Judgement of the Two Sisters
It did not take long for Discord to reach the castle, but he couldn't help but think he would have been faster if he didn't have so many tag alongs with him. Between Random Thought, Hearth Stone, Screwball, Wordsmith and the latest addition Steam Shine, they seemed to constantly bicker among themselves over things that he just didn't care about one way or the other. He felt the twinges of a headache, and wanted to send Random Thought blasting on a one way trip to the stars every time he stopped in his tracks to point out and pick up a discarded bit.
But finally, after long last the six of them reached the castle's front doors to find it guarded as usual. "Hey Discord, what's with the entourage?" One asked with a slight grin.
"It's a long story," Discord said with a frown. "Like, long enough to fill up eleven months, a family moving twice, life altering events that would make someone weep I'm sure, and a lot of lost interest by the time it's wrapped up."
"Right," the guard said as he looked around in confusion. "Well, the princesses are waiting for you, just go to the throne room as usual."
Discord gave a slight nod as he walked in casually, and the rest of the group followed. As the doors shut, Random Thought suddenly shouted, "hey look, a bit!" Discord winced and was about to say something, when Random began walking with his muzzle to the ground. "Hey look! Another bit!, Oh look, another bit! Oh look, another bit! Well what do you know, another bit!"
As Random Thought followed the trail of bits to the throne room, muttering about how somepony needs to be more careful, Discord suddenly realized the large amount of panicking ponies in the foyer. "Uh, hey everypony? Why don't we move a little faster to the throne room?"
There was a murmur of agreement as they moved at a faster pace as Random continued following the trail of bits to the throne room saying, "Oh look, another bit," the entire way.
When they reached the throne room, they were not too surprised to see it was open. They were however surprised to see who was in the room before the two sisters. "Hey Jess," Hearth Stone said to one of the guards at the door. "What's going on here? I thought they wanted us immediately."
The guard smiled as she pointed into the room with a wing. "They never knew when you would get here, so they went about business as usual."
"Hey," Screwball said as she pointed a hoof at the group before the throne. "Isn't that the gang that held up the train a few days ago?"
"Hey you're right," Wordsmith said as Random Thought finally caught up with the group. "You think we've stumbled into a trial?"
As if in answer, Celestia and Luna looked up from each other and began to address the gryphons and ponies before them. "It is our judgement that the entire gang known as the rough riders, will be sent in to the Ludovico facility in Manehatten, there you will be treated in a courteous, and equine manner, as you are reformed for society."
Celestia had come to a sudden stop as she looked at Luna, who was too busy drinking a cup of coffee to realize that it was her turn to speak. Celestia cleared her throat sharply, causing Luna to look around, and blush slightly as she wiped the whipped cream from her face before speaking. "There are of course, two exceptions to this case. Will the pony known as Bad Horse, and Rebecca the gryphon step forward?"
While the rest of the gang was quickly taken out of the throne room, everypony watched as the two remaining prisoners reacted quite differently to the princess's request. Rebecca did what was requested of her, but went several steps beyond her requirement by kneeling with her wings spread on the ground. However, while she showed such respect that she was willing to lose her wings to the rulers, Bad Horse simply stood still and glared at the two princesses.
The two sisters looked at each other for a few moments before nodding in agreement. "Bad Horse, according to your records that are before us, we have noted that you have escaped from several prisons." She paused to look at the notes once more before continuing. "It also says that several ponies have come to a violent end because of you. Clearly, there is no chance of reform for somepony like you, nor any prison that can hold you."
"So what are you going to do? Send me to death row?" He then shot Luna a smug grin before pointing an accusing hoof at her. "You're outta touch, but I'm sure Celestia let you know that that isn't an option anymore."
Luna didn't bat an eyelash at the stallion's remarks, and simply picked up where she left off. "We are aware of such things. We are also aware that you have a fondness for music that is almost as strong as your love of violence. Therefore, we have decided to banish you to another universe. One where you might either do better to earn your way back, or continue in your ways and become subject to their laws."
"You can't scare me princess, you're nothing you hear me! Nothing!"
Luna nodded at him before looking to her older sister. Celestia then waved a hoof to her left. "Take him to Detroit."
That was all it took for him to start screaming as he was dragged away. "No! No, not Detroit! No! No, please! Anything but that! No! No!" The only thing that stopped the sound of his screaming was the slamming of the great doors as he was dragged off to the mysterious section of the castle, where his last view of Equestria would be dungeon walls, and the last pony he would see before falling through the portal in the floor would be a sneering pegasus guard.
Rebecca meanwhile was still bowing low, eyes closed and beak shut. Braced for the impact of equine hooves crushing her wings. "Rise Rebecca, and look us in the eyes." She heard the voice and shook slightly, nearly falling down again as she did so. "Why do thee fear us?" Luna asked with genuine curiosity in her eyes.
"I.." she suddenly realized that her throat was quite dry, and she had no idea what to say. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm scared because of what I did. What we all did, and what I almost did. I know that I'm not a citizen of your country, but I broke the law here, and I... I just don't want to die!"
Celestia gave a calm smile to the gryphon, and tried to look comforting as a mother as Rebecca began to sob slightly. "As Bad Horse said, we do not kill in this realm," she said softly. "Your offences were not as bad as your leader's, but are equal to some of the others in your gang."
"However," Luna picked up. "You showed that you are not beyond help, nor is William or even the rest of your former gang. But while William showed he knew what he was doing was wrong, you submitted once you knew great harm would come to others if you didn't." Luna rose up from the throne, and pulled with her a black judges robe. "We won't banish you, brand you, nor pass any sentence on you whatsoever. You showed somepony that day that you may have made some poor decisions, but you aren't a bad gryphon, and you will show us that today."
Luna was now standing right in front of Rebecca, and despite what Luna said, she couldn't help but fear her. "But, what shall happen to me?"
Luna took the judges robes and draped them over the gryphon, then took her own crown off and placed it atop Rebecca's feathered head. "This robe is your life, and this crown is your concise. You are your own judge in life. Thus, you shall judge yourself, and tell Equestria what should be done with you."
Waves of shock scattered around the room, as even Discord paid extra attention to everything. Everypony was in an uproar over what had just happened. But even though everypony was shocked, nopony was as shocked as Rebecca herself. The gryphon, unable to control herself any longer, sobbed uncontrollably as she stood there. Finally, after almost a minute of sobbing, she spoke. "I, Rebecca of Gryphania, sentence myself to one year of prison, followed by six months of community service and two years of probation."
Luna nodded in agreement before turning to the throne. "So let it be written, so let it be done." With that, she took the crown back and went back to her seat as Rebecca was taken out of the room. "Ah sister, look who's been watching us from the side door."
Of course she meant Discord and his party had arrived. Discord gave a smile to the two princesses before walking forward with his group in tow. "Greetings to you, my favorite lunatic. I am pleased to report that I had finished doing your dirty work."
Luna's face began to turn red, and she nearly broke into the royal Canterlot voice, when Celestia touched her on the side. "Allow me sister." Celestia coughed into her hoof with a delicate grace, then smiled for a few moments at the group behind Discord. "Would the five of you, kindly wait outside?"
The ponies all looked at each other, and Random Thought started to raise his hoof, only for Steam Shine to reach out and lower it while shaking his head. The five of them all filed out the way they came in, and once the doors shut, Discord gave a small smile. "So you wanted to see me?"
Celestia's entire demeanor changed suddenly, and faster than anypony could blink, she was suddenly on top of him with a look just short of shooting laser beams out of her eyes. "YOU BET I WANTED TO SEE YOU!" The strength of her version of the royal Canterlot voice was so powerful, that if it weren't for some sort of magic, every window would have shattered for miles around. "WHILE YOU WERE OUT HAVING FUN, THERE'S BEEN A SURPLUS OF BITS LET LOOSE IN THE WORLD. DO YOU KNOW WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS REPLICATING BIT?!"
Discord's face was still blown back from the voice being blasted directly in his face, and after taking a moment to clean out his ears of the ringing, he answered. "Well, I certainly didn't approve of it getting out. Wordsmith was put in charge of that paperwork and,"
"Don't you dare try to pawn this off on your employees," Celestia seethed. "As minister, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure everything is working right, and everypony is doing their part." She snorted a couple times in anger before suddenly placing her carefully practiced smile back on her face and getting off of Discord's chest. "Now that that's clear, tell me what you plan on doing with all these bits, clocks, and who knows what else you've mindlessly approved of?"
Discord let what Celestia said sink in for a few seconds before he opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted. "I'll tell you what you are going to do. You are going to take your little ministry, and send everypony on vacation, with pay. Then, you are going to go out there, and find every last one of your products. Every duplicating bit, every snooze proof alarm clock, every easy button, and every single one of those chaos balls. And once you find them all, you will destroy them. Until then, your ministry is closed. Do I make myself clear?" Discord could only nod slightly at this as Celestia nodded. "Good, now get going."
Discord began to walk out of the room with his shoulders slumped, then he suddenly turned around with a small smile. "Princess? I know it might be a wrong time to ask, but-"
"Oh it is," Celestia remarked with her trademark smile. "But please go on."
"Er, well me and Fluttershy and all those ponies out there, we all really did defeat a terrible creature. Shouldn't your sister uphold her end of the bargain?"
Celestia looked at Luna, who looked at Discord with bloodshot eyes, and coffee dripping from her muzzle. "You shouldn't try to take credit for somepony else's work. No, you don't get your holiday."
Discord was about to ask how they would possibly know so fast, and got as far as saying, "but."
However, that was as far as he would ever get before Celestia and Luna said in unison, "Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey."
"Well this bites," Wordsmith said as he slammed some things into his briefcase. "Less than a week at the job and I'm fired."
"You're not fired," Screwball said with a smile. "You're on vacation."
"With pay!" Random finished with a grin. He then turned to Hearth Stone and passed him a box of pens. "So Hearth, what happens to you now?"
"Oh you know, I go get some shut eye, take a couple nights off to get back on schedule. After that it's back to guarding princess Luna."
As the four ponies continued helping Wordsmith with his office, Steam Shine walked in with a scowl on his features. "Alright, I know what Discord did, and I've waited long enough. You've had your memory wiped by Discord, and I can prove it!"
Everypony moaned as the pegasus walked in and sat down. "Why can't you just leave me alone? Can't you see I'm happy?"
"You might be, but I'm afraid that the pegasus is right." Everypony looked at the door, and saw Discord walking in. "I had to erase your memory when we first met because of your breakdown," he said calmly. "Though I doubt you remember even that."
Wordsmith was about to say something, but Discord held a paw up to stop him. "Let me continue, I can't keep an eye on you once this ministry closes, I'll be kept too busy for months, maybe even a whole year. But that stallion can help you, and, these might help you too." Discord then picked up a black satchel that came out of nowhere and tossed it to the unicorn.
Wordsmith looked at the bag with curiosity. It was a rather plain satchel, the only thing that was of interest was that it was littered with pins, including one of his own cutie mark, and that it said REM Canterlot Ship Yards on the flap. After several moments of staring at the bag, Wordsmith shrugged and finally opened it. It didn't take him long to find what was needed, a small laminated identification card, with his picture and a stranger's name. "So, this is who I am supposed to be?"
Steam Shine nodded solemnly as Discord gave a sort of sad smile. He took off his top hat and began to fidget in his suit for a few moments before asking, "What about you though? I mean, once we all are shut down. What are you going to do?"
"Oh I'll be fine," he said before stepping forward. "I'll be on call with Celestia for a while, but I'll be kept busy cleaning up after you."
Wordsmith winced as Discord said that, and mumbled an apology. "Don't be sorry, you didn't know. The point is, it's up to you. You can go on living as Wordsmith, with only the faintest of memories of the past. Or you can go back to who you were, the choice is yours."
Silence reigned as the ponies all looked at the light blue unicorn. He didn't move for the longest time as he looked at the identification, then at the papers on the desk, and finally at the papers in the bag. Finally, after five minutes of silence, he spoke. "I want what everyone wants. I want a life, I want to know who I am, but at the same time I'm not sure if I can ever be the pony these papers say I was."
Discord suddenly laughed as he snapped his fingers, instantly undoing the spell that was placed on him. "Oh my little pony, you are never going to be the pony you were a year ago, you've grown up and learned far too much since then."
Wordsmith stood there for a few moments, trying to shake out the dizziness in his head. Finally he smiled and gave a nod. "I think I know what I'm going to do." He then placed the identification back in the satchel and whistled loudly. Within seconds, a beautiful oak table galloped in and he jumped on it.
"Wordsmith," Screwball shouted at the laughing unicorn, "what are you going to do?"
"Do?" he said with a smile. "I'm going on vacation, there's stories that need to be written! Come along Steam Shine!"
Steam Shine grinned as he jumped on the back of the table with gusto. "Now that's the pony I know! Where to?"
"To Silk Street of course, we're both getting paid for this break! High-ho side table, AWAY!" And with a kick of his hoof, the table took off galloping for the exit.
"What a strange pony," Random said as he looked down the hall. "I wonder what his real name was."
As if in answer, somepony screamed as the table knocked over a serving cart in it's mad dash for the exit. It's master however simply laughed before shouting, "LOOK OUT CANTERLOT, PHOENIX QUILL WRITES AGAIN!"
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
597 users online
1,194,037 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
4539396
If you're turned to stone, you don't age.
4702549
Shhh, don't tell him that.
Well, Discord will certainly have a lot to do with this, shame he can't just snap it all away with his fingers
Then again if he was able to do so, what story would be there to continue? Do it the hard way we all say!
I Knew Celestia was a dystopian tyrant, I Knew it! Clockwork oranges all round! Viddy well ma brothers, viddy well!
i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff483/Jozako/Peliculas%20MLP%20FIM/clockworkorange.jpg
I thought meta stories weren't allowed...
4702678
Celestia, a tyrant? Hmm, I don't know for sure. I think instead on that, she would rather see ponies reformed and don't quite know what they are in for yet. As for Bad Horse himself, another dimension that is fond of music and has a lot of violence, doesn't that sound familiar? Search back in your memories, or at least chapters, and you will know what Detroit he was really sent to. If you aren't sure, just look up Bad Horse.
4702945
They aren't, that's why I did Wordsmith the way I did him. As far as he goes, I don't know if he'll ever come back, or if I'll ever do big, giant story arcs again. Every time I updated and didn't have any way to lead into one of Discord's stories, I felt like I was cheating you guys somehow. Much no bueno, and I have so many ideas for ship fics... Oh yes, Discord will write again!
4704220
I was slightly exaggerating when I referred to Celestia as a dystopian tyrant, but I've never been particularly fond of her method of government.
Oh. Right. THAT Detroit. Ew. I think I prefer 'A Clockwork Orange' on the whole, it has this marvellous thing called Beethoven, which more than balances out gangs of ultra-violence obsessed youths roaming the streets, and a dystopian one party state. And frankly, I'd choose being brainwashed over singing in a musical, 8 days a week. ;) Besides, the costumes are better.
The Best Ministry Of Equestria is closing down??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
, but it took the author a month to write about it!
(hee hee hee)
Ouch. The death penalty that's really twisted and works by having live cobras injected into your abdomen is a kinder punishment!
4704263 Are you more fond of the governments of (clears throat): Sudan, Somalia, Nigeria, Venezuela, North Korea, Myanmar, Central African Republic, Mexico, China, Bengaladesh, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Russia, Greece, Spain...
Show me one sizeable nation that's had no conflict for even 100 years. I'm sure a few tiny ones have slipped through unnoticed and maintained peace by relative obscurity, but none of large land area and/or population are free from strife for long.
Celestia's held on for a thousand, and her ponies are pretty much as close to sugary innocence as any free-willed creatures can ever be.
Point is, you may not like it, but it worked.
4704560
I'm a white Kenyan my dear chap, and my job is flying all over Africa, particularly the west coast, for geographical mapping (I fly, my partner maps). It's probably a psychological defect, but I find utopianism astoundingly boring. I was brought up on tyrants and warlords. It must sound horrible, but I could never live in a nanny state, not when I've had this much freedom. I'll probably die young, but C'est la vie.
4704263
You should check my story Canterlot Nights and Other Tales then if you want to know more about the Rough Riders, and all the clockwork orange-y things I can really do.
Coming soon to an update near you.
Edit: Also, it sounds like you have a pretty cool life to me, and while I would not want to live in a dystopia, they are probably the most fun to read or write about!
In my humble opinion, Celestia is a bit of a dictator, but at least she's a benevolent one! (oh and Luna's there too... I guess, to dictate at night. For now. (NLR Rising...)
Oh my...Wordsmith was Phoenix Quill this whole time!?!?!
Who'd of guess that?!
4704902 The world may never know...
Called it! But I didn't comment my theory, so there's no proof I did...
4704874 Well, to be fair, I'm a hyper-right Tea Party 'whackobird' who despises the nanny state the progressives wish to inflict upon my country.
I was raised to do things for myself and not be a social parasite for my entire life, as are so many these days.
And good lord, have I ever seen the worst of the worst of the welfare state (went to college in Camden, NJ in the 90's, what a crap hole of a city. Detroit's only worse cuz it's bigger).
4709633
I think you and I may have slightly different definitions of a nanny state, and frankly I'm in favour of progressives, Africa could do with a big dose of liberalism, but never mind. I do hate the regimes you mentioned, I have older friends who can remember Idi Amin, he could teach the modern lunatics something about sheer brutality. I'm just a libertarian where I am concerned. How do I explain this? With flagrant double standards.
4711067 A progressive libertarian... which is about the biggest contradiction in terms I've ever seen.
4714525
Oh no, it's really very uncomplicated, I did say I had flagrant double standards.
Progression for everyone else, freedom for me. The vast majority of Africans need a better life, but I do not. It's that simple. I have my occupation, I have my plane, I have my best mate/mapper, I have two weeks of supplies at any given point, a pair of shotguns, and a 4 week on, 2 week off schedule. And for now, that is all I need.
4714712 I need a lion.
I got to hug one once.
I miss him.
4714712
4716399
blogs.mydevstaging.com/blogs/dadabase/files/2014/04/jLZz4Na.gif
4716399
They are distinctly huggable aren't they? I prefer Cheetahs myself, my great aunt had a one-eyed pet one called Tigger. He used to go shopping with her and sit in the back seat of her car to stop break ins while she was in the shop.
4718381 The one I knew was in Ohio. Very big, but very friendly.
I have an idea: How about Discord got resentful over the Princesses denying him his holiday, and that's what caused him to join Tirek?
4765438
Dude, I wrote that chapter last year, and it's still in my head.