Chapters Celestia shot up in her bed, panting and sweating. Her eyes were filled with tears and her mouth quivered. 'Another nightmare' she thought as her heart rate slowly decreased. She pulled her white hooves from under the sheets and rest her head in them, closing her eyes. 'When will this madness end?' She sighed to herself.
It was still dark, starlight shone through Celestias curtains. Luna would be out right now. She sighed and pulled her covers from her body and flung her legs over the edge of the bed. 'I know what Luna said... but... maybe just one would help. Maybe itll help me feel like im actually doing something about all this, instead of sitting around looking pretty.' The alicorn continued to reason with herself, slowly rising from her bed as she did so. She knew that just one wouldn't change the world, but maybe it would make her feel better.
She placed her front hooves on the ground and looked in the mirror. Her normally vibrant, flowing mane, was dull and flat. Her eyes were glazed over she had dark bags under them. She sighed as she slowly blinked. 'I've got to. For my subjects. I can not let them see me like this. Especially Twilight...'
Celestia quietly cracked her door open, it creaked as it slowly swung. One hoof after another, she snuck out as to not alert any nearby guards. She had no idea how to explain where she was going to anyone. She cautiously placed each hoof on the ground as to keep completely silent and walked down the massive hallways. Every intersection she turned her head right then left to check for guards. The white alicorn continued this nervously for what felt like an hour. Finally, she reached the door to the castle. Sighing a breath of relief, she pushed the giant door open and wandered outside.
Her garden was magnificent in Luna's moon light. Every blade of grass shone vibrantly, every flower seemed to glow. She smiled proudly at her sisters work and walked slowly through the garden. Her hooves felt damp and slightly chilly from the dew, waking her up a bit more. The wind whistled calmly through her main. 'Why am i not awake at night more often? Luna's nights are astounding' she silently praised her sister.
Once Celestia felt woken up, she spread her big feathery wings and took off into the night sky. She flew fast, the wind tickled every feather on her wings. She peered around below her, searching the streets of Canterlot for any pony out and about. Suddenly she remembered, 'i should probably put an invisibility spell on myself, don't want my subjects to get startled' her horn glowed her signature bright yellow as she disappeared in a flash.
A few ponies walking the streets looked up when they saw a flash. Seeing nothing, they went about their business once more.
Canterlot's streets were close to empty at this time of night. Lamp posts shone weakly against Luna's night.
One pony found them self walking the street alone, he carried a saddlebag with the cutie mark of a syringe on it. His mane was a short, dark blue fading to purple at the ends, and his coat was sky blue. He had small wings, obviously not for flying.
Celestia's eyes narrowed as she recognized this pony, he had been out every night since her nightmares began and she never knew why. He didn't have a night job, what was he doing? His name was Shadow Haze, and he had been tipping Celestia's radar for some time now. She decided to investigate, better to just figure out what he was doing and get him out of her mind.
He walked around a few corners, Celestia flew above him silently watching, waiting for something to happen. Just as she was about to give up, he made a turn into an alley way. The lights from the street lamps didn't shine down here, so Celestia cast a night vision spell on herself, silently praising the magic for being invisible as well.
The suspicious pony looked around while walking to the back of the alley way. Once he reached the back, he threw his saddle bags on the ground and opened up one of the sides. Inside, Celestia saw a few vials of liquid, all different colors, along with a few syringes. Her eyes widened as she suppressed a gasp. 'I know those vials.... those are from the hospital. They knock ponies out for surgery...' but Celestia knew that this colt didn't intend on using them for any surgery, legally at least.
The colt pulled out a syringe and a bottle of fluid that Celestia didn't recognize, filling the syringe. There was still almost a full bottle of the liquid. Then, he opened up the other saddle bag. Celestia felt hot anger grow in her as she saw the contents of the second bag.
A young, sleeping filly was stuffed carelessly into the bag. The colt pulled her out. She had a dull yellow coat and soft pink hair and a tiny horn. She landed on the ground with a hard 'thunk'. The force of the blow woke her up.
"Wh-wha-" Was all she was able to get out before the colt jumped on top of he, causing her to squeal in terror. Celestia landed silently and walked up to the colt, still invisible. She intended to step in as soon as she felt necessary.
The colt grinned sadistically as he grabbed the syringe with his wing and held it over her. "Shh... shhhh...." he said in an almost calming voice. "The less you struggle, the less ill hurt you." The filly looked up at him with tears in her wide eyes. Her eyes moved from the colt to the syringe and back.
"Wh-what are you g-gonna do?" She choked out between sobs, too shocked to use her magic. The colts smile grew.
"Im just gonna have a little fun, and if you stay quiet, maybe you will too." Suddenly he dove his wing to shove the syringe into her. Celestia was faster though. Her magic caught his wing an inch before her foreleg. He stared at his wing in shock. "What the hell?" He growled as his wing was pulled back.
He dropped the syringe and it shattered on the cement, staining it dark purple. The filly got up and started to run, tears falling from her eyes. The colt's wing was still being jerked backwards at an uncomfortable angle as he cursed the running filly.
"Oh you have no idea what you've done." Celestia whispered in firey anger. The colt shrieked, unaware of who was around him. As his wing was pulled back, he heard a pop and screamed in pain. Celestia had no mercy, she kept pulling until she felt the muscles in his wing begin to rip.
Celestia paused as she heard the sound of worried voices getting close to her. She silently cursed as she made the colt and his saddlebags invisible, picked up the saddlebags, and flew away, holding the colt by his wing.
On the way back to the castle, the colt had lost consciousness, shutting him up. Celestia landed silently and looked up at the sky. The moon had started its decent, Celestia quickly made herself visible, but not the colt. She placed the unconscious colt into a bush and began to raise the sun. The big beautiful orb of light poked over the horizon, making the sky a brilliant blue and pink. Celestia smiled at her work.
Her work done for now, she went back and retrieved the unconscious colt. She kept him and his saddlebags on her back as she walked through the castle entrance. By this time guards were everywhere, standing still with stony looks plastered on their faces.
They bowed as Celestia walked past, she smiled gratefully at them as she made her way through the halls. The amount of guards began to thin out the further into the castle she walked. Soon, she was at a part of the castle that hadn't been used in centuries, the dungeon. Celestia sighed as she conjured a note out of thin air and teleported it to her bedroom door. It read: 'Dear Luna, i had business to attend to in town, be back later today'
'Drip... drip... drip...' The blue colts eyes fluttered open as drops of water hit his head, his vision was blurred. He suddenly yelped as the pain in his wing returned. He ground his teeth and tried to move his hoof to feel his wing for injuries.
His stomach sank as his hooves didnt move, he tried wriggling them free, but to no avail. He moved his back hooves, finding them also strapped. He was on a hard surface, laying on his back.
"Shit. Where am I?" He tried to adjust his eyes to the lighting but it was too dark.
Tapping hoof steps sounded in the dark. The colt narrowed his eyes further. "You, my foul subject, are in the Canterlot dungeon." The colt recognized the voice, though it sounded much angrier.
"Y-your highness...?" Shadow Haze's voice sounded scared and shaky. He wriggled around some more, clenching his eyes shut. He heard a slow, ominous laugh as the hoof steps got closer. Celestia finally sauntered into view.
The colt's pupils shrunk to the size of pin pricks, he gulped instinctively. "P-princess Celestia! What an h-honor to meet you!" he nervously laughed as if he had no idea what this encounter was about. Celestia's figure was dark and dull, but her eyes shone vibrant pink, almost red, through thr darkness. The colt started to hyperventilate.
"Shadow Haze." She said calmly, stepping close. Shadow tried to struggle again, harder this time. "Theres no use, Haze. I've seen what you almost did, I cant even imagine what else you have done." Celestia disapeared back into the shadows, the only indication of her existence was the large hoof steps on the wet cobble stone floor.
"P-princess. I-I am so sorry. I didn't.... I mean...." his voice trailed off as his eyes filled with tears. "I wont ever do it again! I swear princess!" He hollered at the empty darkness, hoping that this was all a scare tactic meant to reform him. Ya, it must have been! Celestia can't legally do this, right?
Haze heard celestia sigh in annoyance. "Sorry can't undo all the damage you have caused." She stepped back into view with a large knife in her magic and a cold glare on her face. The colt started to scream and struggle against his bindings even more. He shouted 'NO NO NO' over and over as tears fell from his eyes.
Celestia slowly walked forward, hey one pink eye showing brightly. "Where to start... Ive never done this before." She said as she hovered the knife over his back left leg. She poked at the skin as the colt shrieked in fear. She winced and flattened her ears. Well that was unpleasant.
She slowly brought the knife down on his leg, making a small cut. She winced at the small amount of blood. The colt's yelling grew an octave. Her heart beat like she had never felt before. She shook, fearful. 'No turning back now' she thought.
She brought the knife back down and worsened the cut, blood oozed from the long scratch. She turned the knife slightly to make another cut going through the first. Her stomach turned as the colt started crying and his struggles weakened. She then turned the knife again and cut through the two other marks, making a triangle. Blood had soaked his leg. She took a deep breath and slid the knife under the skin. The colt screeched and opened his mouth as wide as he could in pain. The knife slid through the muscle and tissue. She felt the breaking of skin through her magic. 'It's like cutting a watermelon, only...... more fun...?'
Her eyes widened as the thought crossed her mind, and she realized it was true. She was enjoying torturing this colt. A small smile cracked on her face then immediadetly vanished. She had finished cutting through the triangle of skin and it flopped to the ground, a surge of blood following it. The colt's yells had turned to loud crying.
"Fuck you! Fuck you Celestia!" He screamed as if he believed that would save him. She winced at that.
Celestia snapped out of her hurt feelings and pondered for a moment, then walked around him, he didnt notice. Celestia noted that her heart was beating a lot more, but more so now from adrenaline than fear. She lifted the knife once more in her magic and started to cut off his mane. He was in too much pain to care as his dark blue and purple hair fluttered onto the cobblestone below. Soon he was just a mass of sky blue fur with red stains in it. Celestia licked her lips as she thought about what to do next. 'He hasn't suffered enough for what he's done' she thought to herself.
She positioned the knife over his legs once more and began to skin them. The colt's screaming began anew as his eyes shot opened, bloodshot. Her ears stung from the noise but she kept going. She used precision as she dug the knife down into his muscles. He squirmed helplessly, Celestia accidently dug the knife into a bone.
"Oops." She said, emotionless as she pulled the knife out. Some blood followed. She looked into his eyes, they were staring wide at the ceiling, his teeth clenched shut, she could see cracks forming in them. Her smile returned. "I'm enjoying this much more than i thought i would." She stated.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" He yelled at her. "This is illegal! Why don't you just arrest me!" Celestia's eyes narrowed and grew cold. She stepped up to his face as he grunted and hyperventilated.
"Because ponies like you need to suffer for the atrocities you have commited." She carelessly slammed the knife back into his leg and he gasped. "The mortal ponies do not approve of these tactics, but i believe them to be just." She didn't know how else to fraze it, she wanted to punish bad ponies her own way.
"Going behind the backs of all your loyal subjects, eh?" He weezed mockingly, his eyes struggled to stay open. Celestia got angry and sliced another chunk of his leg off. He let out another cry of pain. "You don't deserve to lead those ponies" he laughed in pain at her. She growled and yanked the knife out of his leg. Without second thought, she shoved it into his neck. His eyes grew wide as he coughed and sputtered. Blood pooled out of his mouth as he attemped to breath. Gurgling and coughing was all he ended up doing as he stared at Celestia, the light died from his eyes
Ch3
Crimson red blood dropped onto hard cobble. The large white alicorn was stained with blood, a look of pure anger and hatred on her face. She stared at the lifeless body of a colt with a knife it its throat. 'Stupid, useless colt. He doesn't know what he is talking about. I'm saving my good subjects from those who wish to hurt them.'
Celestia came down from her anger and her eyes softened. She sighed and hung her head. 'Well i have done just that. Equestria is saved from one criminal.' She thought for a second. 'And i can help rid the world of more....' she cracked a smile as she thought about it, about doing this to other ponies who were set on ruining her perfect kingdom. The idea filled her with hope.
Celestia left the body, washed up in some water leaking from the wall, grabbed with colts saddlebags full of syringes, and walked back up the dungeon stairs. 'No ones been down here in centuries, no one will find him.' She peaked her head through the cellar doors and looked around, no guards. She crawled out and closed the creaky doors.
The white alicorn turned the saddlebags invisible once more and walked down the hallways away from the doors that held a secret only she knew. Her mind raced with the events that had unfolded just moments ago, but instead of guilt or sadness, she felt pride. Pride that she had saved that little filly, and probably more ponies, from that dangerous colt. Celestia held her head high and smiled brightly as she walked to the throne room. The sun outside was up in the middle of the sky, it had only taken her a few hours to get rid of that pony.
She reached her room and tossed the invisible saddlebags under her bed, then left to the throne room. Her princess duties awaited.
***
The white alicorn's mane was still dull, but her eyes had somewhat brightened. Her duties done, she walked sleepily to her room and plopped onto her bed. 'This is it.' She thought. 'I hope i can sleep tonight. Luna, please bring sweet dreams and blissful sleep.' She silently prayed to her sister. She pulled her covers over her tired body and closed her eyes.
***
Pink eyes fluttered open just as the moon was starting to set, making room in the sky for the sun. The day princess smiled bigger than she had in years. 'Yes! It worked!' She jumped out of bed and skipped to the window. The white alicorn's horn shone a vibrant yellow as the sun took the moons place in the sky. She hummed happily to herself as she watched her work. Celestia walked back over to the mirror, her mane had gotten its color back and was now flowing like a river. She sighed in relief, back to normal.
Thr white alicorn stepped out of her room beaming with happiness. Her guards saluted her and she nodded back. As she walked down the hallway she thought of what to do next, who her next victim would be.. what she would do to him... her mind fell into fantasies about all she could do. She remembered the bag of syringes under her bed, wondering what they did. A sly smile formed on her white face. She could find out using her next victim.
Luna was in the kitchen making herself some blueberry pie when Celestia walked in. Luna smiled and looked at Celestia. "Sleep well i take it?" Her younger sister asked. Celestia nodded happily.
"Oh its a miracle, I feel so refreshed Luna." She chatted to Luna. Luna placed the pie on the counter with her magic, cut two slices, and trotted over to Celestia.
"Im so glad to hear it sister!" Luna hugged her older sister and Celestia hugged back. Luna picked up one of the slices of pie. "Well im going to bed, gotta have my strength to raise the moon tonight."
"Good... erm... morning sis! Sleep well!" Celestia chuckled as she watched her sister take a slice of pie to her room. 'Oh Luna, still eating in your room' she chuckled to herself as she picked up the other peice and took a bite. Delicious!
***
Celestia exited the castle and took flight. She wondered how she would capture somepony in the day. No one was going to comit a crime during the day... she flew over the city, staring down at her subjects below. Her smile grew as she thought of how she saved them from that horrible colt.
She flapped her giant feathery wings in the breeze and hovered low to the ground. Her subjects looked up in awe and bowed in respect. Celestia landed and chuckled. "There is no need for that, my little ponies." She said in a soothing voice. The ponies smiled and sat back up, going about their days once more. They stopped every once in a while and gave her a friendly nod, which she returned kindly.
She walked around the town, her body high above the other ponies. She felt powerful as she towered over them and they nodded to her. She was their ruler, their lives in her hooves. Celestia wandered around casually looking for any ponies causing disturbances.
It was nice to see all the little ponies going about their days. Mothers walked with their fillies and ponies exchanged brief conversation. Everyone was cheerfully enjoying this nice day.
"Hey! Get that unicorn!" Celestia wipped her head around as a yell of distress rang out. A yellow unicorn stallion with a short orange mane was racing quickly away, a coin bag was gripped in his magic aura. Celstias eyes narrowed in anger as she took off after him. He was very quick, but Celestia had better things than speed. She lit up her horn as she raced after him and he raised into the sky, his legs flailing beneath him. He let out angry grunts and struggled to free himself.
Ponies cheered as Celestia calmly walked over to the floating unicorn, a stoic look had been plastered on her face. She looked him straight in the eyes and he returned it with a glare, unflinching from the day princess. 'Oh this one will be fun' she thought. Celestia removed the coin bag from his grasp and handed it to the pony it had been taken from, who had ran up to thank her. Celestia smiled warmly at her subject's happiness. It felt good to help. Ponies ran up to thank and congratulate her, fillies and colts jumped around excitedly.
Celestia magically formed a magic nullifier around his horn and chains around the ponies front and back hooves to keep him from moving as he was released from her magic grasp. He attempted to run as soon as he touched the ground, but fell on his face with a groan. "Move along my subjects, i will take it from here" Celestia spoke with authority. Ponies continued their day happily chatting to eachother about how Celestia had caught that criminal.
3 Police ponies arrive just after, frantically panting. "P-princess! My apologies" they bowed. "We were dealing with a missing pony file when we got contacted about-"
"Silence, I have taken care of it. Please work on getting more ponies available for out calls" Celestia ordered. The ponies nodded in understanding.
"Absolutely my princess. We will work on that right away!" They all saluted and ran back to the police station. Celestia watched the large ponies.
Celestia smiled as she lifted the stallion onto her back and took off into the sky, seemingly going to the jail house. She slipped a small sleep spell onto him as they took off.
***
Celestia's stomach churned with butterflies as she trotted to the empty part of the castle. 'Why am i so excited for this? It seems so wrong... but feels so right...' She descended down the rocky stairs into the dungeon, the pony and bag of mystery syringes draped across her back. She reached the bottom of the dark spiral staircase and stopped next to her last victim. A sense of pride arose in her from seeing his blood and his cold dead eyes.
Celestia removed the dead colt from where he was hanging on chains and gently placed it in a corner of the room avoiding his blood. She then began to string up her newest victim, he groaned in his sleep. She secured his hooves in tight metal chains.
"Ugh. Oof..." Groaning came from the yellow unicorn as he started to wake up. Celestia backed up into the dark. His eyes peeled open lazily and his mouth hung open. "Wh-wha..." he leaned his head side to side and saw nothing but stone. He tried to move his hooves but they remained in place, he winced at how tight the restraints were. "Hello? Police?" He sounded stable, and annoyed. "Is this some form of interogation? Princess Celestia caught me, there are tons of witnesses, you don't need a story from me" he spoke into the darkness waiting for a police pony to come talk to him. Celestia decided to have a bit of fun with this.
"What is your name, stallion?" Celestia asked in a stoic voice.
She heard a sigh "Lemon Grass"
"And I assume you know why you are here?"
He snorted "I stole some mare's coin bag. Why are you standing in the dark? Shouldn't i be able to see you?"
Celestia stepped forward and pulled the bag of syringes behind her. The stallions eyes grew in size.
"What the hell are those for? I've told you the truth." He started to struggle a little, uneasy. Celestia licked her lips.
"Tell me Lemon Grass. Have you any idea what these do?" She asked pointing at the open bag filled with syringes. He eyes them, confused, then looked at Celestia as if she were pulling a prank.
"Um... how the hell am i supposed to know? What does this have to do with interogation?" He ask, obviously irritated. Celestia smiled.
Celestia grabbed one with a glowing green liquid in her hoof and held it up to her face. It reflected green on her white face. She eyed the stallion as if to say 'ready?' He gave her a puzzled look. Just as he was about to ask something, she stabbed the needle into his right flank, under the cutie mark.
The stallion let out a surprised gasp and gave Celestia a glare. "What the hell was that for??" He shouted. Celestia just watched, an emotionless look on her face. Truthfully inside her, she was feeling guilty, but still excited.
The stallion kept yelling at Celestia asking her what was in the syringe for a few minutes as the juice soaked in. Suddenly the stallion screamed mid sentence. Celestia's eyes widened in curiosity. The stallion clenched his teeth together and let out a small screach. Celestia gasped as the skin around his flank appeared to bubble, it was bright red and swollen. Suddenly the skin burst and chunks of muscle and skin splattered across thr floor, blood poured from the wound. The stallion was screaming at the top of his lungs and struggling as hard as he could manage. The muscle underneath the broken skin sizzled as if being cooked. Celestia watched intensely, subconciously licking her lips. The muscle swelled up and burst as well, chunks of nerves and bone going with it.
Tears streamed down the yellow ponies face as he screamed and then vomited all over the floor, mixing with the blood and gore beneath him. Celestia winced at the vomit, but ignored it after a while.
The remains of the ponies flank sizzled for a few more minutes. Celestia listened to his screams of pain as she observed the effects of the mystery liquid. The stallion's cries grew softer as the sizzling wore off, only to be replaced with light crying.
Celestia spoke. "Interesting. I'll have to save that one for future use..." the stallion looked at her with pure hatred and malice.
"Why... did you... do that..." he gasped between breaths. Celestia smiled, glad to explain.
"Scum like you are ruining Equestria. Everypony can be happy and safe when there are none of you criminals left." She let out a slight chuckle.
The unicorn stared at her in shock and fear. "Y-you can't do this. I deserve a proper trial! You can't kill me!" Celestia's smile faded.
"Garbage like you deserve nothing but death and pain." She stated coldly. This made the unicorn flinch. He yanked at his restraints a bit, but to Celestia's surprise, gave up and stared at the ground.
"Do it then. Kill me." Celestia was caught off guard by this. He's not struggling or begging for freedom? She began to feel bored at this, 'better make it interesting again'
Celestia's cold eyes looked at the sweating unicorn. His eyes were dull with defeat, Celestia would not have this.
"You know what.... im feeling generous today. If you can take the next shot without screaming, I'll let you go." Celestia said this with a voice as if she were making a business proposal. The stallion's eyes started to gleam with hope once more.
'Maybe if i get out, i can reveal what she is to Equestria!' The stallion's thought drove him to comply. He was still panting, he stared the alicorn ruler in the eyes and nodded weakly.
Celestia smiled wide. "Excellent. I was hoping you would take the deal." The added chance of survival made the unicorn's efforts interesting once more. She figured out that she liked a struggling victim.
Celestia walked around the yellow mass of sweat, smiling. She knew it was wrong... but she loved seeing him paying for his crimes. Celestia levitated another syringe to her face. This one appeared to be bubbling, it was a murky blue.
The stallion instinctively started struggling as the syringe was brought near him. He let out small whimpers, still in immense pain from his leg, which had started crusting shut.
He clenched his eyes shut and clenched his teeth to the point they almost cracked. Yellow magic levitated the murky liquid to the stallion's forearm, and poked through the skin. Celestia almost chuckled as she heard a small cry escape his lips.
"Remember... no screaming." She stated as if saying the rules to a game. She pushed the contents into his arm and pulled the needle out.
The sweaty pony took deep breathes, preparing for more immense pain. Celestia watched through slitted eyes, backing up and sitting down.
It took a few minutes before the effects set it. Just as the stallion thought it may have been a dud, his face flashed to pain and anger. His breaths quickened and his sweat poured out, yet he held his scream.
Celestia didn't know what was happening, but apparently it was very painful. The stallion wriggled and writhed against his restraints, forgetting his hurt leg. He opened his mouth wide in a silent scream as his eyes burst into tears. Celestia was highly impressed he hadn't cracked.
Celestia then noticed the blood on his leg, it was turning shiny and slick. She tilted her head in confusion. The stallion's struggles seemed to lessen, but it didnt seem like it was because he was calming down. She came close and touched the blood, it was cold and hard.
"It freezes blood?" She asked aloud over the whimpers of her victim. Finally, he cracked. His mouth opened so wide his jaw looked broken, and released a screach of unimaginable terror. The blood freezing caused blood crystals to form in his veins, cutting through whatever was holding it in. The stallion shook his head back and forth.
"STOP STOP STOP!" he screamed over and over, more talking to his body than Celestia. Celestia figured that he would die soon if all his blood froze, so she cast a spell. His blood began to thaw and the wound on his leg leaked fresh blood once more, staining his yellow coat. The stallion's scream lowered to crying as his blood thawed and the crystals returned to their veins. He hung his head and panted sadly.
Celestia clicked her tongue. "Tsk tsk, my subject. I had more faith in you than that. Though i must say, you lasted longer than i expected." She scolded like he was a colt and she were a teacher.
"Wh....wh...y..." he weezed between breaths. He knew there was no hope left but he still asked. Celestia had finally given in, she smirked happily. 'I love that question' she thought.
The elegant alicorn walked up to the stallion in no hurry. She lifted his head with her hoof and stared into his glazed eyes. He seemed detatched from the world. "Because you are criminal scum. And criminal scum have no place in my perfect society." She stated proudly.
The unicorn didn't seem to register her response, he continued to pant as Celestia let his head drop once more. It was then Celestia noticed how much blood he had lost. She decided to stop playing with him for today, she wanted this one to last longer than her last victim. She sighed sadly as she walked to the dungeon stairs.
The stallion noticed this. "Wh... where are y...you...going?" He asked with a hint of fear in his voice. Celestia stopped for a moment to respond.
"I don't want you to die just yet, since you failed my game you will die soon though." She reminded him of his failure. She was facing the steps but could hear his ragged pained breaths. "I need to conduct more experiments. You have no other place in the world now that you have tried tainting it." And with that, she walked up the steps leaving the bleeding unicorn to sob in pain.
***
Celestia was filling out a scroll on new boundary arrangements with Griffonia when three royal guards approached their alicorn leader and bowed low. She took her eyes off the scroll and spoke to them. "There is no need for that my guards, what is it you have come to me for?" She asked.
The guard in front rose and addressed her. "Police from canterlot are asking about the status of the unicorn you captured earlier today." Celestia felt her muscles tense up. She set the scroll down from her magic aura.
She took a moment to compose herself and addressed her guards. "I know the canterlot police are very busy with the outbreak of crime lately, so i had him transfered to..." she thought for a moment. "Fillydelphia for questioning. Tell them there is no need to worry." Celestia felt satisfied with her response. The guard nodded stoicly and exited with the other two flanking him.
Celestia let out a sigh as the doors closed behind them. She thought for a second, she would need to get stories together for her victims in case ponies saw her. Celestia decided to schedule that later, and went back to the Griffonian documents.
***
Once all the documents had been read and signed, Celestia sent them out.
She had kept her mind on her victim all the while, wondering if he were still alive, thinking about his calls for help. It was then she had an idea. It didn't feel like enough to punish them. She wanted to get inside their head and break them mentally. The idea filled her with warmth and excitement. The alicorn wanted to introduce them all to their greatest fears, see how they react when they are the one in trouble.
She had no idea how she would find out everyponies fears though. Or how she would document them all. It was then that Luna walked in.
"Sister, there has been word from a little filly who claims she had been attacked two nights ago." Celestia leaned forward, curious. "She claims as the colt was about to attack her, he seemed to be pulled back by unknown forces. That gave her a chance to escape." Luna seemed suspicious and confused, though she had no idea it was Celestia.
Celestia felt her heart race. She was hoping word wouldn't get around of the colt. She thought quickly. "Bring her in here." She stated simply. Luna left the room and came back with the yellow filly Celestia had saved nights before. Celestia smiled warmly as to not seem intimidating.
The filly shook as she bowed to the princess. Then stood up. "Um. Uh..." she stuttered.
Celestia chuckled and walked up to the filly. "It's ok, no one here is going to hurt you. Would you be able to tell me what happened, my little pony?" She said warmly. The filly seemed to calm down at this.
She took a deep breath and spoke slowly. "I- I don't remember a lot of it. I j-just remember i woke up with a colt on t-top of me. He was about t-to put a needle in me, when his wing froze right before it hit me." She seemed scared remembering the events. "He seemed shocked a-and i ran away while he was distracted." She finished.
Celestia knew what to say. She knelt down and addressed the filly softly. "Do you think it is possible the colt had a change of heart right before he harmed you?" She asked genuinely.
The filly thought for a moment. "I- I don't think so. He seemed like it wasn't him holding back."
"Sometimes when ponies are about to do things they know they will regret, their concious will kick in and yell at them 'no stop!' And they will freeze up." The filly listened intently, holding back tears from remembering her trauma. "Maybe he stopped to think about what he was doing, and that caused him to freeze." The filly seemed to understand, her eyes lit up.
"Y-ya. That makes sense." She stated. Her little brain seemed to accept this as the truth.
"And if he did have a change of heart, that means he is no longer a threat to anypony." Celestia smiled warmly to comfort the filly. She was so confident in her words that the filly believed it had to be true. The princess knew everything after all.
The filly smiled a bit. "Ya, thank you princess. Im glad you were able to help me. I was really scared untill i talked to you." The filly smiled at the princess. Celestia smiled back and rubbed her pink mane.
"Of course, my little pony. Now, I'm sure your parents are waiting for you. Better not make them worry." And with that, the filly left the room, waving back at Celestia as she left. Celestia smiled warmly.
'That was a close one. I'm going to need to get files going on each of these ponies so i can make sure I've got stories. I don't want to give myself away.'
A notebook flipped open and a pen floated by, scribbling contents into the book. The white alicorn was sitting in her bed chambers writing. She sat at a desk near her large, royal bed. Celestia lifted the pen, thought for a momemt, then scribbled some more. It seemed she was writing a diary.
But this was more than documenting the days events or her emotions. Celestia organized sheet after sheet of character files. She documented every pony she could think of and filled in all the information she knew about them. She wanted to have everypony documented in case one of them decided to act out harshly. She would check the citizen archives and fill in other ponies she missed soon.
The Goddess knew she would need to make sure all the stories of her victims were in order, lest she get caught. She wrote in everything for Shadow Haze and Lemon Grass, though Lemon Grass was still alive.
Celestia knew every pony's treatment would be different. Some she would experiment on, others torture, and some she would mentally break. She was sure to leave plenty of room in each page for each different treatment. All the while, Celestia was smiling and filled with excitement. She couldn't wait to catch more criminals and show them her justice. No matter what the offense, Celestia knew they had to be punished.
When she had filled out all she could, the white alicorn sealed the notebook with an old spell forgotten by many, so no pony could open it. She labeled it 'Diary' and stowed it under her mattress.
She then went to the window of her room and activated her magic, lowering the sun. Today was very draining for the alicorn ruler. She yawned as the sun set and made a blank canvas for the moon princess to fill.
Celestia layed in her bed, tucked herself in, then closed her eyes smiling.
***
The Solar princess awoke slowly, another good night sleep had come. She stretched her legs and jumped out of bed. She quickly raised the sun, snatched up her 'Diary', and sped out of her room.
The white alicorn figured she should check up on her latest victim. She smiled as she sped down the hallway, seemingly busy with royal duties to her guards. Once out of sight of the guards, she quickly decended the stairs to the dungeon.
Upon hearing the large hoof steps decend, Celestia heard the unicorn start breathing heavily.
"H-hello?" He called out. Celestia could see him in the dim light but he could not see her. His coat was matted and dull. His lower body was stained with blood and his mane was unkempt. The wound on his leg had clotted and was, surprisingly, not infected.
Celestia smiled, that meant he would last longer. "Good morning, Lemon Grass." She called in a cheary voice. She heard a small sob escape his throat as he heard the voice of his tormentor.
Celestia set down her book on a table near her victim to record todays fun. She had written down the colors of the contents in each syringe the previous night and left some space next to each for a description. So far she had 'bright green: boils skin and blood, will cause injected portion of body to explode' and 'murky blue: freezes blood, slows victim.'
Celestia smiled, she felt like a scientist with these records. Lemon Grass panted heavily as he heard the alicorn place something down. "Wh-what was that?" He asked in a shaky voice. "Pl... please... let me go princess... i swear i... i wont ever do anything like this again" he choked out the sentence, sobbing in between words. He couldn't take the pain much longer. The white alicorn smiled, she was beginning to break him.
She was silent for a moment, pretending to contemplate his words. She enjoyed giving him a false sense of hope. "Well, if you promise you won't..." she falsely inquired. The stallion gasped and she almost chuckled at his ignorance.
"Y-yes! Yes i swear on my life!" The sparkle returned to his eyes as he stared into the dark where he believed the princess to be, eyes determined. "Please princess, i won't let you down!" He stated.
Celestia could barely contain her laughter. She used a hoof to cover her mouth. She cleared her throat. "Very well. I shall release you." She tried to sound as serious as she could as she lied to the stallion. She heard him sob in joy, his eyes shut tight and his head hung to the ground in relief.
She figured now was the time to break his last strand of hope. She entered the dim light, visible to him now. The red shine in her eye had returned, she looked as evil as Sombra. The yellow unicorn flinched, eyes wide.
"You stupid fool. You believe that I, goddess of the sun, ruler of Equestria for centuries, would suddenly feel sympathy for one tainted criminal? I have seen much in my time. Horrors you wouldn't believe. I know I'm doing my world a favor by ridding it of YOU." She spat the last work spitefully. The pony looked her in the eyes pleadingly, and for a second, she almost looked back with empathy.
The stallion just stared at her, shocked and horrified. His eyes slowly lost their hope, his mouth trembled. "I'm sorry, princess. You are right. I don't deserve life." He whispered quietly, just barely loud enough for Celestia to hear. His head hung and he went completely limp, giving in to his fate.
Celestia's smiled only grew at this. She chuckled darkly, summoning a quill and lifting her journal over to her. She weote down some things on Lemon Grass' section about breaking him finally, then set it down once more. It was time to end his life. She was sure testing the last few chemicals on him sould kill him, so she sprung into action.
***
The next few hours were filled with hopeless screaming, vomiting, and blood loss. Celestia cleaned the vomit as she went on with each test, annoyed by the scent of it. She had tested four more syringes on this helpless pony before her, and finally she was on the last one. The unicorn, on the brink of death.
He could not keep his eyes open anymore. He was sweating heavily, his sopping orange mane hanging over his face. Celestia's tests had uncovered a pink substance that paralyzed, a dark yellow substance that rotten flesh in small areas, a black substance that appeared to have an effect similar to poison, and a cream colored substance that caused loss of muscle control.
Celestia had never seen mixtures like these before, so her research was very valuable to her. All the while she had not even used a fraction of each of the mixtures, saving them for future use.
Celestia sweeped her aurora like hair out of her face as she raised her head and turned to the dying unicorn with the last syringe to test. This one was bright red. She had to be quick, he would die soon. She injected the last part of his body that hadnt been touched by needles yet, his right forleg.
He didn't even wince at the pain, just kept heavily panting. Celestia sat and observed patiently. The stallion's silence turned to slight groaning as it began to take effect. Celestia noted how he was unable to even scream in pain anymore. As the effects started, Celestia noted them down as well. His sweating grew more intense and he wiggled slightly as if struggling to escape his bonds. But without the strength and energy, he just looked like a worm drying in the sun.
Celestia's eyes widened as her victim suddenly burst into flames. She quickly backed up and levitated her journal away from the fire as if it were a precious baby. Despite his lack of energy, Celestia heard Lemon Grass' shrieks of pain emitting from the fire. Burned flesh assaulted her nose. She quickly flipped the book open and write down the effects under the red substance. 'Spontaneous combustion'
Celestia waited a few minutes until the shrieks died down into silence, then extinguished the fire. She winced slightly as she looked at the charred remains of what used to be a pony. He was not at all recognizable as a life form anymore.
Celestia waited a few minutes before unstrapping the charred pony from the table and levitating his remains over to where Shadow Haze's body was still laying. Celestia's nose scrunched up at the smell, but she wanted to keep the dead criminals to remind her of her cause. She casted a spell that locked them in a smell proof bubble.
The alicorn smiled as she grabbed her research and syringes, turned them invidible, and headed back up the stairs. More princess duties awaited her, and she knew by now it would have to be at least mid day.
A purple unicorn sat inside a large tree, reading a book. To her sides were more books, carefully stacked so they wouldnt fall. The unicorn flipped a page with her magic and focused her purple eyes on its contents.
Twilight Sparkle was her name. She was a studious unicorn, protégé to the great Princess Celestia. She was studying for her test on alicorns she would have with the princess soon, reading all she could find on the rare ponies.
Suddenly, the door to the library swung open and a purple dragon walked inside. Twilight kept her eyes glued to her book as she addressed her assistant. "Spike, I told you to be more gentle with that door. It's going to swing right off the hinges some day!" She scolded the young dragon. He payed her words no attention as he chewed on a gem and walked up to her with a scroll in his claws.
"I was out helping rarity gather gems when i got this. It's a letter from the Princess." Twilight quickly abandon her book and snatched the letter from rhe dragon's claws. She unraveled the scroll and read.
"Dear Twilight,
I'm afraid I will need to postpone your test. I am very busy at the moment with the outbreak of crime in Canterlot. I am assisting the police ponies to catch the criminals and it is very draining work. The test shall be rescheduled to next week.
Princess Celestia"
Twilight's ears drooped sadly. She was really looking forward to having that test tomorrow. 'More time to prepare i guess' she thought to herself. 'Or... i could go to Canterlot and help the princess! Ya! I could show her how helpful and capable i am!' The purple unicorn smiled at the thought as she placed the scroll down and walked to the edge of the room to retrieve her saddle bags.
Spike took notice of this. "Twilight, what are you doing?" He asked, finishing his last bite of gem. Twilight packed up quills, paper, ink, books, and any other materials she thought would be useful for investigation.
"I am going to assist the Princess in stopping the crime in Canterlot!" She stated proudly. Spike rolled his eyes, knowing where this was going.
"Great. That means I'm coming too." He sighed, his tail drooping. Twilighy smirked at him as she folded her bags closed and layed them on her back with her magic.
She levitated Spike over to her back as well. "Oh Spike, you're my assistant, you gotta help. Plus it'll be fun, and maybe the princess will have some rare gems for you for your help" Twilight smiled as she felt the dragon bolt upright on her back.
"Rare gems? Count me in!" He stated happily. Twilight laughed lightly as she walked out the door of the Ponyville library and toward thr train station.
Celestia sighed as she finished up for the day. She had finished her tasks early and decided to congratulate herself by going out for cake. The bakery in Canterlot made the best cake she had ever had, better than even the royal chefs made.
The alicorn smiled as she sauntered out of the castle and down toward the city. She was feeling good today so she decided to walk instead of fly. The white goddess liked to visit the city often so that her subjects would begin to see her as a normal pony, not just their ruler. Even Celestia wanted to feel like a normal pony sometimes.
Her sun had began its setting over the horizon but there was still at least an hour till dark. She eyed the beauty of the sky as she wandered the streets of Canterlot, trying to avoid noticing the astonished looks her subjects gave her as she passed. A few ponies even tried bowing to her.
"Oh no no, please do not bow my little pony. There is no need for that." Celestia felt bad as the pony bolted back up, as if it was by order and not free will. She sighed inwardly as she thought about how nice being normal seemed. The tall alicorn reached her favorite bakery and stepped up to the door.
A couple with their young colt were leaving as she arrived, Celestia held the door open for the family and they greatfully nodded a thanks to her. The colt ran passed her out the door giggling. Celestia giggled to herself at the colt's sillyness.
As the couple left, Celestia stepped inside and walked up to the counter. The baker turned to see who had entered, smiling as he saw his ruler. "Hey Princess." He bowed slightly and stood back up quickly. Celestia smiled, the baker was like an old friend to her.
"Nice to see you, Sour Dough. How's business?" She asked politely. The baker turned away and started polishing glass containers with pastries in them as he spoke to her.
"It's great! So many kind ponies have moved here recently. It's so nice to see all of the new faces." He stated excitedly. He was a rather old earth pony, he had been in Canterlot nearly his whole life. The white alicorn adjusted her wings as she listened to her friend. "Anyway, the usual?" He asked her. She smiled to him.
"Yes, please." She said as she placed 5 bits on the counter. The old pony placed a large peice of chocolate cake in front of her. She smiled at it happily. "The best in all of Equestria!" She complimented him as she grabbed it. The old pony smiled greatfully at her.
"Why, thank you Princess." He grabbed the bits off the counter and Celestia grabbed the cake. "Have a good day, miss." He said. Celestia smiled and said the same back.
Twilight had finally arrived in Canterlot as the sun had began its decent. She decided to stop for some food before heading to Canterlot castle, the train ride had felt very long. The purple unicorn had a craving for something sweet, so dhe decided to stop by the bakery.
"Huh? Is that..." Spike's eyes narrowed as they approached the bakery. Twilight looked up at him with confused eyes.
"What is it, Spike?" She asked. Spike's eyes widened as he hopped off her back.
"Celestia! Hey Celestia!" He yelled out toward the bakery. Twilight's vision focused on the pony outside of the bakery, it was Celestia! How lucky!
Twilight quickly ran toward the Princess to greet her. The Princess' ears perked and she turned as her name was called. Twilight saw she had a large, partly eaten piece of cake in her magic.
Twilight smiled as she skid to a stop in front of her mentor. "Hello Celestia! I've come here to help!" She stated excitedly. Celestia's stomach dropped but she kept her expression unchanging.
"Oh... erm... Wonderful! It's been so busy around here with everything going on. I just don't know where all this crime is coming from." She attempted to make conversation with her student. Lucky for her, her student wasn't very keen on noticing faked behavior.
Twilight levitated out a scroll and quill, quickly passing it to Spike. "Just give me the orders and I'm ready to help with anything i can!" Twilight's eyes shone with excitement, like a filly wanting to impress her parents.
Celestia felt as though she were going to sweat. She had not expected Twilight to come. Her eyes darted around, something that Twilight still didnt noticed luckily.
"Ok Twilight. Um... how about you..." she looked around for a menial task to assign her student that would keep Twilight out of her way. Then she saw it. "How about you go and keep an eye on this jewelry shop. There's been a few robberies around this part of town and I'm sure that this shop will be targeted." Celestia sighed in relief as her student quickly saluted then ran over to the shop, Spike following writing down Celestia's words as he went.
Celestia let her face faulter as her student left. 'Oh Twilight... why did you have to come? I just have to make sure i keep you away from the dungeon...' she cared deeply about her student, Twilight was like a child to her and she didn't want to have to do anything bad to her. She sighed, 'but I will if i have to, my kingdom must come first. Maybe... maybe she will be interested in helping...' Celestia pondered this for a while.
'No, that's ridiculous. She's too sweet and innocent. But maybe if she knew how much it would help Equestria...' Celestia's thoughts battled in her head as she entered the castle once more with her cake.
By now, the sun was almost all the way down and Luna was watching the sky on the balcony. She called to her sister as she walked up to the castle entrance. "Hello sister!" Luna waved at her. Celestia smiled back.
"Hello Luna!" The exchange was brief but meaningful as the sisters didn't get to talk very often. Celestia's mind was stuck in a loop of thoughts as she sat down in the royal dining room and ate.
How would she be able to sneak ponies to the dungeon now? What would she do if Twilight caught her? How long would Twilight stay? All these questions were bothering her and she ate quicker.
When the cake was finished, Celestia threw the plate away and stepped into the hallway to go to her room. She stepped into her room and shut and locked the door, pulling out her 'diary'. Who would be next? She looked through all the information she had. She had meant to visit the library to get a copy of the list of civilians and write down more information on them, but Twilight had haulted that.
The white alicorn decided to do that tonight while Twilight would be at the jewelry store. She stepped back out into the hall, vowing to go to sleep when she returned with the list of ponies, then took off.
Later that night she returned home, without a single soul knowing she had left. The white alicorn was shrouded in the darkness of night as she turned on a lamp to read and copy the information. It was then that something caught her eye. A pony, a mother, with a history of alcohol abuse that had multiple counts of child abuse, somehow she had convinced the court to let her keep her child. Celestia's eyes squinted coldly as she wrote down the mothers information. Berry Punch was her next victim.