>There’s a certain despair in murder.
>A terror that comes straight from your heart like fire, a rush of emotions beyond any real understanding except knowing that it hurts you.
>It’s welling up inside you now, welling like the blood out of Celestia’s wounds.
>The Princess of the Sun, so high and mighty, so majestic and magical.
>So royal, wise and benevolent.
>Possessed of a kindness more vast than all of the world.
>And here she lies.
>“Laid low.”
>Celestia hacks and coughs those two words out.
>Each word sends a spray of blood out from the multiple punctures in her long and slender neck.
>The crimson stains Celestias’ pure white fur and pools around her on the marble floor.
>There’s an especially terrible flow of blood pouring from the ragged gaping hole in Princess Celestias’ chest, just below the gorgeous nape of her neck, straight through her golden necklace.
>You know that hole goes deep, all the way to her heart.
>You know because you’re the one who made it, and you’re the one holding Celestia’s heart in your hand.
>It’s still beating as strong as it ever has, not fast, not slow.
>Steady, powerful.
>Tears run down your face at the vile thought that it was once reassuring, nothing could be reassuring anymore.
>Nothing could be warm.
>You’d just torn all the warmth away, tossed all of the world’s blankets out into the cold and the snow.
>You’d roused all the children from their sleep so that they may be cruelly baptised in the unholy frozen waters of the night.
>You had become death.
>You had become the cold.
>Princess Celestia is looking up at you with just one piercing eye, the other you gouged out with your foot an hour or so prior.
>An hour? A minute?
>Time was fuzzy.
 
>You met Celestia’s gaze and saw that it was filled with pity and tenderness rather than anger or pain.
>She smiled, wiping the blood from her lips.
>Your knees failed you and you fell to them, still crying as you watched Princess Celestia stand up.
>Celestia shook and shivered every step of the way, wracked by pain.
>You could feel her heart beat harder against your palm.
>But she stood up.
>”It’s… Alright…”
>You tried to smile back at her.
>Instead you cried even harder, you could barely see her anymore your vision was so clouded by tears.
“N-no…”
>You put on a brave face and wiped your tears aside to see Princess Celestia clearly.
>She was moving towards you now, hobbling on the twisted mess of her right hind leg.
>The hole in Celestia’s chest was a wellspring of gore, pouring out viscera and blood every time she leaned forward even slightly.
>Celestia came to a stop before you, peering down at you with that same beautiful gaze she always spared for you.
>Smiling, Celestia wrapped her fore hooves and her one good wing around you in a hug.
>You could feel the blood from her chest wound against your own chest, soaking through your shirt instantly.
>It was still warm, Princess Celestias’ grasp was warm.
>Celestias’ feathers danced along your back, her ragged breaths whispered by your ear.
>Her heart had slowed again, back to its normal strong and steady cadence.
>Shivering from the chill you felt deep in your bones, you wrapped your arms around Celestia and hugged her back.
>Your free hand pressed into her fur and your other hand pressed Celestia’s own heart against her barrel gently.
>You knew that Celestia was still warm, but you couldn’t feel it at all.
>All you could feel was cold, sadness, despair and the beating of her heart.
>A cruel teasing thing, to be so close and yet so far.
>You closed your eyes.
 
>”It’s alright.”
>Your eyes opened.
>Down the hall, standing half in a shadow, you saw Princess Luna.
>Her eyes were locked firmly on yours, her expression inscrutable.
>You blinked.
>And woke up, staring up at the dark purple canopy of the four poster bed you were lying in.
>Another blink as reality started to creep back in.
>A dream, a nightmare.
>Just a nightmare.
>You sighed and wiped the tears from your eyes.
>It was warm underneath the covers, you could feel the warmth coming off of the one you lied with.
>Celestia shifted in her sleep, turning her head to face you.
>Her eyes opened slowly, orbs of magenta took you in curiously.
>Celestia blinked and smiled, planting a kiss on your lips.
>You could feel the warmth there too, exchanged.
>”Dream?”
“Yes.”
>Princess Celestia turned her whole body around now, all four hooves touched you.
>She swept her mane out of her eyes.
>”What was it about?”
>You looked away and over her head to the night sky outside the window.
“You and me, we hugged.”
>Celestia giggled, not a courtly giggle, but a real and soft one.
>The sort of one only you heard.
>”Was it warm?”
>…You met Celestia’s eyes.
>And put on your smile.
>Letting out an old chuckle from its forlorn cage, you pulled Celestia into a hug.
“Not as warm as this one.”
>There was a pair of turquoise eyes at the window, they were locked on your green ones, staring.
>You felt cold.