Chapter 2: Forced Displacement

Sunset’s Last Glow

Chapter 2: Forced Displacement

Phoenix had no idea how long he had been out for, but was all too aware of the nasty headache he did have as he slowly stirred from his position on the floor of Zecora’s hut.    He went to sit up, only to find that he was now bound with ropes, both his front and back hooves.  He sighed and grunted in pain, looking around for the zebra that had done this to him.

“Ooh... you had better known a pretty good spell to keep my hooves off of you when I get free, you lousy striped foal!”  the pegasus said, searching for his attacker from his uncomfortable seat on the ground.

A “humph” was the only sound he heard, and he wasn’t able to place where it originated.  “Somepony as rash as you needs a lesson taught; behave good, not badly, lest more wrath be wrought.”

“Where the feather are you?  Come on, you coward!  Show yourself... or is it true what is spoken about zebras, hm?”  Ember was frustrated as he tried to struggle free from the ties around his hooves, but only succeeded in causing them to get tighter around the base of them.

“Silence your mouth!  You will not lie there and shame who I have become.  Although, my curiosity is quite piqued... where is it that you are from?”

This zebra truly is stupid.  We’re all from Equestria, just different parts of it.  “Canterlot.  Why, what business it is if yours?  I’m in the middle... of a mission... and you are in the way!”  His grunting efforts to try and loosen the roped ended up being futile--all it did was exhaust him a bit more than he already was.

“How unfortunate for you, that your mission will not go through.”  Zecora chuckled, staying just out of the sight of Phoenix.  A moment later, there was a knock on the door, to which the medicine pony sighed with the highest level of relief believable.  “Remain where you lie, flying colt; for now my door I need to unbolt.  You see, I have made a call of distress, for the situation you caused me duress.”

Phoenix heard the soft temper of her footfalls as she made her way over to the door.  A quick couple of wooden clacks were heard from near the doorway.  It opened, and she looked out to see two pegasus stallions, in full armor, were two of Celestia’s guards.  “Lady Zecora... we saw your distress signal.  Have you been hurt in any way?”

“Nothing that will not quickly heal; thank you for asking how I feel.  However, this pegasus I needed to strike down--he has quite a lump upon his crown.”  Zecora motioned her hoof over toward Phoenix Ember, almost disgusted that she needed to even look at him.

“Thank you, Miss Zecora.  We will... take care of this gentlecolt and make sure her is properly tended to.”  The first of the two guards came over and proceeded to try and lift Phoenix up off of the floor.  “Come on, buddy--get up.  You know, you’re lucky; last pony that came in here without Zecora knowing they were here--well, let’s just say they needed to relearn a few things about how to walk.”  He helped to roll Phoenix onto his hooves which, while still tied together, allowed him to stand up.  “Hey, Silver Plate... come and give me a hoof here with this pegasus.  Looks like she tied his hooves together.”

Silver Plate laughed as he walked toward Steady Hoof.  “Zecora... you’re making our job too easy.  Almost gift-wrapped him for us, didn’t you?”  The zebra remained silent, returning to her cauldron as she was hoping to salvage something of her ruined day.  She whispered to herself in her native tongue. “After they have left, I will need to completely clean the floor... and the ceiling where this beast was waiting for me.”

After Silver Plate meandered over, he helped to fully right Phoenix.  “Can you fly, sir?”

“Don’t talk to me, you vile servant of Celestia.  Your capture of me is simply the beginning of the end for your beloved Princess, as Luna will rise and cast the whole of Equestria in darkness!”

Both Steady Hoof and Silver Plate looked at each other, and laughed.  Phoenix sneered at both of them, his glowing golden eyes piercing towards the guards.  “She must have whacked you pretty hard on the head there!  Princess Luna’s been redeemed by some ponies out of Ponyville.”

Phoenix could not believe his ears.  “What did you say?!?”

“She’s been purified from the evil that was Nightmare Moon.  There’s no worry about her Eternal Night as she promised to coat all the land with.  What... you didn’t know yet?  It happened two days ago.”

Two days?  But... I just got back here a couple of hours ago, after the orb broke.  What do you mean, “two days?”

The impact of the words hit him harder than the smacks from Zecora’s staff did.  His mind began to spin, and within a moment, Phoenix lost his balance, and fall to the floor again.  “Are you all right?  Hey!  Hoof!  Help me with him!”

Steady Hoof was over to help Silver Plate in a flash, using their front hooves to keep Phoenix from injuring himself again unintentionally.  “I wonder what’s happened to him.  We’ll handle things from here, Lady Zecora.  You don’t need to worry about him bothering you anymore.  Come on, Silver...he’s probably going to be a pain to get back to Canterlot to be questioned.  I’m not about to take him to Ponyville.  With that coat, and the attitude he seems to have, I don’t think he’d be too terribly welcome.”

Phoenix didn’t really become too aware of the fact that he was being lifted up and laid between the two pegasi guards.  “Oof!  What did he eat last, one of the Cake’s super muffins?  This colt weighs a ton!  Can we even fly with him on us?”

Silver turned his head back to Steady, the thought of the long flight back to Canterlot not striking him as all that fun either.  “We don’t have much of a choice here, Steady.  We’ll just have to balance him as best we can until he wakes up or we can find a way to fly well with him like this.  You ready?”

Steady nodded, and the two of them walked as best they could with the deadweight of Phoenix’s frame shared between the two of them.  They were already dreading this flight--once more, dreading having to file this report.  They had caught a glimpse of his uniform as they wobbled slightly unsteadily, unfurling their wings as best they could, and knew that it mean trouble.  It reminds me of the Wonderbolts’ insignia... but it looks corrupted, warped.  What is this pony’s deal?  Why does he hate Princess Celestia so much... and why does he think that Princess Luna is going to be coming to his rescue?

Without another word, the two pegasi took to the sky, doing the best to keep the unconscious pegasus between the two of them as they soared off and away from the Everfree Forest, making their way back to the capital of Equestria.

The flight took almost three times as long as it normally would, Silver Plate and Steady Hoof taking turns keeping Phoenix aloft, him staying asleep the whole time.  The two guardsponies breathed a huge sigh of relief when they noticed the landing pad for Canterlot come into view.

“Thank Celestia.  Now we can offload this oaf onto a cart and walk.  I’m going to need an extra long bath and massage after this... my back feels like it’s been pounded by rocks.” Steady Hoof huffed, mustering just enough strength to get to the safety of the solid ground.  As soon as his hoof touched down, he allowed Phoenix to slide off, landing rather painfully onto the ground below.

“Ouch!”  he gasped and his eyes shot open.  Both Steady and Silver exchanged glances.

“You mean to tell me you were awake the whole time we were in the air?”  Silver Plate practically spat, equally as spent and worn out.

Phoenix chuckled as he tried to steady himself against Steady’s hooves.  “Normally I would have put up a bit more fight and tried to capture the two of you--I’m glad I didn’t waste my time.  You didn’t even bother to check if I was awake or not.  Apparently Celestia doesn’t really care if her guardsponies have the cognitive functions of a schoolfilly.”

Steady growled slightly, this golden eyed stallion starting to fray his nerves.  “Just be quiet, you.  Smart talk like that’s not going to be of any help to you now.  Welcome to Canterlot.”

Phoenix looked at the city, and almost fainted.  This... this is Canterlot? But it can’t be!  It’s... when did all these buildings get added?  That tower wasn’t there... and none of it was this color!

“This is a joke, right?  You colts must have really worked yourself too hard carrying me.  I just had no ambition to help out those who are deceived by Celestia’s lies.”  Phoenix’s sneering voice wasn’t doing the best of jobs in hiding his confusion and bewilderment upon looking at Canterlot.

Silver Plate walked up and looked Phoenix in the eyes.  “Now, you better listen to me and listen really flapping well, okay?  That kind of talk will get you thrown in the dungeon and forgotten about.  There hasn’t been a voice of dissent about Celestia in the past hundred years.  The occasional complaint about why things don’t work out from the surrounding cities, but nothing that she hasn’t been able to handle.  Besides, we were given orders to take you right from here to see Princess Celestia herself.  So I highly suggest you change your tone and try and make a good impression on her.”

“Feh.  Whatever you say, strong and silver-plated.”  Phoenix extended his wings to help him levitate off of the ground, knowing that any attempt to walk would be foolish at best, having gotten a good enough understanding of the bindings that held him in place.

“Let’s go.  Before we enter, it would be wise that you at least speak your name so that you may be properly introduced.”  Steady Hoof said, now taking the patient time to let his hooves be the primary source of motion for him, his wings snapped to their sides.

“Fine.  Sheesh, oafs.  General Phoenix Ember, Shadowbolt Contingent.  I declare my loyalty to Princess Luna’s eventual eternal nightfall, where the corrupt light of the sun shall shine no more.”

“Well... General, forgive if I don’t salute you, but there is no such thing as the Shadowbolts.  Now come on.”

The walk from the landing pad to the castle was quiet, although Phoenix was conducting his best job of silent and unnoticed observations. This is a place of peace now... no longer a brooding ground for the war we were promised would arise between the Day and the Night.  Ponies are frolicking, going about their business, conducting themselves as if there wasn’t a care in their worlds.  This lot has become soft.  Were the other two generals even here, capturing Canterlot?  Why even bother?  There’s nothing here worth the time to try and catch.  The pathway they chose was obviously not one that would be used by those living in the city, as it seemed relatively untrodden and absent.  Security corridor...probably leads right to the heart of the Palace.  Wait, I remember this.  It’s the secondary adjunct pathway.  Royalty or guards only... or prisoners.  How many brethren walked this road, captured by Celestia’s guards and military force?  How many... jumped, not wishing to let any of the light that she stands for touch their hearts?  Silver Plate and Steady Hoof kept a close eye on Phoenix, directing him down the walkway.  They reached a set of double doors, guarded by a grey stallion, who was seated, staff in hoof.

“Ah, gentleponies... I see you’ve returned.  You’re a little late, you know.  You promised me that it would only take twenty minutes back and forth, and it’s been almost an hour.”  The grey stallion stood up, moving to unlock the door.

“Well, we weren’t planning on this one being so heavy or stubborn, Rapidfire... next time, you’re heading out and I’ll stay here.”

“Not likely, Steady... I shouldn’t keep you here too long; the Princess is waiting and getting impatient,”  Rapidfire said, noticing Phoenix’s hooves.  “Why didn’t you cut off the rope?”

Silver snorted as they put their hoofprint onto a piece of paper, indicating that they had returned.  “Didn’t like his attitude, and Zecora wanted him out of these as quickly as possible.  Here... let me have your staff a minute.” Rapidfire hoofed over the staff to Silver Hoof, which he swung around to the blunted end, and severed the rope in the three places it was doing the most to prevent Phoenix from walking--the middle where both sets of hooves had been knotted together, and the connecting link between the knots.  “There.  Okay, Phoenix Ember, you should be able to stand up now.  Give those tired wings of yours a rest, hmm?”  Silver gave Phoenix a gentle nudge in the side.

No.  You aren’t going to keep me here!  You’ll be the first to fall!  The thought became action, and Phoenix used his now free hooves to push Silver Plate in the side with all due deliberate force.  His intention was to knock the pegasus over the side, but didn’t hit him quite right in the ribs.  As the hooves made contact, Silver Plate tumbled to the ground, shocked and shaken up.  The next thing he saw was Phoenix standing above him as he was ready to begin trampling the downed guard.  Steady Hoof quickly jumped to the aid of his fallen comrade, shouting to Rapidfire “Get a unicorn out here, stat!”  Steady used his front hooves to grab Phoenix’s back ones, resulting with the Shadowbolt being spun around.  Phoenix had barely enough of a chance to realize what had happened before feeling the thudding impact of Steady’s front hoof to his jaw, which knocked him backwards.

“What the hay is your problem, you foal?!?  Now we have to lock you up once you’re done seeing the Princess!”  Some fast galloping was heard from in front of him, and a deep pink unicorn mare came dashing out of the door.  She looked to Steady, then Silver.

“Get him secured now, please, Ruby Glitter, before he hurts anypony else.  Rapidfire, escort Silver Plate to the infirmary.”  Ruby didn’t really have the chance to ask any questions, the look from Steady Hoof giving the impression that she was better off not knowing at the moment.  Her horn glowed a sparkly fuchsia, and Phoenix became wrapped in her magic.

“There.  He a troublemaker there, boss?”  Glitter asked, placing Phoenix back on the ground and binding his movements.

“That’s about the size of it, Ruby.  Less chatter, more walking, please... I’ve had my fair share of this stallion.”  Steady Hoof marched ahead, not wanting to waste one more second with this ill-behaving pony.

The walk into Celestia’s chambers seemed longer now, Steady’s echoing hooffalls being copied by that of Phoenix and Ruby as the three of them entered the court of the Princess and co-ruler of Equestria.

“...and please inform Princess Luna that we have postponed dinner until 8 o’clock today due to her difficulty sleeping, steward,”  Celestia said from her throne, looking at a smaller pony dressed in slightly formal attire that nodded and turned to head toward another door on the side of the hallway.

Celestia’s attention focused on the three entrants to the hall, her slight smile fading quickly as she noticed Phoenix Ember enwrapped in a unicorn’s magic.  “Were there difficulties with bringing him here, Steady Hoof?”

Steady Hoof bowed before speaking.  “Not in returning with him here, Your Highness... it was freeing him from his bindings that ended up causing a bit of a fracas that almost got ugly.  Thankfully, Ruby Glitter was nearby to help keep him subdued.  He was ready to strike down Silver Plate, whom Rapidfire is escorting to the infirmary now.”

“I see.  Well, I wish he had not done that, but... those actions cannot be undone, can they be....”  Celestia’s voice trailed off as she looked at Phoenix Ember.  She paused for a moment, and then continued.  “I remember you. Who could forget one of the most outspoken supporters of my sister back in the Age of Dissonance?”

“It was not an age of dissonance, you false leader.  It was the dawning of a new era, one where the sun did not take its place in the sky any longer, little more than a burning, cursed ball of flame!”  Phoenix’s impassioned statement was delivered with all the necessary force to remind Celestia of why she was concerned about him when they had last seen each other.

“Phoenix Ember.  I knew my sister always had her favorite guards, but I did not factor for you to ever harbor such hate for me in your heart.  She was jealous of the attention that my day received and the lack thereof for her night.  But, those ponies with kind hearts such as yours would be ready to attack the very foundations of Equestria to bring forth an eternal night?  I think that is the biggest shame of them all.  Not that I had to endure a millennia without her was not pain enough--but that, now in this day and time, there be a remnant of that hate she wrapped herself in.  I wish there was some way for me to undo the damage that my sister has done to your heart.  Perhaps there is.  Will you allow me?”  Celestia stood, although she easily could have reached out with her magic and touched Phoenix from where she was seated.

“NO!  Don’t touch me!  I don’t want your foul hooves on a single part of my body, Celestia!  You stand for everything I stand against!  Luna’s night will reign, you shall see!  The Shadowbolts will rise over you, and strike you down!  Just as I tried to strike down that guard who thought it was funny to laugh about my talent as a flier.”

Steady Hoof motioned to Ruby Glitter, whom tightened her magical hold on the insolent pegasus.  As Celestia spoke, the visible tension in the room waned, her soft tones doing the best to appease to the snarling, angry pegasus.  “No, they shall not, Phoenix Ember.  The Shadowbolts do not exist anymore in this kingdom.  They were dissolved when Luna was banished to the moon.  A thing that I wish I could have fixed; alas, that time has gone and we have the now.  And in the now, you are here.  For your crimes against the Kingdom of Equestria and its subjects, you must pay the price.  I hereby order that you be sent to the dungeon until we are able to come up with a way to properly deal with you.  You will be treated well, and offered the full extended the courtesy that all of my guests here in the  astle have.  Until I have conversed with my sister, I do not know what we will do with you, Phoenix, other than welcome you back from the past.”

Phoenix’s burning eyes met Celestia’s.  “The past?  What do you mean, the past?  It is the day we were supposed to strike while Luna refused to lower the moon for your horrible sun.  You’re speaking nonsense, you monster!”

“I speak the truth, Phoenix Ember.   It has been one thousand years since I saw you last.  And, just as my sister, you haven’t aged a day.”

Phoenix’s world did another somersault.  “One... one thousand... thousand years?”  All of the color from his face drained as he dropped to his knees.

“It appears as that when I banished my sister, you were caught up in a wake of magic when it was cast.  I am not sure how this happened, but it appears to be what occurred.”

Whatever trace of indignancy that resided in Phoenix’s tongue had evaporated.  “You mean to tell me that all of my friends... my parents....?”

Celestia nodded slowly, her face expressing a silent sadness.

“I... I see.  Well, there’s little here to discuss, then.  I am ready to face my punishment, Celestia.”  He spat the Princess’ name, the very thought of saying it making his stomach churn.  Celestia nodded, which led Steady Hoof and Ruby Glitter, whose mouths were also slightly ajar, to escort Phoenix out of the Princess’ throne room.  Celestia watched them go, her heart sinking slightly as the pegasus hung his head a little lower than it was before.  Finally, the doors opened, the trio walking out, and the quiet solace of the chamber returned with the soft *thump* of Celestia’s flank to her chair, as she put her hooves to her face for a moment.

Oh, but I do remember you, Phoenix Ember.  You were one of my favorites as well.  I had you  hoof-picked to be one of the Wonderbolts with the potential you had.  I admired your duality... your coat of dark navy, representing Luna’s night... and then your eyes and your mane, showing the day that I love so much.  Why?  When did you start to hate me?  Was it because of Luna’s jealousy, that monster Nightmare Moon that she turned into?  Or was it for other reasons?  The sadness in your voice when you would come into the castle, cuddling into that comfy chair in the library, quietly sobbing as you felt shame from the high standards your parents had for you?

Walls inside of her mind began to collapse, ever so slowly, allowing a small stream of memories and pain caused the normally poker-faced alicorn to become emotional, but she would not allow herself to be seen, even by her guards, shedding any tears.

“I need Princess Luna to meet me in my room as soon as is possible.  Please inform her that it is  urgent,”  Celestia said, standing and moving toward a secret door in the side of the hallway, which opened as she focused her magic into it.

The light of the middle afternoon painted a warm reflection on the floor of the main throne room.  It seemed as if it were timed to try and undo some of the hurt and pain it had just been subject to from the diametric opposites that were the alicorn of the Sun and one who would so persistently and foolishly stand against her, even when a hoof of mercy was offered.  Silence fell as the room emptied out, leaving only the array of colors to give some life.