Judgment (Edited By BS)
Soon after recovering from the surprise, the mane six started their march through the fields of Sweet Apple Acres. Wary and alert for any sign of tricks or traps waiting to be sprung, they huddled together and kept their eyes peeled for any incoming attack.
"What do you think this is Twilight? An illusion?" Rarity asked as she and Pinkie approached a tree and lightly poked at it to see if anything happened, finding nothing but a standard apple tree.
"You don't think Heartstring just slingshotted us back to Ponyville, right Twilight?" AJ questioned, inspecting an apple with a critical eye. "I know my farm like the frog of my hoof; there is no way an illusion can fool me, yet this feels like we are back on my farm."
"Don't be so sure, AJ," Twilight responded. "Remember what Sunburst said? Heartstring can manipulate our emotions, so what's to say this isn't your farm's ideal image? Besides, not even Nightmare Moon could move us all to Ponyville without any of us noticing or our elements reacting." Twilight deduces, "This is most likely an illusion, a perfect illusion made possible only with the magic of Discord."
"Very good, Twily! I knew you would figure it out." The voice of Heartstring echoed through the orchard. "I wouldn't expect anything else from my little sister."
The mane six's defensive circle tightened as they searched for the corrupted mare. "Heartstring, I presume?" Twilight asked with a stern gaze.
"Oh, I knew you'd have a hard time adjusting to changes, but my new look is an improvement; I guarantee it." Heartstring keep talking from everywhere, her voice echoing all around.
"Ok, enough with the creepy disembodied voice act. Show yourself!" Dash called out, and soon, the tops of the trees morphed into the faces of Heartstring, with bundles of apples forming the eyes and mouths. "Is that what you desire, Dash?"
"Not like that!" Dash quickly complained, slightly off-put by her appearance, making Heartstring chuckle.
"No dashy, I bet you want something more personal, the question is. Why be here when you could be with your herd? Discord is playing with them as we speak, by the way." The heads glanced up, and they could see that the Wonderbolts continued to be chased by Discord as they got lost in the distance and clouds.
"I...I'm not gonna fall for those tricks anymore! Not after Discord." Dash shook her head and steeled her resolve, pointing at one of the trees.
"You know how this ends, sugar cube, so you better stop this illusion." AJ called out as the mares prepared to fight.
"I can imagine, and it saddens me that you would resort to this Twily, all of you, but here's the thing. I won't stop you if you want to see me."
"What?" They all stopped and looked at Heartstring, confused.
"Unlike Discord, my powers work on love and desire, not chaos. If you wish to see me, the path will open for you." Suddenly, the trees moved around, forming a path to follow. "That is, of course, if that is the ONLY desire."
"As Dash said, we are not gonna fall for your tricks," Twilight said, taking a step forward.
Heartstring didn't seem to worry as the faces disappeared, and the trees became normal again. "Then, by all means, come see me at my throne, but don't forget. The heart wants what the heart wants," She proclaims cryptically.
"What does that even mean?" Pinkie asked, taken aback by that cryptic statement.
"Oh, don't worry, you will figure it out soon enough." Heartstring ended in laughter as she left the group alone once more.
"Well, that was creepy," Dash said, looking back at the group.
"Yes, but for now, it means we have a clear path, and we will exit this illusion as long as we wish to leave it," Twilight mentioned as she advanced. "Let's go, everypony. The sooner we reach the throne room, the sooner we can fix this."
"Yeah," They all proclaimed in agreement and started running down the path until AJ heard the last thing she wanted to hear.
"AJ!" The voice of Blueblood caught her off guard as she stopped just in time for a wall of trees to spring up, separating her from the rest, who didn't notice her absence as a copy of AJ took her place. "What the...? What now?!" AJ complained in frustration from falling for such an easy trick before she noticed a butterfly of light beckoning her to follow. The light put AJ in a trance as she slowly marched down another path.
The same trick kept happening, and by the time the girls realized what had happened, all six of them had been separated and placed on different paths with no other choice but to follow the butterfly acting as their only source of light.
At the same time, another event was concluding on the far limits of the Cristal Empire's territory.
Marching out of a cave, two mares in hoods entered a secret passage with stone stairs and torches set in the wall lighting the way; behind the two, a blue bubble floated and followed close behind them as it was cast by one of the mare's horns.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the mares stopped and stepped apart to allow Commander Hurricane and Tempest to walk in, the latter looking around the place with a mix of worry and curiosity as she continued scanning until she spotted a guard post with a port behind it, being currently guarded by two stallions in armor and thick fur mantles to protect them from the cold as well as dark visors that hide their faces.
Once the stallions spotted the mares, they shouldered their respective spears and approached them. "Halt! Who goes there?"
"Commander Hurricane, back from the grave to oversee this procedure." Hurricane responded immediately.
"Shadow Tempest, here to provide assistance and support." Tempest replied before looking at everything curiously. "And to learn about this place. I have only heard rumors but didn't believe Gelid Maiden existed."
The two guards look at said mare with a raised eyebrow. "The most brutal and secure prison for only Equestria's worst and most dangerous criminals is not a tourist attraction, ma'am. Nor should it be public knowledge; how did you reach this place?" The guard questioned, raising his spear.
The hooded mares revealed their faces, showing themselves as Stellar and Amber, who saluted the guard.
"Because we were granted the knowledge and clues on how to come here by our superiors. We're celestial knights, Amber the Sun and my partner Stellar the Moon, here to deliver a prisoner." Amber replied before levitating the bubble in front of the guards, which popped and revealed Red Sun, still restrained and gagged by astral chains, though he kept trashing and trying to use his emotional magic. Yet the chains held and restrained his actions to mere sparks of flames, catching the attention of both guards.
"Careful, this criminal has access to a recently discovered type of magic and, as you can see, is extremely unstable; you would need, at minimum, level four restraint protocols." Amber warned.
The guards looked at the pair before one went back for their respective chains to further restrain Red Sun while the other talked with them.
"We didn't hear of any new prisoner arriving today." The guard kept questioning the mares with a suspicious tone in his voice.
"Record Omega, Protocol 3.6.9. Princess Luna gave the order months in advance." Stellar spoke up stoically, catching the guard by surprise, who turned back to his partner. Said guard had returned to their post and, upon hearing that, started searching through various folders until he took out and opened a golden one, scanning its contents, and then raising his head, nodding to his partner.
Whistling in surprise, the guard looks back at Red Sun. "A condemned one for a Tartarus trail then. What did this poor soul do to awaken the princess's wrath?" The guard questioned between him and his partner. The restrained Red Sun was loaded onto a stretcher made out of stone. Placing their hoofs on each side of the bed. It encased the criminal in translucent black crystal, freezing him in place.
"Attempted Regicide on the life of Prince Blueblood, invasion of the royal castle, being a Hitstallion for hire, and almost causing another NM incident." Amber listed off, making one of the guards whistle while the other did a double take as they moved the crystal into a nearby boat and loaded the criminal inside.
"Wait, what? How did he almost provoke a NM incident?" One of the guards asked in alarm.
"His magic can put anyone who touches him into a blind rage." Tempest replied, stepping ahead. "We saw the extent of his destructive power when used on a Ursa Major, so imagine what almost happened when he merely touched Princess Celestia."
Both guards went stiff and gulped at the idea alone before nodding. "Yeah, it all makes sense while Princess Luna gave the order. This scumbag doesn't deserve any form of sympathy." The guards placed tethering chains around the crystal to secure their package to the boat as Stellar approached.
"One more thing, you should put this in evidence as well," Stellar mentioned, showing them a Red Sun dagger and a folded scroll that caught the attention of the two guards.
"What is it?" One of the guards asked, retrieving a metal lockbox to secure the weapon and picked up the scroll.
"One of the Storm King's weapons from his collection," Tempest answered. "One of many. He had a fascination with collecting trophies during his conquests; that dagger, in particular, could be considered a unicorn's worst nightmare; one single cut would permanently sever the mana flow of their body, cutting their magic in half. Imagine the horror of what could happen the more cuts the victim gets."
The explanation sent shivers down both guard's spines as they nodded and secured the dangerous tool in the metal box before unfolding the scroll, revealing a map.
"Red Sun claimed that he modified the dagger to be even more dangerous, and we managed to locate more tools and alchemy equipment in his hideout when we captured him." Amber continued. "It was clear the place was dangerous and filled with clues, even when he tried to burn the evidence. We secured what we could, but to prevent contaminating the scene or setting off any traps, we sealed the entrance and mapped its location so you can send a specialized team to secure and lock away all that dangerous equipment."
"Understood, we will send a scroll to the corresponding parties with the map." One of the stallions nodded, placing the evidence on the boat before boarding and inviting the mares to hop aboard. "Now, please come with us to complete your report."
"Of course, we were about to offer our services in escorting Red Sun to the entrance anyway as a precaution in case the criminal tries anything." Amber pointed out as they saw the crystal move and the eyes of Red Sun open and shining beneath his crystal cocoon.
With the mares board, Amber and Stellar placed another layer of warding spells onto the crystal to keep Red Sun in place as the group started their journey into the underground river's darkness.
Once the dock disappeared in the distance, Tempest felt her entire body tense, and her fur stood up in alarm at how dark everything was; besides one single oil lamp at the tip of the boat, there was no light whatsoever, and as the boat kept floating down the narrow path, she could barely make out jagged and extremely sharp rocks and icicles breaking apart and reforming as the boat continued forward.
No wonder this place is regarded as Equestria's most fearsome and secure prison; just being here fills me with dread, it feels as if I'm descending into Tartarus itself. What kind of monsters do they keep in here?
Swallowing hard, Tempest eventually spotted a very dim and small light coming from the end of the tunnel, gradually making itself larger until the group exited the tunnel and reached the actual entrance of the prison, which immediately left Tempest speechless.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Hurricane commented, standing beside Tempest as the other two mares were still busy with Red Sun, who, as they had suspected, had been shaking his restraints, and a small burst of flames had cracked open part of the ice crystal from inside. If not for them, their wards, and their constant vigilance halting and reversing his progress.
"No matter how often I see it, I still remember the dread I felt when my companions and I placed our seal of approval on the documents for its construction." Hurrican explained with a sigh.
"Wait! Gelid Maiden is a prison that was built during your ruling?!" Tempest gasped in astonishment as Hurricane nodded.
"A necessary evil for times of great turbulence." She confessed while looking at Tempest. "Tell me, Tempest, did you truly think that all three tribes united without question or complaint when we formed Equestria for the first time? Sure, the idea of fending off Windigoes helped a lot in selling our idea, but what happened after the danger passed? What happened when three nations that, not long ago, hated each other found a rich land and believed it was their right to claim it as their own?"
"History books were often vague regarding that." Tempest concluded as she looked ahead. "I would be lying if I said I never asked why or how there were never riots, discussion, or even civil wars right after; ponies can't just make peace all of a sudden after years of grudges and tension."
"You are correct, Tempest, and unfortunately, that is precisely what happened; civil discussion soon escalated to yelling and rants, then complaints, and finally cruel and horrific violence that risked putting us back right where we started. Innocents were beginning to be targeted, children even. Those were indeed the darkest of times for Equestria, and no tribe would ever be able to survive a second great storm so soon; a desperate solution was needed, and those extremists, in the end, didn't give us any other choice. For those refusing to listen to reason, those mares and stallions whose hearts were so cold, we had to show them exactly the type of world they were demanding we create. Better imprint this image in your mind, Tempest; you could consider Gelid Maiden as a cautionary tale for those refusing to forgive and move on.”
In front of them stood an imposing frozen castle rising up until it reach half the cave walls, surrounded by tiny stone houses, connected by raggedy wood and ice stairs, all lay in some state of ruin and with only a handful of small lights zipping through the windows and one giant light shining from the tallest standing tower of the castle, all was covered by layers upon layers of ice from the constant blizzard that howled through the air, courtesy of the windigo circling the cavetop where an enormous blue crystal hung suspended by magic in the middle acting as the twilight sun. At the river's end, there was another dock for them to disembark with a well-drilled lineup of royal guards who faced Tempest, who she couldn't see and later discovered why.
Instead of ponies, the "guards" were nothing more than empty sets of armor with two motes of light in their helmets acting as their eyes, and in the middle of all this, flanked by more guards in even heavier armor, was a single, blind mare, not taller than Tempest, with a ragged black robe and a long stick which she hugged, signaling the group where to approach with her staff.
One of the guards signals back, and they disembarked to greet the mare. Tempest notices how the mare had dried candle wax where her eyes should be, only increasing her unease about the situation. "Welcome travelers from the lands of warmth and peace; what brought thy visit into this forsaken realm?" The mare in robes asked the group in old Equestrian as they approached.
The two guards salute and nod. "A lost soul whose judgment is yet pending. Though it has been declared already that he will be placed under the gaze of the three kings." One of the guards responded, catching the jailer mare's attention as she approached and removed her cloak, revealing a long and jagged horn covered in ice and with some strange golden runes circling it.
"A sin whom crimes deprive him of even the path of the unwanted, oh ye poor misguided soul. I weep for what is yet to come to thyself; pray let us proceed." The mare instructed, and the guards placed Red Sun on the ground before stepping back, motioning for Amber and Stellar to do the same and cancel their spells.
The mares hesitated but complied, and the crystal fell to the ground with a thud as the blind mare approached Red Sun, her own horn starting to shine as gold runes light up the ground beneath Red Sun.
Now intrigued, Tempest kept staring at the blind mare as she raised one hoof from which gold dust started falling on top of the crystal, which shook violently. Red Sun growled and yelled, trying to free himself, noticing the armors surrounding him and the mare pouring sand on his current prison.
"I'm pretty sure it will be impossible, but do you know who or what that mare is?" Tempest asks, looking at Hurricane, who nods.
"I do," Hurricane replied with a whisper so as not to break the blind mare's concentration, earning the surprise and attention of the rest of the group. "She is the first one. The first inmate ever confined to Gelid Maiden, the mare responsible for its title, Gelid Eve," Hurricane confessed with a sigh.
"You are telling me that mare has been locked up here for over 10 thousand years?" Tempest, in disbelief, clarified, pointing at the mare as she kept chanting.
"Well, yes and no, it's complicated, you see..." As Hurricane started to explain, Red Sun broke free and didn't waste time using his magic to create a solid construct of a dagger, which he used to stab the blind mare, yet the mare didn't even flinch and wrapped the condemned stallion in a hug startling and then scaring Red Sun as she continued her chanting unabated.
"...she is neither dead nor alive. She is a tarnished one. Those that refused to repent and became part of the prison. Gelid Maid is a cursed harsh place on extended trials that judge your crimes and made you go into a journey of penance in order to escape through a portal accessible only to those that won their freedom, that is the objective of the runes in the shape of sand place on Red Sun as well as the chants and magic engraving circles put on him" Platinum explaining pointing at Eve and Red Sun.
"If you reflected and are willing to repent, the prison would show you the way out, if not, then you become a Tarnish one, those that even death have turned her back on. Condemned to an existence of less and a never ending pilgrim for penance and forgiveness. It is a hollow existence. She exemplifies what lies ahead should those decide never to repent. " Hurricane continues as Tempest looks at the image in front of her in astonishment. The guards remain stoic at the actions of Red Sun, while the gold runes start shrinking and wrap around Red Sun before settling into his coat and flesh. The stallion looked at the new bonds in alarm.
"No, I can't die here; I can't die now. I must kill Blueblood; you can't stop me. You can't stop me, you CAN'T!" He kept yelling as the ground beneath him disappeared, revealing a free fall into a basement room. The blind mare and her hollow army fell back and allowed the screaming Red Sun to fall into silence. Once gone, the runes dissipated, leaving the group behind; Tempest could only blink at what she had just witnessed.
"What just happened?" Tempest finally asked as the rest of the group started marching to a nearby fortress, which she didn't have the chance to notice because Eve and her army caught all of her attention.
"Judgment," Amber, Stellar, and the guards reply simultaneously.
"Normally, Gelid Maid has a welcoming system. Eve marks the prisoner and explains how this place works. Safe places where they can traverse, where and how to obtain basic things like food, shelter, the locations where to go to be released when ready, how they still can have freedom of movement here, the like." Hurricane started explaining. "Oh, and to forget any attempts at escaping, swim? Good luck with flash freezing and hypothermia. Climbing or flying? Please tell us how it goes fighting a horde of windigo, IF you somehow manage to climb a slippery, jagged wall of ice without losing a hoof or falling, and so on. The only way out is through redemption and nothing else."
Tempest could feel herself getting paler the more Hurricane explained.
"But prisoners like Red Sun don't get those privileges."
"THOSE are the privileges?!" Tempest exclaimed in horror.
"You have no idea," Stellar replied with a slight shake of her head. "Those judged by Tartarus must wait for their trial on the Room of Thrones."
"And how is that worse than what you are saying?" Tempest asked the group.
"No sound, no heat, no food, not even the perception of day or night, the passage of time or even consciousness or unconsciousness until your trial is ready to start your journey under harsher conditions like without be able to speak, and total depravation of the senses outside the room. As you can guess, that is as close to an approximation of Tartarus and where Red Sun will spend his time until he is ready to cooperate and wait for his time of judgment," Amber said.
"Anyway, that is enough for now. Our mission is complete, and once we complete our report, we should leave this place; you are not the only one feeling dread by just being here," Amber complained, looking around the desolate place.
"Please allow me to assist since Gelid Maiden is not yet for those on the righteous path." Eve offered with reverence as she raised her staff. A Blue mist swirls around the group before they disappear.
At the same time, Red Sun fell into a pool inside a dark room surrounded by five thrones, with other ponies wearing the same ragged cloaks as the mare above looked at the new arrival before looking down again, completely apathetic.
Red Sun tries to scream, but no sounds come out of his mouth, making the presence of someone else talking more pointed in that silent place. "Such a grim end for a skilled assassin," Sharp Shoot called out, stepping forth from the shadows, surprising the pony in question as he stared at him angrily. At once, Red Sun saw the real Gelid Eve chained up to a thick pillar with run chains, and her head hung low.
"And yet, here I see a blessing in disguise, with some, oh some welcome information and a promising ally falling into my lap." Sharp Shooter calmly remarked as he approached. Red Sun tried to talk again and pointed at him, but no sound was heard.
"Oh, you are wondering how I am talking. Don't worry, there will be time to explain everything. Just know that Gelid Maiden has been under new management for a while. But I must now contract your services again for a special assignment." A Sharp smile turned wicked as he spoke, "I need your help waking up the real Princess Celestia."
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Welp, it's official. I have no idea what's going on anymore.
Staged a coup in the place thought to be inescapable? Blindsided doesn't even begin to describe the state of the equestrians...
Time for the temptations to continue!
motes
horde
camo.fimfiction.net/9FhUAxTFDLMRv466oEMMZVedPffwwg_4HlDN4la0GYE?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.postimg.cc%2F0Nkfg8jn%2FBatty-Scene-Break.png
Enjoy night and day...
To party hard:
camo.fimfiction.net/utPrGZbpAkI9t2TTWAVBYftCw5n_Nn9q0a0ZQUz5ZlA?url=https%3A%2F%2F24.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_m8xc6mtije1rxev85o1_500.gif
Until they all:
!!!
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Coming down hard
Sounds like a very secure location as long it's guards are loyal.
Redemption? By who's definition?
12156325
That is what the pray, runes and circle are for. Once place it like the sentence and penance is put in place. The punishment adjust to the penance journey depending on the criminal. (Unleash they are sentence to the 9.6.3 protocol. Then their journey is place on hold)
And only if the accused one repent, and wish to start their journey. Otherwise Gelid Maid is their home forever, and eventually become a tarnish one like Eve.
She never repent or went into her penance journey, and spend so much time there, her mind eventually forgot her identity cursing her to eternity as the warden. She could have escape but because of pride and stubbornness she destroy her last chance and transform into that
12156971
Magnificent lore, maybe add it to the chapter explanation of Princess Platinum?
12156977
Not a bad idea
I don't know what to say, but this new chapter is amazing.
12161450
No creo que Sangre Azul esté confundido sobre su lugar en el universo por más de una semana, un oso mínimo se puede adquirir con solo hablar con las sirvientas y simplemente vivir.
12165336
Hasta cierto grado, no estas tan lejos
Wait so you're updating this on fimfiction and leaving fanfiction.net alone or sum? I thought this story was dead, so while it's cool I found it on the site and I am happy it's still being written, kinda lame.