"You did what?" Celestia demanded in shock, staring at Nightmare Moon like she'd grown a second head.
"I revoked the nobles' legislative privileges," Nightmare Moon stated bluntly. "They can no longer pass laws regarding their own lands or those districts under their jurisdiction. They retain judicial privilege and can rule on cases brought before them, but they no longer retain the right to pass laws at whim. I checked the records, and even you haven't done that in over 500 years. Why should the nobles retain a right that you, their superior, do not exercise?"
"But...how are they not engaging in a massive revolt?" Celestia wondered.
"They tried to," Nightmare Moon replied. "I told them if they didn't like it, they could join Blueblood living amongst commoners. Then I showed them the legal documents that showed either of us had the authority to do so at any time."
Celestia stared at her, stupefied. "Wait...we do?"
"Indeed," Nightmare Moon replied. She chuckled wickedly. "Fancy Pants showed me the pertinent documents. The noble class gets their authority from Princess Platinum, the last unicorn Royal. I went through each declaration where she awarded a given pony the class of noble - which had to be regranted as lands and titles were awarded in Equestria - and each and every one had the same subclause in it: that if ever the noble line did not act in the interest of Equestria and the throne, the Royal Throne retained the right to revoke that privilege - or redefine it - at any time."
Celestia tilted her head in surprise. "I'm...rather surprised such a clause was in there. It...doesn't seem in Princess Platinum's character."
"From hornwriting comparisons, it seems that all legal documents post the founding of Equestria were penned by Clover the Clever," Nightmare Moon explained.
Celestia couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yes, that sounds like her. She hated the idea of noble privilege - especially having it inherited - but she said that unifying the tribes was too important to risk upsetting by trying to 'fix' things. But that shouldn't apply to Blueblood. He's a direct descendant of Platinum."
Nightmare Moon grinned widely. "Oh, Fancy Pants also showed me the adoption papers, where Princess Platinum officially adopted us so that the ponies would accept us as their rulers. It stated that her descendants would also retain the title of Prince or Princess, as the head of the noble council...so long as they proved worthy."
Celestia blinked. "Document penned by Clover the Clever?" she asked. Nightmare Moon nodded. "The last line in fine print?" Another nod. "Then...everything you've done since taking the throne by force is technically legal?"
"Not just legal," Nightmare Moon replied. "Binding. I didn't understand all the terminology and the names used, but according to what Fancy Pants translated for me, you and I are equals on the throne by those old laws the nobles cling to...which means you can't unilaterally overturn one of my decisions without the support of the Equestrian Population and its legal bodies."
"Like the nobles?" Celestia asked.
"Actually, the old laws specifically refer to those of the legislative branch of the government," Nightmare Moon pointed out. "Without their legislative privileges, the nobles can't weigh in on the issue."
Celestia slumped back in her cage, trying to wrap her mind around how much running the country had been changed - been simplified - by Nightmare Moon's takeover and decisions. She'd reigned as a tyrant for a month before she stripped Blueblood of his title, lands, and authority, and the country was barely recognizable now. Or at least the government was.
I'm beginning to wonder if we actually need to be saved, she thought silently.
Deep in the Hayseed Swamps near the southeastern coast of Equestria, Twilight and her friends confronted the Guardian of Generosity. a massive serpent shaped of swamp water. During the battle, Rarity was consumed by it...and Spike lost it.
"Give her back!" he roared, his rage accelerating his physical growth. No longer a dragonling, the young drake lunged with his adolescent frame, clinging to the serpent and slamming it with his fists, claws, and flames. "Give her back!"
Not long after his barrage began, the serpent burst, soaking everyone present. Rarity slowly settled to her hooves, the choker of the Element of Generosity decorated with waves.
"Looks like yer Element's water," Applejack pointed out.
"And how useful that will be," Rarity groaned, parting her soaked mane so she could see. "I'm soaked. I must look a fright."
"You look lovely to me," Spike told her softly, kneeling down beside her to help steady her.
Rarity looked up into his eyes, taking in his wiry frame and new height...and blushed prettily, fluttering her eyelashes.
"And it could have been worse!" Pinkie pointed out. "Imagine if the serpent had been flesh and blood instead of made of water! Then we'd all be soaked in something completely different!"
This statement was greeted with a concerted "Eww!" from most of those present. "Thank you oh so much for that mental image, Pinkie," Rarity groaned.
"You're welcome!" Pinkie hummed tunelessly to herself as she conjured flames to warm everyone up.
Rarity became much more sanguine about the situation when she discovered her Water powers allowed her to strip the water from her coat and mane, restoring both to pristine condition...oh, and everypony else's, too.
"Speaking of, how is Blueblood doing?" Celestia asked. "It's been nearly a month since you stripped him of his title." She took a sip of her tea, which Nightmare Moon had ordered brought to her.
"He's the navigator aboard a pirate ship," Nightmare Moon replied easily.
Celestia promptly spat a mouthful of tea across the room so hard it seared into the opposite wall. "What? How?"
"As I understand it, he started out as a cabin colt the crew called Blueballs," Nightmare Moon explained. "He apparently sneaked aboard with intent of stealing their treasure to finance some sort of quest to reclaim his lands and titles. They caught him and locked him up, intending to ransom him back to you when and if I was overthrown." She shrugged. "They got tired of leaving him in the hold, and they found it amusing to make a former prince to grunt work for his meals. However, during a massive storm in the waters to the west of Smokey Mountain - caused by the Guardian of Loyalty - the ship was in danger of foundering. Their former navigator got thrown overboard and drowned...and Blueblood seized the wheel. His special talent took over from there, and he steered the ship to safety. Lost his right eye in the process, though."
Celestia whimpered at the sound of that. "Is...is he going to be okay?"
"According to this letter he sent to you," Nightmare Moon continued, handing the letter up, "he couldn't be happier. Apparently, the thrill of steering the ship through the storm is the first time he's felt truly alive since his childhood. When the pirates offered to free him and drop him off wherever he liked as thanks for saving the ship, he asked if they still needed a new navigator. He now goes by Blackblood, and he now intends to unite the pirates in a coalition, and bring an understanding and alliance between the pirates and Equestria, acting as their king." Nightmare Moon frowned. "He also promises to come back in One Piece, though I've no idea why he capitalized those two words."
Celestia groaned, but chuckled ruefully. "He watched too many Neighponese cartoons as a child," she explained.
As Cloudsdale moved into position over Vanhoover, Twilight and her friends - those without wings relying on cloud walking spells - the Guardian of Loyalty approached the city. The Typhon - a living storm of unimaginable destructive power - roared as the winds around its edge began to lash the city.
"Alright, everyone!" Twilight shouted over the storm. "Time to fly!"
Twilight and Spike had used logic to determine that Loyalty would be connected to Wind, and that the Guardian would likely be airborne. It was why they had caught a ride in Cloudsdale to seek it out. While there, Pinkie had come up with an idea of how to fight the Guardian that would likely work. Working with Twilight and Spike, she had made her idea a reality. As such, Twilight and her friends climbed into the seven aircraft that had been produced, color coded to their pilots...craft that Pinkie called Neighport 23s.
Each plane used high powered lift and thrust crystals to move through the air rapidly, even against air currents, with enchantments on the wings to mimic the magic of pegasus flight. Each had a machine gun on the front, four of them designed to draw on the Element magic of their pilots, one designed to draw on its pilot's dragonfire, and two loaded with negatively charged mana crystal ammo. Twilight felt the negatively charged crystals that Rainbow and herself were firing would drain the magical energy out of the Guardian, weakening it enough to prevent too much damage.
When the Typhon got too close to Cloudsdale and began tearing it apart, however, Rainbow Dash abandoned her aircraft after getting enough altitude. She then dove straight into the eye of the storm, the core of the Typhon's power. Much to everyone's amazement, a Sonic Rainboom shattered the Guardian, and Rainbow rose back up from the destruction with the Element of Loyalty around her neck, miniature storms engraved on the gold of the choker.
"Hold still now, Princess!" Apple Bloom instructed. "Ah never done nothin' like this before."
"You've...never done mane braids?" Celestia asked in confusion.
"Never when the mane wouldn't hold still!" the farm filly complained, wrestling with the ethereal mass.
"Don't worry, Princess!" Sweetie Belle promised as she lifted the mascara. "You're going to look just perfect!"
"And we're going to get our Cutie Marks!" Scootaloo proclaimed as she tried - and failed - to stitch a Wonderbolt's flight suit around Celestia's barrel.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ROYAL STYLISTS, YAY!"
Celestia groaned internally. Is this Nightmare Moon's idea of torture? she thought silently.
"Me next!" Nightmare Moon shouted out.
Celestia nearly buried her face in her hooves before a scolding from the unicorn filly before her locked her back in place.
