Equestria's executioner: Beloved

by Equestriasservant

Chapter 6: The Prediction

Canterlot Castle: several days before James's arrival in Equestria

Princess Celestia smiled widely, trying hard to hide her relief as she waved goodbye to the final Noble of her council. As much as she loved her little Ponies, Celestia's patience could really be taxed by these tedious council meetings. She'd been sitting for so long, she ached from the tips of her golden-plated hooves, down through her flowing white fur and in her bones. The "Day-Court" as her sister, Princess Luna called it, often took several hours what with the amount of...admittedly petty problems that her subjects came to her with. Ranging from everything to the amount of trade coming into the city to the amount of money they were making on their businesses. The Princess sometimes wished the ponies of her great city weren't so greedy. She sometimes wished that they were more like the down-to-earth residents of Ponyville and other such villages. The princess smiled to herself, imagining the looks on the inhabitants faces if she even suggested the idea of remodeling Canterlot after Ponyville. Most would probably faint in abject horror. Smiling at her small stab at humor, the Princess lowered her head to the table, eyeing the stack of paperwork she'd have to get through, brushing her iridescent, flowing mane out of her eyes. She hated paperwork. Maybe she would send for some cake from the kitchens. Smiling to herself, the Princess picked up her quill, now ready for the ensuing trial.

"Princess Celestia?" And Celestia's concentration was gone. Shattered as that soft, mellowed voice sounded by the doors to the council room. Soothsayer. The Scion had come to see her again. The Princess's eyes tracked the Pony as he moved round the long meeting table. Soothsayer was a Unicorn, with dark burgundy fur, a similarly colored mane and deep yellow eyes. His cutie mark was a crystal ball. Covering the pony's thin body was a wrapping, rather like a large, iridescent scarf or raincoat, except that the fabric was rather thin, almost transparent. "I have been crystal gazing princess." said the Pony, settling on one of the seats. "And the news is most Dire." Celestia sighed. She tried to be tolerant with these strange Ponies but their constant stream of doom and gloom predictions were starting to annoy her. The Scions had been like this ever since they'd arrived. The Scions had arrived in the City several weeks ago. Nopony had heard them, nor seen them enter. They'd turned up in the middle of the city, right smack-dab in the center square. Celestia had gone to see them, intrigued. She'd seen a large, ten man tent, sitting there, with several of these strange, iridescent coverings. The ponies, or Scions as they'd called themselves had all claimed to be able to tell the future. Though many laughed off these claims, thinking the Scions were lying to make money off gullible tourists. Celestia however, thought that there was something in their words. Unicorns were known for making time travel spells after all.

"What is it Soothsayer?" asked Celestia, trying hard not to let her impatience show. He was still one her subjects after all. The Scion narrowed his eyes. Celestia let the tired smile on her face drop, aware now that the Unicorn had caught her impatience despite her attempts to conceal it. Soothsayer had the annoying ability to see through attempts to conceal negative emotions. Even Ponies as skilled as the Princess. "I apologize Soothsayer. The stress of dealing with court and my kingdoms various problems get to me." The Scion, still scowling, withdrew what appeared to be a playing card from within his cloak and placed it upon the desk in front of Celestia. The Princess leaned in, eyeing the card. Pictured on the card was what appeared to be a tall figure, wreathed in a black cloak, its' face hidden in shadow, standing over a ponies skeleton, with a full moon, colored dark purple hanging over the whole thing. "The Hollowed?" Asked Celestia, frowning. The Scion nodded, his solemn expression never wavering. Celestia felt a smile begin to creep up her muzzle. "You must be joking Soothsayer. That creature is a myth. We know this." Soothsayer, keeping his stony silence, placed another card on the table. Celestia looked down at it. The card depicted...Celestia felt her smile fade. "It can't be him...not the Hollowed..." The Unicorn nodded, his expression worried.

Only a few of the Elders of Canterlot still remembered the tales of the Hollowed. In Celestia's opinion, that was probably for the best. A creature of immense power, wreathed in darkness, with no heart, no emotions and no soul, unable to be defeated. Celestia shuddered to herself. The creature was said to be worse than the Prince of chaos, Discord and was said to eclipse the powers of King Sombra. With power on that scale...Celestia shuddered to think what would happen to her kingdom if such a think appeared. The Princess wasn't sure if even she could stop something like that. Though, like many of Canterlot's citizens, Celestia had trouble believing the Hollowed even existed. It seemed only the Scions seemed to take the legend seriously. Soothsayer at least, wanted Ponies to take the Legend seriously. Celestia looked up from the cards, her eyes glaring down at the Scion.

"The moon is filling with malice Princess." said the Scion calmly, taking the cards back. "The Scions have been predicting it for months. No matter what method we try. Cards, crystal balls...it is all the same. The same result." Soothsayer shook his head. "The Hollowed is real my Princess. Whether or not you choose to believe is your business." The Scion turned and walked away, closing the door behind him. Celestia sat there, still staring at the table, unsure of what to do. If she did nothing and the Hollowed appeared, she'd be risking her entire Kingdom. If she prepared and it didn't appear...she'd look like a fool. Her pride versus the safety of her subjects...could she make that decision?

---

Soothsayer sighed to himself as he made his way through the castle, ignoring the many guards who offered to show him the way out. He knew the whole castle by heart. Celestia had taken him on a tour during his first day in Canterlot. The whole of the Scion order knew the castle . Sighing to himself, Soothsayer made his way through the castle until he arrived at the room that Celestia had given him. Inside was a simple room, with only a table, a bed and a writing desk. On top of the table was a small deck of his cards. The classical method of his orders fortune telling tricks. Setting himself down in front of them, Soothsayer used his magic to place five of his cards face down. Soothsayer frowned at the five cards, concentrating intensely. Then he flipped the first card. It depicted a large wheel, hanging in the sky, surrounded by several Pegasus.

"The wheel of fate..." Soothsayer mumbled. "A change in the flow of events..." he flipped over the second card. This revealed a gem-like object, hanging from a tree with a large full moon behind it. "The hanged-man...a betrayal of trust..." This card was followed by a upside down card, depicting two ponies kissing with a heart between them. "The Upside down lovers....a conflict between two partners..." the fourth was an upside down picture of a pony, dressed in flowing robes and carrying a book with glasses on. "Inverted Justice. A biased, unfair decision..." Soothsayer frowned, flipping over the last card. It was Hollowed card but it was upside down. Soothsayer narrowed his eyes. "A major change...but somepony is resistant to it." He frowned softly. "A change in fate's flow...brought on by a betrayal of trust...amplified by a conflict between partners...which might result in a biased decision...with somepony resistant to a great change..." Soothsayer frowned, standing and walking to the nearby window and opening it to give himself some air. The wind whistled through the room. Something fell to the floor beside him with a soft thump. Looking down, the Unicorn saw another of his cards which had been blown closer to him. It depicted a pony, standing on a chariot. "The chariot...upright? A decisive victory..." he murmured softly, turning to sit down at the table. "What have the fates planned?"

---

Princess Luna, hurried through the castle, anger burning through her. She had not been able to talk to her sister during the previous night, to warn her about the purple energy hitting the moon. Her sister had disappeared off to another village, only returning during the early hours of the morning. Knowing her sisters bad temper when extremely tired, Luna had decided to wait, as much as she wanted to inform her sister. But she would now. She would warn her sister. Warn her to stay away from that Scion, Soothsayer and they would solve the riddle of the purple energy. The young Princess of the night felt her heart lift at the thought of her and her sister teaming up again. It had been far too long since they did something like this together.

She'd been running for about fifteen minutes when a figure stepped out in front of her. The figure was tall, dressed in a blood-red trench coat with a red hood covering its' face. A large sword with skeletal designed cross-guard and handle. Luna had no chance to stop. No chance to charge a spell to save her as the figure in front of her lowered the sword, leaving the tip pointing directly at her chest. So surprised was she that her hooves slipped out from under her on the marble floor, and she began to slide along as though she was on a slide, the princess's wings flaring out in surprise. Luna let out a cry as she slid straight into the figure. There was a momentary flair of pain...then Luna was lying on the floor, gasping for breath. She couldn't breathe. Luna moaned as darkness overtook her vision, the figure leaning over her. As the Princess's eyes closed, she heard a soft chuckle and a soft touch to her ear.

"Sleep tight, oh great princess of the night." Sang a cold voice

Comments

[Tide Hunter]

7064676 This reply is a bit late in coming.
So you asked me to "explain where exactly these problems are occuring." (by the way, you misspelled "occurring".) This means that you did not see the comment I put on chapter 2, picking out a paragraph with these things that I thought were errs in grammar and showing what a changed version looked like. If want to know something about it, then look at the comment from chapter two. Also, get either an editor, a pre-reader, or a proofreader.