The Result of Absolute Powerby SvenFoxxChaptersRuminationsRevelationsReassessmentReconsideredRuminationsCelestia sat in her bedroom, bags under her bloodshot eyes, and several letters spread out on the floor in front of her. Regret and sadness shook her soul. Outside her window she could hear the roar of the ponies, and see the flicker of red that could only come from the light cast by fire. Ponies were rioting, and the few left that were still loyal to Celestia simply could not handle it. Equestria had fallen. Everything had fallen apart. Where had it gone wrong? Celestia knew. She knew only too well. It started with a single mare, with a large ambition and the wrong idea of how to accomplish it. Cozy Glow. No, Celestia told her self. Cozy Glow may have beeen the start, but it was not her fault everything had gone the way it had. No. The true reason everything had fallen apart had been Celestia’s decision to sentence a nine year old filly to Tartarus, right next to Tirek in fact. From there, everything began. It started with, as it rightly should have Celestia supposed, Cozy Glow’s parents. They had been outraged that their daughter had been thrown into the most severe prison in Equestria, when the law clearly stated a minor could not be judged the same as an adult, and such judgments must be approved by their parents. Celestia had not consulted Cozy Glow’s parents. Celestia had seen that the Elements of Harmony had acted, without the input of their bearers, to save Starlight Glimmer and restore magic. Celestia determined based on that alone that Cozy Glow could not be redeemed, and could only be imprisoned to protect Equestria. She had forgone the usual methods, and imprisoned the nine year old. If Celestia had stopped to think, she would have realized that the Elements had done nothing to Cozy Glow herself, only saved magic and Starlight. However, Celestia had not realized that until it was too late. She had made clear that her judgment was final and that the parents would not sway her. Criminals would be punished as they should be. The parents had left, furious, and vowing to save their daughter from Celestia’s tyranny. Then the newspapers had somehow gotten ahold of the story, from the parents, Celestia suspected. Celestia looked at the first piece of paper in front of her. A newspaper clipping. The headline was as blunt as it could be. FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION? It went on to describe the imprisonment of Cozy Glow, why she was imprisoned, and how Celestia had ignored due process based on the actions of artifacts that were not even sentient. When Celestia saw that newspaper, it had been followed by nearly all of the castle staff turning in their resignations and leaving Equestria entirely, the vast majority going to the Crystal Empire. Luna had stormed into her room as well and began reading her the riot act, going about how she had warned Celestia that this had been too extreme of a punishment. The argument had been long, and the end was not clean. Luna had thrown her crown at Celestia and stormed off. To this day Celestia had no idea where her sister had gone, only that she still moved the moon. A few days later led to Twilight coming in and demanding to know what had possessed Celestia to lock up a filly. Celestia remembered that conversation only too well. “This is unacceptable.” Celestia looked up from her paperwork, and found the puzzling sight of her former student, Twilight Sparkle, staring at her pretty harshly. “Twilight?” Twilight pulled a piece of paper from the saddlebags she was wearing, and handed it to Celestia. “I will not abide by this, Princess,” she stated, perhaps a bit more angrilly than she intended. Celestia, curious and concerned over what could possibly upset her fellow Princess this much, took the paper. It was a newspaper clipping, and the headline made her pale. FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION? “I will not deny that Cozy Glow was very much in the wrong,” Twilight started, sounding far calmer than Celestia now believed she was. “But Tartarus is not the place to put a nine year old filly, regardless of the severity of their bad behaviour.” “Twilight…” “The Want-It Need-It incident,” Twilight interrupted, making Celestia wince. “Should have landed me in Tartarus. I took from ponies their ability to reason, a crime far more severe than a lack of magic in the world. Humanity on the other side of the mirror proved magic isn’t necessary to survive and thrive, so Cozy Glow’s actions can, at best, be described as extremist.” Celestia wilted under the scrutiny of her fellow Princess. “I understand how you feel, Twilight, but…” “No!” Twilight snapped off loudly, startling her once mentor into silence. “You seem to not understand the consequences here, Celestia! The most minor result of this is Cozy Glow’s parents lobbying to have the Diarchy removed from the throne for clear abuse of authority and disregard for the law! Do you have any idea how many parents across Equestria now believe us to be dictators that will do anything to maintain the status quo?!” she roared. Celestia wilted further. “And that’s only the minor thing! Ponies who once happily tried to accomplish their dreams are now terrified of stepping out of line, thinking if they get too ambitious they’ll be locked up as well! And then there’s the diplomatic repercussions!” Twilight pulled out more newspaper clippings. EQUESTRIA LOCKS UP FILLY FOR AMBITIOUS DREAMS. DIARCHY OF EQUESTRIA NOT TO BE TRUSTED. TRADE WITH EQUESTRIA SUSPENDED. “Cadence has sent a formal letter to the Diarchy that the Crystal Empire is no longer permitting interaction with Equestria. She’s terrified you’ll lock up Flurry Heart because of her powerful magic outbursts. Nevermind the furious letter Shining sent me!” Twilight once more reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a scroll. She tossed it onto Celestia’s desk. “And I’m in agreement. You need to fix this Celestia, and until you do Ponyville is officially separating itself as a micronation until then. I will be having the town relocated to the edge of the Crystal Empire within the next week. Luna has already signed all of the necessary paperwork.” Twilight turned to leave, but stopped at the door and looked at Celestia over her shoulder. “I once respected you as a kind and righteous ruler. I didn’t think you could do any wrong. I’ve learned since then that you aren’t perfect, but that you are at least trying. Or I thought you were.” Twilight shook her head. “Goodbye Celestia. Do not contact me or my family.” That had perhaps been the moment that Celestia realized she had made a grave mistake. Twilight was the living embodiment of Friendship, and she had forgiven quite a lot. To have Twilight so thoroughly up in arms over this pointed out to Celestia that the Elements of Harmony did not approve. Worse, Twilight had succeeded in her promise. Not a week after Twilight’s visit, the town of Ponyville had simply vanished. It was as if the town had never existed. Not even the apple orchard was there anymore. It nailed home to Celestia, not for the first time, just how ludicrously powerful Twilight was. And, as Twilight said, the town of Ponyville now sat on the other end of the Crystal Empire from Equestria. Celestia had tried to visit, but had been confronted by three Alicorns, an entire royal guard, and many Thestrals that were willing to go to war if she tried to interact with anyone from the Crystal Empire. Celestia sighed, wishing not for the first time that she had not skipped due process when it came to Cozy Glow. As for Cozy Glow herself, Luna had taken the filly from Tartarus and, with her parents permission, instead made her the first inmate of a softer jail, where doctors would attempt to determine the cause of Cozy’s maniacal behaviour. Celestia had tried to visit, to understand what they were doing, but had once again been chased away. Not long after the rift that formed between the Princesses, Equestria began to revolt against the throne in outrage. The demand was that Celestia step down and enter banishment from Equestria, allowing a council to take over. Nopony wanted that kind of power in the hooves of only one pony, not after this. That’s what led to today. Canterlot was empty, there were very few soldiers who remained with Celestia, and a mob stood at the entrance of the castle. A choice must be made. Celestia eventually stood and made her way from the room. It was time to put an end to this. Author's Note First off, I want to say a few things. The major one being that I only actually saw the end of this episode. I apologize if I got some facts wrong because of this. This episode upset me on a few levels, the biggest, of course, being that a child got thrown into the pony equivalent of Hell. Yeah, she did bad things. Yeah, they were pretty severe. But she was a child, and children do not have the necessary level of development to understand why they are making a mistake. This is why they do not get punished to the same extent as an adult. What Celestia should have done is discuss Cozy's punishment with her parents. Now, this is not me saying that I think this is what should happen in the show. Nor is this me trying to start something against the writers. I am simply writing out how I think Celestia's decision could blow up in her face. I also fully acknowledge that it may not have been Celestia alone who made this decision. For all we know all of the Alicorns were in on it, though I severely doubt Twilight would agree. RevelationsWith a startled gasp, Celestia shot out of bed. Panting, sweating, and her heart hammering a mile a minute, the Alicorn of the day took a moment to realize she was awake, and not standing in front of a small army of vengeful ponies. Clarity filled her. A vision, portents of possible futures. A vision of Cozy Glow, and of the ambition of a single filly. A vision of the Elements of Harmony acting to preserve the Equestrian Way. A vision of Equestria, the ideal, the dream, burning to the ground around her due to the single worst decision she could ever make. "I've spent far too much time in politics," Celestia grumbled to herself, rubbing her head with a hoof. Had she seriously considered Tartarus a viable punishment for a child? Had her future self grown so cold-hearted to do that? She frowned. How far into the future was this possibility? As of now Twilight had only just defeated Tirek and embraced her destiny. There were lots of details in visions that Celestia would not be able to recall, a sort of safety feature that prevented too much tampering with time. For instance, she knew Twilight would come to run a school based on Friendship, or its ideals. But the details of this school, the forming, the paperwork involved, the location, and the staff escaped her. But Cozy Glow was clear in her mind, as was every detail regarding the Pegasus filly. This told Celestia that Cozy Glow, her actions, and the results of said actions was the focus of the vision and what she should be paying attention to. After beating her future self over the head a few more times in her mind, Celestia got to work making notes and plans. The first thing that needed to be addressed was Tirek's involvement. His power could be learned, and was not something unique only to him, it seemed. Granted, Cozy Glow seemed to use a bastardized version of the magic absorption ability, likely because Tirek had little desire for competition, but still. That had to be guarded against. Ending the centaur lord's life briefly crossed Celestia's mind, but she almost immediately rejected the idea. She and Luna had promised Scorpan that no true and lasting harm would come to Tirek unless they were the results of immediate self-defense. Besides that, making rash decisions is what led to her future self making that stupid decision in the first place. No. Tirek would be dealt with non-lethally. "Hmm..." Celestia hummed to herself as she got dressed in her regalia. A quick check on the positioning of the sun told her it was still too early to bring it over the horizon. Everyone in the castle was either asleep now, or busy with the night shift. "Perhaps a change in his current prison?" An idea bloomed. Quickly gathering some paper and a quill from her desk nearby, Celestia jotted it down. She'll work more on that later. For now a more pressing concern needed to be addressed. Celestia entered the Royal Archives, a cup of steaming coffee floating along in her aura next to her. She nodded to the on duty archivist and made her way through the aisles. "Apploosa, Arendight, Buckingham, Canterlot... ah, here it is. Cloudsdale Census Registry." Removing the large book from the shelf, Celestia carried it to a table and began flipping through it. While she knew a bit about Cozy Glow due to the events she witnessed in her vision, Celestia didn't know everything. One of the bigger question marks floating over that name was where she lived. Clearly, the first place to look would be Cloudsdale, the effective capitol of Pegasi. Unfortunately, it seemed Cozy Glow was not listed in this registry. She put the book back and grabbed the registry for Ponyville. Nope, not there either. Canterlot? No. Putting back the last book, Celestia tapped her chin in thought. It seemed locating the errant filly would not be as as simple as she had assumed. Perhaps one of the smaller villages? Or maybe one of the few nomadic tribes roaming around? No, Cozy was wearing some pretty expensive gold jewelry in her vision, and most nomads didn't bother with material possessions beyond what was necessary. So probably a small village. Celestia frowned, her memory tickling her. Hadn't there been a settlement request recently? A Unicorn that Celestia had almost mistaken for Twilight had requested permission to begin a village near the Badlands. Despite the oddity of where she wanted to start her village, the unicorn had filled out all of the proper paperwork and had gone through all of the correct channels and red tape. Celestia had asked if this was meant to be a mining village, since the badlands were a known mineral ore hotspot, but the Unicorn had stated she did not intend to turn the village into such, but just in case had filled in the proper forms for that as well, even going so far as make sure the percentage of profits going to the crown in such a case would be ten percent greater than standard. Assured that the Unicorn was not attempting an illegal mining operation, Celestia had discussed it with Luna and they both agreed to have a surveyor draw up the boundaries of the prospective town. What had made the meeting stick in Celestia's mind was the lawyer this Unicorn had brought with her. He smiled a lot, but the smile was... unnerving. Not malicious, but... forced? Yes. The smile seemed overly forced. "Hmmm... Now that I think about it, she failed to provide a name for the town," Celestia mused. She stood up and went to a different section. "Now then... what was her name? Ah yes, I remember." She grabbed a book and started flipping through it. "Here it is. Starlight Glimmer's zoning permit. For the town of... Our Town?" after a moment she shrugged. "Must be a community effort." "I had a vision last night," Celestia offered after swallowing a bite of her cereal. Luna's fork full of mashed potatoes paused midair. She glanced at her sister. "That would explain why I couldn't access your dream. Anything important?" she asked. Celestia frowned. "A pony managed to absorb all of the magic in Equestria and very nearly succeeded in sending it to the void between worlds. If not for a very brave group of friends, not Twilight's friends for once, she would have succeeded." Luna's fork fell back into her plate. "What," she asked with wide eyes. Celestia shrugged. "It requires a bit of context to understand," she said. Luna sighed. "Of course it does. When do you have visions that are simple?" she mumbled to herself. She stood up. "Tell me who it is and I'll have them detained immediately." Celestia winced. "Ah. That would be a... bad idea." Luna regarded Celestia with a cool gaze and arched an eyebrow. "Why?" she asked. "Well, for one, I don't know the timetable we're working on here. I only know it occurred after Twilight opened a school to teach friendship, just at the end of the first semester." Luna nodded after a moment. "And because you don't know when Twilight would open such a school, we have at the very least three months." Celestia nodded. "That... and the vision wasn't about the pony herself, but the very... very extreme reaction of how her punishment was handled." Luna's eyebrow rose higher. She sat down and resumed her dinner. "I'm listening," she said. Celestia took a bite of her breakfast again and swallowed before continuing. "Her name is Cozy Glow, and she was nine years old at the time of this happening..." Celestia proceeded to tell Luna the entire story. She left nothing out. Every last detail. Afterwards, Luna sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I want to chastise you for even daring to have a vision like that, but I have a fairly good guess why my counterpart went along with your plan initially." Celestia looked up, curious. Luna shifted uncomfortably. "I... am scared, Celestia." She held up a hoof, stopping her sister from butting in. "Not of you, no, but... well, the last time I went against you resulted in Nightmare Moon," she said, looking away. "I may have forgiven myself for the events... but I still remember them. The very thought of arguing against your judgments is...uncomfortably difficult for me." Luna's eyes narrowed and she looked at Celestia. "But if you really did do what you claimed, I can see why I would eventually choose to side against you again. I agree with what Twilight said, sister. This must be fixed. You are spending far too much time leading the kingdom if you are receiving warnings like this. Once this Cozy Glow business is settled, you are going on vacation." Celestia sighed. "I probably should. I cannot even remember the last time I had a day off, let alone a vacation." "Now, have you done anything about this yet?" Luna asked. Celestia nodded. "I've begun drawing up plans for a new hospital. I remember in my vision that Twilight seemed to have developed a hospital meant to diagnose and treat mentally ill patients, while also studying them to try and discover ways to prevent their tragedies from occurring again. There's also some plans for a new magically deprived prison. I intend to put criminals with unique methods of controlling magic there." Luna nodded after a moment, seeing the logic. "For those like Tirek, I imagine. Best make it so he can't access the outside world." Celestia agreed. "That was one of the plans for the prison." She sighed. "Finally, I've begun digging in the archives for traces of Cozy Glow to try and locate her. My hope is that I can dissuade her from going down that path with some careful attention. Right now that's all I have." Luna hummed. "Well, I can assure you I will begin scouring the dream realm for this filly while she's sleeping. If you let me look at those plans I can probably help you with those. It may be prudent to involve young Twilight as well. She probably could help with designing the prison at least." Grabbing a notepad from nearby (She had learned a long time ago that keeping stationary in some frequently visited rooms of the castle was a good idea.) Celestia wrote that down. "We also need a game plan for when Cozy Glow is found. We could just let things happen naturally and then change her punishment, but I'd rather prevent the near end of Equestrian magic," she added. Luna nodded. "You may also want to look into this Chancellor Neighsay. He seemed to display some startlingly racist views for a member of the EEA." Celestia wrote that down as well. "I hadn't even considered that. He had learned his lesson, but if we hope to prevent this from happening, he won't learn." The sisters continued their discussion until their respective meals were done and it was time to officially change shifts. Luna made her way to bed while Celestia made her way to the throne room. Author's Note As you can see, I've been persuaded to continue this. Not sure exactly how far I'll take this, but it won't be anything like Hero Souls. I'm gonna keep it simple and to the point. Reassessment"A prison devoid of magic? I'm not sure if that's possible..." Celestia nodded. "It's possible. I even know of a way to create a magic-less environment." Twilight perked up. "Really? How?" Celestia coughed. "It... ah... only works to absorb all the magic in Equestria. Hence why I'm hoping you'd have a better idea." Twilight blanched at the idea. "All of Equestria? I'm fairly certain that is impossible. Or at the very least incredibly difficult." Celestia considered six artifacts that, in another time, could do the job. Currently they were now surrounded by wards that may just make Discord hesitate. "Yes. Very difficult," she agreed. "I have no idea where to even begin," Twilight admitted, pulling some paper and a quill out of her saddlebags. "Magic is just... everywhere! There is probably no place on the planet that's not saturated in magic." She started writing down ideas. "Maybe some kind of valve system..." she mumbled to herself, before shaking her head. "It would need a method of determining the difference between benign and malignant magic..." "If worse comes to worse, we may need to resort to banishing across dimensions again," Celestia warned, instantly garnering Twilight's attention. "I cannot afford to give Tirek a chance to try again." Twilight paused. "Tirek... I wonder if his method would work?" she mused. "No!" Celestia was instantly on her hooves, startling Twilight with the sudden declaration and making her trip backwards onto her plot. Celestia cringed and sat back down. "I'm sorry Twilight, that was uncalled for. But no, we will not be using the same method as Tirek. I can't risk any future enemies learning how to do what he can do." Twilight settled her racing heart and gathered her papers. "Yes... Of course Princess." she said slowly. Celestia nearly leaped out of her fur and feathers when the door to her bedroom slammed open. Finding Luna storming in dragging a Unicorn in her magic, she grew concerned. "Of all the idiotic, morally questionable, harebrained..." Luna growled, and flicked her horn. The Unicorn gave a startled scream when she was tossed at Celestia. Thinking quickly, the Solar Alicorn caught the Unicorn in her magic just before she would impact her. 'Wait, isn't this...?' "DO you have any idea what you could have done?!" Luna roared, getting in Starlight Glimmer's face and making the Unicorn scramble in futility to escape her. "Our Cutie Marks are our SOULS, you witless drone!" Celestia cringed at the rage her sister was exhibiting. "I hate ponies like you, who think the fact that they have power gives them the right to tinker with things they don't understand!" At this point Luna's eyes were beginning to turn a familiar teal color, so Celestia decided an intervention was in order. "Luna!" she snapped. Luna blinked, her eyes returning to normal. "Perhaps start from the beginning? What happened?" Luna huffed. "I realized last night while going over your notes that we had met this mysterious pony that Twilight seemed to trust in your vision, and that she was the same pony we had reservations about regarding her town." "Okay, so I can guess you went to visit the town, but how did that escalate into... well, this?" Celestia asked, setting Starlight down nearby, but keeping a hold of her with her magic. Something about the mare had pissed Luna off, so she wasn't taking chances. "When I arrived, I was greeted by the sight of every single pony in that town bearing the same Cutie Mark, that of a mathematical equal sign." Celestia blinked. "Wait...what? How is that... how?" she settled. Luna shook her head. "It gets worse. It wasn't just paint on their Cutie Marks. Their magic was also equalized with each other. There wasn't a single stars be damned difference between any of them, and as near as I could tell none of them had any talent in anything." She snorted. "The town was on the verge of famine due to inadequate food storage procedures and a lack of any kind of farmer or cook, never mind the state of their clothing." She pointed a hoof at Starlight and growled. "She, however, was different. She bore the same Cutie Mark as the rest of them, but her magic was powerful... nearly as powerful as Twilight Sparkle's." Celestia's eyes snapped around and she glared hard at Starlight. "A ritual to drain magic?" she asked, not looking at Luna. Luna seemed to deflate here. "No," she said, making Celestia glance at her in surprise. "As much as it pains me to say this, her power is wholly her own." She shook her head again. "Such a waste of potential." "So then... how did all of the ponies there have the same Cutie Mark?" Celestia asked. Luna was once again growling and glaring at Starlight. "That would be because this stupid, foolish, MORON, decided that magically removing a pony's Cutie-Mark and storing them in glass jars, of all things, was a brilliant idea!" she roared. "You could have started a Blight, you foal!" Celestia noticed that Starlight was trying to say something but no words were coming. "You silenced her?" Luna nodded. "She was quite insistent that Cutie Marks were evil, and only ever caused friendships to wither and die. She believes no pony should have any kind of specialty to them, and nopony should be better than anyone else." She sniffed. "I'm convinced making her Tirek's next meal would straighten that attitude out." Celestia sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Right. Luna could get vindictive when angry. "Is she actually guilty of a crime, Luna?" she asked. Luna stared at Celestia as if she had lost her head. "You're kidding. Right? I just told you she was tampering with Cutie Marks!" "And what law could our courts use to persecute her?" Celestia added. "There is no law on Cutie Mark manipulation. Moral outrage, yes, but no actual law." Luna bristled. "Well why not?!" Celestia shrugged. "Until now, it was thought to be impossible without resorting to Necromantic magic, which is illegal. And yes," she interrupted Luna. "I do intend to have that added to the laws." "Good, the sooner this idiot gets punished, the better I'll feel." Celestia leveled a cool gaze on her sister. "She won't be punished," she stated. Celestia hastened to continue when magic began flaring wildly around Luna. "Mainly for two reasons. One, there's a law forbidding the prosecution of someone who broke the law before it was actually a law. It's generally referred to as the Paradox Law. While you could probably argue that those who were involved in why it became a law should still be punished, the second reason will stop that." Luna, slightly calmer than her near blowup a second ago, growled. "And that reason would be?" "If we punish young Starlight here, then we must also punish Twilight. Remember how she ascended." Luna's ears flipped back. "Oh," she said. "I had... not considered that." Celestia set Starlight on the floor between her and Luna and removed the silencing spell. "As you can tell, Starlight Glimmer, you have just been discovered. Under normal circumstances we would have you punished quite severely for messing with Cutie Marks, but there are reasons we will not. Before anything else though, I'd like to know why you were removing Cutie Marks. Will you please tell me?" Starlight shuffled her hooves slightly. She realized she had a chance to sell her philosophy to royalty, but by Luna's severe reaction (justly so, she told herself, if Cutie Marks really were the soul. That was magic no one wanted to mess with.) that wouldn't go over well. Instead, she decided to tell her story and hope it earned her some sympathy. An hour later, Celestia and Luna were sitting next to each other thoughtfully as Starlight finished her tale. "I see... I never would have guessed the discovery of a Cutie Mark could cause such heartache. Though... have you not tried to contact him?" Luna asked. Starlight nodded. "Multiple times, Your Highness. But he never responded. I was also turned away from Princess Celestia's school whenever I tried to visit. The usual response was that only those of certain bearing could enter that school, and that commoners had no business distracting the students." Fwoosh! Starlight squeaked when Celestia's mane suddenly burst into flames and rage momentarily filled her eyes. She however calmed herself after a moment. "I'm okay. I'm cool. I'm in control." She muttered irritably, before stomping a hoof. "Argh! I thought I had finally stamped them out of my school!" "Them?" Luna asked. Starlight also looked curious, but was too startled by the sudden pyrotechnics to really voice it. "I'm not sure when, but at some point someone with... shall we say specific, views on magic became the Dean of the school. They passed all sorts of rules, chief among them being that only the rich and influential could attend the school. They tried to turn my school for learning magic into a school for nobles. Needless to say, I reacted badly when I found out, and promptly tried to clean house. I seem to have failed." Celestia stood up. "Come with me, Starlight Glimmer. I wish to assure you personally that something like this will never happen again. We will also attempt to find your friend, because I can almost guarantee he did not ignore you. He probably never even received your letters." Author's Note I was actually going to do something completely different with Starlight here, but then my muse proceeded to bitch slap me. Multiple times. It hurt. Reconsidered"This makes no sense." Luna nodded in response to her sister's frustrated comment. Truthfully, she was beginning to get aggravated as well. "The name Cozy Glow is nowhere in any of the census data for Equestria," Celestia mumbled to herself, flipping through the final pages of a large book. After a moment she slammed it shut with a grunt. "We've combed every last book in the archive, but the closest name we've found is a stallion from two hundred years ago named Comfy Light." Celestia growled. "A Pony does not just appear from nowhere!" Luna glanced at Celestia with a raised eyebrow. Noticing, Celestia blushed in embarrassment. "Yes, well... we're an exception," she said. "Is it possible she used a fake name?" Luna asked. "Remember that her Cutie Mark is a Rook, a chess piece. Your vision informed us that Cozy Glow is quite manipulative, and certainly not unintelligent. In her position, I would have covered my tracks with a false identity. Especially since she had supposedly contacted a known criminal." Celestia sighed. "I'm afraid you may be right. The problem, however, is that we've got no way of knowing what to look for." Luna stood. "Then let us focus on another matter for the time being. If this is truly important enough to warrant a vision, the answers we seek will present themselves to us in time." She trotted towards the door, Celestia following as she placed the book back on the shelves with magic. "What of Miss Glimmer and her friend? Have you located young Sunburst yet?" Celestia frowned. "I received a report this morning that he appears to not be living at his registered address. The Guard have taken up stakeout positions and are waiting to see if he'll return. He may just be on vacation for all we know." "And Miss Glimmer?" Luna prompted. Celestia smiled here. "Happily teaching classes in my school about Cutie Marks and how they affect Ponies. I have tea with her every other day to discuss the happenings of the school and possible improvements. She asks about Sunburst every time, and I've remained as open and honest as I can with her. She knows we found his home but not him yet." Luna frowned. "Have you discussed her magic with her? Her ability to manipulate Cutie Marks?" Celestia glanced at her sister. "I haven't, no. I decided to let things be. She doesn't seem inclined to touch that spell after your... conversation." Grimacing, Luna sighed. "Yes, I lost my temper. I really should apologize to her." "Why do you ask?" Celestia asked curiously. Luna frowned in thought. "I was too angry to realize it at the time, but after some time to think I have come to the conclusion that the ponies she took the Cutie Marks from showed absolutely no signs of Blight. That was when I remembered the equal sign that appears on a Pony she takes the mark from. I have begun questioning if she actually removes Cutie Marks. If the opportunity arises, I wish to discuss this with her. She may have unknowingly created a brand new school of magic, or a sub-class of Ward magic." Celestia also frowned. "You think she's blocking the talents, rather than removing them? That..." Celestia perked up. "That may just be what we need to finish the prison!" She quickly made a note about it. Luna smirked. Twilight probably would not realize it for years to come, but she was very similar to Celestia herself. Celestia just hid her inner scientist better. It was good to see Celestia still had that love of learning and developing new things. "What of Neighsay?" Celestia asked. Luna frowned once more. "I patrolled his dreams for a few nights, as you asked, and have come to the conclusion that either we have the wrong pony, or his racism was a recent development by the time the Friendship School incident came about. I am keeping tabs on him however, just in case I missed something." Celestia sighed. "I hate it when visions give me insight into distant futures. It makes things so much more complicated than the usual "Oh, this is going to blow up if I don't defuse that now" stuff." Luna smiled. "We'll get this straightened out. Then we can toss Twilight and Cadence at the throne for a few centuries and go on vacation." Celestia chuckled at the mental image of Cadence screaming to the heavens at them and Twilight looking absolutely confused. Her sister knew just how to cheer her up. Celestia stepped from her chariot after it touched down in Ponyville and began making her way towards Twilight's castle. Tree. Library? Castle-tree-library? Twilight's home. Yes, her home. Slight mental derailment settled, Celestia resumed her journey. She entered the throne room to find exactly who she was hoping to see studying the Cutie Map. "Twilight," she called gently. The relatively new Alicorn spun around in her seat at the sound of her teacher's voice. "Princess Celestia!" she exclaimed with some surprise. Celestia shook her head with a smile as she went to join Twilight at the large table. "You no longer need to call me "Princess" Twilight. You are, after all, a Princess as well." Twilight seemed uncomfortable at this. "I... um... It just seems... disrespectful?" She rubbed her neck. "I grew up seeing you as summit no pony could hope to approach. Now, I'm standing next to you and your sister on that summit. Quite suddenly at that." Celestia nodded. "True. You were not exactly groomed for the position, but you have taken to it quite well. You and your friends." she waved a hoof to bring attention to the throne room. "I essentially dropped you into the deep end when I made you the ruler of Ponyville after you got your castle. And instead of flounder... much... you planted your hooves and proved you are a natural born leader, just like I knew you were." She smiled at Twilight. "I am very proud of you, Twilight." Twilight blushed, looking away. "A-anyways, how can I help you, Prin... C-Celestia." Celestia supposed that realistically that was probably the best she was going to get from Twilight for now. That was okay, she could be patient. "I wanted to visit and see how your development of the prison was going." Twilight motioned Celestia towards the table, revealing the map was active and Twilight had a few sheets of paper with notes on them scattered about. "I can't figure out how to create a relatively small magic-less environment, and had turned to my friends to see if they had an idea. It was Fluttershy who had the thought to ask Discord for help. Once it was explained to him, he readily agreed to see if his power can create and maintain a field of what he called Null-Magic. He's in the Badlands now blowing up chunks of desert with his experiments." She grimaced slightly. "The magical field of Equestria itself doesn't seem to like the idea of whatever Null-Magic is." Celestia hummed. "I'm not surprised. Null-Magic is magic that is designed to use itself to dissipate magical energy. Sort of a kamikaze kind of spell. The idea was discarded a long time ago as too dangerous for widespread use. But it may just be perfect for the prison if Discord gets it to work properly." Twilight nodded. "Other than that I've been studying the map to determine the ideal place to build the prison itself." Celestia also looked at the map, and realized that the papers she saw on the table acted as markers for potential locations. One in particular caught her attention. "The Crystal Empire?" she asked curiously, finding herself somewhat disquieted by how some parts of her vision seemed to be trying to come to pass regardless." Twilight nodded again. "It's honestly the best place. Build the prison a few good miles away from the empire itself and make sure the entire thing ran on electricity, and not many inmates would even consider braving the harsh conditions of the north if they escaped." Eventually Celestia nodded, seeing the logic. She decided to change the subject though and continue her discussion with Twilight regarding her responsibilities.
RuminationsCelestia sat in her bedroom, bags under her bloodshot eyes, and several letters spread out on the floor in front of her. Regret and sadness shook her soul. Outside her window she could hear the roar of the ponies, and see the flicker of red that could only come from the light cast by fire. Ponies were rioting, and the few left that were still loyal to Celestia simply could not handle it. Equestria had fallen. Everything had fallen apart. Where had it gone wrong? Celestia knew. She knew only too well. It started with a single mare, with a large ambition and the wrong idea of how to accomplish it. Cozy Glow. No, Celestia told her self. Cozy Glow may have beeen the start, but it was not her fault everything had gone the way it had. No. The true reason everything had fallen apart had been Celestia’s decision to sentence a nine year old filly to Tartarus, right next to Tirek in fact. From there, everything began. It started with, as it rightly should have Celestia supposed, Cozy Glow’s parents. They had been outraged that their daughter had been thrown into the most severe prison in Equestria, when the law clearly stated a minor could not be judged the same as an adult, and such judgments must be approved by their parents. Celestia had not consulted Cozy Glow’s parents. Celestia had seen that the Elements of Harmony had acted, without the input of their bearers, to save Starlight Glimmer and restore magic. Celestia determined based on that alone that Cozy Glow could not be redeemed, and could only be imprisoned to protect Equestria. She had forgone the usual methods, and imprisoned the nine year old. If Celestia had stopped to think, she would have realized that the Elements had done nothing to Cozy Glow herself, only saved magic and Starlight. However, Celestia had not realized that until it was too late. She had made clear that her judgment was final and that the parents would not sway her. Criminals would be punished as they should be. The parents had left, furious, and vowing to save their daughter from Celestia’s tyranny. Then the newspapers had somehow gotten ahold of the story, from the parents, Celestia suspected. Celestia looked at the first piece of paper in front of her. A newspaper clipping. The headline was as blunt as it could be. FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION? It went on to describe the imprisonment of Cozy Glow, why she was imprisoned, and how Celestia had ignored due process based on the actions of artifacts that were not even sentient. When Celestia saw that newspaper, it had been followed by nearly all of the castle staff turning in their resignations and leaving Equestria entirely, the vast majority going to the Crystal Empire. Luna had stormed into her room as well and began reading her the riot act, going about how she had warned Celestia that this had been too extreme of a punishment. The argument had been long, and the end was not clean. Luna had thrown her crown at Celestia and stormed off. To this day Celestia had no idea where her sister had gone, only that she still moved the moon. A few days later led to Twilight coming in and demanding to know what had possessed Celestia to lock up a filly. Celestia remembered that conversation only too well. “This is unacceptable.” Celestia looked up from her paperwork, and found the puzzling sight of her former student, Twilight Sparkle, staring at her pretty harshly. “Twilight?” Twilight pulled a piece of paper from the saddlebags she was wearing, and handed it to Celestia. “I will not abide by this, Princess,” she stated, perhaps a bit more angrilly than she intended. Celestia, curious and concerned over what could possibly upset her fellow Princess this much, took the paper. It was a newspaper clipping, and the headline made her pale. FILLY SENTENCED TO TARTARUS. THE RESULT OF AMBITION? “I will not deny that Cozy Glow was very much in the wrong,” Twilight started, sounding far calmer than Celestia now believed she was. “But Tartarus is not the place to put a nine year old filly, regardless of the severity of their bad behaviour.” “Twilight…” “The Want-It Need-It incident,” Twilight interrupted, making Celestia wince. “Should have landed me in Tartarus. I took from ponies their ability to reason, a crime far more severe than a lack of magic in the world. Humanity on the other side of the mirror proved magic isn’t necessary to survive and thrive, so Cozy Glow’s actions can, at best, be described as extremist.” Celestia wilted under the scrutiny of her fellow Princess. “I understand how you feel, Twilight, but…” “No!” Twilight snapped off loudly, startling her once mentor into silence. “You seem to not understand the consequences here, Celestia! The most minor result of this is Cozy Glow’s parents lobbying to have the Diarchy removed from the throne for clear abuse of authority and disregard for the law! Do you have any idea how many parents across Equestria now believe us to be dictators that will do anything to maintain the status quo?!” she roared. Celestia wilted further. “And that’s only the minor thing! Ponies who once happily tried to accomplish their dreams are now terrified of stepping out of line, thinking if they get too ambitious they’ll be locked up as well! And then there’s the diplomatic repercussions!” Twilight pulled out more newspaper clippings. EQUESTRIA LOCKS UP FILLY FOR AMBITIOUS DREAMS. DIARCHY OF EQUESTRIA NOT TO BE TRUSTED. TRADE WITH EQUESTRIA SUSPENDED. “Cadence has sent a formal letter to the Diarchy that the Crystal Empire is no longer permitting interaction with Equestria. She’s terrified you’ll lock up Flurry Heart because of her powerful magic outbursts. Nevermind the furious letter Shining sent me!” Twilight once more reached into her saddlebag, and pulled out a scroll. She tossed it onto Celestia’s desk. “And I’m in agreement. You need to fix this Celestia, and until you do Ponyville is officially separating itself as a micronation until then. I will be having the town relocated to the edge of the Crystal Empire within the next week. Luna has already signed all of the necessary paperwork.” Twilight turned to leave, but stopped at the door and looked at Celestia over her shoulder. “I once respected you as a kind and righteous ruler. I didn’t think you could do any wrong. I’ve learned since then that you aren’t perfect, but that you are at least trying. Or I thought you were.” Twilight shook her head. “Goodbye Celestia. Do not contact me or my family.” That had perhaps been the moment that Celestia realized she had made a grave mistake. Twilight was the living embodiment of Friendship, and she had forgiven quite a lot. To have Twilight so thoroughly up in arms over this pointed out to Celestia that the Elements of Harmony did not approve. Worse, Twilight had succeeded in her promise. Not a week after Twilight’s visit, the town of Ponyville had simply vanished. It was as if the town had never existed. Not even the apple orchard was there anymore. It nailed home to Celestia, not for the first time, just how ludicrously powerful Twilight was. And, as Twilight said, the town of Ponyville now sat on the other end of the Crystal Empire from Equestria. Celestia had tried to visit, but had been confronted by three Alicorns, an entire royal guard, and many Thestrals that were willing to go to war if she tried to interact with anyone from the Crystal Empire. Celestia sighed, wishing not for the first time that she had not skipped due process when it came to Cozy Glow. As for Cozy Glow herself, Luna had taken the filly from Tartarus and, with her parents permission, instead made her the first inmate of a softer jail, where doctors would attempt to determine the cause of Cozy’s maniacal behaviour. Celestia had tried to visit, to understand what they were doing, but had once again been chased away. Not long after the rift that formed between the Princesses, Equestria began to revolt against the throne in outrage. The demand was that Celestia step down and enter banishment from Equestria, allowing a council to take over. Nopony wanted that kind of power in the hooves of only one pony, not after this. That’s what led to today. Canterlot was empty, there were very few soldiers who remained with Celestia, and a mob stood at the entrance of the castle. A choice must be made. Celestia eventually stood and made her way from the room. It was time to put an end to this. Author's Note First off, I want to say a few things. The major one being that I only actually saw the end of this episode. I apologize if I got some facts wrong because of this. This episode upset me on a few levels, the biggest, of course, being that a child got thrown into the pony equivalent of Hell. Yeah, she did bad things. Yeah, they were pretty severe. But she was a child, and children do not have the necessary level of development to understand why they are making a mistake. This is why they do not get punished to the same extent as an adult. What Celestia should have done is discuss Cozy's punishment with her parents. Now, this is not me saying that I think this is what should happen in the show. Nor is this me trying to start something against the writers. I am simply writing out how I think Celestia's decision could blow up in her face. I also fully acknowledge that it may not have been Celestia alone who made this decision. For all we know all of the Alicorns were in on it, though I severely doubt Twilight would agree.
RevelationsWith a startled gasp, Celestia shot out of bed. Panting, sweating, and her heart hammering a mile a minute, the Alicorn of the day took a moment to realize she was awake, and not standing in front of a small army of vengeful ponies. Clarity filled her. A vision, portents of possible futures. A vision of Cozy Glow, and of the ambition of a single filly. A vision of the Elements of Harmony acting to preserve the Equestrian Way. A vision of Equestria, the ideal, the dream, burning to the ground around her due to the single worst decision she could ever make. "I've spent far too much time in politics," Celestia grumbled to herself, rubbing her head with a hoof. Had she seriously considered Tartarus a viable punishment for a child? Had her future self grown so cold-hearted to do that? She frowned. How far into the future was this possibility? As of now Twilight had only just defeated Tirek and embraced her destiny. There were lots of details in visions that Celestia would not be able to recall, a sort of safety feature that prevented too much tampering with time. For instance, she knew Twilight would come to run a school based on Friendship, or its ideals. But the details of this school, the forming, the paperwork involved, the location, and the staff escaped her. But Cozy Glow was clear in her mind, as was every detail regarding the Pegasus filly. This told Celestia that Cozy Glow, her actions, and the results of said actions was the focus of the vision and what she should be paying attention to. After beating her future self over the head a few more times in her mind, Celestia got to work making notes and plans. The first thing that needed to be addressed was Tirek's involvement. His power could be learned, and was not something unique only to him, it seemed. Granted, Cozy Glow seemed to use a bastardized version of the magic absorption ability, likely because Tirek had little desire for competition, but still. That had to be guarded against. Ending the centaur lord's life briefly crossed Celestia's mind, but she almost immediately rejected the idea. She and Luna had promised Scorpan that no true and lasting harm would come to Tirek unless they were the results of immediate self-defense. Besides that, making rash decisions is what led to her future self making that stupid decision in the first place. No. Tirek would be dealt with non-lethally. "Hmm..." Celestia hummed to herself as she got dressed in her regalia. A quick check on the positioning of the sun told her it was still too early to bring it over the horizon. Everyone in the castle was either asleep now, or busy with the night shift. "Perhaps a change in his current prison?" An idea bloomed. Quickly gathering some paper and a quill from her desk nearby, Celestia jotted it down. She'll work more on that later. For now a more pressing concern needed to be addressed. Celestia entered the Royal Archives, a cup of steaming coffee floating along in her aura next to her. She nodded to the on duty archivist and made her way through the aisles. "Apploosa, Arendight, Buckingham, Canterlot... ah, here it is. Cloudsdale Census Registry." Removing the large book from the shelf, Celestia carried it to a table and began flipping through it. While she knew a bit about Cozy Glow due to the events she witnessed in her vision, Celestia didn't know everything. One of the bigger question marks floating over that name was where she lived. Clearly, the first place to look would be Cloudsdale, the effective capitol of Pegasi. Unfortunately, it seemed Cozy Glow was not listed in this registry. She put the book back and grabbed the registry for Ponyville. Nope, not there either. Canterlot? No. Putting back the last book, Celestia tapped her chin in thought. It seemed locating the errant filly would not be as as simple as she had assumed. Perhaps one of the smaller villages? Or maybe one of the few nomadic tribes roaming around? No, Cozy was wearing some pretty expensive gold jewelry in her vision, and most nomads didn't bother with material possessions beyond what was necessary. So probably a small village. Celestia frowned, her memory tickling her. Hadn't there been a settlement request recently? A Unicorn that Celestia had almost mistaken for Twilight had requested permission to begin a village near the Badlands. Despite the oddity of where she wanted to start her village, the unicorn had filled out all of the proper paperwork and had gone through all of the correct channels and red tape. Celestia had asked if this was meant to be a mining village, since the badlands were a known mineral ore hotspot, but the Unicorn had stated she did not intend to turn the village into such, but just in case had filled in the proper forms for that as well, even going so far as make sure the percentage of profits going to the crown in such a case would be ten percent greater than standard. Assured that the Unicorn was not attempting an illegal mining operation, Celestia had discussed it with Luna and they both agreed to have a surveyor draw up the boundaries of the prospective town. What had made the meeting stick in Celestia's mind was the lawyer this Unicorn had brought with her. He smiled a lot, but the smile was... unnerving. Not malicious, but... forced? Yes. The smile seemed overly forced. "Hmmm... Now that I think about it, she failed to provide a name for the town," Celestia mused. She stood up and went to a different section. "Now then... what was her name? Ah yes, I remember." She grabbed a book and started flipping through it. "Here it is. Starlight Glimmer's zoning permit. For the town of... Our Town?" after a moment she shrugged. "Must be a community effort." "I had a vision last night," Celestia offered after swallowing a bite of her cereal. Luna's fork full of mashed potatoes paused midair. She glanced at her sister. "That would explain why I couldn't access your dream. Anything important?" she asked. Celestia frowned. "A pony managed to absorb all of the magic in Equestria and very nearly succeeded in sending it to the void between worlds. If not for a very brave group of friends, not Twilight's friends for once, she would have succeeded." Luna's fork fell back into her plate. "What," she asked with wide eyes. Celestia shrugged. "It requires a bit of context to understand," she said. Luna sighed. "Of course it does. When do you have visions that are simple?" she mumbled to herself. She stood up. "Tell me who it is and I'll have them detained immediately." Celestia winced. "Ah. That would be a... bad idea." Luna regarded Celestia with a cool gaze and arched an eyebrow. "Why?" she asked. "Well, for one, I don't know the timetable we're working on here. I only know it occurred after Twilight opened a school to teach friendship, just at the end of the first semester." Luna nodded after a moment. "And because you don't know when Twilight would open such a school, we have at the very least three months." Celestia nodded. "That... and the vision wasn't about the pony herself, but the very... very extreme reaction of how her punishment was handled." Luna's eyebrow rose higher. She sat down and resumed her dinner. "I'm listening," she said. Celestia took a bite of her breakfast again and swallowed before continuing. "Her name is Cozy Glow, and she was nine years old at the time of this happening..." Celestia proceeded to tell Luna the entire story. She left nothing out. Every last detail. Afterwards, Luna sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I want to chastise you for even daring to have a vision like that, but I have a fairly good guess why my counterpart went along with your plan initially." Celestia looked up, curious. Luna shifted uncomfortably. "I... am scared, Celestia." She held up a hoof, stopping her sister from butting in. "Not of you, no, but... well, the last time I went against you resulted in Nightmare Moon," she said, looking away. "I may have forgiven myself for the events... but I still remember them. The very thought of arguing against your judgments is...uncomfortably difficult for me." Luna's eyes narrowed and she looked at Celestia. "But if you really did do what you claimed, I can see why I would eventually choose to side against you again. I agree with what Twilight said, sister. This must be fixed. You are spending far too much time leading the kingdom if you are receiving warnings like this. Once this Cozy Glow business is settled, you are going on vacation." Celestia sighed. "I probably should. I cannot even remember the last time I had a day off, let alone a vacation." "Now, have you done anything about this yet?" Luna asked. Celestia nodded. "I've begun drawing up plans for a new hospital. I remember in my vision that Twilight seemed to have developed a hospital meant to diagnose and treat mentally ill patients, while also studying them to try and discover ways to prevent their tragedies from occurring again. There's also some plans for a new magically deprived prison. I intend to put criminals with unique methods of controlling magic there." Luna nodded after a moment, seeing the logic. "For those like Tirek, I imagine. Best make it so he can't access the outside world." Celestia agreed. "That was one of the plans for the prison." She sighed. "Finally, I've begun digging in the archives for traces of Cozy Glow to try and locate her. My hope is that I can dissuade her from going down that path with some careful attention. Right now that's all I have." Luna hummed. "Well, I can assure you I will begin scouring the dream realm for this filly while she's sleeping. If you let me look at those plans I can probably help you with those. It may be prudent to involve young Twilight as well. She probably could help with designing the prison at least." Grabbing a notepad from nearby (She had learned a long time ago that keeping stationary in some frequently visited rooms of the castle was a good idea.) Celestia wrote that down. "We also need a game plan for when Cozy Glow is found. We could just let things happen naturally and then change her punishment, but I'd rather prevent the near end of Equestrian magic," she added. Luna nodded. "You may also want to look into this Chancellor Neighsay. He seemed to display some startlingly racist views for a member of the EEA." Celestia wrote that down as well. "I hadn't even considered that. He had learned his lesson, but if we hope to prevent this from happening, he won't learn." The sisters continued their discussion until their respective meals were done and it was time to officially change shifts. Luna made her way to bed while Celestia made her way to the throne room. Author's Note As you can see, I've been persuaded to continue this. Not sure exactly how far I'll take this, but it won't be anything like Hero Souls. I'm gonna keep it simple and to the point.
Reassessment"A prison devoid of magic? I'm not sure if that's possible..." Celestia nodded. "It's possible. I even know of a way to create a magic-less environment." Twilight perked up. "Really? How?" Celestia coughed. "It... ah... only works to absorb all the magic in Equestria. Hence why I'm hoping you'd have a better idea." Twilight blanched at the idea. "All of Equestria? I'm fairly certain that is impossible. Or at the very least incredibly difficult." Celestia considered six artifacts that, in another time, could do the job. Currently they were now surrounded by wards that may just make Discord hesitate. "Yes. Very difficult," she agreed. "I have no idea where to even begin," Twilight admitted, pulling some paper and a quill out of her saddlebags. "Magic is just... everywhere! There is probably no place on the planet that's not saturated in magic." She started writing down ideas. "Maybe some kind of valve system..." she mumbled to herself, before shaking her head. "It would need a method of determining the difference between benign and malignant magic..." "If worse comes to worse, we may need to resort to banishing across dimensions again," Celestia warned, instantly garnering Twilight's attention. "I cannot afford to give Tirek a chance to try again." Twilight paused. "Tirek... I wonder if his method would work?" she mused. "No!" Celestia was instantly on her hooves, startling Twilight with the sudden declaration and making her trip backwards onto her plot. Celestia cringed and sat back down. "I'm sorry Twilight, that was uncalled for. But no, we will not be using the same method as Tirek. I can't risk any future enemies learning how to do what he can do." Twilight settled her racing heart and gathered her papers. "Yes... Of course Princess." she said slowly. Celestia nearly leaped out of her fur and feathers when the door to her bedroom slammed open. Finding Luna storming in dragging a Unicorn in her magic, she grew concerned. "Of all the idiotic, morally questionable, harebrained..." Luna growled, and flicked her horn. The Unicorn gave a startled scream when she was tossed at Celestia. Thinking quickly, the Solar Alicorn caught the Unicorn in her magic just before she would impact her. 'Wait, isn't this...?' "DO you have any idea what you could have done?!" Luna roared, getting in Starlight Glimmer's face and making the Unicorn scramble in futility to escape her. "Our Cutie Marks are our SOULS, you witless drone!" Celestia cringed at the rage her sister was exhibiting. "I hate ponies like you, who think the fact that they have power gives them the right to tinker with things they don't understand!" At this point Luna's eyes were beginning to turn a familiar teal color, so Celestia decided an intervention was in order. "Luna!" she snapped. Luna blinked, her eyes returning to normal. "Perhaps start from the beginning? What happened?" Luna huffed. "I realized last night while going over your notes that we had met this mysterious pony that Twilight seemed to trust in your vision, and that she was the same pony we had reservations about regarding her town." "Okay, so I can guess you went to visit the town, but how did that escalate into... well, this?" Celestia asked, setting Starlight down nearby, but keeping a hold of her with her magic. Something about the mare had pissed Luna off, so she wasn't taking chances. "When I arrived, I was greeted by the sight of every single pony in that town bearing the same Cutie Mark, that of a mathematical equal sign." Celestia blinked. "Wait...what? How is that... how?" she settled. Luna shook her head. "It gets worse. It wasn't just paint on their Cutie Marks. Their magic was also equalized with each other. There wasn't a single stars be damned difference between any of them, and as near as I could tell none of them had any talent in anything." She snorted. "The town was on the verge of famine due to inadequate food storage procedures and a lack of any kind of farmer or cook, never mind the state of their clothing." She pointed a hoof at Starlight and growled. "She, however, was different. She bore the same Cutie Mark as the rest of them, but her magic was powerful... nearly as powerful as Twilight Sparkle's." Celestia's eyes snapped around and she glared hard at Starlight. "A ritual to drain magic?" she asked, not looking at Luna. Luna seemed to deflate here. "No," she said, making Celestia glance at her in surprise. "As much as it pains me to say this, her power is wholly her own." She shook her head again. "Such a waste of potential." "So then... how did all of the ponies there have the same Cutie Mark?" Celestia asked. Luna was once again growling and glaring at Starlight. "That would be because this stupid, foolish, MORON, decided that magically removing a pony's Cutie-Mark and storing them in glass jars, of all things, was a brilliant idea!" she roared. "You could have started a Blight, you foal!" Celestia noticed that Starlight was trying to say something but no words were coming. "You silenced her?" Luna nodded. "She was quite insistent that Cutie Marks were evil, and only ever caused friendships to wither and die. She believes no pony should have any kind of specialty to them, and nopony should be better than anyone else." She sniffed. "I'm convinced making her Tirek's next meal would straighten that attitude out." Celestia sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Right. Luna could get vindictive when angry. "Is she actually guilty of a crime, Luna?" she asked. Luna stared at Celestia as if she had lost her head. "You're kidding. Right? I just told you she was tampering with Cutie Marks!" "And what law could our courts use to persecute her?" Celestia added. "There is no law on Cutie Mark manipulation. Moral outrage, yes, but no actual law." Luna bristled. "Well why not?!" Celestia shrugged. "Until now, it was thought to be impossible without resorting to Necromantic magic, which is illegal. And yes," she interrupted Luna. "I do intend to have that added to the laws." "Good, the sooner this idiot gets punished, the better I'll feel." Celestia leveled a cool gaze on her sister. "She won't be punished," she stated. Celestia hastened to continue when magic began flaring wildly around Luna. "Mainly for two reasons. One, there's a law forbidding the prosecution of someone who broke the law before it was actually a law. It's generally referred to as the Paradox Law. While you could probably argue that those who were involved in why it became a law should still be punished, the second reason will stop that." Luna, slightly calmer than her near blowup a second ago, growled. "And that reason would be?" "If we punish young Starlight here, then we must also punish Twilight. Remember how she ascended." Luna's ears flipped back. "Oh," she said. "I had... not considered that." Celestia set Starlight on the floor between her and Luna and removed the silencing spell. "As you can tell, Starlight Glimmer, you have just been discovered. Under normal circumstances we would have you punished quite severely for messing with Cutie Marks, but there are reasons we will not. Before anything else though, I'd like to know why you were removing Cutie Marks. Will you please tell me?" Starlight shuffled her hooves slightly. She realized she had a chance to sell her philosophy to royalty, but by Luna's severe reaction (justly so, she told herself, if Cutie Marks really were the soul. That was magic no one wanted to mess with.) that wouldn't go over well. Instead, she decided to tell her story and hope it earned her some sympathy. An hour later, Celestia and Luna were sitting next to each other thoughtfully as Starlight finished her tale. "I see... I never would have guessed the discovery of a Cutie Mark could cause such heartache. Though... have you not tried to contact him?" Luna asked. Starlight nodded. "Multiple times, Your Highness. But he never responded. I was also turned away from Princess Celestia's school whenever I tried to visit. The usual response was that only those of certain bearing could enter that school, and that commoners had no business distracting the students." Fwoosh! Starlight squeaked when Celestia's mane suddenly burst into flames and rage momentarily filled her eyes. She however calmed herself after a moment. "I'm okay. I'm cool. I'm in control." She muttered irritably, before stomping a hoof. "Argh! I thought I had finally stamped them out of my school!" "Them?" Luna asked. Starlight also looked curious, but was too startled by the sudden pyrotechnics to really voice it. "I'm not sure when, but at some point someone with... shall we say specific, views on magic became the Dean of the school. They passed all sorts of rules, chief among them being that only the rich and influential could attend the school. They tried to turn my school for learning magic into a school for nobles. Needless to say, I reacted badly when I found out, and promptly tried to clean house. I seem to have failed." Celestia stood up. "Come with me, Starlight Glimmer. I wish to assure you personally that something like this will never happen again. We will also attempt to find your friend, because I can almost guarantee he did not ignore you. He probably never even received your letters." Author's Note I was actually going to do something completely different with Starlight here, but then my muse proceeded to bitch slap me. Multiple times. It hurt.
Reconsidered"This makes no sense." Luna nodded in response to her sister's frustrated comment. Truthfully, she was beginning to get aggravated as well. "The name Cozy Glow is nowhere in any of the census data for Equestria," Celestia mumbled to herself, flipping through the final pages of a large book. After a moment she slammed it shut with a grunt. "We've combed every last book in the archive, but the closest name we've found is a stallion from two hundred years ago named Comfy Light." Celestia growled. "A Pony does not just appear from nowhere!" Luna glanced at Celestia with a raised eyebrow. Noticing, Celestia blushed in embarrassment. "Yes, well... we're an exception," she said. "Is it possible she used a fake name?" Luna asked. "Remember that her Cutie Mark is a Rook, a chess piece. Your vision informed us that Cozy Glow is quite manipulative, and certainly not unintelligent. In her position, I would have covered my tracks with a false identity. Especially since she had supposedly contacted a known criminal." Celestia sighed. "I'm afraid you may be right. The problem, however, is that we've got no way of knowing what to look for." Luna stood. "Then let us focus on another matter for the time being. If this is truly important enough to warrant a vision, the answers we seek will present themselves to us in time." She trotted towards the door, Celestia following as she placed the book back on the shelves with magic. "What of Miss Glimmer and her friend? Have you located young Sunburst yet?" Celestia frowned. "I received a report this morning that he appears to not be living at his registered address. The Guard have taken up stakeout positions and are waiting to see if he'll return. He may just be on vacation for all we know." "And Miss Glimmer?" Luna prompted. Celestia smiled here. "Happily teaching classes in my school about Cutie Marks and how they affect Ponies. I have tea with her every other day to discuss the happenings of the school and possible improvements. She asks about Sunburst every time, and I've remained as open and honest as I can with her. She knows we found his home but not him yet." Luna frowned. "Have you discussed her magic with her? Her ability to manipulate Cutie Marks?" Celestia glanced at her sister. "I haven't, no. I decided to let things be. She doesn't seem inclined to touch that spell after your... conversation." Grimacing, Luna sighed. "Yes, I lost my temper. I really should apologize to her." "Why do you ask?" Celestia asked curiously. Luna frowned in thought. "I was too angry to realize it at the time, but after some time to think I have come to the conclusion that the ponies she took the Cutie Marks from showed absolutely no signs of Blight. That was when I remembered the equal sign that appears on a Pony she takes the mark from. I have begun questioning if she actually removes Cutie Marks. If the opportunity arises, I wish to discuss this with her. She may have unknowingly created a brand new school of magic, or a sub-class of Ward magic." Celestia also frowned. "You think she's blocking the talents, rather than removing them? That..." Celestia perked up. "That may just be what we need to finish the prison!" She quickly made a note about it. Luna smirked. Twilight probably would not realize it for years to come, but she was very similar to Celestia herself. Celestia just hid her inner scientist better. It was good to see Celestia still had that love of learning and developing new things. "What of Neighsay?" Celestia asked. Luna frowned once more. "I patrolled his dreams for a few nights, as you asked, and have come to the conclusion that either we have the wrong pony, or his racism was a recent development by the time the Friendship School incident came about. I am keeping tabs on him however, just in case I missed something." Celestia sighed. "I hate it when visions give me insight into distant futures. It makes things so much more complicated than the usual "Oh, this is going to blow up if I don't defuse that now" stuff." Luna smiled. "We'll get this straightened out. Then we can toss Twilight and Cadence at the throne for a few centuries and go on vacation." Celestia chuckled at the mental image of Cadence screaming to the heavens at them and Twilight looking absolutely confused. Her sister knew just how to cheer her up. Celestia stepped from her chariot after it touched down in Ponyville and began making her way towards Twilight's castle. Tree. Library? Castle-tree-library? Twilight's home. Yes, her home. Slight mental derailment settled, Celestia resumed her journey. She entered the throne room to find exactly who she was hoping to see studying the Cutie Map. "Twilight," she called gently. The relatively new Alicorn spun around in her seat at the sound of her teacher's voice. "Princess Celestia!" she exclaimed with some surprise. Celestia shook her head with a smile as she went to join Twilight at the large table. "You no longer need to call me "Princess" Twilight. You are, after all, a Princess as well." Twilight seemed uncomfortable at this. "I... um... It just seems... disrespectful?" She rubbed her neck. "I grew up seeing you as summit no pony could hope to approach. Now, I'm standing next to you and your sister on that summit. Quite suddenly at that." Celestia nodded. "True. You were not exactly groomed for the position, but you have taken to it quite well. You and your friends." she waved a hoof to bring attention to the throne room. "I essentially dropped you into the deep end when I made you the ruler of Ponyville after you got your castle. And instead of flounder... much... you planted your hooves and proved you are a natural born leader, just like I knew you were." She smiled at Twilight. "I am very proud of you, Twilight." Twilight blushed, looking away. "A-anyways, how can I help you, Prin... C-Celestia." Celestia supposed that realistically that was probably the best she was going to get from Twilight for now. That was okay, she could be patient. "I wanted to visit and see how your development of the prison was going." Twilight motioned Celestia towards the table, revealing the map was active and Twilight had a few sheets of paper with notes on them scattered about. "I can't figure out how to create a relatively small magic-less environment, and had turned to my friends to see if they had an idea. It was Fluttershy who had the thought to ask Discord for help. Once it was explained to him, he readily agreed to see if his power can create and maintain a field of what he called Null-Magic. He's in the Badlands now blowing up chunks of desert with his experiments." She grimaced slightly. "The magical field of Equestria itself doesn't seem to like the idea of whatever Null-Magic is." Celestia hummed. "I'm not surprised. Null-Magic is magic that is designed to use itself to dissipate magical energy. Sort of a kamikaze kind of spell. The idea was discarded a long time ago as too dangerous for widespread use. But it may just be perfect for the prison if Discord gets it to work properly." Twilight nodded. "Other than that I've been studying the map to determine the ideal place to build the prison itself." Celestia also looked at the map, and realized that the papers she saw on the table acted as markers for potential locations. One in particular caught her attention. "The Crystal Empire?" she asked curiously, finding herself somewhat disquieted by how some parts of her vision seemed to be trying to come to pass regardless." Twilight nodded again. "It's honestly the best place. Build the prison a few good miles away from the empire itself and make sure the entire thing ran on electricity, and not many inmates would even consider braving the harsh conditions of the north if they escaped." Eventually Celestia nodded, seeing the logic. She decided to change the subject though and continue her discussion with Twilight regarding her responsibilities.
