I was completely shocked at what I just heard. Twilight had already warned me that Amadeus cannot be reasoned with because of how cruel he was in her past life. How did he even find me here in the Memorial Gardens? More importantly, what does he really want from me? I wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible. I may have the magic to kick some butt but I don't know too much about Amadeus' true motives in Equestria or what is he really capable of. Well, whatever he is planning to do, it can't be good.
"Amadeus Blueblood?!" I shrieked as my heart started fill up with horror. "How in the name of Celestia did you get in here? And how did you know my name??!!"
"I heard about how you enslaved a group of ponies at this one village." Amadeus responded. "My associates told me that you were hanging out with Princess Twilight in Canterlot, as her new pupil."
"What about it?" I asked bluntly to Amadeus. "Why are you even here?"
"I may have a lot of explaining to do, but first, I need to make sure no pony sees us or hear us from anywhere." Amadeus said coldly as he fired up a spell from his horn.
His horn started emitting a dark, green glow that summoned a huge fainted black dome that covered up the entire memorial garden. When he is done, he also conjured up another spell that flashed throughout the entire area. I thought that nothing really happened after Amadeus cast his spells but when I saw Sunburst in a distance, I tried to wave at him. Unfortunately, he doesn't really see me or hear me even though I could. It turns out the Amadeus used some silent, invisibility, and illusion spells on both of us so that there will be no witnesses for him to deal with.
"So, like I was saying, Starlight Glimmer." Amadeus continued. "I came through a black portal that was created by an ally of mine, Queen Cicada of the Changelings.
"Queen Cicada of the Changelings?" I said in shock. "I thought Twilight was able to unify the changelings under her banner of friendship by forming the Changeling Republic." I remembered Twilight telling me during my studies, that after the Changeling Invasion that took place in Canterlot during the wedding of her brother and Princess Cadence, she and Princess Cadence tried to form the Changeling Republic as a sign to reform the changelings after that incident. Ever since Queen Chrysalis was reigning over them, there was tyranny occurring within the hive that they were in. After Queen Chrysalis was gone, about 70% of the changeling population accepted being part of the republic. Back in Ponyville, I saw some changelings getting along with most of the fillies at school there. I even saw one working at the Spa with Aloe and Vera and a couple of them working with Applejack at the Apple Farm. After what Amadeus said to me about Queen Cicada, it turns out that the remaining 30% of the changeling population is still trying to carry out Queen Chrysalis' evil legacy by serving directly under Queen Cicada.
"Well, not every Changeling wanted this." Amadeus answered.
"Why not?" I asked. Before I could say any more, I heard a high-pitched voice of laughter came from behind Amadeus.
A huge dark mare appeared from the darkness. She had a similar appearance to that of Queen Chrysalis. "Because any changeling that sides with the Equestrians is deemed a traitor to the hive." She answered with a hiss. "My apologizes for not introducing myself first. My name is Queen Cicada and I am the last living heir of Queen Chrysalis. Amadeus promised me that he will help me restore the Changeling Kingdom's former glory by retaking the lands that Equestrians stole from my subjects if I submit to him, in which that's what I did."
"There's going to be a war that me and Queen Cicada are about to take advantage of in the future." Amadeus said. "But first things first."
I still have yet to understand what do they want from me. If they're going to take me down a path of cruelty, I would lose the friendship that I made to the rest of the Mane 5.
"I sense that you took up your role as Twilight's student to seek justice upon Equestria, right? Amadeus said. "Back in our nation, we have a way to bring forth a better future for you so that you can spread justice not just to Equestria but also to Yakyakistan, Saddle Arabia, and to the Griffon Kingdom as well."
"How so?" I asked in a exaggerated tone. "I mean, why should I submit to you?!"
"You may need to another teacher to guide you, Starlight Glimmer. I can help you with that." Amadeus said as he reached out his hoof towards me. "I was pretty impressed on how you used your cunning, manipulation, and fineness to get away from your enemies and how you were able to manipulate alteration by turning back time. We could teach you how to do it in a even more effective way. I'll even make you as one of the top assassins in my field. You don't need Twilight to teach you how to satisfy your life in Equestria and you don't need to study friendship to make yourself a better pony. There are lots of ways where you can become better than any pony out there if you submit to me. I'll even make you famous, rich, powerful, dominating, feared, and unchallenged by any pony that is considered a threat to your presence. That's not all. We'll also teach you how to harness and wield even more powerful magic beyond your wildest dreams. Imagine with you on the field, as our Commander, Emissary, Supreme Chancellor, or whichever best suits you the most. If you submit to us, we'll show you how all of this is really done; one little word, that's all it takes. So what do you say, Starlight?"
Something tells me that, despite everything that Amadeus said to me, if I join him, I might regret being a total nuisance again. It's just like when my own ambition became my downfall after I lied to every pony that all cutie marks are evil and that every pony must be forcefully equal.
"Come on, kiddo. Make your choice." Queen Cicada ordered impatiently. "We don't have all day."
After all the good things I did for Twilight and her friends when I became Twilight's student, I responded to Amadeus by only with these three words: "No deal Amadeus."
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!!" Amadeus snapped at me as he immediately lowered his hoof to the ground. He might get angry if I deny his offer but I don't really care about that. It's a risk that I'm willing to take in order to display my loyalty towards the rest of Twilight's friends and allies.
"Do you really think I would spread justice over Equestria by hurting, deceiving, and killing innocent ponies? Because that's one of the biggest mistakes I've made so far. Twilight already helped me find friendship because when I tried to do things like that on my own, without any pony's help, I almost lost everything. There's no way I could repay her or her friends with everything they've done for me up to this point, if I listened to ponies like you." I added. "Twilight Sparkle already showed how to spread justice without resorting to violence or sin."
"You can't expect me to believe that, Starlight Glimmer. That pony who calls herself Twilight Sparkle is nothing more than a threatening, vile, and tyrannical little whore who is just trying to use you for her own ambitions." Amadeus hissed at me.
"Well, you can't expect me to believe that either. Twilight Sparkle already saved me from myself after realizing that everything I did was wrong because I did not realized it until the last minute, and that I had no good excuse for all the sins that I just caused. However, by accepting my forgiveness, Twilight gave me a second chance to start all over again. So, don't you dare speak ill of her, you idiotic-GYAH!!!" I said in a angry defensive tone which was interrupted. Before I knew what was happening, Amadeus grabbed me by the neck with his hoof and pinned me down to the ground.
"GRRRARGH!!! WHY YOU LITTLE....!!! You better watch what you say, young lady!! Or you're going to meet the same fate as that HARLOT YOU SEE BEFORE YOU!!!" Amadeus roared as he startled me with sheer maliciousness in his eyes, while pointing his hoof at the coffin that Twilight was in. I was thinking about using my magic against him but it won't be easy for me to do it since he's holding me down. I was about to suffocate from getting strangled by Amadeus, until Queen Cicada intervened.
"Now, now my dear. Let's not get ahead of ourselves yet. We were just trying to make a deal with her. Yet, if she refuses to yield to us and accept our offer, it will be her choice, her problem, whether you like it or not." Queen Cicada said to Amadeus.
"If I can't get anything I want from her, then I'll crush this defiant, little brat with my bare hooves. I'll make sure to let every pony know what will happen if they defy me or my family, leaving Starlight Glimmer as fine example of." Amadeus said to Cicada as he clenched his teeth.
"Well, let's not waste our time in crushing ponies for any small reasons, Amadeus. We have more important things that need to be taken care of right now, you know." Queen Cicada suggested.
"You know what?! You're right. This is just a waste of time." Amadeus replied to Cicada with a huff. He turned around to face me again before he released me from his hooves and stepped back from where I was. "If you got any good reason not to accept my offer, then let's hear it."
I got up on my hooves and took a breather before I answered Amadeus' question. "I actually felt pretty bad being a total jerk to the ponies that I have manipulated and enslaved back at the small village that I was in. So, if I betrayed Twilight's friends by doing what you ask, they probably will never forgive me like they did last time. I still don't understand why you cannot get along with Twilight after everything that she has done for me and for Equestria. I don't see Twilight Sparkle as much of a threat no more; anymore than you do. I mean, just what in the name of Celestia did she ever do to you, anyway??" I asked Amadeus in a desperate tone.
After a few minutes of silence, Amadeus took a deep breath before he could respond to me. "Ever since Sir Blueblood, who was my ancestor, passed away, we members of the Blueblood family believed to be afflicted with a terrible curse that threatens to tear our reputation, our wealth, and our status apart. We all feared that Sir Blueblood left behind this curse. In fact, I was starting to suspect that Princess Celestia's friendship and love for Sir Blueblood is what started this curse. I did tried to show friendship at one point, but it ended horribly for me. My father told me, what his father told him, that the magic of friendship is anything but perfect. It doesn't display any strength, it only displays foolish acts of kindness. I interpret friendship and harmony as crumbling sand that gets blown away by the softness of the wind. Specifically, friendship and harmony doesn't always last forever; it always keep disappearing and reappearing, breaks up in different directions, and is completely disorganized. However, the only thing I believe right now is the unity of my family because it won't disappear that easily like friendship does. Instead, unity represents strength in my point of view. It also points out a very straight line that won't break apart that easily. Since I'm the only sole heir to the Blueblood family, I have to do whatever it takes, in my power, to keep my family and all of Equestria alive, as well as keeping every pony in line. When I met Princess Celestia for the first time, I thought it was okay to study under her wing and learn about the joy and happiness that she has spread throughout Equestria. However, when I got closer to her, this is what I learned from Princess Celestia: She maybe wise, powerful, tactful, and benevolent but her overconfidence and her naive behavior has led to a couple of mishaps and downfalls. In fact, most of the royal decisions that Celestia makes were anything but right. She may have brought Twilight Sparkle as her prize pupil after Sunset Shimmer left Equestria, but she didn't teach Twilight on how to make the right decisions for the country. She thinks she can let Twilight take over as the new ruler of Equestria after teaching her everything that Princess Celestia knows and after how much lessons Twilight has been taught in Ponyville. However, just like her mentor before her, Twilight doesn't always make the right decisions for me or any of us. When she let Discord loose again after his 1000 years of imprisonment before starting his reformation and accepted Princess Luna's apology after her 1000 years of exile, despite of her betrayal when she unleashed her dark power as Nightmare Moon, I know now that Princess Celestia can't be trusted anymore. I did my best to stop any pony or any creature from getting in her way, yet she repays me by throwing in her lot with them. In fact, I can't let her have Twilight inherit the Equestrian throne either. Her intent of helping Twilight Sparkle in establishing racial community with other species apart from our pony brethren is just going to make things uneasy for me to settle in Canterlot, for instance. When Princess Celestia picked Twilight as her successor to rule over Equestria as their newest princess and when Twilight vowed to create a Golden Age of Democracy in Equestria, I cannot put any faith in Princess Celestia anymore. After all, every ruler always have its dead ends, whether they're good or bad. Twilight could've stepped down from her royal position when she had the chance but oh no!! Since I underestimated her reforms with citizenry, she refused to give it up because of how most of her friends were supporting her decisions. I always thought that Princess Celestia had abandoned me and my family by choosing Princess Twilight over us. Well, because of how Princess Celestia raised Twilight Sparkle, rather than being raised by her birth parents, I always had serious doubts about Twilight's future, about how much power is she gaining as an alicorn princess, and how it would affect my family pride. I mean, she can't expect me to accept and bow down to low-life ponies like Twilight Sparkle. She doesn't even have any royal family bloodline; Only me and my family do!!!"
I'm still unconvinced that Twilight is a threat towards Equestria, despite what Amadeus said to me. "So what if Twilight doesn't have any royal family bloodline. Do I look like I care if she doesn't? She wasn't the only member in her family that had what it takes to become a royal despite the lack of such lineage. She told me that her brother Shinning Armour became a Prince after he married Princess Cadence. Without further a due, he already made a good life ruling over the Crystal Empire by helping Princess Cadence spread love towards its inhabitants. As for Twilight, she already had ponies that supported her reign without giving it another thought. She even had the authority to form her own kingdom of friends back at Ponyville, as their one and only Princess of Friendship. I don't have any good reasons not to support her decisions anymore. Besides, she's not just my teacher, she was like a sister to me. I'm really grateful that I'm able to get to know her more better than like last time when she first entered my village. If I hadn't met Twilight Sparkle, I would never be able to fully understand the magic of friendship like she did. So, whatever false images you're painting Twilight as, my response will only be this: NO!! I WON'T BELIEVE THAT!!!" I shouted to Amadeus while defending Twilight's legacy.
"Then you are more like Twilight Sparkle than I thought, a fool." Amadeus responded to me in a deep, sharp tone.
I can't stand it with Amadeus throwing all those venomous lies at me and Twilight anymore. So, I angrily started to charge up my horn and made an aggressive battling posture. I was ready to aim my magic at Amadeus.
"What are you going do now, try to kill me?" Amadeus taunted me.
"I would certainly like to!!!" I snarled at him, not even thinking about what would Queen Cicada would do if she sees me use my magic on Amadeus. This maybe a reckless decision to make, but if she were to attack me next, then I would take her down with me.
"Even if you think you can, it will not bring Twilight Sparkle back from the dead; neither will it halt the big game that I have already planned years prior." Amadeus anticipated.
"What big game? What are you talking about?" I asked bluntly as I canceled out my magic. I felt pretty hesitant of taking him down after what Amadeus just said to me.
"I wouldn't push it if I were you, girl!!" Amadeus grunted at me with a smirk on his face. "Questions like that is just going to get a pony killed!!!"
I was left speechless by what Amadeus said. I still have yet to understand where he is getting at. I'm thinking that before I can stop him, I do need to know what I'll be up against first, rather than just him or Queen Cicada. As soon as I figure that out, I may need to find a way on how to stop their evil scheme before it even starts.
"I'll let you go for now, but know this: I have no intention of letting my son Prince Blueblood, Twilight Sparkle, or Princess Celestia rule over Equestria. So by eliminating Twilight Sparkle, this is just the first step that I made in order to carry out the big game. My son has already served his purpose of assassinating Princess Twilight. So as of right now, I have no use for him anymore. I already made preparations in selecting a much more better, suitable candidate to take over Equestria as their new ruler. I won't tell you who, it's a secret that I have up in my hoofs and you probably will not live to tell the tale if you keep denying us." Amadeus told me before he and Queen Cicada walked towards that portal that they both came out from.
"Eliminating Twilight Sparkle?!" I thought to myself. I bet Amadeus is also the one who order Prince Blueblood and Gallant Heart carry out the death of Twilight Sparkle but how can I prove to all of that to Princess Celestia? I mean, how is it that Amadeus was able to get away with murdering Twilight in Canterlot, without getting caught? How is it that he did not face Princess Celestia at the trial like his son and Gallant Heart did?? And who, in Equestria, is Amadeus doing all of this for?? For some reason, this fiend is actually even more cunning and more manipulative than I was in my past life.
"You haven't seen the last of us, Starlight Glimmer. If we ever meet again, you better brace yourself because we won't show you any mercy next time." Queen Cicada warned me in a jeering voice before she disappeared through the portal. Before Amadeus disappeared into the portal, something snapped inside of me. I have one last thing to say to him before I let him leave.
"Amadeus Blueblood!!" I shouted at him with the top of my lungs. "This isn't over. Even if I can't bring Twilight Sparkle back from dead, like what you said, I'll still find a way to avenge her someday, even if it kills me."
After a few minutes of silence, Amadeus stopped and took a deep breath before leaving behind a few parting words, though he didn't bother looking back at me before responding. "Good luck, Starlight Glimmer." That was the last thing he said to me before he disappeared through the portal, along with the rest of the spells that he had cast in the Memorial Gardens.
As I sat down on the ground, I was trembling in fear by everything that Amadeus said to me recently. It took me a couple of minutes before I came back to my senses. As I got back on my hooves again, Sunburst appeared out of nowhere.
"Starlight, there you are. Where have you been?" Sunburst asked me. "I've been looking all over for you."
"Um, I just wanted to pay my last respects for Princess Twilight, that's all." I answered to Sunburst while sweating nervously. I did not want to let Sunburst get involved with the conversation I had with Amadeus, so I responded by making a statement that doesn't arouse any suspicion. I was afraid that if I dragged Sunburst into what I went through with Amadeus, I'm sure he'll never live it down either. Consequently, they might end up hurting him too, the way they hurt Twilight, her family, her friends, and her coltfriend Flash Sentry. So, I did my best not to tell Sunburst anything about Amadeus Blueblood.
"Okay, I understand." Sunburst acknowledged. "I know you probably wanted to seek forgiveness from Twilight for not being there for her before she was assassinated. Though, there won't be anything we can do for her anymore. I'm sure she wants all of us to move on with the rest of our lives, than rather suffer after her loss."
"I know, Sunburst." I replied. "I just wish that I had an assistant mentor that will help guide me toward friendship."
"Don't worry, Starlight. You still got me as a friend." Sunburst spoke in a sympathetic tone. "If you need my help with anything, I'll be at the Crystal Empire."
"Thank you, Sunburst." I said as I hugged him. "I hope we can both carry out Twilight Sparkle's Democratic Reformation for her someday."
"I''m sure we will, my dear." Sunburst replied as he hugged me back. Before I knew it, I started kissing him on the cheek during our embrace but he didn't mind. Instead, he smiled at me because he actually cared about me even more than anything else. After all, we've known each other for a very long time, even before we met Twilight.
After I released him from my embrace, he galloped out of the Memorial Gardens and waved goodbye at me before he disappeared.
After I smiled and waved back at Sunburst before he left, I turned around to face Twilight who is still in her coffin. Before I could say anything, I took a deep breath as I pressed my hoof on the glass coffin lid that Twilight was sealed in. "I'm so sorry, Twilight. You were right about Amadeus. He cannot be reasoned with. In fact, he didn't just threatened you, he almost threatened me with my life as well. I wish I was there for you when they brought you back to Canterlot. If only Princess Celestia was there to stop him. Don't fret Twilight. After all that you did for me until to this very day, I promise you that I will find a way to make it up to you, someday. Good bye, Twilight Sparkle. I'll never forget everything that you have done for me when I became your student." That was the last thing I said to my teacher before I turned away, with tears coming out of my eyes.
I made my way out of the Memorial Gardens. Before I went back to my village, I stopped by at the palace library in Canterlot, and then to Twilight's Castle Library in Ponyville, to gather some supplies, magic spell books, and scrolls. I'm doing this because I wanted to go back in time again. Hopefully, I'll succeed like last time and as soon as I enter the past, I will find Twilight Sparkle and save her from being assassinated again. After I'm done gathering the things I need to perform the time travel spell, I took a long trek all the way back home to the former village of equals. I don't know when will Amadeus be back to finish up where he had left off in Equestria, but I hope I can achieve my goal of changing back time before this would happen.