Old Mare Celestia

There was only darkness, wherever Light Flare looked, she could barely see herself, and when she tried to turn on her horn to illuminate her surroundings, it didn't work. Soon, a whisper began to be heard, a sound from beyond the grave, putting her on alert. The darkness began to shake, changing to become a starry sky.

"Celestia..."

The whisper grew louder, now she could make out the words of whoever was speaking to her. In front of Light Flare, rising from the stars, appeared the head of a unicorn mare, or so it seemed, a gigantic head, its eyes completely white.

"You forgot me..."

Light Flare growled and tried to look away from her, to take a step back, but she realized that she couldn't, and looking down at herself, she understood why. A black mass covered her hooves, slowly spreading upwards and covering her entire body.

"You have forgotten who you are..."

The dark mass began to cover her head, and even though Light Flare tried to scream, nothing came out of her mouth, which it was soon enveloped as well. The mare tried to shake in vain, as darkness covered her eyes, the last thing she saw was the face of the ethereal mare.

Light Flare woke up with a start, breathing hard, her fuchsia eyes shining with intensity and terrified. Three days, three days since the changelings had passed by her house, three days of having this nightmare. She had gone years without having any kind of dreams, and now she couldn't sleep without seeing that ethereal mare. With a groan, she stood up, covering her body with her robe, closing her eyes and forcing herself to calm down, return to a calm state, and when she opened her eyes, they were just as dull and lifeless as before.

The only way to get rid of those nightmares was with an anti-sleep potion, and the only place she could find the ingredients, or at least order them, was Antiques and Exotic Products. Clutching her saddlebag, she headed out into her small living room, heading for the exit, but when her hoof was on the pommel, she paused, thinking. She closed her eyes and was silent for a few moments before sighing and walking away, it was still too early.

It had been a few hours since Light Flare had woken up, and now she was once again walking through Sproutville in the direction of Antiques and Exotic Products. The few ponies she came across looked at her sideways, confused, it was strange to see her there so soon, with only three days since her last appearance, she normally only appeared once a month. The mare went into the market, where she had to pass to reach her destination, hoping that the ingredients she needed were in the store. Although she could put up with these nightmares for a month, she felt that her self-control was weakening. She didn't know how long she would last before her most primal instincts, instincts she had managed to shut down for years, took over.

"Again you?!"

Light Flare paused briefly, searching for the source of the sound, to the right of her. Rough, once again alongside his friends, was yelling at the same mare she'd seen last time, only this time, she was turning her back on them, looking more confused than terrified.

"I… I…" she tried to say as she stood up and looked at Rough, who didn't let her finish.

"Go twice this week, do you like me or something?"

"What? No! I…"

"Oh I see, are you implying that I'm the one bumping into you on purpose?" Rough said, with a smile and a tone of voice that implied that this was what was happening. "That's insulting, I think you deserve a lesson, don't you think guys?"

"Totally," said the earth pony with a sinister smile.

"I agree, besides" the pegasus mare smiled, taking flight with a jump and standing behind the frightened earth pony, "I love to teach bad mares lessons."

Light Flare felt her anger grow, much bigger and harder to control than other times, fueled by the nightmares she had been having and by the memories that had been awakened from their long slumber. Her eyes began to light up, coming to life, her instincts trying to surface, her hatred for injustice growing stronger, but with a growl, the mare closed her eyelids and took deep breaths, trying to get control of herself again, it wasn't worth destroying everything she had built in Sproutville.

You have forgotten who you are...

Light Flare growled even more, she intensely hated those three changelings.

"Please no!" cried the terrified mare.

"Please no, what?" Rough replied with a wicked grin, taking a single step forward.

The mare, terrified, tried to back away, only for the pegasus to hit her on the flanks, causing her to cry out in surprise and fear, putting a smile on the lips of her tormentors.

"Let me make one thing clear, the changelings control Sproutville, my father is their second-in-command, and I'm next in the chain of command. My father doesn't give a shit what I do, and the changelings give even less, so I can do what I want with you and nopony is going to do any..."

His speech was cut short when something hit him with such force that he was thrown several feet into the air, landing with a thud on the ground. With a grunt, he tried to get up, But whoever hit him before, hit him again, and before he could recover, he felt a hoof placed on his chest, holding him immobile. When he managed to clear his daze, he was able to focus on the pony responsible, seeing a mare with grayish-white fur, a dull pink mane and bright fuchsia eyes that almost seemed to release sparks.

"Leave her alone," she said, almost like a growl.

Rough blinked slightly confused before storming off.

"You don't know how much trouble you've gotten yourself into, bitch!" he yelled as he tried to shake the mare off, but to no avail, she was much stronger than she seemed.

His earth pony friend snapped out of his surprise before frowning and starting to approach with aggressive intent. Before he could get much closer, Light Flare's horn lit up and a dull yellow magical aura, growing brighter with each passing second, enveloped him and knocked him to the ground hard, drawing a groan of pain from him and holding him immobile.

"Leave them alone you fucking whore!" yelled the pegasus as she took flight and prepared to launch herself at the mare.

Before she could do so, the same magical aura enveloped her, crushing her wings against her body and throwing her hard to the ground. Rough watched this from his pinned position, somewhat surprised, before turning back to the mare and growling wildly.

"Let go of me right now you crazy whore!"

"I'm just going to give you one warning, just one" Light Flare said in a low and threatening tone. "Leave the ponies in this town alone, stop abusing them, and I'll set you free."

"Or what?! What are you going to do to me, huh?!"

Light Flare watched the pony below her carefully. Over the years she'd lived in Sproutville she'd watched that unicorn go from bratty colt to juvenile delinquent to true criminal…a monster. He had stolen, he had beaten up innocent ponies, some of them never walking again, raped dozens of mares and stallions, and maybe he was responsible for some disappearances or corpses found in some dark alley. And here she was, trying to give him a chance to redeem himself, to get him off that dark path…and he was rejecting her.

In the past, Light Flare had tried the same thing, she had tried to reform villains, monsters, and if she didn't succeed, she would lock them up somehow, but she never crossed the line... ever. And as a consequence, she lost absolutely everything and many innocent ponies suffered because of her. Did she really want to risk making the same mistake? Rough was a monster without compassion, he had proven it time and time again… he didn't deserve a chance. Slowly, she began to press her hoof to his chest, steadily ignoring stallion's curses and protests, until the unicorn felt the pressure.

"Wh-what a-are you do-doing?" he said with some difficulty, feeling the hoof getting tighter and tighter.

The mare didn't reply, instead squeezing harder, causing Rough to cry out in pain.

"Fu-fuck! S-stop! Da-damn bi-bitch, STOP!"

Light Flare paused for a second, looking at Rough, his eyes watering with pain and trying to breathe despite the pressure of her hoof. As she watched him, the memories of all his victims came to her, all the rumors she had ever heard, and years, centuries, of fury and indignation came to light. Her eyes lit up more, beginning to take on a yellowish hue, while her mane grew brighter, turning to a more vivid pink.

"A long, long time ago I could have stopped," she whispered, bending down lower and bringing their face closer. "But I stopped showing mercy a long time ago."

She squeezed her hoof again, resuming Rough's screams and pleas. A larger cry of pain and despair erupted from his mouth as the sound of bones breaking was heard. In a snap, Light Flare smashed into the stallion's chest, breaking ribs, piercing his skin and muscle, and colliding with the dirt floor below him, sinking her hoof a little deeper. Blood splattered, splashing onto her face, and the unicorn gasped in agony, coughing up a bit of blood as he kept his eyes on the mare, until the life in them died completely.

Light Flare stood still for a few moments before starting to separate, the remains of shattered flesh and organs sticking to her hoof. Rough's corpse now had a hole in his chest, blood spreading beneath him, an unrecognizable mass that had once been part of his lungs and heart. Everything around her was dead silent, and looking up, she saw dozens of ponies staring at her in horror, surprise and, some of them, relief, relief that the one who had caused their misfortune was dead. Among them was Fair Trade, who didn't look away from the mare, his eyes wide.

Light Flare stopped looking at them, focusing on the two ponies who were still caught up in her magic, terror in their eyes. After a minute, she started to move closer, causing the fear to grow stronger.

"I'm going to tell you the same as him" said Light Flare with a threatening tone. "Never prey on the innocent again... or I'll come back for you."

The magic holding them back faded, allowing the two ponies to cautiously rise to their hoof, glancing from Light Flare to their dead friend. After a few seconds, they galloped away, leaving the market in no time. The mare watched them carefully before running her eyes over the ponies present, some of whom had already fled. Even though she wanted to go to her house, she knew she had one thing left to do. Lighting her horn, she grabbed the corpse in her magical aura and started walking, the ponies in her path moving quickly away, in the direction of the town hall.

Scroll Wood was sitting in his office, in his magical aura carrying a book and a glass of champagne, enjoying a moment of peace. He was supposed to be working, but since his family had had a cordial relationship with the changelings, he could be in government without lifting a hoof and the Hive would say nothing to him, as long as the production of love and crops from the inhabitants of Sproutville remain in optimal condition. And along with all of that, he had made sure that the ponies in power with him, mostly the small guard the town had, were on his side with some benefits.

Several screams brought him out of his moment of peace, causing him to frown and look up at the door. Trying to ignore the noise, he turned back to her book, only to start hearing, not just more screaming, but the sound of guards yelling and ordering someone to stop. Confused and curious, he got up and started to walk away from his desk, but after only a few steps, the double doors were shattered, their remains falling into his office, forcing him to back away.

As the small cloud of smoke dissipated, and what he saw made his eyes snap open. Fear, anger and desolation hit him at the same time with crushing force. There was what he dimly recognized as Light Flare, and behind her, in the corridor that led to his office, he could see several guards who had tried to stop her crushed to the ground in her magical aura. What really caught his attention was what hovered just above his head, the body of his son, blood still dripping from it. Without any care or respect, the mare dropped the boy's body in front of his father, who could barely move, his eyes moving from his son to his murderer.

"You... you... you ha-have..."

"I have killed him, yes" Light Flare finished, looking at Scroll with her eyes lit up and with suppressed anger. "I gave him the chance to redeem himself...he didn't want to take it."

Light Flare was very different from how he remembered her. Her eyes were alive now, but the color of fuchsia was mixed with the yellow, and her hair had become more alive, and he could almost swear that it looked like it could move, but those movements were so rare that it might as well be an illusion. Scroll refocused on his son, his weak legs unable to support him, so he fell on his butt, his eyes, beginning to water, lost.

"Listen to me, Scroll Wood" Light Flare's voice said, and as much as he wanted to ignore her, he was forced to focus all of his attention on her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told him, stop taking advantage of the weak, stop using your position to gain advantage, start behaving like a true leader, or I'll come back for you."

Scroll stared at Light Flare for a few moments before anger flared within him. Furious, he stood up, facing the mare.

"I will not negotiate with a murderess! You're going to pay, you and everypony you care about! You're going to…!"

His words were interrupted as a magical aura enveloped him and, like the soldiers in the hallway, he was sprawled on the floor with a thud, unable to move.

"Murderess?" Light Flare growled, moving forward to stare at Scroll, like a predator eyeing his dying prey. "I'm a murderess? Your son did much worse things than me. He robbed, raped and murdered dozens of ponies in this town while you looked the other way."

"I... I don't..."

"You may not have done those crimes directly," interrupted Light Flare, silencing Scroll, looking at him seriously, "but by allowing your son to become a monster, you have become another. You are as guilty as he was." Light Flare lowered her head so she could look Scroll straight in the eye. "I warn you, don't you dare harm any innocent, because I will know, wherever I am, I will know if you do it, directly or indirectly, and there will be nothing to save you from my wrath. I have already shown you that you pathetic guard is nothing to me."

Her horn shone with more power, and the magical aura that surrounded Scroll began to heat up and spread inside him, which terrified him even more, had that crazy mare cast a curse? And as much as he hated to admit it, she was right, Light Flare seemed to be a prodigy in magic, enough to humble him and his guard, but he still had a small glimmer of hope.

"T-the cha-changelings will lo-look for you a-and..."

"Let's be real, Mr. Wood" Light Flare interrupted, getting up again. "The only reason you're in power is because of your family's relationship with the changelings, but we both know they don't really give a shit about you. They're not going to waste their troops on getting me."

Light Flare turned off her magic and took a few steps back, passing Rough's corpse. Her gaze remained on Scroll, who didn't dare say anything, knowing that what she said was true. He would never get the Hive to do him that favor.

"Mark my words, Mr. Wood. I will know if you go after the innocent, and if you do...the Wood family will cease to exist."

Illuminating her horn, Light Flare disappeared with a burst of light, making the magical auras of his guards disappear. Scroll took a while to get up, his eyes returning to the corpse of his son, and remembering the mare's words.