As Celestia make her way to the dungeons she encounter Ember, who was currently leaning against a wall next to the entrance of it. She had some bandages on her chest and her left arm was inside a cast while suspended in order for it to heal properly.
“Thank you for waiting” Celestia tells with a neutral tone getting her attention.
“Don’t sweat it, your mate needed you there” Ember say leaving the wall and looking at the entrance. “So, how bad is he?”
“Fortunately his injuries weren’t worse than yours, yet he will be incapacitated it for the time being” Celestia answer as she goes ahead and goes throw the door, who was connected to a spiral stone stairs going down, illuminated only by torches on the wall.
“That is good to hear, I saw how some of those morons where aiming at him in specifically, maybe they really had something about him ‘defiling you’” Ember tells making air quotes, and follow her.
“It a strong possibility, unfortunately we will never know”
“Why is that?”
“This stallions were well prepare for this attack, when one of my guards try to interrogate one of them, a dormant spell went off and make his head exploit” She tells with sorrow. “There is a engrave on all of their ears and a scan reveal what I was fearing, the nature of them is unbreakable. All of them have choose death over confession”
“Wow, talking about extremist, so what did you do?”
“Luckily, my advisors and generals know how to work around difficult situations. Using their dental registration and medical history, we manage to uncover their identities, and social circles. It's not much but at the very least we will know who they were, and what draw them into this path” She tells her before looking ahead of herself with a small glare “Now there is only the matter of their punishment”
Ember nod and catch up to her “Took my words right out my mouth, princess” She tell before taking notices of Ivory and then look at Celestia with a raise eyebrow. “Is she the one you told me about?”
“She is but…”
Celestia stop and sign before looking in front of her “…Ember, I know I promise you an explanation about the ‘Fox Judgment’ as well as to why we keep it a secret, from the public but I’m must warn you, it will not be a pleasant image and once you see it, you can’t unsee it” She then turn to Ember “Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want?”
“Celestia, with all do respect, those idiots broke my arm and threaten to take my daughter, I really don’t have time for self doubt or pity, what I want is blood, if this really is worse, then I need to see it personally, otherwise I would not be able to calm myself”
Celestia close her eyes and nod “Very well, just know that what is going to happen will never leave this place and remember, you had the choose to back off” Celestia tell as they keep their march toward a jail cell in the far corner of the dungeon where all twelve attacker were contained. Some even having bandages on their faces or hoofs, to cover burn marks and cuts.
The moment they hear the rulers approach all eyes land on them as Celestia approach the door. “Gentlestallions” Celestia give them a short greeting as Ember growls at them. “Before we continue with this any further I just want to tell you that this puts a heavy burden in…”
Celestia suddenly is interrupted by one of the assassin spitting on her face “Save you silver tongue for your owner ‘princess’” He tells her in anger “Nothing you say will make us regret what we did. You betray us and decided to slept with a lizard!”
“Yeah you are just a traitor”
“Take those words of yours and shove it!” They yell at them as they got rile.
“You think you are safe now, Lizard” Another one looks at Ember “We are everywhere, there is nowhere you can hide, and when we get you, we will make a wallet out of your skin!”
Ember is about to attack but Celestia raise one of her wings to stop her and glare at their prisoners
“I was really hoping that you at least would show some nobility in the end” She tells before cleaning her face and then levitated the golden bell she took from her room. “Guess I was wrong”
One of the prisoner laugh and point at her. “You think that, that will scare us? You don’t have the guts princess, you can’t kill and that overside snake, you call husband with all that glorious laws of ‘freedom’ will never do that either”
“Indeed, we won't” She ring the bell and the room suddenly gets colder, as the laughing soon die down because of the abrupt drop in temperature, soon the torches go out and that particularly section of the dungeon is cover in darkness “Yet that doesn’t mean we don’t know ways of punish those that threaten the crown such as yourself. And this one I find particularly…fitting for your crimes” The torches light up again but this time with a dark flame
Soon Ivory show herself from her hiding place in between Celestia legs and walk toward the cell, yet her body start to transform, her fur turn crimson red, her eyes become darker than the night, and the tip of her tails ignite in a unnatural, black flames identical to the ones on the wall. “One month left. Ebony, have a treat” Celestia commands and the fox in question enter the cell walking throw the space in between the iron bars before pouncing at the stallion that spit on the princess.
Her body becomes intangible and she goes into his chest. For a second nothing happen but then the stallions body ignite in the same black flame as he trash and roll around on the floor. Pure pain showing in his face as the fame grows and growls like its alive. At times parts of Ebony emerge and enter the pony body until his silhouette is reduce to a black moving blob that soon stops moving.
Everyone in the room minus Celestia get pale at the display. “Like you said, my husband law protect the freedom as an absolute, including yours” She levitated the prison keys in front of everyone. “Yet taking a life is taking another freedom away. So yours will be remove too, in other circumstance we have left ten or maybe twenty years remaining, but you…” She drop the keys and harden her glare
“…You try to kill my family, and murder innocent without any remorse”
Like oil Ebony leaves the victim body and when the smoke clears, the only thing remaining is a an old stallion shaking like a leaf and looking like he has a hoof on the grave.
“Just a month remaining will suffice”
Ebony repeat the process as the stallion try to fight or flee from the monster yet, its end up futile as she one by one start to claim their bodies. “Do not worry, once Ebony finish her meal she will give you the keys. You will be free to go. I suggest that you used it to reflex on your actions and try to find atoment on your next life”
Once the last victim is claim, Ebony do as Celestia told her and leave the jail keys on the hoof of one of the stallion, the torches return to their usual color and the ambient return to its natural warm. All of them attacker, now barely conscious try to move, yet their new bodies make the act itself a titanic effort.
“Will this suffice to clench your blood lust Ember?” Celestia ask as she picks Ebony on her hoofs, while say fox purr for a moment before curling on her arm and return back to her original form.
Ember on her part can just gulp and look at the stallions dragging themselves toward her with pleading eyes. “Please…just end it” One of them says, and Ember can’t help but to feel remorse, she extend her claw but Celestia stop her with her magic.
“Don’t”
“Celestia they are dying now, it will be merciful at this…”
“All life is sacred, I will take back what they stole, but I will not end it, that is how things work here” She glare at the ponies once last time before marching away “We are leaving”
Ember look at them one last time before following Celestia. “Mind telling me what did I just watch?” She ask with a serious expression as she notices Ivory and see how she now has 2 blue flames on the tip of her tails.
Celestia stop and sigh as she put the fox closer to her “I suppose I might as well tell you everything” She turn around and look at Ember “Ember, the first thing you need to know is that this fox in front of you and the fox you saw earlier are not the same one”
“Come again?” She ask with a raise eyebrow.
“Tell me, are you familiar with the multiple personality disorder?”
“The condition of two minds sharing a body? Yeah I know of it, what about it?”
Celestia look down at Ivory with a bit of sorrow as she purr on her chest. “When Ivory was born, she had that condition. The sweet and shy Ivory that has trouble open up to others, and is a bit mischievous, and then Ebony, a fox that I could only describe as wild” She look up to look at Ember.
“At first we didn’t exactly knew what to do of things, one moment Ivory was in charge and was seeking attention for Ace, the next Ebony appeared and start to bite guards and maids alike hissing and growling like something out of the everfree forest, to make matter worse, her magic develop earlier and if we haven’t stop her…" Celestia has to close her eyes in sadness and regret "…that poor guard. He really didn’t deserve what happen”
“Did she also took his life energy?” Ember ask with intrigue and Celestia just nod. “We manage to get it back of course, it's…”
“Wait, wow, wow, get it back? Didn't you just say she ate that stuff?” Ember ask confused
“It’s the first law of Newton Ember, energy is energy, as long as she don't swallow it, the life can be pass from a pony and into another, but I will get to that on a second” Celestia resume their walk through the dungeon.
“Anyway, when we discover what she has done, we were scared to say the least, I mean, what do you do with something like this? How do you deal with a infant that did such a horrible act? Everypony was demanding for answers and I was complete lost into what to do.
Luckily, my sweet Acey came to my rescue. The moment, I suggest him to let Ivory go, into the everfree, he just stare me in the face and told me ‘Celestia, I will not give up on her, Ivory needs us more than ever and, tartarus will freeze before I abandon her’. So, surprising even myself he decided to spend the night along with her and try to find the problem”
Celestia smile when she see Ivory lickying her hoof before re adjusing herself against her chest. “After that night, Ebony was named and she has being part of the family”
“So…what did he do, to make her be on your side?”
“Nopony knows, every time anyone ask he change the subject, the only thing he say to me was ‘I would not made the same mistake that Victor did’ to this day I still don’t know who Victor and what did he had to do on this ordeal but Kaiser seems to understood it so I trust that it was kind of an inside thing between those two”
“Well that sure is cryptic” Ember tells with irritation and Celestia chuckle at her reaction
“Tell me about it, but whatever he did, it work and because of that we were blessed with a new member on our little family, it was kind of difficult at first but eventually Ebony grow on me and I learn to love her just like all of her siblings”
“And you really are ok with what she does? Steal the life energy of others and all that mumbo jumbo?”
“Crime can’t exist without punishment Ember, as a ruler you would understand that more than any pony else, if you wish to be respected you need to be willing to make difficult chooses. The sad true is…there are evil ponies that would just simple wish to see the world burn and don’t care if they end lifes, to them a fitting punishment is Ebony. Of course we don’t used it with all the crimes, and most of the time we reserve it only to those that are just monster” They reach the staircase and while continue their ascend Celestia look back at the dragon.
“And that is why I need you to keep it a secret Ember, if word get out about a royal pet able to take and give life of others, panic and riots would ignite and our people could demand the death of Ebony or worse, to be used it for greedy intents, that is why the criminals have a magic seal preventing them from speaking what happen, and that is why I need you to please remain quiet of what you saw, if anything ask just tell that ‘the fox cast the judgment'’”
“Eh…I’m not into gossips anyway and you keep your end of the bargain so I will keep mine”
“Thank you”
The moment they return to the castle Ivory jumps out of Celestia hoof and lands on Ember shoulder scaring the poor dragon who flinch as the fox nuzzle her cheek and start to purr.
“Hey! Hey what are you doing?”
Celestia can’t help but to chuckle at the display “Consider yourself fortunately Ember, it appear that you have earn Ivory affection, something very rare considering how shy the poor dear usually is”
“Je…hey…cut it out! That tickles” Ember tells trying her best to hold her laughter and make Celestia laugh even harder, even some guards were having trouble of not snicker at the poor dragon lord predicament”
Back at the royal chamber.
As Ace was peacefully sleeping on bed, his eyes open when he hear the door of his room opening and a shadow figure stepping in “Celly? Is that you?” He says standing up.
“Nope, not her” From the shadows a slender batpony mare as tall as the princesses walk in. Her fur and wings was pale white, her mane and tail were blond and her eyes where some hypnotic ocean blue colors, two white fangs were easily visible on her muzzle, and her walk had a bit of a sass to it. “Just good old me" She tells with a smile
In surprise Ace struggle to sit up and look at the intruder in the eyes “Pale Moonlight?”