Celestia had awoken a little bit before she had to raise the sun, as she had for centuries before. She tried to send out her magic, only to get a massive backlash and an even bigger headache. She she rubbed her horn, wondering what had gone wrong. As her hand ran across the cracks, the memory of what had happened came back to her.

“Glad to see you’re awake. I was hoping to be able to hear the story from you as well, rather than through another person.” A voice said. Celestia’s eyes shot open, and her head turned towards it. She saw what looked like a middle aged pony in a loose fitting robe with trimmed salt and pepper hair, and steel grey eyes.

No, he wasn’t a pony.

“Who are you exactly?” She asked, fearing the answer.

“You already know the answer to that question.” He replied, never blinking.

“You’re the one called Prophet.”

“Exactly.”

Celestia’s temper flared. Here he stood, unprotected and unguarded with just her. She called forth her magic, preparing to send it towards him.

“I would have to advise against that greatly. You would die before the spell reached me.” He said, still unfazed by her act of aggression.

“I’m immortal. I’ve survived worse things than you could throw at me.” She said, as she cast out the spell. Before it went much farther than her outstretched arm, it seemed to shatter against nothing. She could feel tendrils of ice creeping through her body, stopping centimeters away from her heart.

“I highly doubt you could survive the things I would do to you.” Prophet said, standing up and walking over to her. He placed his hand in the center of her chest, directly over her heart. “You might be immune to outside influences, but how immortal are you when your body gives out on you. Could you survive your heart exploding in your chest?”

The tendrils creeped closer to her heart, slowing it down as they crept in. Time seemed to slow down, every second turning into a minute and every minute into an hour. She was dying slowly, and it was entirely at the hands of this creature.

“Fortunately for you, I’m not that cruel.” He said, as the tendrils retracted. Time sped back up to normal. She sucked in a huge breath, her body realizing that it hadn’t taken a breath in over a minute. “Now, your side of the story. I heard from Aphrodite what she says happened, and now I want to hear your side.”

“Awfully nice for someone that sanctioned the killing of at least thirty of my ponies.” She retorted. Celestia sat up slowly, her headache making it excruciating.

“The death of, Blueblood i think it was, was entirely on his head. However, she will be punished for her actions regarding culling your nobility. Her decision on how to deal with the matter was highly inappropriate, although she will be commended for the effectiveness it had.”

“You’re sickening. You reward a monster for being a monster.” She said, closing her eyes as she started getting dizzy.

“No, I’m rewarding a soldier for doing her job. She is also being punished for excessive cruelty if you hadn’t heard that part. Now, your side of the story. I want to hear everything you feel would be relevant.” He said, walking back over to where he was sitting earlier.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes.

“You know, if you want any sort of justice you do have to talk to me. Otherwise I’ll be forced to render a judgement from just Aphrodite’s testimony.” He said, sighing into his hands.

“You’ve already made your judgement. Whatever I could say would only support her words to you, making your judgement even more resolute.”

“Do you really think so low of me? I am not in charge because I don’t listen and consider every side of an argument.” He said.

“I just noticed, but why don’t you ever blink?” She asked. He had been staring at her for the past few minutes.

“How about a trade of information. I tell you why I don’t blink, and you tell me your half of the story. Do we have a bargain?” He said, a smirk on his face.

“Sure, but you go first.” She said, finally having some modicum of control in her life again.

“It’s because I’m blind. When I fought the previous Prophet, he shot me in the face with a plasma round. After I won, I was hospitalized for severe burns and I was offered the choice between getting my eyesight back or testing a new augment they had designed. I picked the augment, and forever lost my eyes in doing so.” He said, smiling at her.

“How are you so blatant about permanently losing such an important part of yourself?” She asked, unbelieving of how easily he talked about such a scarring moment in his life.

“I don’t have the time or patience to pity myself, and the augment they used on me works better than my eyes ever did. I have beaten several hundred opponent who believed that because I had lost my eyes that I was unfit to lead. Do not underestimate me because I’m blind, otherwise you overestimate yourself in a fight with me. Now that I’ve answered your question, please tell me your half of the story. Please don’t leave out anything you feel is relevant or affected your decision about something regarding your little soiree with Aphrodite.” He said, leaning back in the chair.

“Well, the first part of this entire thing started a little over a year ago. After a meteor storm-”

“-and then I woke up to you.” Celestia finished.

“Quite the interesting tale you’ve spun.” Prophet said, contemplating over everything he had heard. “I’ll take everything you’ve told me into account before I decide on your judgement.” He got up and walked over to the door, knocking on it twice. The door swung inward, the handle held by a four armed creature that had a wolf-like snout extending from under his helmet.

“There is much for us to account for when we decide Kronos. Not everything was as plain as Aphrodite put it.”

“You mean to tell me you actually believe my story?” She asked, incredulously. She had told him because she had made a bargain, thinking that no matter what it wouldn’t change the outcome.

“You have no reason to lie, and it does corroborate with many things that Aphrodite told. You’ve just filled in some parts that she hadn’t decided to elaborate on.” He said. “After all, even history has many sides of the same event. Why wouldn’t this story?” He asked, turning back to face her.

“I wasn’t expecting a fair treatment. Not after all of your rules I’ve apparently broken.” She said, sighing as she laid back down.

“If there is one thing we value more than anything else, it is the fair treatment of all. Rank is earned through actions, rather than connections. Our justice system is fair, because it takes all sides of the story into account.” He said, smiling at her.

“However, your story does corroborate with many of the charges that Aphrodite brought up. You will most likely be found guilty, but your punishment might be meted because of extraneous circumstances. I am very sorry, but our system does not differ between a civilian and a princess. All are accountable for their actions.”

“And what of Aphrodite? She slaughtered my ponies when she could have avoided the entire thing.” She said, outraged.

“You do not want to know her punishment. As I said, all are accountable for their actions.” He said, before walking out past Kronos.

Kronos turned to look at her, a surprisingly gentle voice coming from him. “He is a very fair man, albeit very cold. The punishments he gives are appropriate for the crimes, but he does take into account such circumstances before giving his judgements.”

“How do you expect him to punish me then?” She asked, worried.

“I don’t know in the least. He is a very unpredictable man, and bends our laws very well to his own ends.” He said, before closing the door.

“And now I wait to see what happens with the man from behind the stars.” She said, closing her eyes. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep, allowing her body to focus more on healing her like it had before.

“It is without a doubt she is guilty.” Kronos said. “I heard the story as she told Prophet, and it coincides with Aphrodite’s perfectly. She also filled in several points that Aphrodite had left grey, so we must take that into account.”

“So what do you believe Prophet will give her as punishment. The law demands a life, but he will try to twist it to his benefit like every other time.” Hera said, putting her two cents in.

“We can never properly guess how he will act. He is a wild card, but one that earned his place and keeps it well.” Gaia said, as she looked up at them. “He is the best Prophet we’ve had in many cycles.”

“And I didn’t earn it by letting people talk behind my back about me.” Prophet said, walking into the room.

“Forgive us. We were simply conversing-” Hera started.

“About how I like to bend the rules in favor of profit for me. While I do admit I will bend the rules where necessary, I have never done so for personal gain. The people I bend the rules for are great assets to the Aetherian Empire as a whole. Reduced prices on resources, higher recruitment rates from certain planets.” He said, glaring at Hera.

“We know. We've seen the figures. Since you've come to power, the Empire has expanded farther than it has with the past three Prophets combined.” Gaia said.

“Forgiveness earns more than condemnation after all.” Prophet explained.

“You know we all believe her guilty, and Kronos said the story she gives corroborates it.” Zeus said.

“She is guilty without a doubt. There can be no misconstruing it, even going by the loosest definitions of law.” Prophet replied.

“So how are you going to spin this around to profit for us?” Hera asked.

These people can offer many things, but they are not quite ready to contribute. Bringing them up would destroy them, since they’re unprepared for the technologies we have to offer.

“Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you would show up. Is there something you wish to share before we decide on her final punishment?” Prophet asked, smiling.

I can share many things I’ve learned watching them this past year. However, I want to make a deal first.

“Don’t you always?” Prophet smirked, knowing exactly where this was going.

Don’t spoil my fun just yet. I don’t get to play very often.

Author's Note

Sorry this one took so long to get up. A lot has happened in the past week, and this slipped my mind.