Wings of Tomorrow ~ Lament of the World

by Keeper of Jericho

16. Things that go bump in the night

Wings of Tomorrow
Lament of the World

16. Things that go bump in the night

The three mares walked quietly through some small alleyway of Canterlot, slowly making their way to the higher tier of the city where Rarity’s estate was built. The noise of the parade and the crowd watching it had died down to nothing more but some minor disturbance in the distance. In these small streets, the night seemed cool and peaceful, and it helped to soothe their troubled minds. Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity didn’t speak a lot, too occupied with their own thoughts to be able to form a coherent conversation.

Fluttershy was still struggling with what she had witnessed. So many unspeakable things had been done right in front of her, and the ponies who committed those heinous crimes did not feel an ounce of shame for their actions. Quite the opposite, they were proud of themselves, and the masses praised them for it. It was unsettling for the pegasus to see that ponies were capable of doing such horrible things to another pony.

She didn’t fool herself into thinking that back when time was normal everypony had been polite and friendly. She knew that wasn’t the case. Merchants had tried to abuse her shyness to ask higher prices from her, she had been bullied when she was a filly and the Canterlot elite had always been rather snobbish and condescending to common ponies. Fluttershy knew that Equestria hadn’t been perfect when time was normal, but she never said as much. There were always rotten apples in the orchard.

However, it was the way this kind of behaviour was treated and the scale on which it occurred that made all the difference. Sure, there might have been mean ponies in the old time, but their behaviour was never approved of, and acting like that would have consequences. Here, however, ponies cheered when another pony was horribly mistreated and abused. Ponies living in poverty was normal. The upper class exploiting the lower class was seen as the way things had to be. It was all wrong, and Fluttershy didn’t know how to handle it. It clashed entirely with her view of ponykind.

It made her think about herself and her place in the world. Fluttershy was a timid mare, and she never liked to make herself get noticed in any kind of way. She preferred to live in peace and quiet, undisturbed if possible, except by visits of her friends, those were always welcome. But she was also a very moral pony, with a strong sense of justice that belied her timid nature. She never approved of bullying or mistreatment of the weak, even if she was too scared to do something about it when she saw it happen.

One of her greatest moments of shame was when she had been such an awful pony herself, due to her taking the advice on being assertive from Iron Will far beyond what was acceptable. It made her uncomfortable thinking about it, just as it made her uncomfortable thinking about anypony being bullied or mistreated. To know that Princess Celestia herself was one of those ponies who suffered unjustly at the hooves of horrible, mean ponies, stirred a strange kind of feeling within Fluttershy. A kind of urge to step forward, put her hoof down and end the mistreatment.

Fluttershy inwardly cringed and squeaked timidly. Those kind of thoughts were so unlike her. She really didn’t like what happened to the Princess, and of course she wished that Princess Celestia was free. But what could she do about it? She was just a timid, little pegasus who was afraid of her own shadow. Certainly, she had learned that every contribution, no matter how small, mattered, when it was her help that had allowed her fellow pegasi to transport water from Ponyville to Cloudsdale with a tornado. But there was a big difference between doing a bit of flying and freeing a Princess from being maltreated by an entire nation.

She frowned a bit as she struggled with her emotions. Watching the parade had made her want to put an end to it, to step forward and come to the Princess’ aid. Luckily she hadn’t done that, for there was no doubt that she’d be in a dungeon now if she had. The inner voice that urged her to do something remained, however. Briefly, Fluttershy wondered if her friends heard the call of this inner voice as well. Had Rainbow Dash heard it, too, and heeded its call? No doubt she had. Rainbow Dash was a brave and strong pony, after all, unlike her.

“Fluttershy?”

Twilight’s voice pulled the pegasus from her thoughts, and she glanced sideways to look at the unicorn curiously. Twilight was looking at Fluttershy with worry on her face.

“Are you alright?” Twilight wanted to know. “You’ve been quiet since we left the parade… I know we all haven’t said much, but even so, when Rarity and I did talk, you never joined in any of our conversations…” She bit her lower lip briefly. “I… I’m just worried that it was all a bit too much for you.” Realising what she had just implied, Twilight hurried to add: “Ehm, no offense, of course.”

Fluttershy smiled shyly and gave Twilight a gentle nudge with her muzzle. “It’s okay, Twilight, I’m not offended,” she assured her studious friend. “I… I just have a lot to think about…” she admitted.

Twilight nodded slowly. “I understand,” she said quietly. “Can’t say I feel any different.” The lavender unicorn sighed deeply. “Ever since I saw the parade the first time, I couldn’t get the images of it out of my head. I even had nightmares about it. Seeing it again tonight was…” A shiver ran down Twilight’s spine. “Difficult,” she finished.

“I can imagine,” Rarity chimed in, giving Twilight a sympathetic look. “I feel much the same. Seeing the parade always makes me feel…” The unicorn trailed off and hesitated, then shook her head and made a helpless gesture with one of her hooves. “Well, you understand, don’t you,” she asked, looking imploringly at her friends.

Her two friends nodded quietly, and the three mares walked on in silence for a while. Then Twilight gave Fluttershy a curious look. “So, Fluttershy, now that you’ve actually seen the parade… Do you regret that you went to watch it?” she asked hesitatingly.

Fluttershy didn’t immediately reply, for she had to think deeply about the answer. Finally, she slowly shook her head. “I… I don’t,” she said timidly. “Um… It wasn’t nice and pleasant at all… But… But I’m still glad that I went to see it. At least, I now… know?” The pegasus gave Twilight an apologetic look. She couldn’t find any better words to express how she felt about the event, but a comforting smile from Twilight told her that it was okay, that her friends understood what she meant.

“Well, I for one am glad that your curiosity was satiated to your liking, darling,” Rarity said. “I hope it means that we won’t be doing this kind of excursion again next year, pardon me for saying so.”

“Oh, I definitely don’t want to see it again,” Fluttershy replied hastily. “I just felt that I had to witness it at least once, and now that I have, I’d like to never see or think of it again.” She glanced nervously at her friends. “If that’s okay with you, that is.”

“But of course, my dear,” Rarity assured her, giving the pegasus mare a warm smile as she did so. “It is a rather sore subject that all of us prefer to avoid, so we have no problem with agreeing to Fluttershy’s wishes, don’t we, Twilight?”

“None whatsoever,” Twilight confirmed with a nod. “Though if you feel the need to talk about it because it is bothering you, don’t hesitate to come to us to do so,” she added after a short pause. “We’re always willing to listen.”

“Naturally,” Rarity agreed, “we’re your friends after all, Fluttershy.” The words of her friends made the pegasus smile a bit, and she thanked her friends for their kindness. The conversation seemed to have eased some of the tension that had come over the three of them, and they continued their trip through the small streets of Canterlot in better spirits, while making some small talk along the way.

---

“Rarity, are we lost?” Twilight asked sceptically, when the group, after half an hour of walking, still hadn’t reached Rarity’s estate. It was hard to say if they even made much progress or not, for at night all the small streets of Canterlot looked the same.

“Why, of course not, Twilight,” Rarity replied smoothly. “What a thing to say! We’re merely taking a bit of a detour to avoid the crowds that the parade has assembled.” The street they were currently walking through led them to a small square, with a tiny if lovely fountain in the middle of it, surrounded by beds of flowers. The white unicorn tapped her chin with one of her hooves, then glanced up at the sky. “Hmm… Was the castle supposed to be this close to the Prancent Van Hoof square?”

Fluttershy let out a soft squeak, and Twilight planted her hoof firmly against her face. “We’re lost, aren’t we?” the lavender unicorn groaned, while giving Rarity a deadpan look. She then moved over to Fluttershy to put the timid pegasus at ease.

Rarity held her head up defiantly. “Twilight, darling, don’t be ridiculous,” she chided, a tad too defensively. The white unicorn crossed the square and walked to the street that bent to the right around the corner. “I know my way around the city I live in, thank you very much. Why, it is just around this corner and…”

That was as far as Rarity got before getting rudely interrupted. Fate had it that just as the white mare rounded the corner, another pony, who was running at top speed, did so as well. Startled by Rarity’s sudden appearance, the other pony could no longer change course or stop, and barrelled straight into her, knocking the both of them to the ground.

“Rarity!” Twilight and Fluttershy exclaimed in unison, while rushing over to their fallen friend. The white unicorn was groaning, but was already trying to climb back to her hooves.

“Are you alright?” Twilight asked, her face bearing a mask of worry, while she helped Rarity up. Once the white unicorn stood on her four hooves again, albeit a bit shakily, Fluttershy began to check her over, looking for any sign of injuries.

“I’ll live,” Rarity replied slowly. Her head was spinning a bit, and she held up a hoof against it in an attempt to steady it. When her vision had stabilized again, she looked down at herself and noticed the state of her dress. With an expression of distaste on her muzzle, Rarity tried to smooth out her gown a bit, to try and minimalize the damage. As she did so, she brushed against her ribs, which made her wince. “Oww… It would appear that my ribs are rather bruised.”

“I’m not surprised, that was quite the blow,” Twilight muttered. She looked around for the pony who had ran into her friend, and noticed the culprit laying sprawled on the street a few steps away, unmoving. Worried, Twilight cautiously began to approach Rarity’s assailant. Behind her, Fluttershy was fussing over Rarity.

“Oh, Rarity, we must take you to a doctor! Such a blow to your ribs can be very dangerous!” Twilight heard Fluttershy say.

“Fluttershy, darling, I am fine, simply a bit bruised is all,” Rarity replied calmly. The pegasus wouldn’t have any of it, and kept insisting that Rarity get some medical care. Eventually, the white unicorn sighed and gave in. “Very well, my dear, if it will make you feel better, I’ll let you take a look at me once we get home, yes?”

Fluttershy began to stammer that she wasn’t a doctor and not at all qualified to provide medical care for her, but Rarity politely ignored her and turned to the pony who had ran her over. “My dear, I am aware that it is night and rather dark,” she said coldly to her assailant. “But that is no reason to not watch where you are going or to run into a lady. The least you could do is help her up!”

“Ehm, Rarity,” Twilight interrupted her from where she stood next to the fallen pony, who had still not moved. “I don’t think he’s capable of helping any pony up. Look.” She gestured at the stallion at her hooves, while urging her friends to come closer. Fluttershy and rarity hesitatingly complied, feeling not at all at ease. Twilight’s had a grim look in her eyes, and the tone of her voice had been dark and serious.

Fluttershy nervously shuffled towards the fallen pony. She could see now that it was a pegasus, a stallion to be precise, dressed entirely in black, formfitting clothes. His torso and head were protected by an armour and faceplate, respectively, both fashioned from obsidian, as black as the night. He had some peculiar kind of shoes on his hooves, which silenced his hoofsteps even when running. That explained why Rarity hadn’t heard him coming before he ran into her.

Fluttershy came a bit closer, and then noticed how a dark liquid leaked from the stallion’s body and formed tiny streams on the street. She realised what it was at the same time Rarity did, and both mares recoiled, backing away from the stallion in shock.

“B… blood?!” Rarity exclaimed, and she held a hoof before her mouth in a vain attempt to mask the horrified, shocked expression on her face. “B… but he only ran into me! That can’t have injured him to the point of bleeding!”

“He was injured before he ran into you, Rarity,” Twilight replied, while checking the pegasus’ body for the precise location of his injuries. His armour had been pierced straight through in multiple places, a feat only offensive magic was capable of. She shared these findings with her friends, then announced the only logical conclusion: “These wounds weren’t inflicted by an accident. This stallion was attacked.”

A heavy silence fell as Twilight’s words sunk in. Rarity looked tensed and worried, while Fluttershy stood rooted to the ground. The pegasus’ eyes wide and her body frozen with terror, something that her two unicorn friends found entirely understandable. The night had been hard enough on Fluttershy so far due to the shy mare having to deal with everything she had seen at the parade. To have a stallion pooling in his own blood, due to an encounter with other ponies, added on top of that would be too much for any pony.

“We have to move. I don’t doubt he ran into you because he was fleeing from his assailants,” Twilight said to Rarity. The lavender unicorn glanced around the small square quickly, checking for any sign of movement. Then she leaned over and placed her ear to the stallion’s body. Relief flooded her features. “Good, he’s still breathing. We should get him to a doctor as quickly as possible. I’ll carry him while…”

A bloodied hoof suddenly reached out and grabbed her dress, staining it with blood. The hoof yanked Twilight down and she unexpectedly found herself staring into a yellow eye with a cat-like pupil. The sudden movement and the abnormal eye startled Twilight badly, and she screamed, tearing herself loose and backing away. The hoof that had grabbed her belonged to the wounded pegasus, whose ears twitched when Twilight screamed, indicating that he heard the noise, or was at the very least aware of it.

Twilight’s scream had startled Fluttershy and Rarity badly, and the two mares recoiled in fright as well, letting out a scream just like their purple friend. They now found themselves staring from each other to the wounded stallion, while their hearts hammered inside their chests at an unhealthy pace. When they finally realised that there was no immediate danger and calmed down again, Twilight gathered what courage she had left and approached the fallen pony again.

She noticed now that the pegasus’ wings were those of a bat, which, combined with his cat-like eyes, made her realise that he was a Night guard. This only served to confuse her further, for the Night Guard had been disbanded a millennium ago, and since Princess Luna was dead in this time, it had never been reinstated. This begged the question where this stallion had gotten the enchantment from that Luna used to cast upon her guards to make them suit her peculiar tastes, when there was no Princess of the Night here to cast it.

The Night guard’s leg reached out in erratic and uncoordinated movements, and his body convulsed periodically. His eyes glanced around wildly, seeing things that were not there. The loss of blood and his injuries had taken their toll upon him, leaving him fevered and delirious. It was a terrible sight, horrifying and heart-wrenching, and it made every one of the three friends realise that he was not going to make it.

When Twilight stood next to him again, his bloodied hoof found her chest once more, but he no longer had the strength to yank her down to eye-level. As she looked down upon him with pity and compassion, the pegasus’ gaze settled upon her, but did not see her. His shocked brain only saw her as a fellow Night guard, a comrade.

“Plans… in saddlebags…” the stallion whispered, his voice raspy and weak. It obviously took a great deal of his strength to speak, and blood began to leak down the corner of his mouth. He futilely tugged at Twilight’s dress, his delirious eyes looking desperately into hers, and Twilight found that she could not break eye contact.

“Bring them… to… to… admiral Rain… Rainbow… Dash…” he whispered, his words and eyes imploring her to heed his request. His body convulsed again, and he coughed up blood, making Twilight wince and feel sick. “Admiral… Rain… bow… Dahh… shh…” A last convulsion wrecked his body, and then his hoof dropped down from Twilight’s chest, leaving only a red smear on her dress. The Night guard had ceased moving, and Twilight averted her eyes and turned her head away.

“I… is he…?” Fluttershy stammered meekly, her voice barely audible. She stared at the unmoving body of the pegasus with wide and panicky eyes, before glancing nervously at Twilight, quietly imploring the unicorn to deny what her eyes were telling her.

Alas, Twilight knew that there was no denying the truth, and she nodded curtly. “Dead, yes,” she confirmed quietly, the word feeling strange and alien on her tongue. The unicorn let out a sigh, then lit up her horn with magic, focussing hesitatingly on the saddlebags that were strapped to the deceased pegasus’ back. She found them strangely resistant to her telekinetic grip, but with an extra burst of power from her horn she successfully managed to pry one of the bags open, revealing a bundle of scrolls that had been hastily pushed in the bags. Twilight wanted to pick them up with her magic, but a hoof on her shoulder stopped her.

“Darling, whatever are you doing?!” Rarity hissed, her face mere inches away of Twilight’s own. The white unicorn glanced around nervously, and appeared to be quite panicked.

“Picking up these scrolls,” Twilight replied simply, briefly looking at Rarity out of the corner of her eyes. “Didn’t you hear this poor stallion? He mentioned Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh, I heard, I heard him quite clearly! All the more reason to ask what in Equestria you are doing, Twilight!” Rarity replied, her voice rising a bit and sounding even more panicky. “Haven’t you realised by now that this unfortunate gentlecolt was a royalist?! He obviously stole something of value from the Republic, got caught by the guards and was injured while fleeing from them! No doubt they are still searching for him, and if they find us here, or with those scrolls, we’ll spend the rest of our lives in the dungeons of Canterlot Castle!”

“All the more reason to let me take the scrolls, so we can hurry up and get out of here,” Twilight said, sounding surprisingly calm. She brushed off Rarity’s hoof and began to try and unbuckle the belt that tied the saddlebags to the Night guard’s body. Rarity stood rooted to the ground, her jaw dropped and her eyes wide with shock.

“Twilight, this… This is high treason!” she sputtered helplessly, finding herself too overwhelmed by her fellow unicorn’s sudden actions to try and stop her. Again Rarity looked around the square, panicking, fearing that every moment somepony would come out and see them. “We don’t even know what to do with these scrolls! Take them to Rainbow Dash?! Celestia knows where she is! We’ll be caught before we can even deliver them! They’ll skin me alive for this, Twilight! You’re putting your friends and my family in danger! Twilight! Twilight Sparkle, are you listening to me?!”

Evidently Twilight wasn’t, for the lavender unicorn was lifting the saddlebags up with her magic and placing them on her own back by the time Rarity was finished with her rant. Rarity was stunned speechless for a moment, then looked around desperately for help.

“Fluttershy, darling, please say something! Talk her out of this!” Rarity pleaded, her panic rising with every passing second. She could only think of how this was not supposed to have happened. The plan had been to watch the parade and then go home to spend a lovely weekend with two of her best friends, not to get caught up in the civil war!

Fluttershy, however, didn’t react in the slightest to Rarity’s desperate plea. The timid pegasus was still staring blankly at the unmoving body of the bat-winged pegasus. Seeing this, Rarity felt as if she was quickly losing it. Everything was going to Tartarus. Her career, her business, her status, but more importantly, the safety of her little sister and her parents, were at risk now all because of Twilight’s actions. She turned around to face her fellow unicorn and give her a firm piece of her mind, but one look in Twilight’s eyes was enough to silence her.

“Rarity, I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not changing my mind,” the lavender unicorn said firmly, her eyes looking grim and serious. “All these years I’ve lived knowing that everything was wrong and that I couldn’t do a thing to change that. Now I have a chance to act, and if bringing these scrolls to Rainbow Dash will help in even the slightest way to free the Princess, then I’ll do so.” Twilight reached out and placed one of her hooves on Rarity’s shoulders, smiling apologetically at her friend.

“But I’m not so selfish as to make decisions for you. If you don’t want anything to do with this, then that’s fine. I understand it completely, and I’m not angry at all,” she said, her voice sounding kind and gentle again. She gestured with her head at the still immobilized Fluttershy. “You take Fluttershy with you and go home, and forget that you ever met me here. I’ll do this on my own. I don’t expect you to endanger Sweetie Belle or to give up everything you’ve worked so hard to get, nor will I ask that of you. So please, for your own safety, take Fluttershy with you and go.”

---

Rarity gaped at Twilight in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that this was happening, that everything had spiralled out of control so unexpectedly and so quickly. She was entirely not prepared for this, to make this kind of choice. The white unicorn kept staring at her friend, who was still smiling understandingly. Rarity’s mind staggered. Was this it? She asked herself. Was this how she’d lose one of her best friends? She opened her mouth to say something, anything, to try and stop Twilight. Just as the first word was about to cross her lips, however, she was rudely interrupted.

“Freeze!”

The command was spoken in a harsh, loud voice, startling the three mares out of their skin. There was the sound of steel-clad hooves thundering over the street, and then suddenly eight guards stormed into the square, with two more pegasi sweeping in from above. In no time at all they had surrounded the three friends, who now found themselves looking directly at the sharp edges and tips of the lances and swords pointed at them. Twilight and Rarity nervously stepped back until they bumped into each other. Fluttershy, due to the harsh order from a moment before and the weapons pointed at her, was finally shaken out of her daze. Seeing ten guards glaring darkly at her frightened her terribly, and with a squeak she tried to hide behind her two unicorn friends.

Said two unicorns were glancing fearfully from one guard to the next, realising perfectly that they were in deep trouble, especially given that Twilight was clearly wearing the saddlebags of a wanted fugitive. They couldn’t be caught any more redhoofed even if they tried. The expressions on the guards’ faces also weren’t very hope giving. Twilight and Rarity could see that the guards were breathing hard, indicating that they had been chasing the deceased pegasus for quite a while. All of them looked anything but pleased, most of them having looks of seething rage within their eyes, while a few of them looked at the three mares with undisguised glee.

One of the guards, a unicorn stallion stepped forth from the circle, glanced at the body of the bat-winged pegasus and then at the three friends. He was dressed in the standard red-and-black uniform of the Republican guard, over which he wore his silver-coloured armour and helm. In the telekinetic grasp of his horn, he held a sharp lance, pointed straight at them.

“Well, well, it would appear the intruders have more accomplices than we thought,” he finally said, his voice cold and impassive. He looked at Fluttershy, who cowered under his gaze, and then at Rarity and Twilight, who were sweating profusely. The guard snorted in disdain. “Passing the documents on to spies disguised as civilians, hmm? I must admit, a plan more clever than I gave you royalist scum credit for. I had expected him,” he gestured disdainfully at the fallen pegasus, “to try and escape the city instead.”

Rarity gathered whatever courage she could find. Despite the situation being precarious, she was still an upper class citizen. Perhaps she could use her considerable influence to sway these ponies and convince them it was all an unfortunate understanding. “Ah, if I may, I fear there is a bit of a misunderstanding here, darling,” she began, trying to sound like her usual calm and collected self. “We aren’t…”

“Silence!” one of the other guards barked furiously. He did a step forward and put the tip of his lance against Rarity’s throat. The white unicorn swallowed fearfully. “We won’t hear any of your lies. The nerve of your royalist traitors. First you break into the Marshall’s office, on the night of the parade no less, and then you try to deny any involvement when you get caught? Do you think we are foals?!”

“We aren’t royalists,” Rarity growled, narrowing her eyes. “I am Lady Rarity, and me and my hoofmaidens were simply returning home after witnessing the parade, when that ruffian,” she also gestured at the deceased pegasus, while inwardly apologising for insulting him, “ran into me. He muttered some nonsense and then passed away. We have nothing to do with him.”

A round of low chuckles came from the circle of guards. “If what you say is true, milady,” the first guard said, voice dripping with sarcasm. “Then why is your ‘hoofmaiden’ wearing the fugitive’s saddlebags?”

Rarity tried to mask her fear, not wanting to let the guard know that he had cornered her. Twilight glanced at her friends, and was about to step forward that her friends were innocent and that she had deceived them, when Rarity spoke again. “Well, when that ruffian who knocked me to the floor ceased moving, naturally we wished to learn his identity, so we searched his saddlebags,” Rarity said, having been struck by sudden inspiration. “That’s when we found these documents. Seeing as I knew that the gentlecolt had been running from something, I concluded, correctly I now see, that he had stolen these papers. I ordered my hoofmaiden to pick them up so we could bring them to the guardstation.”

The first guard was silent for a moment, but then he smiled, and the sight made the blood of the three mares freeze. “Likely story,” he said, and then chuckled again. “Let me tell you what really happened here, milady. You and your ‘hoofmaidens’ waited here for your accomplices to arrive from the palace. They would then hand you the documents, and while we continued to chase them for naught, the three of you would vanish into the crowd unnoticed and we would be none the wiser.” He looked at his fellow guards and then gestured at the three mares. “I’ve heard enough. Arrest them.”

Rarity stomped her hoof. “I am a personal friend of Lord Fancypants himself! I assure you that he won’t be happy if he hears how one of his acquaintances was falsely accused of high treason!”

“And I assure you that we will apologise profusely to Lord Fancypants should we be mistaken,” the guard replied effortlessly. He grinned at Rarity again, the feral grin of a hunter who was about to jump on top of its prey and devour it. “If you have nothing to hide, than what are you so afraid of? If you truly are innocent, then that will soon be proven.”

The guards moved in to seize them, and it became clear that they would not listen to reason. Their pride had been deeply insulted when the royalists had broken into the very heart of the Republic on the most important night. Guilty or innocent by this point mattered little to them, they simply wanted to catch whatever suspect they could find, so they would not have to appear before their superiors with empty hooves.

---

Fluttershy was scared, no, she was terrified. For a moment she had believed that Rarity would be able to get them out of this, but that hope had quickly been crushed. Now the guards were approaching them, pointing their weapons at her, with those terrifying, pleased smirks on their faces. Her body trembled, and she tried to back away from the guards that tried to detain her. She bumped into the corpse of the bat-winged pegasus, lost her balance and landed on her back into something wet. She lifted her hoof before her eyes, and saw that it was now stained red and dripping with a dark liquid. Blood.

A soundless scream escaped her throat and she panicked, trying to crawl away from the corpse and the approaching guards. She was sweating, her heart was beating out of her chest. She was so afraid that she was certain she would wet herself. Her dress had gotten stuck on the Night guard’s armour, pulling her back every time she tried to get away from him. Everywhere she looked there was red, and the rusty scent of blood clouded her senses. She screamed, loud this time, and curled into a ball, shivering and shaking. There was blood everywhere. This was the end. Those ponies would kill her.

“Fluttershy!” she heard both Rarity and Twilight cry. The two unicorns desperately tried to get to their terrified friend. Their voices made Fluttershy look in their direction, just in time to see Twilight get brutally pinned to the ground by four guards. She gasped as she saw Rarity struggling against two guards that had grabbed her.

“Unhand me right this instant, you ruffians!” Rarity snarled. The unicorn was furious, and her anger clouded her senses. The only thing she wanted was to break free and get to Fluttershy, so she could protect and comfort her dear friend. Her horn flashed, and the two guards that held her were knocked away from her. Now free, Rarity stormed towards Fluttershy. She ignored her surroundings, focussing only on her pegasus friend. She ignored the guards’ shouting, ignored their efforts to try and capture her.

There was a bang, followed by a bright flash.

The world seemed to grow silent as Rarity hit the ground, a disbelieving expression on her face. Blood began to flow from the hole in her stomach, where the bolt of magic had gone straight through her. Her mind, in a state of shock, tried to make her body move, but it no longer obeyed her. The white unicorn lay helplessly and unmoving on the ground, while a pool of red began to form around her fallen form.

End of chapter 16.

Comments

[Lord_Of_Lagaard]

Oh dear. That's going to hurt.

Aside from that. If I will lay out just one idea for you, it's that, when the timeline goes back to the way it was. Have everyone retain their memories from the other world. There would be some interesting ramifications and confrontations in the aftermath of something like that.

[Barbecue Sauce]

I've been thinking this for a while now, but tonight confirms it.

The Republic has officially hit Mary Sue status.

[Keeper of Jericho]

890514
Not quite sure I follow you. First, an organisation itself can't be a Mary Sue, Mary Sue are female characters, which the Republic is not. Secondly, Mary Sue implies a character with no obvious flaws who is adored by all and does everything better than the canon cast, none of which applies as should be obvious by now. They're very flawed, being based on lies, half of Equestria (the part that are royalists) is at war with them and given that they just killed a pony, I wouldn't say they're better than the canon cast either. So I'm not sure how Mary Sue applies here. Care to elaborate, please?

[Barbecue Sauce]

890539 I know it usually only refers to female characters (Marty Stu being the male version), but the point is that I'm finding it kinda boring that everything is going their way as if they are perfect. Ya know what I mean?

[Keeper of Jericho]

890560
I don't think being at war for 348 counts as everything going your way, to be perfectly honest. If it seems that they have no problems at all, then that's only because so far we've only spent time in the Republic itself, from the point of view of common ponies on the street who don't know what goes on behind the closed doors of Canterlot Castle. But the story is moving into its next phase now, and you'll soon see the poop hit the fan. Also, be patient for a couple of chapters more. I'm planning a Shining Armour chapter that'll give you insight in what goes on at the top of the Republic, then you'll see that things aren't going as well as the Nobles' want you to believe. Remember, Derpy said that the Republic was making plans for an invasion only because the Royalists are becoming so powerful that they would soon be able to gain a final, decisive military victory against the Republic. That also doesn't really count as everything going the Republic's way.

[Shader]

890615

I... uh, wouldn't place much stock on what he say's.

It doesn't seem to make much sense.

[Barbecue Sauce]

890615 Alright, fair enough!

It's just... I hate seeing this despicable republic have any sort of success.

[Calen]

890539

It's called Mary Suetopia... Here's the definition.
Also known as a Straw Utopia, everything is perfect in this ideologically pure country. Everyone lives a comfortable lifestyle, poverty and crime are not noticeably existent, people are friendly and well-behaved, and the trains run on time. The society works, and any historical or economical references to why it shouldn't are either ignored or hand-waved as examples of not doing it right.

And here's a link if you don't believe me...Tv Tropes-Mary Suetopia

[Keeper of Jericho]

893074
Well, then this certainly doesn't apply to the Equestrian Republic. And I'm not going to click that link to TVTropes. No sir, not getting lost in that maze for hours upon hours. TVTropes is a trap.

Can I now have some comments on the actual events of the chapter, please?

[Chill Mists(Chilly)]

Fluttershy's terrified? Noooo! Someone save her. Oh and Twilight and Rarity better be okay.

[Tygerburningbright]

The calvery had better get there like 10 second ago.

[Fury of the Tempest]

Oh.... oh god...