Everfree Forest Fifth hour
During the past five hours Shining had introduced Celestia to some of his comrades; a zebra that lived in the forest: Zecora, a griffin named Gilda and a changeling named Thorax that had deserted his hive in hope of finding better ways of action for them to feed. He managed to get the Princess's trust and got her to drink a potion brewed by Zecora so that she would have no trouble speaking modern equestrian.
But now he found himself running after her. He had told her about how the government changed but he had yet to tell her the way society changed and the military structure because as soon as she found out there was a village nearby she took off. She obviously expected to be welcomed back as a long awaited savior and unfortunately that was not the case; instead she was headed straight to village with Night Guards and the Admiral herself.
He needed to hurry before something bad happens, but Celestia was much faster.
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Ponyville: Town Hall Fifteen minutes to the sixth hour
Almost all of the town, as well as the tourists that had arrived about an hour ago to be present at the main point in the celebration, had gathered already and was waiting for the Young Princess to begin the celebration, this would be the first time she would start the festivities and nopony wanted to miss it.
However there was one mare that could not relax; Lyra had yet to find Bonbon and she was getting worried, she hadn't seen her in almos a day. Maybe in another situation she wouldn't worry but given the circumstances she should have already seen her.
Without much notice, three cloaked ponies arrived at town hall.
Pinkie then started ranting to some random tourist next to her, "Isn't this exciting? Are you excited, 'cause I'm excited, I've never been so excited." The nervous tourist just smiled and nodded.
Eventually the CCS activated and Fluttershy's birds started whistling and Mayor Mare stepped up to the platform. "Fillies and gentlecolts, as mayor of Ponyville, it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of the Night Crown Celebration!" Every pony cheered to the announcement. "In just a few moments, our town will host the magic of the night which, as always, will be signaled by filling the sky with the beautiful stars and their constellations." The birds then started singing to present the royal. "And now, it is my great honor to introduce you to the Young Princess of the land, daughter of the ruler of our land, Princess Twilight Sparkle." Rarity opened the curtains to the small balcony and there stood Twilight with her full regalia.
My loyal subjects I am honored to not only having the privilege of, for my fist time, starting the celebration that marks the beginning of spring and my mother's rise to the throne, but also the one that celebrates a millennia of peace under our Princess's rule." After her speech the pegasi in the room withdrew the curtains from the windows and the unicorns removed the top of town hall so everypony could see the sky. "Now, as tradition goes, I will fill the sky with the constellations that decorate it."
"You're not doing anything!" Everypony turned their attention to see who had said that, the answer was a pony with a cloak held by a pin with sun and copper horseshoes, behind her were two others dressed in equal manner. Every pony slowly walked back not daring to get close, they knew who they were, the Solar Soldiers, they had been a major cause of trouble for the last five years in their attempts to overthrow 'Nightmare Moon'. These ponies were part of a group that had believed Celestia's lies and for generations passed on said lies as if they were true leading to the current generation that had mysterious leader who had the ability to organize the group that was formerly a bunch of scattered ponies into an army.
Twilight used her magic to levitate herself off the balcony and her two Night Guards flanked her. "Solars. Not surprising you would try to ruin this celebration. Reveal yourselves!"
The head of the group gave a small 'tch' and the three removed their cloaks. Upon seeing the mares all the locals gave a collective 'gasp' as, while they didn't recognize the two unicorns, they recognized the cream colored earth pony that was wearing a pair of darkglasses, a local mare Bonbon. Twilight recognized the other two mares as her former 'friends' Lemmon Hearts and Twinkleshine.
"So," Twilight said as she faced the unicorns, "one time in the dungeons wasn't enough for you and you have come back. No problem, I will make sure you two go back along with your new ally."
Lemmon and Twinkleshine cringed at Twilight's words. The cream colored mare that Twilight didn't recognize stepped to the front. "They're not going anywhere and neither are you."
"Hmm. And who might you be?"
It was then when Lyra headed to the front of the crowd. "Bonbon? Is that really you? Why are you doing this?"
"I'm sorry Lyra, maybe in other circumstances we could've been friends. But now, I'm here to do what needs to be done. My name is Sweetie Drops."
Lyra recoiled in tears at those words, how was she supposed to react she thought she was her mare friend. Twilight eyes went from a calm an collected look to one of anger. "YOU!... How dare you treat my friend like that! You lied to her and used her! She trusted you and cared for you! Earlier she was worried about why you hadn't showed up. Now, you're going to pay for what you've done!" She then turned to the two pegasi beside her. "Guards, capture the two escapees. I'll deal with this jerk."
Sweetie responded, "We'll see who deals with who."
The two pegasi Guards took to the air while the two unicorn Solders shot magic beams that were easily maneuvered through by the two sky ponies. Meanwhile, Sweetie Drops charged against Twilight tackling her and throwing her back but Twilight quickly recovered and shot a beam of magic at her opponent. While this was happening the other pairs had begun hoof to hoof combat. Eventually the two unicorns were victorious against their opponents and turned to Twilight who was overpowering the earth pony by using ability enhancer spells; the two charged their horns and just before the royal landed a blow on their comrade, they fired their spell. It wasn't an offensive spell, but rather, a trapper spell leaving Twilight tied up in two magic rings.
Once Twilight was fully subdued against a wall Sweetie Drops pulled out a locket that was hidden in her robe and when she opened it, inside was a charm that would trap her in a small bubble and freeze her in time. "You seriously didn't think you could defeat us that easily, did you? We have been making preparations for this day for half a decade and even if I had failed then at least my comrades sent to defeat the Commanders would have reduced the number of enemies. You had no chance to begin with, and when only Luna is left it won't be long until the sun rises once again."
Twilight remained calm and simply closed her eyes. "It seems you are underestimating your opponent." She then opened her eyes which were now lit white and a wave of magic crossed the room causing the two rings that were restraining her to disappear.
Sweetie turned around to see that Lemmon Hearts and Twinkleshine had fallen to the ground and when one of them tried to touch their horn, which were now glowing red, she immediately removed her hoof as the slightest touch on the horn stung like if they had broken a bone. "What did you do to them?"
"I jus used an inhibitor spell. Now they wont be able to use their magic for at least a day." Twilight then proceded to lift the earth pony off the ground using her magic leaving her unable to do anything. Meanwhile the two pegasi proceeded to arrest the unicorns.
Sweetie had to give it to her, the Solars had most definitely not prepared for this. It seem that the Admiral had never used all her magic arsenal in the previous encounters against her. It was all beginning to look hopeless when a loud voice suddenly overtook the Town Hall.
"EVERYPONY STOP!" The voice came from none other than Celestia herself.