//------------------------------// // Suspicion // Story: Eclipse Bane // by Nightwing //------------------------------// ****** Castle Canterlot. The high throne of Princess Celestia. The center of her corrupted reign. A monument to her complete and unchallenged power. A beautiful spire of millenia-old craftsmanship and precious materials. Not long ago, it was a symbol of eloquence and balance, representing all forms of peace and harmony. Now a fortress of evil, guarded by the mislead and manipulated. Princess Celestia, the tainted monarch of Equestria, awaits further news of her conquest upon her decorated throne. Celestia reclined in her throne with a look of sinister boredom across her face. She was alone in the massive room, a chalice of wine hovering just a bit away from her. The day before, she had comissioned, or moreso enslaved, several carpenter pegasi to replace the murals of her and Luna that symbolized the balance of the twilight with murals of only Celestia. For the time being, the only progress the builders had made since were smashing out the stained glass windows which featured Luna, replacing them with an ordinary sheet of glass. Celestia looked the same as she always had. A beautiful bright silver coat and her mint-color spectrum mane flowing and swaying with an unseen force in complete silence. She was, however, dressed in a long, flowing white cloak with the symbol of the sun emblazened in the center. She had been in this blank trance for quite a while, taking the occasional sip of wine every hour or so. She took a deep inhale, the ends of her mouth curving into a slight smile. She knew that even in her calm, blissful state, her control was spreading like wildfire over Equestria. No one was safe from her, she knew. Crack The silence suddenly broke as an arc of electricity appeared in the center of the throne room briefly. The quiet returned. Crack. Crack. Crack. The sounds and flashes of light continued briefly. After only a few mere seconds, the room burst with a flash of light, Celestia's eyes closing and shielding themselves from the flash. When she opened them, Applejack and Rarity stood before her, bowing their heads. "Your Majesty," Rarity proclaimed. She raised her head to make eye contact with her tyrant, Applejack doing the same. Celestia stared blankly at the two. "What news do you bring me?" "Ya see," Applejack began. "We found yer sister." "Then where is her corpse?" Celestia asked impatiently. Applejack fell silent, Rarity looking away nervously. "Is she still alive?" "... Yes, yer Majesty." Applejack's voice quivered. Their efforts to be cocky and dishearten Luna in their last conflict would not sit well with Celestia, she knew. "And why... Is... That?" Celestia spoke with a hint of rage and disappointment in her tone. She was far more than angry with them. "We... We tried," Rarity began. "But--" "Do not attempt an excuse." Celestia telekinetically launched her wine chalice as she shouted, smashing against the wall and crumpling, the contents spilling out in a drip. "There are only two results of a mission, success and failure. Even you two, the lowborn farm rat and the brainless princess-empathizing worm know that much. What have you done on this day?" Applejack and Rarity were stunned. Their legs quivered slightly. Even in this dark, tainted state, they still felt fear for the reigning monarch. "We... We failed." Rarity's voice cracked with hesitation. "Were you not my own Knights, I would have sent your remains to the Moon by now. I will grant you one chance to redeem yourselves. Applejack. I want you to bring me Applebloom. I cannot take the Rune of Earth without her power. Rarity... You will kill Luna. Do not return here without her broken, bleeding body. If you fail... Then poor Sweetie Belle will suffer the price." Rarity recoiled as a pang of fear dropped in her stomach like a pellet of iron. "No... Not that... I-I will kill her, Your Majesty. You have my word." Celestia smirked. She derived a sort of sadistic pleasure from making even her most stalwart and loyal warriors cringe in her presence. "Then your sister will be perfectly safe, for now... Now, Rainbow Dash," Celestia called out to an unseen presence. From the silence, a bright-blue pegasus wearing silver armor calmly trotted into the throne room. Her mane was all the gradients from black to white, her pupils the same slit-shapes as Rarity and Applejack. "You rang, Your Majesty?" Dash smirked with the confidence she had retained from her past self, though with a much more devious air about her presence. Celestia returned Dash's dark smile. "How fares the search for the Temples?" "Little luck, Your Majesty. They're pretty well-hidden, even for me." To Rarity's and Applejack's surprise, Dash was not scolded and threatened. Celestia knew that these temples would not be easy to find. The other two's failures were their own. "Very well, Rainbow Dash. ... Hmm... An unfitting name at this time, don't you believe?" Celestia giggled under her breath. "... Darkness Dash seems much more fitting now. Do you two not agree?" Rarity and Applejack nodded, feigning a proud smile for their pegasus comrade. Darkness Dash grinned. Though it sounded corny and predictable to her, it also made her proud and confident. "I like it, Your Majesty. Nothing's quite as... Sexy as darkness." Both Celestia and Dash giggled, leaving Rarity and Applejack in dismay. Celestia turned her head to the two, glaring at them. "Did I not give you orders?" She shouted. In an instant of shocked surprise, Rarity and Applejack vanished in a flash of electricity, leaving only Dash and Celestia. "Come closer, my Knight," Celestia commanded with an almost seductive tone. Dash blushed lightly and trotted up the throne, curling up at her hooves and resting. Celestia treated Dash as a favorite pet, almost. Celestia's magical mane flowed on her own magical accord, unclipping her glistening armor deftly and stroking Dash's back. "Now... Tell me what you have learned." Darkness Dash shivered softly, almost purring at her soft massage as she closed her eyes. "Nnh... Everything good... You now dominate all of Manehattan..." "Excellent work, my general... Is Pinkie Pie still missing?" "She's lost it... I haven't seen her since yesterday, talking to herself like she was two different ponies." Celestia frowned, but continued to stroke her Knight's back, enjoying Dash's little coos and shivers. "I will send the Guard out to capture her. What of Fluttershy?" "She is still forming a mental link with... It, Your Majesty..." Dash started to feel a bit sleepy as Celestia's mane brushed against her own back. She didn't understand why the Princess treated her this way, but she liked it. "You make me proud, Darkness Dash... Truly fit to be at my side, do you not think so..?" Celestia nearly whispered in Dash's ear as she spoke, her voice sly and seductive. "Your search for the Temples today may wait... For now, I have a more immediate task for you. Tomorrow... Find your biggest fan, Scootaloo. We already have Sweetie Belle, Applejack is close to Applebloom, and finding this one would be no problem at all to you... And then the Runes would be ours." "Ours, eh..? I like the sound of that..." Dash lightly nuzzled against Celestia's hoof, smiling as her eyes remained shut. "We will receive clairvoyance tonight on her location. Then, tomorrow, you may begin your mission. But for now..." Celestia grinned as her mane swept over Dash, the pegasus Knight giggling as they vanished in a teleport. ****** It had been several hours. The sun had set, but Luna's moon did not rise. The sky was an impenetrable black sheet, no source of light at all. Celestia and Darkness Dash approached a large, heavily fortified cell door. There were no windows, only a series of locks, chains, and even several magical seals upon the entrance to the cell. Whatever was inside of it was obviously extremely dangerous. Celestia, with a dreamy-eyed Darkness Dash at her side, let magic flow forth from her horn. Every lock opened and disengaged itself immediately, the glow of the glyphs magically sealing the door dimming slightly. "Shall we, Dash?" Celestia smirked at her smaller companion. Dash nodded in return and pushed the cell door open very slowly. Within the cell was a large, pitch-black room. The floors, walls, and ceiling were a cold stone. Connected to the walls were heavy chains, all stretching out to the center of the room's floor, keeping the movement of whatever was in the darkness still. The faint sound of breathing and quiet, disturbing laughter was all that was in the cell. "My faithful student," Celestia called. On cue with her voice, the room flashed brightly with the crackling of raw, magical power in the form of electricity emanating from the restrained figure in the center of the room. The laughter intensified as the form was revealed to be a pony. It was restrained by the chains across the wall, as well as covered head-to-hoof in both leather and metal bindings. There was, however, the faint glow of white eyes and a sparkling purple horn. The figure in the center quivered and laughed insanely. The raw magical power swirled around the unicorn, brightening the room completely in a purple light. "Yes... Your Majesty?" The voice was that of Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's former star pupil. With her white, glowing eyes and extreme measures of restraint, she controlled an extremely powerful, exponentially-amplified magic. She had an insane smile on her face, partially hidden behind her bindings. "My faithful student... Find the one called Scootaloo for me." "Scootaloo..." Twilight continued to laugh in her disturbing, yet pitiful manner. "Is the key to the Sky Rune... You will find her in the place... The place where the world works without you." Dash cocked her head up to Celestia, smiling. "The Everfree Forest. Scootaloo is in the Everfree Forest, where the weather does its own thing." Twilight cackled. "Yes! You solved it! Now run along...! Because someone knows your secret, Celestia..." Celestia glared at her magical weapon. "What are you talking about?" Twilight's eyes glowed a brighter white as she continued to laugh and smile dementedly. "I would hope the others are quick... Or Luna will kill you in no time at all once she has the Runes!"