• Published 21st Jan 2016
  • 4,169 Views, 66 Comments

Hitmare - BronyWriter



An alternate universe to A Shadow Hangs Overhead. The Mane Six fails in their attempt to stop Nightmare Moon. Rarity, the sole survivor of the group, is forced to become Nightmare Moon's personal assassin.

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The Coming Dawn

A blast shook the throne room door, but it held strong. A dozen ponies were holding it shut, while more still were tearing the throne room apart, hoping to find anything to barricade it. Nightmare Moon stood before her throne, her horn lit and her teeth gritted.

"Hold fast, my loyal subjects!" Nightmare Moon roared. "My beloved sister is trying to come through! She may succeed, but if she does, fight to the last mare! Do not let her take you alive!"

"My queen, the castle has been breached," Rarity said calmly. "I fear this fight may be done."

"It is not over until either Celestia or I lays dead upon the ground!" Nightmare Moon insisted. "I will make her long for the days she was trapped on the cold, barren moon!"

The door shook again, and Rarity noticed a thin bead of sweat rolling down Nightmare Moon's face. Whether she wanted to admit it or not, Celestia was breaking through.

"I... I cannot hold her forever," Nightmare Moon admitted. "And I want to save my strength for when we do fight. Can I count on you to slaughter as many of those foalish sun-loving ponies as you can before the end?"

"My queen..." Rarity sighed and slid her knife out of the sheath strapped to her hind leg. Rather than the extension of herself that it had been before, now it felt like some foreign object, like it wasn't really hers. She had stained it with the blood of many innocent ponies in the five years since Nightmare Moon's return. Now all she wanted was to be done with it.

"My queen, you must think of your subjects. Is it not your role as their queen to protect them? Celestia will grant them amnesty if she is victorious, I am sure of it. Besides, I do not think I could even kill one before whatever's coming through that door kills me, especially if Celestia is leading the charge."

"Have you not been paying attention to yourself?" Nightmare Moon asked incredulously. "You are the deadliest pony in the world!"

"I am. I am not invincible, or even all that hard to kill, really. I am afraid that there is little I can do to help you win this fight."

"You are a coward!" Nightmare Moon screeched, pouring more magic into her horn as cracks began appearing on the shield she had over it. "I should have you executed as a traitor!"

The door shook again, and the cracks became larger.

"I am not betraying you, my queen. I am merely advising you."

"Your advice is wretched!" Nightmare Moon snarled. "You are not one of my advisors! You are only a weapon, nothing more! I tell you what to kill and you do it! I am now ordering you to kill anything that comes through that door!"

"My queen, I cann--"

"Do not lie to me! You will fight for me or suffer the consequences!"

"I am not lying, my queen. I would never lie to you," Rarity replied, bowing low.

"You have been loyal to me all these years, Rarity. Do not withdraw that loyalty now. Now it shall be put to the greatest test." Nightmare Moon turned to address her soldiers as the barrier around the door began shattering. "There is no greater honor than dying for your queen! Anypony who falls here today will be honored forever in paradise, while all that they slay shall rot in Tartarus for eternity! Anypony who runs now will share the same fate!"

Rarity inwardly sighed. She just wanted the matter done with. She would not survive today, that she was sure of. She had killed too many ponies for Celestia to grant her any other mercy except for a quick, painless death. But that was okay. As long as she could help Sweetie Belle, then she would be glad to accept whatever punishment Celestia gave her.

The door finally burst open, and a hoard of Coming Dawn soldiers poured in. Nightmare Moon and a few ponies armed with crossbows fired into the crowd, felling many ponies. The Shadow Guard at the door was instantly slaughtered by the sheer volume of enemies, allowing The Coming Dawn to fill the room. Princess Celestia herself walked into the room, wearing heavy battle armor and wielding a gigantic war hammer. One Shadow Guard rushed toward her, sword at the ready, but Celestia crushed him with one blow from her weapon. Nightmare Moon let out a cry of rage and charged at Celestia, who fired a beam of magic at her. Nightmare Moon brushed the attack aside and summoned a black mace of pure dark magic.

Rarity slowly nodded and sheathed her knife. She had to leave quickly if she was to get Sweetie Belle before The Coming Dawn could stop her. She quietly exited through one of the side doors of the throne room while the battle raged around her. Once away from the battle, Rarity broke out into a full canter. The friction of her uniform rubbing quickly against her body opened up a partially healed cut on her shoulder. She ignored the blood that began dripping down her leg. Sweetie Belle was more important, and it was just a little cut. Nothing to worry about.

She burst into her quarters and slammed the door behind her. "Sweetie Belle! Sweetie Belle, The Coming Dawn is here! They've come to rescue us!" Rarity ran into Sweetie Belle's room and saw her sister lying on the bed, not moving as usual. Her sister was almost thirteen now. She could still recover from this, Celestia would make sure of that. She could maybe even get her cutie mark soon.

"Sweetie Belle, get up!" Rarity ran over to her and put her hoof on her back. "Princess Celestia is with The Coming Dawn, so I'm sure that..." Rarity frowned when Sweetie Belle still didn't move. "S-Sweetie Belle?" Rarity shook her sister, but still she did not move. "Come now, you need to get up. You're safe now, Sweetie Belle. Y-you'll be..."

For the first time since entering the room, Rarity noticed the smell of burnt fur. Her eyes widened, and she turned Sweetie Belle over, screaming when she saw her sister. Her face was twisted into an agonized shriek, and the fur around the necklace fused to her neck was blackened and burnt.

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity shrieked, shaking her sister as if that would magically undo what had been done. "No, no, no! We were almost there! Y-you can't be--"

Rarity pulled her sister close and cradled her in her forelegs. She sobbed into her sister's mane and gently rubbed her shoulder.

"I'm so, so sorry, Sweetie Belle! Big sister is sorry! I tried! I tried to p-protect you! We were so close to being free."

The door to Rarity's room burst open. "You!" Rarity heard charging hoofsteps, but didn't react in time to prevent the powerful hind legs from slamming into her side. She flew back with a cry of pain, dropping Sweetie Belle's body. She hit the wall and felt another cut open up from the impact. That didn't matter. She had to get back to Sweetie Belle. She took a moment to recover, then began crawling back over to her sister.

"Do you have any idea what you did?" the pony snarled. "Mah sister is dead because of you! We trusted you!"

"It's okay, Sweetie Belle,' Rarity whispered, picking up Sweetie Belle's body and cradling it. "I'm going to find some way to fix this."

"You can't fix it!" the pony screeched. "Mah sister and her friends ain't ever comin' back because of you!" The pony scoffed and began circling Rarity, who still didn't look up. "How did it feel, puttin' that rope around mah sister's neck? How did it feel watchin' her die?" The pony stopped behind Rarity and leaned in next to her ear. "Ah was there. Ah remember everythin'. Do you? Ah had ta watch those buckin' Shadow Guards draggin' mah sister and her friends up to that scaffold. You were there right next to the lever. Ah remember that Miss Rainbow Dash and Miss Fluttershy didn't have their wings no more, and that Twilight pony didn't have her horn. That was you, wasn't it? You probably enjoyed it."

Rarity flicked her ear, but didn't respond. She needed to comfort Sweetie Belle. She needed to make sure her sister knew she was safe.

"Mah sister was ten times the mare you'll ever be," the pony snarled. "If she weren't muzzled like the rest of 'em, she probably would have forgiven you before ya killed her!" A hoof collided with Rarity's head, but she still didn't react. "Ah lost everythin' because of you! Ah lost mah sister and mah home! Mah granny died of heartbreak, and mah brother died fightin' that tyrant you serve!" Rarity heard the sound of a knife being taken out of a sheath. "Look at me before Ah kill ya. Ya owe me that much. Ah wanna see it when you die!"

Still Rarity did not move. The pony growled and pushed Rarity down, shoving Sweetie Belle's body aside before pinning Rarity to the floor.

"Ah said look at me!"

Rarity stared at Sweetie Belle for a few moments before slowly turning her head and looking at the pony standing above her. She was young. Far younger than Rarity expected. She might even be Sweetie Belle's age. Blood dripped from both a cut on the pony's forehead, and the knife she held in the crook of one of her forelegs. One of her ears was missing a piece, and criss-crossing scars marred her face.

"Ah wanted ya ta see this," the pony growled. "See what ya did. Ah started fightin' as soon as Ah could, ya know. Got captured on mah first mission. Ah was only eleven. Yer queen decided that if Ah was fightin' Ah was still old enough ta know important information. She had her Shadow Guard do this ta me. Ah remember that Ah just wanted ta die when they started, but I didn't break. That was the only thing keepin' me goin' when they were doin' that stuff. Ah knew they'd get bored and just kill me. Ah just had ta hold out until then. When Ah didn't give them nothin', they told me they were sendin' fer you. That gave me the strength ta get out. Ah hadn't killed anypony before, but Ah killed somepony when Ah escaped. He didn't think Ah could. Laughed when he saw me runnin' at him. Ran right inta him and broke his neck." The pony ran the flat of her knife against Rarity's cheek. "Ah sometimes wonder what ya would have done ta me if Ah hadn't gotten out." She bared her teeth and pressed the tip of the knife into Rarity's cheek. "Probably woulda made what them Shadow Guard did seem like nothin'."

Rarity didn't respond. She had heard enough. Sweetie Belle was more important. She looked away and tried scooting over to Sweetie Belle. She needed to comfort her. The mare growled and slammed the knife into the joint of Rarity's foreleg, nearly pinning it to the ground. Rarity shrieked in pain, but didn't stop trying to reach for her sister.

"That's right: scream," the mare said, a smug smile on her face despite the tears that had started falling from her eyes as she pulled the knife out. "Y-ya deserve everythin' y-ya get. Ya h-hurt me! Ya hurt a lot of ponies! J-just--"

"Apple Bloom!" a powerful voice roared. The mare squeaked in fear and instantly got off of Rarity. Rarity used the opportunity to sit up and grab her sister. Her blood dripped onto Sweetie Belle's coat, but that was okay. They could clean it off. Then Sweetie Belle would be fine.

"P-Princess Celestia," Apple Bloom whimpered. "Ah--"

"Leave now," Celestia said coldly. "I know you're hurt, Apple Bloom, but this is not how you were trained to act around captured enemies."

"But--"

"Go. We shall discuss this later."

Apple Bloom sighed and muttered an affirmative before slowly trudging out the door. When she left, Princess Celestia closed the door behind her and locked it. Rarity didn't care about that. All that mattered was fixing Sweetie Belle.

"My dear Rarity..." Rarity flinched when Princess Celestia put a hoof on her shoulder. "I am sorry for Apple Bloom. It excuses nothing, but she has been through much. More than any other filly her age I have ever met."

"I'm not angry with her," Rarity muttered, ignoring the pain in her leg. "If you want, she can kill me once this is all over. Then--"

"No. That would solve nothing. Apple Bloom does not need to go down that dark path. Besides, revenge would not fix the wounds she has sustained, physical and mental, nor would it bring back her lost family. I will do whatever I can to help her, of course."

"Of course." Rarity turned to look back at Celestia. Despite her intimidating armor, she looked gentle. She gave Celestia a hopeful smile and extended her forelegs to move Sweetie Belle closer to her. "Can... can you fix her?"

Celestia paused for a moment, almost as if in thought, then lit her horn and scanned Sweetie Belle with her magic. She grimaced and shook her head as she powered down her horn.

"I'm sorry, Rarity. She is gone."

"Oh." Rarity's ears flattened, and she drew Sweetie Belle closer. "Yes. I understand. I think I knew that, but I just... I couldn't believe that. I still don't want to." Rarity sniffled and nuzzled her sister's mane. "Through all these years, all of the kills, all of the torture I put ponies through, I kept going for her. I said every day that you were coming to save us. To save her. 'Just hold on for a little while longer. She'll save you. It will be soon.'" Rarity sighed and closed her eyes. "I suppose Nightmare Moon noticed I wasn't fighting and triggered her little failsafe she used to keep me in line. Either that or she wanted to hurt you by murdering a young filly before you could save her."

"I would do anything to bring her back, Rarity, you must believe that."

"I do. You were close. You almost managed to save her." Rarity sniffled and squeezed her sister's body. "I know you can't forgive me for what I've done. Even if you can, Equestria won't. I can't ever forgive me for what I've done. I'm willing to accept a public execution if it helps ponies move on."

"Just as Apple Bloom would not benefit from revenge, neither would Equestria," Celestia said, sitting next to Rarity and wrapping a wing around her. "I know you are not a bad pony, Rarity. You were put in an impossible situation. I cannot blame you for that."

"I was selfish," Rarity whispered. "I just wanted to save Sweetie Belle, so I killed who knows how many ponies? I lost track after a little while. I ended the lives of all of them to save one. It w-would have been better to just let Sweetie Belle go; make it so that she didn't have to endure this Tartarus while her big sister slaughtered ponies to protect her. She shouldn't have had to live with that."

"None of us should have," Celestia said. "You should not have been forced to kill for Nightmare Moon."

"I wouldn't say I was forced. I had a choice. The path I didn't take would have led to the deaths of myself and Sweetie Belle, but I would have saved many lives. I just didn't want to watch her die. I was scared." Rarity took a deep breath and bowed her head. "Do what you must with me. It doesn't matter anymore, does it? My sister is dead, my friends are dead, my parents are dead... I have nothing except the memories of what I've done. Equestria hates me. I can't imagine that you don't hate me too, Princess Celestia. I pulled the lever that killed your student."

A pained look crossed Celestia's face. She withdrew her wing from Rarity's back, and tears began welling up in her eyes. "I... I cannot say that her death has not hurt me. I will remember her and the pony she was forever. It is as I said: you... you were put in an impossible situation, and if you had not done it, somepony else would have. You were trying to protect your sister."

"And at the end of the day, I didn't even succeed in doing that." The blood from her wound began pooling on the floor, with the first drops hitting Celestia's. The bleeding was increasing. Princess Celestia gasped and lit her horn for a healing spell, but Rarity waved her aside.

"Princess, just let me go. If you won't publicly execute me, there's no point in keeping me alive." Rarity began feeling lightheaded as blood poured out of the wound. "Let history hate me. Paint me as a monster. That shouldn't be too difficult. I was a foal murderer even before all of this began. Say you slew me battle. All of Equestria has to know who I am by this point. They would rejoice at news of my death."

"Rarity, I can still help you. I believe that anypony can be healed. The Elements chose new bearers, and Princess Luna has been cleansed of the darkness that turned her into that wicked pony. I will forgive myself for that one day, and I can forgive you too."

"But... I can't." Rarity's breathing became more labored as she lost more blood. She slowly laid down on the floor, all the while holding onto Sweetie Belle. "I don't envy Princess Luna in the coming years. She is going to hate herself more than anypony will ever hate the memory of me or Nightmare Moon." Rarity allowed herself a small smile as her vision began growing dark. She felt cold all of a sudden. "Tartarus is going to be paradise compared to all of th... this. M... maybe I c-can go to... Paradise. If I d... do. Maybe S... Sweetie Belle will forgive..."

Author's Note:

Had an idea, decided to end it this way. Hope you enjoy it.