Confrontation
"Wow! So you girls took out the whole entire factory by yourselves?"
"Yep apple blossom, and Spike here helped whip up the brew that made all those ponies in Ponyville feel better!"
"Uh, no offense AJ, but could I tell this part of the story? I'm in it, after all..."
"All right, Spike... I've checked over the ingredients you told me to put in the mixture quite carefully." Spring Fever, Ponyville's town doctor asked the Dragon, busily working away at a mixture with her mortar and pestle. "Are you certain this concoction will flush the poison out of their systems?"
"That's what it said in one of the herbal remedy books I found in the castle." Spike replied uncertainly, as the pink pony doctor mixed the powdered medicine packets into warm cups of tea. Taking them out onto the clinic floor, she began administering them to the sick mares and stallions one by one.
"Here, Sunny, drink this." Spring Fever offered a steaming cup to the visibly ill mare, who picked it up in her hooves and began to sip it slowly. "You'll feel better soon, I promise!"
"Thanks, Springs..." The normally cool mare replied weakly, and Rainbow Dash fluffed her pillow. "... you're the best."
Nodding, the doctor pony then trotted over to where Pinkie Pie was standing next to Twilight, and offered up a another cup of the steaming hot liquid.
"Here, Pinkie... now give this to him slowly." Spring Fever cautioned, as Pinkie took the cup from her. "If Twilight swallows it too fast, it could burn the poor stallion's throat!"
"Ok, thank you so much, Dr. Fever!" The pink earth pony up to the stallion's mouth. "Here you go, dearest, let's take it nice and easy."
As the worried mare slowly gave the drink to the sickened stallion, the pony physician trotted her way around the clinic, passing out more cups of the warm liquid. As she worked her way around the room, the mare noticed that many of her patients were already starting to look a little better. Rushing back over to where Spike stood, the small dragon notice a smile spreading across Spring Fever's face.
"Spike, your cure actually seems to be doing something!" The medical mare beamed excitedly, looking around at the quickly recovering ponies. "I've never seen anyone recover from a disease this fast!"
"That is usually the way with magical cures, they tend to work faster than normal medicinal remedies." The dragonling replied smugly. "But I would still give them about a week or so to recover, before giving them a clean bill of health."
"I'll make sure to keep them under observation." Spring Fever agreed, before remembering something. "Say, Spike... have you seen Kimono or Applejack? Minty and Waterfire were in here earlier, and they said the two were away from Ponyville to deal with some kind of problem."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about those two much." The dragon replied thoughtfully. "I heard A.J. saying something about touching base with an old friend, I'm sure she and and Kimono are just fine!"
...
Canterlot Castle had changed very little over these past few years, save for a darker atmosphere more befitting a rulership of the former princess of the moon. The surrounding city had undergone major renovations however, the poorer and middle class sectors of the city having been demolished to make way for more high-priced real estate that the rich and powerful to live in. Some say that the rich and powerful now live in isolation here, untroubled by the concerns of a growing unhappiness throughout Equestria as a whole. There were even some who said that when Princess Celestia had died, the true spirit of Equestria had died with her.
In the throne room. A group of royal guards knelt before the throne of Princess Luna, giving their reports to the alicorn who now sat on the throne.
"And so, your majesty, we still have no idea what caused the gizmonk facility in the valley to explode, though royal investigators are certainly looking into it." The Captain of the guard told her, taking his helmet off. "Also, there is some murmurs of discontent among the commoners, which my soldiers are having a little more difficulty hushing up than usual."
"Make certain that it is quieted up, commander." The regal winged unicorn upon the throne replied coldly. "I'll not have the Equestrian wealthy fearing for their safety, just because for the mutterings of a few uppity malcontents."
"So that's how you view your subjects now, Luna!?" And angry voice filled the room, seeming to come from everywhere. "All they are is a few angry rebels, just because they don't agree with you?!"
"Who dares speak to the Princess of Equestria in such a manner?" Luna shouted, switching to the royal Canterlot voice as the guards snapped to a defensive position. "SHOW THYRSELF, INTRUDER!"
Suddenly, a red pony and a purple purple pony appeared from nowhere, and the guards charged at them, weapons in hoof. The pair of mares moved like lightning, one moving with a flurry of karate hoof chops and spectacular flips, while the other relied on good old fashioned farm pony blows from Bucky Mcgillcutty and Kick Mcgee. Several quick blows sent all of the guards crashing to the ground, knocked unconscious (Kimono and Applejack were careful, so as not to harm any of the guards while taking them down.)
"Princess Luna," Applejack stated coldly, all of her former respect for alicorn royalty clearly gone. "we have to talk."
"I have nothing to say to would be assassins!" The Princess leapt up from her throne, taking to the air, and firing a powerful energy blast from her horn at the two mares. The blast hit Kimono dead center, sending the unsuspecting mare flying back into a pillar. "Your kind will not take me, as you did my sister!"
"Umph!" The earth pony mare groaned in pain, as her back slammed into solid marble.
"Luna, ENOUGH!" The red mare yelled out, nearly jumping up into the alicorn's face. "It's me, Applejack!"
"F-fair Applejack, the farmer?" The princess asked in disbelief, powering down her horn as she noticed the red coat on the farmer pony was a dye job. "What are you doing here? And why didst thou seek to come into my presence in such an extremely violent manner?"
"Your guards weren't exactly willing to let us in, 'you majesty'." The red mare snorted, looking back at her friend. "Kimono, are you all right?"
"Yeah, I've been hit by worse from Minty." The purple mare groaned, rubbing her hoof against her sore rib. "That actually hurt, you alicorns really do pack a punch!"
"Princess Luna, how could you just let those Gizmonks into Equestria like that?!" Applejack demanded, getting straight to the point. "Those ornery critters were pollutin' Ponyville's whole ecosystem! To say nothing of turning Ponyville Ponies into glue!"
"What?! Impossible! Doctor Strangehate did assureth me that all of the ponies inside of Ponyville were long deceased! That is why I did let him build his factory to help improveth Equestria's declining economy!" She stared at the ancient earth mare for a moment, before narrowing her eyes. "Saaay, art thou certain that thou art not just trying to stand in the way of progress because thou art a pony farmer? My development of the land doth be good for all of the kingdom!"
"Wait... you're taking the word of a sneaky simian over one of your own subjects?" AJ snorted, stamping her hoof angrily. "This isn't just about farm land being turned into factories, your own subjects are being ground up into paste!"
"So this is the great Princess of the moon, huh? The pony that let my friends get ground up into guacamole?" Kimono asked, looking at the winged alicorn in contempt. "Guess she's not as regal and noble as all the stories said."
"ENOUGH!" Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot voice, her eyes glowing. "WE WILL NO LONGER LISTEN TO ANYPONY'S BASELESS ACCUSATIONS! BEGONE FROM HERE, THOU FOOLISH PONIES! WHILE I STILL ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE UNHARMED!"
"They were right, Princess Celestia's death has changed you." Applejack said in a saddened voice, the last of her faith draining away in the betrayal before her. "You are not the pony you once were... and your not half the pony your sister was!"
"I'm not scared of all your yelling, you stupid alicorn!" Kimono took a fighting stance, a glow forming in her right hoof. "And I'm certainly not scared of YOU!"
The earth pony mare jumped at the royal princess, who shot another energy blast at Kimono. But this time, the earth pony's hoof punch cut straight though the blast, smashing into the surprised Luna's face, and sending her slamming back into the wall behind her throne.
"Aieeeeeeee!" The former princess of the night wailed, as she hit the wall with an audible CRACK, before sliding down into her throne, unconscious.
"You-you just took on an alicorn's magic, and won!" Applejack noted in utter shock. "How the hay did you do THAT?!"
"Earth pony chi, AJ, focused through my martial arts." Kimono snorted, cracking her hooves as they stared down at the unconscious princess. "Most other pony types forget we earth ponies do have our own special type of magic. All it takes is my life energy directed in the proper spot, and I cut cut through even the most powerful magical attack like a hot knife through butter." Kimono shook her head. "Sorry about your royal princess there, but I just couldn't stand there and let her tell me my friends who had suffered and died didn't exist."
"Don't worry about it, Kimono. She's not my princess, not anymore." The mare replied with a sigh, as they both galloped for the door. "C'mon, let's get back to Ponyville before her royal brattyness there and her guards wake up!"