//------------------------------// // Deity // Story: Trials of the Republic // by TheDarkNight775 //------------------------------// Chapter 11 Deity THREE YEARS LATER... Rainbow Dash knelt before the throne. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. She knew that she would be punished. The question... Was how? "Empress..." "Be quiet." Celestia's voice was cold and unfeeling. Rainbow Dash felt any hope she had had for mercy flutter away like a leaf shredded in the winds of a hurricane. "I don't need to explain to you what you've done, Wing Commander. You know full well what trouble you have sewed." "Of course, Empress. And.." "Shut up." She didn't yell it. Celestia never yelled, or raised her voice in any fashion. But the cold fury in her tone was more intimidating than any scream. Rainbow Dash had heard that tone before. it was usually followed by an even colder "Take it away." This prompted the Royal Guardian to sieze the poor victim by the scruff of the neck and drag them to the dungeon for- "Penance." But this didn't happen. Instead, she uttered- "Bring out the Wing Commander's... Incentive. Perhaps a little jogging of her memory is required." Rainbow Dash jerked her head up, eyes wide in terror. "No- Please- Do what you want to me, but leave her alone!" Her words were of no effect. "You failed me, Wing Commander. I told you very clearly... Hire me an assassin to intimidate Lady Rarity into submission and make her give up her compatriots. You hired an incompetent who alerted her to the fact we had caught on and caused her to flee. He failed. And his incompetence and failure are transferred to you." The Guardian dragged a young girl into the room and dropped her directly in front of the throne, right before Rainbow Dash. "Scootaloo!" Rainbow's voice broke as she began to sob. "No... You can't!" Scootaloo was completely quiet. There was not a tear in her eyes. And, looking into the girl's eyes, Rainbow could tell that Scootaloo knew just as well as Rainbow Dash what came next. The Guardian pulled a bullwhip from a clip on his belt. "On your knees, girl!" Celestia said sweetly. "I won't lie to you. This is going to hurt. And I'm going to relish every second of it." Scootaloo obeyed, stripping off her shirt and covering her chest with her arms. "Ready... Begin!" "One!" The Guardian counted. Whit-CRACK! "Two!" Whit-CRACK! "Three!" Whit-CRACK! "Four!" With each strike, Rainbow rocked on her knees, sobbing and begging, hands clenched, crying out at each CRACK! But the girl whose back was being flayed into strips by the Guardian's whip uttered not a cry. Not a whimper. Besides the occasional Umph at a particularly vicious strike, Scootaloo made not a sound. Celestia pondered this. If ever the opportunity came, it might be advantageous to- Replace- the Wing Commander with this girl... If only this girl didn't have the stubborn determination she did, it might actually work. But that stubbornness was a double edged sword for Celestia, while Rainbow Dash made a very good blunt object. Celestia sighed. This was beginning to bore her now. So little could hold her attention for long, now. It was beginning to irritate her. she would pick up a book, and begin to read- and within the hour, the book would cease to captivate her interest. Not even men could entertain her, after she'd summarily executed her last consort, she hadn't even bothered to get a new one. And even when entertaining herself, she would feel her interest slipping away. There only seemed to be two things left that held her interest- clashing armies with her sister, and visiting her former betrothed's grave. Either of these she could do for hours at a time. She raised a hand. "Enough." The Guardian glanced at her in confusion, whip raised at the count of Twenty-five. "Mi 'lady, you called for fifty lashes." "Enough. This bores me." The Guardian, who was a much more intelligent man than his three predecessors, understood that these three words were synonymous with "Shut up before I decide to feed you to the crows" and stowed the whip. "Yes, mi 'lady." He dragged the girl to her feet. "Come along, girl... The medics will see to your back..." he whispered as soon as they had left Celestia's earshot. This left Celestia alone with her sobbing, trembling Wing Commander. "On your feet." Celestia commanded, her voice hard and cold as ice. Rainbow Dash stood up, her eyes red with tears, face flushed. "I've been lenient with you 'till now, because I knew you were still adjusting to your new... Situation. But from now on, I will have no mercy for you. If I even begin to suspect you are a Republic sympathizer... Well..." She smiled cruelly. "Your little friend might loose a few... Extraneous bits." She waved a hand. "You are dismissed." Rainbow Dash offered no salute. She merely turned and walked from the throne room. Scootaloo gasped as the Guardian dragged her through the hallways. She hurt. She hurt in ways she'd never imagined she could. "I'm sorry, lass." she heard a warm, friendly voice say softly. "I tried to hurt you as little as I could, but I had ta make it look real for the Empress, see." Scootaloo coughed. "It's alright, Wildfire." she gasped. "Your position is more important than a few scars." Wildfire was secretly a part of the Resistance. He'd explained that they were part of neither the Republic or the Empire, but a small group of rebels that wanted to enact a democratic government. From what Scootaloo had gathered with her own ears and been told by Wildfire, the Resistance was much more successful then the Republic at infiltrating both organizations. Spitfire was a high-level Resistance member, as was Lady Rarity. As of yet, the Resistance had passed off much of their work as that of the Republic, keeping Celestia clueless to their existence. Wildfire jokingly called Scootaloo an "Honorary member" but she was determined, as soon as she was a little older, to escape Celestia's grip and become part of the Resistance herself. Only five years until she was eighteen. She chuckled to herself. Five years. Hopefully the war would be over by then. "Here, lass, stand up. Lean on me shoulder." Wildfire said. She complied, with his help, pulling herself to her feet. she wobbled slightly, but with his help, began to walk shakily. "Thanks." she winced. "Suppose it's a good thing Her Highness has the attention span of a gnat." "It is at that." Wildfire agreed. "Here we are." "Oh, Wildfire, what did that bitch make you do now?" "Hullo, Redheart. Careful how you speak about Her Majesty, now. The wrong person might have a pair of ears that are just a tad too sharp." He transferred Scootaloo to the medic carefully. "Twenty-five lashes, would have been fifty had she not been distracted." "That bitch." Redheart growled. "If I ever get my hands on her, I'll..." "Not blow your cover." Wildfire said gently. "Stay calm. Think happy thoughts." Redheart flushed. "Of course. I'm sorry. It's just..." "Don't worry about me." Scootaloo chimed in. "I don't look like it, but I'm tough." At thirteen years old, most girls were developing breasts and hips. Not Scootaloo. She was wiry, not a scrap of fat on her body. Not because she was starved. Wildfire always made sure she had enough food- and she ate like a rabid wolverine. She just didn't seem to hold onto fat. Despite her delicate appearance, there were a lot of guards. Wildfire had only taken custody of her for the last year- and in the two years before that, she'd been beaten many a time. her body bore the scars of mistreatment by the Imperial Army's most sadistic members. If nothing else, she had learned how to take a hit. She'd used to hope that Rainbow Dash would swoop in, pistols blazing, and rescue her... but as she grew older, she began to understand that her adoptive big sister and hero was as much a prisoner as she was. Maybe even more so. At thirteen years old, Scootaloo would consider herself a grown woman in mind, if not body. She understood things she realized most people didn't think she did. Like the lashes on her back- while they hurt, she could tell they were little issue. Wildfire knew how to make things look bad while still leaving his intended victim mostly intact. While Redheart bustled around, going on about how it wasn't as bad as it looked, and warning her about disinfectant stinging, and about how awful she was sure Scootaloo felt, Scootaloo allowed herself a small smirk. Redheart was one of the many people that still thought of Scootaloo as a kid. She lay still and thought about what life would be like when she had escaped. Celestia knelt in front of the statue and placed the flowers at its base. The man the statue portrayed would have laughed at the gesture. "Oh, Tia. What do you expect me to do with these? Eat them?" She could almost hear his voice. "Why did you have to leave me?" She asked the stone. "Why did you leave me all alone?" As always, the stone was cold and unresponsive. Celestia resisted the urge to break out in tears. her guards were still with her. She had an image to maintain. "Dismissed." she said. The guards nodded. Saluting, they spun on their heels and marched away. As soon as they were gone, Celestia released her control. The tears fell thick and fast, but she made no sound as she stared at the stone carving of the only person in the world that ever understood her. "Why?" she asked in a choked voice. "Couldn't you have stayed with me?" As always, the stone was silent. For years, the statue that had contained the flesh and blood of the real man had stood in this exact spot. Celestia could have released him at any time, and they could have been together... But no, she'd merely come here every day, laying flowers like she did now, hoping that something, some part of the man that was inside could see her and knew that she still loved him, despite it all. But life was a cruel bitch, and only just as they'd finally been able to lie in each others arms again, he was stolen from her once more... This time, taken by sickness and sent to eternal sleep. She and her best doctors had done their greatest work, trying to find what it was that he had contracted, and save his life. But his own chaotic magic had run rampant through his riddled body, and the sickness changed every time they thought they had it pinned down. Celestia had never had a chance to see the corpse. Luna had been watching over him as she tended to her duties- and when Celestia came back, the bitch dared tell her that her best friend and lover had disintegrated of unknown causes. Celestia knew what had happened. Luna had been trying to convince her for days that she should put him out of his misery. Celestia could see that she had taken matters into her own hands. And she'd called on the Elements to destroy her sister for this offense. But they had failed her, had insisted on merely expelling her until there was such a time that they could talk it over in a reasoned manner. Celestia then saw- They had been in on it too. And she became convinced it was not only a plot to kill her most dear and beloved, but to dispose of her as well. In her fury at deducing this, she sent her guards after them, to bring them back dead or alive. Pinkemenia Diane Pie had come to her willingly, offering her services in exchange for money. She had joined Celestia's guards in the hunt for her former friends, bringing a small band of rejects together and naming the squad PARTY, an acronym that stood for her former passion. Celestia appreciated the irony, and allowed them to operate mostly independently. Diane herself captured Lady Rarity and brought back Rainbow Dash's corpse, the Pegusi killed by a road mine planted by one of her own squad. She also brought back the tale of how Twilight had blasted her way through an entire squad of guards, half-killed her own brother, and fled into the Everfree. Fluttershy, too, had escaped, although the circumstances were unclear. Applejack had plowed through the bulk of the forces, killing at least ten and wounding many others, before the mercenary had lost track of her. Celestia had frozen Rainbow Dash's corpse in time and space with magic and the help of technology, preventing the potentially useful girl from rotting until she'd found a way to bring her back from the dead. It had finally come in the scrolls of Starswirl the Bearded, not exactly the spell she was looking for, but a powerful healing spell that, with some tweaking and the addition of some dark magic she'd picked up during her younger, wilder days, had sufficed just fine. Two years after her death, the Element of Loyalty was brought back from the grave. Celestia had conveniently kept a certain girl she knew had been close to the woman alive, and used her to keep the newly resurrected Element under reign. Which brought her to this day. "Do you still love me?" she asked the statue. "Even after all I've done, all the evil I've wrought for the greater good, do you still love me?" She'd asked this question every day. Not yet had she received an answer. Tears in her eyes, she turned away. "I do." a voice came from behind her. "But you must make it right." She turned, trembling. All that was there was a statue. Immobile. Cold. Unloving. And, in her pondering, she realized this was not a bad metaphor for the creature she had become. Crying at the mess she had created, she turned away, swearing that she would make everything right... Within the hour, her diseased mind had forgotten the entire affair.