A Noire Way of Thinking

Chara walked into her new throne room. When she got there, she saw something laying on the throne. It was a Tiara styled crown, made of some purple material. It was decorated with a purple heart-shaped crystal in the front, with red, green, and yellow on the left and Blue, teal, orange on the right side.

Suspicious, Chara glared at the tiara. Chara snapped her fingers, and a guard came into the room. “Guard? Touch that tiara for me.” She ordered. The guard nodded, marching over and tapping the tiara with a finger.

After a suspenseful few seconds of a whopping nothing happening, Chara hummed. “Okay. You may leave.” Chara said, the guard nodding and leaving.

Picking up the tiara, Chara sat in her throne. Looking at it, Chara smiled. “This chair is really comfy.” She commented, putting the Tiara on.

And she was flooded with m e m o r i e s . . .

One week had since passed since the fateful day of Sombra's death. The newly christened kingdom of Liyue having experienced a prosperity and industrial revolution never before seen upon the planet both child and goat found themselves on… and yet…

Not an hour prior to the current day and the child had found themselves curled upon their throne, a single thought, or lack thereof, haunting them in ways they could never fathom as hard as they try.

"I can't remember…" She whispered as she desperately clutched her head, "Why can't I remember the name of my best friend?"

She had very little time to strain her memory, much to her own misfortune, two guards having burst into the throne room, "My queen!" A soldier declared, "Princesses Celestia and Luna of Equestria have arrived."

"Shall we escort them inside?" The second soldier asked.

"Y-yeah, yeah," Chara replied, "Just bring them on in."

The soldiers nodded, slow to leave yet quick to return, the princesses of the sun and moon as well as the Elements of Harmony along with them.

"Presenting Equestria's envoys!" The first soldier declared, "Princess Celestia Solaris, Princess Luna Celinas and the Knights of Harmony!"

"Knights…" Applejack spoke up, "Ya know, that's got a mighty fine ring to it~"

"Knight?" Rarity asked before the shock reached her, "KNIGHTS!? BUT! BUT THAT'S-"

"More than you could ever ask for?" Rainbow asked as she hooked an arm around Rarity's neck, "Yeah, I get it's not your foalhood dream, but you gotta admit that it's still big on the ladder."

"This deserves a PARTY!" Pinkie Pie declared as she started to throw fistfuls of confetti around the room.

Twilight audibly coughed at this as she stood next to Celestia and Luna, "Girls, remember what we're here for."

"So what are you doing in Liyue?" Chara asked, elbow on the arm of her chair and chin on her palm, "Here to make a contract? You'll find I've made a few more laws in homage to Rex Lapis."

Celestia blinked at this, something within her informing her that this name carried with it a divinity not of this world… but now somehow connected to it, though barely at that… but how.

"Liyue…" Celestia whispered, rolling the name along her tongue as the night princess and the Elements stared at her, "You… brought upon the domain of an outer god to Equis," Outwardly, Celestia looked calm and collected, but within? Within her mind and heart warred against her reason, raging at her conscious mind to nip this problem where it threatened to bloom.

"Yup, I brought the god of contracts in on this," Chara replied happily, "He's the strongest of the archons and he's my personal hero~"

"How quaint…" Celestia murmured with a smile.

Luna, Princess of the Moon, looked at her sister and nudged her side, "Ahem, dearest sister? Should we not begin discussions of… that?"

"That?" Twilight asked as she looked at Luna, "I thought-"

"Excellent idea, Lulu," Celestia replied, cutting Twilight off, "Chara, was it?" She asked with as sweet of a tone as she could muster.

"Yup, Chara Noir," The girl replied before raising a finger, "Actually, it's Queen Chara Noir, Princess Celestia."

The solar diarch nodded at this, "Ah, yes… that is actually what we are here to discuss."

The girls behind the princesses looked at each other with confusion, "Um, Princess?" Fluttershy spoke up, "I thought we-"

"Miss Chara Noir," Celestia continued, "I'm afraid-"

"Yes, Miss Celestia?" Chara cut in, a smirk working its way on her face, Kumu sitting upon her lap as Chara pets them.

Celestia could feel a vein in her brain snap as she sighed, "As it currently stands…" She looked at Luna, the two nodding in conjunction as they threw their hands back, the Elements of Harmony shooting off from their place with their respective bearers and into their magical grasp.

"Princess!?" Twilight shouted as she and her friends were put in floating magic bubbles just as her own Element was taken from her.

"We can not allow a being so fueled by darkness to preside over these lands!" Luna declared, "Even if they are naught but a child."

"Well Luna, they let you stay on the throne after trying to kill everyone with eternal night," Chara retorted, "Now, activate the Soul Shields. Kindness first, followed by the rest."

"We shall not abide such a jab standing still!" Luna shouted.

"Now sister!" Celestia declared as the magic of the Elements began to activate.

"And while that's happening," Chara spoke up, not at all worried, "Let me give you a little tidbit about human souls. There are seven natural types, I personally use Determination. Got it from Daddy Dearest, you'll be facing the other six types which are as follows."

As the magic reached a fever pitch, a swirling corkscrew of magic slammed the barrier… to no avail.

"First is Kindness, that's the green one," Chara explained, "It mostly revolves around healing and shields. The second is Patience, it revolves around time and when mixed with a certain other, teleportation."

"They can even create soul strings, able to grab most anything, even the ethereal. Very useful against souls. Next is Bravery, the orange one. Good for delayed attacks," Said the child as several round, orange bombs lined themselves around the sisters as their eyes went wide. "It can also redirect attacks, send a spell powered by bravery and you can change its trajectory mid-flight.” Chara stated, one hand lazily in a snapping position, ready to unleash the bombs.

Fourth is Integrity, good for bladed weapons and what’s now making you kneel. For the weapons, it can make them either to make them longer or sharper-" Several dark blue spinning disks appeared around the necks of the now gravity encumbered princesses.

"Oh and that. Fifth is Justice. It may just send beams of energy at people, but it has a great passive. It literally turns the evil within someone into literal poison. This ability is called karmic retribution," Two, ethereal, yellow colored revolvers now pointed at the two princesses, light building at the ends of their barrels.

"And sixth is Perseverance, it can copy any spell or magic sent my way perfectly and can pierce through any and all resistance," A counterclockwise burst of energy gathered at the impact point of the princesses spell, taking on a dark purple sheen.

"Finally, my power, the Red Soul trait, is Determination. It allows me to weave fate to my every whims, so even if you did kill me…"

Every Soul spell went off, a controlled burst engulfing the two in a rainbow light, "I could just will myself back into existence."

The bubbles holding the Element Bearers fell, many falling forward as they had continuously struck against their prison. Twilight was the first to truly react, blowing away the smoke from the intense discharge of reality shattering magic and revealing the nigh dead sisters. The others however rushed to the throne, putting themselves in between the fallen diarchs and Chara… though their backs were turned to Chara.

"T-Twilight?" Celestia spoke up, her hand reaching out to the terrified bookworm… only for her to back away.

"You don't have to do that," Chara spoke up, "They tried killing me, I reacted with equal force~ Six artifacts of immense power against six artifacts of immense power… I think mine won~"

"Ain't no pony blamin' ya, yer highness," Applejack spoke up.

"As… shaken and confused as I am, I reluctantly agree," Rarity added.

"I've read up on Wonderbolt rules of engagement, and this is not in line with that!" Rainbow declared.

"I came here for a party," Pinkie murmured, the color having drained from her hair, "This is not a party…"

Fluttershy, though usually meek and silent, glared daggers at her so called rulers, "You… attacked a foal… a defenseless little animal…"

"Defenseless!?" Twilight shouted in confusion, "Did you not see what that throne did to the princesses!?" Said princesses had incredibly severe wounds, Celestia having lost her right wing, Luna missing the entirety of her horn and both sporting third degree burns.

Chara only waved this off, "Hey hey, this isn't a problem for any of you, Knights of Harmony, but…" She then glared at Celestia and Luna, "These pieces of trash? Get them out of here."

"Yes, My Queen!" The soldiers who stood on the sidelines declared as they picked up the fallen princesses.

"Make sure they don't die though!" Chara shouted, "Can't have a fucking world war start just because these two incompetents died."

Suddenly, all the magically inclined felt a sense of wrongness. Pitch black pools formed in the ground underneath the two princesses, and green tipped black tendrils erupted from them. They pierced the two near-dead princesses, crying out in pain as it filled them. “Void energy…” Chara said, backing up a bit in her throne, going a bit pale at the sight.

With a final burst of green, the tendrils seemed to be forcibly retracted back into the pools. The pools only lasted a moment longer before being sucked into non-existence. The green writhed over the forms, and the ponies watched in awe as Luna regrew her horn and Celestia her wing with booths burns being healed. Every second as the green slowly did its work was filled with the agonized cries of the solar and lunar monarchs, as if every nerve was making them pay for daring to be injured at all.

The excruciatingly painful ordeal was actually enough to knock out the pair of royalty, the soldiers looking at the other before shrugging, lifting them up and taking them away. The Elements found no calm in the moment however as they walked towards their respective trinket… the gems having lost their luster.

"This… this doesn't make sense…" Twilight whispered as she fell on her knees, her horn glowing as her frantically moving eyes shined with the same arcane force, "But why would… and at the cost of the Elements… There's a reason somewhere… There needs to be a reason somewhere…"

"Don't think of it as Celestia," Chara spoke up as the girls looked at her, "But as a crazed tyrant coveting the powers of another country."

Twilight's Magic had stopped, the spell having taken an obvious toll if her bloodshot and crying eyes were any indicator, "I can't accept that!" The lavender unicorn cried out, "Celestia wouldn't just-"

"Egghead!" Rainbow shouted as she put her hands on Twilight's shoulders, "You saw it! We saw it! What were we here for!?"

Twilight had started to hyperventilate, "We… were here to…

"To 'Free' the Crystal empire?" Chara asked with a roll of her eyes, already knowing Celestia would try to dethrone her for being 'Dark'.

"No!" Twilight shouted, her breathing having calmed as she covered her eyes… only to open them again as she felt fairly powerful healing magic wash over her. She blinked a few times in surprise, looking at the child before her.

"I'm 'Dark' but I'm not evil. You definitely overused whatever spell you were using so I healed you as a show of good faith." Chara said with a shrug of her shoulders getting back on her throne, it was a comfy throne after all.

Twilight murmured a weak 'thank you' before taking a few breaths, "No, we… we were to discuss trade negotiations and maybe host modern day cultural events so as to ease the Crystal Ponies into our current time… but-"

"But then Celestia threw all that away like a big meanie pants," Pinkie said bitterly, Fluttershy right behind her as she rubbed the pink pony's shoulders. Chara stayed quiet as she listened to the ponies that she actually liked still.

"What are we going to do now?" Rarity asked, "What if…" She then audibly gasped, "What if we're forced into war!? That! Would be the worst. Possible! THING!!" She then fainted dramatically as her magic summoned a couch underneath her.

"Well the thing is unless you have Gaster, Sans, Omega flowey or Mama and Papa, you're going to be on the losing side." Chara said with a shrug of her shoulders as she knew anybody else from the glitch tell universe would be Cannon folder.

"We don't know those names, yer highness," Applejack offered, "Heck, Ah don't actually think they're in Equestria."

"That's not important right now," Twilight spoke up, "As we stand, the Elements have lost power, whatever trade accords we could have reached have now been thoroughly stamped out… and I have a lot to think about…"

"I'll be willing to trade with your kingdom on one of two conditions being met. One, Celestia and Luna step down from the throne or they come kneeling to me in public and saying they're sorry while using my titles." Chara said with a smirk, let it not be said that Chara was not vindictive.

The other Element Bearers, minus Rarity as she was still unconscious, looked to Twilight, the unicorn not doing so well with being put on the spot, "I… please don't look at me like that… I don't control them. They're our princesses! I… If I can't trust them…" Twilight started to tear up before rushing out, Fluttershy about to rush off to her only to be held back by Rainbow Dash.

"It's the wedding all over again, huh?" Rainbow asked.

Chara mentally asked herself, 'Why do I feel like I kicked a puppy?'

"Well, mighty sorry fer uh… intrudin' on yer kingdom, yer highness," Applejack offered, "If it's any consolation, Ah would not mind tradin' a few barrels a apples witcha."

"None of that formal shit," Rainbow, Pinkie, and Applejack balked at this, the pegasus trying to hide her giggling, "I don't really care for that I only use it to deal with pompous assholes, and I wouldn't mind trading with you besides you guys are always welcome back. Bring your family if you want, hopefully I'll be able to create the altered reality domes by the time you get here." Chara said with a pleasant smile as she really hated the fact she was a ruler now.

"Y'all should really watch that tongue a yours, missy," Applejack chastised. Chara gave her an amused look.

"Yeah, you might offend her poor sensitive ears," Rainbow snickered… only to yelp in pain as Applejack dragged her out by the ear, "Ow ow ow! Hey!"

"We should have a party some time," Pinkie said softly before following along… but not before picking Rarity up, vanity and all.

Fluttershy looked first at her leaving friends before looking at Chara, the small girl saying, "You're the kind of person I'd want as a friend," This shocked her and made her forget the casual curse word, "I've never really had a friend before…" Smiling sadly, Fluttershy walked up to her and smoothed her hand along her head.

"I'm sorry to hear that," The buttery pegasus murmured, "I… would like to be your friend too," With a short ruffle of her hair, Fluttershy quickly ran off to follow her fellow Element Bearers.

The soldiers who happened to be close by actually heard some of this exchange and looked at each other, realizing slowly that the whole of the kingdom placed a child on the throne. A surprisingly kind, intelligent and mature child who only held the interests of the kingdom at heart… but a child nonetheless.

-Celestia-

Rumbling. It was soft, rather bumpy… the sounds of sliding metal interspersed itself with thoughts- memories… Memories. Celestia stirred, her head bumping against a cushioned seat as her eyes snapped open, her magic flaring until she realized where she was. Her surroundings included a rather lavish room in what she could only assume was the Friendship Express, her nation's only train.

Burgundy walls stamped with silver Fleur emblems, the signature of one of house Platinum's many families. The seats were well cushioned and snoring in front of her was her sister, garbed in somewhat armored regalia.

"What… happened?" She asked herself softly as she shook her head, memories or thoughts of an event that had transpired. An asinine turn of events really, one would call them a day time fever dream, "I must be imagining things… Lulu? Lulu, wake up," She urged as she shook her sister awake, the lunar princess immediately reacting the same way she did until she settled.

"S-sister? What hath transpired?" She asked, wincing as she gingerly rubbed her horn, wincing again.

Pain. Physical. Pain. Celestia blinked as she left her sister to her own devices as a part of her attempted to flex her wings. One first, the left… nothing was wrong. The second, the right one… wince. Pain.

Physical pain.

"L-Lulu… something is wrong," Celestia whispered with quiet fear, "Terribly wrong…"

"Where for art the Elements?" Luna asked, "Magic, was't she not with us from when'st we began our sojourn?"

Twilight! 'Of course!' Celestia thought as she opened the cabin door with her magic, immediately wincing as she got to her feet. That heavy feeling returned with a vengeance as she immediately ran for the cabin she knew the Elements to be in… only for it to be empty.

She had failed. Her plans, her machinations… failures each and every one. It was going to be a long ride home.

The subtle sound of ceramics echoed in the fairly roomy rest area within the Crystal castle. Rarity and her vanity chair had been deposited off to the side of the blue walled and amethyst floored room, the girls sitting in a ring around a crystal coffee table.

"So?" Applejack spoke up first, silently thanking Spike, the group's green and purple baby dragon as he handed her a tea cup.

"I just don't like how you five keep betraying me is all," Twilight said calmly, already having been served her tea.

"And I liked it better when I didn't have to serve a drama queen throwing a hissy fit," Asriel snarked, Rainbow and Pinkie spitting into their cups.

"Dude?" Spike questioned with a harsh stare, Asriel only rolled his eyes.

"No no, Spike, he's entitled to his opinions," Twilight offered, "Even if they're factually wrong."

"Twilight, the princesses lied to us," Fluttershy said just as calmly.

"No they didn't!" Twilight quickly shouted before clearing her throat and recomposing herself, "They just… omitted the truth."

"Oh so they pulled the wool over your eyes," Asriel cut in.

"Why are you even here!?" Both Spike and Twilight shouted.

"Better question, why are you defending her?" Asriel asked of the dragon.

"She's my mom-"

"He's my assistant-"

Asriel looked first at the dragon and then at Twilight before looking at Spike again, "You have no problem with her not sharing your sentiment?"

"Hey! I'm important enough to Twilight, that's more than enough~" Spike said proudly as he raised his nose into the air.

Asriel blinked before sighing heavily, "Okay… fine. Be a little slave child. You, Purple Smart," The goat questioned, not at all paying attention to the girls, two of which held serious expressions while the other two tried to hold in their laughter.

"My name is Twilight," Said 'Purple Smart' replied, Rainbow and Pinkie finally losing out to their schadenfreude.

"Purple Smart," Asriel repeated, "Tell me why again you feel like you can justify attacking a small child."

"She has dark magic! Celestia even said so!" Twilight shouted.

Asriel nodded, arms crossed, "Okay… who here remembers what went down in the throne room?"

"Ooh! Me! Me me, pick me!" Pinkie cheered as she waved her open hand in the air.

"Souls traits, Sugarbomb! What are they!?" Asriel questioned as he pointed at Pinkie.

"Oh, oh oh, I know this one! Trick question!" Pinkie said with unbound excitement as she bounced on her chair.

"Patience," Fluttershy spoke up, giving Pinkie an apologetic look, the party pony deflating a little as the pegasus huffed and returned to her seriousness, "Perseverance, Integrity, Justice, Determination, Bravery…" She put much emphasis on justice before mellowing out and smiling, "And Kindness."

"I think I hear some bias there," Asriel said with a teasing, but still serious tone.

"Those are just abstract concepts!" Twilight shouted, "Any villain with half a brain could rattle off a list of pleasant and hopeful words!"

"So why aren't you dead?" Asriel asked coldly, Twilight immediately shocked still as she focused on his eyes, "Go on. Answer the question, Purple Smart," Twilight wanted to blink, to look away… but it was like she was transfixed. He slowly began to march forward, seemingly growing in size as black markings began to appear on his body, "You know damn well that pint sized, naive child could end you with nothing but the press of a button… yet here you are. You are alive while your leaders were put on the first train back to their home. So tell me how you don't exist anymore, I'll wait."

Twilight started to shiver, the cold of the Northlands seemingly having rolled in… that was until Pinkie's audible gasp snapped her out of it.

"Oh my gosh, you hit puberty!!" Pinkie declared, the other girls now looking at the five foot nine inch tall goat man towering over Twilight.

"S-see!" Twilight shouted as she pointed at Asriel, "He just used dark magic and threatened my life!"

Asriel sighed, "Okay, this is new and I get tensions are high… but no one's threatened your life."

"The boy's right, Twi," Applejack spoke up, "Ain't gotta lie about something like that."

"Oh like you can talk!" Twilight shouted, standing up and pushing Asriel out of the way, "Can you even tell lies apart anymore!? How's the Element of Honesty these days!?"

"Yo, low blow egg head!" Rainbow shouted.

"And apologize to Asriel," Fluttershy added sternly, "Or is it okay when you put your hands on a critter, pony or otherwise?"

Twilight blinked at this before taking a critical look at Asriel before her eyes widened, her magic washing over the now shuffling goat. When her magic did whatever it was it was doing she smiled smugly, "Hah! Apologize to this amalgamation of dark magic!? The fact he even threatened me should be enough to send him to Tartarus, or worse-"

"Twilight don't y'all finish that sentiment," Applejack growled.

Twilight scoffed, "What? Is it so wrong that as a dark mage he'll end up the deepest pits of-"

"Then what about princess Luna?" Fluttershy asked coldly.

"What about our Princess? She's a pony," Twilight replied easily enough. This had been the proverbial straw as one of the Elements that the girls had taken care of and placed on a small chair had cracked, "What was that?" The cold seemed to return as Spike hastily went to the Elements, holding the tiara that held Magic gingerly.

"Twilight?" The dragon whispered softly as he presented the jewel, "Is… is it supposed to look like this?"

The cold surrounding Twilight was not enough to stop her from stumbling before the dragon, her hands reaching out to the tarnished and cracked gold tiara as it rusted immediately. Taking hold of the tiara, it had become naught but dust as the cracked gem fragmented and fell into her hands.

"No… why?" Twilight asked as tears began to form along her eyes, "This doesn't make sense."

"Twilight," Rainbow spoke up, "Did… did you forget?" Twilight looked at her swiftly, confusion wracking her mind, "Weren't you the one that showed us not to look at others like… like how you're treating goat boy and half pint?'

Twilight shook her head, "But… but they have dark magic-"

"And what if it was Zecora?" Fluttershy asked.

"Zecora has nothing to do with this conversation!" Twilight shouted, "She's just a harmless Zebra without any magic!"

"Hold, who's Zecora?" Asriel asked.

"She brews potions and such fer us time ta time," Applejack offered.

"So a witch?" The goat asked as he started to pant.

"She does not have magic!" Twilight shouted, "You do! Look! It's hurting you! That doesn't happen unless you're a practitioner of dark arts!"

"There is a lot wrong with everything you're saying and it's getting on my nerves," Asriel said, his chest slowly heaving, "And I honestly don't think you should be allowed to stay in the kingdom."

Soon Chara, Cadence and Shining Armor walked into the room.

"So you're saying Friendship isn't magic?" Cadence asked. The princess of love was a pink tinged alicorn standing at six foot one inch with long and curled at the bottom pink, cream, and violet mane wearing what was no doubt bedroom attire consisting of a white and gold bustier with a blue heart stamped in the middle of her cleavage, garters, thin and small white panties and white boots with gold trim, "Or are you saying other species aren't capable of that?"

"I always knew I should have played more Ogres and Oubliettes with you," Shining Armor added, the pony in very much the same situation. All the five foot eleven, white unicorn pony with fairly long and pointy navy blue and electric blue streaked mane was wearing; was an amethyst colored and gold lined metal form fitting breastplate and a metal armored thong, "I just wish I had known not doing so would make me this disappointed…"

Bedlam broke out as the girls who weren't Twilight and Rarity cried bloody murder as they covered their eyes. Though… Spike however…

"Wait… does this mean I can't be friends with anypony?" The dragon asked, heart obviously torn about everything that happened so far.

"You can be friends with me?" Chara said walking over to Spike and trying to ignore what Shining Armor and Cadence were wearing, Chara's face was beat red from the way she found Shining Armor and Cadence.

"You stay away from my dragon!" Twilight growled out as her horn flared with whatever magic she had left.

"Spoken like a true slave owner… I wonder if you are any different from Sombra?" Chara said, Kumu already coming out of her chest.

"Stop talking about my mom like that!" Spike shouted, though it was apparent his heart wasn't completely in it.

"Kid, she just called you her assistant," Asriel spoke up.

"And?" Shining asked with a bit of worry.

"And what? You heard her," Asriel replied, "He's her dragon."

"Has she ever let him go to school? Or even be a kid? Or is he just a live in unpaid servant? Because where I'm from that's called a slave." Chara said glaring at Twilight with hate so pliable you could see the veins in her eyes pulsating. "He was literally stolen as an egg, hatched and as soon as he could he was made to work…"

"Twilight… is that how Spike was raised?" Rainbow asked.

"No! Of course not!" Twilight argued, "I did everything I could to learn about dragons! I gave him gems regularly, I gave him autonomy, I showed him how to look after himself and taught him everything I was being taught!"

"But did you ever love him?" Fluttershy asked, Spike flinching at this as his own tears began to form.

"Of course she does! She does… right Twi?" Spike asked as he looked at the broken pony, "T-twi?"

Twilight shook as she steadied her breath, "I… do love you Spike. You're… you're my son."

It was Cadence's turn to sigh before a heart broken visage covered her face, "Twilight… that's so very untrue it hurts."

"Wh-what?" Twilight whimpered.

"I can read hearts, Twilight," Cadence replied, "I don't just weave emotions, I can feel them. And it makes me sick knowing how much pain Spike is feeling and how hollow your heart is right now." Chara walked up to Spike and gave him a hug, she may be the spawn of two beings of ultimate evil but she did have a heart and she could not stand seeing Spike in so much pain.

Spike, out of the corner of his eyes, noticed something. A set of softly glowing pink fingerless gloves, the glow orange, and an orange bandana. Reaching over, Spike put them on… and was filled with Bravery.