The Path of Absolution - Punishment

by Morningstar1337

xxxvii - Damocles' Sword

Night fell in Canterlot. Celestia and Luna looked out to the storm.

Celestia said, “Did the ritual work?”

Luna nodded.

Celestia knew that she and Luna would have to repel the windigos on their own. She wondered if they could do that. The Elements of Harmony and Shining Armor’s barrier failed to repel the icy spirits.

Luna told Celesta, “I’ll watch the night, my sister.” She wondered if the windigos or Diamond Dust were so brash as to strike that night.

Celestia left the room and prepared for the night.

Elsewhere in the castle, in the chamber where the sleeping Crusaders lay, the talismans began glowing.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo woke up and took their items.

---

Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Silver Spoon were at the library.

Twilight erected her forcefield over the tree at the center of Ponyville.

Apple Bloom said, “But how did you get here? What happened?”

Applejack said, “Princess Luna helped us with some fancy ritual.”

Twilight looked at a map of Ponyville. She looked at places where the gates might be.

Sweetie Belle said, “But how, why?”

Rarity struggled to think of an answer. She was hesitant to tell her sister what had happened to her in the real world. After a while she said, “We’re here to help you out of this mess, darling.”

“Except we still don’t know where the gate is,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Gate?” Scootaloo said. “What gate?”

Silver Spoon answered, “That’s how we got here. Princess Luna opened a gate. She said we had to find it in order to help you escape.”

Apple Bloom said, “That reminds me. Why did you come?”

“I came here looking for a friend.” Silver Spoon said.

The Crusaders knew what friend she was talking about. They hadn’t seen Diamond Tiara at any part of the loop, thankfully.

Twilight marked down some parts of her map. “Okay, I marked some probable spots where the gate might be. We have three more iterations after this one ends to find it.”

Everyone looked over the map. Sugarcube Corner, the Everfree forest, the train station, the marketplace, and the west field of Sweet Apple Acres.

There was an ominous feeling outside Twilight’s barrier. Each of the ponies decided to sleep at the library. Twilight went to get pillows and blankets.

While the mares were preparing for this impromptu sleepover, Silver Spoon approached the Crusaders.

“Hey,” she said. She tried to finish her sentence, but this was her first time interacting with the Crusaders without picking on them. After a few moments she managed to form the words. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were baffled. They had never seen her apologize about anything, though they had never seen her without Diamond Tiara at her side.

“Sorry?” Scootaloo wanted to make sure. “For what?”

“About the teasing, and bullying, and everything,” Silver Spoon said. “It’s just, I didn’t know how to act around other fillies and Diamond Tiara was my only friend. I want to apologize for the bad things I did.”

The Crusaders grew more confused. They didn’t know what to make of the apology. They were not certain whether or not to trust Silver Spoon.

After a few moments they accepted her apology.

Twilight had returned with enough blankets and pillows for everyone. She handed them out and went up to her room. She looked out the window and noticed something peculiar about the moon. She saw that it glowed crimson and contrasted with the purple-blue sky. She also saw that the craters were different.

She felt that strange feeling again. She laid down on her bed and rested.

---

Luna surveyed the night sky. She focused on the storm that blotted out her alabaster moon. She saw somepony emerge from the tip of the clouds and focused on that shadow.

The shadow landed near an entrance to the castle. Luna went to investigate.

She went into the destroyed wedding hall and confronted the shadowy figure.

“Who goes there?!” she bellowed. The figure galloped away and Luna chased it.

---

Another shadow emerged from the clouds. This time, it was Diamond Dust. She sneaked into the castle. “Are you sure this is going to work?” she whispered.

“It’s foolproof,” Legion said. “Any fools that would have stopped it would be incapacitated.”

Diamond Dust rolled her eyes. She continued to sneak into the castle and find Princess Celestia.

---

Shining Armor woke up. He heard some sounds. He wondered what was going on and went out to patrol the area.

Shining went out to the gardens. He used his horn to illuminate his surroundings. He saw the overcast clouds, and something emerging from them.

He saw the shadow land far away and chased after it.

---

Luna chased the shadow around the gardens. She tried aiming cerulean rays of light at it. But the shadow dodged every one of them. Luna wondered what the shadow was.

Nearby, Shining Armor chased the other shadow. The shadow vanished into darkness.

“What the--” Shining Armor said until he heard another sound in the distance. he went to investigate.

Meanwhile, Luna had managed to corner the shadowy figure she was chasing. She fired another cerulean beam and it hit the shadow dead on.

The shadow shattered into millions of ice shards and melted. Luna was perplexed.

Just then, Shining Armor saw her. “Luna,” he said.

“Captain,” Luna said. “Explain what you’re doing awake at this hour.”

“What, I can’t make a late night patrol?” Shining Armor asked. He looked at the puddle nearby Luna. “So you saw something from the clouds too?”

Luna nodded. “I saw a shadow descend from the clouds. I chased after it and it melted.” Luna was a little embarrassed to say that.

“That’s strange,” Shining said. “I’ve heard some noises and went to investigate.I saw a shadow too.”

Luna and Shining both wondered what the shadows were. They heard a noise heading from the castle, and an azure light emerging from Celestia’s room.

Luna said, "Come on.” and flew to the castle. Shining Armor followed her on hoof.

---

Luna and Shining Armor opened the door to Celestia’s room. Her bed was frozen.

Luna and Shining Armor realized that the shadows were decoys.

“Shining Armor,” Luna said. “Wake up the able-bodied members of the royal guard. Let them know that my sister’s been kidnapped.” She then recalled that Celestia wasn’t the only target the windigos had. She went to the chamber where she prepared the Orpheus ritual.

Fearing the worst, Luna opened the door to the chamber. She saw nothing inside the starry chamber. No Crusaders, no talismans. She knew that the windigos had taken them too.