(4-3) And Celestia Starts To Spiral
Radiant Hope was expecting Sombra to be there. He had to be there. He was supposed to be there. There was no way he wasn't there. Yet the room remained silent, empty of life except for herself.
Maybe he'd truly been brought down. As strong as he was, being hit with the Elements of Harmony might have done him in. Surviving the Crystal Heart was a feat in and of itself. The shadow ponies told her about how it was used against them and burned them to be near. Knowing that, the Elements might have completely eradicated him. He might simply be no longer among the living…
The mare quickly shook that thought out of her head. Sombra wasn't dead. He was too tenacious for that, and would never accept such an outcome. He was still around somewhere, lurking, waiting for his opportunity. However, he wasn't here, and that was an issue. Chrysalis would be imprisoned, and Radiant Hope would have to come up with a new plan to free the shadow ponies once she found her friend. For right now, however, all she could do is retreat.
She made her way back up the stairs and out of the castle to see Queen Chrysalis being interrogated by the prince and princess of the Crystal Empire, with princess Luna watching silently. They seemed to be asking her about where the Heart was, as though she'd tell them. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. She didn't know what Radiant Hope looked like. Notably, however, Princess Celestia was absent from the scene, and it took only a few seconds for Radiant Hope to make the connection between her absence and Sombra's disappearance.
Somehow, inexplicably, they'd gotten to him before she had. Even more inexplicably, the stallion had convinced them not to use the Crystal Heart or the Elements of Harmony on him, otherwise, Celestia would have been there. He was clearly in their custody, and finding him would no longer be an issue. Although, freeing him might be, seeing as he was likely rotting in the dungeon of their castle.
That was, if there would be anything left of him to free. She saw Celestia's rage over a thousand years ago when she told the ruler of what her friend had done to Princess Amore. Any foothold he might have created for himself with the princess might be wiped away by the Crystal Heart's absence. Not to mention, the former queen of the changelings would no doubt tell of her plan to work with the tyrant. Those two things combined would likely cause the dual rulers to strike him down without a second thought. Radiant Hope couldn't let that happen, and had to do something to prevent it.
"Chrysalis," Cadance said with a stern look, "tell us where the Heart is, and we'll make your sentence lighter than what it should be."
She laughed at that. "Really?" she asked. "You'll lighten my sentence? In a few minutes, you'll all be on the other side of this cage, begging me-"
"The Crystal Heart!" a mare suddenly yelled from the shadows, bringing four pairs of eyes to the place where the Heart was supposed to be. Sure enough, the light blue crystal was positioned right where it was supposed to be, despite being missing a few seconds ago. The four stared at it as though it was the last thing they expected to see, trying to understand what it was doing there. Luna was the first to regain her composure.
"Prince Shining Armor, please inform Princess Celestia that the Crystal Heart has been located and is secure."
The stallion quickly teleported away, leaving the two remaining rulers there as they turned their attention to Chrysalis. The former queen had a look of rage on her face.
“That mare betrayed me!” she spat. “I should have known better than to trust some pony, especially one who didn’t want to be seen!”
“And exactly what mare is that?” Cadance asked.
“The one who screamed, obviously,” she answered bitterly, not caring about the plan they had. “She told me that she, Sombra, and I would be able to overthrow you so long as the Crystal Heart was out of the picture. However, that was clearly a lie.”
Cadance furrowed her eyebrows in a frown. “Luna…” she started.
"Cadance," Luna warned, "whatever you are thinking, put it out of your head. I have enough to deal with in my sister already. I will not allow you to act in the same way."
“We need to bring it up,” she pressed. "It has to be discussed."
“And it will be discussed, but not in front of my sister. Her hatred for that creature is already immense, and I will not allow you to fuel her irrationality.”
She humphed at that. “Then I guess I’ll stay here with Chrysalis, because if I go back, it’s getting brought up.”
“Wait, hold on,” Chrysalis interrupted. “Sombra’s already back?”
I watched as Discord, with sunglasses on his face, looked up from a book he was pretending to read. “Hmm,” he commented. “It seems to have gotten very tense in here. I believe I’ll be seeing myself out.” With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared, leaving me completely alone.
I could feel the stares of the whole room on me, and tensed up. It felt like I was back in the room they found me in, when I was waiting for them to decide whether I should live or die. I thought I moved past this, but was now back in almost the exact same situation as before. It seemed like the whole universe was just out to get me.
“I understand how this looks,” I started, “but before we start accusing me of things I didn’t do-”
“Silence!” Celestia announced, using her Canterlot voice. “We are tired of hearing your lies. We have given you a chance, and you have proven yourself a villain.”
“Okay, hold on!” I interrupted. I was not about to let this spiral out of control like it did last time, and wanted to take right now to try and prove myself innocent. “How could I possibly have anything to do with the Crystal Heart being missing? I’ve been in your castle the last five days, and from what I understand, the thing just went missing. So unless you think that I disappeared right in front of you, I. Didn’t Do it!” By the time I finished, I was yelling at her. I was so done with her and how irrational she was being, and was starting to hate her the way she hated me.
“This is clearly something you planned,” she continued. “It is not a coincidence that you come back and the Crystal Heart goes missing at the same time, especially in the week leading up to the Crystal Faire. But even in spite of that, I will still leave your fate in the Princess of Friendship’s hooves.”
“Are you? Or are you going to lie and try and get them to kill me like last time?”
The princess's face darkened, and I saw specks of gold start to appear in her hair. "I would watch very carefully-"
“Princess Celestia,” Shining Armor announced, once again interrupting us as he teleported into the room. “We’ve found the Crystal Heart.”
Celestia didn’t look away from me. She stayed fixated, her rage only growing, baring her teeth at me, the whites of her pupils starting to become discolored and parts of her hair turning red and orange. I stared back at her with a determined look of my own, repressing my extreme fright at the sight of her. She was going to turn into Daybreaker at any second and take her rage out on me. The moment lasted for a long while, the room staying silent, before she finally closed her eyes, seeming to gain control of herself.
“I don't know what kind of game you think you’re playing,” she told me, an edge starting to creep into her voice, “but this has gone far enough, and I’m done with it.” She then looked to her former student, saying, “Twilight, please do what needs to be done.”
I was extremely glad to see the Princess of Friendship hesitate. “Um,” she started nervously, “maybe we should wait? I mean, the Crystal Heart is back in its place…”
Celestia frowned at her, and I watched her shrink back. “That was not a suggestion, Twilight Sparkle. I am telling you to use the Elements on him.”
“Um, can’t we just-”
“I understand how you feel about the situation," she cut off, "but as the future ruler of Equestria, you must get used to doing what’s difficult. If you wish, you may place the blame for what happens to him on me. You may all do so, if it makes you more comfortable.”
“No,” Fluttershy spoke quietly. She might as well have yelled it though, because all of the eyes in the room turned towards her. I was honestly a bit surprised that she would openly tell Celestia no, but happy nonetheless.
“I’m sorry,” she started timidly, “but I don’t think Alex really deserves the treatment he’s been receiving. Luna and Discord both said he’s not lying, and I think I believe them. Um, and if he is Sombra… well… he hasn’t actually done anything to hurt us since he’s been here. And, well, the Crystal Heart isn’t lost anymore, so… we'd be hurting an innocent creature by using the elements.”
“Fluttershy,” the princess told her seriously, “it’s not a coincidence that the moment we discuss punishment, the Crystal Heart turns back up. He clearly has a plan that we’re playing into.”
“Um, well, I don’t mean to be rude, and, um, I know how you feel about him, but… don't you think you might be just a little bit emotional? Maybe? I’m sorry.”
“This is not something that is up for discussion,” she told the mare. “I am ordering you to do this.”
She paused at that for a moment, then responded, “I’m sorry. I still won’t do it, and neither should they.”
“Do we not all know that Sombra is a master of deception?” Celestia suddenly asked the whole group. “Sombra is obviously deceiving Fluttershy at this very moment, trying to weasel his way out of what he’s done, and is working his way into Twilight Sparkle's mind as well. Any doubts you may have about this creature being Sombra are clearly his attempt to-”
“Princess Celestia,” someone’s voice suddenly boomed. “Stop. That. This. INSTANT!”
I watched as Princess Luna appeared before us. She stared down her sister, Celestia's expression changing from shock at her arrival and order to rage, wearing a look that said she wanted to tear her apart.
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I’m honestly surprised the others aren’t also protesting Celestia clearly going off the rails.
Ah yes a cliffhanger truly both frustrating and excitement building
Great chapter as always
10187268
They treat her like a god in the show. I wasn't thinking they'd speak out that much.
-does the jiggy-
Ah yes. The return of the cliff hanger WITH A VENGEANCE!
oof
10187287
Fair. Though I’d think there would be shock at her losing her composure this much as she is usually portrayed as a veritable bodhisattva.
No! Not the *pew pew*!
Seriously though, Celestia needs to sit in the time out corner .
Thanks for the update!
10187268
I can understand. It's not easy for everyone to speak up against such authority, especially when the authority is considered a benevolent deity in most ponies' eyes whose wisdom spans literal millennia. Fluttershy is getting more bold, though, as well as Luna, and even Twilight spoke up with hesitation this time. Celestia is getting extremely emotional and it's causing her to lose the trust she has with the Elements, and the longer this goes on the more they'll be speaking out.
it's about to GO DOWN!
Something is going on with her... It can't be just rage from her friend being killed... can it?
too short, only took 2 mins to read... still good though.
I've had this sitting in my read later for a while. Today I was clearing it out and happened to look at the author name for this story. I hadn't recognized you back then, but now that I've read Mind Over Matter I think I'll give this a shot.
Lmao sucks to be him
Ok so 'my humor' endings didnt come to pass...
But... Its time the Day is breaking into chaos.
How Ironic that Celestia should now get Friendship lasered in the ass
We talking a bat shit insane Alicorn duel ( no insult to any Batponys reading this...). Remember the old Castle? How torn apart it was? Remember the 'Princess lullaby' short fight sequence?
There will be casulties of life within this fight.
Maids? Guards? Nobels!
( please make it a selfentiteld speciesist asshole )
Twilight is not a fanatic but see her former Mentor going mental with madness will take time for Twilight to accept and give the duel enough 'pew-pew-boom body parts flying everywere' time for Celestia to get a piece of Lunas Nightmare pie of humility.
Rainbowdash might FINALY get the stick out of her ass and take her medication... Seriously its always 'lets kick some flank'. Wanne see her 'TRY PULL THAT SHIT' on two Alicorns duking it out...
You know what would've been even more of a lynchpin? If he just up and said 'order' instead of 'get them'. Would've been much more satisfying to see the look on that ass's face get handed to her, when she realizes what she's done after it's all over. Vindication would've been great.
10187340
How about a checklist
-Discord wars ( Celestia & Luna defeating and stone him )
- Lost her Friend
- Having survived 'original Sombras' shit he pulled
(Crystal Empire fight and vanishing after defeat)
- Lost her Sister for a millenium because she had to Element laser Luna with her own power.
- Ruling and enduring braindead nobels for as long as Equestria is rules by Celestia
I could make this list quite long... Fair to say:
" She was overdo on a full body massage of concentrated Friendship
death , minderasinglove beam"10187268
Personally I'm amazed Twilight's still on the rails. One failing of the show is that they never put her in a position of direct conflict with Celestia to show if she could do the right thing even if it meant going against her. That's why I like fics like this that do so.
Oh look, he's clairvoyant!
Perhaps the Elements should be used on Celestia instead. Her Harmony is way out of wack and we're wondering why Discord didn't want to stick around for the show...
Keep going! ;)
Tia is about to go Hades on Luna isn't she? IE 1:18
10187414
fell in love with other universe sombra and had to be separated for the good of the world, braking her heart and now constant reminder of what she lost with Alex
im sure that fueling the fire
10187453
As i mentioned the list goes on and on...
10187427
Fan work is in general better.
10187441
Visuals more Sunburn Princess but basicly. . . BOTH
-----
The titel should be the day Celestias mask breaks... She spireld the hole story long...
Daaamn
The sun and moon are beginning to spark the flames of war over the false king of shadows. A former queen betrayed, a lonely mare searches for answers, and the chaos lord leaves to re-evaluate his schemes. While the defenders of Harmony can only look on in worry and terror.
anyone else getting daybreaker or any other nightmare celestia forms vibes from this.
10187671
Nooo... why would we? How could we possibly make any guess she could turn... That would be totaly out of the question...
I say 1/8 of the Castle reduced to rubble and half the remaining structure needs fixing...
If were lucky the worst Nobels get hit and burned to ash. That way they might actualy done something. Even if its only fertilizing a flower or three
10187486
Yay....... can’t wait actually to see how that plays out tbh, You got some dark-ass humor btw dod, i freaking love it, XD
So you are going to force the Elements of Harmony to do your bidding? Remember what happened the last time when you did that? That ended in the Elements became inept for the last thousand years? If you want to kill him that much, why not do it with your own hooves? Afraid of having blood on your white coat?
10187709
The humor endings i guess? Comedy is a nice way to talk about something. We in germany have shows that focus on airing unpleasent things that way.
Satire at its finest
10187743
Yea the Humor endings, and i didn’t know Germany aired that sorta stuff, it isn’t here in Denmark,
And If were lucky the worst Nobels get hit and burned to ash. That way they might actualy done something. Even if its only fertilizing a flower or three,
That’s just cruel, but so true, :P
10187427
Agreed. Shame the show never pushed the envelope.
10187781
8/10 of em are rich self entiteld bitches without any real use anyway ...
I can recommend this go read wile you guys wait for the next update.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/309393/evergreen-heart
10187741
in her defense, it would be hard to get blood stains off of white fur; I'm assuming.
10187815
Added to my ”fics waiting on completion” folder for later read,
Skip to 25:35, up to 25:45
Oh, this is getting good!
So now the real Sombra is up to some shit? Oh boy.
10188042
Maybe, maybe not. I put that in there mostly to show her thought process.
well shit this can't be good
Oh this is turning into a complete and utter disaster, Daybreaker is coming out of her corner
10188133
After reading things a bit more closely... I hope I am wrong. But I suspect Celestia planned this out to incriminate Alex just to have an excuse to use the Elements on him to potentially kill him.
Again Fluttershy is the only one who hasn't morally failed. Personally I was expecting her to cace to pressure, but only because she is extremely meek and was terrified into acting instead of ignoring her conscience. Luna's still a bitch, though I'm starting to (slightly) like her.
Also really Radiant Hope ironically should just give up. It would be the correct moral choice to make, fir if Alex were to truly become Sombra she'd be murdering someone to do it.
I thought Celestia was visibly turning into Daybreaker...does she really think she can talk her way out of looking like the bad guy here when she is literally starting to look like a villain?
10188598
Her brain is kinda scrambled
(Referring to the Author's Notes:) Such riveting combat! You could not possibly describe it better. [SARCASM TEST COMPLETE]
I wonder if the real Sombra is hiding within Celestia's shadow and biding his time for the real event?
You know, it’s funny, because Sombra’s controlling her indirectly, even if he isn’t present at the moment. No matter how much she denies, she hasn’t escaped from the shadows of what he’s done, what it felt like... And that is what’s truly controlling her.
What was playing in my head when Discord left and Celestia start speaking:
What started to play ones Luna arrived! :
You can both play wile you use the autoread function of your mobile phone. Perfect reading experience!
You know I'm beginning to question whether original Sombra might have just been trying to protect himself from HER