//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Silent Night // by cerealkiller78 //------------------------------// Principal Celestia exited the hospital and went to her car. She sat for a long time inside, shaken up by what the other Celestia had said. What was she supposed to do? The students who had taken part in this had as good as ended their own lives, and there was nothing that she, a high school principal could do. Where was she supposed to go from here? She figured she should be trying to do something to save her school from Cinch's petition, but she couldn't have cared less about her school in that moment. Too many emotions were flooding her mind. She put her head on her steering wheel and sobbed. ....................................... About another hour passed inside the hospital room. Princess Celestia stood up finally. "Let's go Twilight." She said simply. Twilight didn't argue. They made their way past the now empty waiting room, and out of the hospital. Twilight had told Aria to return home earlier, so it was just her and the princess that waled back to the school in silence. Celestia passed through the portal, followed close behind by Twilight. Upon arrival in Twilight's castle, Celestia regained her bearings and called out. "Discord!! Come to me!" There was a moment of silence, before a flash, and the master of chaos appeared, in a night gown, yawning. "Seriously Celly, what am I, a dog that you tell me to come to you? I am a free dracconeques. A free dracconeques mind you, that is trying to get some sleep, so if you don't mind..." He was about to teleport himself away, but Celestia stopped him. "This won't take long." She reassured. "I need you to teleport thirty high school students from the human world to the Canterlot dungeon in shackles. They are currently being held at the Canterlot prison on the other side of the portal. I also need that world's version of Rainbow Dash as well." Discord let out a tired yawn. "That's a lot of people to teleport at 2:00 AM Celly..." "Just do it Discord." Celestia said, annoyed. Discord groaned. "thirty high shool students coming right up...Plus an alternate Rainbow Dash." He said tiredly. .................................................. Rainbow sat in her cell on the bed cot, with her head in her hands.She had come to the police station and turned herself in after seeing Sunset. They set her up in this cell where she would stay until a hearing was arranged for her, and the other students. She didn't care what the sentence would be. She knew that whatever it turned out to be, she deserved it. She felt something tingling her suddenly. Something unnatural. "Wha-" Before she could even think, the jail cell was gone, and in its place was something far less pleasant. A dark dirty cell, with no running water, no toilet, or anywhere to do business, and a dirt floor with no place to sleep. She stumbled back at the new scene in front of her, wondering how this waspossible, and tripped over her own feet, falling to the floor. She tried raising her hand to her face, but found that she could not. She looked down to see what was stopping her, and her face paled. Around her legs were shackles that were keeping her restrained. But that was not what caused her distress, for when she looked at her feet, they were not feet at all...but hooves...four hooves... Rainbow screamed. She felt a pair of something on her back that wasn't there before, but couldn't see what they were, as they were also tied down to prevent her from using them, whatever they were. Rainbow was hyperventilating. Keep it together Dash! She told herself. You're not losing it... She tried to think of some possible explanation to all of this. How do I have hooves?? Hooves like a horse! This isn't- She stopped, the lights suddenly coming on for her. "No..." She whispered. "It can't be..." ............................... Discord yawned again. "Thirty students, and Rainbow Dash in the Canterlot Dungeon... Are you happy now? Can I get back to sleep like everypony else in this world?.." "Yes, that will be all. Thank you Discord." "Don't mention it..." With that, he was gone, a cloud of Z's being left behind. Celestia turned to Twilight. "Go to bed Twilight. I am going to have a long night." Twilight knew what Celestia was talking about, and she didn't want to get in her way. Celestia meant business. Twilight backed up, and Celestia teleported away. ....................................... Gilda had been in the slammer multiple times, though not for anything this serious, but still, she was pretty used to the dull setting of her cell. She was currently sleeping on her cot, dreaming of, and reliving her glory days at CHS, before Sunset came and took over. But suddenly, there was a tingling sensation that brought her out of her sleep with a startled snort. "Huh?.." She looked around in the dark, when suddenly, the cot disappeared from under her, and she found herself on the floor... a dirt floor. "OW! Hey! What gives??" She realized she was now sitting on dirt, in a much dirtier cell than before, with no place to sleep this time. "Yo coppers! Anybody want to tell me what the he-" She tripped over her own feet when she tried to stand, landing herself on the floor. She came to the realization that she now had shackles on. "WHAT THE?!!" She screamed. But not from the shackles. She realized her hands were no longer hands... but lion paws. She also felt something unnatural on her back. A pair of something that were strapped down to her sides. "What is going on??" She cried. "Allow me to shed some light..." A new voice answered before there was a flash of light, and a regal looking pony was suddenly in front of her. Wait...pony? Gilda thought, after recovering from the shock that this... pony had just appeared out of nowhere. "You are in Canterlot, Equestria." "Eques-" Gilda's jaw dropped. "No way..." But just then, she caught a glimpse of the pony's rump, bearing a picture that Sunset had called a cutiemark when talking of Equestria. This pony's cutiemark was a sun. a sun... She thought, as the lights slowly came on Oh...snap. She looked back at the pony in front of her. "H-Hey look... I don't want any trouble..." She stuttered. "You don't want any trouble?.." Celestia feigned surprise. "So, it's ok for you to hand out trouble, but it's not so easy for you to be on the recieving end of said trouble?.." Gilda carefully backed up to the wall. "Tell me... do you know who I am?" Celestia questioned. "...no..." Gilda answered hesitantly. "I'm the ruler of this dimension." She said simply. Gilda paled. "Ruler?.." Let me give you a lesson on cutiemarks. They are like snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. They are all unique. But a sun is a special mark here in Equestria, because, as you can see, it is the mark that I bear." Gilda didn't notice the action, but her own ears went down as her fear grew. "Abuse of this mark is not something that is taken lightly here... But ponies themselves are more valuable than any cutiemark... and abuse of my ponies is the one thing I do not tolerate." Gilda could almost feel herself getting smaller. "You... Along with your "friends", have commited both of these acts. First and foremost, you have abused one of my ponies, and secondly, you annd your friends have abused my cutiemark. "But it's not your cutiemark!" Gilda found her voice to protest. Celestia's demeanor grew dark. "Sunset is my student, and my daughter... It IS my cutiemark." Gilda shut up after that. "From now on, this will be your home." She gestured to the dank cell. "You're going to be here a long time..." With that, she disappeared once more, in a flash of light. ........................................... Rainbow was pacing the small cell as much as the shackles would allow, after getting a feel for her new legs. "I'm in Equestria..." She whispered in shock. "I have to be... What other explanation is there for all this?.." She stopped in thought. "Maybe I'm dreaming...Ya! That's it! This is all just a dream..." "Oh, I assure you, it is NOT a dream." A voice suddenly answered her, and a pony appeared in front of her. Dash stumbled back in shock "W-Who-" "I think you know exactly who I am." Celestia cut her off. "...Princess... Celestia?.." Rainbow asked hesitantly. Celestia glared at her. "Woe to you, Rainbow Dash. You've destroyed yourself and you will never leave this cell again. Your days will be dark, and your nights, darker. You showed Sunset no mercy, and so it will also be for you." Dash gulped in fear. Celestia turned to leave, before a bit of hay appeared out of nowhere. "Better get used to it. It's all you'll be getting to eat here." ...................................... Celestia teleported herself into the next cell, with the next student pony who freaked out at seeing her. "Where am I?? What's going on??" He struggled to gain control of his new legs. "You're in Equestria." Celestia monotoned. "A dungeon to be exact." "Eque- Why am I here??" "I think you know why..." She materialized a branding iron with her magic. He stumbled back as she levitated the hot end toward him. "N-No! Don't!!" He cowered in the corner as the iron levitated inches away from him. "Not so tough after all, are you?.." Celestia said bitterly, before removing it, much to his relief. "I really should use it... you had no problem using it yourself..." Celestia turned and walked away, before teleporting out of the cell, leaving the frightened pony trembling in fear. ........................................... "Twiliiiight!!" Pinkie's overactive voice woke Twilight up the next morning as she banged on her door. Her Pinkie... She had to remind herself. She couldn't be mad at Pinkie, or the others on this side of the portal. Twilight went to the door, which suddenly slammed open. "Twilight! My pinkie senses were tingling and told me that a bunch of people from the mirror world are now on this side of the portal!! Who? Why? When did they get here? Where are they? Why are they here??" Twilight facehoofed. She should have known she couldn't hide this from Pinkie's uncanny senses. "Pinkie, calm down." "I can't calm down! I'm nervouscited!" "Pinkie, this really isn't something to celebrate, or be excited about." Pinkie stopped. "...It's not?" Twilight sighed. "Pinkie... Do you remember when my crown got stolen, and I went into the mirror world to get it back?" "Ya... Sunset Shimmer, wasn't that her name? And after you blasted her, she became good and helped you defeat the sirens, right?.." "That's her." Twilight confirmed. "What about her?.." Pinkie asked. "She..." Twilight hesitated. She didn't want to traumatize Pinkie's innocent mind with details. "...Some bad people on that side of the portal hurt her really bad... We brought the people responsible over here to lock them up." Pinkie's hair deflated. "They...hurt her?" "Ya Pinkie..." Twilight said quietly. "Is she...ok?" Pinkie asked. Twilight sighed. "She's in the hospital on that side." "Well let's go! I mean, I know I'm not supposed to go through, but I'm sure just this once you could make an acception..." "I really wish I could Pinkie... But I really can't right now..." Pinkie's hopes dropped. "Oh...ok." Twilight didn't mention that the reason she couldn't go through, was because of their counterpart's hands in all this. She didn't need to know... none of them needed to know. Pinkie left shortly after. Twilight was about to go through the portal once more, when her dragon companion walked into the room. "Twilight! I haven't seen you since Aria contacted you with Sunset's journal... So, how'd it go over there?" Spike...With everything that had happened in so little time, she had almost forgotten about him...How was she supposed to tell him what had happened?.. "Spike..." She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Sunset is dying." Spike paled. "...What? What did they-" "It's not what the sirens did Spike." She cut him off. "...It's what CHS did." She whispered. "CHS?... What happened?" Twilight relayed everything to Spike what had happened, in between fits of sobbing. Spike had never seen Twilight so disoriented before. He held her as she shook with sobs, offering whatever comfort he could. When Twilight was finally able to calm down again, she got up and went to the portal. "I'm going back to the hospital." She said quietly. "Not without me, you're not." Spike went with her to the portal. Twilight didn't argue. She had actually been hoping that Spike would come with her. With her companion at her side, they crossed dimensions once more. ....................................... Twilight had put Spike in her bag to get him inside the hospital. She went to the desk, and they let her go inside. Once inside the room, Spike poked out from the bag, getting his first look at what had become of Sunset. "They...did this?" Spike looked Sunset over, utterly appalled. "Everybody responsible is now in Equestria. Celestia saw to that." "Equestria?.. Might be a little harsh, but right now..." He looked at Sunset again. "I really can't find it in me to argue their case..." Twilight and Spike stayed there for the following hours. It was about three hours past midday when it happened. Sunset began to stir. She moaned as she twitched and strained to get her good eye to open. "Sunset?.." Twilight spoke with hopeful anticipation. Sunset's eye finally fluttered open, and she looked blankly out at the room. "Sunset..." Twilight spoke again, Sunset blinked at the sound of the voice, her eye in a dead stare at the room. "Sunset, it's me...It's Twilight." Sunset's gaze remained dead for a long moment, before her eye finally found Twilight. But Twilight did not know if she was even aware of who she was looking at... or if she would even remember who she was. "Twi...light?" Sunset spoke after a long moment, her voice barely above a whisper. "Yes. Yes Sunset, it's me..." Twilight wasn't sure if she should be relieved or not. Did Sunset even know who that name belonged to anymore?.. "...Twilight." Sunset spoke again, a little more sure of herself this time. "Do...Do you remember who I am?" Twilight asked, fearing the answer. "...Pony?" Sunset sounded unsure of her own answer. If anyone else had been in the room, they would think that Sunset had lost her mind. But Twilight felt only relief at that answer. "Yes...Yes! You remember!" She let out a breath she had been holding in. Sunset looked so exhausted, trying to keep her eye open. "You should rest." She said softly. "I'll be right here." Sunset looked as if she wanted to protest, but within moments, she was out once more.