//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1: Day 1 
// Story: An Equestrian Freedom 
// by FullMetalFurbee 
//------------------------------//

	
Twilight Sparkle despised anatomy with abandon. She glared disdainfully at the exceedingly complex text book. Page after page of jargon glared right back. She wondered what use a princess had with knowledge of muscle fibers and tendons. Toxicology, sure. Medicinal chemistry? Absolutely. She was all for possessing a basic medical knowledge, but passionately insisted that ossicles and ventral arcs should be for skilled surgeons only. She groaned. Celestia had instructed her to finish the pages on hind-hooves by week's end. 
Vastis Lateralis...yadda yadda... interochanteric line... she thought.
“Twilight, are you seriously still reading that boring book?” whined her little housemate from his bed as he peered up at her. “You've had your nose stuck in that thing for hours.”
“Yes, Spike,” grumbled Twilight. “I can't just decide not to read what Celestia tells me to. Being a princess isn't all fun and games.”
“Ugh. I'll say.”
Twilight got back to reading. After a few undisturbed minutes she heard Spike tossing and turning more aggressively than normal. He made a gurgling noise. She glanced down at the juvenile dragon. “Are you quite alright?”
“Mhmm. But, it's odd. I think I feel a letter coming.”
Twilight climbed down from the loft. “That is weird. Celestia never sends letters anymore.”
Spike retched. “Here it comes.” 
Twilight wrinkled her nose at the befouling stench of Spike's letter-spouting belch. However if that was the worst consequence of remaining in Ponyville for residency, she figured she could handle it. The purple mare unfurled the parchment and scanned its contents, frowning as she did.
“What's it say, Twilight?” inquired Spike.
“Apparently Celestia wants me to come to the castle very first thing tomorrow morning. It says I'm going to receive an interactive lesson in 'foreign policy.' That's it. No specifics. It's pretty vague for instructions directly from Celestia.”
Spike shrugged and flopped back into bed. Whatever it was, it wouldn't come between him and sleep. Twilight would tell him all about it tomorrow.
Dawn over Equestria was too cold and too dry. The crepuscular morning sky proved a chilling ride for Twilight, seeing as she wasn't yet used to high altitude travel. She thought of the pegasi rickshaws. They'd had her business repeatedly in the past, but their standard flight path was drastically lower. Therein warmer. 
Twilight shivered and tightened her scarf. Her joints were frozen stiff and refused to cooperate by the time she finally landed at the entrance of Canterlot Castle. A pair of royal guards yawned and smiled sleepily at her disheveled figure. Through their hazy lens of sleepiness, she was quite the humorous sight.
“M-morning boys,” chattered Twilight. “M-mind if I go on in?”
They nodded and yawned again. 
Twilight entered to a gray light seeping through the stained glass foyer windows. Without the hubbub of couriers, lobbyists, concerned citizens, and general riffraff, it was as if the whole place was frozen forward in time - a rare scene of a quiet mountainside castle. Only her own hoofsteps echoed in her ears as she paced down the corridors. She thought it unusual for Celestia not to meet her personally in the foyer. “Princess? Hello! I'm here!” she called.
Then, a faint voice emanated from someplace else: “Twilight! Come!” 
A narrow trail of  lavender light materialized on the carpet, urging Twilight to follow it's ghostly path. She trotted along, wondering why the morning's activity was so unorthodox. The light trail led her towards the southern side of the castle and around several corners, then down an uncarpeted spiral stairwell. A sense of dim unease tugged her as she followed the light downwards.
“Twilight are you coming?” Celestia asked from somewhere along the bottom.
“I'm here, Princess!”
The bottom of the stairwell opened only into a dark hallway with rows of doors on one side. Celestia stood majestically in front of one of the doors. 
Ah, there she is!
Twilight sighed and relaxed at the sight of the powerful ruler. Celestia beamed back at her and dissipated the magical light trail.
“There you are, my little pony. I apologize for bringing you all the way down here without further instruction. How are you this morning?”
“A little cold,” Twilight admitted. “It's great to see you, though! How's Cadance?”
“Hale and hearty. The baby's getting pretty restless. I think it's eager to be born.”
“Great! It's so exciting to think that I'll be an aunt.”
“It's a very important job,” said Celestia with a warm smile. “So as I was saying, sorry for summoning you on such short notice. As you can see, this wing of the castle generally remains disused. It's not often anypony has a reason to be here.”
Twilight took that as a cue to get her bearings on the unfamiliar setting. The lights were still lit magically, but they were quite dim and sparsely placed. No decor clung to the stone walls. No windows vented light. Gray was the only color present. Even the hoary air seemed lifeless.
“Princess Celestia, is this a-”
“A dungeon, yes,” Celestia interjected. “Quite unpleasant to think about. I'm sure you weren't aware that we possess a dungeon, but rest assured it's used as sparingly as possible and only when strictly necessary.”
The news unsettled Twilight nonetheless. She wondered if the place's existence wasn't something she should have known earlier.
Celestia rested a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “Listen to me. This news is very important. Recently one of our guards has discovered, well - we've found a spy hiding amongst our citizens here in Canterlot.”
Twilight gasped. “A spy? From where? What does he want? Are we safe? Are there more? Does my brother know?” The words poured endlessly from her mouth in a frantic jumble. Celestia remained silent with her gaze turned downwards. She was deep in thought. In her periphery, Twilight swore she saw a shadow of emotion pass over her ruler's face. 
Anxiety?
“The spy is being held in this room here. I want you to see what high treason looks like on a pony,” said Celestia at last, dismissing her former pupil's questions. She shoved open a heavy wooden door and motioned for Twilight to enter. 
“I-if you say so,” stammered the clearly uncomfortable Twilight. She forced herself to move. Inside the cold stone room sat a dirty elderly stallion. A tattered tunic covered his tan hide and on his head sat a beaten up hoof-stitched cap. He was only shackled by one hind leg and appeared to have freedom of movement about the chamber. Yet he just sat there, mumbling incomprehensible rantings in a foreign tongue. 
“Princess, what's he saying?” asked Twilight nervously.
Celestia turned her ear and focused. “Well, I'm actually not fluent in this language. It looks like he's making amends, or something along those lines.”
“Really? With whom?”
Again her query went unanswered. The grimy stallion looked up at them and spat, yelling things Twilight only assumed to be profanities. 
“Enough,” commanded Celestia. She exited the room and made for the staircase.
“Wait!” called Twilight. “What are you going to do with him?” She hoped the answer wouldn't horrify her. 
“That's what I summoned you here for this morning, Twilight. Rules concerning situations such as this don't usually need to be discussed until much farther down the line, but since the situation has presented itself, I need to educate you on what our laws dictate must happen. As Equestrians, we must be swift but fair in serving justice.”
“Okay...”
Celestia wore a motherly expression. “I know this is very hard for you. It's an unpleasant matter to deal with. Unfortunately, enforcing the law is part of being a princess.”
Twilight nodded, silent. She had a lump in her throat the size of a boulder.
What's going to happen to that stallion? Did he hurt anypony? How does she know he's a spy? 	
The two emerged back into the foyer, this time with morning sunlight filling the room with an ambient glow. It was still too early for the denizens of the castle to be up and about, but the faint sound of birds chirping sounded outside. There was something else too. Something off. It caught Twilight's eye.
“- so we'll retrieve the constitutional scroll that deals with-” Celestia explained.
“Princess,” interjected Twilight. “I'm so sorry for interrupting you but, is something going on outside over there?” 
Celestia followed her gaze toward a stained glass window, where two shadows collided and appeared to be brawling outside.
“Oh my! What in the-”
“Your Highness!” A guard barreled through the entrance doors, cut up and panting heavily. “Protect yourself! Saboteurs!”
The skylight ceiling exploded, raining thick sheets of splintered glass upon the three. Twilight screamed and braced herself for an imminent shower of razors. When it didn't come, she opened an eye to see a brilliant translucent bubble shielding her from the deadly rain. Celestia had protected them. Before any of them could possibly react further, three large stallions rappelled down into the foyer. Two of them immediately lunged at the guard and subdued him on the floor while the third approached the two alicorns. He was almost Celestia's size. He had a greasy black mane and a bushy mustache that masked his mouth. His coat was the color of dark ashes. Twilight was petrified with fear. She was poised with mouth agape at the hellish portrait of ruin unfolding before her.
Celestia however was outraged. “You!? What are you doing here!? How dare you!” she exploded with savage volume.
“The regal Princess Celestia...” spoke the unknown pony in a heavy accent. “All these centuries of tyranny against any who defy ya... All these centuries of oppression...”
Celestia's horn pulsed magically, signaling she was prepared for a fight.
“Oh no! Not today!” shouted the would-be assassin. In the blink of an eye he hurled a tiny object at Celestia. She flinched but didn't feel anything.
“Princess, your neck!” shouted Twilight.
Sure enough, a tiny dart jutted from Celestia's neck. She quickly ripped it out and shook her head. “You filthy gutter scum! You're going to learn what happens when somepony threatens my kingdom!” She focused her energy and - nothing. No magic. “What? What is this!?” She strained as hard as she could, but her horn remained dormant. “What did you do to me!?” she screeched.
Never in her life had Twilight seen her ruler so enraged. It was unbelievable, like a nightmare. Gone was the calm and collected Celestia that presided over her citizens. This alicorn's eyes blazed with fury, bordering on hatred. She took a step forward, but cringed in pain. The dart had done more than block her magic. 
Without warning, Twilight heard a Zip-snick! and felt a small pinch in her own neck. She looked down in terror to see a similar dart stuck solidly inside her. “Princess...” she said woozily. Her vision slowly blurred and her balance gave out soon after. She fell hard and landed on her side. Her body ached from the jarring collision. Senses subsiding ever further, her head fell into a hazy buzz. 	
This is bad. Bad bad bad...
The intruder held his ground, in a standoff with Celestia.
“Ya sicken me!” he spat. “You're worse than swine! Ya burden the world with your paranoia, ya force your citizens into elitist zealots, ya send great scourges unto our lands... ” 
Twilight could almost feel the venom in his words. 
“I've waited so very long for this day,” he went on. “Oh, so long. Ya see, today marks the day we are finally free! So because you've burned a ring of agony around Equestria...” He produced a small metallic device unlike Twilight had ever seen before. “I hereby relieve ya of your duties, Princess Celestia!”
The last thing Twilight remembered hearing was an ear splitting CRACK and the thud of another body hitting the floor.