Loved And Lost

Chapters

Chapter 1 (Edited 10/28/18)
Chapter 2 (Updated 03/25/19)
Chapter 3
Chapter 4 (edited 12/26/19)
Chapter 5 (edited 06/29/19)
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 12 (Edited 08/11/19)
Chapter 13
Chapter 14 (edited 03/24/19)
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17 (edited 04/17/19)
Chapter 18 (Edited 02/23/18)
Epilogue (Edited 06/28/20)
Prologue
Chapter 9
Chapter 11 (Updated 03/25/19)

Chapter 1 (Edited 10/28/18)

Twilight Sparkle was on a train heading to Canterlot accompanied by her young dragon assistant, Spike, and her five friends: Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash. They had received an invitation to a wedding between Shining Armor, Twilight’s big brother and captain of the guard, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and almost all of them were really excited about participating in what they hoped would be a very momentous ceremony.

“A sonic rainboom? At a wedding?!” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “Can you say ‘best wedding ever’?!”

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath and shouted “BEST WEDDING EVER!!!!!” which echoed throughout a tunnel the train went through.

“So you all get to help with the big fancy wedding, but I’m the one who gets to host the bachelor party!” Spike proudly announced. “I have just one question. What’s a bachelor party?”

The five mares all giggled at the dragon’s cute and silly question. Then Applejack noticed Twilight sitting in a seat far away from them looking unhappily through the window.

“Why the long face, sugarcube?” the concerned cowpony asked her friend.

“I’m just thinking about Shining Armor.” Twilight confessed. “Ever since I moved to Ponyville, we’ve been seeing each other less and less. And now that he’s starting a new family with this ‘Princess Mi Amore Ca-whatshername’, we’ll probably never see each other.”

“Come on, now. You’re his sister. He’ll always make time for you.”

“Couldn’t seem to make time to tell me he was getting married.” Twilight angrily remarked pulling down the window shade.

Finally the train reached Canterlot, which was entirely encased in a gigantic pink protective sphere.

“We’re here, we’re here!” Pinkie said excitedly as the train passed two royal guards station outside the sphere on the railway line. Everypony felt a tingling sensation as the train entered the force field.

The train came to a halt at the station which was filled with royal guards.

“Whoa, what’s with all the guards?” Rainbow asked.

“I’m sure they’re just taking the necessary precautions.” Rarity theorized. “Royal weddings do bring out the strangest ponies.” Then they turned to see Pinkie Pie sneeze confetti. “Now, let’s get going! We’ve got work to do!”

“And you’ve got a big brother to go congratulate.” Applejack said to Twilight.

“Yeah. Congratulate. And then give him a piece of my mind.” Twilight said angrily as she passed two royal guards and leaving the rest of her friends worried about her.

From the balcony of the highest tower, Princess Celestia kept watch over the castle with the aid of a telescope. Atop one of the castle walls, a white unicorn stallion in purple and gold armor was giving out non-verbal instructions to the other guards when he heard an angry but familiar voice.

“I’ve got something to say to you, mister.” Twilight said as she trotted through the castle yard which was filled with royal guards.

The guards on the wall pointed their spears at the approaching unicorn.

“Twily!” The purple and gold armored stallion said excitedly while removing his helmet revealing a dark and light blue mane and running down to greet the unicorn. Realizing their captain knew this mare, the guards lowered their spears. “Ah, I’ve missed you, kid. How was the train ride? I-” he asked reaching out a hoof to her, but she stepped back not wanting him to touch her.

“How dare you not tell me in person that you were getting married! I’m your sister, for pony’s sake!”

“It’s not my fault. Princess Celestia has requested a major increase in security. Didn’t you see all the guards at the train station?”

“Yeah, there’s a big wedding coming up. Maybe you heard about it?”

“It has nothing to do with the wedding. A threat has been made against Canterlot.” Twilight lifted her head to show her brother understanding eyes. “We don’t know who’s responsible for it, but Princess Celestia asked that I help provide addition protection. This, you need to see.” Shining Armor’s horn started glowing light red, then shot a beam of magic up at the top of the interior of the barrier which seemed to strengthen it. Once that was done, the captain made dizzy facial expressions as if he were suffering from a headache. “The burden of keeping Canterlot safe and secure rests squarely on my shoulders. Staying focused on the task at hand has been my top priority.” Shining Armor told his sister as he led her up some stairs to high levels of the castle. Twilight started to understand why her BBBFF couldn’t personally tell her everything. The two siblings stood together on a bridge between two towers overlooking the guards.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Twilight said understanding but still a little hurt. “You’ve got a really important job protecting all of Canterlot with a force field only you can conjure up. But still… how could you not tell me about something as big as your wedding? Am I not that important to you anymore?”

“Hey. You’re my little sister.” Shining Armor told her. “Of course you’re important to me. But I’d understand if you didn’t want to be my best mare now.” Then he put on an excited face in anticipation for her response.

Twilight was both surprised and excited. “You want me to be your best mare?”

“Well… yeah.”

“I’d be honored.” She said bowing humbly and then the two siblings exchanged hugs. But the moment passed when Twilight pushed him out of the hug. “But I’m still pretty ticked you’re marrying somepony I don’t even know. When did you even meet this ‘Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’?”

“Twily, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza is Cadance, your old foalsitter.”

Twilight once again felt her excitement rising. “Cadance? As in the Cadance? As in the greatest foalsitter in all the history of foalsitters?!”

Shining Armor chuckled at his sister’s excitement. “You tell me. She was your foalsitter.”

“Ohmygoshohmygosh!” Twilight said remembering her younger days as a filly and the times she spent with Cadance. “Cadance is only the most amazing pony ever!” A memory popped into Twilight’s head of a filly version of herself searching through her toy chest in her room and then an older pegasus mare with pink fur, a mane and tail of light warm colors, purple eyes, and a cutie mark in the form of a crystal heart walked into the room. Seeing her, the filly Twilight immediately ran over and the two exchanged hugs. “She’s beautiful.” Another memory of Cadance putting a bandage on Twilight’s hurt leg and wiping away the filly’s tears came up. “She’s caring. She’s kind.”

Twilight, as a filly, was swinging on a swing set with her favorite foalsitter giving her a few gentle pushes.

“I am so lucky to have you as my foalsitter.” She said while swinging.

“I’m the one who’s lucky, Twilight.” Cadance replied while continuing to push her on the swing.

Twilight scoffed at that. “You’re a princess. I’m just a regular old unicorn.”

“You are anything but a regular old unicorn.” Cadance said catching Twilight and setting her down on the ground.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” The two chanted together while doing a little dance before collapsing on their backs and laughing together. This chant was their own secret hoof-shake.

Another memory showed Twilight and Cadance walking through the streets of Canterlot, then noticing a couple arguing at an outdoor restaurant table. Then Cadance cast one of her special love spells at the couple and the two immediately stopped quarrelling and started enjoying each other’s company. Cadance beamed with pride at her special talent.

“How many unicorns can just spread love wherever they go?” Twilight asked. I only know one! And you’re marrying her!” She then started hopping around her brother happily chanting “You’re marrying Cadance! You’re marrying Cadance!”

“Well, it seems the princess’s reputation certainly proceeds her.” Came a voice that caught Twilight and Shining Armor by surprise. They both turned to see a unicorn stallion around Twilight's age with tan fur, a golden brown tail and a long mane, blue eyes, and dressed in a purple royal suit with gold patterns. He was a few inches shorter than Shining Armor but a little taller than Twilight. By his right side was a unicorn mare with light gray fur, a black tail and a short combed back mane, she wore glasses and a red and silver formal outfit. She was roughly Twilight’s height. “How are things holding up, captain?”

“Canterlot is secure, Your Highness.” Shining Armor politely addressed the stallion. “My shield spell is holding up greatly, with a few minor inconveniences.” He put his hoof to his throbbing head.

“Excellent. If this event is to go perfectly, security must be of the utmost importance.” Then the stallion turned his attention to Twilight. “Ah, you must be Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia’s prized pupil and Captain Armor’s sister I’ve heard so much about.”

“Indeed I am. Who are you?” Twilight asked.

“Twily, this is Prince Jewelius, Cadance’s cousin.” Shining Armor introduced the stallion.

“Wow!” Twilight excitedly exclaimed. “I’ve never actually met you but I’ve heard about you from Cadance. She said you were like a little brother to her. It’s very nice to finally meet you.” She shook hooves with the prince.

“The feeling is mutual.” Jewelius replied. “This is my personal assistant, Vivian.” He introduced the mare at his side.

“It is an honor to make your acquaintance.” Vivian said politely bowing her head.

"I've also heard a lot about you as well from my aunt and my cousin, Miss Sparkle," the prince said in a warm and polite tone.

"You can just call me, Twilight," Twilight said.

"I've never been able to meet you in person because I've been traveling most of the time," the prince explained. "I like to explore and learn more about Equestria. But when I heard my cousin was going to get married, I just had to be here for the momentous event. Everypony has to make some time for family."

“Isn’t this exciting?” Twilight said. “Pretty soon we’ll all be one big happy family!”

“Oh yes, I believe this wedding will be a day nopony shall ever forget.” Jewelius agreed.

“My brother’s marrying your cousin! My brother’s marrying your cousin!” Twilight continued jumping happily, then she stopped when a tall pink alicorn with a tail and mane of light and warm colors and wearing golden shoes, a golden necklace, and a golden crown stepped out of one of the towers.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.” She said displeased.

“Cadance!” Twilight exclaimed recognizing her. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” She sang their little chant along with the dance. However, Cadance just stood there staring at her as if she was the most bizarre thing she’d ever seen.

“What are you doing?” She asked unamused.

Twilight was surprised. “Cadance, it’s me, Twilight!”

“Uh-huh.” She replied in an uninterested tone as she passed the young unicorn. Twilight was shocked and confused. How could her favorite foalsitter completely forget about her.

“I’ve gotta get back to my station, but Cadance will be checking in with all of you to see how things are going.” Shining Armor said putting his hoof around his future bride. “I think I speak for both of us when I say we couldn’t be more excited to have you here. Right, dear?”

“Absolutely.” Cadance said while sporting a suspiciously malevolent grin that only Twilight seemed to notice.

“Vivian and I better be on our way.” Jewelius said. “We’ve got a lot to do. Hope the preparations will be to your liking, my dear cousin.” With that, the prince and his assistant left.

“Well, we’ll let you get to it.” Shining Armor said as he and Cadance left as well leaving Twilight very confused.

Chapter 2 (Updated 03/25/19)

Later that night, Princess Luna flew down from the sky, entered the force field, and landed on the balcony of the tower where her sister, Princess Celestia, was keeping watch.

“Rest, my sister,” Luna said taking her sister’s place at the telescope. “As always, I will guard the night.”

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle and her friends were all sitting at an outdoor restaurant table sipping drinks after a hard day’s work. Throughout the day, Twilight had noticed that Cadance had not been acting like the sweet pony she remembered when she was a filly, quite the opposite actually. When she came to check on how Applejack was handling the catering in the kitchen, the cowpony offered her a bag of her ‘best darn bite-sized apple fritters’, but Twilight noticed the princess toss the bag in a trash bin when AJ wasn’t looking. Also, she saw Cadance complain about her wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses and demands she redo them. Rarity, rather than feel bad, happily complied with her demands. Then she witnessed Pinkie Pie presenting the princess with her fun reception plans that Cadance compared to a ‘party for a six-year old’, to which Pinkie was oblivious to. After a day of enduring the princess’s rude behavior, Twilight felt it was time to let her friends know what was going on.

“Bet I can guess what you’re all thinking. Cadance is the absolute worst bride-to-be ever,” Twilight said. However, all her friends were shocked by this.

“Who, me?” Spike said playing with a cake topper of Cadance.

“Spike! That goes on the cake,” Applejack scolded the dragon who chuckled nervously and put the topper down.

“Twilight, whatever are you talking about? Cadance is an absolute gem,” Rarity disagreed.

“Rarity, she was so demanding!” Twilight tried to point out.

“Well, of course she was. Why shouldn’t she expect the very best on her wedding day?”

Twilight face-hooved at what Rarity said. “Applejack, did you know that after she told you how much she just ‘love-love-loved’ your hors d’eouvres, she threw them in the trash?”

“Aw, she was probably just tryin’ ta spare mah feelin’s,” the cowpony assured.

“No, she was just being fake and totally insincere!”

“She did raise her voice at one of my birds during rehearsal,” Fluttershy admitted.

“See? Rude!” Twilight pointed out and proudly crossed her hooves.

“But he was singing really off-key.” Flutterhsy held up the red bird she was talking about, and sure enough, he was singing off-key. But Twilight was still not convinced.

“Pinkie Pie, you had to have noticed how Cadance treated-” But Pinkie and Spike were both giggling and playing with the cake toppers of Cadance and Shining Armor. “Never mind. Rainbow Dash, you’re with me, right?”

“Sorry Twi. Been too busy prepping for my sonic rainboom to pay much attention to the bride’s bad attitude,” Rainbow said checking her muscles and wings.

Twilight growled in frustration.

“The princess is about to get married,” Rarity tried reasoning with Twilight. “I’m sure any negative behavior she might be displaying is simply the result of nerves.”

Twilight slammed her right hoof on the table. “And I’m sure it’s the result of being an awful pony who doesn’t deserve to even know Shining Armor, let alone marry him!”

All her friends stared at her for a moment.

“Think maybe you’re bein’ just a tiny bit possessive of yer brother?” Applejack asked. The rest of them nodded in agreement.

“I am not being possessive, and I am not taking it out on Cadance! You’re all just too caught up in your wedding planning to notice that maybe there shouldn’t even be a wedding!” Twilight slammed her hooves on the table so hard everyone’s drinks got knocked over. Then she stormed off leaving her friends baffled.

She began walking the streets of Canterlot alone and frustrated.

“Well, if it isn’t my future cousin-in-law. Fancy meeting you here,” Came a cheerful voice which was revealed to be Prince Jewelius who was walking right beside Twilight. “I heard you like books, so I went to the library and found this really interesting spell book,” The prince pulled a book out of his coat, opened it to a page, and showed it to Twilight. “I’ve also heard you’re quite the magic prodigy. You know this spell?”

“I have, it’s a spell that can make really big or many things into very small things. It’s a very difficult spell to learn. Takes a lot of concentration and can be very exhausting,” the unicorn mare said in a polite but unhappy tone, she was still very ticked off and the prince noticed this.

“Is something the matter, Miss Sparkle?”

“Sorry, but I’ve been trying to tell my friends something very important and none of them will listen to me,” Twilight calmed down and confessed.

“That’s strange,” Jewelius said suspiciously and slightly disturbed. “If they’re your friends, why would they not listen to something you find important to tell them?”

“They’re just too excited about the wedding. Your aunt asked all of them to contribute to the occasion.”

“Well, that doesn't sound like a very good excuse for such rudeness," the prince said. "I’m not busy with anything at the moment. Would you like to tell me about it?”

“I don’t know, I would hate to cause you any worries,” Twilight said reluctant to tell the prince.

“Please, I must insist,” Jewelius insistently pleaded.

Twilight knew the unicorn prince wouldn’t give up until she told him. “Alright. You’ve known Cadance just as long as I have, right?”

“Of course, like you said, she was like the big sister I never had growing up.”

“Well, you see, ever since I got here, she hasn’t been acting at all like the pony I remembered as a filly.”

“How so?” Jewelius asked.

“Well, for starters, when Applejack offered her some delicious hor d’eourves, she threw them in the trash. When she saw the wedding dress Rarity had made for her, she made the most demanding requests. Then when Pinkie Pie showed her the reception she had planned, she completely insulted her. I also heard she was mean to Fluttershy’s bird chorus. I’ve tried to tell them but they all think I’m being possessive of my brother.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I have also noticed some rather out-of-character moments in her behavior,” The prince confessed.

“You have? Have you told anypony?”

“No.”

“Why not?” Twilight asked confused.

“Because I doubt anypony would listen to me either. I have never been a very… popular pony,” Jewelius said with some sadness in his face. “When I return sometimes from my travels, not many ponies seem to have noticed I've been gone. They're either talking about great things that Celestia, Cadance, Luna, or even you and your friends have done. But Cadance has always been everypony’s favorite. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Twilight felt sorry for the prince. “I'm sorry to hear that. Well, you have my favor now.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” the prince expressed his gratitude at the kind words. "I like you. You're different from most ponies I've met, and I like that."

"Thanks, Your Highness," Twilight politely expressed her gratitude. "And if you do something spectacular, ponies will start to recognize you. Give it some time and I know you will be a great pony someday.”

For a moment, the two unicorns stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like a very long time. Twilight felt herself having a strange feeling about this prince. It was strange, but it also felt good for some reason.

“Maybe someday I will,” Jewelius said thinking about Twilight’s words.

"You know," Twilight spoke in a secretive and excited tone. "I have a song I plan to sing during the reception. It's a good one too."

"Really!?" Jewelius said intrigued. "How does it go?"

Twilight cleared her throat and then sang the song in such a beautiful angelic voice.

"Love is in bloom. A beautiful bride--"

"A handsome groom," Jewelius chimed in unexpectedly. This surprised Twilight for a moment, but she smiled warmly and kept singing. She also loved the sound of his singing voice.

"Two hearts becoming one."

"A bond that cannot be undone."

"Because," the both sang in unison. "Love is in bloom." Both young unicorns sang and danced together in the streets of Canterlot happily. The more they sang and danced, the more Twilight felt she had met somepony who truly understood her as well as gaining another friend. Maybe even more. "A beautiful bride, a handsome groom. I said love is in bloom. You're starting a life and making room. For us!"

"Your special day," Jewelius sang solo. "We celebrate now, the pony way."

"Your friends are all right here," Twilight sang next. "Won't let these moments disappear."

"Because," the two sang duet again.

"Love is in bloom

A beautiful bride, a handsome groom

I said love is in bloom

You're starting a life and making room

For us..."

When the song was done, the two found themselves leaning on one another. Immediately, both pulled away blushing bright red.

"You sing great, Twilight," Jewelius complimented.

"You're pretty good yourself," Twilight returned the compliment. "How about you and I do a duet at the reception? We can sing that song together."

"Well, we'll have to see how the wedding goes. Hopefully the issue with Cadance will be solved. I'd really like to hear that singing voice of yours again," Jewelius said giving a small playful chuckle to which Twilight joined in.

The two ponies stared affectionately into each others' eyes one last time before Jewelius took note of the time.

“Well, I’d better head back to the castle," the prince said. "You’ll be okay, will you?”

“Yes, I’m heading to my brother’s house. I know he’ll listen to me,” Twilight assured him.

“Remember Twilight, if you need anything, just come and find me,” Jewelius said to the young unicorn before the two began to part ways.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" Twilight called back to him.

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Twilight said giving him a warm and grateful smile.

"Just doing my part in making this a very memorable day," the prince replied with a reassuring smile.

With that, the two left to attend their own separate duties.

At his house, which had two guards posted outside the front door, Shining Armor was trying on the uniform he was planning to wear at the wedding when he heard a knocking at his door. He answered it to find his sister, Twilight, waiting outside with a concerned expression on her face.

“Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed with excitement and let her in. “Your big brother’s looking pretty good, don’t you think?” He asked proudly showing off his uniform. But all he got was a very concerned look from her. “Huh. Everything okay?”

“We need to talk,” Twilight began. “I think you’re making a big-” But she was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing her throat. She turned around to find Cadance with an impatient look on her face.

“Oh, uh, hi, sweetie,” Shining Armor greeted his bride-to-be.

“She sure has a way of sneaking up on people,” Twilight mutter bitterly under her breath.

“Could I speak to you for a moment, dear?” Cadance asked her future husband leading him into another room.

“Better see what she wants,” Shining nudged his sister playfully and followed his bride. The door closed slightly behind them. Twilight heard the sound of arguing on the other side of the door so she quietly crept up and looked through the crack to see what was going on.

“I thought I made it perfectly clear I didn’t want you to wear that,” Cadance said pointing at Shining Armor’s uniform.

“This was my favorite uncle’s,” Shining replied.

“And?” Cadance responded uncaring.

“And I think I should wear it.”

“Are you disagreeing with me?” she asked angrily.

“I guess I am- Ah!” Shining defiantly declared, but then felt his head throbbing.

“Oh, dear. Are you getting another one of your headaches?” Cadance asked, then her horn started glowing green and a beam of green magic shot at Shining Armor’s head making his eyes spin. “Feeling better?” Shining nodded his head ‘yes’, but his eyes were now a greenish color.

“She isn’t just unpleasant and rude. She’s downright evil!” Twilight said horrified and took off running out the door.

“Twilight!” Shining Armor called to her coming out of the room. But it was too late, she was gone.

“Let her go,” Cadance said affectionately cuddling her future husband.

“Huh. It seemed like she had something else she wanted to tell me.”

Meanwhile, Princess Luna was still at her post watching over the castle when she noticed Twilight running through the castle yard. “Who goes there? Stay indoors, Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight ran till she reached the room Rarity was staying at and burst the door open. “Shining Armor’s in real trouble! You have to help-” She frantically tried to tell them but she saw that they were all chattering happily over the new dresses they were wearing. “Dresses? What are you-?”

“Can you believe it?” Fluttershy excitedly told her while admiring her dress. “We’re gonna be Princess Mi Amore Cadenza’s new bridesmaids!”

“New bridesmaids? What happened to her old bridesmaids?”

“She didn’t say,” Applejack said uncaringly. “But she did tell us that she would love-love-love it if we’d fill in for them.”

“Seeing as we’ve been working so hard and everything,” Rarity added.

“And you had your doubts about her,” AJ said teasingly to Twilight.

“Told you she was an absolute gem!” Rarity added again. Twilight was at a complete loss for words.

“I see everypony is getting pretty excited,” Came a voice from behind Twilight which was revealed to be Prince Jewelius accompanied be his assistant, Vivian. They both entered the room. “I must say, you all look lovely in your dresses.”

“We’re the new bridesmaids!” Pinkie happily announced.

“Really?” Jewelius asked suspiciously while putting on a happy façade. “I thought my cousin had already chosen her bridesmaids,” He looked to Twilight who gave him a disappointed expression which told him what he needed to know. “I see. Are you all sure this isn’t anything to be concerned about? Maybe we should all calm down and perhaps look into the matter?”

“Oh, don’t worry, Your Highness,” Rainbow Dash said. “With that shield spell, what could possibly go wrong?”

“Besides, who would possibly want to do anything that could ruin such a glorious event like the wedding of the wonderful Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?” Rarity said happily.

Everypony, including Twilight, failed to notice for a split second an angry glare form on the prince’s face.

“You sure this is what I should wear?” Rainbow asked looking over her dress. “Doesn’t seem all that aerodynamic.”

“Hmm. I’ll see what I can do,” Rarity said leading her and the others into another room leaving Twilight, Jewelius, and Vivian outside by themselves.

Twilight walked out of the room very disappointed.

“Sorry, Twilight,” Jewelius said. “See what I mean?”

“It’s okay, you tried your best,” Twilight assured him. “Looks like I really am on my own.”

“Twilight, I hope you aren’t thinking of doing anything… drastic,” Jewelius nervously warned her. “Be careful who you think you can trust. I fear someponies may not be what they seem.”

“Don’t worry,” Twilight assured him. “I’ve been taught by your aunt. I know what I must do.” Then she left leaving just Jewelius and Vivian.

“What do you make of this, Your Highness?” Vivian asked her master.

“I think we may need to make some alterations,” The prince answered concernedly.

Chapter 3

The next day, everypony had gathered in the wedding hall for the rehearsal. Princess Celestia stood at the top of the alter with Shining Armor and Spike on the right side and Prince Jewelius on the left. Wedding music played from an organ. The five bridesmaids proudly marched toward the alter.

“Perfect, girls. No need to rush.” Celestia complimented them.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash quietly giggled with excitement.

“Then of course, Cadance will enter.” And right on cue, the guards opened the doors and in walked Cadance. Shining Armor beamed with happiness at see his bride. “I’ll say a few words, and then we’ll begin with the vows.” Shining and Cadance rubbed each other’s horns affectionately. “Shining Armor, you’ll get the ring from your best mare.” Shining turned to his left, but his sister was no where to be found.

“Do you? I do!” Spike was still playing with the cake toppers until he realized Twilight wasn’t in her place.

“Hey… has anypony seen Twilight?” Shining asked. Suddenly, the doors burst open to reveal Twilight Sparkle, and she did not look happy.

“I’m here!” she declared. “I’m not gonna stand next to her! And neither should you!”

A nervous look came across Shining Armor’s face. “I’m sorry, I… I don’t know why she’s acting like this.”

“Maybe we should just ignore her.” Cadance bitterly suggested.

“You have to listen to me!” Twilight yelled.

“Oh, goodness! Are you okay?” A concerned Fluttershy asked Twilight.

“I’m fine.” Twilight said stepping away from the yellow pegasus.

“Ya sure about that?” Applejack asked suspiciously. Twilight responded by pulling her hat down over her face.

“I’ve got something to say!” Twilight said marching over to the alter. The other girls looked really nervous. “She’s evil!” Twilight declared pointing at Cadance. Shining Armor jumped defensively in front of his bride. Everyone in the room, with the exception of Jewelius, started chatting as if she was crazy. “She’s been horrible to my friends!” Then Twilight teleported onto the alter right behind Cadance and Shining. “She’s obviously done something to her bridesmaids!” Twilight started advancing on the bride driving her into a corner. “And if that wasn’t enough, I saw her put a spell on my brother that made his eyes go all-!” She made a cooky face spun her eyes.

Cadance stood cornered by Twilight, who sported a sly grin, while all the other looked absolutely bewildered. Then she started whipping up some tears. “Why are you doing this to me?!” she said with tears in her eyes and ran off the alter.

“Because you’re evil!” Twilight proudly declared as the bride ran out of the room crying. Then she teleported to the door. “Evil! And if I don’t stop you, you’re gonna ruin my brother’s life!” She yelled after her. Twilight turned around and proudly trodded back into the hall, only to be stopped by her brother who looked very angry. Realizing she was in trouble, she smiled nervously, but that didn’t help.

“You want to know why my eyes went all-?” Shining Armor made a weird face with spinning eyes. For a moment, he got another headache but angrily continued. “Because ever since I started having to perform my protection spell, I’ve been getting terrible migraines. Cadance hasn’t been casting spells on me. She’s been using her magic to heal me!” Twilight opened her mouth to speak but Shining continued. “And she decided to replace her bridesmaids because she found out the only reason they wanted to be in the wedding was so that they could meet Canterlot royalty! And if she hasn’t been on her best behavior with your friends, it’s because with me being so busy, she’s had to make all the decisions about the wedding!”

“I think everypony should calm down for a moment.” Jewelius nervously suggested. “This is probably just a huge misunderstanding.”

“Hush, Jewelius!” Princess Celestia commanded her nephew as she watched Shining scold Twilight.

“I was just trying to-” Twilight tried to explain herself but was interrupted once again by her brother.

“She’s been completely stressed out because it’s really important to her that our big day be perfect!” Shining angrily continued. “Something that obviously wasn’t important to you!” He stopped for a moment feeling another headache. Twilight extended a helping hoof to her brother but he rejected it. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and comfort my bride. And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t show up to the wedding at all.” With that, Shining Armor stormed out of the room leaving a sad Twilight desperately reaching for him but to no avail. The poor unicorn sat on the floor and turned to her friends with a face that pleaded for help. Almost all of them looked sorry for her except for Applejack, who looked positively disgusted.

“C’mon, y’all. Let’s go check on the princess.” AJ told the others. One by one, they all went past Twilight, ignoring her, not even bothering to look at her. AJ, however, shoot her a cold glare as she passed.

Twilight noticed Princess Celestia, her beloved mentor, coming her way and tried to speak. “I was-”

“You have a lot to think about.” The princess coldly told her not bothering to even look at her.

That was it. That was the final blow to her heart! Twilight’s eyes started watering with tears as she watched everyone she loved walk away from her. The last one to leave was Prince Jewelius, who stopped for a moment to look at her with eyes filled with pity and sympathy.

“I’m… I’m so sorry.” He said softly. “Truly I am.” And then he continued on his way. He was the only one who looked back at Twilight as he left with a face of sadness. As he exitted the room, he used his magic to slowly close the door, but stopped for a moment leaving the door cracked a little. The face of sadness he once had changed to a face of suspicion as he looked around to make sure he was alone. Once sure, he hid behind the door and peered into the crack to watch Twilight.

Back inside, Twilight walked sadly up to the alter deeply regretting her actions. “Maybe I was being overprotective. I could’ve gained a sister. But instead… I just lost a brother.” She lay on the steps in a puddle of despair and tearfully sang her BBBFF song.

“He was my big brother, best friend Forever…”

“And now, we’ll never do anything Together…”

As she lay crying, she felt someone stroking her head. She looked up to see Cadance warmly smiling down at her.

“I’m sorry!” Twilight tearfully apologized.

“You will be!” Cadance vengefully declared. Suddenly, a ring of green fire appeared around Twilight. Then a green sphere entrapped the now frightened unicorn and she slowly sank into the floor, and then she was gone.

Cadance smiled sinisterly as she walked through the alter arch and disappeared. Jewelius, who had seen the entire thing, came out of his hiding place and stared at the spot Twilight had been. He had a very serious expression on his face as he looked up at the alter. Deep within the depths of his brain, a plan was evolving.

Chapter 4 (edited 12/26/19)

The day of the wedding had finally arrived. The wedding room was filled with countless guests. The Mane Five were all dressed in their bridesmaids dresses, Spike was dressed a tuxedo, Prince Jewelius was dressed in a light purple ceremonial robe, Shining Armor was dressed in a different styled uniform, and Princess Cadance was dressed in her wedding dress. Everypony was very happy that the day they had all been preparing for had finally arrived. However, none of them seemed to notice two things out of place: Shining Armor’s face had a blank expression with glowing green eyes and Jewelius had a serious expression on his face. Despite these overlooked issues, the ceremony continued on schedule.

“Mares and gentlecolts.” Princess Celestia announced. “We are gathered here today to witness the union of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. Princess Cadance and Shining Armor, it is my great pleasure to pronounce you-”

“Stop!” came a voice from the door of the room. To everyone’s surprise, standing in the doorway was Twilight Sparkle. Disappointed and embarrassed looks spread across her friends’ faces, they were getting tired of Twilight trying to mess up the wedding.

“Ugh! Why does she have to be so possessive of her brother?” the bride angrily complained. Celestia was surprised that Cadance would say something like that. Realizing this, the bride changed her tone. “Why does she have to ruin my special day?” she asked starting to cry.

“Because it’s not your special day! It’s mine!” came another voice from the doorway. Much to everyone’s surprise and confusion was Cadance, only her mane and tail were messed up, and right beside her was Jewelius’s assistant, Vivian.

“What?” the bride exclaimed utterly shocked. “But how did you escape my bridesmaids?”

“Oh, I made sure that was taken care of.” Jewelius proudly admitted.

“What?!” the bride exclaimed again.

In the caverns beneath the castle, Cadance and Twilight found themselves outnumbered and cornered by the three brainwashed bridesmaids who were guarding the way back into the castle. But then they something jump down from the exit and into the cave. They turned to find Vivian. The bridesmaids then changed their attention to her. Vivian got into battle stance and before Twilght and Cadance’s very eyes, performed some incredible karate moves that neutralized the three enemies in less than two seconds.

“Vivian!” Twilight said with relief.

“Prince Jewelius has sent me to rescue you.” She announced. “Now come, we haven’t much time.”

“But… Why?” the bride demanded, but the prince just smiled smugly at her. “Hmph. Clever. But you’re still far too late.”

“I-I don’t understand. How can there be two of ‘em?” Applejack asked confused.

“She’s a changeling.” The other Cadance said. “She takes the form of somepony you love and gains power by feeding off your love for them.”

With her deception revealed, the enraged bride engulfed herself in a blinding green light and began to reveal her true form. When the light cleared, standing in her place was a tall, black, twisted, insect-like pony chuckling wickedly. She was no ordinary changeling, she was Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings. It was at this moment that the Princess and the Mane Five realized that Twilight was right. This bride really was evil all along!

“Right you are, Princess.” The evil bug queen said. “And as queen of the changelings, it is up to me to find food for my subjects. Equestria had more love than any place I’ve ever encountered. My fellow changelings will be able to devour so much of it that we will gain more power than we have ever dreamed of!”

“They’ll never get the chance!” Cadance snapped at the queen. “Shining Armor’s protection spell will keep them from ever even reaching us!”

Chrysalis chuckled at the princess’s words. “Oh, I doubt that. Isn’t that right, dear?” Her twisted horn started glowing green and Shining Armor blankly nodded in agreement with her. Realizing her beloved groom was under Chrysalis’s mind control, Cadance ran toward him, but was blocked by the queen. “Ah, ah, ah. Don’t want to go back to the caves, now do you?” Chrysalis threatened. Cadance backed off. “Ever since I took your place, I’ve been feeding off Shining Armor’s love for you. Every moment he grows weaker and so does his spell. Even now, my minions are chipping away at it.”

To everyone’s horror, there was an army of black bug-like creatures attempting to break the shield surrounding Canterlot.

Chrysalis laughed at the pony’s situation, then turned to the hypnotized Shining Armor. “He may not be my husband, but he is under my total control now.” Twilight and Cadance gasped in horror. “And I’m sorry to say, unable to perform his duties as captain of the Royal Guard.”

“Not my Shining Armor!” Cadance said fearfully.

“Soon, my changeling army will break through. First, we take Canterlot. And then, all of Equestria!”

“No, You won’t.” Celestia defiantly declared. Her eyes were filled with anger over being deceived and regret over putting her trust in the wrong pony. Now she was determined to undo her mistake and make things right. “You may have made it impossible for Shining Armor to perform his spell, but now that you have so foolishly revealed your true self, I can protect my subjects from you!”

The princess clashed horns with the queen. Then Celestia took flight and the two blasted magical beams at one another which collided. For a moment, the two looked evenly matched until Chyrsalis’s beam overpowered Celestia’s. After a blinding blast of light, the princess lay on the floor, defeated. Everyone gasped in horror.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight yelled as she and her friends ran to her fallen mentor.

“Ah! Shining Armor’s love for you is even stronger than I thought!” Chrysalis declared with astonishment. “Consuming it has made me even more powerful than Celestia!”

Celestia was weakened, but she still had enough strength to say one more thing to her pupil and her friends. “The Elements of Harmony. You must get to them and use their power to defeat the queen!”

Twilight looked to her friends, who all had determined looks on their faces. This time, they were on her side. They all threw off their dresses and dashed out the door. Rarity, however, was still concerned about the well-being of her works to let them simply fall flat on the floor.

“Rarity!” they all called to her. Finally, Rarity threw off her own dress and joined the others.

Chrysalis cackled as she watched the six ponies running threw the castle. You can run, but you can’t hide!”

Chapter 5 (edited 06/29/19)

Princess Celestia finally regained consciousness, and found herself encased in a green cocoon hanging from the ceiling of the wedding. The shield spell had broken and now the changelings free to invade Canterlot.

“You won’t get away with this!” Cadance told Chrysalis. Her hooves were glued to the alter near Shining Armor by a strange green substance. Spike stayed by her side. Jewelius also stood on the alter glaring at the queen. “Twilight and her friends will-” However, she was interrupted when she saw Twilight and her friends being brought in by a group of changelings.

“You were saying?” Chrysalis asked the princess mockingly.

“Are you alright?” Jewelius asked Twilight running to her.

“You do realize the reception’s been cancelled, don’t you?” Chrysalis mocked them. “Go! Feed!” She commanded her changelings to leave and closed the door behind them. Chrysalis chuckled as she approached Twilight and her friends. “It’s funny, really. Twilight here was suspicious of my behavior all along.” She taunted them putting her hoof under Twilight’s chin, but the unicorn pushed it away. “Too bad the rest of you were too caught up in your wedding planning to realize those suspicions were correct!” she said laughing at them.

“Sorry, Twi.” A visibly regretful Applejack apologized to her friend. “We shoulda’ listened to you.”

Twilight was about to tell her ‘it wasn’t her fault and Chrysalis fooled everypony’, but Jewelius spoke first. “We can deal with that issue later. First, we have to take care of this.”

“You poor fool, it’s over.” Chrysalis mocked the prince and walked over to a window to watch her army chase frightened ponies and lay carnage to the city, all the while singing to herself.

“This day has been just perfect

The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small

Everypony I’ll soon control

Every stallion, mare, and foal

Who says a girl can’t really have it all?”

The queen laughed while enjoying her victory. However, while she wasn’t looking, Twilight snuck over to Cadance.

“Quick! Go to him while you still have the chance!” she told her old foalsitter, and with a blast of magic, freed her from the floor.

Cadance gave her a grateful smile and hurried over to Shining Armor, who was still in a trance. The sight of her beloved in this state was unbearable to her. She tearfully embraced him and performed her famous love spell. To everyone’s surprise, it snapped him out of his trance.

“Wha- where… huh?” Shining said dazed. “Is… is the wedding over?”

“It’s all over!” Chrysalis told him.

“Your spell! Perform your spell!” Twilight called to her brother.

“What good would that do?” the queen laughed. “My changelings already roam free!” She pointed to the chaos outside.

“No!” Shining exclaimed in horror realizing he had failed his duties. He desperately attempted to perform his shield spell again, but he was too weak. “My power is useless now. I don’t have the strength to repel them.” He lowered his head in shame.

“Twilight, do you remember that spell I showed you earlier?” Jewelius asked.

“Yes. What about it?” Twilight replied.

The prince pulled out a glass jar he had concealed inside his robe. Instantly, Twilight realized his plan and began lighting up her horn.

“Ha! How is that going to stop us?” Chrysalis mockingly asked them. The prince responded by shooting her a sly and malicious grin. “What?!”

Then with Twilight’s horn let out a huge blinding light that engulfed the entire city of Canterlot. When the light had cleared, the changelings were all gone. Everyone looked down at the jar and trapped inside it was Chrysalis and her army, shrunken down to the size of tiny insects. Twilight was panting heavily, performing that spell took a lot out of her. Everyone in the room started cheering their victory and congratulating Twilight, who looked very exhausted.

“Not so tough now, are ya?” Rainbow Dash mocked the tiny trapped changelings. Chrysalis was frantically pounding on the inside of the jar, yelling (unfortunately, no one could hear her), and pointing at Prince Jewelius who was watching Twilight walk over to his now-freed aunt, Celestia.

A group of wedding guests and royal guards led by Vivian entered the room.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” The princess warmly assured her student as she helped her up. “You have a real wedding to put together.”

“I don’t think so!” Jewelius sternly declared getting everyone’s attention.

“Is something wrong, Jewelius?” a concerned Cadance asked her cousin.

“The invaders have been defeated, Your Highness.” Shining added.

Jewelius let out a wicked laugh that brought an uneasy mood to the room. “There are still some questions regarding the matter that need to be answered.” He said as he approached his older cousin. “Cadance, how did that thing manage to sneak in here and impersonate you?” he asked in a demanding tone.

Cadance remembered one day she was walking down a hallway when she heard Jewelius call her into a room.

“Cadance, dear.” He called. “Will you come in here? I have something very important to tell you.” Cadance followed him into the room.

“What is it, Jewelius?” she politely asked.

Suddenly, she was hit with a blast of energy that knocked her hard into the wall. She lay on the floor, losing consciousness. The last thing she saw was what looked like her cousin staring down at her with an evil grin.

“She looked just like you, cousin.” Cadance nervously explained. “I never suspected. She knocked me out and when I woke up I was trapped in the caverns beneath the castle, and she was me!”

“So you were the one who let her in!” Jewelius furiously accused.

“No, I-” Cadance frantically tried to explain herself.

Everyone in the room was getting really nervous. This was starting to look like a repeat of the wedding rehearsal. Only this time they had the real Cadance and Jewelius was in Twilight’s place.

“And you, Captain Armor!” the prince turned to Shining. “What possessed you to allow such a monster to walk through the castle right under your nose? Especially after receiving a warning from your own sister, whom you coldly dismissed!”

The guests and guards gasped when they heard this and started chatting amongst themselves.

“I… I can explain,” Shining nervously said realizing he was in trouble, but the prince would not have it.

"Very well then, explain what came over you to disown your beloved sister and deem the safety of everypony in Canterlot less important then your precious wedding," the prince demanded with a hint of sadism in his voice. "Or was it the work of the changeling that made you so foolish as to betray your own flesh and blood as well as all the ponies you swore to protect as Captain of the Guard?"

Shining Armor hung his head in shame. He knew he had to answer honestly. "No, I made my own decisions," he said remorsefully earning a look of heartbreak from Twilight and a look of satisfaction from his accuser.

“Then you are guilty. You’re a disgrace to the guard!” the prince shouted in the captain's face.

“Jewelius, please calm yourself,” Celestia attempted to reason with her nephew, but Vivian stood in her way and aimed her glowing red horn threateningly at her.

“My dear aunt, Celestia, and the so-called bridesmaids.” The prince turned his attention to them now. “How could you all not have seen the signs? How could you have fallen for such obvious trickery? Forsake all of Canterlot just to play dress up for a false bride?! Are you insane?”

"My dear nephew, please calm down and stop this at once," Celestia nervously demanded.

"Stop?! I'm just getting started," her nephew replied sinisterly.

"If Twilight had kept a level head, and perhaps brought us some evidence, then this all would've turned out differently," the sun princess tried to explain herself. "I give you my word."

Jewelius just chuckled at her explanation. "Pathetic my dear aunty, oh how the mighty have fallen so low. You have proven yourself unfit to rule over Equestria any longer." Then he turned to the Mane Five. "And you fools have proven yourselves unfit to act as our Elements of Harmony, our protectors, our heroes, no more."

“Wait, we can explain!” Rainbow said desperately.

"Just give us a chance to-" AJ tried to say.

“SILENCE!” Jewelius angrily commanded. "Do not dare speak to ME!"

“Why are you acting this?” Twilight asked shocked by the prince’s sudden change in character.

“Sweet, smart, and brave Twilight Sparkle,” The prince said a much softer tone. “You’ve already done enough for one day. I will handle things from here.” He then turned and walked over to one of the windows and looked down at the citizens standing in the damaged streets.

“Hear this, my beloved subjects. I, Prince Jewelius, have an important announcement to make,” Jewelius addressed the ponies in the streets. “Many of you are probably wondering how such vile creatures invaded our city when it looked so secured. I will now reveal the truth. This disaster was a result of foolish, selfish, irresponsible, and easily preventable acts of failure in the line of duty, and they were all committed by our princesses, our captain of the guard, and five of our beloved Elements of Harmony!” The citizens and wedding guests all gasped as the prince spoke furiously. “There was a lingering threat made to Canterlot, but instead of putting aside the wedding and dealing with it, they chose to only focus on their materialistic ambitions, and NOW look what's happened!" The citizens looked around at their damaged streets, shops, and homes. "This act is the ultimate treason against our people! Our kingdom will no longer be put in danger by fools who have no idea what they’re doing! It is high time ponykind took care of themselves and not entrust their safety to false idols! On this, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor’s wedding day, I vow to uphold our nation’s peace and security!”

Horror spread across the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia, Cadance, and Shining Armor as they realized what was happening. Jewelius was usurping their power. They had saved Equestria from one threat only to bring about another.

“Run!” Celestia whispered to the others sensing danger.

Immediately, they started heading for the door. However, Twilight collapsed from exhaustion after performing her spell.

“Twily!” Shining nervously called to his sister.

“They’re getting away!” Vivian called to her master.

Jewelius turned his attention from the citizens back to the ponies in the room. “Guards, seize them!”

“Go! I’ll look after her.” Celestia commanded the others to leave as she stood by her student who now lay unconscious on the floor.

Reluctantly, they all did as their princess commanded. They ran out the door and down the hall pursued by two guards.

“Restrain her!” Jewelius ordered the guards and pointed to his aunt.

Celestia stood in a defensive stance beside her pupil as three guards advanced on her. “All of you stand down!” She commanded.

“We follow you no more, false idol!” one of the guards retorted.

Meanwhile, Shining Armor, Cadance, Spike, and the Mane Five were frantically trying to find a way out while being pursued by the guards.

“This way!” Shining said leading down another hall.

At the end of that hallway, they saw the entrance doors of the castle. Their rushed toward the doors with all their might. But when they burst through them, they were greeted by a squad of angry guards brandishing their spears. They turned around to head back inside, but another group of guards with spears, accompanied by Vivian, was already there. They had been caught.

“Take these miserable excuses for heroes to the dungeon.” Vivian commanded. “His Majesty will decide their fates later.” With that, all eight of them were escorted away by the guards.

Back at the wedding hall, the guards had managed to subdue Celestia. Her horn, neck, and two front hooves were tied in magic-proof robe. The wedding guests in the room did nothing to help her. They all glared at her, believing everything her nephew said was true. The looks of resentment were like knives to her heart. She wondered if this is what Twilight felt when she turned her back on her.

“Take this garbage away.” Jewelius commanded a guard. “And have some squads patrol the castle grounds until Princess Luna returns and apprehend her. She will need to answer for her role in this.”

“Yes, my lord.” The guard complied.

“Jewelius, what about Twilight?” Celestia asked visibly concerned for her student.

“Don’t worry. She’ll be taken to the medical wing for recovery. I’ve got plans for her. I’ll take better care of her than you ever did.” The prince said giving his aunt a horrible sinister grin.

The guards escorted the horrified and beaten Celestia and carried the jar of changelings out of the wedding hall. Shortly after they left, Vivian arrived.

"Twilight, my dear," Jewelius said to the unconscious unicorn. "Together you and I will restore greatness to this disgraced kingdom."

“The others have been apprehended, Your Highness.” She told him.

“Excellent, Vivian. I will take control of Equestria from here on, and I will be known as Holy King Jewelius I.” the former prince declared proudly and maliciously.

Chapter 6

Later that night, Princess Luna had returned to the castle. She was greeted by a group of royal guards.

“Hello, everypony. Did I miss anything?” she asked in a pleasant and friendly tone. The guards responded by brandishing their spears at her. The princess was shocked by the hostile greeting. “What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.

“Princess Luna.” A guard said. “By the order of Holy King Jewelius I, for deserting your post during a changeling invasion of Canterlot, you are under arrest for high treason.”

“Changelings?! King Jewelius?! High treason?!” Luna was almost at a loss for words. “Where’s my sister?”

“I’m afraid Celestia is no longer in charge.” Said an approaching Jewelius, who was now back in his purple royal attire, with a smug smile on his face. “I am.”

“Jewelius, what is going on here?” Luna bewilderedly asked her nephew.

“Change.” He answered with evil eyes. “Glorious change.”

Deep within the underground dungeons of Canterlot, the once proud heroes of Equestria were imprisoned criminals of the kingdom. Special devices were locked onto those with horns to prevent them from performing any magic and tough belts were strapped along the waists of those with wings holding them close to their bodies to prevent them from flying. A unicorn mare with light yellow fur, a dark red tail and mane, light green eyes, with a cutie mark that resembled a chain, and wearing a grey militaristic uniform and cap entered the room.

“Pardon me, would you mind releasing us?” Fluttershy politely asked her from her cell.

“Yeah, let us out of here!” Rainbow Dash said in a more demanding tone.

“Calm down and please step away from the bars.” The mare told them.

“Please, this is a horrible mistake!” Rarity desperately tried to tell her. “We didn’t mean for an army of hideous monsters to attack Canterlot!”

“I said get back!” the mare snapped.

“Calm yourself, Lieutenant Shackle.” Came an ominous voice from the shadows. Slowly, a taller mare with white fur, a dark brown tail and mane with a ponytail, dark red eyes, an x-shaped scar on her left cheek, and it looked like she was wearing the same kind of uniform but most of her body was covered by a grey cape. She had a very malicious look on her face. “If you’re having trouble with the prisoners, then you should let me handle them.”

“Commander!” the mare named Shackle said both surprised and nervous.

“Hildread!” Shining Armor said with resentment in his voice when he saw the second mare.

“That’s Commander Hildread to you, Captain Armor!” the mare named Hildread snapped. She was Canterlot’s head jailer and an old rival of Shining Armor. “Or should I say, Former Captain Armor?” she said with a little more sadism in her voice as she approached his cell. “It’s been a long time. Never thought I’d see you in one of these cells. What a pleasant surprise.”

“I see you haven’t changed a bit.” Shining said bitterly.

“So much for being Captain of the Royal Guard.” She taunted. “As much as I would love to help all of you out, our new ruler won’t let me.”

“Don’t play nice! We both remember when I booted you out of the guard for unnecessary brutality. This is payback, isn’t it?!”

CLANG!

Hildread struck the bars of the former captain’s cell, but not with her hoof, with a metal wing. She was really a pegasus who concealed her wings underneath her cape. But her right wing was completely metallic. She glared at her old rival now turned prisoner. “Well, it seems the prisoners are getting restless.” She said sporting a malevolent grin and removing her cape. “I think they need to be taught a lesson. Right, lieutenant?”

“Right… ma’am.” Shackle nervously and reluctantly agreed. She used her magic to handle the keys and unlock Shining Armor’s cell.

Hildread slowly trotted into the cell and stared menacingly into the former captain’s eyes. “I have been waiting a long time for this moment.” She said sinisterly as she opened her wings. In their cells, the others cringed and stared in horror as they heard the sounds of beating and painful moans from Shining’s cell. Lieutenant Shackle averted her pity filled eyes as her commanding officer continued the beating.

“Leave him alone!” Cadance desperately cried. But her pleas of mercy fell on deaf ears. She watched with heartbreak in her eyes as her beloved Shining Armor was tortured mercilessly in his cell.

An hour later, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Spike, and the Mane Five were all escorted to the throne room in chains pulled by guards. Celestia and Luna had both been stripped of their shiny royal garments with nothing to wear. Shining Armor looked beaten and bruised from his encounter with Hildread. They all stood before the new self-proclaimed king of Equestria, who sat on Celestia’s throne looking sinisterly down at all of them with his assistant at his right side.

“Vivian, if you please.” Jewelius instructed.

Vivian stepped forward and pulled out a scroll. “By decree of Holy King Jewelius I.” she read the scroll aloud. “For foolish and selfish acts in the line of duty that not only could have brought the downfall of Canterlot, but all of Equestria, you have all been found guilty of high treason.” The prisoners all cringed at the blameful words. “You are all more dangerous when you are together. Therefore, Rarity and former captain Shining Armor are to be sent to work in the mines as part of a new treaty with the Diamond Dogs.”

“Oh no, not again!” Rarity exclaimed miserably.

“Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are to be sent to the Dragon Lands to fight as gladiators in their new coliseum as part of our new treaty with the dragons.” Vivian continued.

Fluttershy hugged Rainbow Dash fearfully as the cyan pegasus just stared in despair up at her accusers.

“Applejack and Pinkie Pie are to serve as galley slaves to move goods from and to Equestria across the ocean.”

Both AJ and Pinkie were horrorstruck. “But we’ll be separated from our families forever!” the cowpony said in a voice that pleaded for mercy.

“This isn’t right!” An upset Cadance spoke. “Do you know what you are doing? Equestria is anti-slavery!”

“New laws come with new management, Cadance my dear.” Jewelius smugly announced.

“And finally, the three alicorns and the dragon are all hereby banished from Equestria for life.” Vivian finished. All the prisoners gasped when they heard this. “There is no place for them in our society.”

“This is crazy!” Rainbow shouted.

“Are you loco in the coco?!” Pinkie yelled.

“This is a mistake!” Luna tried to reason with her nephew and his assistant. “There has to be another way!”

“Please, we’re sorry!” Fluttershy apologized with fearful tears streaming from her eyes.

“Give us another chance!” Rarity pleaded. The other members of the Mane Five started desperately pleading and crying altogether.

“We promise we’ll-” Applejack tried to speak.

“SILENCE!” Jewelius yelled rendering the entire room quiet. “You foals have had your fun, now pay for it!”

“Jewelius.” Cadance gently spoke. “Remember when we were younger? We used to play together in the castle. I have always kept a special place for you in my heart. We may be cousins, but we wear raised like siblings. You are one of the ponies who mean more to me than anything in the entire world. You’re angry, we all know, but surely you must know this isn’t the right way to handle what happened today. I know the happy and loveable colt I grew up with is still in there. Maybe this will remind you.” Everyone watched as Cadance cast one of her signature love spells on the young stallion who sat on the throne. However, the spell disappeared when it reached him. To the prisoners’ horrific surprise, the new king grinned maliciously and let out a hysterical laugh to show that the spell had no effect on him at all.

“Your pathetic tricks are useless against me, Cadance!” Jewelius snapped at his cousin, taking great delight in her horrific confusion. “I believe I’m done.” He said with boredom in his voice. “Get them all out of my sight.”

As the guards began escorting the newly pronounced exiles away, Shining Armor was desperately struggling to ask one important question to the king.

“Jewelius, wait! Where’s Twilight?” Shining desperately asked. “Where’s my sister?” But he didn’t answer and just watched with a sadistic smile as the guards took the scared screaming stallion away. “Jewelius, please! WHERE IS SHE? WHAT HAPPENED TO HER?! TWILY!” The throne room doors slammed shut once the guards and exiles were gone.

Jewelius sat proudly on his new throne, enjoying the new power and authority he now had. “This day has been just perfect!” he said to himself.

Later on, six prison wagons rode across the land. The weather had become intensely rainy with thunder and lightning clashing. Each wagon went in a different direction, and they all carried the disgraced, shunned, and now exiled former heroes of Equestria.

Shining Armor stared through the bars of the prison wagon he was in back towards Canterlot with a tearful, broken, and shameful expression on his face. Despite the dark and terrible future that awaited him, all he could think about was his sister, Twilight Sparkle. He never got the chance to see his sister before his banishment, to see if she was okay, to say goodbye, and to reconcile for his wrongful outburst toward her at the wedding rehearsal. He had learned about how the changeling invasion came about from the others, and realized that if he had just listened to his sister’s suspicions it all could’ve been prevented and the wedding would’ve truly happened, and everyone would’ve been happy. Not only that, but he also feared that he might’ve unwittingly shattered the wonderful bond he had with his little sister, possibly forever. Now it was too late. He and Rarity would soon become slaves in the Diamond Dogs’ mines for the rest of their lives. He would never see Cadance, his parents, or Twilight ever again.

“I could’ve gained a wife. But instead… I just lost a sister.” Shining said to himself as raindrops fell upon his face, making it difficult to tell if he was shedding tears.

“This day could’ve been just perfect

The kind of day of which I’ve dreamed since I was small

Because of one fatal mistake

No more dancing, love, or cake

Now my wedding bells will never ring at all.”

While Shining Armor sobbed over his failure, Jewelius was laughing over his success back in Canterlot without a shred of remorse over the fates of the exiles.

Chapter 7

It had been almost a week since his banishment, Shining Armor’s life had taken a turn for the worst. He was just moments away of getting married to the mare of her dreams. Now he, along with Rarity, were now slaves working in the mines for the diamond dogs. The diamond dogs had him and other unicorns explore the caverns using their magic to detect gems and dig them up. They were also forced to haul wagons to store the gems they found. Guard dogs wielding whips were assigned to supervise the slaves.

“No resting!” the guard dog yelled whipping Shining Armor on the back making him increase his pace while pulling a wagon filled to the brim with gems. “Keep moving!”

As much as Shining wanted to give this guy a piece of his mind, he knew it was useless. So he continued pulling the heavy wagon of gems and joined his fellow slaves. As he followed the other slaves down a mine tunnel, he heard some commotion up ahead. As he proceeded further into the tunnel, the noises were getting louder. Then he saw something in the distance coming his way. A moment later, he saw Rarity hauling a wagon of gems down the tunnel in the opposite direction. She was wearing a strange-looking muzzle over her mouth and she was accompanied by the three diamond dog leaders, who were gleefully taunting her as she walked.

“What’s the matter, pony?” Rover, the head dog, asked in a taunting tone.

“Don’t you want to whine?” Spot, the short dog, tauntingly asked as well.

“Or cry?” Fido, the big dog, added.

“Good thing new pony king gave us special muzzle for you to wear to keep you quiet,” Rover said and then he and the other two dogs burst into taunting laughter at the poor unicorn’s expense.

Shining watched as the young white unicorn walked miserably down the tunnel being teased by her greedy masters. He couldn’t help but feel sorry and responsible for the situation she, him and all the others were in. All he could do now was wonder how the other ponies were doing.

In the Dragon Lands, the new coliseum was huge and filled with all sorts of different dragons cheering and yelling in the audience rows. They were all eager to see the upcoming match.

“Dragons of Equestria,” said a green scaled dragon announcer. “Today is another glorious day to watch more action in our new magnificent gladiator coliseum, given to us by the new ruler of the ponies, Holy King Jewelius I, in accordance with our new treaty.” The crowd hollered and cheered at this. “Our new gladiators today are three young dragons, give them a big warm welcome. Garble, Baff, and Clump.” A gate in the arena opened up and three teenage dragons wearing battle armor entered. The audience cheered loudly when they saw them.

“Oh yeah, this is going to be awesome,” Garble said basking in the crowd’s praising.

“And their opponents today, are those two mischievous, annoying, namby-pamby ponies that Jewelius gave us along with this coliseum,” the announcer said bitterly. The crowd began booing as a gate on the other side of the arena opened. However, no one came out and the booing got even louder.

Inside the gate entrance, Rainbow Dash stood dressed in armor ready to fight for her life. But Fluttershy was hiding in the shadows trembling in fear. It had been almost a week since she and Dash had been banished to the Dragon Lands to serve as slaves to fight the entertainment of the dragons and while she always had a fear of dragons, being here was making her fear of them even worse.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” Rainbow called to her friend. “The crowd is waiting for us.”

“No way!” Fluttershy fearfully refused. “There’s no way I’m going out there. All they do is make us fight for our lives and their entertainment. It’s awful.”

“I know, but if we want to stay alive we have to fight, and look how long we’ve lasted. We can do this. Besides, do you remember what they’ll do to us if we don’t do what they want?”

Fluttershy trembled even more at the thought of the punishment for refusing to fight. She weighed her options, and finally made her decision. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“That’s the spirit. Now lets do this together.”

Both ponies walked out into the arena, but the crowd still booed at them. Fluttershy shuddered under the gaze of the hundreds of dragons in the audience watching and jeering her. Rainbow payed no attention to the noisy crowd, she knew they all wanted to watch her and her friend go down after nearly a week and she was eager to disappoint them once again.

“Now these ponies have been quiet the little pests but I have a feeling today that our new fighters will be able to crush these little insects once and for all,” the announcer said and the crowd roared in excitement.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance to make some ponies pay for what they did to me,” Garble said grabbing a mace while Baff grabbed a warhammer and Clump grabbed a battle axe, then all three teenage dragons advanced towards the two pegasi. “It’s a shame Spike’s not here, otherwise I’d make him pay too.”

“Get ready to eat some dirt, lizard breath,” Rainbow said getting in a battle stance.

Both Rainbow and Garble spread their wings and took to the air.

“I got this one, you two handle the other,” Garble ordered Baff and Clump.

The crowd cheered with excitement as Dash and Garble were locked in an aerial battle above the ground, charging and evading one another. Back on the ground, Fluttershy fled from Baff and Clump as they chased her around the arena.

“Come here, little pony,” Clump demanded.

“Yeah, we won’t hurt you. We just want to show you something,” Baff obviously lied.

“Looks like your friend is doomed,” Garble taunted Dash as he watched his cohorts pursue the yellow pegasus.

“Fluttershy maybe a little timid sometimes, but when she needs to be, she has proven to be one of the bravest ponies I’ve ever met,” Rainbow confidently retorted.

Fluttershy found herself cornered against a wall with Baff and Clump closing in on her chuckling menacingly.

“It’s all over, pony,” Baff sadistically taunted her as he and Clump moved closer laughing.

“It’s all over!”

For a moment, Fluttershy thought she heard Chrysalis’s wicked voice in her head. Then she thought she saw Baff and Clump merge together and transform into an evil laughing Chrysalis before her eyes. At this moment, Fluttershy’s fear began to fade and her rage began to rise. The sight of the thing responsible for ruining her life infuriated her to the point where she disregarded her shy and gentle nature.

“Ready for pain, little pon-” But before Clump could finish his sadistic question, one moment he was approaching the yellow pegasus and the next moment he was flying twenty backwards with two hoofprints on his cheeks. Baff stared dumbstruck at his friend lying unconscious on the ground before turning back to what was once a frightened but now enraged little pony. Realizing how much trouble he was in now, Baff decided to flee but Fluttershy gave chase. She eventually caught up to him and grabbed his tail. She slammed him against the ground three times before spinning him around in the air and throwing him on top of his unconscious partner.

“Sorry, but you two reminded me of somepony I hate,” Fluttershy said to the two beaten dragons.

Garble stared wide-eyed and jaw-dropped at what Fluttershy had just done to his comrades.

“See, I told you,” Rainbow proudly mocked him. “Now let me show you something really cool.”

Garble gulped at what was about to happen to him. Suddenly, Rainbow, at supersonic speed, tackled him and flew downward toward the arena floor carrying her opponent with her. Then a huge sonic rainboom erupted a second before they made contact with the ground and spread across the coliseum. Once the colorful spectrum had cleared, Garble was lying in a heap of broken and dented armor moaning painfully and Rainbow Dash was hovering victoriously in the air. The cyan pegasus reveled in the boos and angry yells from the audience.

“Well, it appears fellow dragons that the ponies have once again triumphed over dragonkind,” the announcer said in disappointment. “Perhaps tomorrow another contestant will be able to show them the true strength of dragons.”

“Alright, out of the arena,” an armored dragon guard commanded the two pegasi and led them through an open gate.

“See, I told ya we’d make it through this,” Rainbow said to Fluttershy.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, they’re getting better,” Fluttershy replied. “How long do you think we can keep this up?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. We have to keep this up as long as we can.”

“Oh. I just hope the others are doing okay.”

Deep below the deck of a galley ship, tons of galley slaves were rowing the huge oars back and forth constantly. It was hard and merciless work and a coxswain beat a big drum and produced a steady rhythm for the slaves to follow. A brutish unicorn slave driver walked up and down the walkway with a whip making sure not a single slave was out of sync with the drumming.

“Follow the rhythm!” the slave driver yelled as he cracked his whip at a pair of young earth pony mares. One had an orange coat with a light yellow mane and tail and the other one had a pink coat with a very light red mane and tail.

“Sheesh, somepony’s a little angrier than usual today,” the orange pony angrily muttered to the pink pony. “Right, Pinkie?” But Pinkie Pie didn’t answer and just continued rowing with a very sad expression on her face. “You okay, Pinkie?”

“This is no fun at all,” Pinkie glumly said.

“Tell me about it.”

“I’m just thinking about how all this could’ve been avoided, Applejack.”

“Me too,” Applejack replied in the same glum tone. “Ah can’t stop thinkin’ about mah family. Because of that disastrous wedding, ah’m never gonna see Granny Smith, Big Mac, or Apple Bloom ever again.”

“I can’t believe Twilight was right all along about the bride,” Pinkie said in a mixture of disbelief and sorrow. “I just wish I could’ve thrown her a big apology party, but it looks like that’s never going to happen.”

AJ put a comforting hoof on Pinkie’s shoulder as she shed a tear. But their tender moment was interrupted by the cracking of a whip on their backs.

“Hey, no lollygagging! Get back to work!” the slave driver commanded.

“Hey, can ya give us a break?” AJ asked angrily. “Mah friend is feelin’ bad enough as it is.”

“Trust me, this is mercy compared to what you two really deserve,” the slave driver said threateningly staring into the orange cowpony’s eyes. “Many of these ponies here are convicted criminals who’ve done some pretty horrible things, but they are nothing compared to what you have done.”

“Selling out all of Equestria for a wedding?!” remarked an angry galley slave. “And I thought I was bad.”

“Now you two get this through your thick heads,” the slave driver threatened. “You may have been great heroes and celebrities in Equestria, but here you’re nothing but scum without a single prayer or hope. Now get back to rowing!”

With their spirits more or less crushed by the slave driver’s harsh words and resentful glares from a few fellow slaves, AJ and Pinkie sadly continued rowing.

“I just the others are doing better than us,” Pinkie said concerned thinking about how the rest of their friends and the princesses were holding up in the places they were banished to.

A Week Earlier…

A prison wagon stopped at the end of dark, dank forest that looked just as creepy as the Everfree Forest. The guards opened the wagon’s door and with their magic, tossed a small purple dragon out and into a muddy puddle. Spike, the young dragon, lifted his face out of the mud to view his new surroundings, and needless to say, he wasn’t very comfortable with it.

“Welcome to your new home, little dragon,” Commander Hildread taunted him. “Remember, don’t ever set foot in Equestria again or the king will have your head.”

“Please, what happened to Twilight? Is she okay?” Spike pleadingly asked with worried eyes.

“Why do you care?” Hildread unfeelingly asked.

“Because I’m her number one assistant, and… and…” he stammered as a look of regret formed on his face. “I made a mistake, and I need her to know-”

“Twilight Sparkle is no longer your concern!” Hildread viciously yelled at the tiny dragon frightening him. “Let’s go, we’re done here.” She commanded her guards. “Oh, just one more thing,” she took out a small bag from under her cape and dropped it at Spike’s feet. “The king told me to give these to you after dropping you off. He said they’re ‘things you really seemed to enjoy’,” she said with a sly, sadistic grin on her face and a sinister chuckle. After that, she, the guards, and the wagon rode out of the forest leaving Spike all alone with the mysterious bag.

Spike stared nervously and curiously at the bag. Then he slowly started opening it to see what was inside. Once it was open, his eyes went wide and started filling with heartbroken tears. Inside the bag were the two wedding cake toppers of Shining Armor and Cadance. Spike understood what these things were for. Jewelius had given them to him to serve as a reminder of his greatest mistake. Spike had already felt bad before, but this was rubbing salt in the wounds. Spike collapsed into the mud and sobbed into his folded arms. He freed his right arm to pound the ground in frustration as he wallowed in a puddle of mud and self-pity, all alone.

Chapter 8

After a week of fending for himself, Spike was sitting near the entrance of a small cave he had found. Every day, he watched the sun and the moon raise and set, which let him know that Celestia and Luna were still okay. He sat alone in his cave miserably playing with the wedding cake toppers, the only things he had left. However, this time they brought him no joy. In fact, he actually came to hate them as they reminded him of the part he played in turning the greatly expected wedding into a dreaded catastrophe. Worst of all, he could not stop thinking about Twilight Sparkle, his beloved mistress and caretaker, who hatched him from an egg, raised him as family, gave him a job, and treated him like one of her own unlike some ponies who were uncomfortable with the fact that he was a dragon. And how did he repay her for all her kindness, by ignoring her desperate warnings in favor of something as materialistic as a wedding and cake toppers and spinelessly turning his back on her as soon as it was his best interest. As a result of his and the others’ actions, changelings invaded Canterlot and Jewelius used this as an opportunity to overthrow the princesses and banish them all from Equestria. Although it looked absolutely hopeless, deep inside he desperately wished Twilight was here so he could apologize to her for his childish ignorance and disloyalty.

While wallowing in his pity, Spike heard a noise from outside the cave and instinctively hid behind a large rock to avoid being seen in case it was a vicious creature. Finally, the things that were causing the noise came into view at the entrance of the cave. It was Commander Hildread and her lieutenant, Shackle. Spike was surprised, it had been a week since his banishment but he never expected to see anypony, much less them, so soon. Shackle lit up her horn and shined a bright light into the cave entrance. Spike trembled and held his breath as he felt the light falling on the stone he was hiding behind.

“Cost is clear,” Shackle reported. “No changelings in this area.”

“Good, lieutenant,” Hildread complimented her subordinate. “With the recent rumors that have been popping up, we can’t afford to take any chances this time.”

Their conversation caught Spike’s interest and he listened carefully as they talked.

“You mean that a few changelings escaped and our new king might one of them?” Shackle asked nervously.

“Shhh!” Hildread hushed her lieutenant. “Not so loud. Yes, those rumors. But until we know the truth, we should keep this investigation secret. We don’t want to start a panic.”

“But what about Lady Sparkle? If the rumors are true, then she could be in great danger. Shouldn’t we assign her some bodyguards?”

“Unfortunately, we need all the horsepower we can get. We can’t afford to spare any good stallions for the life of one unicorn.”

“But-”

“No buts. We’ll return to Canterlot and continue the investigation. And we’ll keep this to ourselves.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With that, the two mares left to return to Canterlot. Spike poked his head from behind the rock and slowly walked outside. He had heard every word they said and this information made him very, VERY nervous.

“Oh no, Twilight!” he whispered in horror to himself. The idea of an escaped changeling plotting revenge on Twilight was terrifying. He had already been responsible for some of her sadness but the thought of losing her for good was unbearable.

“What am I going to do?!” he desperately asked himself. Unfortunately, no ideas came to mind, and he felt fresh tears forming in his eyes as the situation seemed hopeless. Then he heard a gust of wind blow through some trees causing the branches to shake and some big light green leaves to fall into a dark muddy puddle. Spike walked over to the puddle and picked up one of the fallen leaves. It had a big dark mud stain on it. Then the little dragon got an idea. He quickly picked up a few leaves that didn’t fall into the mud, and then picked up a small thin stick. He dipped the pointy end of the stick into the mud and started writing on the leaves he had gathered as if he were writing a letter for Twilight. On the leaves he wrote:
Dear Princ Ex-Princess Celestia,

Some guards from Canterlot came by my new ‘home’ today and I heard them say some things that I believe you must know. They say that some changelings have escaped and think that one of them might be impersonating Jewelius. I’m afraid that they might be planning to get revenge on Twilight for ruining their plans to take over Canterlot.
Your faithful dragon servant and friend,
Spike

With that, Spike blew his magical green fire on the leaves and they disappeared in the flames. Spike hoped that this would work just like the letters and would reach Celestia. After awhile, Spike felt the need to burp and to his surprise, belched up some different looking leaves that had some writing and drawings on them. These leaves said:
Dear Spike,

This is very serious news you’ve received. I believe we must meet together to discuss this matter. I’ve drawn a map that should guide you to where I want us to meet. I wish for us to meet at that place at dawn tomorrow.
Celestia

Spike examined some of the leaves Celestia had sent back to him and they indeed looked like a map leading to a certain area. Immediately, Spike gathered some provisions and began on his journey. There was no time to lose.

Spike walked for miles through the big deep jungles till he finally reached the desert lands. He traveled many more miles through the scorching desert. It was hot and extremely exhausting, especially for someone his age, but this little dragon was determined to make it to his destination. He had to.

At about dusk, Spike finally made it to where Celestia had told him to go: Unicorn Rock, a huge rock formation shaped like the head of a unicorn. He setup camp next to the rock structure and shortly after sunset, he fell asleep. At the crack of dawn the next day, Spike awoke to find three tall cloaked figures standing around his campsite. At first he was startled by the sight of these strangers, but his spirits lifted when all three of them removed their hoods and revealed themselves to be the three former princesses. Their manes weren’t combed neatly like they used to be, they were messy and a little dirty. But their faces had the warm and friendly smiles that Spike recognized.

“It’s been awhile, Spike,” Celestia warmly greeted the little dragon who immediately hugged her left front leg while she gently stroked his head with her right hoof.

“I’m surprised you survived this long on your own,” Cadance added.

“I’m so glad you’re all okay too,” the little dragon said wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Back to the matter at hoof,” Luna said getting down to business. “My sister contacted us and told us that you had some important information that you need to tell us.”

“That’s right,” Spike began. “Hildread and some of her guards came by my cave yesterday. Thankfully they didn’t see me, but I heard them talking about some terrible things. That a few changelings had escaped and one of them might be impersonating Jewelius and are planning to get revenge on Twilight.” All three alicorns were visibly disturbed by this news.

“Oh no, Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed in horror barely keeping it together.

“This is very serious,” Celestia said more calmly but still very nervous.

“And their keeping it a secret from the rest of the ponies,” Spike continued.

“Aunt Celestia, what’ll we do?” Cadance turned to her eldest aunt.

“If Twilight really is in some kind of danger, then we can’t just sit here,” Spike added.

“I don’t know, something about this doesn’t feel right,” Luna said suspiciously.

“As much as I agree with my sister,” Celestia said. “We don’t know too much about this situation, and I can’t take the risk of my faithful student being in danger.”

“Are you thinking about returning to Canterlot, sister?” Luna asked her elder sister.

“Yes, I am.”

“What if they’re expecting that? What if there is some sort of trap waiting for us if we return?”

“I understand you concern, sister. But I ignored Twilight once and I will not do it again. I have to make sure she’s okay. This time, I have to take action before it’s too late,” Celestia said with a look of determination and regret on her face. Everyone could tell she was remembering the wedding and how she coldly turned her back on Twilight. An action that had ultimately proven to be her greatest mistake which led to her fall from grace. Now she felt that this was her second chance to redeem herself to her beloved pupil.

“Well, if you’re going, then I’m going too.” Cadance said taking her eldest aunt’s side. “I foalsat Twilight as a filly, and just when I finally see her after many years I get banished. I think I’m owed some time with her.”

“Very well,” Celestia warmly agreed admiring her niece’s brave and kind heart.

“I’m coming too,” Spike said firmly. “As Twilight’s number one assistant, it’s my job to help with whatever she might need.”

Celestia smiled warmly at the young dragon before turning to her sister. “And you, sister?”

“I still have a bad feeling about this,” Luna said. “But I’ll assist you anyway I can.”

“Thanks Luna. Now before we head back to Canterlot, I suggest we find Shining Armor and the rest of Twilight’s friends. They need to know about this and they’re as much entitled to a chance at rescuing and making things up to Twilight as the rest of us.”

“You’re right,” Cadance agreed. “And I’ve been away from my Shining Armor for far too long.”

“You really do love him, don’t you?” Spike asked the pink alicorn, noticing her devotion to her husband-to-be.

“He’s everything to me. Just ask Twilight, she knows that better than anypony.”

Celestia remorsefully bowed her head for moment at what her niece just said. She remembered when Twilight desperately tried to warn everypony about the evil bride and how they all ignored her and turned their backs on her. Twilight Sparkle had always been so loyal and trusting of her. She had mentored the young unicorn in many things over the years. To her, Twilight was more than just her student, she was like the daughter she never had. Now she realized her terrible error in judgement and how much it had cost her. “Cadance, I’m sorry for allowing myself to be fooled by Chrysalis’s trickery and letting you suffer for so long. We all should have known that wasn’t the real you. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Everypony makes mistakes, even you,” Cadance said warmly and understandably.

“She’s right, Tia,” Luna said. “Despite our longevity, you and I still have so much to learn as much as Twilight and her friends do.”

Celestia smiled at the kind words of her sister and niece, even if she herself didn’t think she deserved them. “You’re too kind,” she said embracing them both in her wings. “Now I think it’s about time we started our journey.”

“I think we should first look for Pinkie Pie and Applejack,” Cadance suggested. “There’s a harbor not too far from here.”

“Then let’s start there,” Spike agreed.

The little dragon climbed onto Celestia’s back as she, Luna, and Cadance spread their wings and took off.

“Twilight, my faithful student, you’ve made me so proud in the past. I’m coming and I won’t fail you this time,” Celestia thought to herself. “I will not endure the loss of another pony important to me again!” she cast a short glance at Luna remembering the horrible moment when she turned into Nightmare Moon and forced her to banish her to the moon a thousand years ago. After that event, Celestia swore to herself she would never let that happen to anypony ever again. She had already lost many years with her sister, she was not going to lose who knows how long with her student and daughter-figure. But first, they needed to rescue Twilight’s friends and brother if they were going to have a good chance at saving her.

Chapter 10

Celestia, Cadance, Shining Armor, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie hid behind a few large bushes and watched as pony drawn carts carrying barrels, crates, and boxes down a road leading to the gates of Canterlot. It was nighttime which made easier for them to sneak around.

“Okay, everypony ready?” Applejack whispered to everyone.

“Ready!” they whispered back.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

While ponies were pulling the carts toward the city gates, the last one suddenly stopped in its tracks half a yard from the gates.

“Hey, is everything alright back there?” an earth mare hauling the second to last cart called to the one behind her.

“I think I’m stuck,” replied an earth stallion hauling the last cart, which was filled with tons of different sized boxes. He was struggling to get it moving again. “Can you help me out? I need to get all this to the castle.” The mare ahead of him unhitched herself from her cart and began walking over to him. For moment, the stallion thought he heard some rustling in his cart, but he decided to ignore it. The mare walked behind the stallion’s cart and started pushing it. In a moment, it started moving again and eventually went through the gates and into the city.

While the cart was being pulled toward the castle, Celestia, Shining, Cadance, Spike, and the Mane Five poked their heads out of the boxes they were hiding in, but not so much as to avoid being spotted. They had snuck onto the cart while it was stuck in the road and hid in some of the boxes it was carrying. Pinkie was somehow able to fit herself in the smallest box, which was half her size. Everyone looked around at the streets of Canterlot that they had not seen for a week. However, one of the biggest changes was the banners that had once had the symbol of the two alicorn sisters were now replaced with ones that depicted a proud-looking illustration of Jewelius. The cart eventually stopped at an intersection. While waiting, the ponies hiding in the boxes started eavesdropping on a conversation between a group of four Canterlot nobles.

“Hail to the hero and new ruler of Equestria, Holy King Jewelius I!” one of the noble mares said toasting with the other three ponies.

“You forgot the brave young Twilight Sparkle, my dear,” one of the noble stallions teasingly reminded her.

“Of course, how could I forget. It was that smart filly who saw the false bride for what she really was.”

“Both she and Jewelius realized what was really going on,” the second noble stallion said. “Unfortunately, nopony believed them until it was too late.”

“But then with Jewelius’s genius and Twilight’s magic, they saved us all in the end,” the second noble mare added.

“Where is Lady Sparkle now?” the first noble stallion asked.

“I hear she spends most of her time reading in the castle library,” answered the second noble mare.

“Poor thing, I heard her parents went missing shortly after the changelings were defeated,” said the first noble mare sympathetically. “After a whole week of searching, they still haven’t found any sign of them. She’s probably worried sick about them.”

This information immediately caught Shining’s ear. He had no idea that his and Twilight’s parents had gone missing. “Mom, dad?!” he whispered anxiously to himself.

“I hear the king has made her his student,” the second noble stallion said.

“Let’s just hope she’ll be able to go farther in life than she did as Celestia’s lap dog,” the first noble mare remarked with bitter disappointment.

“I can’t even say her name anymore,” the first noble stallion said bitterly.

“I’ll say, she, Captain Armor, and those five mares risking all of our lives just to have a wedding! It’s disgraceful!” the second noble mare said angrily.

“Don’t get worked up, dear,” the second noble stallion calming her down. “In the end, they all got what they deserved.”

“Let’s hope we’ll never have to live under her irresponsible rule again,” the first noble stallion proposed another toast.

“How the noble have fallen,” the first noble mare remarked.

Every word was like a dagger in Celestia’s heart. For over a thousand years, she had raised the sun for her subjects and they praised and worshipped her in return. She was held in the highest regard by the nobles of Canterlot. But now, she was a complete failure, a disgrace, an outcast. All because she gave her trust to the wrong pony. She sat in her box and hung her head in shame as the cart continued on its way.

After awhile, the cart finally arrived at its destination. It was pulled through the castle gates and into a courtyard where a unicorn guard was waiting. The stallion pulling the cart unhitched himself and walked over to the guard.

“I have some deliveries here, just need you to look this over and sign it,” the stallion said presenting a form and a pen to the guard.

While the guard was reading and signing the form, the gang saw their opportunity and silently hopped out of their boxes and quietly scurried away. When the guard was done signing the form, the stallion led him over to the cart to check on the cargo. They both gasped when they saw that some of the boxes had been opened.

While the gang was sneaking around, ducking behind bushes or hiding in trees to avoid being spotted by the night patrol, they came across a large open window.

“Doesn’t look like anypony’s in here,” Pinkie whispered to the others after peeking through the window.

One by one, each member of the group quietly hopped through the window and into the empty room. Now they were all inside the castle.

“What now?” Fluttershy asked.

“Those ponies said Twilight’s probably hanging out in the castle library,” AJ reminded everyone.

“Knowing Twilight and books, that’s the best place to look first,” Spike said.

“Alright, then let’s find that library,” Rainbow said ready for action.

The group then exited the room and came across three hallways leading in different directions.

“I suggest we split up into smaller groups,” Celestia suggested. “A big group is too easy to spot.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Cadance said in agreement.

They split into three groups of three. Cadance, Applejack, and Rarity went down the left hallway; Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash went down the right hallway; and Celestia, Shining Armor, and Spike went down the middle hallway.

Meanwhile, back in the courtyard, the guard and the stallion had gathered some of the night patrol, Commander Hildread, and Lieutenant Shackle to have them take a look at the open crates in the back of the cart.

“It looks like you had some stowaways hitching a ride in the back of your cart and let you sneak them into the castle,” Hildread said inspecting the open crates.

“That’s what I said,” the guard accompanying the cart stallion agreed.

“What should we do, commander?” Lieutenant Shackle asked his commanding officer.

“Simple, we hunt down these unwanted guests,” Hildread replied with an excited and sadistic-looking grin.

Applejack, Rarity, and Cadance were silently walking down a hallway when they noticed a light slowly coming toward them. Noticing a door, the three mares quickly and quietly opened it and went inside to hide, carefully closing the door behind them. They barely avoided being spotted by the oncoming unicorn guard with his glowing horn. Inside the room they had just entered, the three ponies noticed they were in a supply closet with maids’ clothes, towels, and housekeeping carts.

“Girls, I’ve got an idea,” Cadance announced eyeing the stuff they just found.

Elsewhere, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were walking down a hallway, then heard the sound of a guard approaching. As they started to get nervous, they suddenly noticing a huge painting depicting three ponies on the right wall. Thinking quickly, the three mares climbed up onto the painting and posed in the positions of the ponies in the picture. The approaching guard walked by never noticing them. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief and they hopped off the painting and continued on their journey.

“I hope we find this library soon,” Fluttershy hopefully and nervously said.

“Me too,” Rainbow nervously agreed.

After awhile, Applejack and Rarity exited the supply closet they were hiding in. They were wearing maids’ outfits and pushing a housekeeping cart, which Cadance was hiding in, with a big towel draped over it. They walked down the hall for awhile until they came face-to-face with another guard.

“What are you two doing?” the guard asked suspiciously.

Both AJ and Rarity trembled nervously, sweat drops started falling from their heads. If they didn’t say something fast, they’d be caught.

“We’re just… doin’ some late night cleanin’,” AJ spoke.

“Gotta make sure everything is nice and tidy for tomorrow morning,” Rarity added.

The guard stared suspiciously at them for a moment. “Very well, carry on,” he said in a more friendly tone and continued on his way.

Both mares let out heavy sighs of relief when he was gone then continued on their way. As they turned a corner, they came face-to-face with three other mares. All five of them let out frightened shrieks, but then quieted down when they recognized each other. The three mares they just bumped into were their friends, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Pinkie.

“Oh, it’s you girls,” Fluttershy said relieved.

“Found the library yet?” Rainbow asked.

“We’re headin’ there now,” AJ replied.

“How about we tag along,” Pinkie suggested. “Then we’ll all be together when we find Twilight.”

“You’re not going anywhere but out!” came a threatening and unpleasant voice. The five friends turned to find Commander Hildread, who had a sinister grin on her face, accompanied by a squad of guards. Instantly, fear swept over the five mares as they realized they had just been caught.

“They look like the exiles, Commander,” one of the guards said. “Do you think they might be changelings in disguise?”

“Doubt it,” Hildread answered. “But I think it wouldn’t really matter. They’re still enemies of Equestria.” Then she spoke directly to the five. “You all should’ve stayed where you were and never come back.”

“No way, we heard the rumors about changelings in the castle,” Pinkie argued. “We couldn’t just ignore them and leave our friend, Twilight, in danger!”

Hildread burst into mocking and hysterical laughter. “You really are the funny pony! Because I heard you all didn’t have any problems ignoring her warnings about the imposter bride and abandoning her at the wedding rehearsal! You all really need to stop playing heroes because you’re not! Well, not anymore. You chose to ignore all the obvious signs of danger and focus more on what you could’ve gained if the bride had been the real thing, and as a result, you hurt your best friend, put all of Equestria in danger, and destroyed your own ‘heroic’ reputations all because you wanted to play dress up for a beast!” As Hildread laughed at them, the five mares lowered their heads in shame. Hildread was cruel, but she had a point. They were no better. “So now that you’ve all gotten a dose of reality, why don’t you come along quietly so there won’t be any trouble when we return you back to your places of exile? To think, Twilight Sparkle considered you all her best friends. What kind of pony would risk everything she cares about for the sake of her worthless, pathetic, annoying so-called friends?!” Hildread’s mockery cut deeper and deeper with every word. The five ponies felt their spirits crumbling. But then, Fluttershy looked up at the ceiling and saw a huge chandelier hanging above Hildread and the guards. Then she got an idea.

“Twilight would!” Fluttershy angrily retorted. Then she quickly flew up to the chandelier and kicked the chain holding it to the ceiling causing to break and fall on top of Hildread and the guards entangling them in the diamond chains.

“Good thinkin’, Fluttershy,” Applejack congratulated her friend as she descended back down to the floor.

“But what a waste of a perfectly beautiful chandelier,” Rarity complained.

“Come on, girls,” Cadance said from her hiding place in the housekeeping cart. “We have to find that library and fast.”

“She’s right,” Rainbow agreed. “Let’s get moving.”

The ponies took off down the hall leaving Hildread and the guards struggling to get free of the chandelier.

“Get me out of this, and GET THEM!” Hildread furiously demanded.

Meanwhile, Celestia, Shining Armor, and Spike had arrived at the entrance to the castle library. They were all very nervous; they had to exercise caution for the possibility that this could be some sort of trap.

“Are you both ready?” Celestia asked her two comrades.

“Yes,” Shining answered.

“Let’s do this,” Spike said with serious determination.

Celestia used her magic to open the huge doors and they all entered the library closing the doors behind them. The room was huge. Two stories and both had tall bookshelves filled with books reaching from the floors to the ceilings. This was definitely the kind of place Twilight would be hanging out at.

“Alright, let’s start searching,” Celestia instructed her companions. “But quietly.” With that, the trio split up and started searching different parts of the library.

Back in the hallway, the five were pushing the housekeeping cart and fleeing as fast as they while being pursued by Hildread and her squad, who had gotten free from the fallen chandelier. They approaching a T intersected hallway and the pursuing guards were gaining on them.

“Don’t let them get away!” Hildread angrily commanded the guards.

“They’re gaining on us!” Fluttershy said fearfully. “I don’t think we’ll be able to outrun them for long!”

Suddenly, Cadance jumped out of the housekeeping cart and stood defensively between the five young mares and the pursuing guards who immediately stopped in their tracks when they saw her.

“Go girls,” Cadance commanded the five friends. “The library is just down the left hallway!”

“But darling, what about you?” Rarity asked concerned for pink alicorn’s safety.

“I’ll be fine. Just go!” Cadance assured them.

Reluctantly, the five ponies did as she said and headed down the left hallway leaving Cadance to fend off the guards by herself.

Back in the library, Spike was searching on the second story and had found no sign of Twilight anywhere. Then when he peeked behind a bookshelf he finally saw her, his beloved mistress, sitting at a library table and reading a book with a glum expression on her face. She hadn’t noticed him, but before he was about to call to her, he stopped himself and walked over to the railing at the edge of the floor. He looked down and saw Celestia and Shining looking between some bookshelves at the bottom floor. When he saw that they noticed him, he quietly waved for them to come up to the level he was on. Celestia spread her wings and began to hover up to where Spike was while using her magic to levitate Shining up with her. When they both reached the area where Spike was, they both saw Twilight still sitting at the table reading her book. Shining Armor was the first to slowly and quietly approach her.

“Twily?” he gently said. Twilight’s concentration was broken by the sound of his voice and she slowly turned around to find him. When she saw her big brother, her mentor, and her assistant standing before her, her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Shining, is it really you?” she asked her brother.

“Yes kid, it’s me,” he warmly replied with tears of joy streaming from his eyes. He quickly walked over and pulled his sister into a big hug. He had failed to notice that she was too shocked to hug him back. When he released her, she began asking questions.

“What are you all doing here?” Twilight asked curiously.

“We came here to protect you, my student,” Celestia answered her in a warm and motherly tone.

“From what?”

“We heard rumors that some changelings might’ve escaped and that one of them might be impersonating Jewelius,” Spike explained.

“No, that’s not true,” a confused Twilight argued. “I’ve spent some time with him, he’s not a changeling.”

“Twilight, I know what I heard,” Spike assured her.

“I don’t know what you might’ve heard, but Jewelius is no changeling.”

Then suddenly, they all heard the doors to the library open and slam shut. They all ran down to find Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack holding the doors closed and panting heavily. Then they all turned around to see their beloved unicorn friend standing before them.

“TWILIGHT!” they all said with joy.

“How did you all sneak into the castle?” Twilight asked astonished.

“We can explain that later,” Rainbow said. “Right now, we’ve all gotta find a way out of this place.”

“There are changelings running loose in the castle, darling,” Rarity told her.

“No they’re not!” Twilight said with absolute certainty. “I’m telling you they aren’t!”

Back in the hallway, Cadance was still holding off the guards with her glowing horn.

“Former Princess Cadance,” Hildread addressed her. “Please lower your horn, there is no need for any hostility.”

“Keep back!” Cadance commanded and started walking backwards while keeping her eyes on Hildread and the guards. “I don’t want any harm to come to those fillies!”

As she backed into the hallway behind her, Hildread put a sinister grin on her face as if expecting something horrible to happen. Noticing this, Cadance turned to her left and noticed something that made her eyes widen with surprise.

“YOU!” she said in complete shock.

Back in the library, Twilight was still arguing with the others about the rumors they heard.

“I’m telling you all, there are no changelings running loose in Canterlot!” Twilight said starting to get annoyed. “They’ve all been captured.”

“And we’re telling you, that’s what we heard!” Rainbow argued sounding equally annoyed.

“Hildread didn’t say all that stuff for nothing,” Spike said.

“What do you think, Celestia?” Shining asked the former princess.

“I’m not sure anymore,” Celestia replied with a concerned look on her face. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“You should get out of here,” Twilight said causing everyone to gasp. “If you get caught, there’s no telling what kind of trouble you could all get into.”

“Come on, Twilight,” Pinkie said putting on a friendly smile. “We’re your friends. We didn’t gather up your BBBFF, your old foalsitter, your teacher, your dragon assistant, and all your friends just to leave you to fall victim to some dangerous, evil plot.”

“Wait,” Twilight interrupted. “Where’s Cadance?”

Then they all heard a blast of magic and a scream of agony coming from outside the library doors. Instantly, they all filled with fear.

“Cadance!” both Twilight and Shining shouted in fear and bolted to the doors. Twilight was the first to go through the doors and to her horror, she found her beloved foalsitter lying on the floor with her eyes closed and a black blast injury on her chest. A guard was beside her examining her body.

“She’s been hurt bad,” the guard said. “She needs to be taken to the medical wing immediately.”

Instantly, two medical ponies with a stretcher appeared. Twilight watched in horror as they set the stretcher down next to Cadance, put her body on it, picked her up, and took off down the hall. Twilight stared after them with tears streaming from her eyes.

“An accident happened,” Hildread told the young unicorn with a sad look on her face. “She was acting hostile, and then…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish her sentence.

Behind Twilight, her brother, Spike, the five, and Celestia had witnessed the whole thing and they looked just as horrified.

“Cadance!” Shining said in horrific shock. His beloved special somepony had been terribly injured.

“How could you have let her be put in danger?” Twilight tearfully asked the group. “Hasn’t she been through enough already?”

“Twilight, we didn’t know what would happen,” Celestia said in an attempt to calm and comfort her student. But this proved useless, as Twilight just got extremely angry.

“Yes, you didn’t know,” a tearful Twilight responded with venom in her voice. The group of eight were taken back by the hostility the young unicorn suddenly showed. “Just like you didn’t know about the bad behavior she was showing during the planning for the wedding! Just like you didn’t know about the strange spells she was constantly casting on my brother, which obviously weren’t headache healing spells!” she said glaring at her brother. “Just like you didn’t know what that display of crocodile tears at the rehearsal was meant to do! Just like you didn’t know she was imprisoning ponies who were becoming obstacles in her plan in the caverns underneath the castle, like me! And just like you didn’t know that she was the EVIL queen of an army of shapeshifting insect like monsters bent on devouring all the love in Equestria! Well, I know one place that they won’t be able to find any real love!”

Twilight’s words cut like rusty ridged-edged blades. They could all tell by the look on her face and in her eyes that she was suffering greatly. She’d probably been suffering ever since they turned their backs on her at the wedding rehearsal. And now the fact that her parents have gone missing and her favorite foalsitter has been injured had made it even worse.

“Twily, I-” Shining attempted to speak to her, but she cut him off.

“You know, King Jewelius was going to let her back into the kingdom. It would’ve been easy and nopony would’ve gotten hurt. But you all had to follow your own selfish instincts and mess everything up again! Well no more!” Then she cast a spell and sealed the eight former loved ones in an impenetrable pink dome.

“Twilight, please don’t do this!” AJ pleaded.

“We’re your friends!” Fluttershy tearfully said.

“No you’re not!” Twilight angrily retorted causing the five ponies to gasp in shock. “You only hangout with me because my connections could help you. You never cared about me or anypony else! I can’t believe I fell for it for so long.”

“Twily-” Shining desperately cried out to his sister.

“And you can forget about me calling you my BBBFF anymore! In fact, I don’t even have a brother,” Twilight coldly said turning her back on Shining. The once proud Captain of the Guard was now reduced to a pile of misery and regret. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check on the princess,” she said walking away and ignoring the sad and heartbroken faces the ponies she once called her friends had.

“Twilight, I-” Celestia attempted to speak to her student.

“You have a lot to think about,” Twilight coldly told her not even bothering to look at her.

Celestia’s once proud spirit was now broken. Her own beloved student had turned on her. And it was her own fault.

As Twilight walked sobbing down the hallway toward the medical wing, Hildread dropped the sad expression she had and replaced it with a more satisfied and sadistic one.

“My, my, my,” came an approaching voice from behind Hildread and the guards. They stood aside to reveal Jewelius who was accompanied by his assistant Vivian. “You’ve broken into my home and gone and upset my dear student, shame on all of you,” he mocked the captured exiles with a cruel smile on his face.

“I’m sorry,” Shining tearfully apologized.

“You will be!” Jewelius replied with a face that promised evil. Then he burst into wicked laughter that echoed throughout the hall.

Chapter 12 (Edited 08/11/19)

That night in the square of Canterlot, a huge gallows was setup. A huge crowd of ponies were gathered around the execution structure. In the middle of the crowd, a big royal viewing booth was setup facing the gallows. The booth contained Jewelius who sat in his seat with Twilight Sparkle seated on his left and Vivian seated on his right. His other cousin, Blueblood, was also there. However, the once self-absorbed unicorn prince was now reduced to a servant of his cousin. Blueblood was nervously filing Jewelius’s right hoof being careful not to scratch it lest he face the king’s wrath. Celestia, Shining Armor, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were all in chains and positioned in front of the gallows facing the crowd. The crowd consisted of so many citizens, nobles, and even the old bridesmaids: Lyra Heartstrings, Minuette, and Twinkleshine. Some ponies in the crowd had looks of pity on their faces, as if they felt sorry for the eight prisoners, but most of them looked very angry and were shouting and yelling insults at the prisoners. Jewelius had a look of sadistic satisfaction on his face as he watched the prisoners suffer. Vivian had her usual emotionless and uncaring expression. Twilight had a look of pity and disappointment on her face.

"When you said you would make an example out of them, I didn't think you'd mean this," Twilight said to her fiance in a very uneasy tone. As upset as she was with the accused, including her former mentor, she didn't think any of them, especially Celestia, deserved to be sentenced to death. When she was princess, Celestia never even believed in the death sentence. Despite everything she'd been through, she still couldn't find it in her broken heart to hate them.

"I know you and Celestia were once very close for many years, my dearest," Jewelius spoke in a tone of false understanding and gentility. "But as we've all learned from this tragic experience, we can't always forgive and forget, especially when there are serious repercussions involved. I know this is hard for you, Twilight, but as your only true friend, mentor, and future husband, you have to let them all go. You have to free yourself from their hazardous influence just like everypony else has. If you don't, you'll just be welcoming more heartache into your life."

Twilight didn't like this in the slightest. But deep down she felt there was some truth in Jewelius's words. She also felt she owed him for being the only one who stayed by her side when everypony else deserted her. She gave a reluctant nod of understanding. Her facial expression looked almost emotionless because she was using a great deal of willpower to hold back the tears that ready to burst in order to look strong for the rest of the angry and hurting citizens.

"You make me proud," Jewelius congratulated. "You'll make a fine bride. Even finer than Cadance. Now let's move this along and get this over with."

“Make them apologize for ruining our lives!” one earth pony mare yelled from the crowd.

"Make them apologize for all the guards who swore their lives to them only to lose them!" a pegasus mare joined in.

“And you call yourselves the Elements of Harmony!” a unicorn stallion said.

More angry words were heard from the crowd.

“And you five had the nerve to steal our positions as bridesmaids when we disappeared!” An angry Lyra yelled to the five.

“We didn’t steal anything!” Pinkie said.

“They were given to us by the bride!” Rarity pleaded.

“You mean the fake bride!” Minuette retorted. “As if it was hers to give.”

“We went missing!” Twinkleshine yelled. “Didn’t anypony besides Twilight find that suspicious? Didn’t anypony try to look for us? Why would none of you think to look into that?!”

“She said she fired you all because you were only interested in meeting Canterlot royalty,” Shining tried to explain.

Twinkleshine’s jaw dropped and her eyes began to water. “How could you believe that lie? I never did anything to anypony!” The unicorn dropped to her knees and started sobbing. Both Lyra and Minuette gently patted their friend on the back while giving Shining Armor angry glares. The crowd instantly started booing him.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings!” Shining desperately said to the crowd.

“But you did!” Twilight coldly scolded him. “Just like me.”

Shining sadly lowered his head at his sister’s harsh words.

“Ya’ll don’t seriously want Celestia ta be executed, do yah?” Applejack asked the crowd.

“Who will raise the sun?” Fluttershy also asked.

For a moment, the crowd pondered their questions.

“Those are great questions,” Jewelius spoke. “But if you all remember from our history, unicorns were able to raise the sun and the moon before the Two Sisters came to power. Back then we were strong; we didn’t rely on so-called ‘all powerful’ alicorns or ponies wearing cheap jewelery to make sure our lives were safe and bliss. Over time, we’ve become soft and too dependent on others we thought to be more powerful. It is time for ponykind to get out of the shadows that we think protect us and begin the dawning of a new glorious era! The real Elements of Harmony are not in six random mares, they’re within all of us. It’s time for ponykind to all come together! We will work as one big progressing force and I will lead you in the coming days!”

“All Hail Jewelius! All Hail Jewelius! All Hail Jewelius!” the crowd chanted excitedly and supportively.

Jewelius bowed proudly to the cheering crowd while shooting malicious and triumphant grins to the prisoners who were staring in complete shock.

“You can’t be serious!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed in complete disbelief.

“We are!” Twilight coldly said.

“Twilight, Celestia is going to die!” Pinkie said fearfully.

“You have to help her!” Fluttershy pleaded.

“I’ve already tried,” Twilight coldly but also sympathetically replied. “I tried to prevent all this from happening. I even tried to find ways to convince everypony to let you all back into Equestria. Everything I ever did, I did to help you. But you wouldn’t let me. I’m sorry, girls. I don’t know what else I can do. I’m done.” Twilight bowed her head in pity.

The five mares’ hearts sank at their former friend’s words.

“Jewelius isn’t trying to save Cadance,” Fluttershy said in a desperate attempt to reason with the crowd. “He’s trying to kill her!”

The crowd gasped in shock and disbelief.

“Outrageous!” Jewelius shouted angrily. “I’m doing everything within my power to save her. Cadance is my cousin; she’s been like an older sister to me. Why would I do anything to hurt her?”

“Because you hate her!” Spike retorted.

“He’s always hated her!” Rarity angrily said.

“In fact, he was the one who let the changelings into Canterlot!” Pinkie yelled. “He’s been working with them all along!”

The whole crowd, and Twilight, gasped at hearing this.

“Horse feathers!” an earth pony mare yelled in denial. “He and Miss Sparkle saved all of Canterlot from those vile creatures. He couldn’t had been in league with them.”

“That’s because he double-crossed them!” Rainbow said. “Just ask Chrysalis herself!”

“You’re telling us to ask a creature who lies and deceives ponies to clarify the truth?!” a unicorn stallion asked in disbelief.

“Oh,” Rainbow Dash realized that wasn’t a logical idea.

“Jewelius is nothin’ but a self-servin’ rat with no loyalty tah anypony but himself!” Applejack said. “And if ah’m tellin’ you it’s true, then ya’ll know it must be. Ah’m the Element of Honesty.”

“So when you said we were best friends, you were being honest?” Twilight doubtfully asked AJ.

“Of course, sugarcube,” AJ replied.

“And are best friends supposed to have each other’s backs?” Twilight asked angrily.

“Yes,” AJ answered nervously seeing this was going in a bad direction.

“Then why did you all turn your backs on me when I needed you the most, after everything we’ve been through together, after learning a lesson in never taking a friend’s concerns lightly?” Twilight asked visibly angry and hurt. “Or was I never your friend to begin with, just a means to an end?” The crowd angrily yelled in agreement.

“I… I…” Applejack nervously struggled to think of an acceptable answer. Then she and the rest of the five realized that Twilight had a very valid point. How could they had forgotten such an important lesson? But because they did, their friend had lost all trust in them. There was nothing they could say to convince their former friend or the angry crowd.

“Sorry, girls,” Twilight said with pity. “It was fun while it lasted.”

The crowd continued shouting and ranting angrily at the prisoners.

Meanwhile, back in the dungeons, a guard was patrolling and making sure the changeling prisoners were all locked in their cells. Then a noise came from one of the cells. The guard looked in the cell and saw what looked like Jewelius in chains.

“Let me out of here this instant!” the Jewelius lookalike demanded.

“You’re not fooling me, insect,” the guard retorted. When he turned to leave, the sound of crying was heard. He turned back to find what looked like a small sobbing filly in the place of Jewelius.

“Please, let me out,” the filly tearfully pleaded. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“You’d better shut up or you’ll be in real big trouble,” the guard demanded leaning closer to the bars. Then the ‘filly’ jumped toward him, poked her hooves through the bars, grabbed his face, and slammed his head into the bars knocking him out.

“Thank you,” Chrysalis mocked the unconscious guard and used her horn to get the keys from his belt.

Back at the square, the crowd was still booing and yelling at the prisoners.

“Okay, maybe we should’ve been a little more focused on other things besides the wedding planning,” Rainbow Dash admitted. “But you have to admit, Twilight, the way you were acting didn’t make things any better.”

“My brother said that the wedding was ‘something that obviously wasn’t important to’ me,” Twilight reminded everyone. Shining cringed at being reminded of the dreadful things he said. “Well, did it ever occur to the eight of you that this wedding was important to so many other ponies, not just you?”

The prisoners were at a loss for words. Another thing they had not taken into account. The feelings of everypony in Canterlot who were also looking forward to such a magnificent event but were also very concerned for their safety. And now, all these ponies felt was betrayal.

“That’s unbelievable!” an earth mare shouted angry at the prisoners’ inability to come up with a good excuse for that.

“What even causes somepony to have selfish thoughts like that?” an angry pegasus stallion asked.

“How could you all think that I would stoop so low?” Twilight asked visibly hurt. “After all the times I’ve spent with all of you, how could you vilify me so easily?” the young unicorn was almost on the verge of tears. “I had just met Jewelius, but he understood me. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the power to do anything until now.”

“Jewelius is a fraud!” Spike said.

“He’s playing on your negative feelings!” Fluttershy desperately tried to reason with Twilight. But it only seemed to make the unicorn more upset.

“Stop it,” Twilight angrily said trying to keep herself from losing it.

“He’s taken all the pain and fear y’all feel from the changeling invasion and has turned into hatred which he has directed toward us!” AJ explained.

“Stop it,” Twilight repeated, but was beginning to sound a little more angrier.

“Celestia, please say something to Twilight,” Rarity pleaded to Celestia, whom she noticed had been sitting and hanging her head in shame the whole time.

Celestia lifted her head and looked at the white coated unicorn with a face of sadness. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but was suddenly cut off when an egg suddenly hit her in the face. Celestia turned her surprised face to the crowd to see who it was that threw the egg at her. She saw a small unicorn filly glaring at her with teary anger-filled eyes.

“My mom and dad were attacked by changelings!” the filly cried. “And now they’re both in the hospital because of YOU!” An older pegasus mare walked over to the crying filly and started gently patting her head in an effort to comfort her.

"My husband was a member of the Royal Guard, and now he's GONE!" an adult earth pony mare yelled with tears flowing from her eyes too.

Celestia couldn’t help but feel sorry and partly responsible for the pain these ponies were feeling.

“Twiliy!” Shining called to his sister. “Jewelius doesn’t love you. He’s only using you to make himself king. Please, you can’t marry him!”

“SSSHHHHHUUUUUTTTTT UUUUUUPPPPP!” Twilight tearfully yelled at the top of her lungs. Shining could see the pain in her teary eyes as she glared at him. Twilight buried her face in her right front leg and began sobbing. All the ponies who had turned their attention to her due to her sudden outburst, slowly turned back to the prisoners with furious glares on their faces.

“Just hang the disgraceful alicorn already and send these worthless ponies back to where they were banished!” a pony in the crowd yelled causing the rest of them to begin angrily ranting.

The prisoners finally realized that nothing they could say would convince the ponies that what they were trying to tell them was the truth. Jewelius had successfully turned all of Canterlot, including Twilight, against them. He had everypony wrapped around his hooves. They began to believe that their situation was now completely hopeless. It felt worse when they looked and saw Jewelius sparking his most cruel and triumphant grin. His face practically said ‘I win!’

“Calm down, everypony,” Jewelius commanded the crowd. “Now before the former princess’s sentence is carried out, is there anything you would like to say, Celestia?”

Celestia gave a small glare as her nephew stared smugly at her waiting for her to speak. She knew he wanted her to try to tell everypony about his treachery. But she knew that it was useless trying to talk to ponies who had lost all faith in her. But she knew that there was something that she could say to her people. She raised her head high and prepared to speak.

“I’m sorry,” the white alicorn said remorsefully. Everypony: the other prisoners, the angry crowd, Twilight, and even Jewelius gasped in surprise and confusion. They did not expect this. “I’m so sorry to everypony, especially you, Twilight. You tried to warn us from the beginning, but we didn’t listen… I didn’t listen. You were right all along, I should’ve known my own niece would never act in such a way. And now many innocent lives have been lost while many still suffer because of my foolishness. I know there is nothing I can say that won’t convince you that what you are doing here is wrong, but what I can say is this: I am so sorry to all of you for putting my trust in the wrong ponies and letting this disaster happen.” As Celestia spoke from the bottom of her heart, the crowd’s animosity seemed to fade. Their expressions of pain and anger slowly started turning into expressions of understanding. Even Twilight began to feel the same affection and admiration she once had for her mentor returning. “I never intended all this pain and misery to happen. My long life’s goal has always been the safety and happiness of my beloved subjects. But I have failed, I can see that now. Perhaps I’m not meant to be Princess of Equestria any longer. But before I go to the end of my long life, I just to say: I love all of you and will raise the sun and bring morning for Equestria one last time.” She then bowed her head respectfully to the crowd as one last form of apology.

The other prisoners and the entire crowd stood quite. They all had surprised, understanding, sad, and forgiving expressions on their faces. They could sense the truth in Celestia’s words. The alicorn princess had never meant to hurt anyone, but seeing that she did hurt more than any physical torture that could be inflicted on her. Even Twilight Sparkle felt sorry for her former mentor. Jewelius, however, looked completely unfazed by his aunt’s heartfelt apology. But when he looked around and saw his pupil and subjects feeling sympathy for the prisoners, a great rage began to fester inside him. But he calmed himself down.

“Well said,” Jewelius said in an unsympathetic tone. “Let’s get this over with now.”

Two guards began escorting Celestia up to the top of the platform to the hangman’s noose. As they walked, Celestia studied the structure of the platform. It wasn’t going to be a long drop, her neck wouldn’t break when she fell. She would hang until the rope strangled her to death. Obviously Jewelius wanted her to suffer in her final moments. She finally reached the noose that hung in front of her face. Celestia looked directly at Twilight and made eye contact.

“Twilight,” she said in the warm and motherly tone she always used. “You are the most wonderful pony I have ever had the honor of making my student. You are more powerful and more pure of heart than even you think you are. Promise me that you will take care of everypony for me, please.” A tear ran down the fallen princess’s cheek.

Tears began to run down Twilight’s cheeks as she gave Celestia a slight nod of agreement. This was becoming increasingly painful to watch.

Celestia bowed her head down to the floor of the platform. Her horn glowed with a golden aura as she slowly raised her head. A golden light shined brightly in the horizon and grew larger as the alicorn raised her head. The rise of the morning sun was a very beautiful sight that everypony cherished and it was being done by a pony whose love for her people knew no bounds. Immediately, the crowd started having second thoughts.

“What are we doing?!” Fancy Pants said anxiously. “We can’t let this happen!”

“Please, stop the execution!” an earth pony mare called to the royal viewing booth.

“Isn’t there another way!” a unicorn stallion said.

“Your Majesty,” a concerned Twilight politely addressed Jewelius. “This isn’t right. There’s got to be another way.”

Soon the whole crowd began speaking anxiously in opposition of the execution.

Jewelius began to grow even more enraged as he saw that his subjects had begun to feel compassion for Celestia again. He was determined to have all the love and praise of Equestria directed at him and he wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way.

“Forgive me, everypony,” he addressed his subjects. “But the traitors to Equestria must be made examples of!” The protests grew even more after that, but he ignored them and sat watching the execution proceed with sadistic excitement.

Celestia’s head finally raised until it was pointing directly up at the sky with the morning sun now completely raised. A unicorn guard used his magic to put the noose around her neck.

“NO!” Pinkie cried in panic. “Somepony please stop this!”

“Do it!” Jewelius yelled barely holding back the excitement in his voice.

The other guard pulled a lever on the platform and the trapdoor beneath the alicorn’s hooves opened. The prisoners, the crowd, and Twilight watched in horror as Celestia fell through the trapdoor. Jewelius’s excited expression grew bigger with every moment.

As she fell, Celestia could feel the rope tighten around her neck. She felt the air being squeezed out of her throat. In awhile, she’d be no more. But then, a blast of light blue energy was shoot from the crowd at the execution platform. The blast severed the noose and sent the white alicorn plummeting to the ground. Celestia regained herself for a moment and looked to the crowd. Soon everypony’s attention was turned to the source of the blast. Hidden within the crowd was a mysterious cloaked pony. The pony threw her cloak off and revealed herself to be none other than Luna.

“This party is over!” Luna angrily declared in her royal voice.

Author's Note

Some of you maybe quite disturbed by Twilight's dark change in character and the misfortunes happening to her friends, brother, and mentor. But if you think about it a little, what just happened to them in this chapter is a bit karmic. They all refused to listen to Twilight’s suspicions about the evil bride and in the end she was right. Now they’re the ones trying to tell Twilight that her new friend and mentor is evil, but due to Jewelius's manipulations, she won't listen to them. They're going through the same treatment they gave Twilight. But now I think it's time for them to start putting the past behind them, rekindle their friendship, and take this traitorous usurper down!

Chapter 13

“LUNA!” everypony yelled in surprise. Luna had been hiding within the crowd and waiting for the right opportunity to make her move. She had fired a magic blast at the gallows, cutting the noose around Celestia’s neck, and saving her from certain death.

“Luna!” Celestia exclaimed with surprise to see her younger sister.

“It’s a good thing I stuck to the shadows to avoid capture,” Luna said.

“So that’s where she was!” Jewelius said furiously. He was so caught up in torturing the prisoners that he failed to remember his other aunt. “Seize them! Don’t stand there, SEIZE THEM!”

Immediately, the guards readied their spears and began converging on Luna and the prisoners. More guards came running out of the castle to help out their comrades. Thinking quickly, Luna fired a few more blasts of magic that shattered the chains that bound the others. Now free, Shining Armor, Celestia, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike joined Luna in defending themselves against the guards. Applejack was able to fight off multiple guards with the strength she had gained from working on her family’s farm. Rainbow Dash and Rarity took down many guards with their karate skills. Pacifistic Fluttershy didn’t do much fighting, instead she used evasive moves that were timed at the right moments which caused her attackers to accidentally attack each other. Pinkie Pie somehow found her party cannon and used it to send multiple enemies away with powerful blasts of confetti. Spike was young and didn’t have a lot of combat experience, but he was able to help out as much as he could. Whenever a friend was looking overwhelmed by guards, he’d either jump onto a guard’s back and pull his ears or mane or he’d sneak up from behind and bite one of his back legs. Also, the dragon’s small size made it difficult to guards to get ahold of him. Being forced to fight the stallions that he once served with was a hard thing for Shining Armor to do. But he was able to defend himself with his superior combat skills and his defensive spells were unrivaled in the guard. He didn’t become captain for nothing. Celestia fought side-by-side with her sister, she didn’t want to hurt her once loyal defenders but she knew she had to. The combined powers of the two alicorns proved to be more than a match for the attacking guards. The two sisters used non-lethal spells to stun or knock unconscious on their attackers. The ponies in the crowd scattered and ran in all directions panicking as the fighting went on.

“STOP THEM!” Jewelius roared furiously.

Vivian and Commander Hildread decided to join in the battle against the rebelling prisoners. Hildread ran toward her rival, Shining Armor, then spread her wings and leapt into the air. Shining looked up and saw his opponent hovering in the air. Hildread flapped her metallic wing at Shining and sent some razor-sharp metal feathers flying at him. Luckily, the white unicorn stallion was able to avoid the projectiles. Then Hildread descended to the ground and she and Shining got into a grappling struggle with their front legs.

“GET THEM!” Jewelius angrily yelled.

Hildread leapt back into the air and hurled some more razor-sharp feathers at Shining. He managed to dodge them but they were heading toward a pony couple who were frozen with fear because of all the panicking and chaos going on. Reacting quickly, Twilight Sparkle got up from her seat, jumped in front of the pony couple, and projected a magic force field dome that encased and protected all three of them from the deadly projectiles.

“SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!” Jewelius shouted. The more the prisoners defended themselves, the angrier he got. Then he noticed one of the guards had entered the royal viewing booth he was seated in. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be out there trying to stop them!”

Then the guard suddenly changed into the changeling queen, Chrysalis. She had successfully escaped her prison cell and wanted to settle her score with her treacherous former partner. “JEWELIUS!” she angrily yelled.

Suddenly, all the guards who came out of the castle revealed themselves to be escaped changelings in disguise.

“Changelings!” an earth pony mare screamed when she saw them. The already panicking ponies began running around and screaming even more.

A look of absolute terror spread across Jewelius’s face as he gazed up at Chrysalis. He leapt from the viewing booth and started making a run for it.

“I will tear you to pieces!” Chrysalis yelled giving chase.

“Twilight!” Jewelius cried desperately to his student for help.

Twilight heard her new mentor’s call and immediately ran to his aid. She ran in between Chrysalis and Jewelius, and took up a defensive stance against Chrysalis. She looked extremely determined to protect her king from the vile creature whom she held responsible for ruining her life.

“Get out of my way, you miserable fool!” Chrysalis demanded.

“You will not touch him!” Twilight retorted.

Meanwhile, the exiles had successfully defeated quite a few guards while others, including Hildread and Shackle, shifted their attention from them to the changelings and began engaging them instead.

“They’re distracted!” Applejack said to the others. “We’ve gotta head ta the medical wing and save Cadance!”

“Right!” Rainbow Dash agreed.

All the prisoners then ran through the castle doors and into the castle.

“They’re heading for the medical wing!” Vivian informed her master.

“NO!” Jewelius yelled angrily and took off with his assistant to pursue the exiles.

“You’re not getting away!” Chrysalis yelled after him but Twilight still stood in her way preventing her from pursuing them.

“You’re fight is with me!” Twilight defiantly said to her.

“Fine! If I have to go through you to get to him, so be it!”

The nine exiles ran down the hallways as fast as they could trying to make it to the medical wing before anypony else. Cadance could be undergoing some more painful torture at this very moment, they had to save her.

“We’re almost there,” Shining told the group. “It’s just around this corner!”

They all immediately turned left at the end of a hallway. But stopped in their tracks when they saw Jewelius and Vivian standing in front of the wing’s door waiting for them.

“Jewelius!” Luna exclaimed in surprise.

“No!” Fluttershy cried.

But before any of them could react, Vivian blasted them with a powerful spell that petrified all of them. None of them could move a single muscle. Vivian had to hold the spell to keep it from wearing off.

“Ahh! You were so close,” Jewelius mocked them and let out a wicked chuckle.

Back in Canterlot’s square, the guards were still fighting the changelings and Twilight was still battling against Chrysalis. So far, Twilight had the upper hoof on the wicked queen. Her magic was truly extraordinary. Chrysalis was beginning to see why Jewelius dumped her for the young unicorn.

“I can’t believe a mere unicorn could have this much power!” Chrysalis said taking a few steps back from her opponent.

“I’m no ordinary unicorn,” Twilight angrily told her. “I didn’t become Celestia’s pupil for nothing. I’ve faced many seemingly impossible challenges. Cadance was my foalsitter, she always told me I was special. And you will pay for stealing her image and ruining everything important to me!”

“You will try!” Chrysalis threateningly retorted.

“Even Jewelius noticed my potential, and he’s been doing so much to try and make things right for me and all of Equestria. So I will do everything in my power to protect and help him!”

Chrysalis let out a sinister chuckle. “You poor, disillusioned, little unicorn. Your new so-called king isn’t trying to save your precious Cadance, he’s trying to get rid of everypony who would threaten his rule. He’s only using you, and when he gets what he wants he’ll get rid of you.”

Twilight’s expression changed from determination to surprise and confusion. “What are you talking about?” Then she became angry. “No, that’s not true. You’re lying!”

“Am I?!” Chrysalis mocked her. “He was the one who told me about the wedding, and let me in. He’s probably having her tortured at this very moment.” Then she spread her wings and took flight. The other changelings followed suit. Twilight readied her horn to stop her. “What are you going to do, Twilight? Stop the evil changelings or save your old foalsitter? What if I’m not lying this time? You could be truly responsible for something horrible to happen to Cadance this time?”

Twilight began to become nervous. What if she could be wrong this time? What if Chrysalis was telling the truth this time? What if Cadance was in a worse situation than she was last time? She didn’t know who to trust. By the time she regain some of her senses, Chrysalis and her changelings were already fleeing Canterlot. With the changelings gone now, Twilight ran into the castle and began making her way to the medical wing. She needed answers desperately.

“Guess what, everypony?” Jewelius mockingly said to the petrified exiles. “I have some bad news. I was unable to stop some crazed traitors from murdering our beloved Cadance.” It was obvious he was planning to finish off Cadance now and put the blame on all of them.

“Jewelius, please don’t do this!” Celestia desperately pleaded. “If you had just talked with Cadance and I about how you were feeling, we might have been able to work something out. You don’t have to do this.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Jewelius admitted sinisterly. “I chose to. I don’t need you or the other princesses, I’ve surpassed all of you. And now, I’m going to prove that.” He turned and opened the door to the medical wing. Just as he was about to head in to commit his dark deed, he was met with an extremely surprising sight.

Cadance was sitting up in her hospital bed and she looked extremely angry. She was holding two struggling doctors in the air with her magic, but then smacked them both together knocking them out. Then she turned her glaring eyes toward her treacherous cousin. Jewelius stared at her in surprise and nervousness.

“How did-” But before he could finish his question, Cadance blasted him with a blast of magic which sent him flying backward into his assistant and against the wall. With Vivian’s concentration broken, her petrification spell broke freeing the exiles.

“That was for ruining my wedding!” Cadance said angrily.

Twilight ran down the halls as fast as she could. When she finally made it to the medical wing, she was met with a surprising and confusing sight. Both Jewelius and Vivian were lying on the floor unconscious and Cadance was alright and embracing Shining Armor and the other exiles.

“Cadance?” Twilight said getting their attention. “What is going on?”

“This way!” came an approaching voice that sounded like Hildread. “We’re almost there!”

“I’m sorry, Twilight,” Cadance gently said. “But I don’t have time to explain.”

“Twilight, try to understand,” Luna said. “It’s not safe for any of us here, even Cadance.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked painfully confused.

“Sorry Twilight,” Pinkie sadly said. “As much as we want to have this talk with you, we really can’t stay here.” The other four mares nodded in agreement.

"Twily, Jewelius has mom and dad hold up somewhere, you must find them," Shining told her.

"What?!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.

“Please, trust us this time,” Celestia pleaded.

“Stay safe, Twilight,” Spike also pleaded.

“Come on everypony, I know a safer way out.” Celestia said to the other exiles and began leading them down the hallway. But Shining Armor stopped and turned back to his sister. There was something he needed to say to her.

“Twily, don’t let Jewelius do to you what Chrysalis did to me,” Shining told her with sad pleading eyes before rejoining the others as they escaped.

Shortly after they left, Jewelius and Vivian started to regain consciousness. Then Hildread and some guards arrived. They saw that Jewelius and Vivian looked a little banged up.

“Help them up,” Hildread commanded the guards to help their king and his assistant get back on their hooves.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” one guard asked concerned.

“YOU IDIOTS!” Jewelius yelled furiously and smacked the guard who helped him across the face. “Search the castle and find those upstarts!”

“But my lord, what about the changelings?” another guard asked concerned. “They’ve all escaped, even their queen.”

“We’ll worry about them later,” Jewelius replied without a single care. “For now, I want those ponies and their dragon found! They’ll rue the day they dared to make a fool of Holy King Jewelius I!”

“Yes, sir,” Hildread complied with the king’s demands. “Search the castle! They won’t get far.”

Jewelius walked angrily down the hallway with Vivian by his side. He passed by Twilight, who was still standing where she was in a state of shock and confusion, not paying a single bit of attention to her. Twilight was left alone in the hallway with her thoughts on what had just happened.

Chapter 14 (edited 03/24/19)

Cadance, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Spike all hid in a storage room while a group of guards passed by in search for them.

“I think they went this way,” one of the guards said.

“Come on, let’s not let them get away,” another one said.

All ten fugitives let out sighs of relief when their pursuers were gone.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Rainbow nervously asked.

“The entire castle is crawling with guards,” Rarity added.

“Through here,” Cadance said to everyone. “Why do you think I led you all to this room?” She then showed them an area in the room where the floor was missing and the big hole dropped down into a cavern filled with glittering gems.

“Is this the- ” Fluttershy started to ask.

“Yes,” Cadance interrupted to answer her question. “This is the entrance to the underground caverns where Chrysalis imprisoned Twilight and I.”

“Jewelius said she got through my shield using these tunnels,” Shining said. “So we must go through and find the way Chrysalis came in.”

“Then let’s go, everypony,” Celestia told the group.

One by one, they all jumped down through the hole into the caverns. Celestia and Luna used their magic to arrange some big boxes to cover up the hole and avoid giving suspicion to their pursuers.

Meanwhile, squads of guards were patrolling everywhere on the castle grounds looking for the escapees. Twilight Sparkle walked down the hallways of the castle thinking about the most recent moment she had with Cadance, Celestia, her brother, and her former friends.

“Twily, don’t let Jewelius do to you what Chrysalis did to me!” Her brother’s last words echoed constantly in her mind. Could everything they said be true? If so, then that would mean that she was on the wrong side. Suddenly, Twilight’s train of thought was interrupted by the sound of arguing as she came to the doors to the throne room.

“We have to deal with this matter immediately!” said an angry voice that sounded like Fancy Pants.

“The matter is being dealt with,” said another angry voice that sounded like Jewelius.

“I’m talking about the changelings,” Fancy Pants argued.

“And I told you we have bigger problems to worry about besides those pathetic insects!” Jewelius argued back.

“Those insects pose a greater threat than the exiles you’re trying to catch!”

“You forget those ten exiles are the ones responsible for those bugs becoming a threat. Therefore, it is very important that they be found and made examples of!”

“What is this obsession with those ponies? Aren’t a few of them members of your family? Don’t you feel any sort of concern for them?”

“They dared to oppose MY rule! Any and all traitors to the new king of Equestria must and will be punished!”

“So this is about you?!”

Then Twilight decided to enter the throne room. She carefully opened the door and entered. Sure enough, Jewelius, Vivian, Fancy Pants, and Fleur Dis Lee were all in the throne room. As soon as Twilight entered, the argument stopped and all eyes turned to Twilight.

“I’m sorry,” Twilight nervously apologized when she realized she had caught everypony’s attention. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“It’s alright, Miss Sparkle,” Fancy Pants politely assured her. “We were just about to leave.”

“Vivian will show you out,” Jewelius told the couple.

On command, Vivian began leading Fancy Pants and Fleur Dis Lee out of the throne room. But then Fancy Pants stopped for a moment to say something to Twilight.

“Miss Sparkle, you are an intelligent and noble young mare,” he said in friendly and concerned tone. “I want you to know that everypony trusts you and you can trust us.” With that, he left the room with Vivian and Fleur leaving Twilight alone with Jewelius. Twilight stared after Fancy Pants with a concerned and suspicious expression on her face.

“Did you forget your manners?” Jewelius asked her impatiently.

“No, my lord,” Twilight answered and bowed respectfully to him. “You seem upset. Is everything okay?” she asked noticing the unhappy expression on her new mentor’s face.

“Some ponies just don’t know the importance of certain issues over others,” Jewelius complained. “They don’t understand how much work a ruler has to do to keep his kingdom together.”

“They’re just scared about a possible second attack by the changelings,” Twilight said. “You remember what happened when they invaded Canterlot during the wedding?”

“Yes, and I also remember who it was that allowed for that disaster to happen,” Jewelius replied shifting the blame. “But apparently they all seem to forget who was really to blame for that horrible event. You remember don’t you?”

“Yes, but-” Twilight said but was interrupted before she could finish.

“And do you remember how it happened?”

An uncomfortable look formed on Twilight’s face as she remembered the saddest and most painful thing that ever happened to her in her entire life. The memories of the wedding rehearsal, her desperation to tell everypony something was wrong, their complete and remorseless rejection of her suspicions and her, and the feelings of heartbreak and loneliness. She felt a few tears taking form in her eyes as she remembered everything. Jewelius could see she was feeling very upset at having to remember those moments, but he had a smile of satisfaction to see that the methods he used to turn this young unicorn, who was once loyal to his aunt, over to his side.

Jewelius remembered a week earlier, he visited Twilight in the medical wing right after exiling the three alicorns, her brother, Spike, and her five friends. Twilight had finally recovered after using that tremendous spell to capture all the changelings, and was eager to know what had transpired while she was out. The room was empty with only Jewelius there sitting by her bed with a warm, friendly, and concerned look on his face.

“Are you alright, my dear?” he asked in a gentle tone.

“I’m fine,” Twilight assured him. “What about you and everypony else?”

Jewelius gave her a warm and satisfied smile. Little did she know that smile wasn’t a sign of relief for her well-being, but a sign of relief that she still didn’t suspect him of anything foul.

“Don’t worry, the changelings are well confined and the citizens of Canterlot are okay,” he told her.

“But what about the princesses, my brother, and my friends?” she asked greatly concerned.

“They have been exiled from Equestria,” Jewelius said with false sympathy. “They had to be made examples of.”

A look of great concern spread across Twilight’s face. “But without the princesses, who will lead Equestria?”

“You’re looking at its new king,” Jewelius answered with a mild bit of pride.

“But it wasn’t their fault,” Twilight pleaded. “Chrysalis fooled everypony.”

“But not you.”

“Well… yeah, but-” Twilight tried to say.

“You saw the signs, you knew what was really going on, and you were the only one who actually tried to do anything about it,” Jewelius interrupted. “And in the end, with some guidance from me, you not only exposed the fake bride for what she really was, but you also helped expose the others for the ponies they really were.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked confused.

“I hate to tell you this, Twilight,” Jewelius explained sporting a look of sympathy on his face. “But I’m afraid your friends, your brother, and even Celestia were all frauds too.”

“What?!” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief.

“They were never really your friends. You’re a very special unicorn, you’ve got more power than anypony has ever seen. You were only ever a means to end. Celestia took you under her wing because she knew she could use you to do her dirty work while claiming all responsibility for your success.” As Jewelius explained everything, Twilight’s heart sank deeper and deeper. “Because of your connections to the princess, your ‘friends’ saw you as the key to making all of their dreams come true. And your brother, once he had found his very special somepony, it was time for him to move on with her while you, his precious little sister, faded from memory. Your little outburst at the wedding rehearsal showed them that you were no longer of use to them, so they turned their backs on you.”

Twilight had a look of pure heartbreak on her face. Her jaw hung open and tears streamed from her eyes. No, this couldn’t be true! It just couldn’t! “I was only trying to help them, protect them, show them the truth,” she wept.

“They don’t care about the truth,” Jewelius said trying to sound reasonable. “They want to see the world the way they want it to be. The reality of things frightens them so they’d rather ignore it than accept it. And in the end, it was that kind of backwards thinking that sealed their fates. Twilight, I know this is all so hard to take. But you can’t keep living in a fantasy all your life like they did. You have to wake up and face reality.”

For awhile, Twilight didn’t say anything and just sat upright in her bed with a miserable look on her face as she took in everything Jewelius told her and remembered all the good times she had with her loved ones as well as the wedding rehearsal where all the happiness came to an end.

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” Twilight said with visible sadness in her eyes. “I was taught friendship is magic, but now I find out that there was no friendship. I don’t know what to do with my life anymore.”

“Perhaps I can help you with that,” Jewelius suggested. “Twilight, as the new Holy King of Equestria, I offer you to become my student. Will you let me teach you the true lessons of true friendship and make you into the mare you were destined to be?”

Twilight began to feel her heart lift. Hope was starting to burn inside her once again. However, she still couldn’t help but feel she needed to do something for her former friends and loved ones. “I… I appreciate the offer, I really do. But is there anyway I can convince you to give the others a second chance?” she asked with pleading eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Jewelius said looking quite remorseful. “But I’m afraid the charges against them are too great.”

“What about Cadance?”

“She was the one who foolishly let the beastly queen in the castle in the first place,” Jewelius gently argued.

“But Cadance, the real Cadance, is a very pure and kind pony, I can attest to that,” Twilight assured. “Besides, she’s been through so much during this entire ordeal. She doesn’t deserve this fate, so will you please let her back into Canterlot, Your Highness?”

Jewelius’s left eye twitched a bit. For Twilight to plead for the pony he hated most of all to be let back into the kingdom infuriated him on the inside. But for her to refer to him as ‘Your Highness’ was a sign that she now saw him as the new rightful ruler of Equestria. So he calmed himself down and started forming another plan in his mind.

“If that is what you want, my new faithful student,” the false king warmly falsely promised. “Then I will see to it that Princess Cadance is reinstated by the end of the week.”

Twilight gave him a warm and thankful smile that eventually faded as she thought once again about the others.

“What’s wrong now?” Jewelius asked concerned.

“I need to be alone for a little while,” Twilight replied with new tears of sadness developing in her eyes.

Jewelius realized why and started heading for the door. Before he left the room, he turned back to say one last thing to his new student with sympathetic eyes. “I’m exceedingly sorry, my dear.”

Twilight gave him a small nod to let him know she accepted his apology and started sobbing in her pillow as the unicorn king left her alone in the room.

Outside the doors of the medical wing, Jewelius was met by his assistant, Vivian.

“How did it go?” she asked her master.

“I think she took it-” Jewelius started in a sympathetic tone with a look of pity on his face. But then he dropped the act and displayed a more sinister expression and finished with a more sadistic tone of voice. “-rather well.”

“Yes, I remember,” Twilight answered her king and mentor.

“Twilight, my faithful student and eventual bride,” Jewelius spoke. “You know how big a threat those exiles are for all of Equestria and we need to devote a lot of our resources to putting a stop to their menace. I hope you know that everypony in Canterlot trusts you. They look up to you. You are their light in the darkness. So I believe it would be most beneficial if you could tell them that their wise and noble king has everything under control and that special precautions are being taken so that the changelings will no longer a threat to worry about.”

An uncomfortable and suspicious look spread across Twilight’s face at this request. “Is this true or are you asking me to lie to calm everypony down so you can devote everything to stopping the exiles?”

There was a moment of silence between the two. “I think it make everypony feel a whole lot better,” Jewelius finally answered with a sly look on his face.

Twilight bowed in acceptance of the request. However, deep down she was not happy. She had gotten her answer but it made feel that something wasn’t right. The feeling of great suspicion she was felt during the wedding had returned and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Elsewhere, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Shining Armor, Spike, and the Mane Five were walking down a dark tunnel.

“I can’t see anything,” Rainbow complained. “Does anypony know where we going?”

Suddenly, a light appeared at the end of the tunnel and got bigger and brighter the closer they got to it.

“Look everypony, there’s a light up ahead,” Cadance said. “Maybe that’s the way out.”

The group headed toward the bright light and after a moment they found themselves facing a bright green forest with sunshine falling on all the plants.

“YAY!” Pinkie squealed with excitement. “We finally found the way out!”

Celestia looked back and saw the way they came out was the entrance to the mines carved in the side of a big mountain.

“This must be the other side of the mountain which the castle rests upon,” Luna concluded with her sister.

“So this is where Jewelius showed Chrysalis how to get through my shield spell,” Shining observed the mountain and mine entrance.

“So where do we go from here?” Fluttershy asked.

“We can’t go anywhere near Canterlot,” Rarity added. "It's not safe there anymore."

"And nopony will believe us about what Jewelius has done," Applejack said. "Not even Twilight."

"Great! Now I know how she felt," Rainbow commented miserably and remorsefully.

“Maybe we can find someplace to hide in Ponyville until we can figure out a plan,” AJ suggested. “Ah got family there that ah know would never sell us out, ah hope.”

“What do you think?” Rarity asked the princesses.

“Well, it doesn’t look like we have any other opinions,” Celestia said.

“Then to Ponyville it is,” Cadance agreed.

As the group started entering the forest to make their way to Ponyville, Shining Armor stopped for a moment to take one last look back at where they came with an expression of great concern on his face.

“Be careful, Twily,” he silently said to himself and then rejoined the group as they disappeared amongst the trees.

Chapter 15

After a few hours of trotting through huge forests and trying not to attract any attention, the group of outcasts finally made it to Ponyville.

“Home, Sweet Home!” Pinkie Pie squealed with excitement.

“Finally, some sanctuary,” Rarity said with relief.

“Somethin’ doesn’t seem right,” Applejack said suspiciously.

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“It feels… different.”

Everyone paused for a moment to listen to and observe the town. It was very quiet and usually ponies would be trotting around and going about their business but there was no sign of anypony anywhere. This was beginning to make the group nervous.

“Where is everypony?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Hello!” Rarity called. “Is anypony there?”

Pinkie anxiously ran to Sugarcude Corner and started knocking on the door of the bakery.

“Mr. and Mrs. Cake?” she nervously called while knocking on the door. “Pound and Pumpkin? Is anypony there? Please answer!”

Then the door cracked open a little. Pinkie cautiously backed up a few inches preparing for anything hostile.

“Pinkie?” said a voice that sounded like Mrs. Cake. Then the door opened completely to reveal the pink mare’s two beloved employers.

“You’re okay!” Pinkie exclaimed happily. She immediately gave the two a big warm hug and they returned the gesture.

“We’re so glad you’re okay, Pinkie,” Mrs. Cake said in a warm motherly tone.

“We heard you were banished from Equestria a week ago. How did you get back?” Mr. Cake asked.

“It’s a long and sad story,” Pinkie said glumly as she prepared to tell them.

Meanwhile, Applejack had made her way back to Sweet Apple Acres. The place was very quiet with no signs of movement. What really disturbed her was the huge lack of apples in the trees surrounding the farm. AJ ran to the front door of the house and bagged on it.

“Apple Bloom? Big Mac? Granny Smith?” she called for her family. “Is anypony in there?”

Then the door cracked open a little and a small filly with a pale light olive coat, an amaranth mane and tail, and a light crimson bow on top of her head appeared.

“Applejack!?” the filly said surprised.

“Apple Bloom!” AJ said with tears of joy in her eyes as she pulled her little sister into a hug.

Then her older brother, Big Mac, and Granny Smith entered the room and after a brief moment of staring in surprise run over and joined in the group hug.

“What happened?” Apple Bloom asked concerned. “We all heard you had been banished from Equestria.”

“Ah was,” AJ answered. “But then Jewelius set a trap an’ lured us back ta Canterlot so he could torture an’ execute us personally.”

“That’s awful!” Granny Smith said horrified.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac agreed.

“What’s worse,” AJ continued. “He managed ta manipulate everypony in Canterlot, even Twilight, against us.” She held her head in sadness while her little sister gently patted her back in an attempt to comfort her. “How’ve y’all been?” She asked concerned. Her family’s first response were faces of extreme sadness.

Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Spike, Shining Armor, and Rainbow Dash had arrived in the town square and were looking for anypony to talk to. Rarity and Fluttershy had already gone to their respective homes to search for anyone.

Celestia walked up to the town hall and knocked on the door. “Is anypony there?” she whispered nervously. There was no answer. She turned to leave when she heard the door creak open and reveal the face of Mayor Mare.

“Good Heavens! It’s the former princesses of Equestria!” the Mayor quietly exclaimed.

“Mayor Mare,” Cadance addressed her in a gentle and pleading voice. “Is there any chance of you and the citizens of Ponyville to offer us shelter in these dark and troubled times?”

The Mayor hesitated for a moment, but then she made her decision. “Quickly and quietly come in,” then she opened the door and let the fugitives inside. Inside, there were quiet a few ponies who looked extremely miserable, amongst them was Scootaloo.

“Rainbow Dash!” the little pegasus filly said happy to see her idol.

“Scoots!” Rainbow replied equally happy. The two ran to each other and exchanged warm hugs.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Scootaloo said teary-eyed.

“Me too,” Dash replied just as teary-eyed.

Celestia observed the other ponies in the hall. They all looked like they’d been through some rough hardships. “What’s been going on in Ponyville while we’ve been in exile?” she asked Mayor Mare.

“Things haven’t been very good since your nephew, Jewelius, had you exiled and proclaimed himself king,” the mayor sadly explained. “Shortly after your exile, he said that since five of the traitorous former wielders of the Elements had come from Ponyville, the town was just as guilty as they were and had to be made an example of. Then he raised taxes and forbid any trading with the town. Whenever somepony becomes desperate and tries to break any of these new laws, he sends his guards down here and…” she hesitated and a fearful look spread across her face. Then she regained her composure and continued. “Well, it’s best we don’t get into details. Sometimes guards come here and cause trouble for no reason at all. Ponies have become so scared that they lock themselves in their homes rather than risk an encounter with the king’s guards should they arrive at anytime. Most of the ponies in this room have resorted to thievery in order to help provide for the needy and I keep them safe because, as mayor of Ponyville, it’s my job to ensure the well-being of my people. But everyday life gets harder and ponies are getting poorer, starving, and running scared,” the mayor started shedding tears. “We need help!”

The three alicorns, Spike, Shining, and Rainbow all stared in horror at what they’d just heard.

Back at Sugarcube Corner, Mr. and Mrs. Cake were finishing telling Pinkie their tragic plight. The couple had tears in their eyes.

“Now our business is going under because we can’t do business with others,” Mr. Cake tearfully explained. “We barely have enough to feed ourselves.”

“We feed most of what we have to the babies, but it’s still not enough,” Mrs. Cake said bursting into tears while her husband tried to comfort her. “I don’t know what we can do!”

Pinkie had a look of utter devastation on her face when she heard this. She couldn’t fathom how somepony could be so outlandishly cruel for such petty reasons. She also couldn’t help but feel responsible for the situation the Cakes were in.

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack had heard the terrible whole story from her family.

“An’ so we’ve been harvesting as much apples as we could to provide food for the ponies of Ponyville,” Granny Smith sadly explained.

“But since the demand for food is so big, we hardly have enough time to grow more apples,” Apple Bloom said. “We can’t keep this up forever, but everypony is starving, they need food!”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac sadly agreed.

“Ah can’t believe things have gotten this bad since ah’ve been gone!” AJ said absolutely horrified with tears streaming from her eyes.

Meanwhile at the town hall, the fugitives were still pretty shocked and disturbed by the news of what has been transpiring during their time in exile.

“I can’t believe my own cousin would do this!” Cadance said greatly mortified.

“How could I not have seen this side of him?!” Celestia said just as disturbed.

“I think I did,” Luna shamefully admitted getting everypony’s attention. “When I first met Cadance and Jewelius after being freed from Nightmare Moon, I felt a darkness stirring inside the young prince’s heart. But I dismissed it believing it to be a lingering effect from being Nightmare Moon, and now look where we are. This is practically all my fault.”

“No sister,” Celestia argued in a comforting tone. “I’ve been with Jewelius longer than you have. I should’ve seen this coming. But just like with Nightmare Moon and the Changeling Queen, I failed and now it’s too late.”

Then the door of the town hall opened up and in walked Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rarity’s sister Sweetie Belle. All three of them looked extremely sad.

“I take it you have heard about what’s been going on around here as well?” Shining asked them. Both Rarity and Fluttershy nodded their heads.

“Why would Jewelius want to punish all of Ponyville for our mistakes?” Fluttershy tearfully asked.

“He’s responsible for everything bad that’s happened so far!” Rainbow answered angrily. “He probably did all this to Ponyville as a way just to spite us!”

“Well we can’t just keep hiding and sitting around here,” Spike said. “We gotta do something!”

“If we had the Elements of Harmony and if Twilight were here, we’d probably stand a better chance,” Celestia said in a sad tone. “But Jewelius has poisoned her mind. Even if we had the Elements, without the Element of Magic, there is no hope.”

“What happened to you, Auntie?” Cadance asked with a mixture of surprise and disappointment. “You used to have so much faith in Twilight. Just like at the wedding rehearsal, you misplaced your faith in your student. Please don’t do that again.”

“I know how much Twilight means to you, Cadance. But I’m afraid-”

“Twilight is one of the most special young unicorns I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. You need to have faith in her. We all need to have faith in her. Promise me, auntie. Promise me that you will still have faith in your student.” Cadance asked in pleading tone.

After a moment of thinking it over, Celestia finally agreed. “Alright, I will have faith in my faithful student.”

“And you, Shining Armor?”

“I will have faith in my sister,” Shining agreed managing a warm smile.

“I will too!” Spike happily said.

Other ponies voiced their agreement.

“We all have to trust that Twilight will do the right thing,” Cadance said staring out a window with a hopeful expression on her face. She was really hoping that Twilight would eventually come around and help out everyone dear to her.

Back in Canterlot, Jewelius had gathered a huge crowd in front of the castle entrance to hear Twilight Sparkle speak and tell them that he had the Changeling situation all under control. Unfortunately, Twilight knew this was a lie, Jewelius was putting more effort into searching for the fugitives than the more threatening creatures. She didn’t want to lie to the ponies who trusted her greatly, but she knew her new mentor wouldn’t be happy if she didn’t do as he instructed. Twilight stood in front of the castle doors facing the huge crowd while the king and his assistant stood of a balcony directly above her. He stared down at her from the balcony with a sly, untrustworthy smile. Twilight felt uneasy with him staring down at her expecting her to carry out his lie. The happy smiling faces of the citizens all staring at her with so much trust for her in their hearts made it even worse.

“My beloved subjects,” Jewelius addressed the crowd. “My dear protégé has something she would very much love to tell all of you.”

The crowd erupted with excited cheering that immediately settled down when Twilight stepped forward. Sweat dripped down Twilight’s face as she faced the eagerly awaiting crowd. She took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from her face, and was ready to speak.

“Thank you for coming, everypony,” Twilight said. “I’m very glad to see that many of you are okay after the escape of the changelings last night. I know that some of you are probably wondering if any precautions against another attack by these horrible creatures are being taken.”

“Are we safe from those horrible monsters?” one male pony asked. Soon more ponies where asking similar questions.

“I won’t lie to you,” Twilight continued. “The truth is…” Twilight hesitated becoming nervous again. The trusting innocent faces of everypony looking to her for guidance was eating at her insides. Jewelius looked down at her with a face that said ‘Go on, tell them what they want to hear.’ Twilight took a moment to search her heart, she figured out what she needed to say. “The truth is… I don’t know.” The entire crowd gasped in confusion. Jewelius’s jaw dropped in disbelief as Twilight continued telling everypony the truth. “I don’t know what plans the king is making to counter any possible future attacks from the changelings.” The crowd began to chat suspiciously amongst themselves.

“What is she doing?!” Jewelius whispered furiously. “Stop her!” He commanded Vivian who took off to carry out the order.

“He seems more focused on catching the fugitives than making Equestria safer from another attack,” Twilight sadly continued. “And there is still no new word on the search for my parents. I’m worried-” But before Twilight could finish her speech, two guards accompanied by Vivian came out the castle doors and forcibly escorted the purple unicorn inside.

“It appears Miss Sparkle is still suffering from the trauma she experienced during the whole wedding ordeal,” Vivian informed the crowd. “But don’t fear, His Holy Majesty has everything under control.” With that, she went back into the castle leaving the crowd confused and suspicious.

Back in the castle, Twilight was being escorted down a hallway by the two guards.

“Stop,” she protested. “There is no need for this!”

Then they were met by Jewelius, who looked very angry and disappointed.

“Come,” he angrily ordered the guards. “I need to have a little talk with my protégé and future wife.”

Twilight had an extreme look of nervousness as she escorted by the guards who were following their king down the hallway. She had a terrible feeling she was going to be in big trouble.

Chapter 16

After her little speech to the ponies of Canterlot, King Jewelius had Twilight taken to his throne room. Needless to say, he wasn’t too happy that his student hadn’t told the crowd what he wanted her to tell them. Twilight looked down at the floor while her mentor angrily paced around her.

“I don’t know what plans the king is making to counter any possible future attacks from the changelings?!” Jewelius angrily repeated Twilight’s words in a scolding tone. “He seems more focused on catching the fugitives than making Equestria safer from another attack?! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!”

“I was only doing what I thought was right,” Twilight said raising her head. “Everypony in Canterlot has been deceived once already. I was not taught to lie, especially to ponies who trust me.”

“But you were taught to follow authority,” Jewelius replied angrily.

Twilight felt so angry that she had to pause for a moment before speaking. “Don’t you think this is going too far?”

“What?!” Jewelius asked both angry and confused.

“You’ve become obsessed with ruining the princesses, my brother, and my friends to point where you’re making an entire town full of innocent ponies suffer for their mistakes. Which brings to something I’ve wanted to ask of you as my friend, mentor, and future husband: I want you to low the taxes of Ponyville and reopen trading with them as well as devote more resources to neutralize any possibilities of another changeling attack.”

“I’m not going to waste my time dealing with those pathetic insects or the changelings,” Jewelius ruthlessly refused.

“But ponies are poor and starving!” Twilight said outraged. “If you don’t help them then you may as well be sentencing them all to death!”

“Then so be it!”

“You can’t do that!” Twilight said appalled.

“I am the King of all Equestria, I can do whatever I want!” Jewelius told her. “This nation has been a symbol of greatness for over a thousand years, despite being run by a fool during that time. With me as ruler, Equestria will thrive like it has never before! And you would be wise to remember your place.”

“Ponies are living in fear of the escaped changelings attacking again and you’ve done nothing about it,” Twilight told the king whose jaw hung open in surprise as his prize pawn stood up to him. “Not to mention there still hasn’t been any news on the whereabouts of my parents. A good ruler makes sure his subjects are safe and happy. You should put more resources into dealing with the changelings instead of searching for the princesses, shining Armor, and my friends. In fact, I, as well as many other ponies, believe they have learned their lesson and should be pardoned and welcomed back into Equestrian society. I would personally like to forgive them for the way they wronged me and apologize for my overreaction. I want everything to return to the way they were before all this. And if you want to become a great ruler, then perhaps you should make amends with your predecessors, your own family, and maybe they could teach you a few things.”
SMACK!

What came next, Twilight did not see coming. Her own new mentor, friend, and future fiancé had smacked her hard across the left cheek. She held the left part of her face while staring at him in shock and on the verge of tears. He glared at her with eyes full of rage and not a single shred of remorse for what he just did.

“I am ten times the ruler Celestia, Luna, and especially Cadance could ever hope to be!” Jewelius angrily yelled at her. Then he calmed himself down and spoke in a colder and more collected tone. “It seems to me that despite the atrocious and traumatic betrayal you experienced at the wedding rehearsal, you still have feelings for those so-called ponies. You forget who it was that remained by your side during that time, took you in, and made you my student and future queen. And this is the thanks I get for all I’ve done for you?!”

“What happened to you?” Twilight asked disturbed. “You’re not the same stallion I first met.”

“Changelings aren’t the only ones capable of putting on facades,” Jewelius said sporting a sinister smile.

Then it finally hit Twilight. She stared at Jewelius with a horrified look on her face as she quickly figured out everything. “You knew that wasn’t the real Cadance all along! Everypony’s doubts about my suspicions, the wedding rehearsal, the changeling invasion, turning me and everypony against my friends and family, getting rid of them, and becoming absolute ruler! You wanted all of that to happen!”

“It pleases me to see that you were able to figure that out all on your own,” Jewelius said in a smug and somewhat mocking tone. “Your worthless friends and family couldn’t figure that out, so I had to tell them. But what did you expect? They couldn’t even see that something was obviously wrong with the behavior of the fake bride.” He ended his sentence with a cruel chuckle. “Being Celestia’s favorite niece and an alicorn, I would be doomed to spend the rest of my days in their shadows, never able to make my mark in Equestrian history. However, this ended being in my favor, everypony was so focused on my 'beloved' cousin that they never realized my secret plans were coming to fruition.”

“They were right!” Twilight said still horrified. “It was you all along. You’re responsible for all of this!”

“Well, you did tell me that if I did something spectacular, ponies would recognize my greatness. With my support and guidance, I helped you prevent a bug invasion, expose the corruption and unqualification of the princesses and your friends as the protectors of Equestria, give me the means to become the perfect and ultimate ruler of Equestria and begin a new era of greatness. And I have the changelings, the princesses, your friends, and you to thank for it all.”

Every cruel word cut into Twilight’s heart like a knife. Guilt began to consume her. “It wasn’t Chrysalis who knocked out Cadance during the wedding preparations, it was you. And you were the one who attacked her when they tried to sneak into the castle.”

“And now almost all of my pawns have outlived their usefulness, with the exception of you,” Jewelius said arrogantly. “With a young, beautiful, and gifted unicorn mare like you by my side, Twilight, we will produce a legacy of heirs that will keep my memory of greatness alive for generations.”

Twilight looked at him with utter disgust. “You honestly think I’d willingly continue working as your puppet after everything I’ve learned just now? I can’t believe I allowed myself to be manipulated by you! Let me make myself clear: I don’t like the things you’ve done to get where you are now, I don’t like the way you run Equestria, and I don’t like you! The wedding is off.” This, however, didn’t seem to disturb Jewelius that much. “I am going to tell everypony what you’ve done, then they’ll have you removed and reinstate the princesses back into power.”

Jewelius merely chuckled at this which surprised Twilight. “You think they’ll believe that the ‘hero’ who masterminded the downfall of the wretched changelings, who succeeded where Celestia or even the Elements of Harmony failed, the Holy King of all Equestria is actually the very evil that everypony fears may take over the entire kingdom? Don’t make me laugh. I’ll see to it that any accusation you make against me will be written off as a delusion from the trauma you experienced during the wedding. But in order to make sure that doesn’t need to happen, let me show you something.”

Then Vivian walked into the room with a bag and stood by her master’s side. She used her magic and levitated a crystal ball out of the bag. She held the crystal ball close to Twilight so she could clearly see what was being shown inside. What the young unicorn saw in the orb filled her with horror. She saw an image of her parents, Night Light and Twilight Velvet, locked up in some dark place that looked like a dungeon. The two adult unicorns looked scared and like they had been suffering for a long time.

“Mom! Dad!” Twilight called desperately into the crystal ball despite knowing that they wouldn’t hear her. Then she turned her attention to Jewelius who stood where he was with a cruel, smug smile on his face. “What have you done with them?!”

“Shortly after the changeling invasion was stopped and the fools who let it happen exposed, I had them abducted and secretly locked away just incase we came to this,” Jewelius explained.

“What do you mean?”

“I’d hate to one day find your beloved parents found as casualties of a possible attempted changeling attack.”

Twilight’s eyes grew wide with horror. “You wouldn’t!”

“Then I suggest you show a little more respect and cooperation to your lord and master,” Jewelius demanded. Twilight sadly lowered her head as a sign of obedience. She felt like she had no choice if she wanted to ensure the safety of her parents. “Good, I knew you’d serve me loyally as you did Celestia, you really have a thing for royalty.” His voice had a mocking sound. “Don’t worry my dear Twilight, with you by my side Equestria is in good hooves.” Then, with a smug triumphant smile, he walked away with Vivian tagging along leaving the distraught purple unicorn alone in the throne room.

Twilight stood in the throne room all by herself. Once again, she felt the same feeling of loneliness and betrayal she felt when her loved ones turned their backs on her at the wedding rehearsal. The poor unicorn collapsed on the floor and began to weep heavily. In her desperate attempt to save her brother’s wedding and Canterlot from disaster from a deceiving monster, she’d accidentally helped another monster gain control of all of Equestria. She wept in a puddle of despair and regret.

“Miss Sparkle?” said a voice.

Twilight looked up and saw Raven Inkwell, Celestia’s personal aide, looking down at her with a look of concern and horror.

“Raven?” Twilight said.

“I witnessed the entire thing,” Raven informed her. “To think, we stopped one villain only to help another!”

“And it’s all my fault,” Twilight wept. “I shouldn’t had trusted Jewelius!”

“What are we going to do now?”

“I have to find my friends and the princesses,” Twilight said in a tone full of determination. “With their help, I know we can set things right.” Raven gave her a proud and hopeful smile. “But first, I need to get something from the castle and free my parents.”

“I know where your parents are being held, I’ll go free them while you get whatever it is you need,” Raven said.

The two mares nodded in agreement and took off to fulfill their mission. It was time for them to set the wheels of revolution into motion and take back Equestria.

Later that night, Raven made her way through the dark, shadowy corridors of the castle dungeons trying her best not to be spotted by any guards. Then she finally came across the cell Twilight’s parents were being held in, there was only a single guard with a gruff expression standing watch over the cell. At first, Raven was nervous when she saw the guard, but she maintained her calmness and came up with a plan.

The guard stood watch over the two ponies that he had been personally assigned to watch over by the king himself. Then he heard a noise, like a rock hitting the stone floor, come from down the corridor. The noise sounded close.

“Hey, who’s there?” the guard yelled and walked in the direction of the noise.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet stuck their heads through the bars to see what the guard was doing. They couldn’t see anything, but they heard what sounded like a struggle, grunting, and then sudden silence. After a moment, they heard hoof steps approaching their cell, then they saw that instead of the guard it was Raven.

“What happened to the guard?” Night Light asked confused.

“There’s no time to explain, right now I have to get you both out of here,” Raven told them and began unlocking the lock to their cell.

Elsewhere, Twilight was sneaking around the castle grounds carrying a pair of saddlebags while trying to avoid getting spotted by the night patrol. After ducking and hiding behind numerous bushes and trees, she finally arrived at the entrance of the chamber where the Elements of Harmony were being kept. She quietly opened the door and snuck in, quietly closing the door behind her. She walked down the hallway and came upon a special-looking door with a sun on it. She stuck her horn into a small hole in the middle of the sun symbol and the door magically unlocked, revealing the chest containing the Elements.

“Yes,” Twilight whispered in excitement. “With the Elements, my friends and I will be able to set things right.” Then she put the chest in one of her saddlebags and started heading back the way she came in. But when she opened the door that led back into the courtyard, she was greeted by a group of guards led by Hildread and Jewelius.

“Oh my dear Twilight,” Jewelius said in a mocking tone. “I’m afraid you’ve gone and disappointed me yet again.” Twilight shot him a disgusted glare. “I’ve tried to help you get over your traumatic experiences and be a good mentor, but unfortunately you continue to show that you may be beyond even my great teachings. But to show that I’m a reasonable and merciful ruler, I will give you one final chance. Swear your undying loyalty to me. I’d hate to have to brand you a traitor just like your worthless friends and brother and those foolish alicorns.”

Every filthy, self-absorbed word made Twilight’s blood boil. But she knew she needed to keep a level-head. She took a deep breath and her expression changed to one of hope and determination.

“You underestimate the Magic of Friendship, Jewelius,” she declared. “And that is going to be your downfall!”

Before anypony could do anything, she teleported herself out of sight leaving her former mentor/fiancé and his followers completely surprised. Jewelius’s expression changed to one of frustration.

Somewhere in the castle courtyard, Raven had led Twilight’s parents to an area where they wouldn’t easily be seen by the guards.

“Okay, we wait here for your daughter to arrive and then we find a way out of Canterlot,” Raven explained.

“I hope our little girl is okay,” Twilight Velvet said worried.

Suddenly, Twilight teleported right before them.

“Twilight?!” her parents exclaimed a little startled.

“Everypony stay close to me!” Twilight told them.

Raven and Twilight’s parents all huddled close to her as she performed another teleportation spell. This time she teleported them in a field outside of Canterlot.

“Mom, Dad, are you both okay?” Twilight asked her parents.

“Yes, and we’re happy to see you are too,” Twilight Velvet said. She shed tears of joy as she hugged her daughter.

“Thank Celestia you’re okay,” Night Light said joining the hug.

“What happened to you?” Twilight asked gently pulling out of the hug.

“When the changeling invasion was stopped, we desperately tried to find our way to the wedding hall to see if everypony was alright,” Twilight Velvet explained.

“But then we got lost and were suddenly captured and imprisoned by Commander Hildread,” Night Light added.

“For days, we heard some terrible things,” Twilight Velvet continued with a hint of anxiety in her voice. “We heard that Shining Armor, the princesses, and your friends had become traitors and banished from Equestria.”

“A lot has happened during the time you two have been imprisoned,” Twilight said. “But I’ll explain it on the way.”

“Where are we going?” Night Light asked his daughter.

“I need to fix this mess,” Twilight told them. “But I need my friends’ help, and if I know them, they’re probably back in Ponyville.”

“Good luck,” Raven said. “I’m afraid I must part ways with you. I have some important things to do.”

“I understand and thanks for your help, Raven,” Twilight said, and then she and her parents set off on their way to Ponyville and their only hope of making things right.

Raven watched proudly as Equestria’s last hope began her important journey. But then her proud smile turned into a sinister grin. She let out a wicked cackle before changing her appearance and revealing herself to be a changeling in disguise.

“Everything’s going to work out better this time,” the changeling chuckled sinisterly. “I’d better get back and tell the queen.” Then the evil creature flew off to help his allies set their plans into motion.

Chapter 17 (edited 04/17/19)

The next morning in Canterlot, King Jewelius had amassed a huge crowd in front of the castle doors to give them another one of his deceiving speeches.

“My good ponies of Canterlot,” he addressed the crowd. “I have gathered you all here today to make a rather distressing announcement.” His voice was full of false despair. “Last night, our beloved hero, Twilight Sparkle, had turned her back on Equestria and left to join the rebellious exiles.” The entire crowd gasped in shock and started nervously chatting amongst themselves. “These words are like heavy stones in my heart, but they’re all true. While it pains me to do it, for the peace and security of Equestria, I hereby declare Twilight Sparkle an outcast just like those who allowed the changeling invasion to happen. And I will see to it that she and the other exiles are all captured and brought to justice.”

“No!” yelled a concerned Minuette. “That has to be a mistake.”

“What?!” Jewelius exclaimed completely surprised by this protest.

“Twilight is a dear friend of ours,” Lemon Hearts said.

“She’s always been good and loyal to all the ponies of Equestria,” Twinkleshine added.

“Excuse me?!” Jewelius said, he was beginning to get irritated.

“She may do some questionable things now and then,” said Lyra Heartstrings remembering the incident when all of Ponyville fought over a stuffed doll. “But she always has a good reason for doing so. She’s always there for ponies when they need her.”

“Well, I say we give Twilight Sparkle and the others a pardon and let them back into Equestria,” Fancy Pants suggested. “Perhaps they can help protect us from any changelings that try to invade again.”

The entire crowd started cheering and chanting in agreement. They had learned to forgive Twilight’s loved ones for their mistakes and now wanted to give them a second chance. As they all chanted for the pardon of the exiles, Jewelius’s rage boiled deep down inside and began to reach new heights. The sounds of everypony wanting to love and praise his most hated rivals was more than he could bear.

“SILENCE!!!” Jewelius furiously shouted at the top of his lungs. The entire crowd stopped making noise and stared in shock at the king’s sudden outburst. “How dare you defy your king! ME! I AM HOLY KING OF ALL EQUESTRIA!” Jewelius angrily threatened the crowd. “You will all obey and worship me. I make all the laws, and whatever I say goes. I hereby decree that anypony who sympathizes with the enemies of Equestria will be accused of treason and severly punished!” With that, Jewelius angrily turned and stormed through the castle doors slamming them behind him and leaving the crowd to think about what he just said.

The entire crowd was stunned by the king’s threat. Celestia had never once in the history of her rule made any serious threats to her subjects. At that moment, they were beginning to think that they had supported the wrong side in this whole crisis. That under Jewelius’s rule, Equestria had now become the very evil that the Elements of Harmony were meant to protect it from. They were beginning to wish that Celestia was back in power.

In the throne room, Jewelius sat on the royal throne stewing in his anger and frustration with his assistant, Vivian, standing by his side and his other two loyal conspirators, Commander Hildread and Lieutenant Shackle, stood before him waiting for any orders. He had worked so hard to make his rivals public enemies #1 and make everypony praise him, but now everything was falling apart. Vivian, Hildread, and Shackle was growing concerned with their master’s emotional and mental state.

“Sire,” Shackle nervously addressed her lord. “If I may vent my opinion, things are probably not as bad as they seem.”

“Not as bad as they seem?!” Jewelius repeated angrily. “I’ve worked hard to drive the princesses’ reputations into the ground and establish myself as the greatest pony in all Equestria, but they still adore them! If I knew where they all were hiding, I’d take immediate action and finish what I started. Worst of all, my most valuable pawn has now turned against me. Those pathetic ponies of Ponyville have poisoned her mind to the point of-” But then the angry usurper stopped ranting for a moment as he thought about his words. Then the most malicious grin slowly formed on his face as he came up with a plan. “Ponyville, that’s it! There’s only one place in all Equestria where they could possibly hide from me. Well I’m more clever than they realize, that miserable little town is where it all started and that’s where it will finally all end.”

“What do you mean, Sire?” Shackle asked.

“You naïve little fool, I am going to make Ponyville the ultimate example to all of Equestria. I’m pretty sure those elusive exiles are hiding out somewhere in that tiny town. Where else could they go? By the end of this day, Ponyville will no longer have a place on the map of Equestria. If I can’t control this nation through propoganda, then I’ll just have to control it through fear.”

Shackle’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened with horror. The stallion she had come to pledge her loyalty to was talking about committing mass murder of an entire town just to get rid of one small group of ponies. Even her superior officer, the usually cruel Hildread, looked uneasy and disturbed with this plan. She was willing to abuse her power for very petty reasons but she never thought she would be asked to do something like this. The two guards who were positioned on both sides of the throne room door looked appalled by their new ruler's horrible plan. Even Vivian was giving her master uneasy looks.

“Sire, you’re talking about destroying Ponyville and all the ponies that live there!” Shackle said nervously.

“Yes, my reluctant underling,” Jewelius replied remorselessly. “And when we flush out those insufferable traitors, my soldiers will be ready.”

Shackle couldn’t help but shake with fear at the king’s wicked plan.

"Sire?" one of the two guards spoke up.

"What is it?" Jewelius asked turning to the guard. He had an expression that looked disturbingly irritated.

"Well Sire..." the guard nervously continued. "Killing a whole town of innocent ponies for a small group of rebels. Isn't that a little extreme?"

Jewelius's left eye began to violently twitch in annoyance at the reluctant guard's question. Suddenly without warning, the unicorn king lifted the poor guard off his hooves with his magic and chucked him through one of the throne room windows. The glass shattered into pieces as the unfortunate guard was hurled through it.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!" the guard screamed as he plummeted down from the castle tower to the ground below.

“No, it's A LOT extreme!" the furious usurper said as he turned his attention to them with rage and bloodlust in his eyes. Everyone else in the room stood where they were in absolute fear. "Anypony else have any complaints?!" he asked the rest of his cohorts. Everypony stayed silent this time, lest they too incur his terrible wrath. "Good! Commander Hildread,” the tyrant addressed his subordinate. “Ready the army of Canterlot!”

“Yes, right away Your Majesty,” Hildread nervously complied. At this point, she dared not to get on his bad side.

“Soon all will know who is the true power in this world,” Jewelius ended his sentence with a small and sinister chuckle as he thought about what he was about to do next.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, The ten exiles had settled down in the oppressed town. But they were all trying their best to think of a way to put an end to Jewelius’s reign. The five friends and Spike all sat in the town hall amongst other officials of Ponyville trying to come up with a plan.

“Anypony have any ideas yet?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends.

“Nope,” Applejack replied.

“Unfortunately no,” Rarity also replied.

“Sorry, no,” Fluttershy said.

“Nothin’ in my noggin,” Pinkie Pie also said.

“Usually Twilight’s the one who comes up with the plans,” Spike sadly remarked.

Rainbow groaned in annoyance. “Jewelius was right, without Twilight we’re nothing.”

“What were we thinkin’?!” AJ said.

“We never should’ve turned our backs on her,” Rarity sadly added.

“What kind of friends are we?!” Fluttershy tearfully said.

“I’d give anything to have her back,” Pinkie glumly said.

Suddenly, a knocking came from the door of the hall. Mayor Mare approached the door cautiously.

“Who’s there?” she asked.

“Madam Mayor, we have another group of ponies on the run from the authorities,” said a male voice on the other side of the door.

“Are you sure they can be trusted?” the mayor asked suspiciously.

“I’m pretty sure,” the voice replied. “I think these are some ponies the other five might want to see.”

“Very well, show them in.”

Then the door opened to reveal a stallion member of the town’s militia standing with a group of three very familiar-looking unicorns. One was a stallion and the other two were mares. The stallion had a gray azure coat and a dark blue mane and tail, one of the mares had a light gray coat and a purple and light gray mane and tail, and the other mare had a light gray mulberry coat, a sapphire blue mane and tail with streaks of violet and brilliant rose, and carried a pair of saddlebags. The five’s and Spike’s facial expressions turned to ones of shock and surprise as they instantly recognized the young mulberry colored mare as their dear friend, Twilight Sparkle.

“TWILIGHT?!” they all exclaimed in surprise when they saw her.

“Hi girls,” Twilight replied nervously. She was a little uneasy about meeting them again, especially after she sided with Jewelius against them.

They all stared silently at each other for a moment, then the five friends and little dragon suddenly embraced Twilight in a big warm group hug, much to her surprise.

“Oh Twilight, we missed you so much!” Pinkie happily and tearfully said.

“But how?” Twilight asked confused. “I thought you’d all be furious with me after I betrayed you all for Jewelius.”

“All this time, we thought you turning your back on us was our own fault,” Applejack told her.

“We should’ve listened to you about your suspicions about that thing that claimed to be Princess Cadance,” Rarity remorsefully stated.

“We learned a lesson similar to this not too long ago,” Fluttershy tearfully said remembering the Smarty Pants incident of Lesson Zero. “We should’ve known better.”

“True friends are supposed to have each other’s backs no matter what,” Rainbow sadly added.

“Some number one assistant I am,” Spike tearfully said with a hint of self-loathing in his voice.

“Spike, you’re the best number one assistant I’ve ever had,” Twilight said trying to comfort the young dragon and her friends. “You all are the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“But we hurt you, and everypony, just for a chance to participate in a wedding,” Fluttershy said.

“You were all just trying to make it the best wedding ever,” Twilight replied in a comforting tone. “The way I acted, anypony would think I was trying to mess everything up.”

“But ironically, everything you did you did for your brother and us,” AJ said. “Everything we did we did for ourselves because we got so caught up in the wedding planning.”

“We’re the ones that should’ve gotten kicked out of the wedding not you,” Pinkie sadly added.

“But…” Twilight was now on the brink of tears. She was still trying to convince them that she was the one at fault. “But I let Jewelius poison me against all of you. I was so hurt when you all abandoned me at the wedding rehearsal and he took advantage of that. I should’ve listened to you when you tried to warn me about him. I’m so sorry for turning my back on all of you.”

“It wasn’t your fault, sugarcube,” AJ said in a forgiving tone while putting a comforting hoof on her shoulder. “He fooled everypony.”

“In the end, nopony was really what they appeared to be,” Rarity joined in the comfort.

“By the way, what brings you and your parents here?” a curious Rainbow Dash asked.

“Well, I finally saw Jewelius for what he really is and I realized I was now in the exact same position you were all in and you were all in mine,” Twilight remorsefully explained. “It felt like a repeat of the wedding except our roles were switched. I couldn’t bare it, I had to do the right thing.”

“So you found out where you parents were being held, broke them out, ran away from Canterlot, came here to Ponyville so you could find and reconcile with us, and we’d all team up to once again take the bad guy down and save Equestria,” Pinkie guessed in a fast talking tone.

“That is if you’re all willing to give me another chance to be your friend again,” Twilight said with apologetic eyes.

After hearing this, warm and happy smiles began to slowly form on the faces of the five friends. Pinkie’s droopy mane returned to its normal poofy state indicating her renewed happiness. They all embraced Twilight in one big group hug.

“Oh course we will, darling,” Rarity assured her.

“We’ve waited for this day!” Pinkie said with tears of joy.

“And we’re so sorry for turnin' our backs on you,” Applejack apologized.

“I also want to apologize for my foolish behavior,” Rarity said.

“Sorry for being such an uncaring and disloyal friend, Twi,” Rainbow apologized.

“We’re so super sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie jumped on the apology wagon.

“Sorry,” Fluttershy said timidly and remorsefully.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I promise I’ll be a better number one assistant than I ever was,” Spike heartfully promised.

“I’m sorry too,” Twilight replied to all their apologies. “I love all of you so much and never want to be separated from any of you ever again.”

Night Light and Twilight Velvet watched their daughter reconcile with her friends and they couldn’t help but smile and shred tears of pride.

“By the way, where are the princesses and my brother?” Twilight asked breaking out of the hug.

“I believe I can help with that,” Luna said suddenly appearing behind Twilight almost frightening the young unicorn.

“Princess Luna,” Twilight addressed her and bowed respectfully. “I… I-”

“It’s alright, Twilight,” Luna interrupted Twilight’s apology. “I don’t blame you for everything that has happened. I believe you and my sister must speak with each other. I will take you to her.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight expressed her gratitude and followed the night princess out of the town hall.

Luna led Twilight to the Golden Oak Library.

“She’s right inside,” Luna told her. Then she noticed Twilight was looking very anxious. “Never worry, I’m positive my sister will be overjoyed to see you again,” she reassured her. “But I’ll be right out here incase you need me.”

“Thank you, Princess,” Twilight thanked her. Then she took a deep breath and went through the door of the library. Inside she found her mentor sitting at a coffee table drinking a cup of tea. At first it didn’t look like Celestia had acknowledged Twilight’s presence, but the unicorn prodigy knew the alicorn knew she was here. “Princess Celestia,” she nervously spoke. “I know you probably have some mixed feelings about seeing me, but there’s something I need to tell you.” Then tears started developing in Twilight’s eyes. “I’m so sorry… I’m so very sorry for all the terrible things I let happen to you and everypony else. I have no excuses, I just-” But before she could finish her tearful apology, her mentor suddenly pulled into a warm hug. “Princess?”

“My faithful student,” Celestia spoke in an apologetic and motherly tone. “You’ve been through so much, and I was one of the ones responsible for your troubles. I’ve made too many mistakes in such a short amount of time. Can you ever forgive me?”

Twilight tightly embraced her beloved mentor as tears ran down her cheeks. “Oh Celestia, I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m so happy to see that you haven’t strayed from your true path.”

“For awhile, I think I did.”

“But now you’ve found it and I’ve never been more proud of you than I am now.” Both mares exchanged affectionate and proud looks while staring into each other’s eyes. “By the way, I believe your brother will want to speak with you next.”

“Yeah, I must speak with him,” Twilight said. “Thank you for giving me another chance, Princess.”

“No, thank you for giving me another chance, Twilight.”

Celestia watched with a warm and proud smile as Twilight headed to the door to leave the library and seek out her beloved older brother. When she stepped out the door, she was met with a surprising sight. Cadance and Shining Armor were already waiting outside with Luna, her parents, and the rest of her friends. Cadance looked so happy to see her old foalsittee again, Shining looked like he had a mix of happiness and sadness.

“Cadance!” Twilight exclaimed happily.

“Twilight!” Cadance exclaimed just as happy.

Then they both started performing their little chant song and dance.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Twilight said.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Cadance replied.

But then Twilight’s happy expression faded away and turned to one of concern as she changed her attention to her unhappy-looking brother.

“Shining,” she spoke to her elder sibling in a soft apologetic tone. “I know I haven’t been in my right mind the past few days. Terrible things have happened, some of them I’ve played a part in. But I’m here to tell you that… that…” She felt her voice breaking as she struggled to hold back some tears. “That I’m very sorry for the part I played in making everything go wrong. I was only trying to make sure you and Cadance had the best wedding ever. I can never forgive myself for letting all of this happen. I swear to you, I’ll do everything within my power to make things right. I just hope you can one day find it in your heart to forgive me, BBBFF.”

There was a moment of silence, aside from some Twilight’s remorseful sobbing. Then Shining bowed his head and stared at the ground. He couldn’t bare to look at his sister in this state any longer.

“How can you say all that?” he asked her.

“BBBFF?” Twilight asked confused and concerned.

“How can you put all this blame on yourself when most of it wasn’t entirely your fault?” Rivers of tears bigger than Twilight’s started flowing from the older stallion’s eyes. “How can you still call me that? How can you still love me after what I did?”

“You’re my brother, I will always love you no matter what,” Twilight said trying to comfort him.

“But you were right,” he tearfully argued. “You saw the signs, you tried to warn everypony, we didn’t listen, but you were right. I made you look like such a horrible person in front of everypony. I kicked you out of the wedding that you set into motion a long time ago. I should’ve followed my instincts like you did. I should’ve known something was wrong with the bride. I should’ve listened to you and I’m sorry. I am so sorry.”

“Please, no more,” Twilight begged her big brother to stop talking bad about himself and gave him a big, warm, and loving hug which he returned. Cadance also joined in the embrace.

Night Light, Twilight Velvet, Spike, the Mane Five, Luna, and Celestia (who had appeared in the library’s doorway) all watched this touching scene of reconciliation, comfort, and forgiveness.

“I’m sorry, Cadance,” Shining said to his beloved. “I just wish I could’ve been the stallion you deserve.”

“You’re more that stallion than you ever were,” Cadance assured him gently putting a hoof on his cheek and staring affectionately into his eyes. He finally smiled at this loving gesture.

“Yeah, you two are absolutely made for each other,” Twilight joined in. “The comparative graph charts I made of you two don’t lie.”

Both Shining and Cadance chuckled at the adorableness of Twilight’s words.

“By the way, how are things back in Canterlot?” Cadance asked Twilight.

“I’m afraid they’re not good,” Twilight said sadly. “Jewelius is insane. I tried to reason with him, but he has nothing but bitter hatred for all of you. Especially you, Cadance. I’m sorry.”

Cadance hung her head in sadness. Out of all her cousins, she considered Jewelius to be her favorite. She loved him like a little brother. But now his true colors were shown. Out of all the victims of the Canterlot Wedding, this betrayal was hurting Cadance the most.

“I guess both Shining and I have made some errors in judgement when it comes to our young family members,” Cadance sadly remarked. Shining put his arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

“What do we do, sister?” Luna asked her elder sister. “I don’t think there’s anything that will make Jewelius turn from this dark path. Not even the Magic of Friendship.”

“Then he is just another mistake I have to correct,” Celestia painfully admitted.

Everyone gasped at what Celestia just said.

“Princess, are you sure you can do this?” Twilight asked her mentor. “He is your nephew.”

“It’ll be just like Nightmare Moon but worse,” Celestia said sadly. “But Jewelius has to be stopped.”

“Maybe you don’t have to burden yourself with this task,” Twilight suggested. Then she used her magic and took out the chest she got from the Element chamber. Everyone’s jaws dropped in surprise.

“Are those the Elements of Harmony?” Rarity asked.

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed. “I got these out along with Mom and Dad. I figured we might need them to help fix all this. My hope was that we’d all reconcile with each other and then with our friendship renewed, we’d be able to use the Elements. I figured the best way to make everything right would be to remind everypony of the true power of Friendship. Especially Jewelius.” The last part she said with bitter determination.

“You’re a genius, Twilight,” AJ proudly commented.

“Alright, time to get some payback,” Rainbow said excitedly.

“There are no other options, I say we give it a try,” Celestia agreed. Then everyone started cheering in agreement and excitement. Finally, there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

“THE ARMY IS COMING! THE ARMY IS COMING!” a pegasus named Derpy Muffins cried as she flew through the town. Instantly, everypony in the streets started running around in panic and hiding in their homes. With their celebration cut short, the heroes realized that their enemy had come to them much quicker than they expected. They felt completely unprepared.

In a field and on a hill looking over the town, the Royal Army of Canterlot had arrived. There were armored soldiers, catapults, and a golden war chariot with the king himself. Jewelius was dressed in golden royal battle armor with his helmet placed by his right side. Vivian was dressed in silver battle armor. Commander Hildread was dressed in black battle armor while Lieutenant Shackle wore her usual officer attire. She clearly didn’t look happy about was going to happen.

“It’s time for one final family reunion, Cadance,” Jewelius said with great sinister excitement. This was it, the day he would finally wipe out all who stood in his way.

Chapter 18 (Edited 02/23/18)

The Royal Army of Canterlot stood practically on the doorstep of Ponyville with Jewelius at the helm. The entire town was running scared. Citizens were running and hiding, locking and boarding up their homes, hoping the tyrannical king and his army would eventually go away. These were peaceful ponies, they weren’t fit for battle. A pegasus scout that had flown over the town had returned to give his report to the king.

“Your Majesty, I can confirm that the exiles and deserters have taken refuge in Ponyville,” the scout reported.

“Well, it appears my hunch was correct,” the usurper proudly said. “It appears that the inhabitants of Ponyville are now harboring traitors. Therefore, that makes them traitors as well and they must be made examples of.”

“Sire,” Shackle timidly spoke to her lord. “It’s still not too late to try a more peaceful approach.”

“Oh lieutenant, how will you ever become a real soldier with that attitude?” Jewelius mocked her. Then he spoke in a loud and charismatic tone to his soldiers. “Attention soldiers. This is Holy King Jewelius I. It appears that Ponyville has been harboring the enemies of Equestria. This is insurrection against Equestria. No, against all ponykind, and I will not let this go unpunished! Commence the attack at once!”

“Fire!” Hildread ordered her subordinates.

Soldiers started catapulting huge boulders at the town. Some of the projectiles were fireballs ignited before being launched. Ponyville found itself being bombarded. Houses were either being crushed or set on fire. Ponies were running around panicking in the streets.

“And that’s how you scatter the roaches,” Jewelius said with a smile of satisfaction as he watched the burning town from his chariot.

“Soldiers move in!” Hildread gave another order.

Hordes of soldiers started marching on the damaged and chaotic town. Ponies not lucky enough to find cover were restrained. Soldiers began searching houses for the exiles, some were being cautious when searching burning houses. Things weren’t looking very good. Not good at all.

Twilight Sparkle watched the carnage from the bedroom window of the Golden Oak Library. Her facial expression connived absolute horror and remorse. Deep down she felt that she was partly to blame for this horrible atrocity.

“It is very rare that even we, in our millennia long lives, witness such horrific events like this,” Luna said appearing right behind Twilight along with her sister, Celestia, as they all watched what was transpiring outside.

“This is truly an unforgivable crime,” Celestia said with disdain. “Committed by a member of my own family none the less.”

“I cannot-” Twilight said but interrupted herself. “No, I will not let this happen!” She hurried downstairs and was met by the scared faces of all her family and friends. “My friends, my family,” she spoke with serious determination. “Jewelius has gone too far this time. He has ruined the wedding we all were hoping for, betrayed and manipulated everypony, oppressed all who live in Equestria, and now he has declared war on the innocent citizens of Ponyville. This cannot go unpunished! It is time to once again call upon the Elements of Harmony and remind everypony of the Magic of Friendship. Who’s with me?!”

At this, all of Twilight’s friends and family started cheering loudly in agreement.

“We’re with you this time, Twilight!” Pinkie Pie yelled in excitement.

“We all are!” Shining Armor added.

Suddenly, a loud banging came from the door of the library. Then the door burst open and a soldier came into the room.

“Alright, who’s in here?” the soldier demanded. “Show yourselves!”

“With pleasure!” Rainbow said jumping out of nowhere and delivering a powerful karate kick to the soldier’s face knocking him unconscious.

“Twilight, you and your friends take care of things here,” Celestia told her student. “I have to go deal with my nephew.”

“Be careful, Princess,” Twilight pleaded. Then the two exchanged hugs and Celestia went up to the library’s balcony and flew off. Then Twilight turned her attention to her friends. “Come on girls, let’s do this!” Twilight said handing out each Element to their respective bearer.

Back in the streets of the town, things were still looking pretty bad. But then everypony’s attention was drawn to a certain group of six colorful ponies wearing familiar-looking jewelry.

“Listen everypony,” Twilight called to the soldiers and citizens. “This isn’t right. You’ve all been used. You’ve all forgotten what this great nation truly stands for. Allow the Magic of Friendship to remind you all what Equestria truly is about.” With that, she and her friends started powering up the Elements. But before they could release the wonderful magic, a barrage of razor-sharp metallic feathers showered down on them. They all managed to avoid the sharp projectiles but the magic was disrupted.

“I don’t think so!” came an unpleasant voice from above. It was revealed to be Commander Hildread wearing intimidating black armor. Suddenly, a couple of soldiers lassoed Rainbow and pulled her away from the group. Then two more groups of soldiers appeared and lassoed Fluttershy and Rarity, pulling them away. “Keep them separate, they’re more dangerous when they’re all together,” Hildread ordered. Twilight began to look worried, her plan was starting to fall apart.

Back on the hill overlooking the town, Jewelius was sitting in his chariot surrounded by some of his guards and drinking a cup of tea while watching the carnage his army was inflicting. He felt a sick sense of satisfaction from ordering such a horrendous attack on defenseless peasants.

“I hope my soldiers find and eliminate those exiles soon,” he said in a bored and impatient tone. “The burning and the screams become a bit weary after awhile.”

“JEWELIUS, STOP!” came a loud and very upset voice. They looked up and saw a shadowy winged figure silhouetted against the sun and descending down on their position. Eventually the strange figure came into full view and was identified as the king’s aunt, Celestia.

“Well, well, look who’s here,” Jewelius said with a sinister smile as his alicorn aunt landed gently on the ground about twenty feet in front of him.

“Jewelius, this has gone far enough,” Celestia angrily demanded. “Call off this massacre right now!”

“And why would I do that?” he smugly replied.

“Listen to me, dear nephew,” Celestia tried to reason with him. “You are in enough trouble already. You’ve hurt so many innocent ponies, including your family. Cadance loves you and is in pain because of your actions. But it’s probably not too late to start making amends. If you stop this madness now, then perhaps we can all help each other out and make things right.” Jewelius could sense the hints of desperation in her reasoning tone. “If you want, we could all rule Equestria together as equals, you don’t have to feel so inferior to the rest of your family.”

However, all Celestia’s little speech did was cause the young usurper to burst into cruel and hysterical laughter. “I don’t,” Jewelius retorted. “And did you really think I’d share any power with you, my dear auntie?” he asked sarcastically.

Suddenly, the guards hurrled a net made of magic-proof rope on the white alicorn and lassoed her neck, muzzle, and horn. She struggled to get free but it was no use. Her traiterous nephew’s wicked and mocking laughter didn’t help either.

Back in the town, things weren’t going any better. Hildread had devised a strategy to split up the Mane Six so they couldn’t use the Elements of Harmony against them. Twilight, AJ, and Pinkie found themselves surrounded by a squad of soldiers, Hildread mong them.

“How can you work for a traitorous maniac like Jewelius?” Twilight asked the commander in a demanding tone.

“Trust me, at this point it’s better than working against him,” Hildread replied. “Now are you going to surrender or am I going to have to make this a lot more fun?”

“Why are you doing this?” Applejack asked the ruthless commander.

“Sometimes to maintain order in this nation, you need to be ruthless and cruel,” Hildread explained. “Your brother never could understand that, Miss Sparkle. And what has his and the princesses’ way of ensuring peace in Equestria gotten us?! An invasion by shape-shifting love-sucking insects that nearly brought the end of all Equestria! That’s why they had to be removed from their positions of power.”

“But wasn’t it your so-called ‘Holy King Jewelius I’ that invited those changelings in order to overthrow the princesses in the first place?” Pinkie pointed out.

“Yes, but it was Shining Armor, Celestia, and all of you that could’ve prevented all this from happening,” Hildread retorted. “You put the safety of Canterlot in jeopardy out your selfish need to have the ‘perfect royal wedding.’ But I’m just wasting my breath, it’s time for justice to be served. Now surrender and die!”

“Don’t you mean ‘surrender OR die’?” Pinkie pointed out.

“I know what I said.”

But before Hildread could do anything to the three young mares, a force field dome appeared around Twilight and her two friends. Then the source of the force field appeared in the doorway of the library with an angry and determined look on his face.

“Well, look who finally crawled out of the woodwork,” Hildread mockingly said. “I’ve been waiting for you, former captain Shining Armor.”

“Leave my sister and her friends alone,” Shining demanded.

“Big words coming from a pathetic pampered failure of a stallion,” Hildread continued to mock her rival. “I think it’s time we put an end to this once and for all.”

Back on the hill, Jewelius was also mercilessly mocking his captured aunt.

“Celestia, my dear auntie, what exactly did you hope to accomplish from this?” Jewelius asked.

“To put an end to all this madness,” Celestia answered.

Jewelius chuckled at her answer. “Oh please, even if you did manage to beat me you’d still be seen as a miserable fallen idol to all of Equestria. I’ve seen to that. The ‘Wise and Noble Princess Celestia’ in the end is nothing but an overcomfident, foolish, old mule of a horse that nopony will ever trust or respect ever again. She couldn’t even tell the obvious difference between her own niece and a deceitful changeling imposter. Why Twilight ever looked up to you will be one of the unsolved mysteries of history. You’re so weak and pathetic, you had to rely on a group of young inexperienced fillies to do your dirty work.” Each insult was like a dagger digging into Celestia. “Just accept it, you’ve lost and I will make sure that you will go down in history as the worst ruler Equestria has ever had. The very mention of your name in a positive light will be punishable by death!” The arrogant usurper let out a triumphant and maniacal laugh.

“I’m afraid it is you who will not be remembered for your greatness but your arrogance, Jewelius,” Celestia retorted causing Jewelius’s laughter to stop. “You, like many others before you, have underestimated Twilight and her friends and the Magic of Friendship. And that will cost you dearly!”

Back in the town, Shining Armor had come to the aid of his sister and was standing ready to faceoff against his ruthless rival.

“I hate you, Shining Armor,” Hildread told him. “Always have. You were always too soft and weak to hold the rank of Captain of the Royal Guard. You never had the brains or the guts to do what was necessary to ensure the security of Canterlot. But now I will do what you could not.”

“You never could understand that brute strength is not always the answer,” Shining argued. “That is not the way of Equestria.”

“SHUT UP!” Hildread angrily shouted. “I am the guardian of this great nation. I protect the ponies that live in it!”

“Is that what you call this?” Shining asked referring to the devastation around them. “Protection?!”

Hildread had an uneasy expression as she looked at her surroundings, but she hardened her heart and once again fell victim to her delusions. “Traitors to the King must be punished.”

“Traitors?!” Shining exclaimed. “These are innocent ponies! This is a massacre ordered by that vile usurper you call a king!”

“Everything we’ve done was absolutely necessary! And if I have to destroy you in order to maintain peace and order in Equestria, so be it.” Hildread then got into a battle stance.

“Your extreme desires and methods have blinded you to the fact that you’re causing more harm than good,” Shining told her while taking a battle stance of his own. “This is why you were kicked out of the guard.”

“I WILL CRUSH YOU!” Hildread shouted lunging toward her rival with her sharp metallic wing ready. But Shining blocked her attack with a shield spell. Once Hildread retracted her wing, Shining saw his opportunity. He dropped his shield and the two began striking hooves against one another.

“BBBFF!” Twilight called to her brother and attempted to aid him. But she was stopped by Lieutenant Shackle blocking her path.

“I can’t let you do this,” Shackle told her as she took out some long metal chains out of her uniform.

“Neither can I,” Twilight retorted and she, AJ, and Pinkie got ready to fight Hildread’s subordinate.

Elsewhere, Rainbow managed to defeat her captors and was about to rejoin her friends when she was met by Jewelius’s loyal assistant, Vivian. Vivian was a talented unicorn (though not as talented as Twilight) and was making it very hard for the rainbow-colored pegasus to get by her.

“Get out of my way, my friends need me!” Dash demanded.

“Now you feel like being the loyal friend to the others,” Vivian said. “Let’s see if your so-called loyalty is stronger than mine.”

With that, the two began to clash with one another.

Back at the town square, Shining was fighting with Hildread while Twilight and her two friends were fighting with Shackle. Shackle used her magic to control the chains she brought as weapons. She made the chains slither and strike like snakes and whip like whips. Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack were able to narrowly dodge so many of her attacks but knew they couldn’t hold out forever.

“You’re all under arrest for high treason to the King,” Shackle said.

“Our allegiance is to Equestria, to the Princesses!” Twilight retorted.

“They betrayed us!” Shackle retorted back.

“No, Jewelius was the one who betrayed everypony! He orchestrated the changeling attack on Canterlot so he could overthrow the Princesses. He’s responsible for everything that’s happened. And now he’s massacring an innocent town just to destroy us!”

Shackle looked around nervously. The guilt was eating away at her insides. “I… I joined the Royal Guard so I could protect ponies.”

“Look around you,” Twilight told her. “Does THIS look like you’re fulfilling that role?”

“Don’t make the same mistake we did,” Applejack pleaded.

Shackle looked at the carnage that was happening all around her. She couldn’t deny it anymore, this wasn’t what she signed up for. She began shedding tears of regret. “I… I never wanted any of this to happen,” Shackle wept.

“Trust me, we know exactly how you feel,” Pinkie said in an attempt to comfort her.

“Will you help us then?” Twilight asked.

Shackle wiped the tears from her eyes and put on a determined face. “What do you need me to do?”

Twilight, Pinkie, and Applejack all smiled at Shackle’s change of heart.

“I know what you can do,” Twilight said and whispered something into Shackle’s ear.

“Consider it done,” Shackle agreed and took off.

Meanwhile, the fight between Rainbow Dash and Vivian raged on. While Dash had speed and aerial advantage, Vivian’s powerful magic more than made up for it. The unicorn kept blasting multiple magic beams at the pegasus who did her best to dodge as many as she could. Eventually, one of beams hit and injured Dash’s right wing causing her to descend and continue the fight on the ground.

“And you want to become a member of the Wonderbots,” Vivian said in a mocking monotone voice. She was very unimpressed with Rainbow’s skills. “After you foolishly swore your blind loyalty to that insect like imposter of a bride over your beloved friend I doubt they would’ve turned you down anyway.”

“You’re probably right there,” Rainbow admitted. “I should’ve sided with Twilight instead of somepony I just met. The Wonderbolts would probably be very disgusted with me. But you’re one to talk about blind loyalty. You serve that creep who caused all of this.”

“True but you, your friends, Shining Armor, and the princesses were the ones who let it happen,” Vivian retorted.

“Why would you willing help a usurping tyrant like Jewelius?”

“None of you get it, do you?” Vivian said. “Under Celestia’s rule, under the so-called protection of the Elements of Harmony, we’ve been treated like helpless children. Always relying on Celestia’s plans of action and the Elements of Harmony to keep the peace. What ponies really need isn’t a sole figure or tiny group of figures to rely on to solve all our problems, what we really need is independence. Before the alicorn sisters and the Elements of Harmony, the three tribes ruled our newly founded nation with equality and knowledge. We didn’t need some so-called ‘goddess-like’ idol to tell us what to do and we certainly don’t need it now! Under Jewelius’s rule, ponykind will enter a new era of independence!”

Just then, Vivian received a good kick to the face which sent her flying backwards and into the wall of a house. The unicorn mare lay unconscious on the ground as her opponent stood triumphantly over her.

“I may not as smart as Twilight, but I can see many things wrong with what you said,” Rainbow told the unconscious Vivian. “Where you got the idea that Jewelius cares about the independence of ponies I’ll never know. But right now I have to go help my friends, whom I’m very loyal to.” With that, the bearer of Loyalty took off to regroup with her friends.

Back at the square, Shining and Hildread were still viciously going at each other. Hildread had her tough razor-sharp metallic wing and Shining had his shield magic. Overall, the two combatants looked evenly matched until Hildread managed to get the upper hoof and knocked Shining on his side.

“Ignorant, pampered, lovesick colt!” Hildread said chuckling mockingly. “Is this the best you’ve got?!” She was about to deliver the final blow when she was tackled by somepony.

“LEAVE MY BBBFF ALONE!” Twilight yelled as she tackled the ruthless commander before she could finish off her brother. But then Hildread bashed her hard against the wall of a house with her metallic wings.

“Meddlesome filly, I’ll drop your broken body at his hooves!” Hildread shouted as she lunged at Twilight with her razor-sharp wing ready to strike. However, something stopped her. A magic force field engulfed Twilight protecting her from Hildread’s attack. This also caused Hildread’s metal wing to shatter into many pieces. Hildread watched in shock as her wing fell apart. Both she and Twilight looked over to see a very angry-looking Shining Armor standing on his hooves with his horn lit up.

“Don’t you dare harm my LSBFF!” Shining hissed. Then he made his shield spell expand and knock Hildread backwards. As Hildread flew back, she was met with a hoof to the jaw by a certain loyal rainbow-colored pegasus. The kick to the face knocked the ruthless commander onto the ground and out like a light.

“YEAH! How’s THAT for ‘false idols’?!” Rainbow Dash gloated to the unconscious commander.

“RAINBOW DASH!” her three friends all happily exclaimed and huddled around her.

“You really could’ve been a good protector of Equestria,” Shining admitted to the unconscious Hildread with pity in his voice. Despite her cruelty, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for his rival. In the end, all she wanted was to do her duty. “Maybe someday, you’ll learn the error of your ways and I’ll be waiting.”

“Are you girls okay?” Dash asked her friends.

“We’re fine now,” Twilight replied. “How about you?”

“I had a little ‘problem’ to take care of,” Dash said proudly. “Where are the others?”

“Right here,” came Rarity’s voice. Everyone turned and saw Rarity and Fluttershy standing with Shackle.

“With a little help from Shackle, we were able to free ourselves,” Fluttershy explained.

Shackle had freed Fluttershy and Rarity from their captors and had tied the soldiers up with her chains. With the six finally back together, they turned to face the army of soldiers converging on them. But they weren’t scared, they were ready to remind everypony how powerful the Magic of Friendship is.

“Ready girls?” Twilight asked confidently.

“Ready!” the other five confirmed just as confident.

“Unleash the Magic of Friendship!” Twilight said as she and her friends activated the Elements of Harmony and unleashed a huge blinding light of magic that engulfed the entire town.

Jewelius and Celestia witnessed the magical light from the hilltop. Jewelius was forced to shield his eyes from the blinding light while Celestia just looked on in pride and hope. They had done it.

When the light had cleared, the houses were no longer on fire and the attacking soldiers were all encased in stone. The once frightened citizens of Ponyville were cheering for their saviors.

“Don’t worry, unlike Discord, their inprisonment in stone won’t be permanent,” Twilight assured everypony. “We’ll deal with these poor misguided ponies right after we deal with a certain traitor.”

“Alright, pay back time!” Rainbow yelled excitedly as she, her friends, and Shining Armor took off to confront the trator, Jewelius, once and for all.

“Good luck, my friends,” Shackle said warmly as she watched the heroes leave to complete their mission. She shed a single tear of pride and regret for all the suffering that they all endured. Deep down she knew she had to find someway to atone for the part she helped play in all this.

Back on the hill overlooking the town, Jewelius stared in shock that the massacre he had ordered had stopped completely.

“What’s going on?!” he asked surprised and nervous. “I didn’t give the order to stop!”

“They’ve succeeded,” Celestia spoke proudly and caught her backstabbing nephew’s attention. “Looks like you’ve finally lost.”

Jewelius’s rage boiled. He didn’t take his aunt’s taunting well. “SILENCE!” he shouted at her. Then he drew a sword from his chariot and walked over to his captured aunt. It was clear what he intended to do. “At long last, Celestia, I will finally end this!” He raised the sword high in the air over Celestia, his blue eyes bloodshot with madness.

"You let your selfish desires turn you into a monster," Celestia said disappointedly.

"Look who's talking," Jewelius retorted and just as her started swinging the sword down to separate the alicorn’s head from her body, a blast of magic came out of nowhere and knocked the weapon away. “What?!”

“Not this day!” came a voice coming up the hill. Soon the sun princess’s savior came into view and revealed herself to be the traitor’s most hated enemy.

“Cadance!” Jewelius growled with angry eyes.

“I finally understand, cousin,” Cadance spoke in a disappointed tone and glaring at the stallion she once called ‘brother’. “Why the changelings weren’t able to feed on your love and why my spell didn’t work on you. It’s because you have no heart to feel love and therefore no love to give!”

“What, are you going to kill your own flesh and blood?” he arrogantly and mockingly asked her.

“The cousin, brother, I knew died a long time ago,” she answered with pity and sadness in her voice.

Jewelius glared back hard at his pink cousin before leaping back into his chariot. “Retreat, now!” he ordered his guards.

The guards pulling the chariot began to take off as ordered, but then the chariot suddenly capsized knocking the fleeing usurper onto the grass. Jewelius looked and saw that the wedding cake toppers of Shining Armor and Cadance had been wedged into the right wheel, and standing right next to it was the small and very angry-looking dragon he had given the toppers to.

Before long, Luna had appeared and helped Cadance free Celestia. Now the three alicorns and the young dragon stood tall and proud glaring at the fiend who stood all alone against them. Jewelius stared fearfully at them knowing that in a fight he wouldn’t stand a chance against them all.

“Wait, wait!” the traitor pleaded. “It wasn’t my fault! Chrysalis corrupted me, she poisoned my mind, turned me against you all just like Shining Armor!” But they were not convinced. They knew perfectly well that everything Jewelius did was of his own choice. They all took a few steps toward him causing him to take a few steps back. “Stop! As Holy King of all Equestria, I command you to stop!” he ordered, but that did no good. He turned around to flee once again but was stopped by the sight of six young mares and an older stallion, all with very angry looks on their faces. Jewelius was now surrounded by all those he’d used and betrayed and knew that his fate now lied in their hooves. All things must come around, and Jewelius’s treachery was about to be paid back.

“NO WAIT! Wait, wait!” the cowardly usurper pleaded. “Don’t hurt me! I’ll give you anything! I’ll do whatever you want! I know, I’ll reinstate the alicorns as Royal Princesses, I’ll even reorganize the royal wedding! You five can be the bridesmaids and Twilight can be best mare! Wouldn’t you all like that?” However, the false king’s pathetic pleas of mercy only seemed to make Twilight and her friends angrier. They had already allowed themselves to be fooled before and they were not going to let it happen again. “Come on, that’s not a bad deal. So please I beg of you to spare me!”

“You had a loving family, loyal friends, everything a pony could’ve wanted,” Twilight angrily said with a hint of sadness in her voice. “Why wasn’t it enough for you?”

Suddenly, an evil chuckle came out of nowhere. “Well, isn’t this quite the reunion.” Everyone turned to see a guard with sinister glowing green eyes staring at them. Then the guard transformed and revealed itself to be none other than Queen Chrysalis in disguise. As soon as the changeling queen revealed herself, a swarm of changelings descended from the sky. Soon the entire area was filled with the hideous bug creatures.

“Queen Chrysalis!” Twilight and Cadance both exclaimed.

“Chrysalis, my love, please help me! Destroy them and we’ll rule Equestria as promised!” Jewelius pathetically begged the hive queen who only laughed at him.

All the heroes immediately leaped to attack the new and more powerful enemy, but she unleashed a burst of magic that knocked them all back leaving Jewelius with no one to guard him.

“My love?! I thought you said I was a ‘despicable animal’,” Chrysalis said. Then a large group of changelings came to her side. “You may not have any love for us to feed on, but we’ll just have to settle on everything else. Feed on this despicable excuse of a pony, my subjects!”

With that, the changelings started surrounding and converging on Jewelius like a pack of hungry predators getting ready to attack their prey. All the changelings were snickering wickedly and licking their lips. Jewelius stared fearfully at the monstrous creatures all around him.

“No wait, let me explain,” Jewelius desperately pleaded, but his pathetic pleas fell on deaf ears and the beasts continued to move closer and closer. “I didn’t mean it. No. NO! WAIT! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!” The changelings all pounced on and swarmed him with their sharp teeth bared. The heroes averted their eyes while Chrysalis cackled as the traitorous, tyrannical usurper’s rule was finally brought to an end. The changelings had a meal fit for a king, or a king fit for a meal.

“Now with that slimy, double-crossing usurper out of the picture and the heroes weakened, NOPONY CAN STOP US NOW!” Chrysalis proclaimed and all her changelings cackled in agreement.

“Well done, Twilight,” said a figure who looked like Raven. But then it revealed itself to be a changeling in disguise. Then Twilight realized that the changelings had manipulated her into regrouping with her friends and family in order to weaken Jewelius’s forces so that she and her changeling army could strike when all their enemies are together and weakened.

“This day has been just perfect!” the hive queen said with a sinister chuckle.

“Great, get rid of one villain just to get another,” Rainbow said annoyed.

“This just isn’t our week,” Pinkie added.

“Think we have enough energy to use the Magic of the Elements one last time, sugarcube?” AJ asked Twilight.

“We don’t need the Elements this time,” Twilight said confidently. “My BBBFF has got this.” Everyone had surprised expressions on their faces after hearing Twilight’s plan.

“Oh please,” Chrysalis said doubtfully. “He barely has enough energy left.”

Shining Armor tried to perform one of his signature shield spells in order to repel the army of invaders. But just like the last time, he didn’t have enough power to perform the spell.

“No, not again,” Shining said with despair. “I’m supposed to be the Captain of the Royal Guard and I can’t even do my duty when I truly need to.”

“See it’s hopeless,” Chrysalis mocked them.

However, despite Chrysalis and her brother believing there was no hope, Twilight still remained confident.

“Cadance can help,” Twilight announced.

“What?!” everyone exclaimed with confusion.

“Cadance’s love for Shining Armor will give him the strength he needs.”

Chrysalis chuckled at the idea. “What a lovely but absolutely ridiculous sentiment.”

“Do you all trust me?” Twilight asked her loved ones.

They all looked at each other for a moment thinking it over. Then they all came to an unspoken agreement. Not trusting Twilight got them all into this mess, maybe doing the opposite could get them out. Cadance walked up to her beloved Shining Armor and looked into his eyes. Never had anypony ever seen a pair more in love than those two. The two touched horns and were engulfed in a warm blinding bright light. Chrysalis stared in fear as the couple started levitating off the ground. Then a huge blast of true love burst from the two and sent all the changelings flying out of Equestria.

“NOOOOOOOOOO!!!” Chrysalis screamed as she and her army were sent hurling far away into the distance. Another plan of world domination ruined.

As the bright light subsided, Shining Armor and Cadance descended gently back to the ground and embraced each other as the other cheered for them.

“You were right once again, Twi,” Applejack complimented Twilight.

“I knew those two were perfect for each other,” the purple unicorn proudly said. Then she walked over to her beloved mentor. “Now, I believe you tasked me with putting together a real wedding a week ago.”

Celestia gave her faithful student a warm and proud motherly smile.

Author's Note

Well ladies and gentlemen, Jewelius's reign is finally over. Now all that's left is the epilogue. If this story had a page on TV Tropes (which I hope it does), would Jewelius be worthy of the trope Complete Monster in the YMMV section?

Epilogue (Edited 06/28/20)

The Mane Six were gathered in the Canterlot donut shop and seated at a table with the three original bridesmaids, Twinkleshine, Minuette, and Lyra Heartstrings. The purpose of this meeting was to set a few things right.

“And that’s everythin’,” Applejack finished a speech with an apologetic expression on her face. All the other members of her group shared the same expression.

“We should’ve thought to talk to you before blindly accepting the bridesmaids’ positions from that horrible imposter,” an ashamed Fluttershy said.

“I hope you can eventually find it in your hearts to forgive us, darlings,” Rarity added.

“Don’t worry, all is forgiven,” Minuette assured them. Twinkleshine and Lyra both smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. “We’re sorry for supporting that insane liar.”

“Why did Chrysalis replace you three with us during the wedding preparations?” a confused Rainbow Dash asked.

“Probably so she could further manipulate and use us for her terrible schemes,” Rarity said ashamed.

“That wasn’t the only reason,” Twinkleshine said.

“You think Twilight was the only filly Cadance foalsat?” Lyra asked with a sly grin.

“Oooooooh! I get it,” Pinkie Pie said putting it all together and glancing over at Twilight. “Guess you weren’t the only one suspicious of the bride after all.”

“Anyway, we wanted to patch things up with y’all,” AJ said.

“We would like you three to be the bridesmaids again for the real upcoming wedding,” Rarity added.

“It was yours to begin with,” Rainbow said.

“Consider it an apology gift,” Pinkie concluded.

The three mares were surprised and touched by the Five’s gesture. They thought for a moment about how to respond. Then all three of them exchanged smiles to one another silently agreeing on something.

“We appreciate what you’re doing for us,” Minuette spoke. “But I think our doctor said that we should take it easy for a while after what happened to us during the changeling invasion.”

“Yeah, we’re still recovering from Chrysalis putting those mind control spells on us and probably won’t be able to fill the bridesmaids’ roles,” Lyra added.

“We were hoping there were some ponies who would be kind enough to fill the roles,” Twinkleshine said slyly. “Perhaps some ponies who’ve saved all of Equestria recently. Maybe some ponies whom Twilight Sparkle trusts.”

The Mane Six knew what the three mares were trying to do.

“We know what you’re trying to do,” Rainbow said.

“Princess Cadance specifically asked you three to be her bridesmaids,” Rarity insisted. “I’m sure she wouldn’t want it any other way. Right, Twilight?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied with false confusion. “If it’s okay with the bridesmaids, I’m sure she won’t mind.”

“But Twilight…” Applejack said. She and the rest of the Five were confused. “How can you be sure?”

“Let’s just say Twilight has a sixth sense for these things,” Cadance suddenly appeared smiling and dressed in her royal garments much to the surprise of the confused Five.

“But Princess…” Fluttershy politely tried to decline.

“Girls, I’ve watched all of you this past week,” Cadance heartfully explained. “I’ve watched you stumble and pick yourselves back up. I’ve watched you repair your relationship with Twilight, and now I see it is stronger than ever. Lyra, Twinkleshine, and Minuette will be at the wedding in the front row of the audience watching everything. So you don’t need to worry about them.” The Five still looked unsure. “I think it’ll make Twilight very happy for you all to be right up there with her at the altar when it happens.”

The Five turned their attention to their best friend who wore an eager smile on her face that begged ‘go on’. The other three mares all had very similar expressions. After a moment of thinking amongst themselves, the Five finally nodded to each other in agreement and looked at everypony with happy and confident smiles.

“Alright, if you all say so,” Rainbow Dash said causing Cadance, Twilight, and the original bridesmaids to cheer with excitement.

“Now where are those hors d’eourvres?” Cadance asked AJ excitedly. “I’ve heard about them from Twilight and I’ve been itching to try them.

The cowpony couldn’t help but give a warm smile.

Shortly after the battle of Ponyville, the heroes had returned to Canterlot to straighten everything out. Shackle, Hildread, and Vivian confessed to their involvement in Jewelius’s schemes. With Jewelius’s corruption revealed and a very heartfelt apology speech by Celestia, Shining Armor, and the Mane Six the citizens of Canterlot welcomed them all back with open hooves and even offered a few apologies of their own for their support to the usurper. Hildread, Vivian, and other supporters of Jewelius received imprisonment in the dungeons of Canterlot, Shackle felt so guilty for her part that she turned herself in and promised that she would be a better and wiser pony after she served her time. The alicorns were reinstated as the rulers of Canterlot, Shining Armor got his title of Captain of the Guard, and everypony was getting ready for the royal wedding that should’ve happened a week ago. Now that she and her brother had reconciled, Twilight Sparkle was given her rightful and well-deserved position as the groom’s best mare. Now that all that was taken care of, it finally time to get the real wedding under way. Princess Cadance had overseen the preparations personally, from Applejack’s baked goods to Pinkie Pie’s reception party, and she really loved what she had seen. Twilight’s friends noticed an extremely significant difference in her behavior compared to the imposter’s, which made them feel even more ashamed for not listening to her. But after a few more heartfelt apologies, their friendship was stronger than ever.

That day, the wedding hall was full of guests all eager to witness the real union between Shining Armor and Cadance, and hopefully without anymore interruptions. Princess Celestia stood up on the alter ready to marry the bride and groom while Princess Luna sat happily in the front row of the audience. Shining Armor stood up on the alter in his favorite uncle’s uniform with his little sister, Twilight, by his side dressed in her best mare’s gown. Twilight noticed that the family crest on her brother’s uniform was crooked and used her magic to straighten it. He had to look perfect for the perfect bride. Their parents were in the audience watching proudly. Twilight Velvet began to shed tears of joy for her son was finally going to be married and had to wipe them away with a handkerchief. After everything the two had been through, they deserved to witness this most special event. When she realized it was time for the music to start, Fluttershy orchestrated her bird choir to start singing the wedding music. Then the hall doors swung open and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were serving as flower fillies, came prancing in tossing flower peddles along the way. Following right behind them was the beautiful bride herself, the real Cadance everyone had been waiting for. Cadance looked so beautiful in her wedding gown as she marched toward the alter. Everypony watched her with admiration.

“Seriously, though,” Twilight whispered to her brother. “I get why the queen of the changelings wanted to be with you, but how did you get someone as amazing as Cadance to marry you?”

“I told her she wouldn’t just be gaining a husband,” Shining answered. “She’d be getting a pretty great sister too.”

The CMC stepped aside and allowed the bride to march up onto the alter. Rarity started to get teary-eyed and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief while Applejack decided to put her trademark hat on. When Cadance finally made it to the top of the alter, she and her soon-to-be husband exchanged affectionate glances.

“Mares and gentlecolts,” Princess Celestia announced. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza-”

“Princess Cadance is fine,” Cadance politely interrupted her aunt.

“Hmm,” Celestia respected her niece’s wish and continued. “The union of Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. The strength of their commitment is clear. The power of their love, undeniable. May we have the rings please?” Spike presented the wedding rings, which were placed on the bride and groom’s horns. “I now pronounce you mare and colt!” With that, the two were officially wed and the entire crowd, including the guests in the castle yard, erupted in happy cheering. Both Shining and Cadance stood on the tower balcony and waved to the crowd below while the Mane Six watched them with admiration.

“This is your victory as much as theirs,” Princess Celestia said to Twilight. “You persisted in the face of doubt, and your actions led to your being able to not only bring the real Princess Cadance back to us, but also the real you. Learning to trust your instincts is a valuable lesson to learn.”

“She’s right,” Cadance said. She and her new husband had turned their attention from the crowd outside back to their companions. “If you had completely given up on everyone close to you, none of us would be here today.”

“For a second, I almost did,” Twilight remorsefully admitted. Then she felt the warm and loving touch of her big brother’s hoof on her shoulder.

“We lost contact with each other for so long ever since you moved to Ponyville,” Shining sadly explained. “As much as I hate to admit it, I almost forgot how much we both mean to each other.” The white stallion was unable to hold his tears back any longer. He pulled his sister into a warm and loving hug. “I’m so, so sorry, Twiliy.”

“I’m sorry too, BBBFF,” Twilight tearfully apologized back and returning the warm embrace.

A few of Twilight’s friends shed their own tears at this heart melting sight of true sibling affection.

“I’m glad that you two were able to save your relationship,” Cadance complimented them.

“Us too,” the Five said.

“And us,” the Royal Sisters added.

“Unfortunately, some relationships could not be saved,” Cadance said in much sadder tone.

Suddenly the mood became very depressing once Cadance said that. The other two princesses had sad expressions on their faces as well. It was clear that all three alicorns were thinking of Jewelius. Memories of all the terrible things he had done to them in the past week played through everyone’s minds like a projector. However, despite all the atrocities and betrayals the three princesses couldn’t help but feel sad that they were unable to turn him from his dark path. His terrible fate may have been his own doing, but the fact that they had lost a member of their own family forever was very tragic for them. Twilight, her friends, and Shining all noticed this and shared in the princesses’ sorrow, even though they agreed that he was a despicable traitor who got what he deserved in the end.

“It’s a shame really, I had hoped we all could’ve been a big happy family together,” Cadance said giving a warm smile to her new husband and sister-in-law. She felt both admiration and envy for the bond those two shared. She just wish her relationship with the cousin she once saw as a brother could’ve been the same.

“I doubt any of us will ever forget the impact Jewelius made on our lives,” Twilight said with pity in her voice. The others nodded sadly in agreement.

“One thing’s for sure, I will always love you,” Shining affectionately said to his new wife. Then they both kissed each other on the lips.

As Twilight and her friends watched this touching moment, Celestia whispered something into Rainbow Dash’s ear. “Rainbow Dash, that’s your cue.”

Remembering her important role for this occasion, Rainbow literally flew right out of her bridesmaid gown, flew high in the air above the castle, and set off her long-awaited Sonic Rainboom which spread across the entire sky above Canterlot.

“Best… Wedding… EVER!” Dash cheered as she flew through the air. And it really was. That night they had fun at the reception party and well, you all know the rest.

Author's Note

Well, there you go. Hope you all enjoyed this story. I hope that eventually someone will make a page for this story on TV Tropes, or make fanart of it, and I give anyone permission to make a fanmade comic of this on deviantart or any other fanart website, just show me the character designs before you do. Thank you all for your patience and support.

Prologue

At night, somewhere in an empty desert land outside the magical kingdom of Equestria, a tall cloaked pony walked slowly till she reached the top of a large sand dune. The top of the dune gave the tall cloaked mare a view of a colorful and majestic land with a magnificent castle in the distance. The light from the far away land illuminated the desert land. Some of the light fell upon the cloaked pony. Her face was mostly hidden by her hood, but the light revealed she had a white muzzle and a long white horn. She bowed her head to the beautiful glowing land and her horn started giving off a glowing golden aura.

Meanwhile, at the top of a cold, windy, and snowy mountain outside Equestria, a smaller cloaked mare emerged from a dark cave that faced the same colorful and majestic land. The second cloaked mare raised her head up toward the moon. The moonlight illuminated the cloaked mare and revealed her dark blue muzzle and dark blue horn that gave off a glowing blue aura. The cloaked blue mare started lowering her head and as she did that, the moon began to go down too.

At the same time, the cloaked white mare in the desert started raising her bowed head and the sun started rising in the distance as she moved. The sunlight started covering the entire land.

Back at the snowy mountain, the cloaked blue mare watched as the rising sun’s light chase away the darkness of the night over the land. “The sun still rises, so I know you’re still out there, sister. I just hope you are okay.”

In the desert, the cloaked white mare had just finished raising the sun and bringing light of day to all of Equestria. “I may not be princess, but it’s the least I can do for everypony. I just hope my sister, Cadance, Shining Armor, the others, and Twilight are doing a lot better. Oh, my faithful student, I miss you so much. If only I had listened to you.” She said sadly staring at the far away castle.

It wasn’t too long ago that these two mares were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, the rulers of Canterlot and the entire land of Equestria. Since Luna was freed from her dark alter-ego, Nightmare Moon, the two sisters ruled their kingdom as equals. But they would’ve never been reunited if it weren’t for Celestia’s pupil, Twilight Sparkle, and her five friends. Together they formed a team worthy of wielding the six Elements of Harmony, magical relics when worn by their chosen wielder can produce extraordinary power. With this power, Twilight and her friends were able to restore Luna; defeat Discord, the Spirit of Chaos; and protect the peace and stability of Equestria. But the happiness was not to last. One day, Twilight and her friends received an invitation to participate in a wedding between Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard and Twilight’s older brother, and Princess Mi Amore Cadenza ‘Cadance’, Princess Celestia’s favorite niece and Twilight’s old foalsitter. Everything seemed to be running smoothly in preparation for the big wedding, but Twilight noticed something wasn’t right in the behavior of the bride. Despite her desperate claims to what she had seen not a single pony supported her, until it was too late. This is the tale of how wonderful friendships and wonderful lives came to tragic ends.

Chapter 9

It was early morning and below the deck of the galley ship, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the slaves had been rowing all night and they were very exhausted. Unfortunately, the slave driver wasn’t giving anypony anytime to take even a few seconds of rest. After awhile, the ship finally landed at the docks of a harbor where ponies where all walking about checking out and buying all sorts of foreign goods brought over seas. While all that was going on, a group of three cloaked ponies were exploring the docks and checking out the ships that had arrived this morning. A certain small purple scaled dragon poked his out at the bottom of the tallest pony’s cloak to see if he could help spot the ship they were looking for.

“Alright, everypony go ashore!” the slave driver said to the slaves. “Get food and drinks. Some guards will be watching to make sure you don’t run away and remember to be back here in fifteen minutes or the next journey won’t be so pleasant,” Then he unlocked the chains of the slaves and they all starting walking up on deck to meet the guards that would keep an eye on them. As Applejack and Pinkie started making their way to the deck, they were suddenly stopped by the slave driver. “Oh no, not you! I still a bone to pick with you two.”

On the docks, the three cloaked ponies and the dragon, Spike, hid behind a docked ship and watched as a group of guards escorted a group of tired-looking galley slave ponies off a ship and down the docks toward the market place.

“Those are galley slaves,” the shortest cloaked pony said.

“That must be the ship Pinkie and Applejack are on,” Spike guessed. “But where are they?”

“Let’s get closer,” the tallest cloaked pony said once the guards and slaves had left the area.

Back below deck, the slave driver was chewing out poor AJ and Pinkie. “I’ve had it up to here with you two complaining and slacking off!”

“We’re doin’ the best we can! The work on mah’ farm wasn’t nearly as backbreakin’ as this,” AJ argued. “And ah’ don’t think Pinkie can take anymore. Can’t ya just give her a little break?”

“Silence!” the slave driver commanded. “Nopony gets a break unless I say they can. Now, I want you two to get this through your thick skulls: this is your new home now! This is where you’ll be spending the rest of your pathetic miserable lives, and there is no miracle in the world that will ever change that!”

Just then, a gold aura appeared around the slave driver’s body, but before he could react, he was levitated up onto the deck where the sounds of a brief scuffle where heard. After a moment, a huge cloaked figure descended down bellow the deck and nearly started Pinkie and AJ. But their fear quickly turned to relief and excitement when the figure lowered her hood to reveal a warm, familiar face: Celestia.

“Celestia!” both young mares said at the same time and ran into a warm embrace with the former princess.

“What are you doing here?” Applejack asked.

“I’ll explain later. Right now, we have to get out of here,” Celestia said and led them up to the top of the deck. Up on the deck, they saw the slave driver’s head sticking out of a barrel with his mouth gagged. Then Spike slammed a lid on the slave driver’s head and sealed him inside the barrel. Along with Spike were Cadance and Luna, who were also wearing cloaks.

“Spike! Luna! Cadance! You’re all here,” Pinkie happily exclaimed when she saw her friends.

“Yes, and we’ve come to liberate you and the others as well,” Luna said.

“Now lets all head to the Dragon Lands to get Rainbow and Fluttershy,” Cadance suggested.

“Right, lets do this,” AJ agreed with newfound hope and confidence.

“Yeah, anything is better than rowing a boat for the rest of our lives,” Pinkie agreed.

With that, they leapt off the ship and were on their way to their next destination.

In the Dragon Lands’ coliseum, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were sitting in their cells waiting to be called for the next match. They could the roar of the crowds from their cells.

“Alright, time to head for the arena,” a pudgy armored green dragon guard holding a spear said unlocking the cell. “I hope you two lose this time. I’ve got a lot of gems betting on you both finally falling.” Just then, he heard a noise from behind a corner. “Hey, who’s there?” the dragon guard asked readying his spear and creeping toward the corner. When he poked his head behind the corner, his eyes went wide with surprise. “What the-” but before he could finish, something pulled him behind the corner, and the sounds of grunting and blows landing were heard.

Rainbow and Fluttershy sat nervously in their cell and wondered what had just happened to the guard. Then they heard the sound of foot steps coming from behind the corner. Did one of the beast get loose and was now hungry for pony flesh? Was it Garble and his goons breaking in so they could have revenge for their humiliation in the arena? Or was it… Spike?

“Spike?!” both pegasi said in surprise when they saw their little dragon friend come out from behind the corner.

“Not just me,” Spike replied. Then to add more to the pegasi’s surprise, Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all came out from behind the corner.

“What… How… What are you all doing here?” Rainbow asked in complete surprise.

“We thought we’d never see any of you ever again,” Fluttershy added.

“There is a lot to explain my little ponies,” Celestia warmly told them. “But right now, we have to get you both out of here.”

“Everything will be explained on the way. So let’s get outta here!” Pinkie said.

After looking at each other for a moment, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy silently agreed to go with their rescuers. As they went around the corner, they saw that the dragon guard had been tied up, gagged, and locked in one of the cells.

“Looks like no one’s getting any gems this time,” Rainbow teased him as she and Fluttershy took off with the others down the corridor.

“Yes, now on to the Diamond Dogs’ mines!” Spike said excitedly. “Here we come, Rarity!”

In the Diamond Dogs’ mines, Rarity and Shining Armor had just finished hauling a bunch of wagons filled with gems, and were now allowed by their masters to take a literal five minute break. Both unicorns were sitting around a little fire to keep warm. Rarity still had the uncomfortable-looking muzzle on her face.

“Hello, ponies,” Rover said as he and his two partners came in. “In just a few minutes, you’ll be going back to work.”

“By the way, pony king sent a little gift for the pretty one,” Fido said.

“He said it’s something you must have,” Spot said putting a little cardboard box down.

Rarity and Shining Armor looked at the box with confused expressions on their faces.

“Why would Jewelius send any of us gifts?” Shining asked. “I thought he was mad at us.”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” Rover said. “Just remember to get back to work when break is done.”

“Hey, look! GEMS!” a voice was heard from one of the tunnels.

“GEMS!” the three Diamond Dogs said in excited unison and immediately dashed into the tunnel. But then the sounds of screams, grunts, blows landing, and the slamming of a cell door were heard.

“Who’s there?” Shining Armor asked standing a defensive stance.

“Somepony who loves you,” said a pony coming out of the shadows and into the light. It was Cadance.

“Cadance!” Shining said in surprise and excitement. He rushed over to embrace the mare he loved.

Pretty soon, more familiar faces started emerging from the shadowy tunnel. Spike, Celestia, Luna, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all appeared before the two unicorns.

“You’re all here!” Shining exclaimed.

“Rarity!” Spike said running over to the unicorn he had feelings for. “Oh Rarity, what have they done to you?” He asked noticing the muzzle on her face. “Here, I got the key from them. Let me get it off,” he said as he pulled out a key he got from the Diamond Dogs in the scuffle and unlocked Rarity’s muzzle.

Rarity opened and closed her mouth a couple times. It felt like heaven to have a free mouth again. “Oh, Spikey-Wikey, you’re the best!” she said embracing the young dragon with tears of joy in her eyes. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like to have a little word with my employers,” she bitterly said walking into the tunnel.

“Uh oh!” Pinkie said in anticipation of what Rarity was going to do to the Diamond Dogs.

Rarity found the three Diamond Dogs locked in a cell. They saw that the muzzle was off and she did not look happy at all. They felt completely helpless locked in the cell.

“I think it’s time I taught you three a lesson in manners,” Rarity said threateningly.

“You wouldn’t,” Rover nervously gulped.

Ten minutes later, Rarity reunited with the others looking very pleased with herself.

“What happened?” Shining asked.

“Oh, I just reminded them why they hate having me here in their mines,” Rarity answered.

Back in the tunnel, the three Diamond Dogs sat shaking in fetal positions in their cell with traumatized eyes.

“So how did you all escape your enslavements?” Rarity asked her friends.

“It was thanks to them,” Rainbow said pointing to Spike, Cadance, Celestia, and Luna.

They all gathered around the fire to discuss recent events.

“Now I know you must be wondering why we’re all here,” Celestia began. “It’s because Spike provided us with some rather disturbing news he heard from Hildread.”

“Apparently, rumors in Canterlot say that a few changelings have escaped and that one of them might be impersonating Jewelius,” Cadance said.

“We fear that Twilight Sparkle’s life may be in great danger,” Luna added.

“Oh no, Twily!” Shining said visibly concerned.

“We’ve gathered you all so we can sneak into Canterlot, save Twilight, and stop the changelings,” Celestia explained.

“And if we’re lucky, we’ll probably be pardoned for how we almost brought the end of all of Canterlot,” Pinkie said excitedly. Then she realized that probably brought up some bad feelings. “Oh, that didn’t come out very well.”

Cadance looked over to Shining Armor, who had a very sad expression on his face. “Shining?” Cadance asked him with concern, but he did not answer. He was having flashbacks of some important moments in his life he had with his sister.

He remembered when she was a tiny little foal and how much he adored her.

He remembered when they were kids and how they used to play together, learn together, and share and support each other’s dreams.

“I just know you’ll make a great member of the Royal Guard, BBBFF.”

“Thanks, Twily.”

He remembered how excited he was when he heard she finally got her cutie mark and became Princess Celestia’s pupil.

“I can’t believe it! You got your cutie mark and became the Princess’s student all in one day! I’m so proud of you, Twily.”

“Thanks, BBBFF.”

He remembered the sad moment when he bid her farewell when she moved to Ponyville.

“I’ll miss you, BBBFF.”

“I’ll miss you too, Twily.”

And finally, he remembered how he cruelly and mercilessly ignored her warnings about the fake bride at the wedding rehearsal, stripped her of her title as best mare, banished her from the wedding, and practically disowned her.

“And you can forget about being my best mare. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn’t show up to the wedding at all.”

That last terrible moment between him and his sister proved to be his greatest mistake and had cost him so much. Because he had allowed his own pride and a shapeshifting bug to get the best of him, he had failed in the line of duty, the wedding had been cancelled, he had lost his title as Captain of the Guard, his reputation had been destroyed, and he had been exiled from Equestria as a criminal. But the worst part was that he never got the chance to reconcile with his little sister.

Shining shed rivers of tears from his eyes as the memories flowed through his head.

“Shining?” Cadance asked snapping him back into the present. “Shining, I heard about what happened at the wedding rehearsal.” She paused for a moment with a sad look on her face. “There’s something I should’ve told you a long time ago.”

She told everyone about how she and Shining first met when they were teenagers in Canterlot Academy. Shining remembered how taken he was by her beauty and kindness but unable to find the courage to speak to her. He remembered the plans he and his nerdy friends made to get him and Cadance together and get her away from polo team captain and school bully, Buck Withers. He also remembered the moment at the school dance when both he and Cadance finally saw how meant for each other they were and became each other’s very special somepony. However, Cadance revealed that she too was secretly in love with Shining and not Buck, but she couldn’t find it in her heart to tell him. So one night, when she was foalsitting Twilight, she asked her for information about her brother. When Twilight realized Cadance loved her brother just as much as he loved her, they both graphed several comparative charts of Cadance and Shining Armor and the results said they were a perfect match. Fearing that if anypony knew this secret it might ruin any relationship she would have with Shining, Cadance swore Twilight to secrecy with the foal school playground oath. After that, Cadance broke up with Buck and she and Shining became an official couple that eventually led to them planning their wedding. Once the story was over, everyone was almost completely dumbstruck.

“Twilight wanted you two to be together forever!” Fluttershy said in remorseful realization.

“All this time, we’ve only been thinkin’ about how much the weddin’ meant to us and not how much it meant to Twilight,” Applejack said visibly regretful.

“Some friends we are,” Pinkie said in a very sad tone.

“I should’ve know!” Celestia said cursing herself.

Shining Armor was taking it the worst. His own little sister, who had been so loving and supportive of him, was also the one truly responsible for him and Cadance becoming a couple all along. And he repaid her by casting her out like garbage.

“Oh, Cadance, I’m so sorry for all this,” Shining tearfully apologized to his beloved. “I should’ve known that wasn’t really you and what she was doing to me. Can you ever forgive me?”

“I can,” Cadance said in an understanding but sad tone. “But I think we should wait awhile before we decide to get married again. Right now, you have a wonderful sister to make amends with.”

Shining’s heart sank at these words. By forsaking his sister, he had probably put his relationship with the mare he loved in jeopardy.

“Well, now that we know the complete story, I think it is clear what we all have to do,” Luna said.

“I’m sorry, everypony,” Shining apologized to the group. “I made a mess of everything.”

“It’s not entirely your fault, we helped too,” Rainbow said trying to comfort the stallion.

“I should’ve never made Twilight keep this a secret,” Cadance said.

“We all have some responsibility for how things have turned out so badly,” Celestia said. “But now is not the time to sit around feeling sorry for ourselves.”

“You’re right,” Shining said feeling a new sense of determination. “We’ve gotta go back and set things right.”

As everyone else shouted in agreement, Rarity, who was overcome with curiosity, went over to see what was inside the cardboard box Jewelius had sent. She opened it, and to her shock, was the bridesmaid dress she had made for herself. Tears began to well up in her eyes.

“I know how you feel,” Spike said trying to comfort the unicorn mare. “He gave me a couple things also, to remind me why I can never return to Equestria.”

Rarity continued to shed tears as she stared at the dress that had once brought her so much joy, was now a symbol of her worst mistake. Then her heartbroken eyes turned to ones of anger. “I traded my best friend for THIS?!” she said angrily tossing the dress into the fire. Everyone stared in shock at what Rarity had just did to one of her own dresses. “I am the Element of Generosity, but I failed to represent that during the wedding. That is a mistake I fully intend to rectify!”

“And you’ll get your chance,” Celestia said touched by the ponies’ determination to make up for their mistakes. “We’re sneaking back into Canterlot to rescue Twilight and stop the changelings.”

“I believe I’ll stick to the shadows,” Luna suggested. “I have a bad feeling about this, and if something goes wrong, it would be best if we didn’t all get caught.”

“Understood, sister,” Celestia agreed, and with that, Luna walked into one of the dark tunnels and disappeared. “I suggest the rest of us begin our journey immediately.”

“Right, who knows how long those changelings have been loose in Canterlot,” AJ said.

“I just hope Twilight’s still okay,” Fluttershy nervously said.

“Me too,” Shining Armor agreed still feeling a great deal of remorse for his past actions.

With nothing more needed to be said, the group of eight ponies and one dragon set out on their quest to sneak into Canterlot and get back their friend. This was it, this was their true test of friendship. All they could do now was hope that luck would be on their side.

Chapter 11 (Updated 03/25/19)

The next morning, a crowd of ponies was gathered in the streets of Canterlot in front of the castle. They were all chatting nervously amongst themselves and waiting for some sort of announcement. Then they all saw their new king appear on a balcony of one of the castle towers. Jewelius looked down at the ponies gathered in the streets awaiting to hear from him. He gave a small grin of satisfaction at all the attention he was receiving.

“My beloved subjects,” the unicorn king addressed the crowd. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. Last night, those traitorous exiles broke into the castle with the intent of kidnapping my student, Lady Sparkle, and usurping my rule! And as a result, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was severely injured and is in intensive care in the castle’s medical wing.” The crowd gasped in shock when they heard this. “Our doctors are trying their best to save her, but I’m afraid it’s not looking good. We might need to prepare for the worst.” The crowd had sad and worried looks on their faces. The thought of the kind and beautiful Princess of Love dying was absolutely terrible. “Cadance was my elder cousin, but we were raised more like siblings. So for me, this is a truly heartbreaking tragedy. Also, considering I was a little hard on her for also putting the blame of the recent catastrophe that befell Canterlot just a week ago. When I finally calmed down and regained my senses, I had plans to reinstate her back into royalty and let her return to Canterlot where she belonged. But unfortunately, it looks like I may never be able to apologize for my wrongful accusations.” Jewelius said looking quite sad. The crowd all felt pity for him. “But the ones responsible for her condition, as well as the ones responsible for the changeling invasion a week ago, have been caught and will face justice for their crimes against our kingdom! These so-called heroes wished to return to power and plunge our nation back into a state of vulnerability! Well, as your new king, I vow to remain strong and never let that happen! I will see to it that these upstarts will suffer the severest of punishments known to ponykind! Cadance will be avenged! Twilight will be avenged! CANTERLOT WILL BE AVENGED!” Hearing this, the crowd roared with supportive cheers and applause. Jewelius waved and basked proudly in the crowd’s praise of him.

At noon that day, a big platform was setup in the castle’s courtyard. Shining Armor was on top of the platform between two long poles. His front legs were each tied high on one of the poles forcing him to stand on his back legs which were chained to the floor. He also had a metal clamp on his horn to prevent him from using any magic. Commander Hildread and Lieutenant Shackle were also on top of the platform. A large crowd of royal guards were gathered in front of the platform with a booth containing Jewelius, Vivian, and Twilight Sparkle set right behind the crowd.

“Let this stallion’s punishment serve as an example to all who dare to disgrace the Royal Guard of Canterlot!” Hildread said to the crowd who all burst into roaring cheers.

“I looked up to you!” one of the guards angrily yelled at Shining.

“I trusted you!” another guard yelled.

“He was like a mentor and a brother to me!” a third guard yelled.

Every angry insult and resentful comment was like an arrow to Shining’s heart. He was once admired by all these stallions, but now he was the lowest of scum to them.

“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this, Shining!” Hildread whispered to him with sadistic excitement. Then she walked over to her lieutenant who handed her a long, thick whip. Hildread happily took the whip in her mouth and walked behind her restrained rival.

Shining knew what was coming and braced himself for a world of pain.

SNAP!

Hildread swung the whip and it made hard contact with Shining’s back. Shining struggled to stay strong and not let out a scream of pain.

SNAP! AAAAAHHHHH!

The whip made contact again, only harder. This time, Shining could not hold back his scream of pain. This seemed to excite Hildread who continued to whip the defenseless stallion. Sometimes Shining would scream in pain, and sometimes not. But the strikes kept getting harder as they went.

In the royal viewing box, the three unicorns were watching the spectacle of pain. Twilight Sparkle did not take any enjoyment at all in watching her big brother be put through such torture, but she believe there was nothing she could do for him. So she averted her eyes most of the time. Jewelius, who was seated right beside her, looked like he was enjoying this greatly. His smile got bigger and crueler with every scream. Vivian was seated on her master’s right side. She took no pleasure or disgust in Shining’s punishment, she looked like she didn’t really care.

“Don’t you think this is a little harsh?” Twilight asked on her brother’s behalf. “He never really meant for all these terrible things to happen.” Despite still feeling angry and hurt by his previous actions, deep down she still cared for him.

“Twilight, my faithful student,” Jewelius explained in a friendly tone and putting on a sad expression. “While he might not have meant to cause so much harm, it does not change the fact that he did and could’ve easily prevented it. I do not take pleasure in such torture, but a lesson needs to be learned here.”

“I understand,” Twilight sadly and reluctantly agreed.

Jewelius turned his attention back to Shining’s whipping and his supposedly sad face changed back to the sadistic grin he had before.

Later on, Shining Armor was taken back to his dungeon cell with tons of whip wounds on his back. Celestia, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all in neighboring cells. Those with horns had anti-magic clamps on them and those with wings had belts made from a strong substance that held their wings to their bodies to keep them from flying.

“Are you alright?” a concerned Fluttershy asked Shining noticing the wounds on his back.

“I’ve had better days,” Shining weakly replied.

“Sorry, Princess,” Applejack apologized to Celestia, who was sat in the neighboring cell looking very sad and defeated. “We let ya’ down again.”

“No, I did this,” Shining disagreed. “I was supposed to make sure Canterlot was safe. But I let Chrysalis impersonate Cadance and trick me with her obvious lies. I even let her turn me against my own sister. Twilight was right.” He bowed his head in shame.

“No, Captain,” Celestia spoke. “I’m supposed to be the wise high ruler of Equestria with thousands of years of experience. But I couldn’t even tell the difference between my own niece and an obvious imposter. I failed as a ruler, I failed as an aunt, and I failed as a teacher. I’m an absolute failure.” She too lowered her head in shame.

“Hey, don’t take all the credit,” Pinkie said trying to cheer them up. “We helped too.”

“We turned our backs on our best friend when she needed us the most,” Fluttershy said sadly.

“All for the chance to participate in a stupid wedding that was doomed to failure,” Rarity bitterly added.

“Some friends we turned out to be,” Rainbow said feeling like a complete disgrace.

They all sat in their cells with their heads lowered in shame. Then they heard some hoof steps approaching their cells. It was soon revealed to be Jewelius and Vivian. Jewelius looked very satisfied to notice the miserable expressions on everyone’s faces.

“Such sad faces,” Jewelius said in a mocking tone. “Are you all feeling guilty for something you did? Good, you should be.”

“What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked.

“Just returning another prisoner to her cell,” Jewelius answered.

Then they heard more approaching hoof steps, and then they all saw Chrysalis being escorted by Hildread and two guards. Chrysalis’s hooves were in chains and she looked like she’d been brutally tortured. She was put in a cell right across from Shining Armor.

“We have plans on building a new slave labor force using these vile beasts,” Jewelius proudly explained. “However, this one is far too dangerous. I’m afraid she’ll have to be put down.” Jewelius let out a short cruel chuckle.

“Congratulations,” Shining angrily said glaring at Chrysalis. “Not only did you succeed in ruining the wedding, but also everypony’s lives. What have you to say for yourself, you hideous, love-sucking, manipulative monster?”

Chrysalis glared back at the angry stallion. Celestia, Spike, and the other five were also glaring at her. Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak. She was quite weak, so she was struggling to get out what she wanted to say. But instead of saying something to the eight angry prisoners, she turned to Jewelius and said something that caught them off guard.

“I… I thought we were in this together!” the bug queen weakly said. “Why did you betray me?!”

“What?!” Pinkie asked completely surprised. All the others had their jaws hanging open in utter shock and confusion.

“Oh Chrysalis,” Jewelius spoke to the changeling prisoner. “Did you really think I’d let a despicable animal like you by my side?”

“What is the meaning of this?!” Celestia asked in a concerned and demanding tone.

“Before you ask anymore questions, let me clear something up first,” Jewelius turned to the rest of the prisoners. “No, I’m not a changeling. This is the real me. In more ways than one.”

“But I heard Hildread and Shackle talk about changelings that got loose and had impersonated you to get to Twilight,” Spike said completely baffled. Then he heard Hildread chuckle maliciously.

“They took the bait just like you said, Your Majesty,” Hildread said to the king.

“I told you they would,” Jewelius replied. Then he turned back to the confused prisoners. “You see, when I had all of you banished, I hoped that life in slavery or separated from your lives of luxury would eventually kill off the three alicorns. But as I watched the sun and moon rise and set day after day, I knew that meant Celestia and Luna were still alive. And by extent, Cadance too. So I had Commander Hildread spread false rumors to only you in order to lure you all back into Canterlot so I could capture you and deal with you personally. You know what they say, ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself’.”

“But why?!” Pinkie asked confused and anxious.

“To eliminate the obstacles in his path to power,” Chrysalis bitterly answered while glaring at Jewelius. All the other prisoners gasped when they heard this.

“What are you talking about?” Shining asked in a demanding tone. “Is this another one of your tricks?”

“No, I’m afraid this time she’s telling the truth, Former Captain Armor,” Jewelius smugly explained. “And as for your questions about the changelings. Let me answer those questions with some questions of my own. How do you think the changelings found out about the wedding in Canterlot? How do you think Chrysalis got through Shining’s shield spell? And how do you think she knew about the caverns beneath the castle? I told her about them!”

The prisoners were all rendered completely speechless by what Jewelius just said.

“You What?!” Celestia asked in disbelief.

“I've done a lot of traveling across Equestria searching for the means to rid myself of the princesses and take my rightful place. During one of them, I learned the location of the Changeling hive in the Badlands. It wasn't too long after that I received word from Canterlot that Cadance and Shining Armor had finally scheduled the day of their wedding,” Jewelius explained. “Before that, I had secretly read about the changelings and their horrible tricks. I had also secretly uncovered the existence of the abandoned mining caverns beneath the castle. When I heard about the wedding, I knew that it was time for a little trip to the Badlands where the Changeling Kingdom lay. Once there, I had the tremendous honor of meeting their queen. At first, she tried to drain me of my love, but for some reason she was unable to do so. Then I told her about the event happening in Canterlot and offered my services.”

“You told them about the wedding?!” Rainbow couldn’t believe her own ears.

“Yes,” Jewelius proudly replied. “However, somehow word of an imminent danger reached Canterlot and the entire kingdom was put on lock-down.”

“But then you showed her the secret caverns under the castle,” Shining deduced. “That’s how she got through my shield and into the castle!”

“Congratulations Shining Armor, you finally figured it out,” Jewelius commented in a mocking tone.

Jewelius remembered after witnessing Chrysalis, disguised as Cadance, imprison Twilight Sparkle in the caverns, he made his way to his cousin’s room where his aunt, Spike, and the five mares were all standing outside the door with concerned looks on their faces waiting for something.

“Is everything alright?” Jewelius asked.

“Shining Armor’s in there trying to comfort her,” a concerned Celestia said.

“It’s been awhile since he went in,” Applejack said.

“She’s really upset,” Fluttershy added in a sad tone.

“Let me go in and see if everything’s okay,” Jewelius suggested. “We are very close after all.”

“Perhaps that’s best,” Celestia agreed.

Jewelius used his magic to open the door to his cousin’s room and walked in closing the door behind him. He saw both ‘Cadance’ and Shining Armor sitting on the bed with their backs to the door.

“Cadance dear,” he said in a gentle sounding tone. “Is everything alright?”

“Oh yes, ‘my dear cousin’,” she replied in a sinister tone of voice. “Everything’s fine.”

Jewelius walked closer to the bed and saw that his ‘cousin’ had a wicked and satisfied grin on her face and Shining Armor’s face had a blank expression and his eyes were bright green.

“I finally have him completely under my spell,” she said triumphantly.

“Well, it’s about time,” Jewelius said dropping his kindly and concerned façade.

“And as for that annoying little sister of his, I made sure she wouldn’t be anymore trouble to us.”

“Perhaps she wouldn’t had been much trouble if you had worked on your acting skills,” Jewelius complained.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” ‘Cadance’ dismissed his complaint. “The only ones suspicious of me are out of the way, and now nopony can stop us! Isn’t that right, ‘my dear’?”

“Yes,” Jewelius agreed. “By the way, you can ‘slip into something more comfortable’ when it’s just us. I really don’t like that look for you.” His face showed great disgust for her disguise.

“Very well,” she agreed and instantly changed into her true changeling form. “How’s this?”

“Better.”

“By the way, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Chrysalis said sinisterly. “Can you live with yourself? Betraying your family and all of Equestria like this?”

“I have lived in the shadows of those high horses for far too long,” Jewelius said showing absolutely no regret. “Soon, Prince Jewelius will get what he rightfully deserves!”

“I bet you will, my dear,” Chrysalis said with villainous affection.

“You’d better get ‘changed’. The others are outside waiting for you.”

“But if you two were partners in all this then why did you double-cross her?” Applejack asked confused.

“I found somepony much younger and potentially more powerful to use instead,” Jewelius arrogantly explained.

“Twilight!” Celestia, Shining Armor, and Chrysalis all exclaimed in unison.

“Correct! At first, when I noticed how suspicious of the ‘bride’ she’d become, I was afraid she’d expose her and mess up everything. But you were all so eager to have the wedding, you were willing to dismiss her warnings and turn your backs on her just like that. Even with nopony believing her suspicions, being the magical prodigy she is, she was still a threat to my plans. Luckily, she wasn’t suspicious of me. So after spending some time with the young unicorn, I hatched a new plan. I decided to break my alliance with the changelings and help Twilight defeat them and save the day. Then I would pin the blame for this mess on all of you, get the princesses dethroned, and establish myself as King of all Equestia! Brilliant isn’t it?”

“You Backstabbing Traitor!” Rainbow yelled furiously. She clenched the bars of her cell and tried to break them so she could get free and beat the tar out of the smug, traitorous prince. But they were too strong to break.

“Well, my cutie mark is a shiny dagger with a golden hilt,” Jewelius sadistically teased the furious pegasus.

"Guards, seize this traitor immediately!" Celestia commanded the two guards in the room. However, neither of them made a move to do as she commanded and just stood where they were making malicious chuckles to each other which made the former princess confused and nervous. "What's the meaning of this?! This stallion is a traitor!"

"These aren't your guards, dear auntie," Jewelius mockingly told her. "They're mine. I'm afraid most of the ponies under former captain Shining Armor's command suffered some pretty serious injuries during the changeling invasion. While we tried to care for them in the castle's medical wing, unfortunately most of them did not make it." This revelation caused the imprisoned heroes to gasp in horror, a reaction that made Jewelius smile. "Allow me to explain the details."

Jewelius remembered sitting in his new throne room shortly after exiling the heroes. He sat on the throne that had once belonged to his aunt with a proud and satisfied smile on his face.

"This day has been just perfect!" he said to himself before turning to his assistant. "By the way Vivian, have you taken care of that little task I asked?"

"Yes sire," the grayish mare answered handing him a scroll. "Hildread and I investigated all the guards recovering in the medical wing after the attack. These are the ones still swearing their loyalty to the princesses."

Jewelius opened the scroll and read through it. The scroll looked to be at least four feet long. After a moment, Jewelius decided he had read enough and a smile with wicked intent formed on his face.

"Well then they're the ones who will be the casualties of this terrible disaster," Jewelius declared.

"It's a shame," Vivian commented with a hint of remorse in her voice. "Those are some fine stallions and mares. This will decrease the numbers in the Royal Guard significantly."

"No matter," Jewelius apathetically replied. "I'm sure there are some ponies locked up in the dungeons who will be more than happy to help solve this issue for the right price." The usurper couldn't help but let out a small cruel chuckle at his latest idea before handing the list back to Vivian. "Go speak with Hildread. You know what to do next."

"Yes sire," she confirmed bowing her head before turning to complete her dark new task.

"A new Royal Guard for a new ruler of Equestria!"

Once he was done, horror and devastation donned the prisoners' faces, specifically Celestia and Shining Armor. So many innocent ponies who had sworn themselves to serving both of them had senselessly lost their lives because of their loyalty and replaced with the scummiest of ponykind. While both the former captain and princess were furious at this crime Jewelius had committed, they couldn't help but feel responsible as well.

"You... had..." Celestia struggled to say.

"So many of our loyal guards murdered?!?" Shining finished while shedding a tear of anger and sorrow. Most of the guards he had under his command were his friends and some of them he even treated as family.

"Don't worry," Jewelius said taking pleasure in their misery. "The new guards aren't that bad. With the right motivation they're quite loyal and effective."

"Beats rotting down here for the rest of our lives," one of the new thug-turned-guards commented before he and his partner burst into hysterical laughter.

“You Snake!” AJ yelled angrily. The rest of her friends shot hateful glares at the smug usurper. “How were you able to fool Twilight when Chrysalis wasn’t?”

“Simple,” Jewelius replied. “I did the one thing none of YOU did. I listened to her and gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was THERE for her! I was her friend!”

“I’m not busy with anything at the moment. Would you like to tell me about it?”

“If it makes you feel any better, I have also noticed some rather out-of-character moments in her behavior.”

“Remember Twilight, if you need anything, just come and find me.”

“Be careful who you think you can trust. I fear someponies may not be what they seem.”

“This is probably just a huge misunderstanding.”

“I’m… I’m so sorry. Truly I am.”

“But after you all broke her heart and abandoned her at the wedding rehearsal, she became a lot easier to manipulate. And now, I have her completely under my control. I didn’t even need to use a mind control spell either!” Jewelius proudly boasted.

Spike glared at the arrogant usurper and growled like an angry animal.

“You… you used my sister, and the changelings!” an enraged Shining Armor growled. “You’re responsible for all of this!”

“Whoa, calm down,” Jewelius mocked the stallion. “I didn’t manipulate any of you into making yourselves look like fools. You chose to believe the lies of an imposter over the one pony who made any real sense during all that stupid nonsense. And in the end, Twilight was right about everything. Well, except one thing: she thought all of you were her friends! Now THAT couldn’t had been farther from the truth!” Then Jewelius burst into cruel and hysterical laughter. Hildread joined him. Vivian continued standing silently and obediently at his side.

The cruel laughter struck the prisoners in their hearts like daggers. He was right. Because they refused to listen to reason, they destroyed their relationships with Twilight, they let an army of changelings nearly take over Canterlot, and they had given a conniving traitor the means to usurp control over all of Equestria.

“How does it feel to know just how much damage you’ve caused?” Jewelius asked in a sadistic and mocking tone.

“Jewelius! What about Cadance?” an angry Celestia demanded to know.

“Don’t worry, auntie,” Jewelius said sinisterly. “I’m making sure she’s getting special treatment for her wounds.”

Jewelius remembered earlier that day, he was in the medical wing watching Cadance, who was strapped to a hospital bed, being painfully electrocuted by a group of doctors involved in his plot with some sort of lightning generating machine, which was connected to her horn by a jumper cable, while he watched with an evil and sadistic grin.

The prisoners were extremely horrified to hear this. Especially Shining Armor and Celestia.

“Sadly, it doesn’t look like she’s going to make it,” he said with false sympathy. “I may have been able to turn Twilight and all of Canterlot against you, but they still remained faithful to Cadance. So I set up this little accident to finish her off for good while pretending to do everything within my power to save her.”

“I don’t understand,” Celestia said greatly shocked and disappointed. “The nephew I raised would never be so cruel to anypony, especially his own family!”

“The nephew you thought you raised never existed!” Jewelius angrily yelled at her. “Love, family, friendship! You think I really cared about all of that?! I only choked down all those ‘happy’ moments while standing in yours and Cadance’s shadows! But no more. Now I will be the only one who will cast the biggest shadow!”

"There's still one thing I don't understand," a confused Fluttershy spoke. "Why are you making the rest of us suffer if it was the princesses you wanted gone?"

"It was nothing personal really," the vile traitor replied. "Most of you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, there was 'who would possibly want to do anything that could ruin such a glorious event like the wedding of the wonderful Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'," he mockingly mimicked Rarity's line in a deplorable immature tone of voice. "Let's just say what you all said that time didn't sit too well with me."

“You’re Mad!” Rarity yelled.

“But I do have some good news,” Jewelius announced. “There will be a wedding eventually after all. It took awhile, but my dear student, Twilight, has agreed to become my queen!” The prisoners’ all gasped in horror at this news. "Love is in bloom," the usurper jokingly commented. “And none of you will be bridesmaids this time. With a powerful unicorn like her by my side, we will produce offspring that will continue my glorious legacy!”

“YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY LITTLE SISTER!” Shining roared in absolute rage and tightly clenched the bars of his cell.

“Sorry Shining,” Jewelius mocked the furious stallion. “But your sister and I don’t need your blessing to get married. And I had your parents secretly put someplace safe for a little leverage incase Twilight somehow turns against me. Twilight Sparkle will be my queen! That is unless I find another more powerful unicorn. Then I might have to stage a little accident.”

Shining gridded his teeth with murderous intent in his eyes.

“You’re a real dirt bag! You know that?” Pinkie angrily insulted the smug usurper. But he just smirked at her.

"What are you going to do?" Jewelius mockingly asked. "If you still had Twilight on your side, you might've stood a chance. But without her, you're nothing! Sad, isn't it?"

The prisoners bowed their heads in sadness. He was right. Without Twilight, they had no hope of winning. But because of their betrayal, she was no longer there for them when they needed her. Just like they weren't there for her when she needed them.

“You will all be sent back to where you were exiled,” Jewelius announced. “But this time, security will be heightened to make sure none of you escape again. Except for you, Aunt Celestia. You have been sentenced to death, and are to be executed tonight.”

“WHAT!” they all said in absolute horror.

“Shouldn’t she have a trial first?” Spike asked.

“We already had one earlier today,” Jewelius replied. “And the verdict is guilty. Guilty of the one unforgiveable crime: betrayal!”

“You won’t get away with this!” Fluttershy angrily declared.

“Oh, I already have!” Jewelius smugly retorted. Then he, Vivian, and Hildread all turned and left the prisoners to think about what they just learned.

“JEWELIUS!” Celestia shouted furiously back at her traitorous nephew, but he did not answer.