Final Reign

by Lise

Lost Screams

Author's Note:

Tyrant's Reign - Year 2

Screams filled the corridor. Even two layers of sound isolation spells couldn't hold the constant wails. I sighed, as I made my way to the dungeon door. Less than a decade ago, this whole complex was nothing but a latticework of caves under Canterlot. After the changeling invasions, Auntie Celestia had transformed them into a prison complex. Ironically, the only current occupants were her and her sister.

"Open it," I told the guard. He looked at me with dark bloodshot eyes, then obeyed.

"I won't go! I won't fade into the darkness!" Screams hit me as the iron door slid aside. I closed my ears on reflex. No avail. If spells couldn't block the noise my ears wouldn't either. "Nooo! Nooo!"

She was at it again. It hurt how much she had changed in the last few months. Luna, Warrior Princess, Sovereign of the Night, Keeper of Dreams, Diarch of Equestria, reduced to a wailing wretch... my heart ached at the thought.

Taking a deep breath, I continued along the corridor. There were no torches on the walls—I had ordered them removed two weeks ago. How foolish I was to think that by removing the light I could ease her slumber.

"Cadence! Twilight! Take them instead!" The shouts grew louder with every step. "They don't deserve wings! Don't deserve power!"

The same story again. The first time I told Luna that the affliction hadn't taken Twilight's strength yet, she had been happy. As the disease ate through her, that joy transformed into hatred.

"We are Luna! We are Nightmare Moon!" The ground shook with her screams. "We are the night! It will not engulf us! We will never cease to exist!"

The end of the corridor. The darkness was full, but my recently obtained powers let me see through it. I made the final few steps, crossing the invisible threshold into Luna's cell. Sensing me, she froze. The screams stopped, as two venomous blue eyes glared at me.

"Hello, Aunt Luna," I said softly.

"You!" she hissed, trying to break the chains that bound her to the wall. "You stole my wings!" She waved a wing stub at me. I grit my teeth in an attempt not to cringe. It was Luna who had torn her own wings off three weeks ago. Her scream had pierced the entire castle. I remember galloping into her cell only to find it on the floor still twitching. And yet that hadn't been the worst. Ten steps away—screaming, shedding blood and feathers—Luna had sunk her teeth into her remaining wing in a furious attempt to rip it off her body. I remember vomiting on the cell floor while she finished the deed.

"Your wings will grow back, Auntie," I said. At this point it didn't matter whether she could tell I was lying. "I came to help you sleep."

"Lies!" The strength of her yell pushed me a whole step back. "I won't let you take me! You won't fade me!"

"You're not going to fade, Auntie." I took a step forward. "You are just feeling unwell. I'm only here to h—"

"You think that I've lost my mind!" She laughed at me. "You think that because plague has claimed my body I don't know what's happening? I'm not some decrepit old mare you can throw away in a cell and forget! I'll survive through this and outlive you all!"

I clenched my jaw. I had hoped the illness would take her mind completely. At least then things would have been easier. The alicorn plague had affected each of the princesses in a different way. Auntie Celestia had merely closed her eyes and fallen in a deep sleep. Ever since our fateful talk she had only woken up twice, a few minutes each time, before peacefully passing back into oblivion. Flurry Heart was being consumed by her own magic; seven Crystal Empire wizards stood by her bed at any one time, draining as much of her mana as they could in an attempt to slow down the process. Cadence had developed dementia, often forgetting where she was and what she was doing there. As for Luna... she had succumbed to madness.

"Return our power!" She spat at me. "Return our dreams, our nightmares! They are ours to command! You stole them from us! Usurped them as you did the throne!"

"You gave them to me to guard until—"

"Lies! Thief!" She rattled her chains, trying to tear them out of the wall. "My dreams! My lovely precious dreams," she lamented, weeping. I looked away. "My precious dreams, my precious sweet little ponies... I don't want them to fade away..."

I grabbed the chance. My spell pierced Luna's mind while she was at her weakest. Our minds linked. I could feel her sorrow, her anger, her unimaginable fear—fear of fading away into nothingness. The weight of the realization crushed me, making me lose balance.

"Help me, Blueblood!" the last grain of sanity in her mind pleaded. "Don't abandon me!"

Instead, I slammed the door in front of it, cutting it off the rest of her mind like a steel trap. If sanity was making her behave like this, I would remove it. At least now she wouldn't feel the pain for a while... until the next time the grain burned through my mental cage.

With a yell I broke the mental link. Exhaustion took its toll, sending me crashing onto the floor. My entire body was drenched in sweat. Gasping for breath, I looked up. Luna, or what used to be Luna, stared at me, her glance devoid of any sentience. In removing her rage, I had also removed her reason to do anything at all. For the next few weeks she would have to be force fed just to remain alive. It was an unpleasant and wasteful experience, but I was going to see to it. I owed her that much, at least.

"You could have given her a dream," a voice said beside me. "She would have liked that."

Twilight. Of course she would be here. She was one of three ponies aware of the fate that awaited Equestria. When I had first told her, I feared she would enter a rage that would start a civil war throughout the realm. Rather, she had chosen to remain in the Crystal Empire to be close to her niece and brother.

"Were you here the whole time?" I stood up. The pain was still excruciating, but my alicorn magic helped take off the edge.

"No," she replied, not moving from her position. "I was watching."

Watching. I laughed at the irony. Before she vanished from Canterlot, Twilight had managed to learn Auntie Celestia's See-all spell. A few months later the sickness had stolen her sight. Now the Princess of Friendship was completely blind, relying solely on magic to perceive the world around her.

"I'm proclaiming myself ruler at dawn," I said. The words tasted bitter in my mouth.

"Are you sure that's the right choice?" Twilight stood next to me. "Everyone will hate you for it."

"I'm sure they will, but they'll hate me more if I delay. Ponies are starting to ask questions and even with my magic I can't keep the secret much longer."

"As you wish," Twilight sighed. "I'll stay in the Empire. I want to spend whatever time I have left with my family. Take care, Blueblood." With a flash she was gone, leaving me alone with Luna once more. Saliva was dripping from the corner of her mouth onto the floor.

I shook my head. Who was the greater fool of us all? Maybe it was the destiny of the universe for all alicorns to perish, taking everything else with them. Turning around, I headed towards the exit. There were matters that demanded my attention.

"You were wrong, Twilight," I said, walking through the corridor. "I don't do this because I wish. I do it because I must."

Comments

[Effectivekill]

Looking forward to the next chapter.

[bloons3]

Well you're pulling no punches this chapter...

[Lise]

7655773 Norris! :) Thanks! (Sorry, I totally forgot to respond to this :( )

Glad you enjoyed and hope you're ready for more darkness :)

[Lise]

7656005 Sometimes these things just go snap :)

[Lise]

7656809 It is :) Remember to read the notes. ;) (hint)

[Lise]

7688896 :) I could say, but... best leave it for later ;)

[Lise]

7729642 Thanks :) Hopefully, next week

[Lise]

7729646 You of all people should have expected this :)

[Starlight Nova]

7581919 How is Twilight weak?

[Lise]

7730068 The alicorn plague has affected her as well

[killergoonie]

Great chapter, though I'm kinda hoping for some kind of miracle to save them all, but who am i kidding i know that ain't gonna happen. Poor everyone in this story.

[Lise]

7731211 Time will tell :)

[killergoonie]

7731306 Don't give me false hope like that. Unless you plan on delivering.

[Lise]

7731613 I won't say anything one wY or the other, then :)

[killergoonie]

7731622 Well either way i guess I'll find out later, won't I?

[Kryssi]

7729688 Hmm… right now there isn't anything special in them (yet?)
7729646 Your expecting her to not in a plot like this was a grave mistake, my friend.