Forgot to mention: Zepher actually belongs to the same friend the owns Enderpearl and Endershine. Things have just been stressful recently.
Chapter 12 B: Judgment of a Princess
Six months after fall of Canterlot and banishment of Celestia. Five months after formation of the resistance. Four and a half months of constant war across the land.
"Along with that, you now have the cities of Trottingham and New Filly my lord." A messenger stated.
Dark Fire couldn't help but smile at the news.
"And how about Ponyville?"
"Discord has made it into the capital of chaos, nothing much gets out of there." Another messenger informed.
"Very well couriers, you are dismissed…and take the money bags with you on your way out."
The messengers bowed happily as they made their leave. Nothing was left in the room but Dark Fire and his comfy throne chair. Looking around the room to make sure it was empty; he jumped out of his chair and danced joyfully.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!"
"What are you dancing about Dark Fire?" Trixie asked cheerfully, entering the room from the back.
"U-uumm…y-you didn't see that." Dark Fire said nervously, pawing at the ground.
Trixie chuckled at his embarrassment.
"Ok Dark Fire…Trixie will grant you mercy only once."
"You are very generous, princess…how could I ever repay you?" Dark Fire asked, grinning as he bowed.
They both started to laugh at their role-playing, and how cheesy it was.
"So did you sleep well Dark Fire…not that Trixie cares or anything." She said abruptly.
"Fine…how about you?" He responded.
"Good…Trixie still finds it hard to get used to eternal night…and the servants, and luxury, and pampering, and popularity, and-
"Yes, yes, I know, I know…" Dark Fire said, making her stop.
Moments passed before the silence was broken again.
"Trixie wants to know what you were so happy about."
"What did I tell you about third person?"
"And what did Trixie tell you about fourth wall breaking!"
"I…"
"Trixie…"
"You do it first!" They both shouted at each other.
"NO YOU!" They both yelled again.
"EEERRRRR."
"You requested our presence Prince Fire?"
Dark Fire and Trixie looked towards the voice to see the Elements of Disharmony standing their patently.
"We're not interrupting something are we?" Castigate asked, smirking.
"No, no…you came just in time."
"Well this better be good Dark Fire, my so called army gets sloppy after days without practice and they need to know who's in charge." Desolent said, angrily.
"That reminds me…lay off the punishments Desolent. I get more wounded soldiers from you area then I get from anywhere else." Dark fire said in a serious tone.
"Surely you know that failure is not tolerated." Desolent countered.
"Yes, but not when you punish your stallions for playing a card game."
"There is no such thing as fun in war!"
"There's a time and place for everything under the sun…or moon for that matter."
Desolent groaned angrily at his new orders.
"As for the rest of you…I called you back to witness something I have been planning for so long."
"What, are you going to ask somepony on a date?" Maneful snickered.
"NO YOU IDIOT!"
"Dark Fire…" Trixie said, staring at the angry pony. "You know how Trixie feels about your anger issues."
He let out a frustrated sigh before rolling his eyes.
"I'm sorry…it's just that SOMEPONIES NEED TO-
"Dark Fire!" Trixie shouted over him, tapping her hoof on the ground.
"Fine, I'll calm down just for you…you happy now?" He pouted
Trixie smiled happily, making her own version of a "Squee" sound. However, the Elements were too shocked at the scene before them to even move. It was enough to make Eccentric drop his cigar to the ground and Desolent to stare dumbfounded. It was almost unreal to them, Dark Fire, the prince of darkness and Equestria, taking orders from a mare.
"Now was that so hard?" She asked, rhetorically.
"Aside from the delays, I am happy to say that only six major cities-
"Five now, Vanhoover surrendered days before your message. The entire North-West is under now you control." Amisive said proudly.
"What about Rainbow Dash, that little twerp can hid forever." Trixie affirmed.
"She…got away…AGAIN!" Amisive shouted, silently cursing himself.
"Don't worry about it; she will forever be in hiding, removed from her home like you were. You got your revenge…enjoy it, revel in it, you have won."
"Then tell me…why does this victory seem so empty! So fruitless and void…what gain have I gotten from this?"
Dark Fire was taken aback from his comment, not because he was shocked that Amisive would say something like this, but because he had the same thoughts before.
"Sometimes…doing the right thing will get you no gain, but actions speak louder than words. Your governor of Cloudsdale…isn't that what you wanted."
Amisive shook his head in agreement, but his heart said otherwise.
"Now for the occasion, you are to meet me and the others at Nightmare's castle in four hours. There we shall await a very, special guest." Dark Fire said sinisterly as the others walked away.
"Get inside quickly." Endershine whispered to Rainbow.
Nodding her head rapidly, she darted past the Alicorn as the metal door slammed behind her.
"Of all the places to escape…you pick a sewer?!"
"Ssshhh Rainbow…we need to get you out of Vanhoover." The pony commander said to her.
This was the same commander that helped out after the attack on Cloudsdale. He had white fur with an orange mane and tail. He had bright green eyes and a cutie mark with three, horizontal, blue wavy lines stacked onto each other. This represented wind.
"I appreciate your concern Silent Wind, but you should know that I don't give up easily."
"Look, I'm the one that gave you Dark Fire's plan to take over Equestria, I know what his next step is…we need to go now!"
"Quiet both of you." Endershine whispered.
Continuing down the sewer's tunnels, they heard the loud of marching ponies above them. It was enough to cause the tunnels to shake. When the sound dissipated, Endershine gave the signal to talk again.
"Dark Fire's army continues to grow and you want me to run?" Rainbow shouted in a whisper.
"Twilight assigned me to protect you at all costs…let me do my duties, please." Silent Wind begged.
Rainbow sighed at the overwhelming odds against her.
"Fine…but you need to regroup the stragglers." She ordered.
Shouting was overheard above as an ominous humming noise increased in volume.
"I'm sorry Rainbow…but in less than ten minutes, there won't be any."
"I can't just leave them!" Rainbow shouted.
"Remember, they can't win unless one of the Elements of Harmony is corrupted…I won't stand here and watch that happen." Endershine declared.
"This is why we must leave." Wind affirmed.
"I hate this…running and hiding like cowards." Rainbow remarked.
"We live to fight another day, now keep moving. We have about eight miles of tunnels before we reach the outskirts of town." Wind said, pushing forward.
"So why don't we teleport?"
"We would get traced Rainbow, didn't we discuss this?" Endershine asked.
"Darn it, I was hoping that was a joke, but apparently you weren't lying."
Suddenly, a huge ringing went throughout the tunnels as an explosion was heard above.
"ENDERSHINE TELEPORT US OUT NOW!"
She hesitated at first, but when she saw an all too familiar wave of red energy heading towards the group, she had no second thoughts. Grabbing Rainbow abruptly, she shielded her from the blast as it made contact and teleported the trio to the outskirts of the Everfree forest in a blinding flash.
"Are you ok Rainbow?!" Endershine panicked.
"Yeah, just dizzy from teleporting. What about you Silent…Wind?"
Rainbow looked around to see the commander nowhere in sight.
"Now where did he-
Before she could finish, a dark gray pegasus tacked her to the ground and stared into her eyes with his bright red ones.
"Silent Wind what are you doing?!" Rainbow panicked.
"FINISHING YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" He snarled, brining up his hoof over her head.
Before he could strike, a magical bolt was shot into the corrupted Pegasus, knocking him off Rainbow. Before he could get up, Endershine uncapped a water bottle around her waist, and blasted the water into him with her magic. The pegasus's fur and eyes were soon back to normal.
"What just…OOOOWWW!" He shouted, rubbing his side.
"I'm really sorry, but you almost turned on us." Endershine said chuckling.
"Yeah, I almost had to beat you up…again." Rainbow smirked.
"At least you're safe, no telling what you would do under that curse. Let's regroup with the others before we're tracked down." Wind said as the others disappeared into the forest.
"Hey guys, there coming back!" Pinkie shouted excitedly.
"ATTENTION!" A voice shouted from nowhere.
Multiple guard ponies then rushed out of their spots on the wall, formed two lines at the entrance, and saluted. The most significant of the group were the four commanders, two earth ponies, one pegesus, and one unicorn. The two earth ponies looked exactly alike, maybe because they were twins. They had light green fur, identical yellow mane styles, and brown eyes. They even had the same cutie mark of a war hammer. The only way you could tell them apart was because one of them flipped his mane to face the left instead of the right like his brother. His name was Vivum and the other was named Animum.
The Pegasus commander had purple fur with a huge, red, mohawk as a mane. His tail was red to, but it resembled more of porcupine on a bad day then actual hair. His eyes were light yellow with a target mark as a cutie mark. His name was Bluster Cloud. Lastly, the unicorn was red with light blue main and tail. This was also the same unicorn that attempted to fight Dark Fire with his firing squad. He had reddish-orange eyes and a drum with drum sticks as a cutie mark. His name was Shrill Shot and with Silent Wind, this made five commanders.
As Rainbow and the others walked in, the guards still showed no signs of movement.
"At ease soldiers!" Silent Wind ordered as he walked by.
"By the look on your faces…I'd say you've lost." Shrill Shot guessed.
"Cut her some slack, she's been through enough." Wind said as he sat down.
"Haven't we all?" Bluster Cloud commented.
Rainbow gave them all a stern look before retiring further into the cave.
"I'm going to check up on her." Fluttershy said saddened. "Pinkie do you-
"YEAH, LETS CHEER HER UP, RIGHT GUYS!" Pinkie shouted as she looked at the twins.
"RIGHT, SHES NOT GOING TO KNOW WHAT SADNESS IS AFTER THIS!" They shouted in perfect synchronization.
"AND THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, RIGHT!?" Pinkie responded.
"RIGHT!"
"THEN LET'S DO THIS!"
"U-umm, could you keep it-
They ran off before Fluttershy could finish. As she followed the trio, Applejack and Rarity caught up with her and disappeared into another cavern.
"I can never get used to those three." Twilight smirked.
"It's surprising how they can be so happy after all that's happened." Endershine said in realization.
"Well she is Pinkie." Twilight pointed out.
"True, true…but what of the rest?" Endershine said, pointing to the commanders.
Just then a guard rushed in holding a poster.
"Commander…uh…however this concerns, I found this on the side of the road."
"What…let me see?" Shrill ordered, snatching the poster with his magic. He then read aloud.
'Witness the tormenter that has ruled over you all for so long, be punished and defeated at her own game and rules. A trial that will make history, a case that will stand the test of time. Watch as Celestia, the princess of hypocrisy and deception pays for her crimes by those that has suffered at her hooves for centuries. The event will be held near Ponyville, the capital of ciaos. Just follow the signs and light and long live the New conflagration Confederacy.'
"This is outrageous, how can anypony believe this!" Shrill Shot yelled, almost disintegrating the poster.
"Calm down, we can use this as an opertunity to strike back and-
"These ponies in power make me sick! How could anything serve them loyalty?!" Shrill shouted, cutting off Silent Wind.
"Get the soldiers together, we'll attack one of the occupied cities while there leaders are away!" Bluster Cloud avowed. "Twilight get the…oh no…"
The commanders turned around to see that Twilight had vanished from sight.
"Endershine, call your brother here, quickly!"
"Do you remember what I've told you Zepher?"
"Yes Dark Fire, just give me time!"
"Time is what you should be bending, so don't give me that excuse!"
Dark Fire and Zepher were in a dark room as they heard faint cheering from down the dark hall. Zepher horn was practically overloading with yellow magic that his horn was leaking pure magic and made the room flare wildly.
"Just…a bit…more!" He struggled.
Zepher then put all he had into the spell until he collapsed onto the ground. Dark Fire then walked over to him and helped him up.
"It is done sire." Zepher said panting.
"Good…but I've just noticed that you look just like…me." Dark Fire said, walking over to the rune in the middle of the room.
"What are you saying Dark Fire?" Zepher asked confused.
"No, no…that's impossible, it could never be true." Dark Fire whispered to himself.
"Care to tell me what you're thinking about."
"It's nothing Zepher…just get the elements in here."
Zepher then walked out of the room without another sound. Dark Fire then lit up the rune with fire as it glowed brightly. His horn then glowed bright red as his hair did the same.
"VESTRA NOTA SIT ITERUM IN MUNDO. UT VENIAT AD IUDICIUM PECCATIS TUIS POTERIT MALEDICTA! NUNC CELESTIA, VESTRI EXILIUM FINITA, REVERTIMINI, ET RENASCI SEMEL ITERUM PER INFERNI, ET ARDET!"
The room shook wildly as a bright beam flashed into the rune. When it ended, all that Dark Fire saw was Celestia lying on the floor, almost lifeless.
"Get up, I know your faking your pain, trying to make me feel sorry. Your hopeless…don't try to hide it."
Celestia struggled to stand but managed barely.
"It is you that is hopeless Dark Fire…and it is you that I feel sorry for, not I."
"Always one with sweet words the drip like honey, but it's nothing but a lie! You should be thanking me for speeding up your banishment. Sure it was a thousand years on the sun, but only six months here. If it wasn't for that, you would still be on the sun!" Dark Fire barked.
"I will never thank those that harm other ponies for selfish gain."
"Coming from a power hungry dictator that plants fear into ponies hearts!"
"Yet you declare war on my country."
"It's not yours anymore."
The door behind then burst open, revealing Stritin and Eccentric holding cuffs and chains. Amisive and Maneful followed closely behind as the held the double doors open.
"Is the prisoner ready?" Stritin asked.
"I didn't realize princess Celestia had returned." Eccentric said, a bit surprised.
"Don't address her a princess! She lost that title long ago." Dark Fire exclaimed.
Amisive and Maneful looked at each other confused before looking back at Dark Fire.
"You could have told us that the prisoner was Celestia though." Amisive said.
"We would have come sooner rather than later." Maneful added.
"Silence, both of you…where's Castigate?"
"Yeah…about that."
"Whatever! Stritin and Eccentric, restrain the so call 'princess'! Amisive and Maneful, lead her to the trial room!" Dark Fire commanded.
"So these are the ponies that you manipulated into becoming the Elements of Disharmony?" Celestia whispered in sadness.
"How could you possibly know-
"Such cruel names…they don't represent any of you at all. The names you all bare now is just another way to torment yourselves with your past mistakes. You all put on this image of what everypony thinks of you, but none of it is true. You allowed them to turn you into what you are today, but deep down you're still the ponies that I know and love. Many of you do this because you're afraid of what might happen…but I've forgiven you, all of you. Don't become a nightmare to your own selves." Celestia said, meaning every word.
"Don't listen to this witch…she will do anything to deceive you to get free!"
"No Dark Fire…you're the one that has been deceived by your master."
"I've stood by Discord for as long as I can remember…he would never betray me like that." Dark Fire declared.
"Discord…was not always your master."
"Then who was…tell me!"
"Herus…"
Dark Fire twitched at the sound of the name before exploding in rage.
"TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!"
As they carried her off in chains, Dark Fire struggled to even think after countless, faint memories hammered his mind.
"How much do you know Celestia…nopony ever knows about that."
"Bets here, place your bets here! Will she burst into flames, explode or implode, or be sent into a black hole!? You decide as long as you place your bets here! Any is excepted, big or small, stupid or creative, we take them all!"
Castigate was in the main lobby, collecting "bets" from ponies behind a stand.
"Hey you, the entre fee is fifty bits!"
"But I just paid at the front door!" The pony shouted at him.
"That was to get in the lobby, to see the show is fifty bit…now pay up!"
"That's so stupid…your just a frau-
Castigate quickly removed his pimp hat before casting his spell on him.
"Never call me a fraud, that's reserved for my sister only. Now give me your wallet."
The pony nodded happily before handing him all his bits and trotting off. Castigate then opened up the wallet and dunked the bits onto the table.
"Ahh I love the smell of stolen coin…bets here, place your bets here!"
He continued this for five minutes before sitting down to take a break. Hearing a loud ruckus, he glanced to his left to see two yellow stallions, with a big strange contraption, making apple cider.
"That will be ten bits ma'am." The pony with the mustache said.
"What do you two think you're doing?!" Catigate yelled over to them.
"What's it look like we're doing." The other pony said, popping out from behind the machine.
"It looks like your taking my business, so beat it." Castigate ordered.
"We were here first so you should take a hike."
"Do you even know who I am…I can raise your taxes and make you bankrupted!"
"The better question is do you even know who we are?" The mustached pony asked.
"No and it shouldn't matter, you have about twenty-
The pony then shoved his card into Castigate's face.
"I'm Flam."
"And I'm Flim."
"And we're…the Flim Flam brothers!" They shouted, doing their pose.
Castigates left eye was twitching violently to the point that it almost broke his monocle.
"I'm going to tax you into poverty!"
"Not possible." Flam smirked.
"Why not?"
"We're traveling salesponies; your power over us is inert." Flim stated.
"Then I'll make you go!" Castigate shouted, flickering his horn.
Castigate casted the spell on them with no second thought.
"Now that you're under my control… I command you to-
Flim and Flam looked at each other before exploding in a fit of laughter.
"You're laughing? Why are you laughing?! You're under my spell!" Castigate yelled angrily.
"We're sellsponies." Flam declared.
"We're naturally deceptive and clever." Flim said, poking Castigate's nose.
"And these horns aren't just for show." Flam added.
"So scram!" They both said, using their magic to throw him back into the stall.
They both laughed and then continued their work, acting like nothing happened.
"Those rip-off artists…that's my job!"
"You need help?" Stardancer asked, popping up from under the stand.
"H-how did y-you just-
"Don't ask…it's complicated."
"What we're you doing down under the stand?" Castigate asked confused.
"Ummm…nothing much."
Castigate let out an annoyed groan as he continued to stare at the two salesponies. Stardancer, on the other hoof, was staring at the bits on the table.
"Sooo…not that I care or anything, but do you needany help?" She asked, reaching for the bits.
Her hoof was instantly smacked away.
"Yeah, those two over there!" He yelled, pointing with his hoof. "There're stealing my business!"
"Well with a simple payment of-
Stardancer's face was then abruptly hit with a money bag.
"Take care of them will…you."
Castigate looked around for her, but it seemed as if she just vanished from thin air. She later popped up behind the, "Super cider squeeze 6000", and read aloud.
"Warning do not press…NOPE!" She shouted, bucking the button.
The machine gave a good shake before exploding. Flim and Flam then popped out of the rubble enraged.
"Ok, who's the pony that pressed the self destruct button?!" Flim screamed.
"Why would you even have that?" Catigate asked, smirking as he sat down and placed his hind-hooves onto the stand.
Meanwhile, behind the smoke of the explosion.
"Will you stand here for a moment?" Stardancer asked as she vanished.
"Umm, ok…why?" The pony asked confused.
The smoke dissipated within moments, due to magic, leaving the confused pony at the scene.
"So you're the one!" The Flim and Flam shouted.
"What n-no i-i-I was j-just-
This was all he said before multiple ponies tackled him.
"Hi, I'm back!" Stardancer shouted, appearing next to Castigate.
"Yeah, yeah, it's time to go now." He said, taking the bits.
"What…why? We were just getting started."
"The trail starts in five minutes; I'm the overseer of it to make sure nothing goes wrong. So goodbye." He said before teleporting.
Stardancer smirked as he vanished, taking out Castigate's money bag.
"That idiot didn't even notice I pick pocketed him. I'm just going to put this…in…my…
She looked down to see that her own money bag was taken.
"Why am I not surprised."
The walk was long, dark, and full of silence as the four ponies guided Celestia though the passage ways. The roaring sound continued to get louder and louder with each passing second. Soon, the light at the end of the tunnel made its presence known, and Celestia took the opportunity.
"Why do you obey him…Dark Fire? What has he promised you in return for serving him?"
There were no words from the four ponies. There was, however, silent nodes and expressions from them.
"Revenge." Amisive said proudly.
"Redemption." Stritin whispered.
"Repayment." Eccentric replied.
"Rehabilitation." Maneful believed.
Celestia said nothing until they finally reached the light.
"Is it what you truly wanted…or just a lie you've forced yourselves to believe."
"I've had enough of your talking! You think you're so perfect huh! THEN WHY DID YOU TRY TO DESTROY MY FATHER!"
The doors then slammed open, revealing the full extent of the cheering and light. Celestia was the only one unfazed.
"Well look what we have here…a fallen princess with no scenes of honor." Castigate remarked, inspecting the prisoner.
"So you must be Castigate…tell me, does all that money make you truly happy."
"Let's just ask all the rich ponies who buy huge houses and throw big parties if money makes them happy." He said, sarcastically.
"On the outside they appear happy, but they put on a mask to hide their true sentiment."
"If money is so evil Celestia, then why do you have so much of it?" He countered.
"I never said money was evil Castigate…but the pursuit of wealth is. This is what you have done."
"And what about your determination for absolute power, is that not a sin as well! IS THAT NOT A SIN AS WELL!" He shouted in anger.
He then took a deep breath and laughed it off.
"You almost got me there 'princess'…but sadly for you, this is where your reign ends."
Castigate then signaled to the others to continue forward. Beyond the door was a huge arena like room surrounded by ponies that once served Celestia. Making her way to the center platform, ponies from all directions booed and threw multiple food items and objects at the princess. Celestia made and gave no gestures or responses to the ponies calling her names and throwing objects. In the distance, elevated above the action and crowd, were Stardancer and Trixie.
While Stardancer gave a look of approval, she noticed that Trixie barred a look of sorrow. Her train of thought was broken however, by a loud whistle on the top of the platform. Turning to look, she was surprised to see a familiar dark green unicorn smiling wickedly at her.
"Desolent?"
"Yes…it's me…YOUR ONCE IMPRISONED STUDENT!"
Desolent, out of anger, grabbed Celestia and threw her onto the platform. Before she could retaliate, he landed one solid punch to her mussel that knocked her back down. The crowd roared with endorsement at the sight before them.
"How does it feel Celestia…to have everypony hate you for just who you are! To have everything you loved stolen from your own eyes! Well this is what we have felt at your hooves!" Dark Fire yelled from a newly placed thrown.
"If you think you can control Desolent then you're a bigger fool then I've thought Dark Fire!"
"I've had enough of your talking, it's time that we talk, and it's time for our voices to be heard! IT'S TIME FOR YOU TO BE JUDGED LIKE WE WHERE MANY YEARS AGO!"
In a blink of an eye, Discord, Sombra, Nightmare moon, and Chrysalis appeared before her. Everypony then when silent as the Elements of Disharmony took their places around Celestia.
"I have already punished you according to your standard; but I shall be speaking for them on behalf of your punishment. Also, to make things better or for worse…
Dark Fire gave a gesture with his hoof, signaling the former princess Luna and Cadence into the room.
"They too will be put under the same punishments…let the trials begin."
Discord was up first, casually waving to ponies as he went.
"Hello, Tia and Lulu, how have you two been?"
Luna glared daggers at Discord and took two steps forward before Celestia stopped her.
"And who is this?" He asked curiously, approaching Cadence.
"I know about your tricks Discord, you can't fool me!" Cadence affirmed.
"I don't have too, your Shining Armor is good enough little pony."
Discord then conjured up two puppets of Cadence and Shinning Armor.
"Oh, I'm Cadence and Shining Armor, and we're in looove." He said in a childish voice, smashing the puppets together.
"Discord, we don't have time for that!" Dark Fire shouted.
"You're no fun." He pouted.
"Now let's start from the beginning…you, Luna and Discord used to be close friends. You helped each other out in all situations no matter how tragic or devastating…then you decided to betray him. Destroyed the friendship that you once held on to with your life. Do you have any-
"We did what we had to; Discord was getting out of control with ciaos and hurting everypony around him!" Luna shouted angrily.
"YOU PUT HIM IN A STONE, LET HIM TO ROT FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY!"
"WHY YOU INGNORANT LITTLE-
"Luna!" Celestia said, raising her voice to silence her sister. "This is my trial, let me fight my own battles."
Celestia took a step forward, affirming her presence to the accusers.
"I imprisoned Discord not because I wanted the throne or power or money, but because of his actions. Before I was separated from my family because of the Alicorn persecution, I swore that I would protect and defend everypony that cried for help. Everypony that cried out for peace and an end of suffering and hate. What Discord did went against everything I swore to keep, and I was going to stop him…even if he was my friend."
"So you admit that you had no remorse or regret when you over threw your best friend?"
"Even though you may not believe, but when I heard of the grave news, my heart was broken. I gave him so many warnings before me and my sister were forced to use the elements of harmony on him. I was devastated when I saw him imprisoned; it was like losing a close relative."
"You must have really cared about him if you locked him up in stone and forgot about him!"
"That…was my fault." Celestia wispered.
"And so the truth flows." Dark Fire snickered.
"Even though I never forgot about him, I couldn't find an answer to change him from his ways. It ate away at my heart to see his stone statue in the royal gardens, thinking that it would be his final resting place."
"Then tell me this…why did you repeat the same process when he escaped his prison?! Why didn't you try to change him with your so called 'Friendship'?!"
"I thought that with the newly added element of magic that it would be enough to change him."
"Yeah, and we all know how that went. Surly you know that you can't force someone to become something new. This is what everypony calls free will Celestia, something you just don't get."
"So is this why you've corrupted everypony to serve you unwillingly."
Dark Fire silently cursed himself for pulling himself into a loop hole.
"They were under your control first Celestia, I simply freed them from it!"
"Convince yourself first before you try to convince others Dark Fire.
"Regardless, the punishment you gave him was ridiculous. For somepony to claim and speek highly about the powers of friendship, this was a low blow. It shows what a hypocrite you truly are."
In an abrupt flash, Celestia's right hind leg was turned into stone, causing her tail to fall limp.
"Unlike you Celestia, I don't turn ponies to stone…but Dark Fire does." Discord whispered.
Discord showed signs of regret at the sight before him before returning to his place among the others.
"This is ridiculous, you're accusing us of actions we were forced to perform for the good of Equestria!" Luna yelled
"SHUTUP AND LEARN YOUR PLACE, SLAVE!" Desolent yelled, back hoofing her across the jaw.
"Thy wants to fight me, so be it you disgraceful-
"LUNA…peace." Celestia said calmly.
"That right, listen to your slave master little filly." Desolent laughed.
Luna would have lunged at the mocking unicorn if it wasn't for Cadence holding her back, but only just.
"According to the time line, Sombra was next on your punishing list." Dark Fire said, reading from the book.
"You better have a valid reason too; my father was wrongfully imprisoned in ice and destroyed because of you." Maneful said angrily.
"Are you blind Diamond Rose, your father turned all the crystal ponies into slaves for his benefit. He practically destroyed the crystal empire!" Cadence informed.
"How do you know my name!? And how can you even say that my father enslaved everypony!?"
"I did my research on the crystal empire princess rose. You were sheltered so much from the outside world that you believed everything your father told you without question. Sombra lied to you about everything you know to be true."
"No…NO …my dad would never…"
"ENOUGH!" Sombra yelled over the crowd. "You will cease to tell your lies to my daughter, or I will throw you into the pits of darkness myself!"
"That won't be necessary my friend, she will pay soon enough." Dark Fire reinsured.
Sombra felt uneasy as he stood in his place.
"So to back up my statement about you being a power hungry ruler, I shall tell Sombra's story. It begins when Celestia finding out about poor little Sombra." Dark Fire explained, taking out a Celestia, Luna, and Sombra plushy.
Celestia, Luna, and Cadence stared in confusion.
"Don't worry, Hasbro wont bust my flank for theses…unlike some fighting game we all know about." He whispered towards you. "Anyways, there you were, doing what you do best…nothing. That was until that certain article in the paper showed up."
Dark Fire, with his magic, manipulated the plushy to do whatever he wanted.
"Tia, that hot stallion called Sombra was just elected as king because of black pony month!" Dark Fire said, mimicking Luna's voice.
"I know right, he's like so cool and stuff…lets go beat him up!" He said, making his voice a high pitch to represent Celestia's.
Everypony was now either laughing, blushing out of embarsiment, or just plain awkward. After ten minutes of randomness from Dark Fire's stuffed ponies, he concluded.
"OH NOSE, NOT THE COMBINED POWERS OF THE PRINCESSES!"
After mimicking Sombra's voice, he made an explotion on the table, sybolising Sombra's defeat.
"Yay we won…DERP!"
"Well dur hur we won lupa Luna, we're jerks…and jerks always party! SYNCRONIZED DANCE EVERYPONY!"
"We never said any of this!" Luna shouted unamused
"Wait wait wait... it gets better!"
Dark Fire then conjured the mane six, shinning armor, and cadence plushies.
Another ten minutes later
"And that's how the crystal empire was made…THE END!"
"Even for you Dark Fire, this is stupid." Luna insulted.
"What, you don't like plushies!"
Sombra coughed loudly as he glared at Dark Fire.
"Oh sorry…the point I'm trying to make is that you never tried to help or befriend Sombra. You just showed up and took over without a second thought!"
"You know for a fact that Sombra was enslaving ponies, I had to stop him." Celestia declared.
"Did you even try to save him, explain what he was doing was quote unquote wrong!"
"I sent him so many letters, so many warnings, but he refused my help or reasons. He sent my messenger ponies back to me almost insane, babbling about what they had seen there…what choice did I have."
"You didn't even try to talk to him! Just like with Discord, when he came back you didn't care or try to help! You just let your servants handle all the work, thus destroying his physical and spiritual body."
"It pained me to see him cast into that prison twice, but there was no other way."
"There's always another way!"
Celestia's Left hind-leg was then converted into an ice pillar, immobilizing her.
"Nightmare moon…this is just self explanatory. SHE'S YOUR SISITER, AND YOU BANISHED HER TO THE MOON FOR ONE-THOUSAND YEARS!"
"She-
"Tia, we can talk for ourselves." Luna said to her. "We were still young, still ignorant, we felt jealous and unloved by our ponies. That is when she came to be." She said, pointing to Nightmare Moon.
"We felt thy pain to Luna, we just wanted to help, to show Equestria who the strongest princess was." Nightmare said with passion.
"It wasn't right, and my sister had no choice."
"Maybe at the time Luna, but did she ever visit you when you were on the moon. Try to talk you out of your believes. NO, she didn't, because she realized with you out of the way, she would have absolute power. No pony to turn to but her, she wanted you gone anyways, it was just an excuse to get rid of you for good."
"NO!" Celestia yelled. "If you think I'm horrible and a liar, fine, but please believe this. I was so close to finding a cure for her, but my research was always destroyed and sabotaged by those that wanted to see me suffer."
"A cure…from what?!" Dark Fire questioned.
"Miasma…it's a virus that travels in the air, through clouds, and anything imaginable. It's the most wicked magical energy there is." She explained.
"I've never heard of this before now, how do I know it's not just a lie like everything else you say?!"
Celestia then pointed to Nightmare Moon with her horn and fired a bright beam of light into her left fore-leg. This caused Nightmare to yell in pain.
"There is your proof."
Nightmare's left fore-leg was completely disintegrated, only showing a black cloud of smoke and shadow floating around where her fore-leg used to be. After some moments, the smoke and shadow energy reformed back into her fore-leg, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Why do you think she wants eternal night so much…it's because direct sunlight damages her. The Miasma is all in all just the same."
Everypony was in a fit of rage and rebellion as witnessed Nightmare being hurt by Celestia.
"Silence everypony! Judgment will be made soon…then you can all witness her end!"
Everypony cheered except Trixie, who in turn, stood and just watched.
"This doesn't feel right." Trixie said to Stardancer.
"Yeah I know…I paid forty bits for this?!"
"No that's not what Trixie means, she means that what Dark Fire is doing is…well…unnecessary."
"I don't care, as long as I get paid I'm fine."
"Do you ever think for yourself?!" Trixie yelled at her.
"No…thinking costs extra." She smiled.
"Oh Dark Fire, you selected Trixie to be princess over Equestria, but this isn't what Trixie had in mind."
"What's so bad about Celestia getting what she deserves?" She said, sipping on a drink.
"He plans to execute her."
Stardance abruptly spat her drink into Trixie face at her statement.
"Really, THAT'S AWESOME!" She said looking over the ledge.
Trixie coughed loudly to get her attention.
"Oh I'm sorry, ummm, you want a sip?" She said, handing Trixie the drink.
Trixie grabbed it with her magic and smiled; causing Stardancer to smile to before she threw it into her face. Staring at the unconscious pegasus, she noticed a black and green flash from the corner of her eye. When she looked, Celestia's right fore-leg was enveloped in black magic with Chrysalis taking Nightmares place.
"And now the last and most ironic case out of all of us, the changing invasion. This was was short but the most resent, excluding Sombra's second return. She had invaded Canterlot because she needed to feed off of love and to feed her army as well as her family. So surely of all places, if Celestia wasn't a hypocrite of course, Equestria would be the perfect place to acquire love. But what happened…I will tell you what happened, she exiled them out! Left them to starve on the outskirts of Equestria!"
Celestia's last leg was then magically changed into that of a changing's.
"They needed love to survive, and you kicked them out anyways! These are the reasons why you are being punished, these are the reasons why you will suffer, THESE ARE THE REASONS WHY YOU ARE DEEMED GUILTY OF ALL CHARGES!
Everypony, for the last time, cheered as they continued to insult and throw objects.
"So this is how it ends Celestia…"
Desolent was about to place a blind fold around Celestia's eyes until being halted.
"No…I want her to see this." Dark Fire said wickedly.
He then whistled loudly with his hoof. Then a door to the right of Celestia opened to show Zepher holding a sword in his mouth. On his back was a heavily sealed black box. Walking next to Dark Fire, he levitated the box off of his back and busted off the lock with magic.
"Zepher…my son…what have they done to you?" Celestia said, almost in tears.
He then spat the sword in front of Celestia.
"I'm assigned to execute you; it is a great honor to finish you off Celestia. After this there will be no question of loyalty to Dark Fire!"
"Zepher, wake up, you don't know what you're doing!" Cadence shouted.
"Shut up, both of you!" Dark Fire said, reaching into the black box and taking out a book.
"Is that…no… that book is to powerful for anypony to control!" Celestia screamed.
Dark Fire laughed maniacally at Celestia's concern.
"I can…and with this book, I control everything…I CONTROL ALL REALITY!"
Wait…what!
"That's right narrator…this book has the entire fanfic in it! With this I've become the ultimate ruler, and everypony will bow to me!"
"Only in your dreams Dark Fire!" Luna shouted.
"Now it doesn't have to be…"
As Dark Fire opened the book, a dark feeling overtook all of Equestria, as if all hope drained from everything around him. After writing several moments, he closed the book and smiled. Luna and Cadence looked at each other confused before the abruptly hit the floor and bowed to the very pony they hated.
"Now watch your princess parish from this life."
He signaled Zepher to pick up the sword and end the princess once and for all. There was no hesitation or regret in Zepher's face as he positioned the sword above Celestia's neck.
"Zepher, I just want to say that I'm sorry…I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you. It's all my fault. They took everything from me because I couldn't stop them. My kingdom…my ponies…my student…and now you. I have lost everything…so just end it already…I deserve it."
As Celestia started to shed tears, Zepher's eyes started to flicker, showing his true eye color of gold instead of pure white."
"Forgive me mother." He whispered, raising the sword.
"STOP THIS NOW!" A voice shouted from behind Celestia.
Everypony stopped in shock as they witnessed the impossible. At the entrance was none other than Twilight Sparkle.
"Let her go…RIGHT NOW!"
Zepher dropped the sword out of amazement leaving Celestia crying alone, but not out of sadness, but of joy.
"She's alive…I knew she was alive." She sobbed happily.
Luna and Cadence turned around, equally shocked at her appearance along with everypony else in the room.
"Celestia, I've come to save-
She was cut off by a sudden wave of fire erupting only one foot away from her. Jumping back in fear, she was grabbed by Shinning Armor.
"Big brother?"
"Yes twily, it's me…YOUR BIG BROTHER!" He shouted, punching Twilight across the face.
"W-what are you-
Magical aura then enveloped Twilight, making her lose control of her limbs.
"Trixie hasn't forgotten what you've done to her."
"Trixie? Why…I thought we were friends?"
"You, a friend of the great and powerful Trixie…don't make me laugh!" She said as lightning shot out from her horn, making Twilight cry put in pain.
"NO, Twilight!" Luna shouted before Nightmare Moon pinned her to the ground.
"Luna!" Cadence yelled before Sombra did the same to her.
During the ciaos, Desolent parted the wall of fire and walked towards the trio of ponies.
"Desolent, we have her restrained for-
Desolent ignored Shining Armor as he forcibly launched him and Trixie into the pillars behind Twilight with wind blasts. Not caring who was hurt, he grabbed Twilight by the throat and held her by it.
"I knew you were alive Twilight, now I can finally absorb you and your magic and make it my own. Think about it…you will be part of the strongest unicorn that has ever lived. With that power, I can overthrow Dark Fire and become the absolute ruler of the world."
As he said this, Twilight felt her magic and life fading away rapidly as Desolent's hoof glowed dark yellow.
"And when that is all done, I shall throw the world into an apocalypse and destroy the world FOREVER!"
"NNNNNOOOOO!" Celestia screamed in rage.
Celestia's imprisonment was then illuminated bright white as her bindings were shattered. Her eyes then glowed bright white as her entire body lighted up like the sun, blinding everypony that saw her. As Desolent laughed evilly, Celestia flashed by him and punched him across the chin, releasing Twilight from his grip.
"NO PONY IS GOING TO STOP ME, ESPECIALLY A FALLEN PRINCESS!"
As Desolent charged up his magic, multiple explosions formed behind him, revealing the rest of the Elements of Harmony, the five pony commanders, Enderpeal and Endershine.
"You think bunch of colorful ponies will stop me!" He yelled, whistling loudly.
Just then, the rest of the Elements of Disharmony came to back up Desolent as they stood behind Celestia. Dark Fire then walked through the pillar of fire, quickly followed by Nightmare, Chrysalis, Sombra and Discord.
"You can't stop us Celestia." Dark Fire stated, throwing Luna and Cadence before them.
Desolent then backed up to regroup with the Elements of Disharmony. Meanwhile, Trixie and Shinning Armor blocked the only exit. They were still dazed from crashing into the pillars.
"STARDANCER, GET DOWN HERE!"
As Stardancer landed on the floor abruptly, Dark Fire noticed Lightning Dust hogtied to her.
"This is your fault." Lightning Dust said, aggravated.
"You're the one that tied me up!"
"I don't care…you will all be obeying my whim after this!" Dark Fire said, opening the black book.
"Celestia quickly, while he's distracted."
"I can't Twilight…the book he has is to powerful, I can't allow him to unlock its full potential." Celestia affirmed.
"AND NOW…" Dark Fire laughed, flipping the pages.
"But I came to save you Celestia, I can't leave you again!"
"YOU WILL ALL…" He yelled, as his horn glowed to right words.
"You already saved me Twilight, you're our last hope…NOW RUN!" Celestia ordered, slicing the rope that bound Lightning Dust.
"SUBMIT TO DARKNESS!"
Celestia turned around abruptly and shot the book out of Dark Fire's hooves. Before he could even react, Celestia unfurled her wings and caused a massive solar flare that blinded everypony in the room. When she knew that they had all left, she stopped her solar flare and surrendered.
"Be safe Twilight…your our last hope."