Escaping from Celestia

One hour had passed and Glimmering Starlight came into the dining hall and notified the others, "Your Majesty, our captive is in a cage and is waiting outside the palace."

Radiant replied, "Alright, let's get going. It is a very long trip to Canterlot." She then turned to Luna and added, "And since she is your sister, you can pull her cage."

Luna let out a sigh of frustration despite knowing that would likely be the case. She asked, "So who all is going to be going with me?" She turned to Radiant and added, "I'm assuming you will be joining me?"

Radiant replied, "Yes I will as will those who captured her." She turned to Glimmering and suggested, "And since you are the only other royal pony, you need to stay behind in the event something was to happen to me."

Glimmering replied, "Yes your Majesty."

Radiant then headed towards the exit and commented, "Come on, let's get going."

Radiant, those who captured Celestia along with Luna headed towards the exit. Once they got outside, they attached Luna to the cage so she could pull it. As they headed north, those who had been in the forest for a while, Radiant in particular, dreaded leaving the forest because they hadn't been exposed to direct sunlight in years. In the case of Radiant, it had been over a thousand years since she had last saw the sun.

Once they saw the edge of the forest something didn't seem right. Given the time, it should be light but it was still dark. Radiant saw this and said, "Huh, I thought it would be light by now." She got a smile on her face and added, "Oh well, it will make things easier on us!"

This caused Luna to realize that she had never got the opportunity to lower the moon and raise the sun. She gasped, "The sun, I ddn't get a chance to raise it. I'll have to do that as soon as we get out of the forest so Equestria won't freeze."

This caused Celestia to comment, "Yes and thanks to you four, everypony is probably wondering why it is still dark."

Twilight flared up her horn and yelled, "Shut up bitch, your sister will get it raised soon enough."

Once they got out of the forest flew up and flared up her horn, casting the necessary spells to lower the moon and raise the sun. As the eastern horizon began to light up, Radiant and the others quickly shielded their eyes as they knew that this would be the first direct sunlight then had been exposed to in years....and in the case of Radiant, in over a thousand years.

Once the sun was up Celestia exclaimed, "The sun, I was so afraid for a while that I'd never see it again."

Luna replied, "Well enjoy it because of the punishment you have to receive, you won't see it for much longer."

Something just crossed Twilight's mind, the amount of time it would take for them to get to Canterlot. She asked, "Luna, what is the quickest route to get to Canterlot?"

Sunset added, "The quickest route without anypony knowing that we have her captive?"

Luna sighed, "For us to be able to do that, we will have to walk to where there are tracks and then I would have to return to Canterlot, charter a private train and then pick all of you...."

Radiant ordered, "I hadn't even heard of Canterlot until Glimmering Starlight escaped your sister's tyranny but do it. Once we find some tracks, go get it and we will wait for you."

Luna wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea but agreed, "Very well, once we find some tracks I will do that but you better not run off with my sister or this whole deal is off."

Radiant replied, "Deal."

They walked for several more hours before they found the tracks a good distance to the east of Dodge Junction. As soon as they found them Luna took off towards Canterlot. Moonlight cast her gaze at Celestia and sternly said, "You better be glad your sister came for you because had she not, you'd wind up dead and buried in a shallow grave."

Twilight laughed, "After you had a taste of the Sparkle of pain!"

Celestia began to cry hearing the words of her former proteges. It hurt her bad enough that they had severely injured her but knowing that who was her closest and most beloved protege truly hated her made the wait all the worse. She could understand why the others hated her but with Twilight, she still didn't get it. She still believed that Twilight would have loved the things she did to her out at her old castle.

Eight hours later a train finally pulled up, it was the royal train that the sisters would use for long distance trips, trips where going by chariot wasn't feasible. Once it ground to a stop, Radiant and Moonlight handled the cage Celestia was in while Twilight and Sunset were waiting to get in the same car. Sunset looked around and asked, "Hey, where is Luna? Shouldn't she be here?"

Luna stepped out of the engine car and said, "Well everypony, nopony knows why I chartered this so we can get her to Canterlot." She paused before adding, "But we may want to wait until after dark to removing her from the car."

Twilight was shocked when she saw this. She asked, "Luna, you're an engineer? I didn't know that!"

Luna replied, "Yes Twilight Sparkle, there are many things that I can do that nopony else knows about."

Sunset then made a suggestion, "Luna, instead of having to wait until after dark to remove her from the train isn't there a separate bay we could unload her from so we're not having to wait for hours to get off?"

Luna replied, "Sunset Shimmer, there is but by the time we get there it should be dark already."

It didn't take Radiant and Moonlight long to get Celestia onto the train and then the others boarded as well. Luna then got the train going on its way to Canterlot. As they were headed towards Canterlot, she never once imagined that she would have to be transporting her sister home only to have to banish her. Luna remembered her banishment to the moon all too well but it still hurt her that she would have to banish an injured Celestia to limbo.

During their trip to Canterlot, Luna had to stop to lower the sun and raise the moon. It was a bit after midnight when the train pulled into the station. There was nopony out and about at all so getting Celestia unloaded and to the palace unnoticed was not a problem. Once they got into the throne room Celestia began to cry, "Oh sister, I never thought I'd get to see this place again. I thought for sure they'd kill me."

Radiant burned her with some energy and snapped, "Well enjoy it while you can because later today you're getting banished and every mare you have ever wronged shall be vindicated."

Celestia gave her a sad look and begged, "Can't there be a different punishment?" She turned to Luna and added, "Couldn't you just throw me in Tartarus or maybe even the dungeon?"

Luna sighed, "Celestia, part of the deal of them releasing you was that they chose your punishment. It was either an eternity in limbo or Twilight Sparkle would burn you alive with her magic."

She turned to Twilight and saw a hateful look on her face, one that mirrored the looks on the faces of those who came with her. Celestia knew that there was to be no reasoning with her captors or her sister at this point. One thing did cross her mind, "Sister, will I be allowed to have one final meal before my punishment?"

Luna looked at Celestia's captors and Radiant replied, "We may as well because I'm sure by the time sunrise gets here that we will all be hungry." She cast a glare at Celestia and added, "But you will remain in that cage, I do not want you at the table with us. You don't deserve any kind of conversation with us, well not a pleasant one that most meals include anyway."

Luna asked, "Even though this is our palace, what do you four want done before her punishment takes place? Do you want her down in the dungeon or do you want her to stay up here?"

Radiant sighed, "Just leave her up here. It must be approaching one and it wouldn't be worth it to haul her down there only to have to bring her back up here a few hours later."

Luna knew this was a lose-lose situation. She knew that either way her sister would be in despair but believed that Celestia seeing those she had wronged for longer would be harder on her. She also knew though that the four ponies who will soon be of a different nationality were pretty much in charge here. She knew that if she angered them in the slightest, that a not so pleasant fate could still be awaiting her sister.