It was yet another beautiful day in Canterlot. The sky was cloudless, the sun was bright and the city was full of activity. So why did Twilight feel so nervous?
She was back where she belonged: Close to her friends, close to her family, close to her mentor. And two of the three seemed to have forgiven her already. Despite her utter betrayal, despite her alignment, and even despite what she’s physically become, her friends walked by her side.
As for Princess Celestia… She had always been a fair ruler. For as long as Twilight knew her, she had been a beacon of forgiveness, and acceptance, even against her enemies.
So technically, there was no reason for Twilight to be nervous. Right?
As the group of ponies walked up to the main gate, Twilight spotted a poster that had a mugshot of her on it, with a heading: “Wanted alive. Highly dangerous. Offering 50,000 bit bounty for information leading to capture.”
“Wow...you really are famous, aren’t you?” remarked Trixie. Twilight just gulped. Scratch that thought about the Princess being forgiving.
As they neared the gate, Onyx stopped and turned to Twilight.
“I suggest you disguise yourself as somepony else. It’s not very smart to waltz right in as your original form.” he said. She nodded and closed her eyes. A burst of green fire later, she transformed into Slipstream. Onyx glared at her, and she chuckled sheepishly before transforming again into a random mare with a green mane and a dark yellow hide.
“No offense Twilight, but that mane color is hideous!” said Rarity.
“I don’t know Rarity, I think it suits her.” said Rainbow Dash, snickering.
“What’s taking you slowpokes so long? Let’s go!” shouted a very eager Pinkie Pie, who somehow got extremely ahead of them. Onyx stared at her.
“How did she-?”
“You don’t wanna know.” said Applejack, trotting past him. He just shook his head and everypony continued to the gate.
When they finally reached the gleaming white gate, there were two guards standing side by side outside the gate. Both of them were clutching razor sharp spears. As Onyx walked up to them, they both quickly drew their spears at him, stoic expressions on their faces.
“State your name and business. The same applies for the mares behind you.” said one of them. He looked above them and saw another pair of guards eyeing him from the guard tower. Both of them were armed with crossbows and seemed keen to fire a bolt at him.
“Sergeant Onyx of the Phoenix Guard.” he said, his horn projecting his service record as proof. The first guard studied it before he gasped, while the second one gaped at him. Both of them suddenly became still and saluted him rather hastily.
“Sir, welcome to Canterlot! Enjoy your stay here.” barked the guard. Onyx grinned as his service record faded. The guard looked up and showed the gate guards a hooves up sign, and the gate slowly raised itself.
As Onyx went in, he noticed the startled expressions of the guards, and followed their gaze to the changeling on his back.
“I captured this one outside while on a mission. Just going to show it to the Princess.” he explained to them. The guards around him relaxed and laughed, ushering him in. Behind him, the Elements were stopped by the guards, who blocked the entrance with their spears.
“State your name and business-”
“You know who we are.” said Rainbow Dash crossly, nudging the spear out of the way as they made their way in. He realized it was the Elements of Harmony.
“Sweet Celestia, it’s the Elements of Harmony.” muttered the first guard, saluting them. The second one almost fainted.
“I’ve always wanted their autographs.” he mouthed over to his partner. He shook his head.
Twilight felt extremely jumpy as she felt the eyes of the guards on her. After she passed them, she felt her heartbeat return to normal.
With that out of the way, Twilight looked at her hometown. She breathed deeply. Home sweet home. It has been too long. They walked a few clicks forward before Onyx stopped again.
“Well, this is where we part ways. I have to go drop him off at the dungeon and...well..break him for any information. I then have to write a report to Princess Celestia explaining to her what happened...and about Slipstream.” he said, shaking all of their hooves. He hesitated at shaking Twilight’s hooves, but he managed to. She felt a pang of regret for Nucleon, but it was for the best.
“Good luck.” he told her before his horn glowed white with energy. Both him and Nucleon disappeared in a shower of sparks. Pinkie Pie started to hop.
“Are we going to see the Princess yet?” she asked.
“I hope so.” replied Fluttershy, gazing up at the great castle. As she said that, a group of guards galloped past them. The leader of the group was shouting orders as they turned left and disappeared around the cafe behind them.
“What was that all about?” asked Twilight. Applejack shrugged.
“Beats me. Let’s get goin’, girls.” she said. Heeding her orders, they all walked to the path that winded to the castle.
Study of the Princess, Canterlot Castle...
Princess Celestia watched from the balcony of her personal study as the guards assembled themselves. Out of the army of gold plated stallions, she spotted one with a blue trim: a Captain.
She looked as Shining Armor barked out orders for his guards to quit being “mares” and line up properly.
Somepony knocked on her door.
“Come in.” she shouted. The door creaked open and one of her servants walked in, bowing to her.
“Princess, Sergeant Onyx is here, and would like to seek an audience with you. He also brought a changeling, which is currently in the dungeon.” he said. Celestia thought about it.
Onyx and Slipstream… Both had boarded the airship that Cadence commandeered, and were gone for eight whole months, without her permission. That alone could result in insubordination, or even a discharge from the Royal Guard. The Princess had half a mind to just end his career right now. However, it was wrong to do something like that unless she hears them out first.
In the end, she sighed.
“Let him in. I want to speak personally to him, in my study.” she said. The servant nodded before leaving the room to call him in.
Miles under Canterlot Castle...
The dungeon was a dark and musty place. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the floor was covered with ages of grime and dust. All the cells were carved into the stone, with no view to the outside due to the dungeon being subterranean. Torches illuminated the hallways, with shadows bouncing around.
At the farthest end of the corridor was a large cell, with only one occupant. Two armed guards stood outside, swords at the ready, keeping watch on the changeling inside the cell.
Nucleon looked around the cell. There are no windows to let sunlight in. His bed was a flat piece of stone. At the corner of the cell was a small hole, which served as the bathroom. Great.
He sat down and looked at his hooves. They were chained to a large weight with thick, heavy chains. They also told him that teleporting out is useless because of the enchantments that disabled any magical powers.
As he stared off into space at the wall, he thought about his decision. Leaving the hive. Betraying the queen. All for saving the life of a mare he loved.
But was she worth saving? Worth leaving the Queen for? mused Nucleon. He shook his head. No, it was for a greater cause. He was helping the ponies from Nightmare Moon.
Yet, he couldn’t imagine himself facing his brothers in combat. He knew he was screwed both ways. Princess Celestia might execute him, and Queen Chrysalis would do the same too if he tried to return back to his hive. Maybe it would be better if he just committed suicide right now, to leave all this behind.
That’s cowards talk, Nucleon. Get a grip on yourself. If I’m charged for execution, I’ll fight with my last breath before they could kill me. Better dying with a fight than dying of cowardice. he thought.
Nucleon’s stomach growled in hunger. He sighed and lied down on the cold flat stone. What he will do for a clean bed and a hot meal...
Back at the Princess’s study...
Onyx walked into Celestia’s study. He was unsure why she called him into her personal abode, but he knew it was something serious. He looked around. She was nowhere to be found. Her chair behind the desk was empty, and there were two chairs in front of it for guests. He didn’t sit down, thinking it would be rude.
The shelves were filled with ancient tomes, and intricate gadgets were lined up against a shelf. A couple were whirring and making strange noises, but some were off. A window behind showed the sun high up in the sky, with double doors leading to the balcony.
A squawk made him jump. He turned to see Philomena sitting on her perch. She squawked again and disappeared in a column of fire. Onyx relaxed a bit. It was just the Princess’s pet phoenix.
Suddenly, the room was filled with golden light. He shielded his eyes as the light grew brighter, and finally, dimmed down. He lowered his hooves to see the Princess standing before him. Onyx clumsily bowed to her until she told him to steady himself.
“Sit down.” she ordered. He quickly sat down. Her anger was apparent from the tone of her voice.
Princess Celestia studied him with her wide magenta eyes, as if she could see through his body, which made Onyx feel uncomfortable. Finally, the Princess spoke.
“Where have you been for the last eight months?” she asked. He stayed silent, looking down at his hooves. She leaned forward.
“Onyx, I want a reply. Why were you gone for almost a year? Why didn’t you tell me you were going? Most importantly, where is Slipstream?” she asked, her voice lessening to a kind tone. Onyx hesitated before answering.
“Um..you see Princess, I went with Slipstream and Cadence to rescue Captain Shining Armor.” he stammered. Celestia raised her brows.
“And that took you that long? Please, don’t hold anything back from me. I do not want to use an alternative method of extracting information from ponies, but if I must, I will. ” she said, her horn glowing with a golden aura.
“I am answering truthfully, ma’am! Very well, I won’t hold back anything.” he pleaded. She leaned back, her horn slowly losing charge. She seemed relieved of not using the mind extraction spell.
“Thank you. Explain to me in detail what happened over that time.” she said.
“I was in the barracks with Slipstream when Princess Cadence came in. Normally, she didn’t have the security clearance to enter, but she somehow got in. She came up to us because we were the highest ranked in the barracks at the time. Cadence took us and a couple of others to the hangar, where we snuck in through a back entrance and boarded the airship. Naturally, she plotted the flight route to where the Captain was.” he said, his mouth running dry from explaining.
Celestia absorbed all of this before letting him continue.
“After we arrived, me and Slipstream dropped in to and managed to pull the Captain out through the ruckus. We left by ship, but the drones didn’t want to let us go that easily, so they boarded our ship. We tried to stop them, but they disabled it and we crashed. We were all scattered, but I rescued Twilight and brought her back to my superiors, whom were actually changelings. The real trio were frozen in the capsule they created.” The Princess raised her hoof to stop him.
“Hold on. Are you saying that Shining Armor and my niece are changelings?” she asked. Onyx shook his head.
“No, ma’am. The changelings disguised themselves as them first, but we rescued the real ones shortly after I fought them with Twilight.” he said, reassuring her. Celestia told him to continue.
“Eventually, reinforcement came in the form of the Elements of Harmony, who helped us fend off the attackers. The fighting made the cave unstable so it started to fall upon us, so we had to get out. Twilight was knocked out by a falling rock, so I had to drag her. Slipstream’s wing got hit by a boulder, so he was down. Nucleon arrived shortly and after a small argument, he helped us escape from the falling cavern and into the balloon that unicorn summoned. After we got in, Slipstream-” he stopped there, unable to continue.
Celestia sensed something was wrong.
“Onyx, what happened to Slipstream?” she asked gently. He just looked away from her.
“He-he died, your Highness. He sacrificed himself so we could escape. He held back the drones that were trying to kill us.” he whispered. The Princess hung her head in silence.
“He will be remembered, Onyx. I will make sure that my guards find and retrieve his body. He will have a proper funeral, especially since he served under my personal guard.” she said kindly. Onyx nodded, wiping his snout. Hopefully, the Princess will be merciful and let him off the hook. Celestia seemed to feel the same way.
“I sense you are telling me the truth. You are dismissed for now. Be as it may that I have not personally demoted you. However, you shall be on bathroom duty for the next four weeks.”
“But ma’am, not bathroom duty! Anything but that-” She raised her hoof to silence him.
“You should be grateful I did not strip you of your rank or discharge you from service. You may leave now. Oh, and before you forget, I want you to send up Nucleon from the dungeon.” she said firmly. He nodded in defeat and walked towards the door. Before he left, he said without turning around “By the way ma’am, Twilight is here. You should see her.”. After that, he left through the door and closed it gently.
Celestia froze when she heard that. She quickly broke out of her trance and tapped on a gem shard that was sitting on her desk. The piece glowed, and she spoke into it.
“Guards, if the Elements of Harmony come into the castle, tell them to send Twilight Sparkle up to my study. Escort her with the highest priority.” she commanded. A crackle of static later, one of the guards answered.
“Will do, your highness.” responded one of them. The Princess had a neutral expression on her face. Twilight would have a lot of explaining to do...
A few floors down the castle...
The Elements reached the main entrance to the castle, which was a large wooden door flanked by two guards holding spears. Both of them were still as a statue. Pinkie Pie hopped up to them and started making faces and funny noises.
“I love playing this game!” she yelled, sticking her tongue out at them. As if on cue, the guard instantly lowered his spear and aimed the tip against the pink pony’s throat. Pinkie stopped and had a terrified look on her face. Her friends too shared the same expressions. The guard soon spoke.
“Stay back and state your business.” he said sharply. Rarity stepped forward.
“We are the Elements of Harmony. I am Rarity. Those behind me are Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Twilight Sparkle. Oh, and that unicorn is Trixie, but she is not an Element.” she said. The guard narrowed his eyes.
“Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack are recognized by the gate. Trixie is not recognized. Welcome to the Royal Castle.” he said, moving the spear aside and letting them in. Twilight glanced at Trixie, who was held back.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be at my carriage with Spike.” she said sadly before turning around and walking away. She then turned back to her friends and trotted through the lush courtyard. A large fountain welcomed them, and the sunlight glimmered off the water, revealing a rainbow. Neatly trimmed hedges lined the paths, and the aroma of flowers wafted through the air.
However, their visit was cut short when a guard halted them. He was clutching a piece of parchment.
“Which one of you is Twilight Sparkle?” he asked. Twilight raised her hoof. The guard looked down at the parchment and then at Twilight, obviously confused.
“Your appearance doesn’t match with the picture. Are you sure you are Twilight Sparkle?” he said. She sighed in resignation before morphing back to her original pony form. He jumped backwards, dropping the piece of parchment.
“This matches the picture! Twilight Sparkle, you are hereby summoned personally by Princess Celestia. She would like to meet with you.” he said. Twilight’s heart started to pound heavily again as she started to tremble. She glanced back at everypony. Rainbow Dash nodded her head, while Pinkie Pie gave her a huge smile. The others had blank expressions on their faces. She turned to the guard with a determined look on her face.
“Let’s go.” she said. The guard turned and led her to another doorway. Before she left, one of her friends shouted “Good luck, Twilight.”
She didn’t need to turn around to hear who that was. The quiet, timid voice already had revealed itself to Twilight. Smiling to herself, she went through the door, and the door closed after her.
I’ve left the Princess, served under Nightmare Moon, freed the Spirit of Chaos, transformed into a changeling, supported the changelings in the fight and somehow involved in the capture of my brother. The least she can do is banish me to the Everfree Forest she thought sadly.
Meanwhile, at the dungeon...
Nucleon looked at the tray of food given to him. Under normal circumstances, he would eat anything that looked edible. But the jail food was… disgusting, to say the least. Half of it wasn’t even solid to chew.
He made a face and threw the tray away. It splattered against the floor, spreading the contents out everywhere. Just then, two burly guards appeared in front of the cell, the first one swinging a large set of rusty keys.
“The Princess would like to see you.” said one of them, unlocking the cell door and swinging it open. Nucleon shuffled out of it, trying to move in his locked state.
“You know, taking these off would’ve helped.” he said. The second guard laughed, as if he made a joke.
“You ‘earin this fool? Sorry mate, but this is for ya own good.” he said, pushing him so he can walk forward. He sighed. So much for compassion.
“Why does the Princess want to see me?” he asked cautiously. The guard shrugged.
“Beats me. Maybe she wants to execute you.” he said gruffly. The guard next to him burst into a sadistic smile.
“‘Magine he was executed? Serves ‘im right. Changelings don’t deserve to be in Canterlot” he said.
“How touching.” said Nucleon dryly. Hopefully, whatever the guards were saying won’t happen to him. But he heard about the Princess, so he won’t take any risks that will set her off. At least, not the ones that involve her beheading him in front of a large crowd in Canterlot.