As Celestia's sun rose over Canterlot, Twilight, along with her friends, where sleeping in their own rooms. Twilight had Zachary snuggled up against her chest, with her forelegs and wings supporting him in a hug. They were both still asleep, however, and so was the rest of them.
Twilight was slowly beginning to awake from her sleep, as her eyes opened, and her vision came back, blurry at first, but soon becoming more and more clearer. She looked down, as she felt something brush up against her chest. She saw the small figure of Zachary, sleeping there, without a worry in the world. Twilight smiled, as she rubbed her hoof and wing on his back.
Twilight raised her head a bit, so she could look around the room. She saw Spike, who was also still sleeping, in the small little basket that he came to love sleeping in. She also saw the empty saddlebag that they had packed for the trip, that was now lying there, with nopony else paying any mind to it.
Zachary began to also awake from his long rested sleep, as he looks up at Twilight.
"Good morning, mommy." Zachary said, whilst rubbing his eyes in the process. Twilights heart melted at the small act, as she gave him a light kiss on the forehead.
"Good morning, my little angle." Twilight said, with a smile. "How did you sleep last night?"
"I slept really good, mommy, and I didn't have any nightmares." Zachary said, with a small smile. Twilight giggled, at his cute expression.
"That's good, did you feel any pain in your side area?" Twilight asked, and Zachary shook his head.
"No, I didn't. I slept through the entire night." Zachary replied. Twilight smiled at him, giving him a small rub on the back with her wing again.
"Well, todays the day, Zachary..." Twilight said. "It's now time for John to face his punishment." Zachary looked down, and looked at his hands, which where now folded together. Twilight noticed that something was wrong with him.
"Zachary, what's wrong?" Twilight asked. Zachary looked up, with a sad smile.
"I'm glad that he can't hurt me anymore, but...." Zachary looked away for a second. "I don't really want to watch him get turned into stone." Twilight knew how he felt. He didn't want to have to face him ever again. He didn't want to face the monster that destroyed his life, while nearly taking his life in the process.
"Then you wont have to." Twilight said, with reassurance in her voice. "You don't have to watch him, if you don't want too." Zachary looked down again. He didn't want to, but he felt like he had to, to get closure.
"I feel like I should watch him, just so I can be sure." Zachary said. Twilight was unsure if she even wanted Zachary to see another living being turned into stone.
"Are you sure about this?" Twilight asked. "Because like I said before, you really don't have to..."
"Yes, I'm sure. I don't want to, but I need to." Zachary said, looking down once again. Twilight gave him the warmest smile she could muster.
"That's very mature of you, Zachary. I'm proud of you." Twilight said, as she began to get up from her bed. "Let's wake up the other's, and go get breakfast." Zachary nodded.
"Did Rainbow Dash come back from ponyville yet?" Zachary asked, with a curious look.
"I think she came back earlier, after we all went to bed." Twilight replied, with a smile. Zachary nodded.
"Okay!" Zachary said. Twilight let out another smile, as they heard a yawn coming from behind them. They both turned around, only to see Spike, who was now raising his upper body, and rubbing his eyes as he did so.
"Spike, I didn't expect for you to get up this early." Twilight said, with a playful smile.
"I've been up earlier, Miss Princess." Spike replied, with a mocking tone. She laughed a little at this.
"Fair point, Mr. grumpy pants." Twilight said, as she looked back at Zachary. "I think we should get our other friends, and get us some breakfast, what do you think?" He just nodded as a response. She then looked back at Spike.
"What about you-" She was cut off by Spike.
"Of course, lets get going right now!" Spike said, as he exited the door. They both laughed, as they both got up. Zachary changed out of his pajamas, while Twilight just brushed her hair. Once they were both done with getting ready, they left their room, and started to make their way down to the dinning hall.
"Hey guys!" The raspy voice of Rainbow Dash called out. They turned around, and saw the cyan Pegasus, along with their other friends, who all had looks of happiness.
"Hey, Rainbow." Twilight said. "How was your trip to ponyville?" Rainbow smiled.
"I got them right here." Rainbow said, as she pulled out the elements that rested in her saddlebag. Twilight gave her a warm smile.
"Thank you, Rainbow Dash." She said, still keeping that warm smile on her. "Come on, we'll go get some breakfast, and then we'll ask Princess Celestia when John gets to be turned into stone." They all nodded in agreement, as they continued their walk. As they walked, they saw another pony walking by. Prince Blueblood.
"Hey guys!" He said, with a happy tone. Twilight looked back at her friends, with a confused look. They all shared the look. "Hey Twilight, I've heard about how you adopted a human, and I just wanted to say that you did a good job." She stared at him, with a look of uncertainty.
"Um...... Thanks?" Twilight replied, still not sure what to make about this.
"Alright, I'll see you guys around." Blueblood waved, as he made his way back down the hallway. They all just stood there, confused, except for Zachary, due to the fact that he never meet Blueblood before.
"He seemed nice." Zachary commented.
"Yeah, a little too nice." Twilight said, now with a look of suspicion on her face. Zachary looked up at her, his face was now showing confusion.
"Why wouldn't he be nice?" Zachary asked.
"That ruffian of a prince disrespected me, humiliated me at the Grand Galloping Gala, and only thought for himself, and not for the other's around him." Rarity said, with a huff.
"Yeah, none of us are a big fan of him." Twilight said.
"Oh, that makes sense...." Zachary said, as he turned back around. "Well, I hope that we can still get breakfast." Twilight giggled a bit.
"Of course we can, sweetie." Twilight said, as she placed her hoof on his shoulder. "Let's go." With that, they made their way down the hallway once more. The walk only lasted for about five minutes, as they finally reached the door to the dinning room. The door was guarded by two Pegasus ponies.
"You may enter." The one, Cloudy Arrow, said.
"Thank you." Twilight replied, as she, and her friends went inside. Cloudy Arrow looked at the other guard, TriforceAndroid.
"Bluebloods behavior was a little off today, don't you think?" Cloudy Arrow asked, and TriforceAndroid nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, he usually doesn't act all nice, he's mostly a smug." He said. Cloudy Arrow nodded with agreement.
"I think we should keep a close eye on him." Cloudy Arrow said.
"Yes, I agree." TriforceAndroid said. He turned away, before something else came to his mind. "Hey, have you noticed all of those ponies that were acting weird recently?"
"Yeah, it's very odd." Cloudy Arrow said. "Some of them have even spoken lies about Princess Celestia."
"We need to figure out what's going on, and why this is happening." TriforceAndroid said, as they both nodded. They would start investigating after their shift ended. Meanwhile, in the dinning room, Celestia, The Mane Six, and Zachary, we're all at the giant table that Celestia had. Luna would have been there, but she was asleep due to her nightly duties.
"Zachary, I've heard that you liked pancakes, is this correct?" Celestia asked. Zachary nodded.
"I love pancakes!, there one of my favorite food." Zachary said, with a small smile.
"Well, we got our chiefs to cook you some of the best pancakes in all of Equestria." Celestia said, with a smile herself.
"Really? Thanks." Zachary said, with a tone of gratitude in his voice.
"Do we all get pancakes?" Rainbow asked.
"Of course you all are, what else would you have for breakfast?" Celestia asked, with a playful look.
"I dunno." Rainbow responded.
"Hey, Princess Celestia." Twilight said, getting her mentors attention. "I was just wondering when we were going to turn John to stone?" Celestia's smile turned into a frown. She sighed, as she looked at Twilight.
"John did more than what we had thought during his time near ponyville." Celestia said, with a sorrowful look on her face.
"What do you mean by that, Princess?" Twilight asked. Celestia gave her a look of sadness, before she levitated a piece of paper over to her.
"What's this?" Twilight asked, as she began to read the paper.
Missing filly
Name: Cherry Bloom.
Age: 7
If found, please return her to this address:
As Twilight read the paper, she began to recognize who the filly was. The filly was the one that went missing a while ago. The one Twilight and her friends help to look for, but came up with nothing. That was, until they found what was left of her. It was a horrible day for ponyville to find that out.
"Yeah, I remember. We helped look for her, but what does she have to do with-" Twilight cut herself off, as she remembered the filly was found in the forest, and that's where John was staying before he was taken into custody. "You don't mean...." Celestia slowly nodded her head.
"Last night, John was angry that we where keeping him in the dungeons, and he said he would do the same thing to us as to what he did to that filly..... That's how we found out...." Celestia said. Everypony gasped, as some of them felt tears stinging in their eyes.
"How...... Why would John ever do anything like this?" Twilight asked. "I know he was evil, but this..... This is just too much." Celestia nodded.
"Yes, and with a crime like that, we now got to extend his punishment. Celestia got up, and walked over to Twilight, and out her hoof on her. "You need to send him to the moon." Twilight let out a gasp.
"Wait, the moon?!" Twilight asked, and Celestia nodded once again.
"Yes, Twilight, but that's not all." Celestia said. "He will also be turned into stone, however, his stone prison will break within two days of him being turned into stone, and without any air to breath with..." They all let out a gasp.
"That will kill him, though!" Twilight said, with uncertainty clear as day in her eyes.
"Yes, it will, but in the rules...." Celestia said, pulling out a large book. She sat it down on the table, and flipped through it until she found the right one. "Any creature that kills another, must suffer a similar fate." They all had there mouths agape.
"Princess, are you sure......?" Twilight asked, and Celestia nodded.
"Unfortunately, yes, but believe me when I tell you, that if there was another way, then I would take it." Celestia then got out another sheet of paper, this one had some drawings on it. "You see, when a pony gets killed by another, than the evil that is inside that ponies heart will spread through out Equestria, making other ponies do the same crime, causing Equestria to fall into chaos."
Twilight, with the rest of her friends, just stood there, in shock.
"Wouldn't turning him into stone solve the problem?" Rainbow asked, and Celestia just shook her head.
"Even if he was trapped in stone, his evil and hatred would still leak out, and would still infect the minds of many. It would take a year for him to infect some minds, and those minds would effect other minds." Celestia explained. "He can't be on the moon for a long time either, or else his evil might effect my sister's mind, and you all remember the last time that happened." Celestia took a small break , before continuing.
"We can't do it here, otherwise the pony that did it would have be killed too, and so on, so forth, but if were not the direct cause of death, then we wont be affected by it." Celestia said, looking at the mane six. "If you send him to the moon within stone, than he would be on that moon for two days, then the stone will break, and you know the rest....." Celestia looked down.
"It is the only way, believe me, I have seen this type of things happening in Equestria before. It's rare, but the first time it happened, the pony that did it had his hatred effect some others, causing them to do the same thing as well. After all of that was dealt with, that was their penalty for doing it." The mane six all looked at each other, as they all nodded.
"We'll do it, Celestia.... Just as long as we're not the one's directly doing the act." Twilight said, with a look of worry. Celestia gave her a reassuring smile.
"You're wont be the direct cause of it, I promise." Celestia said, as some of her waiters came in, with all of their breakfasts ready.
"You breakfasts, Princess." One of them said. Celestia nodded.
"Thank you, my good sirs." Celestia said, as they all walked back into the kitchen. They all mostly ate in silence, with only one of them saying something every so often. Once they had all finished their meals, they all got up, and got up, with Twilight still having a question in her head.
"When will we do this?" Twilight asked, and Celestia looked at her.
"Whenever you like, as long as it's done by the end of the day." Celestia said, and Twilight looked at her friends.
"What do you say, girls? Do you want to do this now and get it over with, or do it later?" Twilight asked, and her friends all had the same answer.
"Right now." They all said, and Twilight nodded.
"Alright, we would like to do it now, please." Twilight said, looking back at Celestia.
"Alright then, please follow me." Celestia said, as they all went to the dungeons. They walked through a hallway in the castle, then down a staircase that was hiding behind a door at the end of the hallway. As they made their way down the staircase, the walls became less and less shinny and beautiful, and started to turn in cracked stone.
"This is creepy......" Zachary said, causing Twilight to wrap her wing around him once more.
"Don't worry sweetie, mommy isn't going to let anything happen to you..." She said, with the best comfort in her voice that she could muster. The mane six looked back, they all had look's of: "nawww" on their faces, but the didn't say anything. As they made their way to the bottom, they saw a hall of some dungeons, with all the ponies in their for some reason.
Some of them had robbed other ponies, others had vandalized or destroyed property. As the mane six and Celestia walked by, they all gave Zachary a weird, confused, look, which made him uncomfortable. Twilight once again had noticed this, and gave those ponies a glare, which made them back off.
"This way, we're getting close to his cell." Celestia said. Twilight looked in her direction, with confusion on her face.
"Hey, if John's staying here, why are the other prisoners looking at Zachary like they never seen a human before?" Twilight asked.
"That's because they haven't." Celestia said. "We keep John in a secret cell so that no other prisoner can look at him, he doesn't even deserve that much in my opinion." They all nodded in agreement. As they got closer to the cell John resided at, the more they could hear the mumbling of someone.
His cell was heavily guarded by two guard ponies.
"You two may leave now." Celestia said, as they both bowed, then left. They walked up to the cell, the one that was the furthest away from the other cells in that room. Once they got up to the caged door, they saw him. John, who was looking down at his hands, mumbling. He noticed the ponies that where watching him.
"Oh, look who decided to come back...." John said, with a deep, unsettling tone, which caused Zachary to flinch back in fear, and John noticed this. "What's wrong, little brat? Afraid of me, a big, scary, monster that not even you so called mother can protect you from?" This made Zachary flinch back further, but he stopped, once he felt Twilight's wing softly wrap around him.
"This mother is going to make you, the monster, go away!" Twilight said, as she stared down at John, with a look of hatred in her eyes.
"Your not even his real mother! Your a talking pony, you probably don't even truly love him." John shot back. That's when Zachary had enough.
"A mother is someone who loves you, and will always be there for you, and Twilight has done all of those things, and you haven't!" Zachary said, looking up at her. "Twilight has loved, protected, and cared for me ever since I got here, which makes here my true mother." He hugged Twilights leg. They all had looks of joy and happiness on their faces, except for John, While Twilight just let a few tears of happiness fall from her eyes.
"Thank you Zachary, so much." She said, as she pulled him into another tight hug. John just huffed at this.
"Fine, so maybe she does care, that still wont make me go away....." John said. Celestia gave him an annoyed look.
"How about going to the moon? Is that suitable enough for you?" Celestia shot back, with anger an annoyance clear in her eyes.
"Really? Send me to the moon, wow like you could actually do that." John said with sarcasm. Celestia growled at him, but then quickly got her composure back, and as soon as she did, she stared at john, with a serious look.
"You will be turned into stone for two days, and sent onto the moon. Once those two days go by, your stone prison will break, leaving you to be on the moon." Celestia said. John had a feeling that she wasn't lying, and gave her a look of panic.
"Wait, but... But I'll die up there!" John said, and Celestia nodded.
"I didn't want to have to do this either, but you actions of killing that young filly and nearly killing Zachary cannot go unpunished. Your evil can affect the minds of other in Equestria, and I can't let that happen." Celestia said, as she stared at John once more.
"But.... But...." John said, but he was cut off by Celestia.
"I'm sorry, John, but you brought this upon yourself ." Celestia said, as she used her magic to open the door. John tried to run, but was caught by Celestia's magic.
"Let me go!" John shouted, but Celestia wouldn't let him go.
"No, we're going to the gardens to turn you into stone, then we'll send you off onto the moon." She said, as she, along with the Mane Six. As they walked by, the prisoners looked at Celestia, confused at what she had in he magical grasp. It looked like the younger one to them, except it was bigger. They left the dungeons, as they mad their way to the garden area. As the walked, Celestia had a surprisingly hard time controlling the figure that she was so desperately trying to keep together.
"Would you hold still? Your not making this any easier for me, or for us." Celestia said, still having a tone of annoyance.
"Well, you about to turn me into stone and send me to the moon, how do you think I feel?!" John asked. Celestia just rolled her eyes, as she tightened her magic around him, not allowing him to struggle anymore. Zachary looked up at John, who glared back at him.
"I hate you so much, you little abomination, that I can just-" John was cut off, when he felt a small sting coming from his side. Twilight used her magic to shut him up.
"Don't ever call my son that ever again." Twilight said, with a growl. "That wont be too hard, considering you wont be here for much longer." John glared at her, but said nothing, because he knew that she was right. Finally, after a long and obnoxious walk had ended, they were in the gardens. John was now tied up once again, by two of the royal guards.
"Mr. John, you are here by guilty of the murder of Cherry Bloom, and the attempted murder of young Zachary. As your punishment, you must go to the moon in stone, and within two days of being up there, the stone will break, leaving you up there, with no food, water, or anything. Not even the air you need to breath with." Celestia looked back at the mane six.
"Whenever you all are ready." Celestia said, whilst backing up away from them, to get out of the fire. The mane six were all wearing there elements, and Twilight was wearing her crown thingy. She looked back at Zachary.
"Zachary, you should stay back, I don't want you to get caught in the blast." Twilight said. He knew what she meant, and he began to back up, not so far that he couldn't see it, though. He still wanted to see it.
"Alright girls, anything you want to say, before we do this?" Twilight asked, and they all nodded. Applejack was first.
"John, Ah can say that yer the most rotten apple Ah've ever seen. You brought this on yer self." Applejack said coldly.
"Yeah! Your the worst type of creature ever! You only care about yourself, and you don't even care about somepony special like Zachary. It's your lost." Rainbow Dash said.
"i do not feel bad about doing this to you, you ruffian!" Rarity said.
"I would shoot you to the moon with my party canon, but that wouldn't work, so this is the next best thing!" Pinkie said, with a cheerful voice.
"I did feel sort of bad for you........ If you didn't try to kill Zachary, and if you didn't kill that filly..... This wouldn't be happening to you." Fluttershy said. Now, it was Twilights turn.
"I know why you did the things you did to Zachary, I can say that revenge isn't the answer for your problems." Twilight said, as she walked back a little, and wrapped her hoof around Zachary. "My son wont be hurt by you anymore. I hope you use your last two days to think about how much you affected Zachary's life, but if it wasn't for you...."
Twilight looked at Zachary. "Then he wouldn't be here, with his true family, so that's the only reason I don't completely hate you." She then nuzzled Zachary, as they all once again "awwwwed" at this. She finally looked back at John, who now had a little smile.
"Does.... Does that mean I wont go to the moon?" He asked, and Twilight shook her head.
"Zachary is the best thing that ever happened to me, but that still doesn't excuse the crimes you did. You tried to kill Zachary while he was in Equestria, and you killed that filly." Twilight said, as she walked back up to where she was standing.
"Is everypony ready?" Twilight asked, and they all nodded. Their elements began to glow, as the magic of them began to lift their bodies into the air. Twilights eyes turned pure shinning white, as a Rainbow shot out at John. The rainbow made direct contact with him. It was the worst pain he had ever felt.
He screamed, as his body was slowly turned into stone, but his screams where unheard. As soon as his entire body was turned, it shot up into the air, and crashed on the moon. Luckily, they had Luna rise her moon a little so they could do this. That was that. John was gone.
They went back to the ground, as a tired looking Luna came out.
"Is it done, dear sister?" Luna asked, and Celestia nodded. Luna then used her magic to lower the moon that was hiding from everypony else. "Can I please have my rest now?" Celestia nodded, as Luna then went and returned into the castle. Zachary was looking at the spot where John was turned into stone.
"Zachary, we didn't scare you, did we?" Twilight asked, and Zachary just shook his head.
"No..... I'm just happy that you think I'm one of the best things that happened in your life." Zachary said, with a happy smile. Twilight smiled back, as she yet again pulled him into another light hug.
"You are truly, and you will always be one of the best things that ever happened to me." Twilight said.
"Wow, those two are like hug buddies." Rainbow said, as she looked at them. "But.... It's still too cute for me..." She said, as she sniffed a tear back. They didn't notice the dark figure, that was hiding behind the wall of a castle, watching them.
"That pony.... is too close to him.... Need to get him away from her...... To please him...... Need to get him, away from the rest of them. Never to be seen by them or the princess's ever again.....!"