9. Justice
Rainbow Dash gasped. "YOU!" she snarled, bracing her hooves, glowering at Candy Cane - Slick Shades, the one who had tried to...hurt her, so long ago.
There was a gasp that was more than a gasp. Luna walked forward. "You...vile, despicable, horrid MONSTER!" There was a shattering sound and a roar of blue flame. As the sky suddenly plunged to night, Nightmare Moon stood glowering down at Candy Cane, her eyes glowing green as purple energy flowed out of them. Her voice was a terrible crack on the edge of insanity, with the howls of mad dreams behind it. "Do you know how many times a stallion can die in his mind before his body will no longer recover? I don't. But for hurting my Rainbow...I will enjoy using yours to find out!" Her horn glowed as dark magic gathered, amplified by the sudden night.
"Luna! Enough!" Celestia appeared in a flash of light. "Control yourself! What has gotten into you?"
The frozen tableau remained for several moments. Candy Cane was sweating bullets, with Bloodmane's hoof at his throat. Rainbow stood glowering, looking ready to tear into Candy Cane with her teeth. Nightmare Moon looked like she wouldn't be backing down anytime soon.
A quiet squeak broke the frozen moment, as Scootaloo hid behind Celestia's leg, trembling in fear of the madness.
Bloodmane spoke up. "Princess, I am placing this stallion under arrest for assault, attempted rape, resisting arrest, and evading justice."
Nightmare Moon spoke next. "And I must add no less than 17 counts each of child neglect, reckless endangerment, and statutory rape to the list of his crimes."
Celestia stared, shocked beyond words. "S...seventeen?" She had known Candy Cane to be somewhat...unsavory, but she'd never imagined something as vile as this.
Nightmare Moon would not avert her gaze. "Those are only the ones I have confirmed, from the victims who still live."
Celestia stared at Candy Cane, the truth of her sister's words awakening her temper. Scootaloo quickly scooted back behind Fluttershy - the others at the picnic had come to see what the fuss was about - as Celestia's golden shoes began to bubble and hiss. With a supreme effort, Celestia got herself under control. "Spitfire, Soarin', take this...animal into custody and place him under continuous guard in the Canterlot dungeons. Do not let him out of sight. I shall deal with him upon my return to Canterlot."
Spitfire and Soarin' saluted, then went to collect Candy Cane, who looked relieved to be removed from the situation. Bloodmane spoke up. "I'll go, too. I haven't been chasing this beast for more than a decade to let him get away now." The four pegasi left.
Celestia turned then to Nightmare Moon. "Luna, get control of yourself. Look at what you are becoming."
Nightmare Moon stepped back as the glow faded from her eyes. The first thing she saw was Scootaloo and her two friends cowering in fear. "I...I..."
The night slowly faded back into day, and the dark armor and coloration slowly fell off of Luna, shattering into flecks of darkness that vanished in the light of day. "I'm sorry..." she whispered, tears in her eyes. "I...I didn't mean to lose control like that..."
Rainbow placed her hoof on Luna's shoulder in comfort. Seeing the danger had passed, Scootaloo came and sat between them. She then spoke up. "Note to self: don't piss off the Princess...es."
That actually managed to startle a chuckle out of everypony, although it had a hysterical edge to it showing it was mostly desperate relief at getting past what had just happened. Celestia smiled. "If you will all excuse me, everypony, I have something that now requires my immediate attention. I'm afraid I must cut our time short."
"It's okay, Princess," Twilight said with a smile. "We understand."
With a nod and a smile, Celestia warped back to Canterlot.
Applejack then glanced over. "Anypony wanna tell me what that was all about?"
Rainbow sat down. "Scootaloo, think you could find some Crusading to do? Somewhere nearby, but out of earshot?"
Scootaloo nodded. "Right. Come on Crusaders!"
Applebloom and Sweetie Belle followed, confused.
Once they were out of earshot, Rainbow spoke up. "The admiral's been chasing that guy for over a decade...ever since he escaped from the hospital Bloodmane put him in."
Fluttershy nodded. "Daddy's been trying to bring him down for what he did to Rainbow."
"Daddy?" the others said in shock...except for one.
Pinkie's mane and tail had deflated. She'd put things together a little too quickly. "Dashie...the assault and attempted rape charge...that was you?" Her eyes were tearing up.
Dash nodded. "I was just a filly, didn't even have my Cutie Mark yet. It...was just after my first Wonderbolt show, when Spitfire'd signed a picture for me. I wanted to get into racing, become a Wonderbolt. I was telling everypony how I was gonna be a Wonderbolt...and he came up, saying he could help me with that. Said he knew some special training the Wonderbolts did, that he'd help me grab my dream. ...stupid me, I believed him and followed him to his place."
Fluttershy spoke up. "I'd been listening to Rainbow Dash and...the stallion who called himself Slick Shades frightened me...more so than most ponies. So...I went and got my Daddy. He came running..."
Dash shuddered as the memory once more escaped the door. "I don't have to go into details, do I? Just...know that the Admiral got there just in time."
There was dead silence. FInally, Pinkie tackle-glomped Rainbow Dash, crying. "RAINBOW!" she cried, wailing. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know! No wonder you always got upset when I tried to get you to party with stallions around! I'll stop trying to set you up, I just wanted you to be happy!"
"Pinkie! It's okay, really!" She gave Pinkie a friendly pat on her back. "This is why I never talked about it before. It's just something I wanted to elave in my past. I'm past it, and I AM happy...thanks to all of you for the most part." She smiled towards where Scootaloo and the others had gone, although her eyes breifly flicked towards Luna.
Pinkie pulled back. "Then...you don't hate me, Dashie?"
Rainbow laughed. "Pinkie, you could bake me into a batch of cupcakes and I STILL wouldn't hate you."
Pinkie's mane and tail reinflated. "I'm so happy, Dashie!" she cried, squeezing her in yet another tight hug.
Dash smiled. "Hey Pinkie, why don't you go see if you can find the fillies? I'm thinking maybe we should head back soon."
"Okay!" Pinkie said happily. She bounced off in a different direction from where the fillies had gone. She probably knew where she was going if anypony did.
Seeing how discussion of Candy Cane was now something to be avoided, Rarity spoke up. "Fluttershy, darling, I had no idea your father was THE Admiral Quickhoof 'One-eye' Bloodstreak. WHy didn't you ever mention it?"
Fluttershy just shrugged. "He's always been 'Daddy' to me."
"But he's a living legend!" Twilight replied, also quite shocked. "They teach about his exploits at Celestia's school!"
Fluttershy smiled. "I suppose I should also make a fuss about being best friends with Equestria's most powerful unicorn, fastest pegasus, best chef, and premiere fashonista? Or how Applejack's grandmare founded Ponyville? Or about being one of the Elements of Harmony?" As everyone fell silent, Fluttershy shrugged. "Everypony is who they are. I don't see the need to make a fuss over such things." She suddenly flushed as she realized how forward she was being. "Th-that is, if you don't mind. I mean, I can make a fuss if you want me to..."
Rainbow chuckled. "Same old Fluttershy." As Pinkie returned with the fillies, they all gathered up the picnic supplies and headed back to Ponyville.
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Celestia stared down at the cowering stallion before her. She stood on her throne, the entire room sealed with her magic. "Slick Shades, Candy Cane...many aliases have you used to evade your due punishment. However, justice has now caught up to you. All that is left is who's justice you shall face." Celestia could only just barely contain her temper, and the throne room was unbearably hot for any normal pony, and her gold regalia was already starting to hiss and bubble. "Perhaps I shall let my sister experiment regarding mental death. Or perhaps I shall hand you over to Discord, or turn you to stone..."
Candy Cane sank to his knees. "Your Highness, I throw myself on your bountiful mercy!" he cried in panic.
Celestia's eyes narrowed. "A mistake," she whispered as she lost control of her temper. Her mane and wings burst into solar fire as her regalia blazed with sunlight. "I have seen your mind. You could change your ways...but choose not to. Luna gave you a nightmare to teach you to change, but you overcame it and went right back to your ways." There was a flare of light as fire seared into Candy Cane's body.
Candy Cane staggered back. "What...what happened?"
"I have granted you immortality, Candy Cane. You will live so long as the sun burns." Celestia flared her wings, and a mystic circle of fire surrounded Candy Cane. "And now, you shall face the punishment given to those who are beyond reform, who can never change. Like the Shogoth, the Mind Flayer, and teh Dark Elders that feed on pain and madness...I banish you to burn for eternty in the heart of the sun!" She spread her wings wide as she raised her horn to the heavens.
The circle flared, and Candy Cane's last feared scream faded slowly.
Celestia sighed, letting go of the rage, letting the flames fade as she returned to herself. Glancing around, she saw that - once again - releasing her full power for even a brief moment had reduced all the metal to slag and left the rest a scorched mess. She pulled a quill and a parchment scroll out of thin air. "Note to self," she said as she wrote, "write to Rarity to see if she has time to redecorate my throne room in a more modern style."
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All Candy Cane could feel was pain. The light was so bright it was dark. He couldn't move or speak. He had already screamed himself hoarse, his lungs burned and regrown in the sun's fire. However, he ahd no idea what was yet to come.
He felt a presence near him.
A new inmate, the presence spoke. The words weren't spoken aloud, they were just in his head.
<What is he?> asked another voice, this one frightening in intensity.
:A Pony: This voice seemed to shape itself into reality.
We've never had a pony before. What brought him here?
<Taste his mind. Find out.>
Candy Cane felt something slimey brush across his brain. There was a threefold, unearthly gasp of horror. Then, as unholy howls of fury tore through his mind, his torute really began.
Even eldritch horror abominations from the depths of insanity love their children.
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The powder blue pegasus filly watched the front door, sniffing the air. She had been told she was a precious angel, with bright blue eyes and silver mane and tail. She took the other fillies and colts word for it.
Candy Cane had been gone for a long time. He almost never left, so being gone for so long was unusual. As frightening as Candy Cane was, for the filly being alone - since all the other colts and fillies were out somewhere - was worse.
Somepony was at the door. She sniffed the air, felt the wind with her wings. It wasn't Candy Cane. She inched backwards, afraid.
The door opened. A very large stallion stood there. He was examining the surroundings. He scoffed. "This place is a disgrace!" he spat.
"That's why we're here, darling," said another voice. A mare squeezed past the stallion. "We'll get this place fixed up and looking proper in no time."
"I'm glad Celestia told me about this place. It certainly needs somepony to take charge and snap it into shape."
The filly shivered. "W...where's Candy Cane?" she asked. "He's supposed to take care of us..."
The stallion turned towards her. "You won't ever see him again. He faces Celestia's justice for his crimes. We're running things ehre now."
As the filly shivered, the mare punched the stallion on the foreleg. "Quickhoof! You're scaring her!" She came up, leaning down towards the filly. "Sorry about my mate," she said quietly. She had a very soft voice. "I'm Wind Blossom. What's your name?"
the filly shivered. "Water Lily."
Wind Blossom smiled. "That's a beautiful name...almost as beautiful as you."
Water Lily shrugged. "If you say so. I wouldn't know."
Wind Blossom tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I gots no optic nerves," Water Lily replied. "It's why I'm here." She suddenly looked up, scared. "You won't hurt my flowers, will you?"
Wind Blossom rested her wing across Water Lily's shoulders. "Don't worry, little one. No one will hurt your flowers. Can I see them?"
Water Lily nodded, toddling off towards her room. Wind Blossom and Quickhoof followed, Quickhoof glancing around and muttering about the shoddy condition of the place. In her room, Water Lily shifted aside the curtain that hid her flowers from view. She heard Wind Blossom and Quickhoof gasp, just like all adults did when they first saw her flowers. She patted the cloud they grew out of. "Hmm...needs watering." She picked up a small tin, sloshing some liquid around and sniffing it. "I'll need more liquid rainbow soon..."
Wind Blossom leaned over her. "We'll get you what you need, dear. Don't worry."
Quickhoof turned around. "How did she learn to grow cloudflowers?" he asked no one in particular.
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It was much later that night. Rainbow had put Scootaloo to bed, and returned to her own room, where Luna sat away from the bed, once more having shed her royal image and etheral mane. "Well, Scoot's sleeping peacefully," Dash said quietly. "Hope she won't have nightmares about what happened today."
"She won't," Luna said, a rueful smile on her face. "I checked. Now that she knows that...what happened was invoked on your behalf, she thinks it was awesome."
Rainbow chuckled. "That's my sis."
Luna sighed. "Rainbow...I did not want you to see that side of me...to know that Nightmare Moon is forever inside of me, waiting for any surge of negative emotion to push me over the edge into madness."
Rainbow blinked. "Why?"
Luna blinked away tears. "I...I feared you might push me away..."
"Why would I do that? I wasn't scared or nothing. Really."
Luna smiled. She knew that to be true. "It's...not that. The negative emotions that trigger the Nightmare include rage, fear..." She touched her horn to Rainbow's forehead, where a unicorn would have a horn. "...grief..."
Rainbow nodded her understanding. Luna was immortal. Rainbow wasn't. She touched Luna's cheek with a hoof. "And what about heartbreak?"
Luna blinked. "Th...that would do it, yes."
Rainbow chuckled. "Luna...the risk of losing a loved one...EVERYPONY takes that risk when they open up to another. I'm not going to push you away to protect you. We're an us, and that's that."
Luna smiled. "Thank you, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow smiled. "Say, Luna...why'd it look like you had Sombre's eyes back there?"
Luna flushed. "Because I was drawing on spells he had taught me...dark spells of his own creation."
Rainbow blinked. "Why would he teach you magic?"
Luna chuckled. "Because we were dating at the time."
Rainbow's jaw fell open. "Huh?"
Luna shrugged. "You asked."
"What did you see in him?"
Luna glanced at Rainbow as she got onto the bed with her. "Are you sure you wish to know?"
Rainbow nodded. "Of course!"
Luna sighed. "Well, he was tall, dark, handsome...and Celestia didn't like him."
Rainbow cracked up. "What?"
Luna smiled. "It was my sixth adolescent phase. I was rebellious."
Rainbow blinked. "Huh?"
"Celestia and I mantain our immortality in different ways. Celestia, like the sun, grows very slowly over time and is continuous. I, like the moon, renew myself periodically." Luna smiled. "This means that each time I reach the end of a lifetime, when my body becomes old and feeble, I turn back into an infant. I then go through all the stages of life at the same rate as before...including adolescent rebellion, although the full memories of my existance don't return until reaching marehood."
Rainbow was slackjawed. "That's pretty intense. So...Sombre was adolescent rebellion?"
Luna nodded. "Yes...it did not end well."
"I see..." Rainbow decided to change the subject. "So, any other ex stories to tell me? I assume Sombre was the most recent?"
Luna nodded. "Are you sure you wish to know?"
"Of course!" Rainbow rolled onto her back. "I don't have any exes, so wow me with the breadth of your experience. If this is your sixth lifetime, there's got to be at least five,right?"
Luna chuckled. "Well, alright. The first was a unicorn mare named Silver Flute...her special talent was making...all kinds of music..."