We eventually reach the cells occupied by the Element Bearers. Each pony has been located in a different cell as a way to try to stop them from communicating. However, I hear their hushed whispers as we walk closer to them, whispers about escape plans and how ‘cruel’ the guards were to them earlier.

“You have food and water here, and the floor isn’t that uncomfortable. If you want better conditions, then you’ll have to build a prison somewhere above ground,” I tell them.

Silence falls, and each of the six mares walks gingerly to the very front of the cells and attempt to poke their heads through the bars to look at me and Skywalker. Each of them shows a certain amount of fear on their faces, but I don’t want to hurt them, not really.

I continue, “You probably think I’m here to mock you for falling into that trap earlier, but I have more important things to think about. I hear you said something about wanting to speak to myself and King Sombra. Unfortunately, the King isn’t here, but I’m fine with passing on any questions and messages to him later.”

“How about ‘let us go or Princess Celestia’s gonna bust us outta here and whoop your flanks’?!” Rainbow shouts.

“I’ll tell him you said that, yes. Now, what do you really want to say to me?”

“Why?” Twilight asks. “Why are you doing this? You have magic, you had friends and a normal life back in Equestria, you had everything you could have wanted!”

“I didn’t have a mother, or the love of my life, and I only had one friend. Now I have a lot more friends, and they’re friends who actually treat me like a pony.”

“Are you a pony, though?”

That question gets on my nerves. “I’m a pony just as much as you are, Twilight. I was born a pony, and I will be a pony for as long as I live.”

“But you’re not. You’re an Umbrum.”

“Ouch, speciest. Bad enough that you keep calling me a vampire.” I pretend to be annoyed at her. “So because I’m an Umbrum you can be horrible to me? And Celestia can be horrible to me?”

“Says the pony who destroyed the Crystal Heart,” Applejack mutters.

“Fine, I don’t have a perfectly clean track record,” I admit. “But I ended up on the moon purely by accident, I wasn’t trying to help Nightmare Moon until I got stuck there with her and we spent a whole millennium with nothing to do except think about revenge. And with Sombra, I’ve said it already, and I’ll say it again: he deserved a second chance and you weren’t going to give it to him.”

As I walk past Fluttershy’s cell, she quivers and retreats into the darkness. I stop in front of her, feeling a slight pang of guilt. “Hey. I’m still annoyed with all of you, but I’m not about to use dark magic on you.”

She tucks her head under a wing and says nothing.

“What if… you let me try this time?” Skywalker whispers.

I nod, and take a step back, allowing him to take control of the situation.

I look at how he approaches the cell; his pace is actually pretty calm, as he comes close to the cell bars, he sits in front of it, looking at the mare inside.

“Greetings,” He says. “Fluttershy, right?”

The mare doesn’t respond with any words, but with a slight nod.

“It’s okay,” He assures her. “I don’t bite. None of us do… Name’s Moonlight Skywalker, a pleasure.”

A sigh comes from the stallion as he notices the mare trying her best to ignore him, still hiding her head under her wing.

“I… understand how you feel right now,” he admits. “You’re scared of us, and you that we would harm you without any consideration; however, I assure you… we’re not like that.”

Silence.

“You might… see me as nothing, but someone who works for tyrants.” He says. “But it isn’t like that... I’m just a simple stallion making his own way into this world.”

That’s when I finally see the pegasus look at him, her sea-green eyes reflecting fear, though not as much as I expected from the shy one of the group. Perhaps Skywalker’s words are actually working and, honestly, I'm glad. She shows some interest in his speech, tucking her wing back by her side; nonetheless, she still doesn’t dare to approach him, which is kind of understandable.

With this, Skywalker looks down and lets out an ironic chuckle. “I actually consider you all lucky.” He admits with a tone that reminds me of weird nostalgia. “It sure sounds weird but… after having been in exile for an entire decade, having lost so many, and feeling broken on the inside, you should expect a lot of nonsense coming from me.”

“Exile?” Rarity says dubiously. “What could you have done to make Princess Celestia want to exile you?”

“Not much, actually,” I say on his behalf before he loses it. “Nothing illegal, really. Twilight, you’ll know more about this than I do, since your brother is the Captain of the Royal Guard. Am I right in saying that certain guards with important roles are given certain perks that the other guards don’t have?”

“Well, yes, but what’s that got to do with anything?”

“That would include being allowed in the restricted section of Canterlot’s library, then.”

Her eyes practically bulge out of their sockets. “There’s a restricted section?! And Princess Celestia never told me?”

“I’m not surprised,” Skywalker replies. “She hid a lot from everyone, even the Inner Circle of the Royal Guard.”

“I - you’re lying, there can’t be a restricted section! Princess Celestia would have told me! She tells me everything! She’s never lied to me about anything!”

“Well,” The stallion says again. “What if we test that theory?”

I turn towards him, confused, but as soon as I see him walking towards Applejack, I can immediately guess what he’s referring to.

As soon as he sits in front of the country mare, he explains his plan.

“Ask me anything, miss.” The ex-Lunar Guard looks at her. “Any question, it can be about classified information, personal things… anything.”

“Well, Ah… Uh…”

“Take your time,” He tells her. “I’m patient.”

“What’s yer favourite thing about Equestria?”

Skywalker looks surprised by this. “Oh wow,” He says. “I actually wasn’t expecting that kind of question… but okay. It would be… its landscapes, yeah. I can’t deny the beauty of Equestria’s environment.”

She stares at him for a few seconds, then nods. “Eeyup, he’s tellin’ the truth.”

“However,” The bat pony interjects. “I am fully aware that such a simple question might not be enough for you all to trust me… so, what if each one of you makes me answer a question and the lady over here confirms my honesty?”

“Oooh! I’ve got one!” the pink earth pony cries.

“Please, go ahead.”

“So, let’s say you were super-duper running low on money and as you were walking down the street you saw somepony’s huge bag of money on the floor, what would you do? Would you leave it there, or take it to the Royal Guards, or would you take it?”

“...You sure are too smart to even exist.” He says in a chuckle. “If I can trust the Royal Guards, then yeah, I would give it to them so they can return it to its owner.”

"If you could trust them,” I add.

“Exactly.” He responds. “If not, then I would be asking around if the bag belonged to anyone there.”

“And if yeh couldn’t find out who it belonged to?” Applejack wonders.

“Well… guess I never considered that option.” He admits once more. “But, I would continue, perhaps asking someone else to help me find the owner. I was raised by my parents to help as much as possible, after all… And I will never stop until I accomplish my goal.”

“Snap, you’re making me look terrible now,” I giggle. “I’ve always been a scavenger since I was a little foal, and if that purse is just in the middle of the street, it’s fair game for anypony who walks past. Well done, Skywalker.”

He nods, then turns back towards the six mares in the prison cells. “Now, who’s next?”

“What are your parents’ names?” Rainbow says.

Skywalker opens his mouth to speak, but no words leave. As soon as I notice that, I analyse his expression; I can confirm he’s willing to provide his parents' names, but it seems like something prevents him to just saying them.

“I… They… I... I actually don’t remember.”

I raise an eyebrow at this. He seems lost in thought as he tries to remember who they were. Nonetheless, it seems as if the names are just... gone.

“He’s still tellin’ the truth,'' Applejack confirms. “He’s not lying.”

“N-Next question.”

Fluttershy seems to have regained some of her courage, because she gingerly trots to the front of the cell and says, “Um, sir, what is the - the worst thing you’ve ever said or done?”

I can tell from his facial expressions that she’s hit a nerve. If a few minutes ago he was upset, now I can tell that he's distraught. The dark void of negativity has swallowed him and taken his usually cheerful attitude, as his words are cold, direct and extremely disheartening.

"K-killing my sister."

The six mares gasp. Despairingly, Fluttershy looks to the cell opposite her, where Applejack is imprisoned, and the latter answers, forlorn, “Eeyup. But summat tells me it wasn’t his fault, and he would’ve done almost anythin’ ter stop it.”

“I don’t need to hear anything else,” Rarity sighs. “I believe him, and I believe Applejack.”

“No,” Skywalker says. “I- I promised each one of you a question… and I ain’t leaving until I respond to all of them.” He glances in the direction of Twilight’s cell. “This includes the baby dragon too.”

It takes a few moments for the next pony to say something. The new speaker turns out to be Rainbow Dash. “So, I know I’ve already had a question, but I just thought of something and I, er, just got a bit curious.”

“That’s fine.”

“When I first saw you, er, lost one of your wings and you’ve got a replacement that looks pretty cool, but now… I can’t help but think… How did it happen? I’m sorry if it’s a harsh question.” she adds.

“Hey,” He says calmly. “It’s ok. A promise is a promise, and I won’t judge you. After all, I let you ask me literally anything...” He takes a long breath. “About six years ago, I think... lost my wing in an ambush set by the Royal Guard; one of managed to cut some parts of it off with a sword, and after escaping, my wing had to be replaced with a prosthetic."

“The Royal Guard? Hey, I thought they were supposed to be protecting ponies!”

"Our group had been on exile for quite a while... and being on the Most Wanted list didn't make things any easier."

This raises a question in my own head. “How did you afford such a good replacement, then?”

“Well, some pegasus friends helped cover the cost. Maybe one day I’ll be able to pay them back. If... they weren’t caught, that is.”

“Dang,” Rainbow sighs. “But it sounds like those friends of yours are pretty loyal if they’d help you like that despite you being an outlaw.”

“Nah, they weren’t loyal at all." He stops and glances at her. "They just… kind of agreed with what we fought for.”

Rarity speaks next. “I imagine being in such a high position in the Royal Guard means you got to meet some extraordinary ponies. What did you like the most about it before you left?”

“Well, extraordinary isn't the word I'd use... and I doubt you would believe me if I told you that there’s only one pony I could show respect among the nobility...” He looks at her with a serious expression. "Right?"

“I, well, I don’t know. Everything you’ve said so far seems to be true, so I think I could. However, I don’t know why she is still here.” She scowls at me.

“I’m the Queen of the Crystal Empire, and this dungeon happens to be part of the castle I now call home. I’m allowed to walk around my own home, aren’t I?”

“Tch-” She has to stop herself from saying something rude and goes back to acting like a lady.

“Besides, she’s a friend of mine,” Skywalker says, interrupting the small argument. “Now, let’s be a little more tolerant of each other, ok?”

Applejack tells everypony, “He’s right, yeh know. We can’t all go arguin’ amongst ourselves like some wild ponies out the Everfree Forest-”

I clear my throat.

“Oh, right. Sorry, uh, Yer Majesty.”

“Well,” The stallion expresses. “Now that the issue among you ladies is solved… let’s go with the next question.”

The only two left are Twilight and the dragon. The latter pokes his snout through the bars, seemingly unfazed by the situation. “So, who’s your best friend?”

“Remember that pegasus guard you met earlier?” He smiles. “That’s the pony. Stuck by my side through everything over the last eighteen years despite being a good fifteen years younger than me.”

“Now that is loyalty,” Rainbow says.

Skywalker lets out a small chuckle as he keeps smiling. “You can say that again, ma’am.”

The final pony to speak is Twilight, though she seems reluctant to say anything. Eventually, she asks him, “Why did you decide to come here and work for King Sombra and her?” She casts a scathing look in my direction. “Surely you know that they’re tyrants?”

“Hem hem,” I say, using a little dark magic. It’s mainly to frighten her, but I need to do something else too. “This is no different to the prisons in Equestria, believe it or not. Actually, most of our laws are similar to Equestria’s. Stop acting so ungrateful before I decide to give you a harsher punishment for coming here with the Elements of Harmony to try and assassinate me and my husband.”

“How did you know that?!”

“Do you mean, did I read your mind?” I ask. “I did a moment ago, but only to confirm what I already thought was happening.”

“Besides, having those Elements and saying you want to talk…” Skywalker trails off. “...doesn’t exactly help to hide your true intentions.”

She stares at us, then looks down at the floor in defeat. “Fine, Celestia sent us here and told us it was one of the only ways to save the ponies here. But we came here to save ponies.”

“Heh. Now that is a funny statement…” The bat stallion replies.

Sparkle looks at him with confusion.

“How will you save ponies from a land in which they already live pretty well, if you ask me, and their rulers - at least - don’t dare to be assholes?”

Twilight feels insulted by such a choice of words and attacks. "Now, hold on a moment! Celestia isn't an-!"

"My sister was sent to execute me!" The stallion cuts her off with a remarkably angry cry.

This takes everypony by surprise. Applejack remarks, “Now Ah knew yeh had yer reasons for being cruel to yer sister, but Ah had no idea it was something like that. And Princess Celestia actually told her to do that to you?”

He doesn’t respond, but a tear falling from his eye is more than enough to answer such a question.

“Ah see.” She cranes her neck to try and look at Twilight. “Ah think we’ve done enough interrogating ‘im now. If he were a liar, he wouldn’t ‘ave told us about his sister.”

“I’m with AJ here,” Rainbow says.

Twilight snorts. “That’s still no excuse for working for King Sombra. And he might not be lying, but he’s obviously exaggerating the truth. She was probably just sent to arrest him, and then he did that to his own sister. And we don’t know how many other ponies he could have done that to. For all we know, it might be the reason why he ended up on the Most Wanted list in the first place!”

I'm about to say something between a whisper and a sob prevents me from doing so; despite not knowing who it came from, we all turn to Skywalker.

"What?" The lavender unicorn asks.

"I d-didn't kill a-anyone before e-... exile..." He corrects; then, a glance at Twilight makes her look at me. I can't understand why she does that, but a thought makes me realise something... She is searching for other 'culprits'. Other reasons to hate us. Other reasons to show us no mercy.

In an instant, he cleans his tears and recovers his previous posture "We - Sunbutt thought stealing official documents that detailed her crimes would be more than enough excuse to make us walk through Tartarus itself."

His head turns at the others, then again at Twilight. He allows another tear to fall as his breathing begins to shake once more. This conversation has crushed him entirely. Suddenly, as if he’s sick of all the disgusting truths that the purple unicorn doesn’t want to believe, the bat pony proceeds to take off his eye patch.

"What are you-"

The unicorn's voice dies away as she looks at where Skywalker's eye used to be, perplexed at the long scar that crosses said place. She isn't the only one puzzled; everypony else looks shocked as well because of how horrifying said wound must have been. I hadn't realised before, but from something Hope told me a day or two ago about wounds and how to treat them, I know that such a large injury could only have been inflicted with a very sharp cold weapon.

I banish that thought as a sigh from the Colonel catches my attention. "I may exaggerate some things in life, ma'am... but, I assure you, this..." He points at his scar with a hoof. "This ain't one of them!"

His voice begins to sound angry and broken, more tears fall from the remaining eye as he continues talking. “S-She took advantage of me not knowing of her betrayal and stabbed me!”

Twilight opens her mouth but is cut by Skywalker.

“She betrayed me... m-my sister… t-took my eye!”

“I..." The mare looks at the ground for a moment, then a stern look replaces the sad expression that was there before. "I don’t believe you. It’s all so convenient. Everypony here has a tragic tale about how Celestia ruined their lives, but that’s not the Celestia I know, and I’ve been her personal student for twelve years.”

“And I’ve known her for over a thousand,” I snap at her. “I worked in the Lunar Guard too, and whilst I wasn’t anywhere near as high a rank as Skywalker, I spent enough time around her to find out what she’s really like when the sun goes down and nopony else is awake to see or hear her.” I storm right up to her cell. She might be taller than I am, but she’s on the other side of the bars, and I can sense her fear. I can hear her short gasps for air, and the thoughts racing through her mind. I can see the beads of sweat forming on her forehead, the terror in her eyes.

And I couldn’t care less.

Not stepping away from the bars of her cell, I continue, “He knows things about Celestia that he won’t tell anypony, and he’s gone as far as using illegal magic to stop Dreamwalkers seeing his dreams or the likes of myself and the King reading his mind. Not because he’s scared, but because he’s sparing other ponies the pain of knowing what he knows.

“There is so much even I don’t know about her. She was around when Discord first tried to take control of Equestria, and she and Luna were Equestria’s rulers when Grogar launched his second attack. She’s seen and done a lot, and it’s been lost to time. I shouldn’t be surprised, really, since she allowed both me and my mother - her sister - to vanish into legends. Believe what you want, keep praying to your goddess, but just remember that there’s a lot that you still don’t know about the world. Goodnight.” I turn around swiftly and walk back the way I came, Skywalker trailing behind me after him wishing them all goodnight.

Twilight has no idea, does she? And unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about it. Even Sombra, with his extensive knowledge of mind magic, couldn’t make her realise the truth. He could force her to say certain things under the mind control spell, he could probably make her relive certain events, he could even show her the truth in the mirror - but he can’t make her agree with us. She’s a lost cause, definitely.

The other Elements? Applejack knows we were telling the truth, and some of the others might keep an open mind. I have a feeling Rarity is just as bad as Twilight, and Fluttershy might be too shaken by the topics of the conversation to take anything on board, but I have high hopes for Rainbow Dash and the pink earth pony whose name I really need to learn. It’s bound to be something really obvious, but it just never stays in my mind. Oh well. At least they can’t run off and tell Celestia what a nasty old mare I am.

Author's Note

What do you do when you're self-isolating in your summer holiday, there's no WiFi and you're running out of mobile data for the month?

Open a Google Document and let your ideas go wild.

~ Angel