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// Chapter IV: Black Clouds Over Equestria 
// Story: Sunset Over Equestria 
// by Vict0r1994 
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It was a silent night. The bells from the town clock, which pointed now to 9 P.M sharp, and the crickets in the royal gardens were performing along with the mourning voices in a morbid orchestra, bidding adieu to the founder of the city itself, the beloved princess Celestia. Enormous crowds were gathering at the gates of the palace in order to see the princess when she would be taken to the newly constructed mausoleum in the Royal Gardens. The Pegasi Air Forces generated a commemorative rain over the entire city, but the public near the palace didn't seem to be disturbed by this issue, and neither did the guards protecting the palace doors.

Inside, everything was already prepared and the funeral was under way. Celestia's body has been taken from the crime scene early in the afternoon, and was already dressed and placed in a luxurious coffin with her name engraved with gold letters on the front. The coffin occupied the place where the former throne used to be, on a special stage installed for this ceremony only. Many seats filled what used to be the Throne room a few days ago, and the invited ponies went, one by one, to the podium on which the coffin was placed for saying a few words about Princess Celestia.

The seven friends from Ponyville were attending the funeral as well, and Twilight, despite the fact that she planned to sneak up with her Brother to Lightningrose's cell, could not help herself from crying at a few speeches and bringing her mentor a last tribute. "There, there, Twi. I know how much she meant to you, but we can't bring her back now. You said it yourself…" Spike told her while stroking her mane with his claw in an attempt to comfort her.

"I – kn – ow-" replied Twilight between sobs and tears.

"Oh, come on Twilight. We can bring her back. We'll just have to find the spell scroll and take it back from the thief! That's all!" said Rainbow Dash.

"But if it's destroyed? What if she – is – gone – for – ever - ?" asked Twilight demandingly without stopping from crying.

"She won't be! Even if it means I have to fly with dragons or… if Angel has to eat carrots, we'll do everything to help the princess! I know that what happened with the princess is heartbreaking, but we will always be here to help you, Twilight!"

Fluttershy's words made Twilight cry even more, as she hugged the yellow pegassus and muttered a "Thank you guys! I don't know what I would do without you".

"You're welcome, darling. We know Celestia has been very close to you, and we will do our best to bring her back." replied Rarity, while barely resisting her own urge to cry. They all joined a group hug immediately after that, and continued to watch the ceremony as it unfolded.

Twilight wasn't the only one to be affected by the other ponies at the palace, but Applejack, on the other hoof, wasn't touched by the sad speeches, but astonished by the chorus of clinking glasses and sometimes even laughs which came from the other side of the hall. Luxury wines and foods could be served in crystal glasses and silver dishes from buffets in the backside of the room earlier in the evening, and some visitors still indulged in drinking and eating during the ceremony. For some of them, the funeral was nothing but a visit at the Imperial palace. She was always disturbed by the injustices in the world, and seeing how careless someponies could be even about Celestia's death, the princess everybody in Equestria loved just a few weeks ago, she got scared about what could happen if the country fails in the wrong hoofs…

For a moment, she even started thinking how many poor ponies in the countryside could have been fed with the money spent on those useless beverages, but she quickly snapped out of it for comforting Twilight along with the others in a hug. After all, a friend in need is a friend indeed, and that was one of the moments when Twilight needed her the most. "Don't ya worry, Twi, it'll'be all right!" she said with half a mouth as she peeked on the disrespectful elitist faces mocking the princess with their behavior. Even Pinkie Pie managed to stay silent and serious, but they couldn't!

Many words have been spilled at the grave. Many tears as well, and many flowers of the utmost scarcity covered the plaque with "Princess Celestia" written in gold in the following moments. More than an hour did the same ritual happen over and over again, but, at least for Twilight, it was the longest hour in her whole life. The "Crème de la Crème" of the Equestrian society competed in bringing the former Princess the most beautiful and exotic of attributes, in a more or less sincere manner, and after one would finish a flamboyant speech, the same waves of applauds would echo repeatedly due to the great acoustics of the throne hall.

Senators, lords, famous poets and writers, judges, ambassadors and even Sapphire Shores - the "pony of pop", or Prince Blueblood were present on the podium. Blueblood could not help himself from posing in front of the audience a few times, as he was a distant relative to Celestia and seemingly didn't care too much about her. "I can't tell how one could be so selfish in order not to respect his deceased relative! This kind of inadequate behaviour is an offense to every shrewd of decency in this world!" Rarity commented on the prince's attitude with a slight touch of anger in her voice. Twilight was actually one of the only ponies who didn't live in Canterlot and had the chance to address the audience a few words about Celestia.

The six mares and the purple baby dragon all understood that this show was mostly a theater to attract sympathy from Luna or whoever was going to be the next ruler, but their attention was suddenly drawn to the stage when a familiar figure stepped on the podium. It was nopony else but Duke Goldengem of Eqvancashire, who could have been, based on what they knew, the killer. It was merely a possibility, but some of them, specifically Spike and Pinkie Pie, sensed something dangerous in this strange character. It was also quite awkward that he chose to speak last, immediately after Luna, as Equestrian tradition dictated the closest relative had to have the last word on such occasions.

"What is he doing here? Will this stuck-up fancy Alicorn speak after Princess Luna? That's it, I'm going to rub the floor with", but before Rainbow Dash could finish the sentence, Twilight dragged her back to her seat.

"Rainbowdash don't! I know he is being rude, but he might have some important message for the audience, and besides, we don't have to attract too much attention to us if I am going to sneak at the military headquarters with Shining Armor when they go to the Mausoleum!" said Twilight, this time in her serious normal voice.

Goldengem threw them a glance, as he heard some noise coming from their seats, but then readjusted his pitch, faced the entire audience, and then proceeded with the speech everypony waited for.

"Dear ladies and gentleponies,

The death of princess Celestia has been a shock for all of us, and even more when we were to find that she was murdered. Many of you already addressed her wonderful messages tonight, and reminded us of her great deeds in 1002 years of Equestrian history, so I will be brief and get to the topic of my intervention quickly, as I find it to pointless to try to put the cherry on the cake now." He let out a sigh of sorrow, and proceeded. "I always loved my cousin and I will continue to love her forever, but sadly, I had to be the last to speak in this ceremony, not because I have to pay her another tribute, but because I have an important announce to make. As I'm sure you are all aware, a suspect is already being held at the military headquarters on suspicion of murdering Celestia.

Still, the real problem our kingdom faces is the fact that our suspect, a young mare by the name of Lightningrose, works for princess Luna for a very long time and even acquired the poison she used for killing my cousin during a visit to the Zebralands along with princess Luna, and this situation practically forces the royal guards to suspect her as well for complicity, and according to the Equestrian laws written by our dear princess Celestia in the year of 31 A.N.M.B, Luna can't lead the nation unless she is proven to be innocent, so we'll have to wait for the results of the investigation."

Twilight and her friends understood where he was going with this, and they did not like it at all.

"In the meanwhile, the next successor to the throne, in this case me, is to be appointed prince for the limited period of the investigation, and is to remain prince for life lest the first successor, in this case Luna, should be found innocent. I didn't write this law nor did I ask for this privilege, but trusting her judgement is the least we could do now for my poor cousin…" Goldengem turned around and looked at the coffin for a few seconds, and let two tears, possibly false, flow down his cheeks before proceeding. "But there is no time to cry now! Soon, the royal burrier will perform the anti-degradation spell on her body and we'll wave goodbye to her, so we have to be strong and prepared to go on with our lives!"

There was already a lot of rumbling in the room, but at this point, Luna interrupted the noise with her Canterlot voice. "SILENCE! Cousin, we 'lowed thou speakest the last to make your announcement, but we can swear thou that we are not a part of this horrible crime, and a princess's word is not to be questioned!"

Goldengem seemed shocked at first, like most of the ponies in the room, but then replied calmly. "But cousin, this are the national laws of Equestria, and the senate already agreed in their meeting tonight that your crowning should be postponed to the end of the investigation, just in case. Don't you want to honor your sister's will?"

At this question, Luna commented even more vehemently. "Honor 'Tia's will? By letting thou rule ye country? 'Tia would have NEVER wanted that to happen, and we don't either! This ponies don't know how thee were in the past, cousin, they don't know thy true face, but we do! Thou art greedy and hungry for power, Goldengem! Thou art not fit to be prince!" Her Canterlot voice still scared most of the ponies in the room, but Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Spike were now listening very closely.

"What? These accusations are preposterous! I produced wine on my estate for the ponies of Equestria to enjoy for centuries, and everypony knows that! I never tried to obtain power or destroy the competition!" answered Goldengem much more angrily than earlier, drawning some attention to himself.

"Then why did 'Tia banish thee to thy lands in the north 7 centuries ago, cousin? What did thou do earlier? How did thou rule over Horsingham? Tell those ponies thy truth! Celestia feared thy ways of leading, and thus banished thou to the back-then remote province of Eqvancashire! TELL THEM!"

Goldengem pondered the answer for a little bit, and then answered softly. "I'm another pony now, cousin! Everypony in Equestria can confirm it. I made some mistakes in my youth, as I'm sure many of us did. You yourself were Nightmare Moon out of jealousy, so I don't think you are in the position to talk about hunger for power! If you aren't guilty, you'll become princess after the investigation is concluded, so you have nothing to worry about."

Princess Luna looked at the scared public, and then at some guards who were ordered by a senator to surround her. She nodded in agreement, but told Goldengem in a lower register: "We know what thou canst do, and we will be watching thee. Ye have been warned, my loyal servants! Ye made a mistake ye will regret, ponies of Equestria!"

The soldiers backed away, and Goldengem added swiftly. "Thank you for understanding, cousin. Now, if you'd allow me to continue…" He adjusted his pitch again, and hid the smile on his face as he saw Luna leaving the room before he began to speak.

The six Ponyville mares and the purple dragon were all silenced and flabbergasted by the scene, and they started suspecting Goldengem much more than earlier. Everypony around them was simply scared by Luna and words such as "mad", "Nightmare Moon" or "murderer" could be heard in the rumbling of the audience in the room, but they, as the wielders of the elements of harmony who cleansed Luna, knew she was normal now and that her warnings had to be taken seriously.

Twilight exchanged looks of concern with her brother and started to wonder about Goldengem's medieval deeds, clearly making up her mind to talk to Luna as soon as possible after Lightningrose.

Applejack felt her fears about Equestria falling into the wrong hoofs coming to life after Luna's worrying speech, but still hoped that Goldengem wasn't too greedy and that he really changed.

Meanwhile, the duke continued. "As I was saying… I'll have to take the burden of ruling Equestria for the period of the investigation, which might last for entire months considering the lack of evidence the Commander of the royal guards told me about for answering my enquiries regarding the crime. In consequence, I might be able to implement certain… reforms in all this time. Princess Celestia's rule was indeed a very good one, but many financial resources were wasted on unproductive sectors of the economy, while the entrepreneurial initiative was suffocated."

Some questioning looks were directed against him from the public, so he decided to make his point quickly.

"There are no rights to have other ponies working for you unless you are a royal family member, and funds are allocated for free medical services or even for people tasked to write friendship reports!" Twilight grew more and more concerned about this speech, and remembered Rainbowdash's supposition that she and Spike would be sent back to the magical academy in Canterlot. Goldengem didn't look at her, but she knew this new leader was nothing like Celestia now, and said to herself that she has to focus on the murder and prove Luna innocent or bring Celestia back as quickly as possible.

"There are many ponies who work in Equestria and could pay for their medicine, so I am going to give ponies the liberty to own means of production and develop Equestria industrially! I will also withdraw unprofitable expenses such as free healthcare and education, and direct the money produced by the state-industries and the farmers and artisans taxes to loans given to entrepreneurial ponies who have ideas to start businesses, and to investments in the research of modern weapons. Tell me, how is it normal a mighty modern nation like ours still has to fear dragon assaults?

We can research better modern weapons, eliminate taxes on weapons production and buy them at higher places so that businessponies would invest in the sector and so that we would modernize our military quickly, and destroy the dragon threat once and for all! I can build a wealthy powerful Equestria, where everypony will have the liberty to produce wealth, and own any type of national businesses. We have the technology to replace artisanship and small farms with industry and massive modern farms, but Celestia didn't do it for protecting the many ponies at the bottom of the social scale.

I will change Equestria! I will make this city shine in glory, and our nation reign over the world, Canterlot residents! The will be no constraints on the free market any longer! We will build "The Equestrian Dream"! This are my plans for the future, but for now, we shall all commemorate the death of my dear cousin.

Oh, and please, enjoy the rest of the evening!"

The opinions regarding Goldemgem's speech varied from pony to pony, but many aristocrats in the room seemed happy about the ideas. Applejack could barely keep herself from arguing with Goldengem after she saw how he was ready to dispose of the poor ponies of the country, but Twilight reminded her that they had to stay unobserved to get the chance to investigate the murder any further, and did it for her friend.

She was angry beyond limits at the selfish Alicorn who was ready to take away every right the poor ponies of Equestria had, starting from the education of her sweet little sister Applebloom, and maybe ending with Twilight's job! She felt like she could just project the duke through the window and pierce his coat with the spear of a guard for the greater good. Even Discord was better than him, but she refrained her angry thoughts, and listened to the voice of reason – Twilight in this case. Only if they kept secretly researching the murder could they get rid of the tyrant.

Fluttershy didn't even know what to think after all what happened in the room in this night, and Spike was shaking continuously since the phrase about "destroying the dragon threat once and for all". Ponies always laughed at him and had stereotypic attitudes towards dragons, but now that the Prince of Equestria wanted to conquer the Dragonlands, he felt more endangered than ever before. Rarity, although she did not admit it, was scared about Twilight losing her job and Spike moving back to Canterlot. She was never mesmerized by the little dragon as he was by her, but over the years, she developed feelings for the little fellow who was always there to help her and who loved to see her happy more than every treasure in the world – literally. She peeked on him secretly, and took comfort at the fact that he did it too, realizing the sad feeling was mutual.

Raibow Dash did not even understand most of the speech, as she hated those "fancy terms" Goldengem used. "So, Twi, what did this guy say exactly? I hate it when they speak egghead-ian, and it seemed important!" she asked through the rumbling of the public as they all followed the Royal Burrier and the coffin outside the palace.

"He wants to make ponies pay for everything and to take my job at the most summarized level, but I should get out of the crowd now to go with Shining Armor. The others will tell you the rest!" Twilight replied quickly.

"That's just Great! I knew this fancy egghead couldn't be trusted!" said Rainbowdash angrily.

The long convoy headed through the halls of the palace towards the exit to the gardens, and the other five mares covered Twilight as she left the group and ventured towards the palace's military headquarters accompanied by her brother. While this happened, Pinkie Pie saw Goldengem getting out of the convoy as well, and followed him silently to see what he was up to. "Ha! So I was right again! He is hiding from the rest of us and must be some kind of evil pony!" she said while observing the duke talking to a soldier, and giving him some kind of paper. "What is that? Wow! Investigating is fun! That must be some secret letter about the murder or… or… a declaration of war against the dragon emperor!"

Pinkie Pie was thinking aloud, and was close to getting discovered at the last part of her sentence. She managed to hide though, and followed the soldier intently. "Pwew! That was close!", exclaimed Pinkie Pie after she escaped the two guards sent by Goldengem to investigate by hiding behind columns. The first strange thing she observed was the fact that the soldier carrying Goldengem's mysterious letter sneaked by the other guards, and finally got out of the palace. "Why is he hiding? And what is that mysterious letter? I am close to solving a NEW MISTERY! Yay!" thought Pinkie Pie while following him to the main gate.

Could Pinkie Pie really solve the mystery? The duke waited for the opportunity to be alone until giving that piece of paper to a soldier, so it might contain evidence against him.

The soldier with the letter left the palace and faded in the night like a ghost, but he was watched from the doors by a pink earthpony who planned to discover his secret.