As I'm Falling to Pieces

by Pinkamena Diane Pie

Chapter XLII: Reine de la Purge

Chapter XLII: Reine de la Purge

The name struck a chord in the back of Lightning’s mind. He had heard that name before, and he new it was important. But the memory was shouting from behind his wall of amnesia, and it couldn’t break through. He just stared at her, waiting for her to move. She cocked her head slightly, watching him.

“You don’t know who I am?” she asked, her voice quiet. She said it as if it was something absurd, as if everypony should know who she was. Lightning just shook his head. Luna pursed her lips, shaking her head.

“Well, we will have to fix that.” she said, a smile crossing her lips. “In the meantime, we need to get to know our new recruit. What is your name?”

“Lightning Storm.” he responded, looking Luna in the eyes. “And there has been some mistake. I don’t want to join your army. I just want to go home.” He tried to plead with her. Luna just laughed.

“This is your home now. Why would you want to go live in the Wastes?” she asked, rolling her eyes. “This is better than living out there.”

“But I--!” Lightning started. But he was interrupted by Luna.

“Trust me, you will learn to love it here.” she said, leaning forward. Her voice soft and seductive. “We have special amenities that you cannot find anywhere else.” She turned to Lunar. “We will have to find him a house. Check to see if any are open. Until then, he can stay with me.” She winked at him, then got up out of the throne. Her wings were folded in next to her body, and Lightning could see a patch of feathers missing on the left wing. The patch was about five inches long and an inch wide. Lightning suddenly realized that it was a scar.

He was just about to ask, when Lunar hit his side. Turning, Lightning saw that he was shaking his head. “Don’t ask. At least, not yet.” he whispered. “And be polite, always. You don’t want to know what happened to our last recruit.” Then he was gone, out the front door. Lightning turned back to Luna. She was standing next to a doorway, waving at him to follow. Slowly, Lightning walked towards her, not knowing what else to do.

Inside the doorway, a flight of stairs rose towards the ceiling and disappeared. Luna unfurled her wings and flew to the top of the stairs, leaving Lightning to climb them. When he reached the top, he was greeted with a strange sight. A bedroom sat atop the main hallway of the Temple. Dark blue curtains were pulled over the windows, creating the look of dusk at noon. A large bed sat at the head of the room. Its spread had the same mark as Luna’s Cutie Mark. A carpet sat in front of the bed with a full moon sown into it. Lightning looked at Luna, who was smiling.

“I will have to get a second bed in here for you” she said, a mischievous look on her face. “But this is where you will stay until a house opens up for you.”

Lightning was speechless. He tried to think of some way to get her to listen, but he couldn’t think of any. “Thank you, Queen.” he said, turning to look at her.

“Oh, no need to call me Queen.” she said, chucking. “It just gets in the way. Please, call me Luna.” Lightning nodded.

“So, what does--” he started to ask. But a blinding white light interrupted him. he shielded his eyes, turning away from it. When the light faded, he looked around to find the source. A male Unicorn was standing a few feet away. He stood at attention and saluted.

“Queen.” he said in a stiff voice. “Outpost 12 has confirmed a sighting.”

Luna beamed. “Wonderful! Are they withing distance?” The Unicorn nodded. “Wonderful.” she repeated. She turned back to Lightning.

“You joined on a good day. Now you can see what our army does for the world.” she was grinning ear to ear. But it was not a happy grin. No, it was an insane one. “Tell them to get prepared and I will be there momentarily.” she said to the Unicorn, who nodded. With another flash of blinding light, he was gone. Luna turned back to lightning.

“Have you ever teleported before?” she asked, her horn glowing slightly. Lighting nodded. “Good, now come and stand by me.” lightning did as he was told. Luna extended her wing, laying it over his back. He could feel a slight tremble through the wing. It was as if her magic was making every cell in her body shake. Lightning started to wonder if she was safe or not.

“Ready?” she asked, looking down at him. Unsure if he was or not, Lightning nodded. The familiar feeling of weightlessness filled his body. Then, his vision started to tunnel, and everything went black. Then, the world exploded in front of his eyes. His feet slammed into the ground, and he could breath again.

Looking around, he saw that they had left the forest and were back in the Wastes. Feeling the wing leave his back, he looked up at Luna. “Where are we now?” he asked, looking out the windows. All he could see was the familiar dunes and dirt of the Wastes. They were at least ten feet off the ground, inside a wooden structure. About six ponies stood at attention inside of it. They were all wearing armor like Lunar’s but without the extra moons.

“About fifty miles from the Bastion.” she said. She turned to find the Unicorn who she had spoken to earlier. “How far are they now?”

“Less than five minutes north.” he responded. “Our snipers picked them up.” Luna nodded.

“Well, we will have to wait then. Is everypony in position?” The Unicorn nodded.

“Good work, Private.” she turned back to Lightning. “You don’t mind waiting for a few minutes, do you?” Lightning shook his head, curious now. He didn’t mind waiting if he could figure this all out.

The next few minutes passed in silence. Lightning could feel the tension and anticipation in the air. What was going to happen? He was just about to ask, when somepony shouted.

“There they are!” Luna rushed over, looking through the window. Lightning followed her, but stood a few feet back. Through the window, he could see a group of specs moving in the distance. He could count at least thirty at one glance. Slowly they moved across the dunes, with purpose but not grace. Their movements were erratic, but they stayed in one direction. He could see Luna smiling, a crazy smile. She reached over and pulled a pair of binoculars off of a table. She handed them to Lightning.

“Want to take a closer look?” Lightning took them and walked over to the window. He put the binoculars to his eyes, looking for the group. When he saw it, he inhaled sharply.

“Death Hunters.” he breathed. A whole swarm of about fifty of them were walking across the Wastes. Blades hung over their shoulders, cloaks covering their faces and bodies. He watched as they would break into fights, then stop just as sudden. He pulled the binoculars away from his face, handing them back to Luna.

“What is going to happen now?” he asked, almost dreading the answer. Luna walked over to the Unicorn again.

“Are we ready?” A small nod. “Then give the order.” Another nod. The unicorn pulled a small communicator from the side of his armor.

“Snipers, take aim.” he said, savoring each word. A couple metallic clicks came through the communicator. When they stopped, the Unicorn said one word.

“Fire.”

A moment passed with nothing, then the air exploded. Blasts of sound from all side filled the room and the space beyond. The blasts continued, one after another. Lightning’s ears were being tortured by the cacophony. He looked around frantically to find the source of the blasts, but he couldn’t find any. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere at once. Slowly, painfully slow, the blast died down. Finally, the last shot was fired, and it slowly ringed away into silence. The Unicorn raised the communicator back to his lips.

“Report.”

“All targets neutralized. No escapes.” A smile spread across the Unicorns face, the same for Luna. She handed Lightning back the binoculars.

“Take a look.” she said, pushing him towards the window. With a deep breath, he raised the binoculars. What he saw made him gag.

Bodies. Fifty bodies. Blood. Pools of scarlet. Destroyed or missing heads. Giant, gaping holes through chests. Some were still moving, left out to die and rot. All fifty, killed in less than a minute. He picked one out that looked like a teenager. She had cream colored fur and a bright red mane and tail. A red bow sat atop her head. She was one that hadn’t died immediately. A hole through her chest showed where the bulled entered and exited. A pool of blood was starting to encircle her body. And tear streaks showed the pain that she had felt. Orange irises, glassy and cold, looked towards the sky.

Lightning pulled the binoculars away, unable to take anymore. He turned back to Luna. “Can we go back now.” he said disgusted. She nodded, laying her wing over his back again. As the weightlessness filled his body, all he could think of was Rarity, and how one of those could have been her if she hadn’t been saved.

When he next felt the ground, he rushed away from Luna. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was afraid of her. Something felt wrong with her, something was off. She just looked at him, her head cocked.

“What’s wrong.” she asked, her voice worried. How could she not understand?

“You just ordered the death of fifty ponies, and you don’t even care!” he shouted, anger returning. “How can you not think this is wrong!?” Luna just shook her head.

“I do care. I feel personally responsible for each pony out there.” she said, her soft voice back. “That is why I did that. I am trying to end their suffering, and their pain.”

“You still don’t have to kill them. There is another way!” Luna snorted with laughter.

“Rehabilitation!? It is impossible, and what would they gain with it?” she asked, her wings flaring out behind her. “They would still have to live with what happened. No, this is the best, and only, way.”

Lightning felt that arguing with this Mare was going to get him nowhere. He just nodded. “You are probably right.” Luna smiled.

“That’s a good soldier.” She turned and flew down the stairs, Lightning following her. When they reached the bottom, Lunar was standing in the doorway.

“Queen, there are no houses available. But a new sub-division will be finished in a week.” He turned to Lightning. “If you will follow me, I will give you the tour of the Bastion.” Lightning looked up at Luna, who nodded. Lunar turned and started to walk towards the door, Lightning on his tail.

But he could not shed two thoughts. One was the need to get out, to get home. To be with his friends and Applejack again. But the other was sending a chill down his back. It was the teenage Death Hunter. The cream colored pony who had died in pain.

Comments

[Sky Spark]

The cream colored pony if it is who I think it is

[TheBlackPanda]

You killed Applebloom dawg...
But still, this is getting great.

[SadPonieFace]

Has Luna turned back into Nightmare Moon? Or has she just gone insane?
Also, why doesn't Lightning tell them about the cure or the Death Hunter rehabilitation?

[Silver Slip]

You will die a slow death for killing teenage Applebloom

[Typographical Error]

465087 Oh god. Brony rage. I should probably start running now.

[Silver Slip]

Make that a PMSing Pegasister. Prepare to die

[Typographical Error]

468901 Oh dear Celestia!