A Creator’s Gambit
Chapter 4
The three stallions who had been previously sexually harassing the currently trapped Queen were curled up in a fetal position. The weather above the area having become monstrously thunderous as lightning struck the ground seemingly every other second. Rain pouring down as through the Faust herself was crying. The horrendous form of the fabled Mare in the Moon stood tall and powerful above the terrified trio as they silently prayed to the Great Creator for their lives. They would never harass another mare in their lives, they swore in their minds, if she would just grant them this one pity.
As Nightmare Moon lowered her head towards one of the stallions, a sinister smile upon her face. She opened her maw, her gleaming white fangs glistening in the roaring storm.
“These teeth with will look so much better stained red, don’t you think so, Geldling.” Nightmare Moon spat, the question not so much a question and more a statement of intent. That much, the crying stallion could tell from his position.
Before Nightmare Moon could consume the stallion, a thud sounded from where Faust had been trapped. Revealing a now unstuck and dazed white alicorn mare.
“I’m okay, I think. Whoo, that position cuts off a lot of blood.” Faust stated, as she brought a hoof to her forehead to rub it.
Nightmare Moon stared at Faust for a second, her head having risen from trying to consume the stallion. She shrugged and moved back to devour the stallion. After all, he had assaulted her mother, and that could not stand.
Faust shook her head to get some of her awareness back, as she noticed the… well, it wasn’t the blue menace. But it looked similar to the blue menace Faust knew.
What was far more disconcerting, however, was what she was obviously about to do the pony in front of her. Faust’s eyes widened. Sure, they had assaulted her, but they didn’t deserve to be killed for that, or even eaten for that matter.
In a panic, she found her words.
“Stop!” Nightmare Moon was forced to dig her hooves into the ground, as a powerful shockwave hit her. The shockwave sent the three curled stallions flying into a bush wall. They would have most certainly gone farther, had the wall not been in the way.
Nightmare Moon, despite her immense strength, was pushed back through the dirt, as she dug in even harder. As piles of dirt and mud began to form around the back of her hooves due to her movement. Her once free-flowing mane and tail now both feeling as though they were about to be torn off. Her eyes shut tight and mouth grimaced as she tried to protect herself from flying debris.
The storm scattered, as the clouds parted like a sea. The rain that had been falling was thrown, far away. The shockwave continued through the the world, seemingly bothered by nothing. As beings on the other side of the world would later report hearing the word “stop”. All of the described it the same. A regal, somehow calming voice but holding terrifying and undeniable tone of authority.
The stallions lifted their heads, having been sobered up due to primordial fear, thanking whatever had saved them. Until they realized just what had saved them.
There, right in front of the area that had held the mare they had been harassing stood the Queen. Faust! Their eyes widened in realization at just who they had been assaulting.
Straight Arrow’s already white fur seemed to take an even whiter deathly tone, as Midnight buried his face in his hooves and Onyx looked away in shame.
Faust looked surprised at the power of her shout, as she looked around. The sun was beginning to rise after it had lowered at her request, and the once cloudy and dreary skies were now clear, with no clouds in sight.
She brought her forehoof up to her mouth and cleared.
Speaking in a regal tone filled with motherly warmth that not even Faust realized she was capable of, she rebuked the monstrous alicorn.
“I can not permit you to eat those stallions,” She paused, as she remembered her previous conversations and hoped she was getting her facts right. She also hoped this creature was the Luna she had been informed of and not something else. “I can not permit you as queen as I must enforce our laws, and I can not allow you as your mother because… uh... S...s-tallions are not a good source of nutrition and they would go straight to your hips, little one.”
Nightmare Moon frowned and talked back.
“But mooom!” The once deep, booming and terrifying voice of the Mare of nightmares was now replaced with a voice more akin to a whiny teenager, as Faust struggled to hold back a giggle at the ridiculousness of the voice when looking at its owner. She had to admit, however, the sudden change was an adorable one.
“No buts, young lady.” At this point, Faust realized she was winging everything and merely praying to… someone… something… anything, that it went right.
“But mom, they were assaulting you and that can’t go unpunished! They must taste justice! They were also harassing mares in the castle staff!” Luna tried to reason with Faust.
One of the now trapped stallions shouted from his bush, the terror evident in his voice.
“My Queen! We’re so sorry, we didn’t realize it was you! Please don’t kill us.” Faust rolled her eyes at his statement.
“First,” Faust began. “Whether you realized it was me or not does not change the fact that you were assaulting someone. Second, had I wanted you dead, I would have allowed Luna to eat you.” At the mention of Luna, all three stallions gulped.
“Third,” Faust turned and looked Luna in the eyes. “I agree, they must be punished. However, death is a little extreme.” She walked towards the transformed mare, standing by her side, Faust towered over the transformed Luna in the same way that Celestia towered over the normal one.
Faust tapped the transformed Luna in the chest. “Also, please do transform back” Faust requested.
The Dark mare sighed, as a flash of light shone, then disappeared. Revealing a normal looking Luna, who now barely came up to Faust’s shoulders.
Before Luna could protest being forced to change into her smaller form, a white alicorn landed in front of the group, her face serious, anger evident upon it.
Faust sucked air in through her teeth. Attempting to keep her stoic face but internally panicking. She knew she could handle one of them, but could she handle another, significantly larger than the first one though still smaller than Faust herself, one?
Faust steeled herself. She had to try, at the very least. Preparing to do another bout of yelling to get her point across, she soon found out she didn’t have to.
The serious and angry face the white alicorn had been wearing seemingly melting upon seeing Faust, as she called out.
“Mom!” Her voice sounding like a teenager’s, just a slightly less whiny teenager in comparison to Luna’s. She rushed forward to the Queen, as Faust barely managed to stop herself from stepping back in fright. The white alicorn nuzzled her head into Faust’s neck. Causing the Queen to freeze up.
“We missed you so much, Mom! Where have you been?” The white alicorn mare asked her mother, in the same way that a small child asks a parent who just got back from a business trip. Her wings flaring out from her sides.
Luna, however, protested at the action.
“Hey, not fair Celestia, save some snuggles for me!” Faust found herself with an alicorn on both sides of her nuzzling her neck… well, Celestia was nuzzling her neck, Luna was trying but failing to do so. So instead she settled on nuzzling her side.
The Queen was at a loss of what to do. She had thought the blue one to be a menace who was only intent on harming her by hitting her in the head, whether directly or indirectly, but both of them appeared to be lovebugs.
Suddenly, however, Luna stopped, her face becoming serious and her voice no longer sounding like a whining teenagers.
“As much as I love the reunion, we also have a trio of troublemakers to deal with.” Luna stated as she pointed her hoof to the three still trapped stallions. All three gulped in unison. But, they thought, perhaps Celestia may be more forgiving then Luna. She was, after all, known for her motherly attitude towards ponies.
The three nobles silently prayed, directing them towards the physical manifestation of the Creator, hoping Celestia would just let them go.
“What did they do?” Celestia questioned her sister, wondering what they could have done that was so horrendous it required cutting the snuggle session short.
“I do not wish to speak it aloud.” Luna stated. “But I will whisper it to you.” With that, Luna beckoned her sister to bend down, as Luna put her mouth near Celestia’s ear and raised a hoof in front of her mouth, to shield it from any possible spying lip-readers.
As Luna began her explanation, Celestia’s face remained unchanged. But slowly and subtly, her look of calmness shifted into a look of utter rage.
“I see.” Celestia stated through gritted teeth as Luna finished her eyes up. The Sovereign of the Sun began walking towards the trapped nobles.
“Tell me,” Celestia began, as her mane shifted from the normal flowing rainbow mane and tail violently transformed into a mane and tail of fire. “What makes you peons dare believe you can assault mares, no less my own beloved mother, and get away with?” Celestia’s normal gold regalia took an orange tint, as the jewel in her chest piece morphed into the insignia of her sun. Celestia began laughing much in the same way a villain who was about to deliver an agonizingly long monologue.
The three nobles began crying, as they realized Princess Celestia was far worse than her sister. The now transformed Celestia lowered her head and bared her fangs in a wicked smile. “You three will make a suitable appetizer.”
Faust sighed and rolled her eyes, realizing she would now have to stop another insane alicorn from killing the three stallions. She trotted up to the transformed Celestia, still towering over even her, and lightly hit her in the back of the head with her forehoof.
“Ow!”
“I already told your sister,” Faust scolded Celestia, “No eating stallions. A.) Because we have no laws allowing that. And B.) Because they’re not nutritious and will go straight to your hips.”
“But Thorax’s mom lets him eat ponies!” Celestia whined. Faust rolled her eyes at the childish behavior once more. Leaning in, Faust looked Celestia straight in the eyes.
“Well I’m not Thorax’s mother, now am I, young lady? And are you backtalking me, miss?”
Celestia’s face faltered, as her eyes darted to the ground and she lowered her head.
“No ma’am.” Celestia muttered, all confidence in her voice gone.
“Good, now get out of that silly looking form and wait for me over by your sister.” Faust intently eyed the mare.
“Yes ma’am.” The fire died down as her form returned to normal, Celestia trotted over to her younger sister and sat her rump down.
Faust turned her attention back to the three stallions.
“As for you three…” The three stallions quivered, fearing what was to come. If Celestia and Luna were that angry, just how angry would the Queen be?
Governor Cannon looked on, a surprised look in his face. Three stallions stopping every mare in the castle and profusely apologizing and begging for forgiveness, tears streaming down their eyes. Cannon recognized them as the three nobles who had been reported as drunk and harrassing mares in the castle.
He cocked his eye to the Queen standing next to him, smiling on and watching the three grovel for forgiveness. Her two daughters joining her by her side.
“Just… just what was the punishment you gave them?” The Governor asked. Faust held her smile.
“This is it.” She cheerfully smiled. “I told them they could be sent to the dungeons and locked up and have their family names ruined, or they could get forgiveness from every mare on castle grounds.”
Faust had to hand it to herself. She still didn’t remember being a queen or a mother, but she felt as though she was doing a pretty darn good job at both.
The patient, although you could not tell due to the bandages covering entire body, was fuming. In fact he had been fuming for a while. The alicorn turned Human was still angry at those three stallions and could not believe that the Human turned alicorn had not blasted them to nothingness for their transgressions.
‘Perhaps he has more self control then I thought he did.’ She thought. ‘He certainly didn’t seem to have any the night we met.’
But then the patient realized something.
‘Of course he didn’t blast them into nothingness! Uh dur! He doesn’t know how. I only gave him the knowledge to walk and talk, not fly and use magic!”
Faust turned to President Cannon.
“In any case, we have some serious matters to discuss. First topic on hand. By royal decree I am banning the creation of pegasi feather beds and making possession of them illegal. Get rid of the one in my room.”
“What, but why?” Luna questioned, Celestia apparently still subdued by her mother from the maze incident. “They’re the most comfortable beds in existence!” Faust grimaced at thought.
“I have no desire to see any innocent pegasi foals killed for me.”
Celestia cocked an eyebrow. “Who told you we kill pegasi to make beds?”
“President Cannon,” Faust pointed her hoof at the earth pony. “Informed me of it.” Cannon’s eyes darted around. As he sank underneath the gazes of the Two Sisters.
“Just what have you been telling our mother, Cannon Fodder?”Luna interrogated the stallion.
His head bowed, and his body shaking. “N-nothing, your majesties. She asked me what the bed was made of and I told her pegasi feathers…”
“Why would you think we killed pegasi to make the beds? We just collect their feathers when they preen.” Luna informed her mother.
“Well can you blame her? She’s hit her head twice, once hard enough to knock her out cold.” Celestia responded to Luna, the midnight blue alicorn cringing at the memory.
“So… wait, the beds are not made from ground up pegasus foals?” Faust asked for clarification.
“Oh, heavens no, your majesty!” Canon responded.
Faust brought her forehoof up to her mouth and hummed. “In that case,” She declared, as her eyes took on a sheen. “By royal decree, I declare my last royal decree null and void. You may continue on with your pegasus beds!”
“Well, in any case,” Celestia began walking. “I will need to get a welcome home party started. Luna would you please entertain Mother while I get some-” Celestia stopped speaking, as the walls and floor began moving.
“Ooh, did someone say… a welcome home party?” A voice seemingly laced with chaos cut through the air. Faust and Cannon stood on the path that was now moving although not moving them with their legs spread apart for balance.
Celestia rolled her eyes as she croaked one last sentence.
“Oh, great, not him.” Celestia muttered under her breather as a flash burst in the middle of the room.
This was going to be fun to deal with.