Broken Pieces

“W-what!?” Ruby screamed, “I can’t do that! I’m not even part princess!!!”

Black Sun looked down in shame, her eyes shining red. “It was me. I planned for everything that happened. I even planned your initiation for the same day as the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration…”

Both Twilight and Ruby looked at her in shock, simultaneously replying, “Why!?”

“For so long, we have lived in Celestia’s light. When Luna returned, we were cast out, the New Lunar Republic gaining members by each passing day. For years, we have lived under her shadow, and I realized that our group would not survive long, as our death count rises each day. When Ruby Star came to me, asking to be part of our faith, I could not deny. I formulated a plan from reading all of the spell books Celestia had granted upon me. Without her knowledge, I set up the initiation for the Eve of the Summer Sun Celebration, as Celestia would shadow the sun early morning. This, in turn, would transfer Celestia’s royal powers over to whomever was standing on the altar at that moment. It just happened to be you, Ruby Star. You are half-princess now. There’s nothing that can reverse it yet.”

Ruby didn’t know how to respond. The glow in her eyes revealed no emotion whatsoever, and she just stood up. As she began to walk off, Twilight stood in front of her. “You can’t leave!!”

Ruby became scared, afraid of what another pony would do to a mare with so much power.

“I have to study you!!! This is amazing!!! A mare-turned-half princess through the sun’s rays!! Sit! Sit! SIT!!!”

Now Ruby really was scared! This pony, Twilight, that blocked her path, was going crazy over her and her glowing eyes. Ruby just charged, knocking Twilight over and running up the stairs. “I’m not special! Leave me alone!”

Both ponies that stared up the stairs were thinking the same thing, “She can’t go out alone….she’ll be captured…”

~~~

Ruby ran along the streets, trying her best to keep her eyes shut. She didn’t want anypony to touch her, let alone look at her. Would they think she was a monster? What was happening to her?

She ran for at least ten minutes, traversing Ponyville at top speed. She was surprised that she hadn’t bumped into another pony already, as this had to be a large town. She slowed her pace, finally looking out into where she had gone. The first thing she noticed was the sounds that surrounded her.

She heard her hooves echoing across the place she was standing in. The water dripping on all sides of her gave an eerie impression, just like the one she had experienced last night with the Solar Empire. Birds of all sounds were squeaking their hoarse sounds, and she even heard a timber wolf howl in the distance.

She was in the middle of the Everfree Forest.

Of course there would be no other ponies around. No soul dared to enter this forbidden forest without at least five other partners. Now she was alone in the middle of the most dangerous place (to her knowledge) in Equestria.

Ruby whimpered, the fear that she had felt the night before returning. She closed her eyes for a minute, trying to process the easiest path out of here. Obviously the best way would be to retrace her steps.

But where had she entered this beast from? Which direction did she come running from? Everything looked the exact same to her, and it all scared her poor soul to pieces.

“Hey, I think I heard something over there!”

The voice made Ruby jump. Somepony was here to save her! She felt relieved, turning around with a smile on her face. What she saw didn’t exactly make her want to stick around. The group that had chased them through the forest yesterday was back, searching for any pony who remained from the cult meeting only the night before.

Ruby started to run, no sense of where she was going. She only wanted to be anywhere except for here. Her pants became louder with each large step she made. Root over root, bush over bush she trot, avoiding all obstacles in her path. The voices grew louder, the sounds of twigs crunching under all of their hooves intensifying with each step.

It sounded as if the whole group were males, judging by the distance they gained on her with each second. She couldn’t continue to run for much longer. Her vision had started to blacken, the spots of vision in her eyes growing dim. Her pace began to slow, her breaths replaced with coughs, and then she started to throw up. Before she could finish, her body slumped over in a haze, basically giving up. The voices grew, until the stallions stood by her side gallantly.

“I found her, you guys! Over here!”

Ruby could barely respond, her words coming out in short puffs. “I’m not...going to hurt...you...please...spare me…”

The other ponies weren’t convinced. All were screaming names at her. Most of them involved witchcraft. The pony with the most brilliant armor took his sword between his lips, his words barely heard to any pony except for Ruby. “I’m sorry...for Twily…”

And then they were gone. Ruby didn’t move, her body trying to restart. She felt as if her body was going to shut down. Just as suddenly as she had fell over, her body jolted. A wave of energy burst through her, and she found the strength to stand. Looking down at her body, half covered in filth from the ground, it began to glow, rising into the air.

“W-what…”

Ruby looked around frantically. In the thick brush, she could not seem to find who was casting out the glow that was engulfing her body. The golden light that shone from her being began to brighten, until the whole forest was illuminated in the warmth of Ruby’s glow. She closed her eyes, the warmth bring back memories of times she had played with her sister.

She remembered the times of old, before Ponyville, where she and her sister used their magic to joke around with all the settlers that were arriving. The more she remembered, the brighter the light inside of her grew. Thoughts of the sun, and how she had practiced moving it day by day, flooded her mind. She could take no more, screaming all at once. “STOP!”

Then she sat up from the ground, breaths in short, rapid bursts. Whatever had just happened, it was amazing. She had never felt anything like it. The only reason she had wanted it to end was because it felt too good for her. She needed to get out of here, and quickly. If those ponies were to come back, she would be in a heap of trouble. She did NOT want to be around when they returned.

She wandered around for a short while. It appeared that the forest was changing on her. She was sure that she had passed the same trees twice already. It appeared that all of the trees had faces on them, and it kind of freaked her out. In her reality, they looked more funny than scary. She just laughed at them as she passed by, making her own little faces at them. She was busy wandering, and didn’t notice the box that lie in front of her.

THUD!

Jumping up, hooves in front of her, Ruby was ready to attack. No pony was going to get her this time, or even get close to her! “Hmm….” Looking down, Ruby let out a sigh of relief. Looking down at the box, she felt as if she had seen it somewhere. It was just a plain three by three cardboard box

.

She half-expected something to pop out and frighten her. Had she placed this box here? She couldn’t remember. Why did it look so dang familiar to her? She took no hesitation in opening it. She lifted the large flaps carefully, holding her head back in case something were to explode.

Looking down, she saw a cake. There was only one word inscribed in the deep blue frosting: Luna.

Luna...Luna...like the Princess? Was this a cake for Princess Luna? What was it doing all the way out here, in the Everfree Forest? Was somepony messing with her mind? Were they watching her!?

She spun around in a circle twice, making sure that there were no peeping eyes through the brush of the forest. “Might as well take the cake. Not like Luna will ever find it here, anyways…” When she looked down, the cake wasn’t there, and a pathway opened up in front of her. Walking through it, she found that she was, once again, on the outskirts of Ponyville.

Did the Forest just help Ruby get back?

She sighed, walking into Ponyville, past SugarCube Corner. If she had been here before, why did she have to come back? There were already two ponies who were probably out to get her here. Maybe she should go to the castle. Celestia had to know what was going on with her.

It was settled. She would grab a few necessities from her home here in Ponyville, and then she would be off to Canterlot castle. Eat, sleep, and then leave on the next train. Her first stop would be home...right on the other edge of Ponyville.

~~~

Ruby’s house was a bright shade of green. She had named it after her mother, Sodapop, a couple years back, about the time that she died. It was said that Ruby’s house was enchanted with a protection spell from her mother, who would protect her even after death. So far, no intruders had gotten in, so there must’ve been something at work.

She took the key to her house from the secret panel in the doorknob, jiggling the key a few times in the lock. It always got stuck, and was almost impossible to pull from the keyhole. After a few tries at pulling at the key, she reverted to jiggling it around. All at once, the key broke into two pieces.

“Awww dang….another one broken...when I get back I really have to get a locksmith about this…”

She stepped into her house, clandestinely stepping over each floor tile with furtive notions. The electricity had gone out months ago, and she never seemed to get the time to pay her bills. For this reason, she always thought she had to step sneakily into her own home.

Once she had made it up the stairs, she sighed again, knowing in her heart that she would never see this home again. Her place was Equestria, not just being limited to Ponyville. She stepped into her room, the posters on her wall all seeming to stare at her. The posters themselves were littered with none other than Shining Armor. He was her hero...used to be. Trying to kill her had made her lose all respect for him.

Before doing anything else, she began to thrust her hooves at the posters, attempting to basically rip them to shreds. Once all that was left were scraps of litter, she fell onto her bed, grabbing her pillow to her face.

Crying had always been easy for her. Her whole life, she had been different from every other pony. While all the other ponies wanted money and friends, Ruby had only cared about the work. She lived in the back of the classroom throughout all of her schools. What were friends without knowledge? That was her motto.

Now, she was even more of a freak than before. She knew all the other ponies would make fun of her even worse than they had a few years ago. It was then that she remembered a pony who, throughout all of her school years, never took time out of her day to hang out with an other ponies. Twilight Sparkle seemed almost exactly like her.

Twilight studied constantly, and she didn’t have very many friends. The only difference was that Ruby Star believed that Twilight secretly plotted against Celestia. She obviously worked for the New Lunar Republic. Ruby would never stoop to that level.

She looked up, eyes fierce. Her whole life, she was letting ponies push her around! Well, that wasn’t going to happen anymore. Her magic would be strong enough to overcome any pony who stood in her way. Wait a minute...she didn’t have magic! She harbored it, but obviously she couldn’t cast it! That would be crazy.

She slumped over again. She knew that ponies would continue to hurt her for the rest of her life, and she was prepared for it. If need be, she could just run away...or leave this world altogether. She didn’t object to either plan, and finally crouched up on the bed. Yawning like a cat, she hopped out of bed, deciding her daily “nap” was over.

She grabbed her sun hat and her family photo album, letting them fall into the saddlebags she gingerly placed upon her back. Taking one last hopeful look into the room, she shut the door behind her, placing a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door handle.

Walking back down the stairs, weights held her hooves to the stairs. It felt like hours had gone by by the time she had reached the final platform, stepping off. She did a slow canter to the kitchen, only stopping in to grab a couple of hay bars. Finally ready to go, she held her head up high. Walking out the door that day, she felt like a new mare, ready to start a new life.

~~~

The train wouldn’t arrive for nearly twenty minutes, and there was really no time to waste. Ruby grunted in anger, her voice nearly silent. Taking a rest on the bench closest to where the train cars would stop, she settled herself in, her mind racing with questions that she would ask Princess Celestia. But what would she tell her?

“Hey there, Princess. It is an honor to be in our presence. I have come to discuss serious matters with you. One of your most faithful subjects, Black Sun, has tricked me. I have now stolen half of your powers!”

Oh, Celestia, did that sound stupid. Nothing she could say would make the punishment she was doomed to receive any better. Ruby told herself that everything would work out in the end. It had to. She could feel her thoughts being interrupted, a heavy being sitting beside her. Looking over, she noticed a stallion, about twice her age, sitting down and chewing on a straw of hay.

“Ummm, hi there.” The stallion looked over, unresponsive. His red coat gleamed in the sun, half blinding Ruby. She couldn’t really be one to argue, her dazzling white coat reflecting the sun even worse. His cutie mark was a large apple. His mane was awny orange, tinted with the slightest of brown, as if he had been working in a field all day.

“Have you been working in dirt your whole life? You look dreadful!” By the time the words had emerged from her lips, she realized they couldn’t be taken back. Those were some horrible things to say, yet she had still said them.

“Eeyup.”

That was all he had to say!? Wow, this colt was a real bummer. She had nothing more to say to him. She certainly knew he was staring at her. She had become quite attractive, least to say. Then again, it could just be that her eyes were a sparkling gold color, which wasn’t quite normal for a pony.

There wasn’t much time to think, as the sounds of the train whistle echoed off from the distance. Every chugging movement along the tracks could be heard, everypony yipping at it and whistling. The train screeched to a halt, all the ponies at the station bombarding the door. All the ones on the train weren’t so enthusiastic, shoving their way through the crowd to enter the town that Ruby now wanted to leave.

As soon as all the other ponies were on board, the conductor gave one last call to the ponies still waiting at the station. “All aboard the Ponyville Express! Next stop, Canterlot!!” At the word Canterlot, Ruby jumped up, flying into the train car.

The ride on its own was fairly slow, and, from reading the schedules, it would be a couple hours until she would arrive at Canterlot, with minor stops along the way. The bumps in the track made a calm setting for Ruby. The ponies quietly conversing, mixed with the sounds of the train rolling through the grass plains, sounded like music to her ears. She fell asleep instantly, her mouth upturned in a smile.

~~~

Hours later, Ruby woke up, gasping for breath. The dream she had wasn’t much, but enough to choke her in her sleep. All that had happened was that Luna showed up, urging her to visit the castle, and then, she was trapped. The cardboard box that contained her was even more powerful than she had imagined.

No matter how much she struggled, it felt like she would never get out. When the box had finally burst open, she woke up. The strangest part was that, in her dream, she had a horn. That was impossible, considering she was an Earth pony! Standing up, she went to go to the restroom to make sure she had no horn.

The bathroom was actually quite nice, for a train. The floor was covered in tile, as her own home was, and it smelled of fresh roses. This was, by far, the prettiest bathroom she had ever been in. It was even laced with silver on the walls!

She walked fervently up to the mirror. Everything seemed okay, and her head definitely did NOT have a horn protruding from it. She turned away, pleased with herself, when something caught the corner of her eye. She turned back to the mirror, this time positioning her body sideways. Of course something had to be wrong. Something was always wrong.

Coming out of her back, on either side of her body, was a pair of wings, white as snow. Each feather was shining and glittery, just as her mane had become only a day ago. “Why am I getting punished for Sun’s sins?” was all that ran through her mind. She didn’t even know how to fly, let alone open her wings. The more she tried to spread the little devils on her back, the more they seemed to glue to her skin.

It was worthless. For the time being, they didn’t want to open, and she wasn’t going to force them. Just as she was about to egress the bathroom, the train came to a halt, thrusting her into the mirror. The mirror cracked, and Ruby looked up in hopes that it wouldn’t shatter. Fate, though, had a different idea, the mirror raining down upon her.

Minus the minor cuts and scrapes, she seemed to be okay. Rising, Ruby limped from the restroom, grabbed her things, and exited the locomotive.

The town was huge!

No words could describe how she felt at this moment. This city was at least ten times larger than Ponyville is or ever will be. In the center of it all stood her destination, Canterlot Castle. She found it fit to wander around first, as it seemed nopony could enter without at least one souvenir.

After at least an hour of window shopping, she finally settled on a store, titled “Antiquites Galore!” It seemed like a neat place, full of life and old treasures that beckoned every passer to it’s alluring collection. Wandering around the shop, she noticed everything, from old pocket watches to what appeared to be an old pony’s dentures. “Ew...who would take this??”

The store was definitely bigger on the inside. She saw a man in a bowtie with a store manager’s badge on, and decided to ask him about his personal preferences. He responded with a British accent.

“Well, if I had to say, I’d say that timey-wimey thing over there,” he pointed, “But if you want simple, I’d recommend that book!”

Ruby took a quick scan around to see where he was pointing, then it caught her eye. It was a blue book, in the shape of an old phone box. Nothing was written on it, but it felt important in her hooves, like it belonged with her. I opened it up to a random page, reading aloud.

“Ruby Star proceeded to open the book, deciding if this was a good read or not. Surprised at the contents, she quickly slammed it shut, throwing it at the British manager, Doctor Whooves.”

“Ack!! What in Equestria!?...”

She closed the book quickly, throwing it halfway across the store. “Ouch! What in bleeding Equestria did you do a thing like that for!? You’re paying, not me!”

Ruby ran, quite quickly, over to Doctor Whooves, checking if he was alright. “Yea, yea, I’ll be fine, just don’t go messing with my things. Do you want the book or not? I find it quite interesting…”

In the end, after a few minutes of haggling with this strange pony, Ruby thought it best to buy the book. It had her name in it, therefore she needed it. She put twelve bits on the counter, picking up her book.

She didn’t actually want to read it. It had already depicted her future once, so why wouldn’t it again? Would she really want to know what was going to happen to her? “Well...one more peek couldn’t hurt…”

“She seemed to get quite caught up in her book, not noticing the taxi was heading straight for Ruby, who had been standing in the middle of the road.”

Ruby looked up and shrieked. It was true! The taxi was coming straight for her, signaling a head-on collision. Jumping out of the way as fast as she could, the cab missed her by only mere inches. She couldn’t read anymore. She wasn’t going to die before reaching that castle, not on this day.

Tucking the book away in her bags, she ventured on, this time committing herself to the castle. Nothing else would distract her!

~~~

From so far away, the castle seemed miniscule. Up close, though, Ruby was scared. The doors to this place seemed to be at least twenty Rubies high! She was afraid to knock, or even to come close. All around the castle perimeter, guards were stationed at their posts. They all stood so straight, no muscles moving.

Upon walking in front of a guard, Ruby found out that the guards really never moved. No matter how many faces she made, or how many times she poked them, they remained inactive. It was insane. What kind of training did they give the Royal Guards? Mind control training? Sheesh…

She couldn’t turn back now. She had gotten here, and the next train wasn’t bound to leave until tomorrow. Then again, she could just book a hotel for the night...no! She had to see Princess Celestia!

She closed her eyes, the protective feeling of the darkness surrounding her making her feel comforted. Eyes sealed, she walked forward, prepared to push the doors to the castle inward. She hit her face on the metal knocker, opening her eyes and realizing that this was a pull door. Rolling her eyes, she pulled open the door, taking her first step into the unknown.

~~~

Ruby Star took large steps, trying to act as regal as she could be. She held her head up high, and kept her back straight. She felt funny, but if this was people in the castle walked, then she would have to as well. She noticed another pony trotting around frantically, and went up to ask her about the Princess’ room.

“Umm...it would be down the hall on your right. I wouldn’t think you’d miss the throne room after that.”

Ruby thanked her, walking away in a more normalized manner. She took the hall on her right, as instructed, and, looking down it, she understood why this path was the way to the Princess’ chambers. This was the longest hallway she had ever seen. There was seemingly no end to it.

“No better time than the present to get things done…” she thought as she started her journey down the hall. Every door she passed looked the exact same. The white colors with the unique golden designs on each door intrigued her. Each design seemed to get more awesome the further she made it down the hall. She passed an eagle, a dragon, and then even a depiction of Discord, the God of Chaos.

She couldn’t imagine anything cooler than this castle.

Finally, after what only seemed like a couple of minutes, she came upon a large, oval-shaped door. This was, with no mistake, the Room of the Two Sisters. With a brave heart, she strode into the room. Celestia sat upon her throne, looking down upon Ruby. It was as if Celestia herself knew that Ruby Star was coming, and even anticipated her arrival.

“Hello, Ruby. You’ve come to see me?”

Ruby was just as surprised as she was relieved. Princess Celestia didn’t seem to be angry, nor did she seem to know what was going on. While it did worry Ruby, it was more of a relief to her. She wouldn’t have to explain anything at all to the princess.

“Yes, Princess, I have. Recently, I joined the ranks of the Solar Empire-”

Celestia seemed to narrow her eyes at this. In truth, the Solar Empire was a touchy subject for her. When she had originally banished her sister to the moon, Luna’s followers revolted against Celestia, and she was forced to send them far away. Now, they were returning. Celestia was not in the mood for this talk.

“And it would appear that your student, Black Sun, has gone corrupt. She has been thinking of many new ways lately to plot against Luna and destroy both her and the New Lunar Republic. I have come to you to ask that you help me bring Black Sun to justice.”

Lying to the princess hurt Ruby, but she felt that it was the right thing to do. If she figured out that her power had been taken, she would be furious, and probably banish her to the moon as well. Celestia didn’t say much.

“Well, my student, I can’t help you. A corruption of power is why we have the Elements of Harmony. They are here to protect us, and, if need be, I will step in.”

Ruby stepped back, a little bit shocked. Did Celestia just say that her job was not to protect her people? That was messed up on so many levels! How could a princess not care about her subjects? Maybe...maybe it was all just a test! Maybe she wanted to make sure her people were doing good, so when she left this world, they would be able to manage on their own.

She looked up as Celestia pulled out a box, similar to the one she had seen in the forest. In fact, Celestia loved cake! Ever since she had attended Pinkie’s party in Ponyville, she couldn’t get enough of it. Luna told her that she would gain weight, but Celestia refused to listen. She just kept calling Pinkie, once a week, to bring in some more cake. Celestia pulled out two plates and used her magic to serve both her and Ruby a slice.

She levitated Ruby’s piece down to her, taking care in every bite she took. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed pretty enticed by this cake. Ruby didn’t know what the big deal was, deciding to try a bite for herself. The flavor exploded in her mouth.

A combination of raspberry and vanilla, the cake was delicious. Each bite proved to be better than the last, and both cake-loving ponies had their eyes closed, savoring every single bite. They were too wrapped up in their cake, both startled when the door to the chamber burst open.

Luna hurried herself in, each breath a pant. She took a moment to regain her breath, then spoke in a somewhat angry manner. “We cannot have cake at a time like this! Have thou not heard of the great fire that has bestruck Manehattan? We must attend to it, sister, at once!”

Celestia swallowed her cake calmly. It appeared that this was not the first fire that had occurred recently. She set down her plate and stood up. “Ruby Star, you must go now. I have business to attend to…”

Really!? Corruption wasn’t a big issue, but a small fire was!? Ruby was now enraged. Princess Celestia was a scroll of riddles. Ruby just stood on the windowsill, opening up her new wings. Then she looked down at where Manehattan lie.

Her eyes widened, finally coming to know of why Celestia chose this issue to combat. Half of Manehattan was on fire, most of what appeared to be the decorations now burnt. The screams were imminently heard from the castle, and Ruby heard a whoosh, turning around to find that Celestia had teleported away.

In an instant, the fire was gone. The remaining portions of town began to crumble, and the ponies that were bound to still be on fire continued screaming, their voices stinging her ears like a pack of wasps. Ruby couldn’t stand pain. It was too much for her heart to handle, and if she had to hear anymore screams, there was no doubt that she truly would jump off of the castle windowsill.

Then she remembered her wings. How could they have opened now? When everyone was in trouble, and she was mad at Celestia, they had seemed to open automatically, like a reaction. It was strange, having wings. Were they always unresponsive unless ponies needed saving? It didn’t seem like it, as all the pegasi could fly like a breeze.

When she heard the familiar sound of a teleportation spell, she knew that Celestia had returned. Spinning around, her eyes widened at Celestia’s face. Covered in ashes, she looked terrified.

“This fire was of no accident. A whole group of members from the Solar Empire have been burned by the Republicans. You must hurry, at once, to Manehattan.”