Rarity pointed accusingly at Slipp, her voice shrill with anger. "Dirty old searats, you've ruined all my lovely dresses!"

"What gives you any more right to these diamonds than us?" Slipp demanded. "From what I hear, Blaggut was the one that dug them up!"

"I wanted the diamonds so I could use them as jewelry," Rarity said coldly. "But you obviously want diamonds because they are only diamonds!" She started to cry. "Now I won't have anything for Sapphire Shores tomorrow! My career is ruined! I should have known better than to trust a rat!"

Her words cut Blaggut to the quick, but Slipp had a more aggressive response. He raised his searat dagger. "Yew snout faced liddle spawn, I'll carve yer to slices!"

"Captain, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Blaggut shouted.

Slipp leaped at Rarity with the knife and was actually in midair when Princess Luna flew in through the broken window and pushed Rarity out of the way. The knife went through her heart and she fell dead to the floor.

Blaggut wasn't sure what had happened, it was all so fast. He knelt down by Luna's body and gasped. "That's the beast who kept scaring us. She was just another pony!"

"That's not just another pony," Rarity said angrily. "That's Princess Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, and you've just killed her!"

"The ole fool did it 'erself," Slipp snarled, "jumpin' on me like that! Got wot she deserved, following us around all the time and getting in our way!"

Tears ran down Blaggut's face as he rocked back and forth. "You killed 'er, Cap'n! Oh, what'll we do now, Cap'n?"

Slipp could hear hoofbeats running toward them in the distance. A brutal sneer lit his face as he moved into action. Grabbing the sack of diamonds, he kicked Blaggut upright. "Well, at least we ain't leavin' 'ere empty pawed. Come on, idiot, yore in this with me. Move yerself or stay 'ere an' get gored or trampled by those stupid ponies. I'm savin' me own skin!"

He jumped out the window and ran off into the night. Blaggut followed him, not knowing what else to do. The two rats ran off into the Everfree Forest.

A minute later, Twilight and Celestia came. When Celestia saw Luna lying dead on the floor, she went into shock. She couldn't speak or move.

"What happened here?" Twilight asked Rarity.

Rarity wiped the tears of rage from her eyes. "Those no-good vermin broke into my house and stole the diamonds right off my dresses! And when Princess Luna tried to stop them, they stabbed her! We should've known not to trust rats, should never have let 'em into our town!"

Twilight knelt down by Luna's body. "Can't you heal her with magic?" she asked Celestia.

Celestia pulled herself out of her trance. "I'm afraid it's too late, Twilight. She's already dead."

Twilight sniffed back her tears and kept a stiff upper lip. "Well, come on then. We can't let those rats get away. We'll track the murderers by night and have them slain by dawn!"

Celestia put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "No! First we must see my sister at rest; it's the right thing to do. Those two searats will be lost by now; they don't know their way around Equestria. I do! When I'm ready, I'll track them down. No need for you to go; I travel best alone. I'll leave their carcasses for the ants to pick over!"

Twilight had never heard her mentor talk like this before. But they'd never had a situation like this before. Luna had been around so long, everypony thought she'd live forever. What would her death mean for the future of Equestria?