"The defendant's verdict follows as such, the defendant is hereby found guilty of thievery from the royal castle and destruction of castle property and is sentenced to at least 3 months in the castle dungeon....Court dismissed, guards would you please clear the room." Celestia orders. It was not her favorite royal duty but it was a duty nonetheless, and she was required to see it performed to the best of her ability. Watching as the court room slowly decreases in population she breaks her formal posture and slouches down in her golden throne, assuming a position that would be considered un-princess like resting back on the arm rest while she swings her legs up on the other. "Was that the last one?" She calls out.
"I think so that was what the 3rd court case? Then yeah were done for now." Princess Luna agrees walking out from beside the throne. "I think we have some time left over before we head over to the local school for the visit."
"I don't know how our mother did this all by herself sister, we can barely get through three a day." Celestia groans. "Tell me something sister, why have we not considered a vacation?" She asks fixing herself in the throne deeming the position uncomfortable with her dress on. She hops off of the throne like a spring and makes her way down the steps.
"Oh we have alright, we are not allowed to do it though....too many duties." Luna grunts. Recalling a time where they used to have a lot more free time then they had now, they would usually walk around the garden and admire the birds and many exotic flowers or even take a trip to the castles library to select a book to read over some lunch.
"Ugh, what about Twilight do you think she can take over for a day or two? I mean she is busy with that fake title we gave so she must have free time herself right?" Celestia snickers.
"Oh no she cant she is on another friendship adventure, I was just by this morning to drop her off a couple of books I thought she'd like." Luna objects. "Wanna go get some lunch?" She suggests.
"Actually you know what I'm thinking sis?" Celestia counters. "I'm thinking maybe that mother left some advice for us in her journal. Wanna go give it a quick look through? Who knows maybe we will find a couple tips on how to do a better job at princess- ing." She chuckles. Stretching out her sore wings, she begins to flap a little and loosen them up a little after being pressed against her back for a 3 hour court session.
"What do you mean?" Luna asks.
"I mean, the old Equestria only had one ruler and that was mother. So she must have kept a few hints and notes written down in case she would mess up on something, so maybe what if we are doing something wrong? Wouldn't you like to see if we can fix it?" Celestia explains. She didn't bother to wait for an answer from Luna she was already halfway across the throne room nearing the doors that lead out into the rest of the castle.
"Alright I guess I'll tag along." Luna calls out flapping her wings to the point where she levitated off of the floor. Maybe her sister was on to something, maybe they were doing something wrong in the kingdom. It certainly couldn't hurt to look through the journal, its not like she was scared of finding anything wrong with their ruling.
"So what did you think of the session today did the punk deserve it?" Celestia asks curiously. The library was just right down the hall but so far the trip to it had been fairly silent and rather ominous. "or was I too harsh with the sentence?"
Luna chuckled and laughed a little, "Remember when we had to watch the royal courts when mother went through them, we used to get so bored we levitated random people in the crowd in the air." She laughed. "She would get so mad at us for that though."
"Yeah I remember, it was after those types of days that I swore I would never do another royal court session....Look at me now." She grunts. "Seriously though was I to harsh? I know he tried to steal weapons from the armory but still?"
"You weren't harsh enough honestly." Luna admits. "He was trying to steal weapons, I would have given him a year or two." She explains.
"Well then, I won't be so lenient next time someone tries to steal from us." Celestia concedes.
Closer and closer they drew near the castle's library, it was guarded and always locked from the outside. Just incase someone decided to take a couple of precious items that were locked away with in its chambers, the guards greeted them with a smile and saluted as they stood in front of the locked room.
"Lemme get that for you princesses." One guard calls out. Wanting to use his magic a medium sized horn grows from his forehead and levitates up his keys, when finished the horn slowly descended back making his head look normal like nothing was ever there. "Here you go." The guard says again as the door made a click, signifying it was unlocked.
Walking inside the library would probably be for Twilight the most exciting time of her life, but for actual real princesses it was a place where they wanted to get out as quick as possible because of the many duties they had to perform on a daily basis. The shelves reached as high as the roof would allow it to and all the shelves were stocked and filled to them brim, since there was new books coming out every now and then they had to install extra shelves just to carry them all.
Over all the cases and shelves there was one particular spot where they kept the most special books of all, two pillars each carried one book. It even had a clear glass case that covered the two separate books, it was very clear glass polished each morning it almost looked like nothing was even there at all. One of those two books was their mothers journal, the journal that inspired them to create their own journal. Hovering her hands around the case, Celestia lifts up the glass cover while Luna removed the old and fragile, dusty book.
"Is there anything in particular you want to look for?" Luna asks cradeling the book in her arms, like it was her own child. It was pretty important to them, every now and then on certain occasions like today they would each go and have a look inside the journal, sometimes to remember certain memories or even just to consult for advice. Carrying the book over to the table Luna fails to realize that from inside the books cover a few pages folded together have slipped in fallen out from the giant book.
"Yeah, try to look for if there is one called tips or notes....it's a shot but it might be worth it." Celestia says placing the case down back over to the pillar. Turning around to walk back over to the table Luna was already seated at, she stops in her tracks over what she saw laying on the floor. It was the paper that fell out of the journal, "Luna you gotta be careful with mothers journal, it looks like some pages fell out." Celestia rebukes as she bends over to pick up the fallen pieces. "Huh that's funny."
"What's funny?" Luna asks curiously.
"These pages, they looked like they were torn right out of the book." Celestia angrily replies. "Check the book to see where it might have been torn out of, see if we cant put them back in the rightful spot." She demands.
Flipping frantically through the chapters of the book, she couldn't really find anywhere where the pages belonged too. "Is there a page or chapter number on one of the pages?" Luna asks, hoping to find it that way.
"Uh yeah, chapter 4." Celestia responds.
Flipping through the first 3 pages, she finally comes across the tear marks. Telling her that the pages pages has been rip out through those exact spots, there were only three pages missing and it was the chapter right before their chapter marked. Lunar Moon & Celestial Sun. "Found it! Its the chapter before ours." Luna calls out. "Hey whats that chapter about anyway Celestia?" Luna asks.
"Let's see here, ah.....Diablo Ignite." She responds. Flipping and unfolding more of the page, Celestia scans her eyes through the written words. As she reads more of the pages her eyes get wider and wider until they couldn't no more, "Oh sweet......me, LUNA!" She shouts.
"What? What's wrong!" Luna shouts back surprised and worried.
Celestia quickly rushes over to the table and lays the papers hastily but carefully on top of the book, "Look at what these papers say Luna." She insists. "Read them out loud." She insists. What she read truly shocked her and couldn't wait until Luna herself read what she did, both for confirmation and to share the same disbelief.
"Um okay." Luna says a little worried. Grabbing all the papers she begins to read them out loud, "Entry one, Diablo a fitting name for a vampire alicorn I suppose, despite being a demon he really is just a giant sweet heart from birth. I swear Diablo is the best brother in the world to his new sisters. They enjoy his company as much as he enjoys theirs, he really helps me out a lot more then he does when he watches his sisters. I can actually get a full nights rest before having to perform the daily tasks in the morning. Even though he is a couple hundred years older then his filly sisters it doesn't seem to effect anything, I think he, Tia and Lulu are going to get along just fine......." She reads. Her eyes got as wide as Celestia, those were their nicknames for when they were children. So that must mean, "WE HAVE A BROTHER!"
"I don't know how this is even possible, mother never spoke or said anything about him." Celestia exclaims. The new information scared her, all her life she grew up oblivious to the fact that they even had or known of another member of their family.
"I know she never said anything about a brother." Luna agrees. "Should we keep reading? Maybe find out why we were never told?" Luna asks.
"Lets read a couple more entries, but for now nothing we read goes beyond those doors....Keep this a secret until we know more about this....Lost brother." Celestia demands.
"Agreed." She takes another page from behind the first one and skips a couple entries mostly talking about the bonding between them and their brother. "Entry 2, 2 years from last entry, Diablo is just 500, and he just constantly tells me to run things they way he would do it. Take no mercy for the criminals, kill traitors to the kingdom, everyone should join the armed forces no matter what they say....It's really starting to scare me, he rarely talks to his 3 and 4 year old sisters anymore kind of like he was blocking them out. He even asked me to make him commander of the military to and I quote 'burn down every kingdom who opposes us' its not how I taught him." Luna finishes.
"Wow, It sounds like she was either sad or appalled at him. Either way it seems like his heart was growing cold over the years." Celestia states still astonished. "Let me read the next one, I can tell this might take a toll on us." Luna nods her head and passes Celestia the last page of the chapter, each page only had two entries on them. So they were determined to finish them all. "Entry 3, 5 years later from last entry . I can't believe my own eyes and ears anymore, I don't know what I did wrong when raising Diablo. He was such a sweet kid and pleasant adult around his family, now he is cold and cruel he blocks out his sisters and ignores them when ever they are around, he asked me to be in charge of the royal court and me thinking he just wanted to feel loved gave him the position. I was sadly proven wrong when I found out he sentenced a citizen to death for thievery, I stripped him of the power and argued countlessly and constantly for 2 days with him.....I'm not sure what to do with him."
"Oh my goodness Celestia, death for thievery! That's just preposterous, and here you thought you were too harsh with your rulings and verdicts." Luna exclaims.
"I wonder what changed him so much? From what we first read he seemed like he was way tremendously different." Celestia observes. "It sorta reminds me of you when you had your Nightmare Moon phase." Celestia remarks.
"Just read the next one, already I'm nervous but curious to hear what happens." Luna says.
"Very well, Entry 4, 3 days from last entry, we fought and not arguing but actually sword fighting. My own son tried to kill me and take over the kingdom, we fought long and hard to the point of a stalemate. Most of my guards were no help, he actually recruited my own guards against me....I had no other choice, there was no other option for me exert. I ended up banishing him and all of the traitorous guards to a place worse then their own death, to Tartarus. I can't and won't forget the terrified faces on Celestia's and Luna's faces when they saw the 30 armed soldiers breach the throne room doors, I'm going to have to find a memory erasing spell to avoid the conversation in the future." Celestia nearly shouted the whole thing in disbelief of the passage, there was no way this actually happened it couldn't happen at all.
"Oh, but why? Why would anyone try to kill their own mother? It doesn't make any sense to me at all Celestia." Luna cried out.
"This happened over many millenniums ago, way before we could even perform our first royal duty." Celestia remarks.
"I know, what should we do Celestia?" Luna asks curiously.
"What do you mean, what should we do...we do nothing." Celestia barks. She did not like at all about what her sister was probably thinking in her head, she knew it could led to either 1 or two things which was not preferable in any way shape or form.
"We must do something, Celestia think if this was me what would you do then. Celestia this was who knows how many millenniums ago......I honestly think we should pay him a visit." Luna counters. Even if their brother was a mass murderer and thrown in jail for his entire life they still should go see him even though he did wrong, to her it was personal like what if Celestia never gave her a second chance?
"Why should we? He tried to kill his.....our own mother!" Celestia reacts.
"And I tried to kill you....My own sister and if it wasn't for you giving me that second chance then, I would be right back on the moon to this very day." Luna answers anxiously. "You giving me a second chance turned my life around, to see a new way....well what if he already regrets his ways and wants to come home?" She shouts.
"We can't do this, we still have many duties to perform sister don't you remember that? Our duties that mother gave to us because we didn't try to kill her." Celestia reminds.
"OUR DUTIES THAT COULD BE MADE ALOT EASIER IF THERE WAS THREE OF US!" Luna shouts scolding her sister.
Celestia takes a moment to think, they could use the help trying to carry the load of running a whole nation....and it was their brother they were talking about, she now had no doubt in her mind that she even sounded foolish by denying the fact that they even had or wanted to see their brother. "Alright fine we make one visit and we will discuss things with him, and if we do decide he should get a second chance, he is your responsibility so if anything goes wrong its one you." Celestia concedes.
"Thank you sister, we will leave first thing in the morning I tell our advisor to let the local courts settle any disputes." Luna sighs in relief.
"I think I had enough for one day, tell our advisors to clear our schedule for the rest of the day and anything else can wait until we come back tomorrow." Celestia demands.
"I think that is going to bite us in the butt later sis, I'll tell you what I'll go to Tartarus and talk to Diablo and you take care of things until we get back....If I deem he is ready he will take over the rest of the responsibilities with us." Luna offers.
"You can't go to Tartarus all by yourself Luna, would you at least take a couple of guards with you?" Celestia asks fearing for her sisters safety.
"Trust me, I would want him to trust me enough having a couple of guards with me might make him back off a little. I'll bring good food and if he responds well and have a civilized discussion and he fits my expectations then I will bring him home that very moment sister." Luna cleverly responds. "I feel like he may be surprised that his two sisters are seeking him out to come home even after they knew everything there is to know." Luna adds.
"Alright then Luna, but if he does not fit your expectations then just leave him there and forget we even discovered his existence." Celestia demands.
"Don't tell me that's what you did when you banished me." Luna chuckles.
Author's Note
Hi, Diablo here and just a few moments ago you've read about me. I just want to to welcome you to the story and I really hope you enjoy..Tell us here at Cider Hall Productions what you thought of the story.....And remember there are 2 of us so our writting styles and techniques vary. Be sure to leave a like or dislike or comment to tell us what you thought.
Author's Note
Hey guys Diablo here again. I just wanna say thanks to all of those who favorited the story and liked it, you guys have no idea how much it means to me on my first fimfiction story. I hope you enjoy this new chapter and I'll leave you to it then...Everything is not innocent as it seems
Examination
"Are you sure about this sister?" Celestia asks holding up a brown leather backpack. "Listen are you sure you will be safe down in that place?" "Do you want to reconsider bringing the castle guard?" All on Celestia's mind was not of the fact that she might meet her own sibling, but that of her sisters safety. She had no idea what Luna might even see down there, when she banished some one to Tartarus she would have the castle guard transport them to their place.
"Listen, I am just as sure as the sun will lower itself and just as sure the moon will rise after. I know you have your doubts and concerns, but listen I'll be fine the guard dog Cerberus will have my back I'm sure of it....I brought him a new chew toy along with me." Luna chuckles. Grabbing the backpack out of Celestia's hands, she puts the two straps over her shoulders and jumps a little to make sure it wont fall off. It was awkward for her wings to naturally fold up but they managed to do their job.
"I'm sure Cerberus would show you where you need to go, that's what the guards told me after they got back from escorting Tirek to his cell." Celestia informs. "Now remember if he doesn't fit the bill leave him there, if he does well by all means bring him home.......I know this might be personal to you because of your past situation, but we need to think about the safety of our kingdom over our own personal thoughts. Just keep that in mind." Celestia warns. She pats Luna on the should and chuckles. "Are you ready?" She asks
"Alright, open the gates....I'm ready as I'll ever be." Luna calls out.
Celestia nods her head as a long white horn begins to come out of her skull and on top of her head, just like the guard that opened the library for them yesterday. A bright white aurora begins to swirl and twist around the horn and a beam of magic comes shooting out and onto the floor beneath their feet. Soon after a dark black dot musters up on the floor eventually forming into a large and wide portal frame, little whips of smoke and shadows spew up from the portals entrance.
"Here I go, and Celestia?" Luna exclaims.
"What having second thoughts already Luna?" Celestia snickers. She could tell by the way that Luna looked at the portal, she might have had a different opinion on things and wanted to just forget about the whole thing.
"Don't burn down the kingdom while I'm gone." She comments. With that sentence spoken, Luna jumps right on inside the portal frame before Celestia could even think of coming up with something to fire back at the sarcastic comment.
The world changed around her almost instantly, the white marble walls of her castle home quickly turned into black and jagged rocky walls that lined the underworld prison. A place where only the worst of the most hardened criminals lived to serve out their sentence in pure agony, a place where you don't age to ensure you serve the maximum amount of time you can before someone deems you fir to return.
It wasn't a big underworld, it was mostly just a vast amount of space. Not like the typical children's stories where there were confusing caves and booby traps all around the world, because once that portal shut it shut for good there was no escaping this world. Only until someone reopened the portal for someone to leave, was the only time someone could escape. Or if you even had the smallest hint of magic, you could open it yourself that's why after Tirek escaped they started to put Magic cancelation rings on their horns.
The prison itself was just a bunch of individual islands, with two walls on either saide of the platform. The platform itself was just a smoothed out rock, where the prisoner would be chained to. There was no magazines or furniture to accompany the prisoner just the rock floor only to greet them, its sole purpose was to drive the inhabitant mad with insanity. They had nothing other then themselves and their imaginations to accompany them through their sentence, the only type of people that could survive here was the strongest of the strong physically and mentally.
Another thing about the prison was that it was eerily silent, no noise anywhere then what the prisoner would make by himself. Princess Luna was not really used to such silence hanging in the air around her, usually she was surrounded by the press asking her a bunch of questions or greedy delegates smoothing up to her in order to achieve a favor out of her grace. She really hated people like that, sure she was a princess of all but she didn't really think she was better then anybody else, the delgates on the other hand were so rich they didn't care who they disrespected on a daily basis.
It was not going to be hard to spot her brother in this place, from what she knew Lord Tirek was the only sole inhabitant of Tartarus. Then based on new information presented to her through her mother's journal, she knew that theory was not true at all. So the only thing that she had to look for was just a regular man chained to the floor by a magical stake that couldn't be removed not matter how hard some one tried to. So flapping her wings hard enough to get her suspended in the air, hovering above the cells high enough to see almost everything, but also low enough to see if someone was present in that cell.
Then she spotted him, he was chained to the floor just like she thought he was. Now a different thought entered her head not of talking to her brother of finding him anymore, but of what to actually come out and say to him. She couldn't just say 'Hey I'm your sister and here to see if you can come home' or 'Hey heard you tried to kill our mom' She hadn't really thought of even a sentence to say, she had been so confused on the whole new brother thing nd that new brother actually trying to overthrow their own mother. She had to think of something and quick, it wasn't going to be for too long that she actually had to return home to her own world. So coming up with a sloppy put together sentence, she hopes for the best and hovers herself down into the prison top that held her own brother.
Landing down lightly and gently as to not alert him to her presence, from where she could see he was sitting against one of the rocky walls asleep and snoring away. She thought it made perfect sense, you alone for vast amounts of time and left with nothing to do while your there, why not fall asleep and catch up on some. His overall appearance was threating enough, he wore large and bulky metal armor painted black that covered his whole body from chest to toe, he had shortened black hair and no facial hair. Just by the looks of him you knew he had to be strong, strong enough to even walk around with all that armor on his body.
She gently took the leather backpack and held one of the straps within her hand, then an idea occurred to her...Why not just wake him up by just tossing the backpack on his chest, it would scare the shit out of him and get him to wake up to the point where they could talk. "Rise and shine." She exclaims tossing the bag on top of his metal plated chest.
Stirring from his sleep, Diablo shoots his eyes open and immediately jumps up to his feet. For all he knew it could have been one of the rocks from the ceiling dropping onto him but being declined by bouncing off of his armor, but no standing in front of him was a girl in a blue sundress with blue hair. A stark and sudden realization hits him its not just any random girl it had to be another alicorn they were the only one with the magic to open the portal, and the only other alicorns beside him that was his sisters and mother.
So instead of a frightened stance a wide smile forms across his lip while he folded his arms. "Either I'm dreaming or fate be kind enough to bless me with the presence that of a familiar face." He comments. "Surely you grown up oh dear sister of mine, but a question faces you dear girl what is it you ask of me?" He asks.
"How do you know who I am, I may not just be your sister?" Luna comments. She was actually pretty surprised that he recognized her so fast.
"The only girl I know with hair flowing like the stars in the night sky, would be that of my own family." Diablo. "So the question remains, what in hell's fire brought you here....Lunar Moon." Diablo asks growing a little impatient.
"I go by Luna." She chuckles. "To fully answer your question, it was you that brought me here." Luna responds.
"How so, for I have been locked away for such time that I have yet to send home mother a postcard." Diablo states sarcastically.
"We went through mothers journal---" She gets cut off by Diablo midsentence.
"Surely a capital sin dear sister." He chuckles.
"To look for some advice that she might have left behind for us, when we did Celestia found a couple pages torn out of the book, the 4th chapter. Belonging to none other then Diablo Ignite, we read the passages she wrote about you." Luna informs.
"Ah, I read a few of the passages myself. Very good story teller dear mother she was, but honestly is that the only way you found out of your long long long lost brother of the royal sword?" Diablo asks curiously.
"Yes, we read after you tried to overthrow her she used a memory erase spell on us to make us forget anything about you." Luna responds.
"Well then allow me to inform you of what you missed dear sister, I raised you both myself for 5-8 moons taking care of your needs fooling around with you both out in the castles garden and tucking you into your beds at the suns fall reading you stories of old and knights in shinning armor vanquishing the dragon." Diablo recalls. "That was many millennia ago."
"But why? Why did you grow cold to us and her?" Luna asks curiously.
"It be a demons nature to be, I honestly thought if she was going to run the kingdom with a soft fist there would be many kingdoms who will take it as a weakness and come to see us through. She was soft on everyone, I kept the illusion in my mind that if she rules soft she will be knocked through the doors of her own castle."
"So you tried to do it to help her out?" Luna exclaims. It was actually starting to make a little sense to her now, he truly cared about his mother he did what he thought was best for her and in return he got sent here for conspiracy to kill and take over the throne. "Wait wait wait....In the page it said you sword fought to a stalemate, how would you explain that?"
"She mistook that I was coming for her life her after I busted open the doors, we fought in self defense I assure you." Diablo explains. Unfolding his hands he then grasps them behind his back, away from her sight eventually crossing his fingers with deception.
Luna smiled and folded her arms, "Would you like to come back home?" She offers. "Mother is gone now just me and my Celestia reign the land of Equestria."
"It would be of my most pleasure to come reign by my families side, I feel we might have a lot of catching up to do...Dear sister." Diablo chuckles. "Do tell how is your big sister Celestial Sun?"
"She goes by Celestia now, she has to many tasks and duties to perform we are overloaded with them on a daily basis." Luna whines with a smile.
"Well then, I might be to assist in taking off the stress." Diablo offers.
"Well first we will have to see what she says, but for now allow me to do this." Luna informs as her own horn forms up on her own head. With a dark blue aurora her horn shoots a beam of magic that breaks off part of the chain that kept him tied to the ground. She knew Celestia was going to be thrilled at the homecoming of their brother, then again she might not because of the explanation that she did not receive....It was going to be one heck of a lunch time.
