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// Chapter 7: The Punishment, The Other Two Little Ponies and The Rouge Princess 
// Story: Nothing Special 
// by hironakamura 
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With the return of the Two Sisters, the sun can now set once more and the moon can rise in its place. A few days had passed since the events that took place in Canterlot. As the sun rises for another morning, the pony citizens of the ivory towered city begin to rebuild their homes and their lives.

Inside Canterlot Castle, in a large circular room with tall stained glass windows, well decorated ceiling and carpeted marble floor, the unicorn mare, Starlight, sits in the center. She is surrounded by four imposing marble seats decorated with gold trims and silk fabric. Each seat is occupied by an alicorn princess. The Princess of the Sun, Celestia, the Princess of the Moon, Luna, the Princess of Love, Cadence and the Princess of Friendship, Twilight.

Starlight raises her head and addresses the alicorns with dignity. "I'm ready to accept whatever consequences my actions have caused. You may proceed."

Celestia looks at the other alicorns. They all nod to her. Celestia looks at the little unicorn pony in the center of the room. "Starlight. For laying waste to Canterlot, for harming innocent ponies and above all, for causing harm to the Two Sisters with your magic, you are hereby sentenced with indefinite banishment taking effect upon the first moon rise."

"I am sorry, Starlight." Said Luna, regretful in her tone. "This is our way and we must follow it. An assault against the Two Sisters is punishable by banishment. We understand and take in to account the former changeling queen's involvement. However, a thousand years ago, when Nightmare Moon first appeared, even I was not above this law."

Starlight lowers her head humbly.

"Starlight, let me start off by saying I'm proud to have you as my student. And I'll always be your teacher..." Twilight glances at Cadence briefly. Cadence nods back to Twilight and she smiles. Twilight leaps off of her high imposing seat. She flys down and lands before Starlight. "Because even though after you're banished, you're still gonna be my student. Can't get away from me that easily." She added jabbing Starlight with a hoof.

"What?" Starlight asked, surprised and eyes wide.

Cadence giggles and follows Twilight. She leaps off her high seat and lands beside Starlight with a smile. "The rule must be followed. You caused harm to the Two Sisters so we have to banish you but that doesn't mean we don't have a say *where* to banish you to."

Twilight hugs Starlight warmly. "Ooooh! I am so going to miss you. Don't worry. I've already made arrangements to move your personal belongings. Just promise you're going to write to me each chance that you get. Or else, I'm gonna visit you and embarrass you in front of all of your friends."

"Wait a second. Visit me? Where exactly am I being banished to?" Starlight asked, gently pushing Twilight away from her personal space.

"Hatchlings need to leave the nest if they want to learn to spread their wings." Celestia smiles and respectfully bows to Starlight. "When Twilight was my student, I treated her no differently. I sent her away to learn things on her own pace and to find her own identity. Now as Twilight's student, it is your turn to find your own way to grow and to be who you are."

"We have never seen such magical ability since the days of our mentor, Starswirl." Added Luna, respectfully lowering her head to Starlight. "We will watch your progress as a sorceress very closely."

Cadence places a hoof on Starlight's shoulder. "The trains leaving from Canterlot are still not operational. I would really recommend that you allow me to give you a ride to your new home."

"My new home?" Starlight asked.

Cadence nods. "Your punishment is indefinite banishment to the once cursed isolated city at Equestria's end also known as the Crystal Empire." Cadence begins to lead Starlight out of the room. "I know its not as peaceful as your typical slice of life pony village and the empire is usually a magnet for all manner of magical monsters and disasters but I think for someone with your talents, you'll fit right in."

Twilight follows them cheerfully. "And its better than being banished to the moon for a thousand years, right? Right?"

Starlight walks with the two alicrons, speechless and feeling beside herself with confusion and relief.

***

Night falls at the Crystal Empire. The crystal structures and crystal streets glow with various colors of soft light like natural lamps and light posts that illuminate the city at night. At the arch way entrance of the castle, the unicorn pony, Trixie, sits in front and observes a spinning heart shaped crystal object on a spire.

She continues to stare at the spinning heart shaped object, unblinking. "So this little thing is what's keeping the whole Crystal Empire and its surrounding land from being eaten by the Frozen North. For something so important, its displayed for every pony to see. What if some pony accidentally knocks it over and shatters it or something?"

"I know, right?" Said a familiar voice from behind the unicorn. "Crystal ponies really like that thing. I've been living here for a couple of years now and all I can say is seeing that thing makes them happy."

Trixie turns around to see the pegasus pony, Flash. He sits beside her. Trixie's face lights up as if suddenly remembering something. "Hey. Trixie's been meaning to ask you about something. Your coat and your mane, they're not like the other Crystal Guards. Trixie wants to know why."

"Well, I am not a native crystal pony." Flash explained proudly. "I'm just an ordinary pegasus pony from Cloudsdale. In fact, I'm the only non-native Crystal Guard."

"So how'd you end up with this gig?" Trixie asked.

"Hm. Lemme see. How can I put this?" Flash strains to concentrate, looking for the right words to say. "I've always wanted to be a Canterlot Sky Guard. But after failing the entrance exam for the umpteenth time, the Crystal Empire reappeared from its thousand year curse of banishment. Then Captain Shinng Armor recommended me as a Crystal Guard instead. And now I'm here."

"Oh." Trixie looks surprised. "For a high ranking personal guard to Princess Flurry Heart, that's not what Trixie was expecting. "

"Did you think I was special because I'm the sole Crystal Guard of Princess Flurry Heart? Nah, I'm basically the runt." Flash said, laughing. "It wasn't what I wanted too. At first, living here didn't feel right. Like I didn't belong but after I met Sunburst, well, things got way easier. Its amazing what a difference a single friend can make."

"Hm. Trying to find a place where you belong... Trixie knows how that feels." She looks away from Flash and continues to stare at the spinning crystal heart before them. A moment of silence passes as Trixie thinks to herself but her thoughts were interrupted.

"So where are you headed now?" Asked Flash.

"Back to Canterlot. Just waiting for the trains to start running again." Answered Trixie.

Flash gently pokes Trixie with a hoof on her shoulder getting her to look at him. "I heard you used a teleportation spell all the way from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire. That was pretty-"

"Dumb?" She interrupted, rolling her eyes.

Flash shakes his head and smiles. "Nah, dood. I was gonna say hardcore. I don't know a lot of ponies who throws caution to the wind like that. You're very brave."

"You liked that huh? You should see one of Trixie's shows." She smiles back at him and bows gracefully. "The Great and Powerful Trixie is a show pony. She travels from town to town performing magic shows for ponies of all ages to enjoy." Trixie gets up and straightens her bow tie. "Its not as epic as fighting monsters or saving empires but its a living."

"Wow." Flash's face lights up. "I've never heard of your show. How come you've never performed in the Crystal Empire before?"

"The Crystal Empire's too far away to travel on hoof. All of Trixie's gear is in her house and when she means house, its that shack on wheels she pulls around all over the place. If only trains allow her carriage maybe Trixie can put on a show here." She explained, scratching the back of her head.

Flash leaps up in the air and hovers around Trixie with his wings. "It may be too far for you but not for me. If you let me pull your carriage, I can fly it across the sky. Flying from Canterlot to the Crystal Empire's no big deal. I've done it a couple of times and even with a carriage on my back, its cake."

The unicorn pony curiously looks up to the hovering pegasus pony. "Why would you do something like this for Trixie?"

Flash lands beside Trixie and places a hoof on her shoulder. "You travel all over Equestria by your lonesome self, spreading joy and happiness with your magic shows to ponies you don't even know. That's *not* nothing at all." Flash spreads his wings and points to them. "See these things? They're not special. They'll never make a rainboom or anything important like that but if you let them help you spread that joy and happiness a little further, at the very least they can do something special."

The two of them look at each other for a few of seconds. Trixie begins to feel teary eyed and  choked up. She turns away and shakes off the feeling. She turns to Flash again and smiles. "Trixie is happy to accept your offer."

***

A mulberry colored alicorn mare spends her evening quietly at her study. Several scrolls litter her wooden oak desk. Half melted candles and lamps with gold glowing crystals lights her surroundings. Among the shelves packed with hundreds of books, the alicorn Princess of Friendship, intensely studies the scrolls before her.

A small purple dragon carrying a pillow enters the alicorn's study. He walks up to the alicron. "Hey, Princess Sparkle face. What're you doing?"

"I missed you too, my brave and glorious Spike." Twilight replied. She turns to Spike and levitates him with her magic. She places Spike by her side and snuggles the little dragon. "I'm studying copies of the spells Sunburst composed for Starlight and... I've never seen anything like these before. Especially the one Starlight used to defeat Chrysalis."

Spike leans forward trying to look at the scrolls and all he sees are arcane writing he cannot understand. "Really? That sounds boring. C'mon, lets go to bed."

Twilight ignores Spike's comment. "Did you know Sunburst's Chain Binding spell only works on alicorns? Or that his Empathy spell can only take effect on a subject once in forever? Since the Empathy spell was already cast on Chrysalis, it'll never work on her again. Ever! You saw it cast first hoof, right? How was it?"

"Well..." Spike rubs his chin with a claw, thinking to remember. "It wasn't what I was expecting. Nothing epic at all. Chrysalis got hit by the spell, it made her sad and then she went away. I'm not complaining, though. It saved our lives but what kind of spell is designed to make bad guys sad?"

Twilight wraps a hoof around Spike's body and pulls him closer. "Spells are like songs, Spike. Starlight has a very good singing voice while Sunburst is a very good composer." She points to the Empathy Spell scroll on her desk. "Look at this spell. When wizards compose spells, they use an aspect called a Deep Exception to make compositions more pronounced for their casters."

Spike scratches his head. "I don't get it."

"Alright. Take a basic levitation spell, for example." Twilight's horn glows with raspberry light. She uses her magic to levitate a nearby book and starts moving it around. "Any unicorn can use it to manipulate any object. A unicorn can use a levitation spell on a broom to sweep the floor, right?" She levitates the book into a shelf and neatly inserts it among other books.

"But now consider a Room Cleaning Spell." Twilight once again gathers magic into her horn. She points her horn at a book shelf and enchants it. All the books from the shelf magically fly out and start floating around on their own. All the books then rearrange themselves in order and re-shelve themselves once more. "When its cast on a messy room, the room cleans itself autonomously without conscious control from the caster. Its better at cleaning rooms than moving a broom yourself but the spell can only ever be used to *clean rooms.* Nothing more."

Spike rolls his eyes. "Okay... So a levitation spell on a broom can be used to clean a messy room while a Room Cleaning spell is better at the job but its specific to only cleaning rooms?"

Twilight grins enthusiastically at Spike. "Yup. That's an example of a tier one Deep Exception.  The deeper the exception on a spell, the more pronounced its effects become. Any spell that uses a *Forever Condition* is a tier five." 

Twilight uses her magic to roll and levitate all the scrolls before her. "Sunburst's Empathy spell is the first tier five I've ever seen created in modern Equestrian times. He made this spell specifically with Starlight in mind and her feelings at heart." She smiles and embraces all the scrolls with a light blush on her face.

Spike crosses his arms. "I know I'll regret asking but why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I'm not prepared, Spike. They grow up so fast." Twilight pulls Spike's face close to hers. "I admit, my magical knowledge has reached its limit to be much of a challenge for Starlight's still growing abilities. And Sunburst doesn't have the ability to test out the limits of his own increasing magical creativity. But now that they're studying together, there's no telling what kinds of magic they'll come up with."

Spike pushes Twilight away. "They're not gonna open a portal to oblivion and get sucked in. Only some sick pony like you would worry about something like that."

Twilight stands up and leaves her desk. She starts pacing around the study room. "Spike, I'm sending you on an important assignment. I need you to go to the Crystal Empire and check in on Starlight at least once a week. I mean, she's gonna need your help to send me her letters anyway so-"

"Starlight's gonna think you don't trust her." Spike interrupted, rolling his eyes.

Twilight throws herself at Spike, prone in front of him with wide eyes. "Of course I trust her. When it comes to magic, Starlight and Sunburst are the last ponies I expect to do dumb things but still... I wanna know if... I need to be ready... For their future, Spike." She leans her face even closer, making Spike back away. "Their future!"

Spike palms his own face with a claw and groans. "Fine. I'll go to the Crystal Empire this weekend."