, opened her mouth and let the warm water pool up in her opened cavity.

A green glow caused a large purple knife to slowly extend out from behind the stalker’s back, like how a magician would pull a cane from out of their sleeve. Like a domestic feline preparing to pounce a vulnerable mouse, the camouflaged individual stretched its front hooves out as it reared, reaching up and –while still not in the Princess field of view- around her head. The knife, still floating in the fog of steam, took position. While Luna had stretched her body out against the wall, it had left the entire expanse of her back pulled nice and tight, like a painter’s canvas. And, like the brush to this canvas, The knife stood at the ready, preparing to take the first stroke around the left kidney.

It is said that killing is an art, and if that is true, then the pony who had intruded on its victim’s cleaning session just happened to be a virtuoso.

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“Breaching!”

A lone slug from the unicorn guard’s personal weapon had exited the chamber of the firearm and made its way into the lock on the door. The force of the solid projectile was enough to rip the enchanted stopper, as well as the nob itself, completely free from the wooden door.

The six Lunar guards stormed the muggy personal washroom of their designated princess and waved through the steam. Within seconds, one of the ponies who had breached the door had flipped the switch and vented the hot, moist, air to the outside of the castle, lifting their visibility and clearing up the situation at hoof.

The shower was still running, but none of the guards apologized, for there was no one to do apologize to. Even though the curtains of the shower distorted whoever was behind them, it was easily apparent that contents of the shower were empty.

So where was she?

The six guards walked closer towards the shower at the other end of the bathroom, scanning each and every crevice for any sign of a struggle or anomaly. But, they would not find any… well, not yet at least.

The pony who had been the first through the breached door had reached the shower. Shouldering his magic crossbow with his right hoof in a way to keep it at the ready, and used his left to, in one swift motion, pull all of the rings of the shower curtain aside and down the metal line to one end.

Whether they saw what had been on the other side of the screen or not, the remaining five heard his reaction.

The pony who had revealed the shower gagged, swallowing down whatever had been trying to escape upon laying eyes open the occupant of the washer. Muttering something along the lines of “Fuck!” the stallion in front stumbled and tripped over his hooves, landed in front of the toiled, and pulled up the lid with the intent to evacuate the contents of his stomach.

But, as he opened up the toiled bowl for the world to see, his eyes jumped out of his head. From whatever color his enchanted armor had made him look, his complexion lost all of its complexion, and finally could not take it anymore.

He vomited all over the tiles of the Royal Lunar Lavatory.

By then, there had only been one guard who had not known what had happened, and that was a female pegasus who had been the back of their pack. She did not need to ask what had happened, or see the catalyst that had started the event. She knew everything that she needed to know by looking in the toilet, and the tip of a horn that was bobbing up and down in the water.

“We need to sound the alarm!” she shouted. And like that, she took to the air and put all of her momentum towards exiting the room.

But, before the remaining guards could organize, regroup, refocus, or even think of trying to find the culprit of the vile act, they heard a crash.

To the abled bodied in the room, it had been like a flash. In a split second they saw their comrade who had declared that she was to alert the rest of the castle flying to the door, and in the next she had changed her momentum, spreading out her enchanted batlike wings as far out as they could, grabbing as much air as possible to stop her path as she noticed something. And it was at that moment they realized they had an audience. By only an outline and a dark form in the only room connected to the master bathroom, a shadowy figure had been present at the doorway, waiting for them to turn around and greet their new host.

A purple flash, it had been moving so fast that the solid object looked to be a straight line, passing in a downwards motion from the top right to the left side of its area. The path of this purple line passed right through the flying mare as she flew into it, moving through and intercepting her throat.

Like some sort of new age, abstract, Neapolitan art, a hoofull of crimson was thrown at the end of the purple line, spattering against the mirror and creating long streaks down into the sink.

“If at first you don’t succeed…” He said as the mare fell to the ground in two parts, “try, try again.”

The remaining Lunar guards, in some way, shape, or form, tried to attack the assailant, but before any weapons could be drawn he closed the bathroom door, exposing a once concealed item that had been placed on the inside of the door.
Ten sticks with a large ticking clock attached to them. In red letters, each stick had the word, “NITROGLYCERIN” printed on its length.

“Oh Shi-!”

Boom.

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At the top of Canterlot Mountain, there is an abandoned structure. The scattered stone and loose shrubbery at the peak of the mountain met organized and carved stones. These stone stacked atop each other to make a temple hidden out of sight from the population that lived around the mountain. While not necessarily a secret, the large structure was sparingly used by any.

It had been made for a purpose, but at the same time its state of disrepair gave a good hint as to how commonly it had been used. On the outside, this stoic structure held a silent and dignified presence amongst the aesthetic beauty of the mountaintop. But, the inside held a different story.

Columns lay dead and discarded throughout the inside of the stone building. What had once been walls had become piles of brick leftover from where the elements of nature had left them. Entire sections of the roof were missing, their only remains were the shingles and supports left on the floor.

But surprisingly, even though it had suffered through years of abuse and ages of neglect, there was one feature that had survived the test of time. The oculus, an intentional hole in the center of the roof, still managed to look up into the sky, and on a night like this, the light of the moon was all this old battered home would have the pleasure of lighting itself tonight.

But in the midst on this late night, there were visitors to this lonely asylum among the stars. The main chamber, the largest of the building but also the most damaged, had a circle laid out in the area with the cleanest surface. The white circle, about 800 yards in diameter was almost empty, except for the seven sleepers within it.

Six of the seven were in a large heap, the last of which was standing out a ways away from the majority of the group.
The outlier from this group, laying on his side, tried to open his eyes, but could only succeed in letting out a moan. He felt as if his head had been ripped off and flushed down a toilet.

Oh wait…

Gray Anatomy, locked his leg and wings out and stretched his stiffness away. Rolling, he pumped his body and swung himself until his momentum was enough until he could sit up on his bottom. The elite guard recruit tried to open his eyes again, and immediately regretted it. His right eye, which felt numb, opened and became flooded with a slew of thick, yellow paint.

He wiped the yellow paint away with his hoof. Then, looking down, he inspected the other areas where he had been “hit”.

Other than his eye, there was an unsurprising ring of blue around his neck, precisely where the soreness of his head began. A green splotch was on his front, where his heart was, and finally there was a large mark on his back, at the location of his kidneys, which could explain why his lower back and groin felt as if it was throbbing.

On the other side of the pile, a mare stuck her head up. After she stretched her wings out and tried moving her head, she reached up and felt the violet paint around her neck. “Fuck me.” She groaned, looking up at the air and rolling her eyes.

Gray chuckled, “No thanks. Not tonight. Too sore.”

“That will be enough for tonight.” Gray, even though his body should not have been moving that fast, shot his head around looked up at the individual who had been standing behind him. It was somewhat annoying that nopony ever had the idea to install regular lighting, grab a lantern, or create a newer area for the training grounds, because as it was Gray was looking up at a pony standing with all but his hooves in the dark. Except for the aforementioned hooves, there was almost no way to see that there was a pony standing behind him. “We shall continue again tomorrow .” He finished.

The rest of the group slowly began to wake up and untied themselves from the heap of sore bodies and wet paint that they had been tangled in.

Gray rubbed more of the paint out of his eye and spoke to the only standing pony among them. Although it may be insubordination to talk so directly or informal to a superior, the problem was that… the pony who the recruits answered to did not have a rank. He did not have a name, and he did not have a service history, he did not have a uniform, he did not have any awards. All he had was a position and designation. He called his “sir” out of respect.

“Training Master, Sir. I don’t mean disrespect, but why are we doing this?”

The voice that responded was not angry. All he said was, “Everypony needs practice.”

“I understand that, sir. But I mean, what am I doing? I’m never going to be Princess Luna. So why is it that whenever we do the VIP drill, why am I always Princess Luna?”

There was a zip. Gray scooted a step back as something was opened and something else was pulled out of somewhere. Slowly, a pair of glowing eyeglasses began to rise out of their position. Although Gray could not see it, he could hear the hinges open and then be placed on their owner’s head. Now, in the pitch dark of the sanctuary among the stars, two white surfaces of glass reflected the moon’s white light back at Gray much like the moon in the oculus above them. The two whites hung in the dark for a few more seconds as they looked down at Gray.

“Everypony needs practice.” The Training Master turned around and began to walk towards the old doorway to the sanctuary. As he was about halfway to the doors he repeated, “Everypony.”

He eventually exited the once sacred temple that had been refitted as the Training Grounds for the Elite Guards and flew away into the night. But as he left, Gray remained seated to the ground, watching where he had exited with one thought left on his mind.

“Practice? Practice for what?”

Author's Note:

Comments

[jemmos]

Hmm? And suddenly I lose track of what is happening.

[Dancewithknives]

4916571

Did you read this first?

Anyway, its supposed to show that he has a second job of training the elite guards of Canterlot. This was one exercise.

[jemmos]

4916633 I did indeed. I'm just not following the transitions from the Ice Cream parlor to Luna's shower scene and then to the gard. I know they are all separate, but the way I read it initially makes me want to connect them all anyway, and that gets confusing.

I'm no pre-reader or editor, but the flow just seems off somehow.

I've loved the rest however. I just finished a little marathon reading session of a good chunk of your work.

[Dancewithknives]

4916673 I understand why it was confusing. The whole idea of splitting up End of the Night was 1. The first time I've ever written something that was wish fulfilment, and 2. to be a big sequel bait so that people who read the previous story would be inclined to read the sequel in order to figure out what happened with the cliffhanger earlier.

If you don't understand what happened with the split during EotN part 2, think of it as if they were playing paintball. The guards were doing a protection exercise and one of them was playing the role of Luna.