Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait!

I hope yo enjoy this chapter, and if there is anything wrong with this latest chapter, leave your criticism(s) in a comment.

Chp 5: Moon and sword

A tumbling draft passed the warrior in the humid transitioning fall air, grazing against her sweaty cow-print hide as a milky and sky-blue eye impassively outstared cloudless morning blue skies above. The large scarred mare resisted the urge to sneeze, rays of sunlight piercing her still-adjusting eye.

Nearly most of the bandages formerly encasing her body in its plaster prison were largely removed- her chest and hindlegs remaining covered. Unfortunately, the shamans couldn’t save her eye, leaving a felt cover over the mangled orb. The once bloody and grizzly wounds healed into tender scars, dark gray fleshy patches contrasting the groomed fur circling them. Sure, they still stung while either bathing or simply bumping into something, but it wasn’t anything the warrior worried over.

What she did concern herself with, however, was her overheating body. Her coat’s been grown thickly to protect any callous flesh from the harsh mountain conditions; Being under such intense heat negated her natural defense, causing the warrior to retreat from a caged balcony back into her cell.

Well, it wasn’t a typical cell the warrior expected it to be, especially after what happened. A fuzzy, purple material covered every inch of the floor beneath her hooves, the walls made of white stone and lined with gold trimming. Very few objects littered the room: a wooden support with a soft slab, a desk, and a machine that could produce light by yanking a string- sitting on a small table beside the support. That last one was arguably enjoyable to fiddle with…until its light broke. But no matter how the ponies of this castle saw the warrior’s cell, she considered it league’s above anything she’d seen before. Although, even to a pony like her, she could tell the castle’s workers hastily built the sloppy craftwork support to fit her size, two more minor supports nailed together with planks.

Nevertheless, the warrior huffed, walking over and flopping her still-sore frame onto the creaking support, or ‘bed’ as the worker ponies called it.

It had been two weeks since the warrior met face-to-face with the princess…and a week since the mare found herself trapped in this room. True be told, the warrior preferred her new environment to the last; the constant beeping, annoying shaman ponies and the deflating soft slab grinded at her patience.

However, the anger and annoyance the warrior once felt had remained a mute, bitter hum in her throat, replaced by an empty feeling eating away at her heart.

She didn’t even have the energy to lash out at the shamans when they would poke and prod her with their tests after she moved rooms. Her dream dad contributed to her brief restraint somewhat. But the ‘timeline’ the lavender unicorn made never left her head, like a mocking parasite, leading to the main reason for her imprisonment.

It wasn’t an instantaneous reaction nor a preventable cause; what happened was a slow-burning bomb no amount of comfort could stop it from blowing. Since that meeting, the warrior barely paid attention to anything around her; shamans stealing her blood, a suit-wearing pony wanting to discuss her mental state, the lavender pony, and the princesses. Nothing could snap the festering kettle of emotion out from her trance, a near vegetable in the shaman's eyes, but the warrior was very aware. It was only a matter of time. They’d come for her…she knew it. All Storm Breaker had to do was wait, bide her time, then her comrades would help her escape.

Sadly, it came ahead a number of days ago during a seemingly regular check-up. The shaman unicorn stallion entered the room in his ever-friendly mood, ran his test on her, and wrote on his clipboard. All seemed well besides the warrior’s mumbling; nothing should have gone wrong.

Yet something just snapped.

There wasn’t something the shaman did to the warrior or an outside trigger to it; all the warrior clearly remembered was a blood-curdling shriek escaping her throat as she fought against the restraints.

And as quick as her struggle began, it ended with the already worn restraints snapped.

Any following events never came to light in the warrior’s mind besides in a hazy series of flashes- most of what she knew came from the guards and princesses upon her capture.

They tried to retrain her like when she awakened her third time with their small army of underlings. Unfortunately, like a cornered beast, the warrior’s broken mind held onto nothing, throwing cautious and common sense to the wind as it fought with everything it had. Breaking free from her attackers, some nurses flew back due to a buck provided by the warrior’s freed legs while she dashed toward the transparent barrier. Before anypony could stop her, the warrior leaped forward and broke past the glassy material and into the wild world beyond.

In the ensuing escape, prior to leaping out, one of the warrior’s forelegs was still attached to the bed, causing it to be dragged behind her.

To this day, she could still feel the sensation of her shoulder snapping out of its socket, the bed pinning itself against the inside wall and stopping the warrior’s flight halfway. And yet, she persisted, using her teeth to bite through the worn leather strap and freeing herself, falling an extra story and landing in a grassy patch of land within the castle’s walls.

At this point, the warrior’s memory was the haziest; all she remembered was the rush of adrenaline and the screaming of countless guards and ponies interfering with her deluded warpath of panic. Even with a dislocated foreleg: bones shattered, armor dented, and spears and swords broke- nothing could stop the warrior…like always. The flashes of horrified ponies joined in the ballot of remembrance, and despite her disdain for these ponies, the warrior felt a pang of guilt calling back on their faces.

In her training, keeping her emotions in check was drilled into her studies, whether on the battlefield or otherwise. A single block of a bastion was what a vanguard night was. A cold, unfeeling chunk of hardened stone to kill and protect others. Anger had been the output for her, the sole reason for her notoriety among the vanguard.

Even if most ponies saw her as cold and bloodthirsty because of it, it was nothing more than a familiar tool to be used by the warrior, unlike her usually stoic comrades.

When the warrior came around, she lay amongst piles of ruined food stands and obliterated carts, surrounded by terrified, injured guards and ponies alike. Reopened wounds, blood, and pain littered her body like a disgusting art piece shrouded in the shadow under a store’s awning, barely able to stand. So when the princesses arrived to deal with the warrior, no challenge was met to both ponies as Celestia’s warm magic gently picked her body off the ground and into a large cart provided by accompanied shamans.

The sounds of disdain by the locals the warrior heard upon her exit weren’t unfamiliar to her; the look Celestia gave her as she fell into darkness, though, engrained itself in her mind. It pissed the warrior off and brought shame onto her at once: a look of pity.

In the incident’s fallout, that look remained a constant reminder of how far she had fallen.

It wasn’t even a full day before she antagonized the pathetic ponies, and the price for doing so was brought on her by herself. Not once did the ponies have the chance to do anything to her, yet she caused more self-harm in such little time. Now, any guard or castle worker who visited the warrior donned a look of uneasiness as if she were going to pounce on them.

Was this her life now?

To remain at these ponies’ hooves like some rabid animal, to never taste freedom? Or to be a monster forever locked away, never to see the sun again?

Damn them!

It wasn’t like she wanted to die and come back! Despite the humiliation the male alicorn put her through in her final battle, she accepted defeat and the embrace of death, even if it wasn’t a proper warrior’s end. No amount of anger could push past these wounds. But her life’s purpose was fulfilled, the war was over, and the ponies finally abandoned their thousand winters of hate. She didn’t ask to be reawakened and forced to be around them- it was their foolish princess’s fault for letting her live! They acted like she had done something wrong like her entire existence was unholy in their eyes.

In fact, they were monsters.

They took away her rightful end.

KNOCK KNOCK

The warrior involuntarily flinched at the knocking coming from her cell’s door, bringing her out of her trance, though she didn’t answer. Likely a worker coming to drop off her breakfast. Instead, a familiar presence caught her attention just as the door creaked open, allowing a dark-colored alicorn to enter.

No words left Luna’s mouth, unoiled hinges creaking loudly, preluding to the door softly closing with a click. Muted hooves charted the soft cell ground for a painfully long time, whether due to the warrior’s perception of time or a product of hesitation; either way, they stopped somewhere behind the warrior and at the bed’s edge. The hum of insects filled the void of silence before the bed moaned in strain; the warrior turned her upper half around to face the newcomer princess.

“Have you finally come to your senses to slay me, or have you come to mock me?” The warrior mumbled, her glare clashing with Luna’s unreadable expression.

Luna shook her head, “No, we haven’t.” She said evenly.

The warrior huffed impassively and returned to resting fully on her bed. “Then you will remain a fool.” It was strange, her ease of death. Before, the warrior would kill anypony who’d dare try and bring down one of the mighty vanguard knights, only seeing her life end in battle. She guessed it didn’t matter anymore; it’d already happened.

“We have not come here to witness thy moping or to chastise thou’s latest actions,” The lunar princess said, “We merely wanted to discuss a question we’ve pondered for some time now.” She added.

“Whatever it is, I care not for it.” The warrior blew off.

A miffed sigh escaped Luna at the warrior’s rebellion; the warrior secretly took pride in annoying the alicorn. “Just listen, savage!” She shouted flusteredly, “We are not holding off our rest after night court just to go back and forth! Thou has done enough to anger us, my ponies, the least thou can do is lend an ear.” She spewed, making the warrior grunt. She was very tempted to clock the snobbish princess in the muzzle, but, like she rudely brought up, the warrior had caused enough problems.

With a reluctant groan, the warrior picked herself up into a sitting position and spun around to face Luna, a look of irritation on her features rivaling Luna’s. “As you wish, princess.” She sneered. The warrior hardly knew the title other than its association with a high-ranking position. Although, her mocking tone caused Luna’s eyes to twitch angrily.

Luna scoffed, “It was the day thou escaped the medical ward, and our sister and we caught thee. When our sister attempted to talk thee down, things that struck us came from thy mouth.”

The sound’s of petrified screams and pained cries filled the evening air, the streets of Canterlot’s marketplace in absolute chaos as ponies scrambled away from the cause of the surrounding destruction. Multiple guards created a half-circle in front of a small store- they and a couple of ponies were covered in bruises and cuts as fearful glances stared all in one direction.

For her part, Luna was enraged by what the castle’s guards the savage hurt told her compared to her older sister, the ladder having a controlled panic as opposed to Luna’s steel-melting fury.

The lunar princess was enjoying her usual tea break in preparation for night court before being notified that the savages had broken out of their hospital room, much to her shock. In the ensuing break-out, it had gone on a rampage and hurt multiple guards in an escape, leading their path of destruction into the city beyond the castle's walls. Some guards managed to inflict cuts on the savage but were unsuccessful.

Fortunately, no guards suffered any lasting injuries or death due to the sudden attack, but Luna ignored it in favor of her growing rage.

But Luna would ensure the beast in pony skin would receive something worse than a few cuts for their crimes.

Surprisingly, it was a pain tracking down a several hundred-pound stampeding mad pony, the city was large, and the panic created by their warpath of chaos hadn’t helped either. Still, it was only a matter of time until finding the creature, the elongated pony standing its ground in front of a ruined confectionery store it crashed and climbed out of. The sight of the creature put off even Luna, multiple large shards of flat, see-through spikes jetting from the flesh, mixed with pouring crimson soaking the cobblestone road.

A beast was just a beast, no matter how you looked at it, so Luna pushed past her pity and lit her horn, intended to shoot down and finally end its pitiful existence.

Still, Celestia, resting a hoof on her younger sister's shoulder, gave a stern look that made Luna think otherwise. Closing off her mana flow to her horn, Luna watched as Celestia took a few steps toward the creature, frightening her and the guard’s surrounding them.

Only stopping when it snarled at Celestia, she, a whole foot shorter than the rabid pony, gave a hardened gaze. “What is it that ails you?” She said gently, further bewildering the crowd behind her as she sat down. The beast hadn’t responded, only throwing grunts and snarling roars at Celestia as it slammed its hoof into the ground, cracking the stone. “What is it that ails you,” She repeated, “did you do this out of anger towards us ponies, or was there another reason?”

“SHUT UP!” The beast bellowed, making the crowd scream frightfully, “IT’S ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT! STOP MOCKING ME!!” It added.

“What have I done to upset you?” Celestia softly asked.

Another roar escaped the beast as it pawed at its head with a hoof. With the other one dangling uselessly beside it, it fell to the ground with a solid thud, kicking up dust. It would’ve been a sad display for Luna had it not been for its previous injustices, the creature kicking and pawing like an unruly foal.

“All I ever wanted was to protect my kind, yet, something always has to fuck it up!” It said, tears welling in its eyes, “Even when I finally served my purpose and received my eternal peace, you damn freaks had to rip that away! Then you have the gall to force your shitty words into my throat and look down upon me. I won’t listen to your lies any longer!” Another shrill shriek escaped the beast as its towering form pounced at the sitting princess. Luna and the guards sprang into action, the younger princess lighting her horn as the armored ponies poised their spear for thrusting. “I’LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!” It roared.

Thankfully, the panicked support backing up the solar diarch silently sighed in relief when Celestia’s horn sparked to life and halted the creature mere inches away from her in a telekinetic hold. The creature thrashed and attacked at the air, trying desperately to release all its hate onto Celestia, continuing how it wanted to end everypony it saw. With heavy blood loss and no doubt exhaustion, it’d been only a few seconds before it all but gave up, turning into a heaving mess.

Calling over one of the medical carts and a few paramedics she ordered to join to help the injured after the attack, Celestia hoofed the creature off to them to return to the castle.

And as the pegasi lead cart flew into the darkening distance, Luna hadn't missed the look her older sister had. “Sister, I advise sympathizing with the beast to be a terrible decision.” She scoffed, peering at the countless ponies getting their wounds treated. “We cannot let this go, Tia; if incident’s like this keep up, and to this degree, imprisonment, banishment, or simply ridding Equus of another monster will be your only choices.” She said, gazing sternly at Celestia.

“I think none of those will be necessary,” Celestia replied, confusing Luna. “But you are correct. I’ll have to figure out something to fix this without having to deal with corpses in the end.” She said.

The younger princess snorted, “Don’t I have a say in this?” She incredulously asked, “We rule Equestria as one; my opinions and decisions matter as much as yours do.”

Celestia chuckled, “Who said I was leaving you out?”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“From then on, thou were transferred to a better-guarded room until thou recovered and moved into this modified suite.” Luna finished, taking a short break while the stone-still warrior processed her story.

Worry and a hint of embarrassment coiled around her internal organs, squeezing tightly as more memories came rushing back.

The warrior did not recall the brief rant she went on, neither attacking Celestia nor innocent ponies. It only served to up her ever-growing doubt and anger toward her display- and her doubt about her survival. Surely, this called for her head to roll, but for the warrior, it was an impossible task to find any semblance of care beyond natural instinct.

Why were these ponies so pathetic?

Their kindness was akin to that of a foal’s.

The warrior remembered the fate of prisoners taken by the vanguard: bound, beaten, broken, then ‘thrown away’ when they’re not needed anymore. To her, these ponies treated her as a guest instead of a criminal. Nearly, it made the warrior chuckle. Was this whole thing a charade, some form of a jest catered to her specifically? If so, was it dealt with by the enemy or life itself? The warrior couldn’t tell what was real anymore; almost like being trapped in a dream…or eternal hell.

“Is there a point to this story?” The warrior impatiently asked. Either way, there’s no point in pondering the past; the future will decide what comes next. “You babble on like there’s a reason my insane ramblings hold any meaning.”

Luna huffed, “We…or rather thine sister- for whatever reason -desires to help thee cope in this time. Personally, we don’t care about thy place in Equestria society over the care of our ponies, but thyself can sympathize with thee somewhat.” Suddenly, the young alicorn’s demeanor completely changed, taking on a more uncomfortable take as her eyes drifted to the ground. “Thou know what Mrs. Sparkle told thee not long ago, yes? Including thine banishment.” She asked, receiving a shallow nod from the warrior. “Those times were dark for us as well. We fought in wars, saw many friends and foe fall; we also succumbed to anger in one way or another, nightmare moon being the worst of it. We were jealous of thine sister and, because of thine selfishness, turned into a monster. We’ve not fully moved on, and we think Celestia sees thyself past plight within you.” She said.

A sarcastic snort blew out the warrior's muzzle, “You think your foolish sister believes me to be turning into a demon?” She spat jokingly.

“Who says thou already aren’t one?” Luna shot back, veins bulging on her forehead, receiving a glare. “Frankly, that is our problem with thee, savage. Besides hurting thine subjects, thou are also a coward!” She said.

Instantly, the warrior shot up from her bed and overshadowed the smaller alicorn with pin-prick eyes and gritted teeth. “Mind repeating that?” She growled menacingly, getting a subtle jolt from Luna.

However, the lunar princess remained persistent and refused to fall to the warrior's intimidation. “Have thy ears become deaf in thou’s needless bloodshed battles? I said thou are a spineless coward. The stories of thy group of killers and their actual tales pictured a vanguard knight as somepony who doesn’t back down, no matter the cause.” Scanning the warrior with disgust, Luna stared straight into her eyes. “Yet, all we’ve seen from thou is a sniffing foal who whines and throws tantrums, hiding away and moping when the slightest of failure or adversity happens to thee!” She shouted.

“We’ll say it once more. Thou are not a knight. Thou are a-” Before Luna could finish her sentence, the warrior lunged and wrapped her hooves around her neck.

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” The warrior roared, tightening the death grip and strangling the alicorn pinned under her weight.

Unfortunately, Luna’s horn lit and used a levitation spell to throw the hulking mare into the opposite wall, a resounding boom shaking the room. The commotion must’ve been loud as three guards broke down the room’s door and rushed in, their distressed protest begging Luna to leave the fight to them. Their word’s never arrived to the warrior, who picked herself off the ground while shaking the daze from her head. The small alicorn was tougher than she gave credit for. Still, the warrior returned her attention to Luna in a low defensive stance, the guards nowhere to be seen, most likely having retreated.

A dark grin crossed Luna’s lips, “What’s wrong, savage? Has the veil of blind anger pulled back to show thy true cowardness?” She taunted.

The Princess’s mask of cockiness momentarily faded into panic as the warrior readied herself to charge. Expecting another desperate lunge, Luna prepared to use another levitation spell to subdue the warrior, becoming stunned when the warrior bit the leg closest leg of a desk sitting in the room’s corner by a window.

With a light grunt and a flick of her thick neck, the warrior chucked the desk toward the princess. On instinct, a bolt of offensive magic shot from Luna’s horn, causing an explosion of splitters to spread across the room. She was confused by the random action shortly before her eyes widened to see the warrior much closer to her, looking at the lunar princess in familiar rage. Barely able to react, Luna narrowly backed away, the warrior sharply turning to her left and delivering a side buck, where the warrior's chipped and hardened hoof grazed dark-blue fur. It wasn’t long until the warrior regained her balance, immediately moving in to deliver an uppercut with her head. Instead, a blast of magic struck her chest, not as strong as the male alicorns, but enough to make the warrior stumble back with an irritated grunt.

Luna, heavily breathing, most of her energy sapped by the sudden fight she found herself in, masked her tiredness behind a smirk. “In thine younger years, we have commanded the ponies of the Equestrian army for centuries when at war. We’ve seen legends rise and fall. Victories and losses. Thou are nothing like the ponies who deserved their greatness!” She roared, her smirk turning into a snarl.

No response came from the warrior as she continued to stare hot daggers into Luna. But before their scuffle could increase in intensity, a second familiar presence entered the room: none other than Celestia herself, who looked observantly at the scene in front of her.

“I see your little chat has taken a turn?” She jokingly said, looking over at Luna. “However, I do like every room in my palace… intact, if you two don’t mind.” She added, switching between the two ponies.

“SHE STARTED IT!” The warrior and princess blurted out simultaneously.

A small sigh came from the older princess, shaking her head in exasperation. “I swear,” She mumbled, “Why don’t we all go our separate ways for now- I’m sure we’re equally tired from recent events. I’ll have a butler retrieve you a new desk, Storm Breaker. And Luna, let’s go for a walk, shall we?” She concluded, waiting expectantly before both ponies grumbled reluctantly.

A short while later, the door closing softly, the warrior returned to her isolation without the princesses, sans a desk. Standing center of what little resided in her cell, anger still cooling down, the warrior gazed silently at her near barren surroundings. “Yet, all we've seen from thou is a sniffing foal who whines and throws tantrums, hiding away and moping when the slightest of failure or adversity happens to them!” The disembodied voice of Luna repeated. Her teeth clenched tightly, a low rumble vibrating and tightening the warrior’s throat.

Bowing her head in bitter shame, Storm Breaker slowly shuffled to her bed and flopped her rump onto the mattress, where the modded support shattered in half with a crashing noise.

Was what Luna said true? Is THIS how far she had fallen?

Sitting in a V-shaped depression, she held her throbbing head in her hooves. “Μητέρα, Πατέρας.” She said quietly, holding back a choked sob.

What in Hades was happening?

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sister, we had the situation under control!” Luna fussed, keeping up with Celestia’s descent deeper through the castle’s walls.

Holding a straight expression, Celestia stole a peak toward her flanking vexed kin and back as they rounded a corner. “Oh really, Luna? So…the loud crashing and shouting I heard downstairs during a meeting with contractors seeking payment to repair Storm Breaker’s damages was ‘under control?’” She said, an eyebrow raised.

It had been two long troublesome weeks for Celestia, princess of the sun, battling against shifty news reporters and scientists who desired even half of a second with Storm Breaker. Admittedly, she found humor in the curious ponies, like a mod of Twilights.

However, the unearth mare’s antics all but changed that crowd, now being consistent spit-lobbying rants and rage-fuel tirades flung at her by the lower class and wealthy ponies in Canterlot. Some audiences wanted Storm Breaker to pay for her crimes, others wanted compensation, and less informed folk yeared to sue her for everything she had despite not owning a thing. The only reason Celestia wasn’t forced to apply extreme punishment onto Storm Breaker was that no ponies were killed in the warrior mare’s rampage, receiving only scratches at least and fractured bones at worst.

Meeting upon meeting drained Celestia of precious energy, leaving a frazzled and tired look ingrained into her features and mane like moss on a brick wall.

Luna flinched at the extent of her and Storm Breaker’s short scuffle but recovered her scowl, “None of this would have occurred if you listened to me!” She shouted, stopping mid-step and stomping a hoof into the floor. “Come to your senses. There is no success in taming a wild creature from the Everfree, let alone a monster like…her!” Pointing a hoof in the direction of the warrior mare’s room, she watched as Celestia stopped a bit away and faced her.

“It WOULD have worked if you’d listen.” Celestia scolded, “I sent you to talk down Storm Breaker while I was at a meeting to form a bridge of trust so she could feel more comfortable here. Instead, you resort to brawling like a drunkard because you can’t contain your disdain.” She said.

“It is because she is a bea-”

“THAT IS ENOUGH!” Celestia ordered loudly, making her sister recoil.

Seeing her sister cower before she caused Celestia to wince, “I-I’m so sorry, Luna. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” She apologized, turning her back to the standing Luna. The stress of this recent disaster is catching up with her.

Yet, when she thought about fleeing, Celestia felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. Following the limb to its owner, Luna held regret in her eyes and frowned. “No, it’s alright, sister. It’s just…why are you choosing to side with a pony like her, whose carrier is nothing but the slaughter of lives? The stories of her group, the confrontation with the manticore Mrs. Twilight told us after bringing her here, and last week. Wouldn’t it be easier to give into the noble's demand for punishment?” The lunar princess questioned.

Silence gripped the throat of Celestia, who thought about the question for a moment before answering. “Would it be easy? Yes. But would it be right? Most definitely not.” She replied, gaining a confused look from Luna.

“What do you mean?”

Noticing the pair had somehow found their way into the hall of murals, Celestia took the chance to lock on to one specific glass panel. It was of her younger sister, or her former identity: nightmare moon, surrounded by a purple sphere leading to the current representatives of the elements below.

“Honest, loyalty, kindness, generosity, laughter, and magic. You and I spent centuries creating the foundation upon which our mother started- the elements and their concept. With our help, Mother created the elements of harmony as a symbol of unity and left us to complete its purpose before passing away due to her illness. Thanks to our hard work, we now live in a peaceful land unshaken by anything thrown at it, a land of opportunity, friendship, and second chances.” She monologues.

“Even if it’s the case, we believe other motives are at play, sister.” Luna interjected, Celestia turning to her with solemnness.

Looking down, Celestia withheld a glint of guilt in her eyes. “...I see you in her, Luna.” She admitted, “No doubt you’ve already figured it out, but the look of anger in that mare’s eye brings me back to that night, the same one where I lost you.”

“Storm Breaker, however, belonged in an era where hate was normal- so there’s no wonder she’s the way she is. And I don’t want her or others to feel those things anymore; I thought maybe you two could get along in spite of your feelings if you’d talked peacefully, seeing as you were more of the warrior type than I was. Looks like I was wrong.” She chuckled bitterly.

Luna walked around and stopped ahead of Celestia, “We apologize again. But you can’t think of this as some sort of friendship problem or see her as a regular pony. She’s more out of touch than us, and only a few days ago did the bea- mare figure out the shower knobs without assistance.” Celestia, surprised by Luna’s change in tone, could only nod in agreement. “Whichever way you look at it, a brute trapped in a cage can only cause more problems. As much as we… dislike her and the idea of such a pony roaming freely, we can’t find the will to go against you in these times, Tia’, especially when you look like this.” She smiled kindly with a playful giggle.

While it had been clear as a cloudless day- Luna still resenting her plan -Celestia returned with a smile of her own. She was happy to see her young sister finally agreeing to the idea of rehabilitating Storm Breaker, no matter how distasteful she saw it.

And not that she’d admit it to the lunar sibling, Celestia felt some responsibility for the warrior mare and her wellbeing. It was her father who slain Storm Breaker after all and sadistically trapped her barely alive corpse in a recovery crystal: a spell trapping a broken object or injured pony inside for recovery/encapsulation by siphoning the surrounding mana in the air. Twilight’s magic, which the crystal stole, only broke it because it had more mana than it could contain due to the time it was unattended, also undoing most of Storm Breaker’s recovery.

Nevertheless, Celestia will do anything to correct her bastard father’s sin and see to it that Storm Breaker can live peacefully. Through the seemingly infinite layers of vitriol and ire, Celestia could see Storm Breaker as nothing more than a troubled filly who’s scared and confused- a dangerous filly, but a filly nonetheless.

Equestria formed upon friendship, and she wasn’t about to let fear and hate threaten it another time, be it Storm Breaker or her subjects.

“I couldn’t agree more.” She chuckled, “Why don’t you return to your chambers, and I’ll get ready for-”

Before Celestia could finish her sentence, Luna put a hoof over her lips to stop the solar princess from talking, a look of disapprovement on her face. “Oh no, Tia’, you are not attending court today!” She decreed, removing her hoof, “In the condition you’re in, I doubt you’ll last another five minutes among the squabbling money sack out there. You will accompany me to my chamber, and we will sleep for today- after I cancel the upcoming sessions.” She added.

A drop of nervous sweat rolled down Celestia’s temple as she sighed, “Well, there aren’t any important appointments today, and I need a few minutes of rest. I can’t go against such a tempting offer.” She said.

Spinning around, Luna held up a triumphant hoof forward, “Hazza! Our modern social lessons have borne fruit with thine masterful negotiation tactics!” Proclaimed the lunar princess half-jokingly before she started to walk off. “Make hast, sister. Mine bed awaits!”

Stifling a laugh, Celestia rolled her tired eyes in amusement as she tailed Luna. “Oh, and Luna?” She said, “I’ve come up with a plan that could recover Storm Breaker from this mess.”

“Oh?” Luna hummed curiously.

Smiling mischievously while overtaking Luna on their walk, Celestia didn’t bother facing her, “As you know, retired soldiers and guards rarely find solace in their leave of service. And her resume and experience, along with her body, will make her an excellent addition to the night guard you plan on creating, if you so choose. She would most certainly deter any unwanted guest, no?” She said, her smile growing, noticing her sister not following her anymore.

“WHAT?!?”