• Published 12th Nov 2014
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Minty Image - mintgreenconspiracy



When Minty Christmas doesn't go as it normally would. A secret about Minty, G3 Rainbow Dash, and G3 Pinkie Pie comes out, that may very well change everything, forever.

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PreviousChapters
Optional Chapter 4-2: Lily Lightly's chapter

The procession slowly trotted down the halls of The Crystal Rainbow Keep: one blood red king, a dozen unicorn guards, three sizeable muzzled unicorn mares, whose horn manacles had been removed by the guards, and three guards, equipped with spears to 'prod' the three large muzzled unicorns along. The guards, who were all dressed in the traditional platinum, used their spears 'judiciously,' as the procession cantered along.

The guards led them to a large room, with an ornate red door with a sword emblazoned on it. The same symbol, that adorned the Prince's flank.

The guard in front galloped ahead and gallantly opened the door, for the prince. After the prince pompously cantered in, the guards 'prodded' the three captives behind the big red door, with the butts of their spears.

The chamber looked a lot like a twisted version of the ballroom back at The Crystal Rainbow Castle, where Cheerilee used to train each year's Pink Rainbow Princess. Except the room was a heck of a lot larger, and the princess training materials were conspicuously missing, shouldn't the Purple Rainbow Princess be training this year's Pink Rainbow Princess?

The walls, of the room, were embellished with gold and silver, instead of the pink paint they used back in Unicornia, which felt strange to be thinking that because this was also supposed to be Unicornia.

The stars remained on the trim under the dome, but instead of the traditional rainbows, there were elaborate starscapes.

The windows were curved instead of the flat two plane windows that they preferred back in Unicornia Furthermore the windows in this weird not-Unicornia were elaborate stained glass windows, each depicting unicorn stallions in armor.

Instead of the pretty pink roses, they used back in their ballroom; these unicorns used Amaranths, Comet orchids, and bay wreaths.

After a few moments of Lily Lightly's, Bright Brightly's, and Whistle Wishes' mouths hanging open, the king finally spoke. "This is the ballroom where I hold all my stuffy royal events," he said pointing to a bunch of ponies doing a very dull waltz, very, very slowly,

The ponies seemed painfully focused on their monotonous and extremely stuffy dance. Who knew someone could make waltzes this tedious? Did these ponies not understand fun or something?

"You mean boring, right?" Whistle Wishes interjected, with a yawn, as she watched the ponies go in a very slow circle.

Surprisingly, the king wasn't upset with the comment, in fact, he looked proud of the way his ponies boringly danced. "Indeed!" The Prince proclaimed proudly, puffing out his chest, and stomping his hoof. "Except for you!" He proclaimed, the venom dripping from his voice as he pointed at a particular stallion. "Not boring enough!"

Suddenly, all dancing came to a stop, and all unicorns, in the room, save the one being pointed to, scattered to the walls of the room.

The unicorn looked around with a terrified expression on his face. He pointed at himself with his hoof, shaking his head nervously.

The king nodded, and the guards quickly deserted Lily, and company, too, instead, point their spears at the stallion.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sorry prince!" The stallion stammered back. "I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I'll do b-b-b-b-b-b-better next time!" He begged, falling to his knees. "Pl-pl-pl-pl-pl-pl-please!!!"

The king nodded, his face softening. "I believe that!" The Prince replied back, turning around to face the opposite direction, of the stallion.

The stallion breathed a sigh of relief. "Th-th-th-th-tha -- " he said, in relief. Maybe there was hope yet! After all, the king seemed to be feeling forgiving today!

The king smirked. "Because there won't be a next time!" He said, pointing his hoof to the door. "GUARDS!!!!" He announced, as a pair of burly guards burst through the doorway, grabbed the stallion, in their magic, and proceeded to drag him out the door, by the cannons.

"Send him to the Oblette!" The king demanded, angrily, his face red with rage, as he stamped his hoof against the floor, cracking the tile.

"Yes, sire!" The unicorns replied back, quickly leaving the room. Lily and company sat there helplessly as the pony was drug out of the chamber, and down a set of stairs. Below the loud creaking of large metal doors in the basement, was heard, leaving Lily and company to, helplessly, watch the drama.

Lily Lightly looked at Brights Brightly, who, in turn, looked at Whistle Wishes, as the color slowly draining out of their faces!

They were doomed!!!!

--

"Ouch!" Lily shrieked, as the guard standing behind her poked her in the plot with his spear. "You're mean!" She cried back, the tears welling in her eyes.

The guard shrugged his withers and pointed his hoof to a door.

Inside the door was what looked like a bedroom, identical to like Rarity's, but much more substantial.

...

...

Except Rarity didn't have a canopy bed, and her room didn't have these many mosaics, or anywhere near this much gold and ivory, in fact, none of the unicorns remembered her having ANY gold or ivory in her room.

One thing this bedroom has in common with Rarity's, though, was a pile of clothes sitting to the side of a bed, which looked just about as unmade as Rarity's always was.

"And this is my bedroom!" The prince announced, waving his hoof over his bedroom, puffing out his chest as his hoof passed over the mosaics. "But it's not normally this sloppy!" He said, with a blush.

Wow! Maybe this unicorn wasn't so bad --

The red pink king stamped his hoof, his face becoming even redder. "Oh, guards!" He exclaimed, continually tapping his hoof for the next thirty seconds or so it took for the stream of guards to come galloping in.

What happened next was a flurry of raised hooves, as a dozen platinum girded unicorn guards all raised their hooves in unison to salute their league.

"Yes, sire!" The unicorns replied back, each hoping that the current temper tantrum wasn't about them.

The king looked around, and checked the three closets in the room, all three of which were immaculate, before finally shaking his head, in anger.

"Find the maids for me!" The king shouted, stamping his hooves in a tizzy. "I smell treason!!! Why else would they desire to humiliate me!"

"Yes, sire!" The guards announced each one rushing to be the first out the door, the sharpening of spears and axes could be heard even from here, making Lily Lightly want to vomit, could things be any worse?

--

"And this is our 'Hello Hello Arch'!" the prince announced, eagerly. "Come on! I'll show you!" He exclaimed, pointing to his guards, who made sure to jab their spears a little at the unicorn's sides, with extra gusto, to speed them up.

Finally! Something in this strange not-Unicornia that looked like something from the real Unicornia back home! The Rainbow trim connecting the pillars was still there! The star accents were still there! Heck! The rainbow over the Hello Hello Arch was still there!

Well, except that everything looked all dusty and old! Not like their fresh and clean Hello Hello Arch back home!

Lily Lightly, Bright Brightly, and Whistle Wishes, didn't have long to consider the mysteries of this not-Unicornia, when the guard shoved them to the entrance to the hallway, alongside the prince, who immediately started to shout into the hallway.

"Hello!" The prince shouted, letting his voice echo into the empty hallway.

"Hello!" The hallway echoed back

"Hello!" The echo reverberated

"Hello!" Another reverberation repeated

"Hello!" The hallway reverberated again, the echo slowly tapering off.

And just as quickly as they stopped, the hallway began to reverberate again.

"Hello, the all knowing, all kind, all great and glorious Prince Red Sword, the greatest pink unicorn prince or princess in the history of Unicornia!" The hallway echoed back, doing a lousy job of mimicking the king's 'hello,' though, surprisingly, he didn't seem upset about it.

"Hello, blue spy, who the king will be executing soon!" The hallway echoed off, causing Whistle Wishes to bite her lip uncomfortably.

"Hello, yellow spy, who the king will be executing soon!" The hallway echoed off, making Brights Brightly shiver silently.

"Hello, purple spy, who the king will be executing soon!" The hallway echoed off. Lily took off like a rocket, an expression of utter terror on her face, a small puddle was left behind where she stood. Her horn started to glow a dingy purple color, matching the panic in the unicorn's heart.

She didn't get very far, though, before the guards quickly apprehended her, and brought her back. None of the guards seemed to notice her horn glowing, luckily, or didn't care; either way, it was a good thing!

"Hello meaningless, and unimportant guards!" the hallway echoed off, finishing its spiel.

The king gave a boastful laugh. "It's an ancient artifact of my family, it's a riot! Isn't it?!" He chuckled, shooting a deathly stare at anyone who didn't join him.

--

At least the hallway on the other side of the Hello Hello Arch was the same as theirs, that is if, by 'the same,' they meant more dusty and spooky. Though, that said, the rainbow arches, the rainbow moldings, the purple walls, the heart accents, were all the same! Heck! It even had the same curved windows leading up to the same magnificent rainbow... urr... bright red door!

...

Bright red door?

...

When did their majestic rainbow door turn bright red? Did they get whisked away into an icky nasty future bad Unicornia? Was this like that Scrooge story that Night Shine had read them? Was this mean red unicorn the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? Was he showing them the terrible Unicornia that would happen unless Lily Lightly forgave Rarity for waking them every night with her night terrors? Nah! She had forgiven the young girl a long time ago! Maybe there was a strange British guy somewhere around here? Maybe? --

The king interrupted her thoughts, his chest puffed out with unrestrained pride. "And behind this glorious rainbow door, which I have painted red, in the people's image, we have, " he announced, waving his hoof over the rainbow bright red door.

"A room full of big rubber balls?" Brights Brightly asked back, giggling slightly with glee. That was one of her favorite rooms in the castle and one of the few places that still brought back Rarity's laugh after one of her nightly night terrors.

"Psst, no!" The prince scoffed back giving a raspberry to the ludicrous claim. "Big rubber balls..." he scoffed out loud. "We don't keep those in here anymore!" he announced. "Here's where we keep our --" He paused for dramatic effect. " -- Cooking Colosseum!" He announced, waving into the futuristically double doors, sitting behind the big red door, which slid open, as if responding to his waving hoof, to reveal a long smoke-filled passageway, with a regal red carpet, lined with spotlights scientifically designed for maximum effect to highlight the unicorn's royal shoulders.

Beyond the passageway was a large room with two small stations setup on each side. And beyond those were two, even larger stations, on each side, with even more stoves, and a deep fat fryer, or two, set up.

At the end of the room, at the foot of some stairs was a large table, on which sat a cloche that had already been opened to reveal a set of very expensive golden apples.

Behind the cloche, and the table it sat on, at the top of the stairs was what looked like an extravagant greek temple, in which stood three rather large unicorn stallions, each standing in front of a statue of themselves, which was extravagantly dressed. A fourth figure, one of a ki-rin stood alone off to one side.

Behind the cloche, halfway up the stairs leading to the greek temple, a unicorn stallion in formal attire stood, sword at his side. "Today two champions met in Battle Golden Apple, here in The Cooking Colosseum!" The union said, standing at attention.

On either side of him were two ponies, a ki-rin, a rarity on this side of the world, and a very stuffy looking griffon, who still appeared quite confident in himself.

"Titanium Chef Mare-i-moto!" The unicorn stallion said, bowing to the ki-rin, who returned the bow.

"Chef Lefebvre!" The unicorn said, bowing to the griffon, who scoffed quietly.

"The judges have spoken, oh prince!" The unicorn chairman said, turning his body to face the red unicorn prince.

The prince, who had dragged poor Lily Lightly all over this strange Not-Unicornia, waved his left hoof. The guards poked their spears in Lily Lightly's, Whistle Wishes', and Bright Brightly's plots, and motioned them into a bowing position.

The unicorn chairman nodded and continued. "And the winner is!" He said, turning to the ki-rin. "Titanium Chef Mare-i-moto!" He said, quickly, followed by another bow to the Ki-Rin, who merely nodded back.

The griffon returned a look of abject terror as two rather large unicorn guards quickly apprehended him, poking spears at his side.

"What should we do with him, oh emperor?" The unicorn chairman asked, turning back to his red king.

The king stood for only a moment, a contemplative expression on his face. But it didn't last long as the unicorn, almost immediately, pointed his hoof towards the ground.

Chef Lefebvre breathed a sigh of relief.

The unicorn king raised his hoof, once more, and pointed it towards his neck.

Chef Lefebvre gasped in terror.

The unicorn king lowered his hoof towards the ground, again.

Chef Lefebvre breathed a sigh of relief.

The unicorn king raised his hoof, once again pointing it towards his neck.

Chef Lefebvre gasped in terror.

The unicorn king pointed his hoof towards the sky.

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves, the confusion in their voices apparent.

The unicorn pointed his hoof towards his neck, with vigor. Across the fourth wall, a gameshow failure sound reverberated, as the guards dragged the griffon away, begging and pleading the whole way.

--

"Just a little bit further!" The blood red 'pink' king said, pointing towards a statue. "I want to show you some more things!" The king said, with a smirk, as his guards 'prodded on' the prisoners. "It's so hard to find polite guests to show Unicornia to, these days, " he said, melodramatically, stretching out his neck, and his face, as he talked.

As they started up a hill towards the statue, he opened his mouth to sing a song.

"How we wish you weren't here. If you should disappear from here, what fun!
And if Celestia isn't here, we'll hold an execution in the all-day sun!
May we -- dee-deedle-dee dee-dee-deedle-dee -- make one thing clear?
We don't -- doo-doodle-doo-doo -- wish you -- doo-doodle-doo -- were here!"

Upon reaching the remains of a dome, the Prince opened his mouth again.

"This is where ALL Rainbows are born, or so I have pronounced to EVERY unicorn!"

The Prince sung, pointing at a giant, twenty karats, gold statue of himself that sat on a spot a dome used to stand.

"La la la; la lee; la lee loo."

Beneath the statue sat a plaque 'commemorating' the one day a year when the 'wise king,' and his three top advisors 'brought the colors to the world.'

"Every unicorn knows it's true!"

He sang, pointing his hoof at his burly guards, who all nodded dutifully.

The king opened his mouth to sing again, this time accompanied by one of his guards, as he led Lily Lightly, and the others, towards the main access road, at the bottom of the mountain.

"This is where ALL Rainbows are born,"/"How we wish you weren't here, you're such a bore!"
"or so I have pronounced to EVERY unicorn!"/"And if Celestia isn't here, we'll hold an execution in the all-day sun!"
"La la la; la lee; la lee loo."/"May I -- dee-deedle-dee dee-dee-deedle-dee -- make one thing clear?"
"Every unicorn knows it's true!"/"I think -- doo-doodle-doo-doo -- you are -- doo-doodle-doo -- a bore!"

As the three unicorns and the 'Unicorn King' crossed a small bridge, the Prince opened his mouth again.

"My Crystal Carriage is nice and wide!"

The king sang pointing to an enormous carriage that put even their crystal carriage, back in their Unicornia, to shame.

"But when I'm here only I may ride!"

He sang, pointing to yet more burly guards, standing around the carriage to ensure that no 'unworthy souls' could ride.

"So shi-i-i-ny! so wi-i-i-de!"

He sang, with a smile.

"We know you wish that you could ri-i-i-i-de!"

He motioned to another guard to sing with him, as he ended his 'tour' of Unicornia at the dungeon.

"How we wish you weren't here, you're such a snore!"/"This is where ALL Rainbows are born,"/"My Crystal Carriage is nice and wide!"
"And if Celestia isn't here, we'll hold an execution in the all-day sun!"/"or so I have pronounced to EVERY unicorn!"/"But when I'm here only I may ride!"
"May I -- dee-deedle-dee dee-dee-deedle-dee -- make one thing clear?"/"La la la; la lee; la lee loo."/"So shi-i-i-ny! so wi-i-i-de!"
"I wish -- doo-doodle-doo-doo -- you weren't -- doo-doodle-doo -- here!"/"Every unicorn knows it's true!"/"We know you wish that you could ri-i-i-i-de!"

**********

"Blatant isn't he, " Kibitz said, shaking his mustache as he slowly admired the rows and rows of gaudy six-foot tall statues of himself the self-appointed King of Unicornia had placed all along the road leading up to the Crystal Rainbow Keep (formerly known as the Crystal Rainbow Castle).

"Yeah, Redsword's been busy hasn't he!" Celestia replied back, with a chuckle, as they passed what must have been the 70th row of statues they'd passed by as they had climbed up the mountain. At the top, where a ceremonial square used to sit was a sixty foot tall solid gold statue of King Nebuchadnezzar Redsword. "Plus, I have a feeling that they were 'too busy' to give us a ride up here!" She said, with a giggle.

"Well, at least they bothered to send a proper welcoming committee, " the old grey vizier replied back, seeing thirteen unicorn guards standing at attention in front of the main doors. The unicorn guards stood in two rows of six on each side of the door, and one in the middle, all dressed in their formal platinum armor, and armed, to the teeth, with ceremonial platinum spears.

Celestia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth. "I think that's quite enough of that, Strong, " she said, raising her voice to address the king, who pretentiously cantered out from behind the guards, who, in turn, parted like the waves of a mighty ocean.

"Ahh Celestia, " the prince said, greeting his old 'friend.' "You've come just in time to see the execution of the four spies you sent two and a half weeks ago?" He asked, with a sinister smirk.

The princess' old advisor returned an icy expression. "You can't be serious!" He remarked, his mustache twitching as he talked. "Then why are we even here?" He said, holding up an official document. "You explicitly told us to 'come by the full moon' to 'negotiate' for 'our spies,' or else!" He said, using his hooves to express his distaste in some of the prince's 'creative' terminology.

The 'Pink Rainbow Princess' (aka the Red Prince, aka the Unicorn King) looked back, turning to the guard directly to his side. "Did I really say that?" He whispered, curiously, to his guard.

The guard shrugged and grunted something like 'rye ron't row' back.

The older unicorn quietly mouthed one word with his muzzle, turned around, and started walking off.

"Going somewhere?" The prince responded back angrily. "Because if you walk off, then you'll miss - "

Kitbitz just held his frog to the tip of his muzzle. "Do you even know what 'negotiating for our spies' means?" He asked, using the same 'can you be this stupid' voice he frequently used with Luna, when she forgot what he taught her about being a modern princess, and fell back to thousand-year-old customs.

Celestia returned a friendly laugh like she was talking to an old friend. "Sorry Redsword, but I think I'll take a raincheck on those executions," she continued, calmly. "After all, these are some - "

The prince's red face turned even more red, as his cheeks puffed out in rage. "You dare turn down my executions!?" He demanded, stamping his hooves, as he temporarily went ferryl.

Celestia sighed softly. Usually, ponies responded well to her soft motherly voice. Discord, and Redsword, however, did seem to be exceptions though. "My little pony, - " she said, quickly getting interrupted by the furious 'King of the Unicorns.'

"How dare you!" He responded, getting in her face. "We are equals!" He howled. "Or are you trying to imply that my endless magical might is inferior to yours!?"

The princess, however, remained, unmoving, as she opened her mouth again. "If the shoe doesn't fit, my little pony... Though, I think it would be more profitable for both of us if we negotiated instead of holding impulsive executions!" She said, keeping her composure.

"I think you are in no position to make demands, Celestia!" The unicorn prince barked back, practically snapping at the alicorn princess.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Very well then, please tell me your demands then, oh great prince!" She said, returning a polite curtsy, the corner of her mouth turning up, as she talked.

"Ahh!!!" The prince remarked, in relief. "Good to see that you have finally seen reason, princess, " he said, motioning to his guards. "We'll begin discussions as I behead your spies."

Celestia shrugged, calmly, turning around. "As you wish, " she said, motioning to Kibitz, who nodded back, grabbing her things for their return trip. "I suppose we'll be going back then, Kibitz! After all, there's nothing more to discuss!"

The prince's face turned red again, as he opened his mouth, in a fury. "What do you mean 'we'll be heading back'!" He demanded. "You have to negotiate! Reparations and - "

Celestia shrugged, pushing the armed guards aside, with her magic, like the full-grown unicorn stallions were tiny ants. "Sorry Redsword, but I don't feel you're negotiating in good faith!"

"What do you mean I'm not 'negotiating in good faith'!" The prince demanded, trying to grab the princess, in his magic, who merely shrugged the spell off, and continued down the hill towards her chariot.

"Doesn't matter Redsword - hey Kibitz, do you think we should go east to Griffonia first, or maybe northwest to Yakyak-? " she said, dragging out a map from one of her bags.

Kibitz pointed to the map. "Maybe we should speak to the yaks first."

The princess nodded back. "It's pointless to negotiate, after all, we won't agree to any agreement that doesn't return all three of the unicorns to my care - safe and sound," she said, double checking her route. "Maybe Griffonstone would be a good place to go to next? I've always wanted to visit! I wonder if King Grover's descendants still rule it, or if it's currently under control of the generals like Northern Griffi-stan?"

"Fine!" The prince blurted out, biting his lower lip. "We'll discuss their release, as part of our negotiations, one week from now!" He snapped back, furious that 'the pretender princess' had so skillfully outwitted him. Didn't she know that she was supposed to be negotiating for the reparations for the damage done by her odd-looking big muzzled spies? "But don't leave, or I'll behead them like I've been promising!"

"You think he'll change his mind?" Kibitz whispered, into the princess' ear.

She shook her head. "No! I don't sense any further dishonesty."

"God vision?" Kibitz whispered back.

She shook her head. "Knowledge of my little ponies..."

Kibitz nodded back.

The princess sighed, preemptively, her visions becoming clear. "Though I have a feeling this will take a while though..." She said, getting a sneak peek of what was ahead. "Let's hope Luna's up to ruling for a few days, or weeks." She said, her ears drooping as she said 'or weeks,' the Unicorn King apparently wanted to be stubborn... again!

**********

*Splish* *splosh* *sploosh*

"Boo hoo hoo!" A female voice called out.

*Splish* *splush* *splosh*

"Waaaa!!!!!" The voice wailed.

Conciliatory tones came from friendly voices in the neighboring cells.

"QUIET!!!" Shouted an angry voice from above, which, fortunately, couldn't be heard over either the slowly dripping ceiling of the dank dungeon room, or the wailing purple unicorn in the middle cell - whose horn kept glowing off an on, despite the inhibitor they had unceremoniously jammed onto her extra large horn.

"Boo hoo!!" Lily wailed again, her words echoing out against the stone walls. What did they ever do to that red unicorn? What had they done wrong? Why was he such a meanie towards them? All they wanted to do was go back home, and he, instead, locked them up in a stinky dungeon!!! What a poopy-head!!!

Neither Brights Brightly nor Whistle Wishes knew all that much about Lily Lightly, having never really had an opportunity to get to know her before the bug ponies wrecked Unicornia -- at least they didn't think they had ever gotten to know her, through a strange part of then wasn't so sure. Of course, it didn't help that the purple unicorn tended to keep to herself, and was always extremely shy, being friends with only one or two unicorns including her best friend, Feeling Flitter. Then there was the matter that whenever the dear seemed to get emotional, that she always excused herself, and ran off, sometimes in the middle of a sentence.

Nevertheless, Lily seemed to be the most shaken up of all of them, and Brights Brightly just couldn't bring herself not to say something to comfort her. "Don't cry, Lily!" Brights Brightly shouted, faintly, through the wall, to her new friend. "I'm sure Cheerilee will be here shortly to help!" She called out, through the wall. The Purple Rainbow Princess was practically the smartest unicorn around having trained both Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes, she HAD to know what to do!

"Or Star Catcher!" Whistle Wishes called through the other, pulling another random pony she knew out of her head. "She'll help us!!!"

"Who!?" Brights Brightly and Lily Lightly called through the wall, in unison. Who, in the heck, was Whistle Wishes talking about, anyway?

Whistle Wishes paused for a good minute. Who was this unicorn again? There was no 'Star Catcher' in Unicornia! Why did she call the name of a unicorn she'd never met? And yet, the name seemed too familiar. Maybe she was the old Purple Rainbow Princess before Cheerilee?

"I don't know!" Whistle Wishes cried, through the wall, "It was the first name that came to mind!"

"Quiet!!!!" Shouted a guard dressed in elaborate platinum armor The guard made sure to rattle the cages, of the prisoners, as he passed by them. Scum! On the way back to his station, he stopped in front of Lily's cell and began pointing his hooves at Lily, making sure to give an ostentatious chuckle at the still sobbing unicorn.

"What's so funny?" Whistle Wishes asked through the wall, her spirits still inexplicably high since she said the name of that weird nonexistent unicorn, maybe Star Catcher was her fairy godmother or something? "Can you let us in on it?" She asked, making friendly conversation, after all, maybe all this grump needed was --

The guard cackled loudly. "You'll find out as soon as that wretched 'Princess' of yours fails to negotiate for your release, " he growled. "And she will fail!" He reiterated. "The prince will see to that!" He announced, with a sadistic smile.

Lily shook like a leaf. "W-w-w-w-w-what wou-wou-wou-wou-wou-wou-would happen then?" She asked, her voice stuttering slightly, as she talked.

The unicorn's eyes gleamed, as a smile slowly crept across his face. "Same thing that you Equestrian monsters did to my sister in the War of Unicorn Succession, " the guard growled, his face growing cold, along with his blood. "You're going to get what's coming to you!" He loudly announced.

"W-w-w-w-w-what do you mean by that?" Lily asked, struggling with the tendrils of fear that were beginning to strangle her heart with terror. What kind of mean things did they have in store? Was she going to... Urk.... Duh... Di--?

The guard slowly raised the tip of his hoof to his jugular and began to drag it across his neck, making a scratching noise.

All three unicorn mares returned horrified expressions, their eyes filling with tears.

The guard only smiled back, a sparkle of vindication in his eyes.

"Oh dear!" Lily wailed, her nerves finally failing her as her terror became full-fledged panic. She began to run around in circles in her tiny cell, and her horn began to glow an eerie bruised purple color instead of the more vibrant purple color that normally appeared when she laughed. "Oh no! Not now!" she said, under her breath, as she noticed her horn glow. She had to get out of here! "Please! Not now!" She begged the treasonous horn, which only served to glow brighter and brighter. Please! If things weren't bad enough, already, everyone was going to think she was a freak! And then, her friends will abandon her! Just like they did when the darkness descended!!!

"Oh dear, excuse me!" She asked, pressing up against the bars in an attempt to leave, having forgotten that the bars were in the way! She had to get out of here! Everyone was probably thinking to themselves what a freak she was!

"Trying to go somewhere, traitor!?" The guard snarled, banging on the bars. "Tribe traitors like you deserve, exactly, what's coming to you!" He hissed, the tears coming down his eyes, as he banged at the bars with his sword, forcing the unicorn to hop back, and promptly fall onto her plot.

"Please, sir!" Lily cried, getting more desperate. "I need to leave for a minute!" She begged, watching the glow in her horn grow stronger and stronger.

How in the hey was this unicorn doing that despite the inhibitor, she was wearing, and why wouldn't she "Shut up!" He howled, stamping his hoof. "You have no ground to stand on, not after what your precious princess did to my family!" He hissed back. "And your kind just stood by and let it happen!" He howled, backhanding the bars, hurting his hoof in the process.

"Oh no!" Lily Lightly cried, her horn's glow changing color to a dingy gray color. "We're doomed!" She cried, as her horn's glow changed, once more, to a rainbow of odd colors.

"What in the heck!" The unicorn guard shrieked, as the light began to shine everywhere. "Sound the al--!" He howled, getting interrupted at the same time that --

Everything went black, and Lily Lightly felt her head hitting the concrete floor, with a thud.

Lily fluttered her eyes, everything was so blurry, leaving her hoping that she didn't hit her head too hard when she fainted earlier! And why she fainted, for that matter! That was probably the brightest her horn had shined to date, for sure, but she'd never fainted before, what could have happened?

A white pony stood over her, but the strange white pony didn't look like any unicorn she'd ever seen before! Were her eyes playing tricks on her because of her fainting spell? The white pony approached her slowly, her extra large white wings stood at attention, straight up, like twin towers. Why did this unicorn have wings? And where was her horn?

"Are you ok, my friend?" The really real for real pegasus pony asked her. Wait how did she even know what that was? And was it, or was this white pegasus covered with strange markings from head to hoof?

"Who are you?" Lily asked, half awake, as everything remained dim except for the gleaming white pegasus. "Do I know you?"

The big white pegasus nodded back. "An old friend, " she said, kindly, her voice reverberating slightly, as she talked. "I'm sorry, my friend, but you'll need to remain in that dingy place, for a short time, still, " she continued. "But I'm working hard to get you back to Unicornia!"

"Promise?" Lily asked, still trying to recognize this strange pegasus, who seemed so familiar, for some reason, but she just couldn't place it, just now noticing a large hole where the bars used to be.

"Consider it done, " replied the pegasus, vehemently.

Lily stared at the hole in the bars for a second and opened her muzzle. "But what about the bars? " Lily asked, with a blush, realizing she could practically walk through the hole in the bars if she needed.

The white pegasus, with the extra large wings, returned a smile. "Don't worry about it," she replied. "I'll deal with that... consider it done!" She said, the symbols on her head beginning to glow.

--

Celestia whistled faintly, to herself, as she slowly trotted down the halls, and back towards her room. She looked both ways to make sure no one saw her, and slowly opened the door, and quietly entered the miniature 'guest room', which appeared like it was, usually, reserved for the help, and closed the door behind her.

Inside the room, a candle revealed the graying mustache of an aging cream unicorn. "Had a nice walk, princess?" The unicorn asked his princess, as his horn lit up, lighting up all the candles in the tiny room, one at a time.

Celestia nodded nonchalantly. "Of course!"

"And you were where you, exactly, last night, princess?" The old advisor asked the princess, seemingly unimpressed with her response.

Celestia sighed, in 'exasperation.' "In my room, Kibitz, " she replied, nonchalantly. "Like you are, right now!"

"Of course, Princess, " Kibitz said, rolling his eyes. Did she think he would fall for this old game? "And where were you, for two and a half hours, last night at around 3:00 am?"

"Oh Kibitz!" Celestia replied, rolling her eyes. "Don't be so suspicious! I was just in the Little filly's room!" She continued, with a sincere smile. "Even us princesses have to -- "

Kibitz sighed. "Of course, princess!" The old advisor replied, continuing his lecture. "But I do feel obliged to remind you: we're guests here, princess, so whatever you were up to -- " He said, getting interrupted mid-sentence by the princess.

"Oh Kibitz!" Celestia replied back, with a chuckle. "You're always like this!" She said, turning her back to him, and took a trot down to her tiny 'bed' to 'grab some things' "As I said before, I had some 'business' to attend to!" She said, her voice growing stern. 'That, and, I had to protect one of my friends, from her own power!' She thought to herself. "So, Kibitz, I'd prefer it, if you -- "

Now it was Kibitz turn to get stern, as the old unicorn's face grew cold. "Princess! I would advise you to cease being sneaky, this instant!" He said, his legs growing stiff, as he raised to address his princess, rearing up onto his back hooves, to get up to her level.

"And what makes you think I was sneaky?" Celestia asked back, her voice growing stern.

"Oh... I've been around long enough to know when you're sneaky..." Kibitz replied back, pointing back at his watch. "Because we both know you were up to something sneaky early this morning!" He said, taking a quick peek, at his watch.

"Oh?" Celestia replied back, playfully. "And when have I ever demonstrated any kind of duplicity my dear little pony?" She continued, with a smile.

"You derelicted your duties to your sister, for a day, to allow yourself to get groomed..." The old unicorn replied back, without a hitch.

"Touché!" Celestia replied back, calmly. "Though I'm still pretty sure that I was in the little filly's room, and not 'being sneaky'!" She said, with a subtle wink.

"Oh, and, " Kibitz walking away. "I would advise against the further use of forbidden mind magic!" He said, opening the door, making sure to dramatically slam it behind him, as he left the room. "Also I would advise against 'Star Catcher' visiting the prisoners any more!" He said, shaking his mustache as he spoke.

"And that, Kibitz, is why I keep you around..." Celestia said, with a smirk. "You always keep me honest..." she said, with a chuckle. "Don't worry, Lily, Star Catcher will make sure you return home safely, she promises! Trust her!"

--

Celestia sighed, to herself, tapping her hoof on the table. Could the Prince of Unicornia, it's self-proclaimed King, be any more presumptuous? First, he made her wait a whole week to see him, a week in which she missed not just an ascension, but also the birth of a new nightmare. And now he just droned on and on with his, increasingly, absurd demands! And he still didn't seem to understand the simple concept that there would be no deal without the same return of Lily and the other two unicorns.

Speaking of which, the 'Pink Rainbow Princess,' who, 'strangely,' looked a lot like a pretentious blood red king, continued. "And as part of this deal, I expect that you demand your new friends, the Yaks renew their treaty of 'friendship' with us!" He continued, writing his fiftieth demand onto the scroll, while his scribes rushed to keep up.

Celestia sighed in exasperation. "Redsword, " she said, shaking her head. "You know we can't -- " Did Redsword even understand how difficult it was to get the Yaks to listen? What it took for Pinkie to create a party they would accept as 'yak perfect'?

The king interrupted, loudly stamping his hoof. "You are in no place to negotiate! It was your spies that -- " he said, raising his voice.

"Those weren't spies, Redsword, they weren't even -- " Celestia interrupted, her voice remaining calm. How did Strong even get these dumb ideas? How could he have possibly confused Lily Lightly, Brights Brightly, and Whistle Wishes for Equestrian spies anyway?

"Whatever!" The king interrupted, waving his hoof. "Don't distract me! What's important is that I demand that your ambassador to the Yaks, one Pinkamena Diane -- "

"Pinkie -- " Celestia interrupted, a smile creeping onto her muzzle.

"'Pinkie' Pie! Then" The king replied, loudly. "Don't try to distract me with minutia!" He huffed! This pompous 'Princess' was agitating him with her endless pretentious nonsense.

Celestia chuckled, in another time, or place, the prince's antics would be quite amusing.

The prince continued, undeterred. "I demand that you make your ambassador 'Pinkie' Pie demand that the Yaks restore our 'treaty of friendship'!"

Celestia shook her head. "You know it doesn't work that way Redsword! You can't just force ponies -- " She said raising one hoof, only to be interrupted mid-sentence by the prince, again.

The prince stamped his hoof. "Maybe not you, but it's worked that way my entire life! " He exclaimed, in frustration, how dare this charlatan spew this nonsense, he was the only natural pony to succeed his mother, but she was always out there questioning him!

'Somewhere your mother rolls in her grave, Strong...' Celestia thought to herself, looking down sadly, her face growing solemn. "You know why I finally gave up unification, Strong?"

"Because the superiority of the true unicorns of Unicornia was too strong for your inferior ponies to overcome!?" The prince said, confidently puffing out his chest.

"No..." Celestia said, shaking her head. "Because when I saw how wise and noble your mother was, I knew that Unicornia was in no better hooves..." She said, using her teacher's voice, a voice she had to frequently use when teaching Twilight's failed predecessor, Sunset Shimmer.

The prince snorted, stamping his hoof. "How dare you bring my mother into this!" He howled, pointing an accusatory hoof at the princess.

Celestia nodded. "Very well then. Shall we return to -- " she said, her voice becoming quite formal.

"The Yaks!" The prince interrupted, hastily, pounding his hoof, definitely rattled by the mention of his mother. "I demand that you tell those ingrates to restore their treaty!" He said, returning to his demands.

"But, prince, " Kibitz interjected. "You know stubborn they can be, especially when you made the same mistake we did and patronized their tradit-- "

"No!" The prince said, laughing vigorously. "Not just did I follow their worthless and pointless traditions; I improved on them!" He announced, stamping his hoof, and puffing out his chest.

--

Prince Rutherford stamped his hoof in frustration. Prince run out of patience at many not perfect things! Especially when not perfect things in middle of Yakyakistan!!! And unicorn prepare another thing! This better be perfect thing, because Prince Rutherford run out of perfect yak patience!!!

"Behold, " the unicorn prince said, confidently puffing out his chest, as he motioned to the stage. "Prince Rutherford, I have another gift for you -- " He said, with a smile, which quickly vanished when the yak prince interrupted him.

"Last Yak gift was not perfect!" Prince Rutherford warned, his patience wearing thin. Unicorn prince not unicorn prince mother, unicorn mother yak perfect, and Rutherford father promise friendship for one thousand moons to unicorn prince mother. But Unicorn Prince test Yak patience, make Yaks rethink treaty.

The Unicorn prince snorted angrily. How dare this oaf besmirch the giant warrior statue of himself as 'not perfect'! It was the epitome of perfect, and an excellent example what Prince Ulysses should have looked like!

"Behold!" The prince pronounced, waving his hoof. "I put on for you the classic yak play of -- "

A series of unicorns dressed like yaks came trotting onto the stage, dressed in the traditional yak apparel of the ancient yaks who conquered the vast north during the first age, after the collapse of the great penguin empire, about the same time the first great unified pony civilization collapsed.

The Yak King lowered his hoof; maybe unicorn king have some of mother in him after all! Costumes so far so perfect. "Ancient tale of first yak lovers extremely important, must be extra perfect!" The Yak prince announced, eager to see the perfect --

As the unicorns, in yak costumes, got closer, it quickly became apparent that the perfect outfits were all destroyed by the same ludicrous mask!

The Yak King bellowed, angrily. This not yak perfect! Unicorn prince definitely not perfect unicorn mother! Maybe problem not imperfect unicorns, after all! Maybe problem imperfect prince! Maybe yaks should smash imperfect prince! He thought to himself, his face growing red, as he contemplated what he should do to this besmircher.

All actors on the stage wore masks of Prince Redsword's face!

"This not yak play!" The yak prince announced, taking a good jump, and slamming down, from a height, onto the stage and destroying anything in sight. "Must destroy not perfect thing!"

"How dare you!" The unicorn prince blustered, snorting angrily. How dare this Neanderthal! This Bohemian! This Philistine! Complain about his more perfect yak play! "Well, if that's how you wish to play!" He bellowed. "Then two can play at that game! Unicorns smash!" He shouted, pointing his hoof towards the rest of the theatre, as a mob of unicorns began to, viciously, attack the stage, tearing it down.

the Yak King bellowed in rage. "This not perfect smash! Yaks smash!" He bellowed pointing at his town, as the yaks proceeded to wreck the place.

The unicorn prince gave a harumph, unhappy to see this charlatan trying to one-up him. "Is that it!" He shouted, pointing his hoof at the mountain itself. "Unicorns smash!"

The unicorns looked back nervously and pointed at the mountain.

The unicorn prince, the unicorn's self-proclaimed king, nodded, pointing, once more, at the mountain itself. "Unicorns smash!!!!" He shouted, motioning his hoof in a 'go on' motion towards the mountain.

The unicorn's quickly descended on the mountain itself.

...

...

A low rumbling could be heard, from afar!

--

Celestia's eyes bugged out like saucers, as she opened her mouth to speak. "You buried half of Yakyakistan in an avalanche?!" She shrieked, looking at the prince. "What made you think that was a good idea?"

The prince shrugged. "It seemed like a great idea, and the time, and I'm ok. And that's what matters right?" He said, nonchalantly. "And those ruffians, frankly, should consider themselves fortunate!" He said, with great arrogance. "If something had happened to me, it would be war!"

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Comments ( 21 )

looks intresting but im gonna the athors opinion to weither or not i read this

8719844
Ruh roe, did I goof? (Definitely if something seems to close to something else then I'll definitely have to fix the issue as well.)

8719858
sorry poor wording on my part i meant do you think i should read this

8719861
I think it’s good, but only if you like long reads. I’m inexperienced so there probably are pleanty of places for improvement, but I still think it’s a good read. Definiately if you run into issues don’t be affraid to let me know.

8719875
i am sorry to report the story couldnt hold my attention

8721232
No worries. Thanks for taking a look for me :pinkiesmile:

Anything that I could be looking into to improve it's readability/retention?

8721302
setng the stake way to high i mean the set up is that minty is this godling and everyone ones her on thier side not exactly a good read if the whole story is just a power grab

8721309
ok. That's what I was afraid of (which is one of the reasons I asked about Sues). So intro and premise need a rewrite.

Do you have any suggestions that you can recommend, or would a complete rewrite be something that would be needed to fix the issue, potentially?

8721315
have the arua (if you keep that) be the signal that the dimensions are breached thats fine but have it be a natrual phenominon or have that guy with the potion instead have a portal to g4

8721325
Ok, I'll start there! :pinkiehappy:

Thanks again for taking a look for me, and letting me know about that issue! (I suspected there might be an issue because the story had the same general interest level as a Daryl Castle presidency, but I could never figure out why.)

Would it be useful to me to look into making a third editor request with a concentration on sue removal and unnecessary content removal?

8721344
i would als look into a prereader to help find faults with the story before it comes out

8721347
ok, I'll look into that as well for next time.

Thanks again for taking your valuable time, not just to do some reading, but also to answer some of my questions! :pinkiesmile:

8721385
no problem and thanks for the follow

8721392
You are most welcome!

I was also probably going to take a moment to take a peek at your continuation of Teaching Lies: Teaching Lies (The Continuation). I have the original in "read later" folder so now might be a good excuse for me to go ahead and take a peek at both stories.

8721403
thanks tho just a heads up im not that good a writing

Chapter numbers and dates are all out of whack. Did you write parallelly several (side)stories, but decided to post 'em all in the same story page? So, next update will be between 7-6 and o4-1? Or between other chapters?

8731349
Yeah, I think you are right, the optional chapter prefixes are kind of inconsistent (I recently tried fixing the notation on chapters to be more clear then Chapter 1 Part 1, Chapter 2 Part 7, etc...)

It also sounds like my notation is confusing with regards to chapter ends: Chapter 7-6 is the final part of chapter 7 (chapter 7 part 6)

What would you recommend?

EDIT: I'll probably change the titles back to Chapter 1 Part 1: ..., Chapter 2 part 7: ... instead of the shorter notation I changed them to.

8731480
No, I understand that Chapter 7-6 means Chapter 7 part 6.

It also sounds like my notation is confusing with regards to chapter ends: Chapter 7-6 is the final part of chapter 7 (chapter 7 part 6)

Oh, yes. I was confused there. Thanks for clarifying there. I was confused mainly because chapter dates are weird, I guess that's date of modification, not date of publishing. As for advice... Maybe make general notation, like, "Chapter 4-4: Meet the G4 ponies!" and then "Interlude 5-1: Rarity's story"? I dunno, I'm not a writer.

8731596

Sorry for the confusion :twilightblush: And I'm glad I could clarify for you :pinkiesmile:

I think I created the issue when I split the bigger chapters into 6-8k chunks. Next time I do chapter splitting, I'll probably replace the original chapter with a new, identical one, so that the modified dates aren't so confusing.

I wonder why the author vanished in 2018 that is when the story stopped.

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