Chapters Author's Note
This might get hate and this might be liked. I wrote this just to get the idea out of my head. I hope you like it and will leave a comment below.
The Mistake and Discord
Sent to the Moon
Luna had been feeling uneasy the past few days while dream walking and protecting the dreams of Equestria. It was as if something was wrong or out of place. Her magic seemed to be trying to tell her something was wrong. But she couldn't put a hoof to the root of the feelings she had. Stranger still were the nightmares she had been having of the original Tantabus chasing her while telling her to beware Celestia and her dark thoughts in cryptic fashion. It puzzled Luna that she would be dreaming of the Tantabus since she destroyed her created copy with help of the Elements of Harmony. The original one was still trapped on the Moon unable to affect anypony, sealed there by the magic of the elements when they had purified Luna several years ago.
Nightmares such as these most recent ones hadn't haunted her since she had returned home, so she had a great deal of deja vu overtake her thoughts about the Tantabus having a hold over her magic again. It wasn't possible for the Tantabus to be free, not with the power of the elements sealing her darker self away. No, this feeling of unease must be related to Celestia and her out of character behavior. The alicorn of the Sun had been mumbling to herself and looked a little unkempt in the last few days. It seemed that Celestia had had a few sleepless nights in the past week. Luna had inquired to her elder sister's sleeping troubles but Celestia had brushed her off. Sighting the stress from dealing with the Canterlot Elite for her lack of a good night's sleep.
More puzzling to Luna was that she had received letters from the mane six asking many nonsensical questions about her sister's favorite things, she quickly wrote them off as just their plain curiosity on the girls' parts and gave over the answers she knew with little fuss. Why hadn't they just asked Celestia directly, or better still asked Twilight to get the information for them from Celestia? That thought led Luna's mind back to the conversation she had had with Celestia the other day about Twilight. Luna had off handily mentioned that Twilight had written her just days ago asking to use the Royal Ballroom for some meeting and get together of hers in a few weeks. Luna agreed to Twilight's odd request but had inquired as to why the lavender unicorn had not asked Tia about it. Celestia at that point seemed very interested in what Twilight was up to as she had not sent a Friendship report in days and had become very secretive about what she was doing. Her friends on the other hoof had been messaging Celestia quite frequently to the point of almost being obsessed with her.
Luna's thoughts would be interrupted as her bedroom doors were thrown open revealing a distraught pair of sun armor-clad guards who came in yelling that Princess Celestia was tearing apart the throne room. Luna was fearful and awestruck to hear that her sister was in the middle of a massive fit of rage. Celestia had never been one for violent displays of her power or anger but in the last few days, the white mare had seemed to have done just that on several occasions in the last few days. Nothing too big, a destroyed chair here or a smashed table there. But now this was something far more dangerous. If Celestia was really throwing her power around while in the throes of anger this could end badly for several ponies and the castle. Luna quickly went to the throne room with guards trailing behind her directing servants and guests out of the main wing of the castle. Luna threw open the throne room doors and as she called out to Celestia who had just scorched a wall with a yellow ray of solar magic as she shouted in anger.
"Celestia be still and tell me what has you in a such a state? You are scaring our subjects and worrying me." Luna asked softly as she stared down at her angry and jittery sister as the white mare paced back and forth.
The tall white mare looked up from the ground throwing her head back in anger before turning her head to the sound of Luna's voice and the sound of the throne room doors being slammed open. It gave her a fright for but a moment as she continued her muttering about having to stop the tyranny of a certain purple pony student.
"Twilight my dear Luna. She was planning something... terrible. I had to put a stop to her horrible plans before she hurt us." Celestia said softly with pain crossing her face. “Why didn't I see this before it got this far. She had such horrors planned... She was going to commit unspeakable acts just like him. I failed another student because I was careless again Luna. Twilight was becoming something horrible and she involved her friends to distract me from seeing what she was going to do.
Luna could not believe her ears, how could such a thing be true? Twilight loved Celestia like a mother, no she worshiped Celestia like a Goddess of Divine Light and wanted to be just like her in every way. Anypony with eyes and ears could have seen and heard it from the way Twilight Sparkle spoke and acted around the Princess of the Sun. This could not be true, no it was not true and the feelings of uneasiness that Luna had felt the past few days were now validated. Something was amiss and Luna needed to correct it.
“Sister, have you gone mad? Has darkness filled you with so much paranoia that you do not see this is a trick? Celestia, answer me this. Why would, Twilight Sparkle, our friend, and your faithful student turn her back on us and attack the country and Princesses she loves so dearly?” Luna asked as her eyes showed her resolve in the matter. She would have to shock her sister back to her senses to save her from committing a grave mistake.
Celestia cast angry eyes upon her dear sister for her words. How dare Luna accuse her of being blinded by darkness when it was clearly Twilight that had been corrupted. How could Luna say such a thing, she had not seen the horrible things hidden the basement of the library, or the things written in Twilight's diary. Luna knew nothing of her nightmares of watching Twilight subjugating Equestria and putting Luna in chains. The nightmares of Twilight putting an end to her life as Equestria burned all around her was more than Celestia could take, she had to find out the truth. When the Alicorn of the Sun had found the horrible truth, she had to take action for the good of Equestria.
“There is nothing to say on that Luna. You know nothing of what I saw and how hard it was for me to punish a mare I love like a child.” Celestia said with anger in her voice. “I did what I had to save us all. She would have committed such horrible crimes against the crown, the country, and you after... after...” Celestia never finished her sentence as she looked at Luna with a displeased glare.
Luna could see that her sister would not be swayed to listen to reason easily and the glare she had just been given upset Luna severely. Celestia was being manipulated and Luna was going to make her elder sister see that one way or the other. Soon the two sisters advanced on each other neither set of eyes going away from the other as they tried to stare each other down, "Sister you are making a mistake, Twilight Sparkle did not commit any crime against us or Equestria, you are being misled." The younger looking Alicorn whispered into the tense and silent room that had been beautiful and made up with decorations and tapestries before Celestia had destroyed it in one of her fits of rage that she had been having as of late.
The stunned white Alicorn glared down at her sister again, "You are foolish Luna, you didn't see the plans she had hidden in the library or the things I found written in her diary. The horrible things she had planned for Equestria as a whole not to mention what she planned to do to you once she had struck me down. I would sooner have her killed than to let her put you in chains, Luna. I had no choice but to banish her to a place nopony will be able to reach should they find out about this. And they will Luna, mark my words on this, they will find out. When they do the ponies of Equestria will call for her head and I can not have that. Banishment to the Moon is the only way to save my beloved Twilight.” Celestia shouted, her fury shaking the whole of the room.
Luna took a few steps back and she looked around the destroyed throne room. The stone pillars were all cracked or missing several of the stones, the tapestries lay in tatters, and all of the beautiful stained glass windows were broken or completely smashed out. There were large holes in the walls and scorch marks in several places from Celestia's magic. Luna could not believe her eyes nor her ears, it was all a lie or some big cosmic joke as Celestia would never do the things that the Alicorn of the Night was witnessing before her. “Tia please see reason, why would Twilight turn against you or us for that matter? The filly has loved you from the day you told her she would be your personal student. Please stop this madness for all of our sakes.” Luna pleaded as she searched her sister eyes for any signs of the true noble Princess of the Sun and not the mad mare before her.
“Luna I wish that it didn't have to be like this. I wished it wasn't my most faithful and beloved student that was trying to tear apart everything I hold dear. I can't let her stay here in Equestria, not after finding out that she wants to enslave all of our little ponies for her own selfish plans. I will not let another Sombra be born, not in Equestria, not when I can stop it. My judgment stands, Twilight Dretoria Sparkle will be banished to the moon for One Thousand Years. Its that or put her on trial were the courts will have her executed for crimes against the crown. I don't want to do this to her, but I have no choice, Luna. It's banishment or execution. What would you have me do?” Celestia asked, her face set in anger but she was crying the whole time.
“If what you say is true, what will you do when she returns to Equestria? If she can manage to survive with her mind intact?" Luna asked Celestia trying to get her to see reason. “Twilight may not survive this kindness you call a punishment with her sanity and yet you would still do this?”
Celestia's horn glowed for a brief moment before a cage appeared in the middle of the room containing a small purple Unicorn who's horn was snapped off. Her lavender coat was dingy, she was bloody and had several spots where her body bore the burns of Celestia's solar magic, and her eyes were swollen shut. The little unicorn was laying completely still in the cage and seemed to be under a heavy sleeping spell.
Luna ran up to her and looked over the little Unicorn her teal eyes wide with fear, "You already used the old punishments on this innocent filly, Celestia? She did not deserve this..." She managed to whisper before she turned away from the white mare and ran out of the room her mane flowing behind her.
Celestia paid her sisters words little mind nor did she try to stop her from fleeing the destroyed throne room. Celestia had confronted Twilight when she returned to the library and in the confrontation, Twilight had tried to use a spell. She had said it was to show Celestia the truth of what she was really doing but the Sun Princess could not allow that. She tried to stop Twilight and a fight broke out leaving her no choice but to hurt Twilight as bad as she had. “Twilight Dretoria Sparkle. You have done the crown an injustice. You must be punished. I am sorry to do this to you, my faithful student.” Celestia said. The sleeping Unicorn's coat began to glow deeply making it look like she had the magic inside of her chest before with a pop the purple unicorn disappeared. A deep coldness took over the room as the cage sat empty of her 'student'.
After banishing her student to the moon Celestia wondered sullenly out of the throne room into the gardens. The depressed Alicorn moped about the garden for several minutes until she found herself in front of the statue of Discord.
Why she had come to a place of such disharmony confused Celestia. The saddened alicorn sat down in front of the God of Chaos as she thought over her decision to banish Twilight. There had been no other choice but to banish her, not after Celestia had had those nightmares about Twilight planning something big and evil. Celestia had thought them only dreams until Twilight had stopped sending her friendship reports and started to become very secretive. When questioned about her change in behavior Twilight had become evasive and very defensive on the matter. Twilight had even thrown Celestia out of the library one evening when Celestia had tried to see what she was storing in the basement. It wasn't until Celestia had teleported into the basement while Twilight was out with her friends that she would discover the horrible truth. Her most faithful and beloved student was planning her demise and the conquering of Equestria.
How could she not banish the young mare to the moon to think over her crimes? It was far better than letting the nobles and courts in Equestria try Twilight for treason and have her publicly executed for that crime when she was found guilty. Celestia couldn't let Twilight's family and friends go through all of that either. It would ruin her parents' careers and social standing in Canterlot, Shining Armor would be thrown out of the royal guards for being the brother of a traitor and the other Elements of Harmony would suffer too. For the good of all the ponies of Equestria Celestia had made the right decision by handling this herself no matter how painful
*****
Luna fled from the castle traveling to Ponyville as fast her wings would carry her, she would see this evidence against Twilight for herself. Once she made it to the edge of Ponyville the Princess of the Night teleported into the library and searched the whole of the place for the so-called 'Takeover Plans' of a mad mare hell-bent on ruling Equestria. When Luna found Twilight's diary and read the pages about the last few days, herself, and Celestia, Luna gasped with shock. Everything written on the fifteen or so pages was about finding out when Celestia's birthday was so they could throw her a personal surprise party. After finding out this truth Luna knew she needed to stop her older sister before the madness that had overtaken the older alicorn forced her to do something she could not take back.
When Luna returned to the castle with the diary in tow she bolted for the throne room only to find it empty of both Celestia and Twilight. Luna raced through the castle looking for her celestial counterpart until she caught up with her sister in the garden sitting in front of the statue of Discord. The older mare's shoulders were sullen and the look on her face was blank. It seemed that Celestia had carried out her plans and banished Twilight because of misunderstanding.
"Tia what have you done? Bring her back, bring her back now!” Luna shouted as she turned to sister in anger before casting the diary open in front of her. “It was about your birthday. She wanted to surprise you and throw you a party on your day of birth.”
"No... that wasn't what I read in that diary. She was going to... she was going to kill me and... put you in chains as a servant to... to her dark powers.” Celestia mumbled before she turned to face Luna with tears in her eyes. “Its far too late now Luna, I can't bring her back even if I wanted too. It's was the same spell I used on you when you turned into Nightmare Moon. Only this time since Twilight didn't have access to her magic and was under a slumbering spell I didn't need the power of the Elements to make it work. She is banished and she will be unable to return until the time frame has elapsed. I'm sorry, Twilight will be gone for a thousand years.
“Tia you are a fool, without Twilight Sparkle the Elements of Harmony won't work. Without Twilight Equestria is left without it's the greatest defense against the darkness. How could you do this?” Luna asked as she stared at her sister in shock. “What madness has come over you to see such shadows and deceit in one whose had nothing but faith, respect, and love for you?”
Celestia stood there a moment her eyes pinpricks before going completely white as if something had possessed her. After a moment of trembling, she began to make a gurgling sound as drool leaked from the corner of her slightly open mouth. For several moments she did not move, not even when Luna called out to her. Soon the statue of the God of Chaos began to vibrate before it took the flesh and blood form of Discord once again. The Draconequus stretched a bit before cracking his neck and several other limbs that had gotten stiff in his long stone slumber. After stretching Discord hopped down from his pedestal and smiled wickedly at Luna as the Princess of the Night just backed away from the Avatar of Chaos. He then turned to look at Celestia to gauge his handy work.
“I think my little plan has affected you far better than I could have imagined Princess Celestia. And who would have thought it possible for me to use Luna's powers of dream magic while she was doing her dreaming walking thing to get to you? I mean you did set the stupid spell for my imprisonment so I would be conscious the whole time. That meant I can dream too and my dreams are so filled with such delicious chaos it seems.” He purred walking around Celestia studying how she looked so blank without her usual stern but emotionless mask up. He smirked darkly and snapped his clawed fingers to release her mind for his chaos fog so that he could see her beautiful misery.
“You did it, you sent your prized pet unicorn to the moon like you did to your sister so long ago. To think all it took for you to let your own paranoid fears be your undoing was to make you have few bad dreams by sharing my chaos filled dreams with you." He said as he floated above her. “Oh yes, thank you, Luna, as this wouldn’t be possible without you and your wonderful dream magic. It was just what I needed to set in motion the greatest feat of pure chaos I will ever create in any lifetime. I dare say that this is my retirement act right here.” Discord said proudly before breaking a fit of hysterical laughter.
Celestia stared for a moment now able to hear what was happening around her as she gained her bearings as she broke through the fog that was residing in her mind. Soon memories of what had really happened flooded her mind bringing her to tears once again. She had been tricked by Discord and had condemned an innocent mare to a thousand years of loneliness and insanity. The white alicorn turned to look up at Discord with fury and dark intentions filling her mind as she roared with anger, "You monster, You made me send an innocent filly to the moon. You think this is funny that I have sentenced Twilight a thousand years of madness and hate?" She screamed loud enough for the whole of the castle to hear her.
Discord just watched the princess scream at him, "Why princess where did your manners go in the last few moments." He said mocking her facial expressions as she seemed to get angrier and madder at the creature in front of her. “I haven't done a thing but play on your insecurities about Twilight. You where the one that doubted your own pet unicorns intentions over a few missed letters and her kicking you out so you wouldn't find out about your surprise party. I'm mostly innocent in this thing. I would never have thought you'd fall for my little plan but...”
Celestia glared at him as she channeled magic to her horn to fire a beam of pure solar energy at the chimera trickster. "Have I hit a nerve, Princess..." He whispered tapping his chin with a single claw as he floated closer to the Alicorn. Celestia took a step back just to keep him at a hooves length from her face so that he wouldn't be too close and she had clear shot to vaporized his head or at least a limb or two.
“Well I see that I have warned out my welcome here,”Discord said with a frown on his face as he stared at Celestia as she ready a concentrated beam of solar magic. Seconds after Discord spoke the white Alicorn fired the death beam at the Draconequus. Discord saw this coming and opened a hole in the center of his body allowing the beam to pass through and hit the side of the castle. Seconds later a melted spire hit the ground with a wet thud leaving it a pile of molten hot slag cool in the afternoon air.
“Well, seeing as your hospitality for an old friend has run out I will take my leave. I have left this world in a state of Chaos so grand that it would actually be work for me to try and top it. And who wants to work for a living, am I right Luna?” Discord said with a wink before he vanished with a snap of his fingers leaving Celestia sobbing in rage and regret as she cursed the Draconequus very existence. Luna stood there watching the whole scene unfold and wept in horror and sadness at the uncertainty of the future for Twilight Sparkle, her sister, and Equestria.
The Future is Uncertain...
On the Moon
A once beautiful young mare, now busied and battered, sat almost like a statue while tears rolled down her face. Her mane was flat against her back, still sticky with her sweat and blood. Her legs were covered in cuts, her barrel was bruised in several spots and showed the signs of a severe beating, one eye was completely swollen shut but tears still leaked from it. The battered mare shivered in the cold winds of the nearly barren landscape as she cried out her pain. Never in a million years would she have believed that her beloved teacher, her second mother, her best friend, would have done the terrible things she had done. Twilight's heart broke as she remembered the terrible things Princess Celestia had said to her, how the Princess of the Day had violently assaulted her before throwing her in chains. Never would Twilight forget those hard unforgiving eyes or how her mentor had called her monster, traitor, murderer, and worst of all usurper.
All the beaten mare could do was sit in the cold rocky dirt of the moon as she focused on some half lit object in the distance, it was the blue jewel in the night sky, Equus. Twilight stared at the world she once called home, thinking about all of the ponies she would never see again. Soon images of her mother, her father, Shining Armor, Cadence, the other Elements of Harmony, Spike, Donut Joe and all of her other friends all over Equestria played through her mind. Never would she see their faces again, never would she be able to enjoy their company. Once the spell ended all of them saved for Spike would be dead and gone for over eight hundred years. For what seemed like hours Twilight just thought of her loved ones and cried long into the night. Her wails were said to be heard in Equestria through the night, chilling everypony to the bone and filling them with a deep sadness.
After crying for hours the tired and broken mare began to look for a place to sleep, some type of shelter to get out of the cold. She walked for several hours along the rocky landscape in the cold biting wind until she comes upon the edge of the large ridge. The lavender mare climb to the top to find a small sign with the words 'The Sea of Tranquility' written on it in old Equestrian. Farther down the sign was an inscription but she could barely read it the shadow of the dark side of the moon. Twilight closed her good eye and concentrated as she channeled the little bit of magic she had left into her broken horn. She winced slightly in pain as magic collected in her broken horn. The jagged edges of her destroyed horn sparked a bit before it began to glow dimly with purple colored light so she could read the inscription on the sign.
[i May your heart find peace, and may your mind find serenity in the long nights in my Sea of Dreams... Luna Nightfall, Princess of the Night
“So this is where Princess Luna stayed while she was banished by Princess Celestia. Now this will be my home for the next thousand years too.” Twilight sobbed aloud before she noticed a well-worn path next to the sign.
The path led down the side of the ridge down into the Sea of Tranquility. The tired and broken mare walked along the narrow path with her broken horn dimly lighting the way. Once or twice she stubbed and fell bruising herself more but still, she moved ignoring the pain in her heavy limbs as she walked. The words from Luna's inscription on the sign were her only comfort until she made to the bottom of the ridge and was standing in front of the black and gray stone Observatory constructed from the very rocks of the moon. On the front doors were etched Luna cutiemark on the left door and the Equestrian seal on the right door. Twilight stared at the wonderful edifice for what seemed like forever before she entered it to get out of the cold.
The entryway was large but Twilight paid no attention to anything as she was too tired and sore to care. The journey here had taken nearly all of her remaining strength. The tired unicorn didn't even notice that the doors she open to the Observatory had closed on their own. Twilight just wanted to find a place to lay down and sleep, if she didn't find one soon she was going to collapse from sheer exhaustion. The first room she came to was a library but Twilight couldn't even muster up the excitement to look around. No not even the promise of more knowledge could raise the beaten mare's spirits. The beating she had suffered at Princess Celestia's hooves had completely broken her mentally, physically and spiritually. Twilight wondered around a bit more until she found a spiral staircase. She slowly began to ascend large spiraling stairs up deeper into the Moon Princess's abandoned abode. The walls were covered in runes but went unnoticed by Twilight even though they seemed to be easing her pain a bit. It was if a weight was lifted off her shoulders. It became easier to breathe and move as her center of gravity returned to normal.
At the top of the stairs there were a set of double doors to the right and when Twilight saw them she groaned. She didn't have the strength or the patience to open another set of heavy doors. Still, she needed to find a soft bed to sleep in and the doors should lead to a bedroom or at least she hoped they would. She pressed her exhausted body against one of the doors instead of using her weakened magic to open them like she would usually do.
Once the heavy door was opened Twilight spotted a large king sized cloud mattress on a circular slow spinning pedestal that sat in the center of a simply furnished bedroom. Glowing orbs fixed to the walls served as the lights and a space décor covered the walls with the ceiling being clear showing an ocean of stars in the night sky.
The room before her was filled with warmth comfort but another pressing matter called to her attention, her bladder was begging for relief. She cast a quick glance over the room before spotting another door and limping over to what she hoped was a bathroom. Twilight was happily surprised when she opened the door and found a bathroom with a square sink with a mirror above it, a toilet and a half wall divider. Behind the divider was a large sunken tub that unbeknownst to Twilight she would be spending hours in before the "night" was done healing her broken body.
After her bath Twilight returned to the large cloud bed. She really wanted to lay down something soft and clouds were the softest material to use for bedding ever. The only problem was that only alicorns and pegasi could even use them at all. Well, an earth pony or a unicorn could touch clouds with aid of the cloud walk spell but Twilight magic was so depleted that she couldn't even levitate a quill let alone cast the cloud walking spell. Not want to have to find another place to sleep Twilight place her hoof on the edge the bed to make sure she could use it. Twilight her hoof pressed down on the fluffy cloud mattress and when her hoof just sank in the fluffy material rather than pass through it she breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that a powerful enchantment was on the cloud making it act more like a feather mattress than a densely packed water vapor. Figuring out how she was able to use the bed would come later if at all, Twilight really just wanted was sleep, a deep recuperative and dreamless sleep. The lavender unicorn quickly crawled onto the soft cloud bed and pulled the covers over her head and fell into a dreamless sleep hoping she would wake from this living nightmare that had become reality.
Twilight's sleep was dreamless for the first few hours but it did not stay that way the whole time. Hours later Twilight woke from her sleep screaming as her memories of the last 24 hours came to her in twisted surreal nightmares. She cried out for her parents, Shining Armor, Cadence, Spike, even her friends in Ponyville but no pony came to comfort her, no pony was there in the strange room she lay in. Twilight cried for several minutes until she heard a voiced call out to her.
“Don't cry child I will help during your stay here. I know how lonely it can be here.” Said an alicorn mare made of an ocean of stars with solid white eyes as she rose from the floor taking solid form.
“Who... who are you? What are you? How did you get in here? Where did you come from? Are you imprisoned here like me?” Twilight asked as she pulled the covers tightly around herself and shook with some fear. She didn't know what this creature was or if it was a part of the punishment that was falsely given. All she did know was it looked like the Tantabus and that scared her a great deal. The Tantabus had been the dark embodiment of Luna's guilt and rage. Luna for some strange reason had recreated the shadow creature to torment her dreams as kind of weird self-punishment. Why Luna would do something so foolish would never be known really. One night though the evil shadow creature had escaped Luna's dreams only to find the Elements of Harmony to torment them for several nights before it was subdued and put to rest. Twilight had never been afraid of her nightmares until the few nights of evil dreams the Tantabus had given her and her friends. Nightmares turned into physical reality, the power to make terror real that was what the Tantabus truly was and now the lavender mare was sitting in front of the original Tantabus so fear was more than an appropriate response of many.
“Fear not child I will not hurt you. I'm here to help you, I know this place seems scary but I will be here to help thru your time here. I am a shadow of the Princess of the Night, a set of memories and emotions taken pony form. A Tantabus if you will. A fragment of herself left behind after Luna's stay here a thousand years ago. I have no name but I will be here for you, child.” The shadow mare said softly before given Twilight a soft smile. “Tell me what is your name child. why are you in this cold lonely place? Who would hurt a pretty mare like you this badly?” The shadow mare asked as she pointed to Twilight's injuries.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle I am or I was a bearer of the Element of Magic and student of Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia was the one... she was the one that injured me and left me in this sorry state. She attacked me; called me a traitor and tyrant, she said she wouldn't let another King Sombra be born before she beat me this badly then sent me away to the moon. I found this place so I could get out of the cold. I just want to go home to my friends and family so I can end this horrible nightmare...” Twilight told the shadow mare before she broke down into tears.
The shadow mare walked over the cloud bed and sat on its edge. She wrapped her forelegs around Twilight and held her tightly with the blanket between them. “Don't cry Twilight you have to be strong. Only strength will allow you to survive here. You must be strong otherwise you will lose yourself to madness. Luna was once in the grips of despair like you and it grew to a point that the Nightmare Moon persona was born and it took a firm hold of her soul twisting her into a true monster before she left this place, do not let that fate befall you.”
Twilight cried into the cold barrel of the shadow mare for a long time before she looked up at the mare with blurry ears. “Your body is slightly cold to the touch but I can feel a little warmth coming from you. Thank you for listening to me and letting me cry on your shoulder.” Twilight told the shadow mare.
“It was nothing really. I have been here alone since Luna left and I have longed to hear the sound of another voice. I will listen to you when you have need of me.” The shadow mare said softly.
Can I call you Night Sky?” Twilight asked through her sniffles, wanting some way to address the mare.
“It's okay because I hate her too. She hurt me and took everything away from me. She has stolen my life, my family, and my friends from me. She even called me a tyrant and a murderer. I will get her back, I swear it. I will make her suffer like the monster she made me out to be.” Twilight said with anger in her voice.
“Good, Twilight, hold on to your hate it will help you survive here as there is much you will need to do if you want to get revenge on Celestia. I will show the way in time. First, we need to get you healed up. From there we will be making your body stronger. After your stronger physically we will work on making you powerful. Once that's done you will...” Night Sky said softly then trail off with a dark smile.
“I will what... Once I'm healed and much stronger in both body and magical power? What are your plans Night Sky?” Twilight asked.
“You will know in time, my dear Twilight. I have so much to teach you and you have so much to understand but for now, you must sleep child. You need to rest to regain your strength and in the morning I will help you mix a few medicines to aid in your recovery. I will show you around the grounds after you are better. Sleep well Twilight, I will watch over you until the morning.” Night Sky told Twilight before putting her under a small sleeping spell that would keep her from dreaming. Night Sky needed Twilight to hold onto most of her sanity if she was to get the revenge that she and Luna had been denied.
This was the start of Twilight's long stay on the moon and the beginning of a revenge plot that was a thousand years old, a long-nursed hatred that had yet to die. As the days turned into weeks, the weeks to months, and the months to years Twilight’s hatred grew. As Twilight healed and grew stronger her thoughts raced with anger and hatred for her former 'teacher' Princess Celestia. There were dark thoughts of Luna, the Princess of the Night, the controller of her new 'home' and prison the moon, at times. Night Sky was quick to place the blame where it needed to be, Celestia was the one to blame and should be the only one to reap the reward of Twilight's divine wrath.
Since Luna had been sent to the moon almost a thousand years before there were slight structures built into the surface, there was greenhouse area for food, a well for water, an area for practicing different types of spells both offense and defense, meditation garden, and the observatory that Twilight now called home. Twilight spent most of her time inside the observatory when she wasn't gathering food, fetching water, building up her physical strength, or practicing one of many spells she had been learning.
Luna had somehow used her magic to summon objects and books from somewhere, but none of them related to Equestria or anything close. Normally this would have made them all useless to Twilight if they had not talked about the older magicks that Princess Luna herself knew. They described how to use the beautiful stars to make you stronger, how to build objects out of thin air or reshape stone with just a single thought. It probably took Luna a few hundred years to build the observatory let alone stock it with books on powerful magicks both dark and light.
Twilight was quite impressed all of the ancient magicks at her hooves and that Night Sky knew how to teach a great deal of it. It was right then that Twilight swore that she would do her best to learn all that she could and return home to Equestria so that she could get her revenge. She also promised to give Night Sky a real living form so that she could finally live a proper life once their dark business with Celestia was finished.
The princess probably thought Twilight would become stupid and compliant if she was on the moon long enough. Maybe a few hundred years of isolation would break her mind so much that she wouldn't dare lift a hoof to Celestia in rebellion. Well if Celestia thought that she would be very wrong, so dead wrong when the time came to pay the piper. Twilight was getting stronger and smarter, her insanity driving her into the darker arts of Equestrian magicks and even darker rituals of other lands. Magic so powerful that it would destroy the Alicorn of the Sun in time, but not before Twilight paid her back in pain. Pain that would be tenfold what Twilight had experienced in her forced exile.
500 Years Later
Twilight pulled herself from the comfortable bed as she heard the magical grandfather clock chime 8 am. She needed to go out to the garden and gather food for the week and there were several magical experiments that needed to be tended to if she was to complete her study of summoning dark servants. As Twilight lay there with a cloud pillow over her head she knew that she had to get up soon. If she didn't Night Sky would come pull her out of bed to get her moving. There were things that needed to be done. After getting up with a groan Twilight busied with her morning routine before dressing and heading for the lab in the west wing.
As Twilight walked thru the halls of the observatory she now called her home and she groaned as the light of the sun shone through the windows. She so hated the west side of the observatory since it faced the sunny side of the Sea of Tranquility. The sun was a constant reminder of her punishment at the hoofs of the Princess of the Sun. A hateful mare that had sent her to this prison of loneliness and despair for no good reason.
She had been sent to the moon just over five hundred years ago and had somehow remained somewhat young though she did not feel that way. She felt old and bitter inside, a twisted up reminder of a pony's cruelty and mistrust. Most of all Twilight just wanted to get off the blasted moon, she would find a way to go home again to feel grass beneath her hooves and see the blue sky. That was just a fanciful dream at the moment since she knew it would take time and a lot more magic than she had at present to break free from her prison.
'Since I now gain power every time the moon is raised and lowered by Luna, I could just let that give me the strength I need to get off this blasted rock. I will still need to learn more of the dark history, a few more attack spells, and more of the ancient and dark magicks stored here if I am to face the Princess when I return to Equestria'. Twilight thought to herself as she entered the lab and checked a few of large jars containing several specimens of varies sizes and looks.
“I must not rush things, I have time on my side right now. Celestia thinks I'm up here repenting and that will be the last mistake she will ever make.” Twilight told herself as she checked the growth progress on last darkling servants' incubation jar before heading off to have breakfast. She did need cannon fodder to test her dark powers on sooner or later.
After a decade or two of nightmares and despair, the hate-filled mare had started to plot her revenge, hours of reading spells left by Luna every day turned to days of reading and magical practice. Day after day, week after week Twilight learned and grew in power under Night Sky's guidance. As time wore on Twilight's once bright and carefree eyes grew darker and darker over the time as the usual insanity of isolation took over. Spending five hundred years alone could do that to a pony though, especial an innocent mare like Twilight. Sure Night Sky had been there to help take care of her but the shadow of Luna's heart could not hold Twilight for her body had no true warmth. She could not comfort Twilight for she was just a fragment of Luna's heart left behind as an echo of the past hatred for Celestia. All thought she had kept Twilight from going completely insane she had turned Twilight into a far crueler and twisted being with one goal, the death of the Princess of the Sun. Much like Luna had wanted in the past and when the time came Celestia would die... only it would be her most beloved student that would deal the death blow.
Strength is hidden in Wisdom...
The Truth of Crimes Past
October 12, Celestial Year 1008 Five Days after Twilight's Banishment
Luna paced back and forth in her private study as she thought over what had happened with Twilight. The bearer of the Element of Magic was gone, her connection to her friends and The Elements were gone. Equestria was without its greatest defense and there had been no word of the other Element bearers for the last five days. Luna had sent her own personal guards to find them but no word had reached her yet of their safety or if they even knew what was going on. Even Discord had not been seen since Twilight's banishment. It seemed that his words of retirement were true. He had in fact unleashed a chaos so great it would ripple throughout time and cause an untold amount of horrible chaos a thousand years later.
Luna let out a groan of frustration and was about to lash out at the furniture in her study when a knock came to the door. The alicorn of the night paused to let out a few calming breaths and centered her thoughts. She adjusted her slightly askew regalia before she opened the door with her magic letting two Nightwing guards enter. The two guards saluted her before delivering their report.
"Princess we have finally located the other five Element bearers." The first guard, Captain Night Flyer said.
"Tis' good news my Captain. I was right in my decision in sending my personal guard to find Twilight Sparkle's friends. Tell me, are the Element bearers in good health? Are they aware of what has transpired in the last five days?"
The Captain stiffened as Lieutenant Moon Dancer winced at the question of the Elements health before regaining their composure. Luna saw this and her expression grew grim. "Captain, Lieutenant, what has happened? I order you to tell me, now!" Luna nearly shouted.
"Princess Luna we found them at the Canterlot home of the Sparkle family. They have informed the Sparkle Family of what has happened. Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence were there as well and as a result of that they also know what has happened." Captain Night Flyer said after a short pause.
Luna's grim look deepened as she stared at her loyal guards. "There is something else that you're not telling me. What is it?"
"Princess, it's bad. While the mares are alive they are all in bad shape. It looks like that were severely beaten in the last five days that they have been missing. You will have to ask Lieutenant Moon Dancer for the details of their condition both mentally and physically. I only spoke with Captain Armor, Princess Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle's parents, Night Light, and Twilight Velvet." Captain Night Flyer said flatly.
"Very well Captain. What is the condition of the good Captain of the Royal Guard and his parents?" Luna asked.
"Captain Shining was a wreck and was in tears when we found them. He hasn't reported back to the castle since his parents summoned him the night that the Elements bearers showed up. Princess Cadence has been with the Sparkle family since then as well trying to keep them from storming the castle to demand answers to this tragic event. When we showed up to find what the family knew and how the Element bearers were Captain Armor become very irate and wanted to know why you had not contacted him or his family personally about this. He is very upset and blaming you as well as Princess Celestia for the loss of his sister. The parents want to get answers as well but didn't really want to talk with me. They want to hear from you and Princess Celestia directly and soon. Otherwise, there may be another incident that will amount to crimes against the crown from the Sparkle family." Captain Night Flyer told Princess Luna with a forlorn look on his face. "I fear this may not end well if something is not done soon Princess, that is the end of my report."
"I see this is a far greater crisis than I thought originally. Captain Flyer please take a squad of Night Guards to put the Sparkle Family and the Elements bearers under house arrest. This includes Captain Armor. Make sure a squad of Royal Guards are there to watch them during the day. This a royal order, tell them I will be there to speak with them after I have spoken with my sister directly on this matter. Go swiftly and may the Moon guide you." Luna ordered and Captain Night Flyer saluted then left the room quickly.
"Now, Lieutenant Moon Dancer give me your report," Luna commanded.
"Yes, Princess. I spoke with the Element bearers and all of them were bandaged up in similar places to the injuries sustained by Twilight Sparkle. It seems that when Princess Celestia confronted Twilight Sparkle she was using some type of mind linking magic with other five Elements. She was in telepathic contact with her five friends planning a surprise party when she was assaulted by Princess Celestia on the grounds of treason. The other five mares all suffered injuries too as well as heard and saw everything that transpired during the fight from Twilight Sparkle's point of view. As a result of Twilight Sparkle's punishment, none of the mares have a connection to the Elements of Harmony anymore. According to Miss Rarity, there was a large feedback effect due to their connection to Twilight through the telepathic spell and their connection to the Elements of Harmony. All of those magical bonds were destroyed when Twilight was rendered unconscious from her injuries and Princess Celestia's sleep spell." Lieutenant Moon Dancer said with a large amount of sadness in her voice.
“What are their feelings on this matter? How do they wish to have this matter resolved?"
"Well miss Rarity was the spokes-pony for the five mares and she said that they would wait for you to contact them in the next day or two. Ultimately they want answers and restitution for Princess Celestia's cruelty toward Twilight and the pain they have suffered. I feel that they may take violent action against Princess Celestia even if you do speak with them soon." Lieutenant Moon Dancer said before shaking her head.
"Princess please do something for them soon. I feel that if we don't take action those five mares will be executed for treason and a failed coup d'etat. I do not wish to see them all die but if the Princess is attacked by national heroes the Nobles will demand blood for their crimes." Lieutenant Moon Dancer replied, her voice thick with emotion and fear.
"I don't wish for any more ponies to suffer more than those that have already. I hope that we can resolve this without further bloodshed. I fear that Discord has done more damage than that which can be fixed with simple words. In the end, this crime will be paid for in blood one way or another." Luna said ominously before she walked over to her desk.
At the desk, Luna picked up a quill quickly in her magic and began to write out the royal orders placing the Elements of Harmony and the Sparkle Family members under house arrest. She also wrote out instructions for Princess Cadence to be taken into protective custody until the matter with the assumed traitor Twilight Sparkle was resolved. Once the orders were written she passed them on to Lieutenant Moon Dancer to deliver to the proper clerks in the castle. All thought Luna had already issued emergency orders there was still the matter of due process and the clerical red tape that had to be followed.
Once Lieutenant Moon Dancer had the paper tucked neatly under her bat wing she saluted then left swiftly. Luna quickly left her study moments later on her way to her sister to discuss that anger of the Sparkle Family and the Elements of Harmony before there were eight more traitors to the crown to be punished.
Throne Room
In the throne room, which was now under steady reconstruction to return it to its former glory, sat the mighty Princess of the Sun, gone were her golden regalia and the poise of a regal ruler of a nation. The white alicorn of the sun sat on her throne head bowed in the dim light, crying. She was replaying everything that had happened in the last month over in her head. She was searching her memory for any little thing that would justify her actions with Twilight. Discord had to be lying, there was no way she had been fooled by him into attacking and sending Twilight to the moon falsely. As Celestia replayed all of her nightmares. Went over all of her decisions and ultimately decided to put a stop to the darkness growing in Twilight she came to one conclusion. She had indeed been used by Discord and had freed him from his eternal imprisonment by harming the one pony that loved and believed in her more than anypony else.
"No, what have I done? What have I done to you, my dear Twilight? What have done to all of Equestria in my hubris?" Celestia asked herself as tears ran down her cheeks.
Celestia was still crying when Luna entered the throne room to speak with her. Luna found the throne room dimly lit and could just barely make out her sister's form in the shadows. The thing caught that her attention right away was the sound of crying. Luna quickly crossed the room to Celestia's side to find her sister crying into her own hooves. Luna wrapped her forelegs around her weeping sister and held her tightly. The heartbroken mare held onto her younger sister and cried until no more tears would come.
"Luna I have failed them, I have failed our little ponies. I have done such a terrible thing and now I can not undo it. Worst of all I have hurt and doomed my most faithful student and friend to a lifetime of insanity because I lacked the foresight to consulate you about my horrible dreams and growing paranoia." Celestia said and she sniffled and whimpered.
"You are right about one thing, what is done can not be undone. You must not punish yourself for it now there are still those suffering right here in Canterlot that need you to answer questions. The Sparkle family wants answers, the Element bearers want answers and you are the only one that can give them closure to this tragedy." Luna told Celestia as she stroked her mane gently.
Never before had Luna seen her mighty sister laid so low by a decision. Even when Luna had become Nightmare Moon and Celestia had to banish her that decision had never had a price to be paid that was this high. If anything Celestia's sanity would be destroyed by this decision long before Twilight's. In the end, Luna would lose her sister but Celestia would lose so much more.
Luna was going to comfort her sister more when she heard the guard outside yelling and rushing forward to stop some pony from entering the room. Luna was just getting Celestia calmed down when the throne room doors were flung open. Moments later thunderous sound of a guard being kicked in the chest was heard, a second after that the very guard come flying across the room. The poor stallion tumbled in over end through the air in a wide arc before smashing into the throne back first. The force of the guards impacting the back of the stone chair smashed off the top of it. And the poor unicorn lay behind it in a pile of rubble, dazed but otherwise unharmed.
"Who dares enter this castle in such a brazen matter to defy the rulers of Equestria!?" Luna shouted as she turned toward the open throne room doors. The Alicorn of the Night gasped in surprise and horror to find it was Applejack that had kicked the guard across the throne room. The orange farm mare was flanked by Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was few feet behind them dealing with another guard trying to stop their advance.
"Friend Applejack why dost thou make such a scene? I was to be given a day or so to make ready an audience for thou and thine friends. Why does thou perpetrate this unseemly display?" Luna asked perplexed as to why the former Element bearers have come to the castle now.
"Beggin your pardon Princess Luna but we took a vote and decided to get this over with now. Princess Celestia, we got some questions ya need ta be answerin’ right now!" Applejack told Princess Luna as she and the others advance on the throne, seconds later Rainbow Dash zipping in to join them.
"Took care of the guard. He's alive just really dizzy. He should be puking for the next hour after the ride I gave him. The others should be along in a second." Rainbow said to the other Elements with a laugh before turning to stare at the Princesses.
Luna took in the sight of the five mares she called friends. All of them were in sorry states and looked ready to do battle should either Celestia or herself deem them, enemies. All of them were bandaged up in some form and looked like they hadn't slept in days. Rainbow Dash's right eye was swollen to the point it was practically closed, her forelegs were bandaged and her face had several cuts that had started to heal. Applejack's barrel was wrapped in bandages, she had several gashes that had been stitched closed on her hindquarter, and her right eye was black. Pinkie Pie had bandages around all four legs there were several spots on her back with no fur as if it had been burnt off and her left ear looked like a cat had tried to tear it off. Fluttershy's head was wrapped, both her forelegs were bandaged up and her face was bruised in several places. Rarity was the worst to look at, her head was wrapped up just like Fluttershy's but part of her mane had been shaved to take care of the head wound, her barrel bore so many black, purple, and yellowing bruises. The worst part was her horn, half of it was gone and it had been filed down to allow it to grow back properly. Around her neck on a silver chain was the broken part of her horn. The horn had been stained a lavender color, it was most likely done that way to represent Twilight.
All five mares looked ready to kill but were waiting for the right moment to unleash that bloodthirsty desire on Celestia. Luna was at a loss for words as was Celestia whom just stared at them knowing full well that she deserved whatever hell Twilight's friends would send her to.
Before Luna or Celestia could say anything Princess Cadence appeared with Night Light. Both of them were holding up Twilight Velvet, who looks like she had been crying for days. The room fell silent as the three newcomers crossed the room to stand before the Princesses of Night and Day.
"Why? Tell us why and there sure as buck better be a really good reason!" Rainbow Dash yelled a moment after the Sparkle parents and Cadence made their way to join the group by the throne.
"I have no good reason save for I believed that Twilight had fallen to the darkness and was going to enslave all of Equestria for her own selfish gain. I was... I was wrong and now she is gone and there is nothing that can be done to return her to this world save for the end of the spell. I'm truly sorry for what I have done to all of you." Celestia said in a small voice with her head bowed.
All of the former Elements growled in rage at Celestia's answer to their pain and loss. It was horseshit that she thought Twilight was anything thing but loyal to Equestria and Celestia herself. There must have been another way to find the truth but Celestia was too arrogant, to self-righteous in her longtime spent ruling to see that what she had done was beyond wrong. All of the girls yelled in fury as tears rolled down their cheeks. They had come here for answers or revenge and now there was only one path left open to them. They were ready to join Twilight in exile and were about to give Luna a reason to do just that. But, before they could do anything the whole group was surrounded by guards with spears and spells ready. The five former Elements got ready to fight their way through the sea of guards for they would not be denied what was owed to them. One way or another they would be reunited with Twilight in life or death.
"Everypony, stand down!" Shining armor shouted as he entered the throne in full battle armor. All of the guards froze in place at the sight of their Commanding Officer, completely unsure of what to do.
“But Captain Armor it is our duty to protect the princesses from any who wish them harm be they family, friend or foe..”
“Then prepare to protect your rulers from me...” He said as his horn lit with magic and brought his sword to levitate in front of him ready to be used at a moment's notice.
“THAT IS ENOUGH, THERE WILL BE NO BLOODSHED ON THIS NIGHT!!! ENOUGH INNOCENT BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED ALREADY!”
The entirety of the throne room save for Luna herself froze unsure of what to do or even if they should speak. For several long moments, nopony dared move as they all waited for Luna to issue an order or voice her thoughts. It was during this silence the Twilight Velvet moved from between her daughter-in-law and her husband to stand before Luna in front of her daughter's friends. None of the guards moved to stop her nor did they say a word as she moved past them, they all just moved aside to let her pass by.
“I am Twilight Velvet, Matriarch of the Sparkle Family, I am a loyal citizen of the nation of Equestria, I humbly request an audience with the rulers of this proud and peaceful nation.” Twilight Velvet said softly before she bowed to Luna.
“The Crown recognize you Twilight Velvet of the Sparkle Family. Speak your mind before us. Ask us whatever you wish to know.” Luna replied before looking to the others in the throne room. “Take heed my little ponies only Twilight Velvet has permission to speak, any and all outbursts will be dealt with by me directly no matter whom they come from.”
“Thank you, Princess Luna. I only have a few questions and Princess Celestia is the only one who can give answers to me.” Velvet said in a respectful but angry voice, “Princess Celestia will you answer my questions one mare to another?”
“Twilight Velvet I already know what answers you want. I can only say that I have failed you and your family. I have taken from you that which is most precious to a mare, her child. For that alone, I should be put to death but my sins go much deeper than that. I was like a second Mother to Twilight and I have not only hurt her but you, your husband, Shining Armor, Cadence, and her friends. I have misused my powers, my station, and failed in my duty as protector of Equestria and the ponies who live here. But all of that is nothing compared to the pain I have put you through. As penance for the crimes, I have committed I place my punishment in your hooves. You may pass any sentence you deem fit for the crimes I freely admit my guilt too.”
“Dear Sister, you can't be serious! Throwing away your life is a poor substitute to ease your conscience. Please get a hold of yourself.” Luna exclaimed as she looked back at Celestia.
“No, Luna I owe Twilight Velvet this. As ruler of Equestria, I hereby issue the decree that I am guilty of falsely and unjustly punishing Twilight Sparkle as a traitor and usurper of the crown. I also decree there will be no trial as I freely admit to my crimes and it will be Twilight Velvet that decides my punishment. No pony may undo either of these decrees and they will be enforced to the full extent of the law.” Celestia proclaimed as she stood up to her full height.
There was silence in the throne room for several minutes before the room was filled the murmurs of all the guards speaking of their shock and awe at the two royal decrees. The former Elements said nothing as they watched Twilight Velvet waiting to see what she would say or do next. Night Light moved from his place next to Cadence to stand next to his wife. He pulled her into a hug and they stared into each other's eyes. It was as if the were speaking but no words were heard. After a few more minutes passed Night Light let go of Velvet and kissed her on the forehead just under her horn.
“Whatever you decide to do know that I'm with you no matter what. In the end, we may have to leave Equestria for good but do what you feel is right to bring our family closure. Go, get justice for our little Twilight and come back to me.” Night Light said softly to his wife before he walked over to Shining and got him to put his sword away.
Velvet turned to the Royal Sisters with her shoulders squared, her jaw set in anger, but her expression was extremely passive. Soon she would deliver her judgment on Celestia and forever change the world. Even as Velvet thought on that, none of what would happen to Equestria would matter to her. Not after losing Twilight the way she did. Velvet could care less of what the ponies of Equestria would do if they lost one of their three rulers, it all paled in comparison to the loss she felt right now. The child she had carried for eleven months, nursed, cared for when she was sick, and raised to be a bright ray of hope and love in this world was now gone. That child was doomed to lose everything precious to her while being forced to be sad, alone and slipping into the growing insanity from that loneliness and sadness. There was only one choice in punishment for the mare that had taken her child. Velvet had decided to give Celestia the worst punishment she could think of.
Luna set a worried gaze upon the light gray mare afraid that Velvet would demand blood for the loss of her daughter. Worse still the heartbroken mare would want the five ex-Elements to be the ones to put Celestia in the grave. Luna had to find a way to fix this otherwise she was going to lose Celestia then control of Equestria soon after into the madness of endless bloodshed.
Celestia on the other hoof watched Velvet with baited breath and a grim mournful expression, The white mare was hoping that Twilight Velvet would choose to end her life. This was what Celestia's conscience deemed to the best solution to the overwhelming guilt she felt at the betrayal of her faithful student Twilight. Death was the only reward Celestia felt should be hers after dooming Twilight to a 1000 year slow fall into the depths of insanity and a quest for revenge that would ultimately never be fulfilled. That is if an enough of Twilight's mind, body, and soul survived the 1000 year banishment intact. The most likely outcome would be that Twilight would end up as a pony of advanced aged with a shrunken malnourished mass of skin and bones for a body and the barest semblance of a working mind. Upon her return, if she even survived the displacement and magical reintegration back to Equus Twilight would have no understanding of the time, place, and era she was in. If Twilight made it back safely she would need round the clock care but ultimately would die sometime soon after. These thoughts and considerations alone made Celestia pray for death at the hooves of Twilight Velvet.
“Princess Celestia I have finally come up with the sentence for your crimes. Please stand before me so that all may hear that sentence.”Velvet said after several minutes of thinking it over.
Celestia slowly walked down the stairs from her throne to stand before Twilight Velvet in all of her regal grace. The Alicorn of the Sun stood firm, unmoving as she readied herself for the sentence of death that her guilt-ridden mind and soul yearned for. Yes, Celestia wished to be rid of her life to pay for her crimes against Twilight, it was the only true way for her to atone for her sins, or so she thought.
“Princess Celestia, I Twilight Velvet as your appointed judge, jury, and executioner, for the crime of assaulting a defenseless mare, for the crime of bringing suffering to the former Elements of Harmony, for the crime of failing your duty to the ponies of Equestria, for the crime of banishing an innocent mare for treason for a 1000 years, and for the crime of stealing my daughter the light of the Sparkle family, I hereby sentence you … TO LIVE!”
“What? Why would you...? Why do you spare me Twilight Velvet? Do you not want justice for your daughter? Does my station and status scare you? I beg you to give me death. I want you to truly punish me for my crimes!” Celestia wailed as tears ran down her cheeks.
“I am not sparing you, no, far from it. I'm giving you the worse punishment I could think of. I want you to live on and continue protecting Equestria and its citizens. I want you to live with what you have done to me and my family. I want you to live with what you have done to Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash.” Velvet told Celestia as she pointed to her family and the former Elements. “I want you to live with the uncertainty that you have brought on Equestria with lost of the Elements of Harmony. And most of all I want you to live with the fact that Twilight Sparkle, your faithful student, and my beloved daughter will survive her banishment and when she comes back she will come for you. I want you to live with the fact that in 1000 years your sins will come back to haunt you. When that day comes you will have to tell Twilight about this day and what you have lived through getting ready for the day she would return. I want you to live with your guilt, your remorse, and your own weakness because in the end killing you would be letting you off easy. I can't allow you to escape your suffering and never shall you, now that your sentence is to live a long life as Protector and Ruler of Equestria.”
After telling Celestia her sentence of a long life Velvet turned her back on the crying princess and walked over to her family. She had done what she had come to do, she had gotten closure for her family and damned the mare that had broken it. Now there was the matter of finding a new home since Equestria would not accept what she had done this night. Nor would they accept what Shining Armor and the five girls that were Twilight's friends would do in the future to appease their sense of justice.
“Princess Luna now that I have given your sister closure on this matter I ask for a boon of the crown.” Velvet said with her back still turned to the Royal Sisters.
“Speak of it, it shall be done,” Luna replied.
“I wish to leave this country with my family as we will no longer be citizens of Equestria. There is no way we can live here with your Sister as ruler. Also, the former Elements and their families will be coming with us. There is no way any of them or their families will stand for what has happened and I will not allow Celestia to find a way out of her punishment. Death will not find Celestia for another 1000 years and when that day comes she will know my suffering a 1000 fold.” Velvet told Luna in a flat tone.
“It shall be done. In a few days, time supplies will be ready for all of you and your families to leave Equestria for the lands to the southwest beyond the borders of Appaloosa. Until your departure, you all will be under house arrest and the protection of my guards. Is that fair to you?” Luna asked Velvet.
“Yes, that is fair. I don't want any more bloodshed. I just want to move on and start a new life as we wait for Twilight to return to us. Come on girls we are leaving. Until it's time to leave Equestria for good you all will stay with us at the Sparkle house.” Velvet said in a soft whisper to the main five. They all just nodded in response before following Velvet and Nightlight out. The last to leave was Shining Armor.
Shining Armor stood before Cadence and took her hooves in his own before he looked deeply into her sad eyes. “Cady I love you and will always love you but this is goodbye. I can't stay here anymore and my mother is right to make us all leave. If given the chance I will kill Celestia for what she has done to us.” Shining Armor said in a somber voice as he lit his horn and pulled out his wedding ring. “ I have to give this back. I want you to remember me as I was and not as I am now. Promise that you will find love again someday.”
“Shining please don't do this to me. There must be another way to save Twilight, to save us. I don't want to lose you. Please don’t leave me.” Cadence begged but it was all for not. Shining Armor's path was set and he would not turn away from it.
“Goodbye Cadence. I will always love you.” With that said Shining dropped the wedding ring, slipped from Cadence’s grip and vanished out the throne room doors at a sprint. In his wake, he left a crying Cadence, a bewildered and broken Celestia and a mournful Princess Luna. In the end, Discord was the only one smiling at this point, but in a thousand years, he too would have to pay a heavy price for his grand Chaos.
To Live is now her Punishment...
A Town Called Unity
October 22 Celestial Year 1011 3 Years 1 month after Twilight's Banishment
The meeting over the offer of co-settlement with the people of New Town took three whole days to complete. Each of the Section Leaders had read over the proposal sent by Rex O'Malley and the town’s which was pretty straightforward.The town list all of his resources, strengths, abilities of his people, skills sets, the status of its infrastructure, its cultural practices which were very few, its laws and his governmental system.There was an outline of what they wanted in terms of trade and interaction with the Caravan should they choose to settle with them or near them. There was also a paw written letter from Rex O'Malley formally inviting the Caravan Leaders to come inspect the town. All in all the proposal was promising one but Shining Armor was a bit apprehensive about such a golden offer in it paw written gift wrapping. It was his objections and wanting to take precautions should the offer prove to a trap that led to a three-day debate and discussion over the offer.
Those arguments were put to bed after it was decided that several guards would accompany the Caravan Leaders, a temporary set of leaders were chosen to govern the caravan until negations were over and a settlement was made.There would an advance team of guards lead by Rainbow Dash to go ahead of the Leaders the day before. Their job was to secure the route and check over the accommodations set up by the people of New Town before the Caravan Leaders would even set hoof in the town. Shining Armor may be an ex-Royal Guard Captain but he would be damned to Tartarus and back before letting anything else happen to his family or any of the ponies in their care.
After everyone that had join caravan learned the truth of what happened to Twilight in the weeks before the caravan exile. Everypony here had time to think it over the decision to leave and they had of their own free will, they had given up their old lives. All of this hardship was for a chance to live in a world free of the control of ancient immortal powers and Shining wanted to protect that chance at freedom with his life.
After hours of going over all of the plans for safety and guard selections the meeting was called for the day and was to reconvene the following day for finalization. Hopefully, plans to talk with the people of New Town would begin the day after.
On day two Shining Armor was happy with all of the precautions being taken and their implementation sho he was ready to call the meeting to a close and began heading for New Town the following day when Thunderlane had some questions and concerns about the proposal pertaining to the pegasi of the caravan. It took all day but Thunderlane outlined all of the concerns that pegasi section of the caravan had about co-settlement with the people of New Town. The first was the dragon ponies known as pyrin and the griffins living in the town. The many worries about if it was safe to interact with them without knowing too much about them as a whole, this particular concern was directed at the dragon ponies more than the Griffins. The second was whether or not there would considerations made for those living cloud homes to be included in votes and things since the would not be living the town proper but above it.The third was about weather manage and the construction of a weather factory. There were worries about building new air force as far as town defense and the time frame for doing such a thing if it was to be done.
While Shining Armor was glad that Thunderlane was thinking about what was best for the Pegasi as it related to the whole the group but he was not happy that he had to sit through several hours of debates and explanations about it all. Now the white stallion knew what he had sounded like to the others the day before. Once again the end of the meeting had been push off to the next day to deal with all of the new information and preparation needed to be made to the negotiation paperwork and the planning for the trip to New Town.
Day three come and the Caravan Leaders meet in the command tent bright and early. As Velvet sat at the head of the table sipping her morning coffee and she knew more details would need to be added and talked over before they could finalize and began the true negations with New Town. Velvet decided that once all of the pegasi plans were finalized she would open the floor of discussion to Big Macintosh for the earth pony concerns.
Thunderlane was quick to finish up with his part of the negotiation plans since they would need time to deal with the concerns Big Mac had for them. Judging by the stack of papers and charts the red stallion had with him there were quite a few concerns that the earth ponies of the Caravan had on this potential home they were trying to establish.
Once it was Big Mac turn to speak he took several minutes setting up several charts and graphs done for him by several of the more advanced educated ponies in his sections before pulling out some note cards from his saddlebags. Once Big Mac began speaking he was to the point and outlined a list of all of the earth ponies wants, concerns, and hopes for the negations for the caravan’s new home. The first thing on that list was making the most of everyponies natural abilities as well as making a more equalized governing and social system. While in Equestria earth ponies had been mostly excluded from the government system and the military except for places founded by or hosting a population of earth ponies that outnumbered the other two tribes 2 to 1. The earth ponies wanted equal representation in their new home as well as equal power in the laws that govern the whole. The next point was about defense and the enforcement of the laws with there being at least a number of earth ponies trained and appointed to positions of power when it came to defending and enforcing the laws of their new home. Agriculture was the next thing on the agenda with Big Mac wanting to have all of the races of the new home to contribute some of their resources and people to the whole so that no one race would have a monopoly on the food supply.
While it had taken Thunderland and Shining Armor all day to make their points Big Mac had taken the time to streamline all of his points so that the meeting could be wrapped up by lunchtime that day. Once Big Mac had given over all of the paperwork to Velvet and copies to Shining and Thunderlane he opened the floor for their questions about his proposed changes to the negotiations plans.
“Well, I don’t really have any questions for you Big Mac. You did a fine job with all of the charts and things I really do like how you had the Equestrian Core Law code rewrote to include any changes necessary for other races abilities and traditions. That will be a great bargaining chip when we take it to the people of New Town.” Shining Armor stated as he looked over the papers given to him. “Also the revamp of the whole legal system is amazing. These overall changes will make it easier to handle any type of legal problems from the major to the minor. Many thanks to you and the ponies of your section, my friend.”
“I have to say the rewrite and use of some of the laws from Equestria was a stroke of genius Big Mac, not to mention getting rid of all of the older outdated laws from the pre-Celestia/Luna era. The whole electing all of the Magistrates is great since the Equestrian way of having the Princesses appointment them was always a little biased. Just one question though, how is the whole police force thing you want to suggest supposed to work?” Thunderlane asked.
“Well it's simple really, Ah took the whole mock-up that Shining Armor gave us on the settin’ up a new military fer defense and scaled it down ta work at a local level. The thing is that every race will have ta send few bodies ta train and become the new police force and their job is ta take care of smaller local matters. You know like thieves, vandalism, public disturbances and such. Most of those matters were handled by Applejack and the girls back in Ponyville when they weren't off saving the world or somethin’. Ah figure with us havin’ a lot of other races around interactin’ with each other we would need a way ta handle minor problems like that without gettin’ the whole town involved and such. This way everypony is represented and no one race has more control than any other race like back in Equestria.” Big Mac answered.
“Well, that’s a good thing. I for one am all for more equality in our new home. I glad that all of you have been working so hard to make this golden opportunity a real new start for all of us. In the past, our race has been ruled by fear and placed too much faith and reliance on Alicorn rule to govern what was just and fair. Celestia in her thousand plus years of rule and Luna for her part in the last few years did do a good job governing and protecting Equestria. While this lets our race thrive it has made the three tribes stop doing things for themselves. We became complacent and blind to our own need for each other and the magic that is Friendship. If the loss of Twilight and our self-imposed exile has taught me anything, it is that for us to survive now we need to become a people that love and understands one another. We will now strive to become a new nation founded on the teaching of the Magic of Friendship and Understanding set forth by Twilight Sparkle. The first step to this will be becoming friends with the people of New Town and starting a whole new way of life for them and us as a whole.” Velvet stated as she stood up and looked at the three stallions before her. “If there is nothing else to add gentlecolts I suggest we adjourn for lunch then get ready as the next few day will hard on all of us as we create a new world and leave a Legacy for Twilight to inherit after she returns to this world.”
All three stallions nodded in unison before gathering up their things and heading out to get lunch then off to get their sections in order before they departed for New Town in two days.
October 27 Celestial Year 1011 3 Years 1 month after Twilight's Banishment
Twilight Velvet and the Section Leaders along with a small guard contingent had made their way to the edge of New Town where they meet Rainbow Dash and Belle Starling along with a welcome wagon band. Velvet was somewhat shocked when she caught sight of Belle Starling for the first time. Rainbow Dash’s description had not done the mare justice. Belle was a good foot taller than Rainbow Dash; in fact Belle a was just an inch taller than Big Macintosh and the red stallion in question was 4’5” in height. Belle was a very brightly colored Pegasus, or was it Pyrin? Belle’s fur was light pink in color, a few shades lighter than Cadence, her wings were a sea of color starting with pale pink before fading to soft lavender then becoming sky blue at her wing tips. Her tail feather started off the same shade pink as her coat before changing into the same color scheme as her wings. Her mane and tail tuft were a soft buttery yellow the same color as Fluttershy’s coat, her mane was cut short in the front with a small curl to it that partially covered her short goat-like horns while the rest of her mane was left long in the back. The next thing about Belle that caught Velvet off guard was her large bright amber colored eyes and the fact her pupils were reptilian slits similar to Spike’s. But for Velvet, the most impressive and unique part of Belle were feather at the sides of her head. The from a kind of crest at the back of her of lavender, sky blue, and gold that shimmered in the sunlight.
There were two other dragon ponies standing there that look spectacular in appearance as well but Velvet quickly contained her excitement and surprise unlike the rest of her group. After clearing her throat and getting her parties attention she got them to stop looking slacked jawed and pointed as they whispered amongst themselves. The Caravan Leaders were here for a reason and it was time to get back to it.
Turning her attention back to the welcome wagon Velvet noted that the leaders of New Town had a flare for the dramatic as she looked the little band over. The band was composed of a brown male diamond dog holding a tuba, a gray and black female griffon with a drum, a cobalt blue kirin stallion with a flute, the kirin stallion’s twin sister holding a violin with bow at the ready, a silver and white young dragon male holding a cello and bow also at the ready, and a blue and gray female wolf with a saxophone.
“Welcome to New Town Mrs. Sparkle and Caravan Leaders, we are so glad to receive you. I am Belle Starling and the group of misfits behind me are the welcome wagon band, Strange Sounds, here to greet you with the town song, New Beginnings. Here in New Town, we believe that no matter what race you are you are always welcome and loved when you're with like-minded people. So welcome to your new home for you are home when you're amongst friends.” Belle said before opening her wings and bowing as the group behind here began to play music.
The song started off with just some soft drumming and light accompaniment from the flute and violin which grew louder and louder until it reaches a crescendo then there was a pause before the whole band was playing a joyful and wholehearted song with hope and life. The song went on for a few minutes as the band plays on the group standing there couldn’t help but dance to it. After a few minutes of dancing and laughter, the song came to an end. And the party of ponies and their hosts all walked off to the town.
Once in town Velvet and her group wee lead to the town hall where Rex and the four other leaders of the town were waiting to greet them After a round of introductions and hoof, claw and paw shake the town leaders and the pony leaders all enter the town hall to begin their negotiations.
November 17 Celestial Year 1011 3 Years 2 month after Twilight's Banishment
The negations over the caravan joining the town had taken almost three weeks to settle. Velvet wanted to make sure no little detail was left unexplored and the inclusion of the ex-equestrian’s and their cultural and social norms would not hinder the growth of the town and its people in any way. Through the whole thing Velvet had not only impressed the the town leaders but won them over with her serious but kind negotiation tactics that the town leaders were ready to put her in charge of the new to as it mayor on the spot. Velvet declined the offer but settle for sitting on the new town council. After all the details were settled and the Caravan had made its week-long journey to New Town construction start to expand the town since it's population had just quintupled in the last month.
November 15 Celestial Year 1012 4 Years 2 month after Twilight's Banishment
The next year or so was filled with the town of misfits and the exiled equestrians getting to know one another and building a bright future together. It was after the town expanded from a few sparse home to a full-fledged city and several more misfits from around Equestria and Connamaria had come to settle in the New Town an election was held for City Leader. Rex ran in the election to continue as Mayor as he had done a good job along with the help of his town council. Again Shining Armor with help of few of the townspeople convince Twilight Velvet to run for office. Once again Twilight Velvet won by a landslide once it was known she was running for Mayor but this time around she accepted without much fuss so long as Rex was her assistant and head of the new city council. Shortly after Velvet become Mayor she renamed the town to Unity and had a monument of Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony erected in the town square. It was a tribute to the six principles of the Magic of Friendship, the principles that keep the town full of love and happiness.
Our Journey to a New Land
Our Journey to a New Land
September 17, Celestial Year 1009 11 months after Twilight's Banishment
It had been almost a year since Twilight Sparkle, the only student and personal protégée of Princess Celestia, had been sent to the moon for the crime of high treason and her family and friends had been placed under house arrest by Princess Luna. In that time several rumors had gone around Equestria stating that Princess Celestia had attacked and banished Twilight for no good reason. Other rumors stated that the Elements of Harmony had staged a coup and it had been foiled by Princess Celestia before the final plans had been put in place. Ponies in Manehattan stated that it had been Captain Shining Armor that had staged the Coup and his sister Twilight Sparkle had taken the fall to spare him a public death. The buzz in Saddle Arabia was that Princess Celestia had gone mad and in the attempt to stop her from doing something horrible Twilight Sparkle had attacked her and been banished to the moon by dark magic. Word in Canterlot was that some nobles had planned a coup and assassination of the Princesses to gain control of Equestria. When they had been found out by somepony or other they placed the blame on the Elements of Harmony to escape a trial and death at the gallows. There was also talk that the Elements of Harmony were no longer useable and the former controllers of those ancient relics and their families were soon to be banished from Equestria.
All of the rumors were fueled by the fact that the Sparkle family had been placed under house arrest by the royal guards and Captain Shining Armor had been stripped of his rank and title before being dishonorably discharged from the royal guards. The fact that the Elements of Harmony had not been seen since the word got out about Twilight Sparkle's banishment only fueled the rumors more. There was even talk of civil unrest in towns and cities where the Apple family lived.
Once news of all of the rumors and civil unrest made their way to the castle Luna knew it was time to put an end to all of the speculation by releasing a few public statements. A cover story needed to be created before things got any more out of hand than they already were. Unfortunately, a few ponies were going to be sacrificed in the process of keeping order and stability in Equestria. For the greater good Shining Armor would become a martyr to save his sister’s good name and legacy as a national hero.
It was three months after the rumors started that the castle Press Core released several statements saying that all of the rumors about the banishment of National Hero Twilight Sparkle and the supposed coup d'etat were untrue. A formal investigation had been launched and it was decided that Princess Celestia and Luna would both release public statements on the matter once the investigation into the incident had been completed.
In the weeks after the press release from the castle most of the rumors seemed to die off, all but the ones about Shining Armor's supposed coup d'etat, the nobles attempted assassinations of the Princesses and a Mad Princess Celestia lashing out at her loyal student. A Press blackout had to be called when several tabloids ran stories about Celestia attacking Twilight after some false dreams about her taking over the country. Royal guards and city peace officers had to be dispatched to break up several protests and riots that had broken out from speculators on why Twilight had been banished after the Press blackout. The fact that Princess Celestia had not been publicly seen or held a court since the start of the rumors had only made things worse and Luna was struggling to keep the nation from tearing self apart in the sea of rumors and waning faith in the crown.
June 12 Celestial Year 1010 1 Year 8 months after Twilight's Banishment
It was a year and eight months after the 'Throne Room Crashing' incident before Princess Celestia and Luna both appeared to explain what had transpired. A full Press Conference was held in front of the castle. Although Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence would be in attendance for the Press Conference they would not be speaking or taking any questions of any kind. Princess Luna would be handling the whole affair.
Luna stood in front of the podium with her prepared statement as she readied herself for the onslaught of questions after her statement. The crowd before her seemed to be a bit restless as they had been waiting for an hour for this statement. Most likely they wanted to get as much information as possible in order to get the next edition of the various papers out.
“Greeting to you members of the press, I, Princess Luna, Princess of the Night, have gathered you here this evening to finally put to rest all of the rumors of Coup D'etats, mad Princess' attacks, and the supposed Treason of National Hero, Twilight Sparkle. I will ask that you hold all questions until the end of my statement which is the Crown’s official position on the matter.” Luna told the crowd of reporters. The crowd seemed to be stirred up by this revelation and a great murmuring ran thru it before Luna silenced it by clearing her throat.
“On October 3, of Celestial Year 1008 it was revealed that rumors had surfaced about a planned coup d'etat and the assassination of Princess Celestia. The rumors were centered around the Elements of Harmony, specifically Twilight Sparkle as the ringleader with the other five mares as patsies. A secret force of six royal guards, trained by the former Captain Shining Armor in covert investigation, were sent out to investigate these rumors. Their job was to prove or disprove the rumors, if the rumors were false they were to find the source of the rumors and bring that source to justice. If the rumors were true then they were to find any and all evidence and bring it back so formal charges could be filed against Twilight and any co-conspirators so justice could be served. It was while on this undercover investigation that supposed evidence supporting these rumors was found in the home of Twilight Sparkle by the covert team confirming crimes of planned treason.The team brought this evidence back to the castle and at the time it was deemed factual by Princess Celestia.”
“Twilight Sparkle was to be brought before Princess Celestia to answer to the charges of treason and to be questioned. It was during that process on the 5th of October that a fight between Twilight and one of the guards broke out that Princess Celestia had to get involved in which lead to Twilight having to be banished for the good of Equestria and its citizens. It was only after Twilight Sparkle was banished that one of the investigating guards had been revealed as a Changeling infiltrator tasked with casting suspicion of treason on the Elements of Harmony. The fight with Twilight was caused when Twilight found out the guard was a Changeling spy which lead to a fight where Princess Celestia was given no choice but to banish Twilight to the Moon. After finding out later that the guard that was attacked by Twilight was a Changeling spy he was taken into custody but before the spy could be questioned he ended his own life. Plans for a Changeling invasion were discovered in the home of the 2nd lieutenant Silver Shadow along with a cocoon containing the 2nd Lieutenant's unconscious form.”
“Due to this oversight in security and the fact that that a changeling had infiltrated not only the castle but the core of the Royal Guard itself since the ‘Wedding Attack’ two years ago all ponies involved in and with the Royal Guards and the castle staff had to be screened to find out if any more Changelings were hiding within the castle. Due to the need for this time-consuming screening process, the former Captain of the Royal Guards Shining Armor was stripped of his Rank and Dishonorably Discharged for dereliction of duty for not discovering a Changeling spy after revealing sensitive information to him over a period of months.” Luna stated before pausing a moment to clear her throat. She was getting a bit emotional at having to tell this pack of half-truths and total lies to save the nation from its own worries and fears. Faith in the Crown had to be restored or total chaos would reign.
“Due to Twilight’s banishment and Shining Armor’s Dishonorable Discharge, the Sparkle family along with the former Elements of Harmony and their families have elected to willingly give up their citizenships and leave Equestria as soon as preparations are complete. They have decided this due to all of the rumors that have been circulating in the last two years, this is to preserve their privacy and allow them to grieve for the loss of a family member and beloved friend. It has been found that without Twilight Sparkle the former Element of Magic, the Elements of Harmony have been rendered inert and will not be usable until they have been returned to the tree of Harmony to be recharged of their magical abilities. In time they will be recharged and usable by Princess Celestia and myself.” Luna said firmly before she lowered her note cards back to the podium.
“I will now take a few questions from the press. Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence will not be speaking or taking questions at this time. And please keep all questions on the topic of the statement and nothing else.” Luna informed the crowd before picking one of the many reporters clamoring for her attention.
“Princess Luna, I’m Factfinder of the Hoofington Post, is it true that the former Captain will not be brought up on charges of treason or possible defection to the Changeling Hives?”
“No, he will not after his discharge Shining Armor was questioned for several weeks and his past dealings thoroughly checked. It was found that the Changeling spy had gone thru the trouble of researching 2nd Lieutenant Silver Shadow to impersonate him well. The only clue that had been left to this infiltration was that the 2nd Lieutenant had gone on vacation without clearing thru his XO which was Shining Armor. If that had happened the infiltration would have been discovered sooner.” Luna informed Factfinder with a passive face before picking the next reporter.
“Quick Quote of the Baltimare Times, Princess Luna is true that the other five mares of the Elements of Harmony along with the entire Sparkle family were placed under house arrest by you to keep them from committing an act of treason after finding out about Twilight Sparkle’s banishment?”
“No, The former Elements were placed under house arrest as well the Sparkle family to protect them from slander and attacks from unknown ponies that believed the rumors of them being involved in a plot of treason and a Coup D’etat,” Luna answered before making a sour face. She was so getting tired of telling these awful lies but a cover story was a cover story.
“Princess Luna, Princess Luna, I’m Star Chaser from the Daily Neigh, is it true that Twilight Sparkle was banished because your sister Princess Celestia become jealous over the unicorn’s rising popularity amongst the stallions of Canterlot? Also is it true that Celestia had an affair with Twilight’s father? Is it also true that Shining Armor has divorced Princess Cadence because she’s pregnant with his father’s love child and Shining Armor is in fact already married to Queen Chrysalis?” Asked the voluptuous lime green unicorn mare in a white pantsuit, her mane and tail were both bright and styled in several bouncy curls as she holds a quill and notepad in her bright pink magic. “Please Princess, don’t leave out any of the juicy details, inquiring minds want to know the truth of it all.”
The Princess of the Night could not believe her ears at the scandalous rumors and accusations that had come out the questioning mare’s mouth. How did any of these vultures in pony form get access to some of the information they had? It should have been impossible for anypony outside of the Royal Clerk of Courts and the families involved to know about Shining Armor divorcing Cadence. So how did this chubby lime mare find out about it, Luna asked herself before she froze in front of the camera flashes. It was in that momentary pause that Luna snuck a glance at Cadence and could see the horror and shame displayed across her face at the accusation lobbed at her failed marriage.
It was in that brief instant that Star Chaser had her cameramare take several shots of the horror on Princess Cadence’s face as she held a hoof to her stomach. Moments after that Luna called the Press Conference to a close as the royal guard escorted the Princesses away with the crowd of reporters lobbing questions at them all the while. All of them except for Star Chaser and her cameramare.
“Did you get photos of Cadence holding her belly like that?” Star Chaser asked the other mare as she looked thru the discarded notes left behind by the other reporters, most mentioning something about Princess Cadence and her so-called marriage.
“Did I get them? Please, I got them and shots of the shame-filled face of Celestia when you mentioned the Twilight banishment thing. I thought she was going to break into tears when she heard that.” Snapshot replied as she changed the flash bulb of her camera. “I wish I could have got some shots of Princess Luna’s face when you asked her those questions though. That look was priceless.” The tall and lean pegasus had a tan coat with dirty blonde and amber colored mane and tail both held by rubber bands. She was dressed in a dirty common brown trench coat and cap to blend in with all of the background ponies in the crowd. Her dark green eyes told the story of how she was willing to do whatever it took to get paid, even if it meant destroying somepony with the photos she took.
“Well, that was fun and all but where to now boss mare?” Snapshot asked as she held up her camera as took a few photos of the area for good measure.
“Well since this was a wash and Luna ran before answering any real questions I guess we could try talking to few of the friends to the Sparkle family. It's not like we can get anywhere near their house anytime soon.” Star Chaser said as she stuffed a few of the notes she liked into her mane for safe keeping. After getting a shrug from the cameramare then a nod of acceptance the two mares made their way into Canterlot their destination unknown.
October 15 Celestial Year 1011 3 Years 1 month after Twilight's Banishment
The caravan of three hundred former Equestrians were several weeks into their travel thru the Wilderrun. The Wilderrun was an area in the southwest continent where the natural environment was untamed and worked on its own. The area itself was an unexplored region between the southwest border of Equestria and the northwest border of Connamaraia. So far only a few ponies and griffins had ever been to its outer edge of the region to explore it and few ever wanted to go back. Right now the exiled settlers were making camp about 20 miles into the areas deep forest for the time being. While the journey so far had been one of moderate ease the displaced ponies were getting wary of traveling. They needed to find a permanent area to make a settlement as their supplies would not hold out forever. An area with a source of freshwater, enough timber for building homes, land to be cleared for planting crops and natural mineral and stone deposits needed to be found soon. So far the scouting missions in the area the settlers were traveling had yet to yield any promising results.
Shining Armor was pacing back and forth in the command tent while his mother was going over the reports from the three scouting parties that had returned that evening. There was a fourth scouting party still out but that party was being led by Rainbow Dash so it would be dark by the time they returned. That mare was super loyal but being punctual was another thing entirely, something that Shining was going to have to try and correct, if she would listen to him for more than five minutes at a time.
“So any good news this time around mom?” Shining asked as he stopped his pacing to stare at his tired looking mother.
Twilight Velvet let out a sigh and she pinched the bridge of her nose before setting the papers down on the table with her magic. She couldn’t believe that she was the leader of a set of Settlers or that everypony had voted by secret ballot to make her their leader before they had all left Appaloosa. Well, the candidates had been her and Shining Armor for overall leader and no surprise there after word about what she had done to Celestia and what Shining would have done to the white Alicorn if they stayed, had spread throughout the group of exiled ponies. The votes had been close but Velvet won outright because all of the guards that had resigned from the EUP to stay by Shining Armor’s side had voted for her along with Shining who had been the one to nominate her. Now Velvet had to make decisions that affected some three hundred ponies and it was starting to wear her down.
“No, not at all.The three teams that reported in so far have all scouted three areas each, that we can make it to without using up too many of our dwindling supplies. None of the nine areas have everything we need to make a permanent town. Even in the areas that have close to what we need to make it livable we would end up using up most if not all of the natural resources before we could make any of the area sustainable.“ Velvet replied as she sat back in her chair and picked up some of the supply reports to do a few calculations.
“Well, there’s still Rainbow Dash’s scouting party. I’m sure she found something good out there. I mean her party always travels the farthest and scouts at least a dozen areas each time. I sure she will find us a place for our new home.” Shining Armor replied trying to give his mother a bit of hope, however false it may be at the moment.
Velvet sighed again, she knew that her son was trying to give her hope for the future but she just couldn’t see it at the moment. She had to be a realist right now and let her more wild and optimistic side take a back seat, at least until they had a viable site for a new home.“ I know that Shining and I hope she will bring us good news, but all of the places that Rainbow Dash has scouted so far that have had what we needed all of them were just out of the question. Many of them have been too far away for most of us to reach on hoof safely. Reaching several of those areas would have cost us nearly ¾ of our supplies and that is just too high of a cost right now. Not to mention all of the wild animals around here. Fluttershy is already working herself hooves to bone just keeping the camp safe at night when we stop. I can’t ask her to do any more than she already has. Plus it's just too much to ask all of those with guard pony training to have to work long sleepless hours protecting a slowly growing town until we could build a proper wall and defenses. I can't do that so don’t ask me to consider it.” Velvet told Shining as she waved him away with her hoof, knowing full well he was going to protest at the guards being unable to protect the town until a proper wall could be built.
“Come on mom, we could protect a town until a wall was built. I mean look at how many strong and talented ponies we have in the caravan. All of the guard ponies here are here to serve under me and follow the mare that had the courage and fortitude to stand up to the all-powerful and mighty Princess Celestia. I mean that fact alone got us half of the forty guards that joined us. The other half just happened to be in my direct unit of castle guards.” Shining said with a hopeful smirk on his face. “I know we could if you give us the chance to.”
“As much as I want to let you go play Captain of the Guards again I need you to hold all of the unicorns in the caravan together and keep them doing their part. You are the Unicorn Rep for this caravan so please deal with your section. I’m having enough trouble dealing with complaints about travel routes and supply distribution to be bothered to deal with previously pampered unicorns arguing about sleeping arrangements and showering schedules.” Velvet told Shining as she levitated several sheets of paper over to him.
“What? I thought I already dealt with all of this, what about the other two Reps and their sections?” Shining asked as he eyed the paper his mother had given him.
“Thunderlane already stopped by with his report and complaint claims and took care of all of it before heading off on patrol for the afternoon. Big Macintosh showed up with Thunderlane but he hasn’t come back with his paperwork yet. If Big Mac is anything like his sister Applejack he should be back any minute with his section of the caravan in order, unlike some stallions I know.” Velvet told Shining Armor as she was looking over the latest maps of the area looking for a better route to take thru the thick forest.
Shining Armor was going to give a retort to his mother’s insinuation of him being lazy when Big Mac along with Rainbow Dash walked into the command tent. Shining immediately got his mother’s attention as soon as the others showed up. Velvet's expression seemed to relax a bit at the sight of a smiling Big Mac and smirking Rainbow Dash.
“Tell me you both have good news?” Velvet asked as she stared at the two ponies in front of her workspace.
“Eeyup.” Big Mac said as his smile grew wider.” Thanks to the help of some fillies trying to get their cutiemarks we have found a natural spring so we can refill all of our water supplies in a less than a day. I even talked to Thunderlane and he can spare a few Pegasi from patrols to collect water and store it as cloud material be used to refill any water we deplete or as building material for the Pegasi.”
Velvet let out a sigh of relief as the water rationing measure she was going to implement soon wouldn’t have to be considered now. Since there was a fresh source of water nearby that the caravan could stockpile now it made traveling farther a bit easier.
“What do you have to report Rainbow Dash?” Velvet asked then stopped the cyan mare before she could speak. “I know how excitable you can get Dash so I want you to remember I’m the leader here and this is serious business.” Velvet said with a firm tone before allowing Dash to speak.
“Yes, ma’am,” Dash said as she saluted with her wing, “I’m here to inform you Caravan Leader that the fourth scouting group has found a place for the caravan to settle. It is about a week’s trip to the west of our current location. The area has everything we need and it's partially inhabited.” Rainbow Dash informed the room full of ponies while she wore a serious look on her face the whole time.
“Partially inhabited? What do you mean by that Rainbow Dash? Please explain yourself a bit more?” Velvet asked not sure of what to make of the new information she had just been given.
“Well, it's kind of hard to explain it really but I will try,” Dash said as she started to pace back and forth as she tried to remember all of the details. “Well had just searched the area near the jagged mount we spotted two days back but that was a no-go because of the dense terrain in front of it. Well, the scouting team were broken up into three pony formations and circling the area looking for everything on the checklist when Cloudchaser fired off a green flare signaling she had found the perfect spot. I told the rest of the party to keep looking as I checked it out for myself.” Rainbow Dash explained and she quickened her pacing. It seemed to help her think, or so everypony else thought.
“After I hooked up with Cloudchaser and the two members of her search team Cloud Diver and Stormfront the four of us explored the site in greater detail. It was few miles from the mountain and the area seemed pretty quiet. There weren’t too many large or dangerous animals around, there were three separate rivers running into the area from different directions before connecting to each other and heading straight for the jagged mountain. The geographic profile was mostly flat with a lot of pockets of densely packed trees. It was while we were doing the deeper survey that we spotted a set of houses in a large cleared area just a mile and a half from where the rest of the scouting party was. I sent Cloud Diver and Stormfront back to get the others while Cloudchaser and I took a closer look. On our way to get closer to the small town we were greeted by pink pegasus or what we thought was a pink pegasus.“ Rainbow Dash said before she came to a stop in from of the table as she tapped her chin with a hoof.
“What do you mean you thought it was another pegasus?” Shining asked as he stared at Dash in shock. All the reports on the Wilderrun had said it was uninhabited by any race. It was largely unexplored so how was there a small town way out in the unknown region?
“Well she looked like a pegasus from a distance but we then noticed she had tail feathers like a bird over top of the long dragon-like tail that ended with a tuft of hair when she got closer to us. She had pony features like a pegasus but she also had set of horns on top of her head like a dragon and some scales on her legs, shoulders, neck, and cheeks. When we asked if she was a pegasus or something close to that and the mare answered us no, not exactly but it was a close guess. So we asked if she wasn’t a pegasus, what was she really. She answered that she was a dragon pony, a Pyrin to be exact. Her name is Belle Starling and she told us if we were new to the area that we should stop by New Town if we needed help. After talking to Belle for a while she took us to see the town leader, a Diamond Dog named Rex O'Malley.”
“A Dragon Pony and a Diamond Dog? Okay, this is getting weird and I don’t know what to think about it. Rainbow Dash are you sure you didn’t eat any weird berries again?” Shining Asked as he eyed the cyan mare with a curious look.
“Okay, first off, the berry thing happened a couple of weeks ago and I learned my lesson that time. Second, if you don’t, believe me, you can ask any member of my scouting party and they will tell you the same story.” the rainbow maned mare shot back at the white stallion as she jabbed him in the chest with her hoof.
Before it could break out into a full-blown argument between the stallion and mare Big Mac stepped between Shining and Dash. “That’s enough you two. This ain't the time ta be squabblin’ like some chicken over a hoofful of feed.”
“Big Macintosh is right you two. Stop acting like foals this is a serious matter. Rainbow Dash please continue with your report and Shining Armor please save all of your questions and snarky comments until the end.” Velvet told the others.
Rainbow Dash gave an angry sigh before glaring at Shining Armor, who just glared back before she turned back to Twilight Velvet and continued her report. “Well, we waited for the others to catch up with us before the whole team went to the town. New Town was rather small maybe 60 inhabitants total with Rex acting as the Mayor so to speak.The town was a mix of races, there's Diamond Dogs, Sheep, Griffins, Dragon Ponies of three types, Kirins, Pyrins, and Arrins. Everypony in the town was very nice and welcomed us. After a big greeting at the town entrance, we were taken to see Rex O’Malley at the town hall. Rex explained that the town was created by the outcasts of several other countries that couldn’t find a place in their former homeland or were exiled for one reason or another so they created a new town with other like-minded races.The whole town has extended an offer for us to come join them or if we like can share the land. The okay with us being as long as we are willing to trade with them from time to time if we don’t want to join them. Rex even sent back an offer for you and the Caravan section leaders to come tour the town and sit down with him and the town’s council to work out if we will join with or gets some of the lands for ourselves and will trade with them from time to time. I urge you and the section leaders to consider the offer since the next area for us to explore is some forty miles in truth some pretty rough country.” Rainbow Dash said before placing papers from her saddlebags on the table for Velvet to look over.
“Thank you Rainbow Dash, you have done a good job. Please go shower, eat and rest up as you may be needed to lead us to this New Town in a few days. Please send Thunderlane to me when you see him as I need him for a major discussion of what we will be doing as far as finding a new settlement for this caravan.” Velvet told Dash before dismissing her.
Dash saluted Velvet before turning to leave, as she was leaving she gave Shining Armor another glare to which he just smirked back at her before Dash left the command tent. After Dash was gone Big Mac punched Shining Armor in the shoulder before giving the white stallion a warning glare.
“Hey what was that for Big Mac? I was just teasing her. I mean she knows I don’t mean any harm.” Shining said and he rubbed his shoulder.
“Ya know what that was fer. Ya’ll know Ah don’t like when ya mess with a mare like that. ‘Sides Shining you're a grown stallion so act like it.” Big Mac told Shining as he shook an angry hoof at him.
Before the white stallion could argue with his larger red stallion friend Thunderlane entered the command tent and stared at the two stallions squaring up for a fight or at least a shoving match. Once Velvet spotted Thunderlane she put a stop to the squabble between Shining and Big Mac making them save it for later during the guard training exercises. After putting that to rest Velvet began their meeting over the offer given to the people of New Town. For the first time in the last three years, Velvet smiled. Finally, they might be a hope for her to achieve the plans she had been working in that last three years, the plans to save Twilight from losing herself after she got her justice. If all went well with the people of New Town Velvet would finally give a way to leave some memories of the Sparkle family and the Elements behind for her beloved daughter, Twilight Sparkle. Yes, the future would have infinite possibilities with just one small step, with just one small thing a new possible will blossom into a future of everlasting hope.
One Small Step brings Infinite Hope…
