The tip of my wing brushes against my sister’s outstretched wing as the endless rolling hills race by below us. Six guards surround us in a circular formation, staring straight ahead to the horizon. Supposedly, in a small, obscure village, officials there required a royal audience. At least, that is what my sister told me when she woke me up early this morning. She did not tell me the name of the village or the approximate location.
The grassland hills slowly begin to transform into arid land, the grass becoming like lace, then a half-finished puzzle, then scattered patches. Eventually, grass was seldom seen in the land. The further we fly, the more I doubt that there is actually any kind of civilization out here. Well, I suppose a village like Appleloosa could be here but…
“Um, sister? Where exactly are we going?” Celestia turns to me and grins.
“You don’t see it yet? Do you see that small white spot over there?” I look back and, sure enough, a white building comes into view, surrounded by probably the only patch of grass and trees for miles. Flowers dot the front lawn of the building. They were so colorful and bright that it almost looks fake. Yet, there was only one building.
“Where is the village?”
“There is no village…” I blink. No village? Then, why did we fly all the way out here? Celestia motions for me to descend, giving me a warm smile in the process. I nod hesitantly and follow. What could possibly be going on?
We land and I take in the structure. There is nothing significant about it except for it’s location. It has one door at the front and two windows surrounding the door. The windows appear to have iron grates covering the pane. I shift my gaze to the single tree I spotted from the air and…
“Discord!?” I cry out. He turns toward me and squints his eyes.
“Oh, hello, Princesses. Did you decide to put me under arrest after all?" He motions to the metal cuffs around his wrists. Two guards stand at both of his sides, bowing their heads in our presence.
“No, Discord. Not at all. This is not a prison. Nor is it a village.” Celestia motions to the building and then turns to face us.
“Welcome to Camp Orion, Discord and Luna. This is where you will be staying for the next few weeks.” I blink and turn to Discord who, in turn, looks blankly at me.
“What?” I hiss at my sister. “What do you mean?”
“In light of recent events, Cadence, Twilight and I have decided that something needs to change regarding your destructive behavior. Discord, you have been hurting others and Luna, you have been hurting yourself. We can’t just sit and watch those we care about to do that. So, we came up with a solution and this is it.” I shake my head in disbelief.
“Sister, you cannot be serious about this.”
“I am and you should be, too.” I can feel my face getting hotter. My sister looks up into the sky, squinting her eyes. I follow her gaze and see a slight shimmer in the sky above, some of the clouds being distorted by a pinkish ripple.
“What is that?”
“That is a magic barrier. When you flew through it, your magical abilities were hindered so that summoning the Tantibus or doing any other kind of physical harm to yourself via magic became impossible. The same applies to you, Discord. You no longer have the ability to wield chaos based magic as long as you remain in this barrier.” Discord blinks and snaps his fingers together. Nothing happened. He tries again with a similar result.
“Outstanding.” He mutters.
“The magic barrier also prevents you from leaving Camp Orion. Guards will be on duty around the clock. If you need anything, they’ll be there to tend to your needs given that your request is within boundaries, or course.”
“Celestia, I cannot stay here! You know I don’t belong here!” My sister gingerly steps forward like a spirit and places her hoof on my shoulder.
“Please, Luna. I want to be absolutely sure that you’ll be okay. I know you don’t like this, but it’s for the best. I know that you want to make sure you’re okay, too and this is the way to do it. Please… do it for me and do it for yourself.” Her white wings spread out wide and raise above her head. “I must be going. I’ll come back in a few days to check in, okay?” She glances at Discord who waves a claw at her. “And try not to kill each other…” Her wings push towards the ground and she lifts off into the sky with two guards following her. The rest remained on the ground, all eyes staring at us. I watched in disbelief as my sister’s white coat becomes smaller and smaller with each flap she takes, flying far out of sight.
“Your highness?” A guard taps me on the shoulder from behind. “Shall we go inside?” I don’t speak. I don’t even blink. Emotions well up inside of me and I feel as if they will burst if I even try to speak. They all race around my chest. Anger. Hurt. Despair. Sadness. Guilt. Guilt. Guilt. If I had never created the Tantibus, this never would have happened.
“Princess Luna?” The guard says once more. Without speaking, I nod.