The next morning, a crowd of ponies was gathered in the streets of Canterlot in front of the castle. They were all chatting nervously amongst themselves and waiting for some sort of announcement. Then they all saw their new king appear on a balcony of one of the castle towers. Jewelius looked down at the ponies gathered in the streets awaiting to hear from him. He gave a small grin of satisfaction at all the attention he was receiving.
“My beloved subjects,” the unicorn king addressed the crowd. “I’m afraid I have some bad news. Last night, those traitorous exiles broke into the castle with the intent of kidnapping my student, Lady Sparkle, and usurping my rule! And as a result, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza was severely injured and is in intensive care in the castle’s medical wing.” The crowd gasped in shock when they heard this. “Our doctors are trying their best to save her, but I’m afraid it’s not looking good. We might need to prepare for the worst.” The crowd had sad and worried looks on their faces. The thought of the kind and beautiful Princess of Love dying was absolutely terrible. “Cadance was my elder cousin, but we were raised more like siblings. So for me, this is a truly heartbreaking tragedy. Also, considering I was a little hard on her for also putting the blame of the recent catastrophe that befell Canterlot just a week ago. When I finally calmed down and regained my senses, I had plans to reinstate her back into royalty and let her return to Canterlot where she belonged. But unfortunately, it looks like I may never be able to apologize for my wrongful accusations.” Jewelius said looking quite sad. The crowd all felt pity for him. “But the ones responsible for her condition, as well as the ones responsible for the changeling invasion a week ago, have been caught and will face justice for their crimes against our kingdom! These so-called heroes wished to return to power and plunge our nation back into a state of vulnerability! Well, as your new king, I vow to remain strong and never let that happen! I will see to it that these upstarts will suffer the severest of punishments known to ponykind! Cadance will be avenged! Twilight will be avenged! CANTERLOT WILL BE AVENGED!” Hearing this, the crowd roared with supportive cheers and applause. Jewelius waved and basked proudly in the crowd’s praise of him.
At noon that day, a big platform was setup in the castle’s courtyard. Shining Armor was on top of the platform between two long poles. His front legs were each tied high on one of the poles forcing him to stand on his back legs which were chained to the floor. He also had a metal clamp on his horn to prevent him from using any magic. Commander Hildread and Lieutenant Shackle were also on top of the platform. A large crowd of royal guards were gathered in front of the platform with a booth containing Jewelius, Vivian, and Twilight Sparkle set right behind the crowd.
“Let this stallion’s punishment serve as an example to all who dare to disgrace the Royal Guard of Canterlot!” Hildread said to the crowd who all burst into roaring cheers.
“I looked up to you!” one of the guards angrily yelled at Shining.
“I trusted you!” another guard yelled.
“He was like a mentor and a brother to me!” a third guard yelled.
Every angry insult and resentful comment was like an arrow to Shining’s heart. He was once admired by all these stallions, but now he was the lowest of scum to them.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this, Shining!” Hildread whispered to him with sadistic excitement. Then she walked over to her lieutenant who handed her a long, thick whip. Hildread happily took the whip in her mouth and walked behind her restrained rival.
Shining knew what was coming and braced himself for a world of pain.
SNAP!
Hildread swung the whip and it made hard contact with Shining’s back. Shining struggled to stay strong and not let out a scream of pain.
SNAP! AAAAAHHHHH!
The whip made contact again, only harder. This time, Shining could not hold back his scream of pain. This seemed to excite Hildread who continued to whip the defenseless stallion. Sometimes Shining would scream in pain, and sometimes not. But the strikes kept getting harder as they went.
In the royal viewing box, the three unicorns were watching the spectacle of pain. Twilight Sparkle did not take any enjoyment at all in watching her big brother be put through such torture, but she believe there was nothing she could do for him. So she averted her eyes most of the time. Jewelius, who was seated right beside her, looked like he was enjoying this greatly. His smile got bigger and crueler with every scream. Vivian was seated on her master’s right side. She took no pleasure or disgust in Shining’s punishment, she looked like she didn’t really care.
“Don’t you think this is a little harsh?” Twilight asked on her brother’s behalf. “He never really meant for all these terrible things to happen.” Despite still feeling angry and hurt by his previous actions, deep down she still cared for him.
“Twilight, my faithful student,” Jewelius explained in a friendly tone and putting on a sad expression. “While he might not have meant to cause so much harm, it does not change the fact that he did and could’ve easily prevented it. I do not take pleasure in such torture, but a lesson needs to be learned here.”
“I understand,” Twilight sadly and reluctantly agreed.
Jewelius turned his attention back to Shining’s whipping and his supposedly sad face changed back to the sadistic grin he had before.
Later on, Shining Armor was taken back to his dungeon cell with tons of whip wounds on his back. Celestia, Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all in neighboring cells. Those with horns had anti-magic clamps on them and those with wings had belts made from a strong substance that held their wings to their bodies to keep them from flying.
“Are you alright?” a concerned Fluttershy asked Shining noticing the wounds on his back.
“I’ve had better days,” Shining weakly replied.
“Sorry, Princess,” Applejack apologized to Celestia, who was sat in the neighboring cell looking very sad and defeated. “We let ya’ down again.”
“No, I did this,” Shining disagreed. “I was supposed to make sure Canterlot was safe. But I let Chrysalis impersonate Cadance and trick me with her obvious lies. I even let her turn me against my own sister. Twilight was right.” He bowed his head in shame.
“No, Captain,” Celestia spoke. “I’m supposed to be the wise high ruler of Equestria with thousands of years of experience. But I couldn’t even tell the difference between my own niece and an obvious imposter. I failed as a ruler, I failed as an aunt, and I failed as a teacher. I’m an absolute failure.” She too lowered her head in shame.
“Hey, don’t take all the credit,” Pinkie said trying to cheer them up. “We helped too.”
“We turned our backs on our best friend when she needed us the most,” Fluttershy said sadly.
“All for the chance to participate in a stupid wedding that was doomed to failure,” Rarity bitterly added.
“Some friends we turned out to be,” Rainbow said feeling like a complete disgrace.
They all sat in their cells with their heads lowered in shame. Then they heard some hoof steps approaching their cells. It was soon revealed to be Jewelius and Vivian. Jewelius looked very satisfied to notice the miserable expressions on everyone’s faces.
“Such sad faces,” Jewelius said in a mocking tone. “Are you all feeling guilty for something you did? Good, you should be.”
“What are you doing here?” Fluttershy asked.
“Just returning another prisoner to her cell,” Jewelius answered.
Then they heard more approaching hoof steps, and then they all saw Chrysalis being escorted by Hildread and two guards. Chrysalis’s hooves were in chains and she looked like she’d been brutally tortured. She was put in a cell right across from Shining Armor.
“We have plans on building a new slave labor force using these vile beasts,” Jewelius proudly explained. “However, this one is far too dangerous. I’m afraid she’ll have to be put down.” Jewelius let out a short cruel chuckle.
“Congratulations,” Shining angrily said glaring at Chrysalis. “Not only did you succeed in ruining the wedding, but also everypony’s lives. What have you to say for yourself, you hideous, love-sucking, manipulative monster?”
Chrysalis glared back at the angry stallion. Celestia, Spike, and the other five were also glaring at her. Chrysalis opened her mouth to speak. She was quite weak, so she was struggling to get out what she wanted to say. But instead of saying something to the eight angry prisoners, she turned to Jewelius and said something that caught them off guard.
“I… I thought we were in this together!” the bug queen weakly said. “Why did you betray me?!”
“What?!” Pinkie asked completely surprised. All the others had their jaws hanging open in utter shock and confusion.
“Oh Chrysalis,” Jewelius spoke to the changeling prisoner. “Did you really think I’d let a despicable animal like you by my side?”
“What is the meaning of this?!” Celestia asked in a concerned and demanding tone.
“Before you ask anymore questions, let me clear something up first,” Jewelius turned to the rest of the prisoners. “No, I’m not a changeling. This is the real me. In more ways than one.”
“But I heard Hildread and Shackle talk about changelings that got loose and had impersonated you to get to Twilight,” Spike said completely baffled. Then he heard Hildread chuckle maliciously.
“They took the bait just like you said, Your Majesty,” Hildread said to the king.
“I told you they would,” Jewelius replied. Then he turned back to the confused prisoners. “You see, when I had all of you banished, I hoped that life in slavery or separated from your lives of luxury would eventually kill off the three alicorns. But as I watched the sun and moon rise and set day after day, I knew that meant Celestia and Luna were still alive. And by extent, Cadance too. So I had Commander Hildread spread false rumors to only you in order to lure you all back into Canterlot so I could capture you and deal with you personally. You know what they say, ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself’.”
“But why?!” Pinkie asked confused and anxious.
“To eliminate the obstacles in his path to power,” Chrysalis bitterly answered while glaring at Jewelius. All the other prisoners gasped when they heard this.
“What are you talking about?” Shining asked in a demanding tone. “Is this another one of your tricks?”
“No, I’m afraid this time she’s telling the truth, Former Captain Armor,” Jewelius smugly explained. “And as for your questions about the changelings. Let me answer those questions with some questions of my own. How do you think the changelings found out about the wedding in Canterlot? How do you think Chrysalis got through Shining’s shield spell? And how do you think she knew about the caverns beneath the castle? I told her about them!”
The prisoners were all rendered completely speechless by what Jewelius just said.
“You What?!” Celestia asked in disbelief.
“I've done a lot of traveling across Equestria searching for the means to rid myself of the princesses and take my rightful place. During one of them, I learned the location of the Changeling hive in the Badlands. It wasn't too long after that I received word from Canterlot that Cadance and Shining Armor had finally scheduled the day of their wedding,” Jewelius explained. “Before that, I had secretly read about the changelings and their horrible tricks. I had also secretly uncovered the existence of the abandoned mining caverns beneath the castle. When I heard about the wedding, I knew that it was time for a little trip to the Badlands where the Changeling Kingdom lay. Once there, I had the tremendous honor of meeting their queen. At first, she tried to drain me of my love, but for some reason she was unable to do so. Then I told her about the event happening in Canterlot and offered my services.”
“You told them about the wedding?!” Rainbow couldn’t believe her own ears.
“Yes,” Jewelius proudly replied. “However, somehow word of an imminent danger reached Canterlot and the entire kingdom was put on lock-down.”
“But then you showed her the secret caverns under the castle,” Shining deduced. “That’s how she got through my shield and into the castle!”
“Congratulations Shining Armor, you finally figured it out,” Jewelius commented in a mocking tone.
Jewelius remembered after witnessing Chrysalis, disguised as Cadance, imprison Twilight Sparkle in the caverns, he made his way to his cousin’s room where his aunt, Spike, and the five mares were all standing outside the door with concerned looks on their faces waiting for something.
“Is everything alright?” Jewelius asked.
“Shining Armor’s in there trying to comfort her,” a concerned Celestia said.
“It’s been awhile since he went in,” Applejack said.
“She’s really upset,” Fluttershy added in a sad tone.
“Let me go in and see if everything’s okay,” Jewelius suggested. “We are very close after all.”
“Perhaps that’s best,” Celestia agreed.
Jewelius used his magic to open the door to his cousin’s room and walked in closing the door behind him. He saw both ‘Cadance’ and Shining Armor sitting on the bed with their backs to the door.
“Cadance dear,” he said in a gentle sounding tone. “Is everything alright?”
“Oh yes, ‘my dear cousin’,” she replied in a sinister tone of voice. “Everything’s fine.”
Jewelius walked closer to the bed and saw that his ‘cousin’ had a wicked and satisfied grin on her face and Shining Armor’s face had a blank expression and his eyes were bright green.
“I finally have him completely under my spell,” she said triumphantly.
“Well, it’s about time,” Jewelius said dropping his kindly and concerned façade.
“And as for that annoying little sister of his, I made sure she wouldn’t be anymore trouble to us.”
“Perhaps she wouldn’t had been much trouble if you had worked on your acting skills,” Jewelius complained.
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” ‘Cadance’ dismissed his complaint. “The only ones suspicious of me are out of the way, and now nopony can stop us! Isn’t that right, ‘my dear’?”
“Yes,” Jewelius agreed. “By the way, you can ‘slip into something more comfortable’ when it’s just us. I really don’t like that look for you.” His face showed great disgust for her disguise.
“Very well,” she agreed and instantly changed into her true changeling form. “How’s this?”
“Better.”
“By the way, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Chrysalis said sinisterly. “Can you live with yourself? Betraying your family and all of Equestria like this?”
“I have lived in the shadows of those high horses for far too long,” Jewelius said showing absolutely no regret. “Soon, Prince Jewelius will get what he rightfully deserves!”
“I bet you will, my dear,” Chrysalis said with villainous affection.
“You’d better get ‘changed’. The others are outside waiting for you.”
“But if you two were partners in all this then why did you double-cross her?” Applejack asked confused.
“I found somepony much younger and potentially more powerful to use instead,” Jewelius arrogantly explained.
“Twilight!” Celestia, Shining Armor, and Chrysalis all exclaimed in unison.
“Correct! At first, when I noticed how suspicious of the ‘bride’ she’d become, I was afraid she’d expose her and mess up everything. But you were all so eager to have the wedding, you were willing to dismiss her warnings and turn your backs on her just like that. Even with nopony believing her suspicions, being the magical prodigy she is, she was still a threat to my plans. Luckily, she wasn’t suspicious of me. So after spending some time with the young unicorn, I hatched a new plan. I decided to break my alliance with the changelings and help Twilight defeat them and save the day. Then I would pin the blame for this mess on all of you, get the princesses dethroned, and establish myself as King of all Equestia! Brilliant isn’t it?”
“You Backstabbing Traitor!” Rainbow yelled furiously. She clenched the bars of her cell and tried to break them so she could get free and beat the tar out of the smug, traitorous prince. But they were too strong to break.
“Well, my cutie mark is a shiny dagger with a golden hilt,” Jewelius sadistically teased the furious pegasus.
"Guards, seize this traitor immediately!" Celestia commanded the two guards in the room. However, neither of them made a move to do as she commanded and just stood where they were making malicious chuckles to each other which made the former princess confused and nervous. "What's the meaning of this?! This stallion is a traitor!"
"These aren't your guards, dear auntie," Jewelius mockingly told her. "They're mine. I'm afraid most of the ponies under former captain Shining Armor's command suffered some pretty serious injuries during the changeling invasion. While we tried to care for them in the castle's medical wing, unfortunately most of them did not make it." This revelation caused the imprisoned heroes to gasp in horror, a reaction that made Jewelius smile. "Allow me to explain the details."
Jewelius remembered sitting in his new throne room shortly after exiling the heroes. He sat on the throne that had once belonged to his aunt with a proud and satisfied smile on his face.
"This day has been just perfect!" he said to himself before turning to his assistant. "By the way Vivian, have you taken care of that little task I asked?"
"Yes sire," the grayish mare answered handing him a scroll. "Hildread and I investigated all the guards recovering in the medical wing after the attack. These are the ones still swearing their loyalty to the princesses."
Jewelius opened the scroll and read through it. The scroll looked to be at least four feet long. After a moment, Jewelius decided he had read enough and a smile with wicked intent formed on his face.
"Well then they're the ones who will be the casualties of this terrible disaster," Jewelius declared.
"It's a shame," Vivian commented with a hint of remorse in her voice. "Those are some fine stallions and mares. This will decrease the numbers in the Royal Guard significantly."
"No matter," Jewelius apathetically replied. "I'm sure there are some ponies locked up in the dungeons who will be more than happy to help solve this issue for the right price." The usurper couldn't help but let out a small cruel chuckle at his latest idea before handing the list back to Vivian. "Go speak with Hildread. You know what to do next."
"Yes sire," she confirmed bowing her head before turning to complete her dark new task.
"A new Royal Guard for a new ruler of Equestria!"
Once he was done, horror and devastation donned the prisoners' faces, specifically Celestia and Shining Armor. So many innocent ponies who had sworn themselves to serving both of them had senselessly lost their lives because of their loyalty and replaced with the scummiest of ponykind. While both the former captain and princess were furious at this crime Jewelius had committed, they couldn't help but feel responsible as well.
"You... had..." Celestia struggled to say.
"So many of our loyal guards murdered?!?" Shining finished while shedding a tear of anger and sorrow. Most of the guards he had under his command were his friends and some of them he even treated as family.
"Don't worry," Jewelius said taking pleasure in their misery. "The new guards aren't that bad. With the right motivation they're quite loyal and effective."
"Beats rotting down here for the rest of our lives," one of the new thug-turned-guards commented before he and his partner burst into hysterical laughter.
“You Snake!” AJ yelled angrily. The rest of her friends shot hateful glares at the smug usurper. “How were you able to fool Twilight when Chrysalis wasn’t?”
“Simple,” Jewelius replied. “I did the one thing none of YOU did. I listened to her and gave her the benefit of the doubt. I was THERE for her! I was her friend!”
“I’m not busy with anything at the moment. Would you like to tell me about it?”
“If it makes you feel any better, I have also noticed some rather out-of-character moments in her behavior.”
“Remember Twilight, if you need anything, just come and find me.”
“Be careful who you think you can trust. I fear someponies may not be what they seem.”
“This is probably just a huge misunderstanding.”
“I’m… I’m so sorry. Truly I am.”
“But after you all broke her heart and abandoned her at the wedding rehearsal, she became a lot easier to manipulate. And now, I have her completely under my control. I didn’t even need to use a mind control spell either!” Jewelius proudly boasted.
Spike glared at the arrogant usurper and growled like an angry animal.
“You… you used my sister, and the changelings!” an enraged Shining Armor growled. “You’re responsible for all of this!”
“Whoa, calm down,” Jewelius mocked the stallion. “I didn’t manipulate any of you into making yourselves look like fools. You chose to believe the lies of an imposter over the one pony who made any real sense during all that stupid nonsense. And in the end, Twilight was right about everything. Well, except one thing: she thought all of you were her friends! Now THAT couldn’t had been farther from the truth!” Then Jewelius burst into cruel and hysterical laughter. Hildread joined him. Vivian continued standing silently and obediently at his side.
The cruel laughter struck the prisoners in their hearts like daggers. He was right. Because they refused to listen to reason, they destroyed their relationships with Twilight, they let an army of changelings nearly take over Canterlot, and they had given a conniving traitor the means to usurp control over all of Equestria.
“How does it feel to know just how much damage you’ve caused?” Jewelius asked in a sadistic and mocking tone.
“Jewelius! What about Cadance?” an angry Celestia demanded to know.
“Don’t worry, auntie,” Jewelius said sinisterly. “I’m making sure she’s getting special treatment for her wounds.”
Jewelius remembered earlier that day, he was in the medical wing watching Cadance, who was strapped to a hospital bed, being painfully electrocuted by a group of doctors involved in his plot with some sort of lightning generating machine, which was connected to her horn by a jumper cable, while he watched with an evil and sadistic grin.
The prisoners were extremely horrified to hear this. Especially Shining Armor and Celestia.
“Sadly, it doesn’t look like she’s going to make it,” he said with false sympathy. “I may have been able to turn Twilight and all of Canterlot against you, but they still remained faithful to Cadance. So I set up this little accident to finish her off for good while pretending to do everything within my power to save her.”
“I don’t understand,” Celestia said greatly shocked and disappointed. “The nephew I raised would never be so cruel to anypony, especially his own family!”
“The nephew you thought you raised never existed!” Jewelius angrily yelled at her. “Love, family, friendship! You think I really cared about all of that?! I only choked down all those ‘happy’ moments while standing in yours and Cadance’s shadows! But no more. Now I will be the only one who will cast the biggest shadow!”
"There's still one thing I don't understand," a confused Fluttershy spoke. "Why are you making the rest of us suffer if it was the princesses you wanted gone?"
"It was nothing personal really," the vile traitor replied. "Most of you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, there was 'who would possibly want to do anything that could ruin such a glorious event like the wedding of the wonderful Princess Mi Amore Cadenza'," he mockingly mimicked Rarity's line in a deplorable immature tone of voice. "Let's just say what you all said that time didn't sit too well with me."
“You’re Mad!” Rarity yelled.
“But I do have some good news,” Jewelius announced. “There will be a wedding eventually after all. It took awhile, but my dear student, Twilight, has agreed to become my queen!” The prisoners’ all gasped in horror at this news. "Love is in bloom," the usurper jokingly commented. “And none of you will be bridesmaids this time. With a powerful unicorn like her by my side, we will produce offspring that will continue my glorious legacy!”
“YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY LITTLE SISTER!” Shining roared in absolute rage and tightly clenched the bars of his cell.
“Sorry Shining,” Jewelius mocked the furious stallion. “But your sister and I don’t need your blessing to get married. And I had your parents secretly put someplace safe for a little leverage incase Twilight somehow turns against me. Twilight Sparkle will be my queen! That is unless I find another more powerful unicorn. Then I might have to stage a little accident.”
Shining gridded his teeth with murderous intent in his eyes.
“You’re a real dirt bag! You know that?” Pinkie angrily insulted the smug usurper. But he just smirked at her.
"What are you going to do?" Jewelius mockingly asked. "If you still had Twilight on your side, you might've stood a chance. But without her, you're nothing! Sad, isn't it?"
The prisoners bowed their heads in sadness. He was right. Without Twilight, they had no hope of winning. But because of their betrayal, she was no longer there for them when they needed her. Just like they weren't there for her when she needed them.
“You will all be sent back to where you were exiled,” Jewelius announced. “But this time, security will be heightened to make sure none of you escape again. Except for you, Aunt Celestia. You have been sentenced to death, and are to be executed tonight.”
“WHAT!” they all said in absolute horror.
“Shouldn’t she have a trial first?” Spike asked.
“We already had one earlier today,” Jewelius replied. “And the verdict is guilty. Guilty of the one unforgiveable crime: betrayal!”
“You won’t get away with this!” Fluttershy angrily declared.
“Oh, I already have!” Jewelius smugly retorted. Then he, Vivian, and Hildread all turned and left the prisoners to think about what they just learned.
“JEWELIUS!” Celestia shouted furiously back at her traitorous nephew, but he did not answer.