The Alicorn Warrior
Written by iAmSiNnEr
Edited by Stinium_Ruide
Chapter 14- Consequences
“You failed?” the stallion bellowed at the griffon, his voice full of rage. “Do you have any idea what will happen now?”
“I’m sorry!” the young griffon cringed. “It wasn’t our fault that Sparkle was that powerful!”
“We sent the Dark Order with you,” the stallion growled. “And they gave you all an enchantment to remove your pain sensors. How could all of you possibly fail?”
“She simply just killed us all!” the griffon cried. “I barely managed to get away-”
“Enough,” a silky voice said from the shadows. “What’s done is done. What we need to do now, is to plan for her return to Equestria.” An elegantly dressed female unicorn emerged from the shadows, a mask over her face, concealing her features. “Lady Shadowcrest’s plan will go ahead, whether or not Sparkle returns.”
“Illa,” the stallion inclined his head. “What a surprise to see Lady Shadowcrest’s personal assassin here.”
“Same to you,” Illa said dryly. “You’re not supposed to be here, Bastion. Wouldn’t Kreig have sufficed to get the information from the griffons?”
“I felt this needed my intervention,” Bastion straightened up, ruffling his wings. “The moment Sparkle reaches Canterlot, we will be exposed. We cannot risk revealing our hooves in the matter yet.”
Illa sighed. “Have you not learned yet? Lady Shadowcrest has plans for everything. We already have the support of the nobles, and our ally has both princesses sealed away. Equestria will be ours eventually, no matter what Sparkle does.”
“What about the doppelgangers in Ponyville?” Bastion asked. “Do we need to ask for them to leave as the Elements return?”
“Lady Shadowcrest has ordered for them to stay,” Illa said. “This way, we can confuse them, slow them down. However, they will not retain their disguise, but instead, they will take on other disguises.”
“Hmph,” Bastion nodded. “I can work with that. I shall send word to the wolves in the Badlands to slow Sparkle down to give us some time.”
“Lady Shadowcrest has also ordered for this base of operations to be destroyed,” Illa said. “She suspects that Sparkle will be able to track us down to here.”
Bastion frowned. “How?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Illa said. “Do as she wants, unless you want to be executed like Larkin. We cannot afford to be hesitant with respect to this matter. Even with all our plans, she has proven time and time again to be able to foil them.”
“Alright,” Bastion nodded. “What about him?” He jerked his head at the cowering griffon at the corner of the room.
“Kill him,” Illa decided without much hesitation. “Too much of a security risk.”
“W-What?” the griffon stammered.
“Of course,” Bastion nodded, before sending a knife flying into the griffon’s chest and into his heart with pin-point accuracy, killing him instantly.
“Inkwell has also requested for your presence in Canterlot,” Illa said as Bastion casually retrieved his bloodied knife. “She requires the Duke of Cloudsdale to be there.”
Bastion grunted. “Fine. Tell Inkwell I’ll be there, but make sure I don’t have to interact with her.”
Illa shrugged. “We all dislike her, I know, but do try to be polite, will you? Our ally is the only reason why we have been able to stage this coup and not let Equestria know.”
“Any word of the rebels?” Bastion asked as he wiped the blood off the surface of his sharpened blade.
“Nothing,” Illa replied, seemingly unconcerned. “They have disappeared, and there has been no sign of them. A pity, we could have used the unicorns to our advantage.”
“I still don’t know how they managed to figure us out,” Bastion muttered while he sheathed his blade. “For Sun’s sake, they didn’t even know Celestia that well.”
“They still were powerful unicorns,” Illa reminded him. “Do not underestimate our enemy, Bastion.”
“The Crystal Empire?” Bastion prompted, raising an eyebrow.
“None of the doppelgangers had been able to replace the Princess of Love,” Illa said. “Rumor’s that she knows what’s happening and that the rebels are taking refuge in her territory.”
“The Lord of Chaos is another problem,” Bastion muttered. “We’ve been able to keep him happy so far with a fake of the Element of Kindness, but it will not last forever. Once the actual one returns, they will find out that someone was in their place.”
“Hmph,” Illa rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she considered the statement. “Perhaps… I will make the arrangements and see if we can be rid of Sparkle. If she cannot pass the border in the first place, we can simply keep her out and sow doubt within the group. If she thinks she was lied to by her friends, we can surely exploit that to our...advantage.”
“Alright,” Bastion nodded. “I will take my leave now, and pass my regards to Lady Shadowcrest. Tell her the base will be destroyed within the day.”
Illa inclined her head. “Of course. See you in Canterlot, Bastion.” She vanished, teleporting away.
Bastion sighed, crossing the room and ignoring the dead griffon to open the door and exit. As he stepped out, he cast his gaze around the underground base. They had used it for so long, only for its destruction to be ordered because of Sparkle. He almost felt a pang of sentimentality for this place, but he had to shrug it off. Sacrifices must be made.
“Lord Bastion,” an earth pony came up to him. “I heard the base was to be destroyed. Orders from Lady Shadowcrest, apparently.”
“Yes,” Bastion said dryly. “Clear out all the artifacts and ship ‘em to the Canterlot base. Make sure the creatures are well sedated so that they won’t escape.”
The earth pony nodded. “Yes, Lord Bastion.”
“You will not know what is coming for you, Sparkle,” Bastion murmured to himself. “You may have taken control of your life, but you will not ruin four years of our planning.”
Illa appeared into a darkened hallway, stumbling slightly as the teleport threw her off balance. Regaining her balance, she straightened up and hurried down the elegantly decorated hallway, lighting her horn as she did so to give herself some light.
As her hoofsteps echoed down the hallway, she became aware of a presence watching her every move. Watcher, she thought dryly. Been years since Lady Shadowcrest created him, but he still gives me the eebie jeebies…
The lights began to turn on one by one, lighting the hallway up as the presence of Watcher withdrew, having ascertained that it was Illa that had teleported into the house. Eventually, she arrived at an ornate marble archway opening up to a large garden. Before her, there was the mare she had come to find.
“Lyia,” Illa called out, pulling off her mask as she did so. “I’m back.”
The unicorn mare turned around, her startingly blue eyes immediately obvious as she did so. “Took you long enough,” she muttered. “Lady Shadowcrest was getting impatient. Does Watcher know you have arrived yet?”
“Sister,” Illa chided. “I haven’t seen you in months, and that’s the only greeting I get?”
Lyia sighed. “I’m here because Lady Shadowcrest wishes to move into Phase Three now, and this requires my research.”
“You’ve found the way to defeat Sparkle?” Illa asked interestedly. Even as skilled as she was, she knew she could not measure up to an alicorn at full strength, much less one that had been strategizing in an arena for the last four years.
“No,” Lyia replied flatly. “But I have discovered something from my...interrogation of her parents, known associates and ponies she interacted with before. She has one fatal flaw, and that is her friends. Threaten her with them, and she will cave in. It has been done before, in her past battle against Tirek.”
“And?” Illa prompted.
“She gave in,” Lyia responded. “Gave Tirek all the magic he wanted. And it was in exchange for her friends. If we use that against her, her alicorn powers will be useless.”
“I’d like to have something more concrete than that,” Illa said doubtfully, frowning slightly. “We’ve been preparing for so long, and yet we still don’t have an actual, foolproof way to deal with her in the event she discovers our plan of deceit.”
“We do, actually,” a regal voice came from behind them.
Both Lyia and Illa sank down onto the carpet in a kneeling position, lowering their heads. “Lady Shadowcrest,” Illa murmured. “We did not see you coming.”
“Of course,” the voice said. “Watcher informed me where you were, so I made my way over. Arise.” At this, Illa and Lyia got up, giving Shadowcrest their utmost attention.
A beautiful-looking pure white unicorn mare stood there, looking at them with stern eyes. “Report,” she ordered. “What is happening on Bastion’s end?”
Illa nodded. “They failed to take out Sparkle and her friends. Our spies report that she has plans to return to Equestria within the week. This is a journey she will almost definitely make; she has done it several times before alone. Bastion is sending a detachment of wolves to slow her down.”
“Of course they failed,” Shadowcrest said, somewhat indifferent. “No mortal in history has ever managed to successfully kill an alicorn by brute force. We will need other methods, which is where you—” she turned to Lyia. “—come in.”
“Her one fatal weakness is her friends,” Lyia said. “From what I have found out, she will give even her life to protect them. As for any physical weaknesses, alicorns have almost no weaknesses, and the only one that I have found is that their wings can be broken relatively easily as long as you exert a sufficient amount of force.”
“Lady Shadowcrest, if I may,” Illa said respectfully.
“Yes, Illa?” Shadowcrest turned to her. “Speak your mind.”
“I think we can use Sparkle,” Illa said. “With all due respect, getting rid of her is what we need, yes, but what if we could stage it such that her death will be public?”
“What do you mean?” Shadowcrest said curiously.
“We have had to rely on our ally to keep Equestria in the dark about our coup,” Illa said. “But if we can show that Celestia is incompetent, we can replace her with a new ruler, preferably one that we know won’t betray us.”
“Hmph,” Shadowcrest gazed at the flowers around them. “A fair point, although we will need to flesh it out.”
“Of course, Lady Shadowcrest,” Illa nodded.
“There are several ways we can expose Celestia to be an incompetent ruler,” Shadowcrest mused. “After all, she made many mistakes. I shall think about it. Inform Inkwell that she will need to mantain the status quo for now, just in case Sparkle arrives earlier than expected.”
“One more thing,” Illa remembered. “Inkwell is calling together the Dukes and Duchesses of Equestria to Canterlot for the annual meeting. There, she has decided to issue our ultimatum; support us or lose their authority and titles.”
Shadowcrest nodded approvingly. “She’s certainly doing well in the position we gave her,” she said. “Very soon, Equestria will belong only to the nobles and aristocrats, as it was always meant to be. For too long have the alicorns lorded themselves over us. And, speaking of alicorns...do you have any news from the Crystal Empire?”
“Still on lockdown,” Lyia remarked. “The Princess of Love has cut off all contact from Equestria. For now, rumors say that she locked it off because the rebels managed to get to her and inform her of our deeds.”
“Then why has she not taken action?” Shadowcrest mused. “I have met her before, and she was certainly not one to wait and bide her time. If she knew that her aunt was no longer in power, she would most definitely come to her rescue.”
“We do not yet know,” Illa noted. “A barrier is up around the clock, preventing access from anypony on the outside. Owing to this, we have little information coming from within.”
“Hmph,” Shadowcrest sighed. “Fine. For now, inform the rest to leave the Crystal Empire alone. We will deal with them when the time comes… or perhaps even use Sparkle as bait.”
“Will you be coming to the meeting, Lady Shadowcrest?” Illa asked.
“No,” Shadowcrest said. “That would not be wise. Sparkle is expected to arrive soon, and if she figures out I was behind all of her suffering...she would not let me off easily, if at all. She might not remember my name; I did keep a low profile in Celestia’s court. But I will not take any chances. I will remain at home instead.”
“What about Blueblood?” Lyia asked.
At the mention of his name, Shadowcrest’s face darkened. “Whenever we hinted at the possibility of him switching sides, he has still refused. Unfortunately, we could not get rid of him. Since he is the Duke of Canterlot, many things would collapse without him. However, we cannot keep going like this. If he still refuses after issuing our ultimatum, then we will have to get rid of him...surgically.”
“I am still amazed he hasn’t found out that there’s a fake in Celestia’s place,” Illa said. “Every time he reports to her of treason, our ally just simply distracts him. How he has not put two and two together shows how blinded he is by his loyalty to Celestia.”
“He is not incompetent,” Shadowcrest noted absentmindedly. “As conceited as he is, he has managed to ensure that he is irreplaceable, which is why we have this problem in the first place.”
Illa nodded slowly. “What are your orders now for me in Canterlot?”
“Keep a low profile,” Shadowcrest decided. “Do not engage unless absolutely necessary, is that understood?”
“Yes, Lady Shadowcrest.”
“Go, then,” Shadowcrest ordered. “And remember my orders.” Illa nodded, before putting on her mask again and teleporting away. “As for you,” she looked at Lyia. “I have something I need you to do…”
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IF Celestia re-exiles Twilight again, just because she is "dangerous" for her "precious little ponies". Despite Twilight SAVING her royal ass and Equestria from the real threat from Shadowcrest and her Evil Society Conspiracy. I'm gonna SLAP her incompetent, retarded, and cowardly face to DEATH!!!!!!!
And beat her with a huge hammer that can HURT/KILL Alicorns while I'm at it.
And no pony is gonna stop me!!!! Heck, I bet that Twilight's Friends, Spike, and ESPECIALLY Twilight's Parents, Brother, Cadence, and Luna agrees with me. And are also tired of Celestia's idiotic and pacifist Bullshit!!!!!
Hmm... interesting to see what's going on with the other side.
I have to admit I'm impressed with what you did about Blueblood— did you know that he was originally supposed to be a duke in FiM? The writers changed him to just being a prince because the high-ups thought that kids wouldn't understand what a duke is.
Whoa-whoa-whoa— Raven is a traitor??
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I never said Raven 😝, only Inkwell. Jokes aside, we still don't know whether that's even Raven or someone with her surname :P
Oh, and thanks for the compliment!
Interesting, if my Bionicle OC was in the fic, he'd likely inform the sisters ahead of time and tell them he has a plan to locate the traitors and crush them once they're the most vulnerable... I just got an idea because of that.
Man,this conspiracy just gets deeper and deeper.
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would you calm your ass down, you just read that the celestia there is fake right?
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what you just said was Delicious cringy lol.
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No Offense! But, please mind your own business. And besides, the real Celestia might have done the same thing. Just because Twilight can kill and is "dangerous" to her "precious ponies". I will still kick her ass if she punishes Twilight for saving the day, and PERMANENTLY finish off a huge threat!!!!!
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*Looks up cringeworthy* I fail to see how what I stated is embarrasing or awkward, especially with how he is.
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how is your Bionicle oc?
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This conpiracy has been going for 4 years, which is exactly as long as twilight been gone, so it is pretty obvious celestia been replaced. I'm pretty sure Celestia would be quiet grateful after being dug out of whatever hole she was put in.
Why are you so hostile to celestia, Your hatred of her seems to expand outside of this story.
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There's a link to his bio at the end of my previous response.
good chapter.
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what would you do if your brother were to be a serial killer but he is also everything left from your family?
people who you have a good view are harder to turn against
what i mean is celestia wouldnt do that to her personal student that she accompanied throughtout her whole life.
you really should chill and stop assuming things just because many other fics do it
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it does extend outside of this story
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that was super cringe no offense and many people agree
new chapter very pog
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You are actually very on point with that. For some strange reason on this website. I seen many authors in here depict Celestia as very OOC. Most in Human in Equestria Stories, or Displaced. She is a paranoid, hostile, Racist/Xenophobic, Human Hating, Tyrannical, or a Horny Raping Bitch.
In other stories similar to this one. She banished/exile either a Framed Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Spike, or somepony else over false evidence, false trial, or give the wrong accused pony/dragon a benefit of the doubt.
And it doesn't help with the Convention Bureau by destroying poor Humanity. And she still thinks she's a "good guy"?????!!!!!! What a Massive Hypocritical, Genocidial/Xenocidal, Tyrant Psycho!!!!! Let's not forget that she is a crazy AI in that particular CelestiaAI Stories going on. Or even the Human Slaving Stories!
It's like she is FRICKIN Pinkamena to Pinkie Pie from the infamous Cupcakes. Or better yet, a Rip Off of Sasuke/Sakura, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Citizen Council, or Danzo Bashing in Naruto Fan Stories out here.
So, that's why I have a low opinion on Celestia. Because, many Authors like to make her into a OOC Jerk, Horny Rapist, Racist/Xenophobic, being too Paranoid against Powerful Main Characters, or a Human Hating Tyrant for some reason??!!
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Do you even know what cringe means?
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That's a very bad example. Considering that despite Twilight kills. She only kills really bad people and protects the Innocent. That's not what a "Serial Killer" looks like.
Plus, can you blame me when I seen too much stories that depicted Celestia in a bad light, and has her betraying a wrong accused Twilight, Spike, or any other of her Friends??!!
Really enjoyable read and very interested to see where you take it.
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Thanks!
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Agreed!
This story continues to surprise me with it's quality and the overal level detail captured within every word.
The way Twilight was handled (in particular) astounds me. She was changed in such a major way, yet all of her actions, and words still feel like Twilight.
If I was to describe/review this story I would say that it's not perfect but it's surprising in all the best ways possible.
It's combat and character actions are fluid and smooth.
Personally I never at any point felt like I didn't know what was going on.
That and for a fic with a week introductory chapter it's much smarter then I ever expected it to be.
And I'm only up to chapter 9!
Mister/missus author and editor/s, continue down the path you're headed, and greatness will surely await your swift arrival.
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As a unicorn I agree
Thank you!
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Why are other people's interpretation of the character shaping your opinion of hers when you don't right admit it is ooc of her?
You don't think she is like that in the actual show right?
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Thank you :)
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Okay, so my reasoning here was that the Elements could hurt, not kill. And as I mentioned, the griffons has a no pain enchantment placed on them, which made them pretty much immune to the Elements. Sure, they could be knocked down, but they'll just get back up. According to the show, when the Mane Six faces off to the Changelings, they just punch or buck 'em in the face, Twilight is pretty much the only one using her magical power to defeat them. Add Starlight to that, they have a decent firepower yes, but problem is she won't kill, which is the only way to defeat them other than permanently crippling them or cutting off a limb(or two)
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The way I see it, alicorns aren't always princesses, princesses are crowned and given their position. "Princess" is a position to me, a position of authority that Twilight lost after being banished. She's still "Princess Twilight" to her friends and family, but in the law she isn't, which is what Twilight is think of at the moment.
FUDGESTICKLES! I ran outta chapters. You certainly are setting up quite the universe here so have a like and follow.
The one thing that really catch my attention is Blueblood
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Hm? Why is that?
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Hehe, thanks.
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Hmm...
I would still think its still quite unlikely, my head cannon was that they were ambushed.
Wait a minute...
Starlight...
She can 'freeze' (technically encase in crystal (which is worse mind you)) them, in the show the spell while never seen again after the season 5 (because it's kinda overpowered), combind with the fact the griffins have no defence against her magic (and her ridiculously good aim (Starlight wasn't stronger the Twilight or even her equal, she was more conservative while creative in her spell casting).
It's a necessary plot point, but it would make far more sence if only Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack where held hostage. As it would have near to no effect on the plot as a whole, all that would change would be a few words and one or two sentences.
Also, as I'm reading I'm noticing a consistent trend across most of the chapters. When a somepony says or does something out of character, they are suddenly given reasons as to why in the next chapter, or the would thing is contradicted and forgotten.
An example of this would be when Twilight said (this is important) in the earlier chapers that she had to stay in the badlands. Only for it to be forgotten and explained away immediately in the next chapter. If you're going to continue to use contradictory statements it would be better if they say something less concrete.
"I might have to stay in the badlands."
It's a clever writing technique that has the benefits of keeping the tension and surprise of the statement, while making the characters not contradict themselves.
Do you have someone outside of your editing team look over your chapters before you release them?
Even if you do, it looks as if you need someone to look over the plot points and character choices to make sure it all makes sense.
You should get one because it would allow you to focus more on the writing aspect of storytelling, improve the overall chapters you release and take off some of the pressure and stress regarding school work. Giving you more time to relax, write, study, or just mess around.
And, it would allow you release chapers faster and of higher quality, the best of both worlds.
If you want, I would be more then happy to assist. So far I'm enjoying your writing style, and I believe that with a little tweaking you could become even better then you all ready are.
Plus more crewmates never hurt anyone.
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Honestly, I'd appreciate the extra help. My only writing assistor is my editor and friend, Stinium, and I'd be glad to have more ponies on the team. Send me a dm along with a way I can contact you(preferably discord), and we can talk :3
foolish of her to even entertain the notion that a pony would willingly see the institution that granted him power in the first place dismantled
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yes: your oc
lmao sorry but it was cringe
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I don't know what you have just said to me? Explain to me specifically, so that I can understand.
The plot thickens.
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cringe
verb
\ ˈkrinj \
cringed; cringing
Definition of cringe
(Entry 1 of 2)
1
: to recoil in distaste
Americans cringed … at the use of a term now regarded as a slur
— William Safire
cringeworthy
adjective
cringe·wor·thy | \ ˈkrinj-ˌwər-t͟hē \
Definition of cringeworthy
: so embarrassing, awkward, or upsetting as to cause one to cringe
Again, I fail to see how my OC is cringe worthy.
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Agreed! I mean, I both love Lego and Bionicle.
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well you see you just went to someone elses story and talked about how your oc wouldve done all this and that, to me (and many others) this is very distasteful as youre trying to talk about yourself in someone elses story and your oc is nowhere like the type of pony in this story, your oc is 14 feet tall when normal ponies are about 4, humans are about 6. your oc also has supernatural abiliyies that are also very unrealistic in the mlp universe. your oc overall is distasteful and makes any conversation akward when you mentioned he wouldve predicted the future and told the 'sisters' and 'locate the traitors and crush them when theyre most vulnerable' which iis overall, akward, gives second hand embarrassment and may upset creators of how you come here and start talking about this kind of things when its not even your story.
please keep your ocs to yourself, maybe make a blog post but not here
i dont hate ocs but when you make them op, its kinda cringe
is that an enough explaination or do you wanna keep arguing?
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That's what you needed to tell me. But, I still don't believe that's cringe worthy but that's me, so let's agree to disagree.
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Darius is wondering why you've allowed bad fan-characterization of Celestia to shape your opinion of the character, even after acknowledging that the characterizations in question are bad and very OOC. Before anything else; however, I feel the need to ask: is it the Canon!Celestia that you have a low opinion of? You didn't make it clear if you were talking specifically of fan-interpretations or of the character herself.
So, when you say you have a low opinion of Celestia now, are you talking about Canon!Celestia? As in Celestia from the official DHX licensed Friendship is Magic material? Or are you talking about Celestia in fanfiction? As in all these bad representations of Celestia in fanfiction has led to you always dreading when Celestia appears in a fanfiction because 'who's she gonna screw over this time?'
These are of course two very different things. It just seems to me that your words have caused Darius to pre-emptively assume you mean the former.
So if the princesses are imprisoned, who is controlling the Sun and the Moon?
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You'll see, no worries.
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Oh! Thanks for explaining it clearly. Basically, it's more that I hate on how the fan-interpretation of Celestia turn her into a OOC B***** Betrayer, Tyrant, and other things that I have said earlier.
As for the Original Canon Celestia? I don't actually hate her as much as her Fan version. I just feel mixed with the Show version. Why? Well, she may be a Nice, Pacifist, and a "good" mentor figure to Twilight. But, she is not perfect. Well, no one is. But, I feel that Celestia's is a little worse.
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why is she a little worst?
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I respectfully ask everyone that is in this discussion/argument to please take it to dms, it's getting a little heated and doesn't really concern my story at this point. I don't want to delete your comments, you spent time writing them, but I do wish for you all to respect the other readers and allow them the space to comment their thoughts on the story and not see a comment section clogged up by what "cringe" means.
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No problems here, I'm finished as I got the answers I wanted.
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To clear things up, Author. I wasn't even involved in the argument with the definition of "Cringe" of all things.
P.S. I don't know what's "DMS" is? Is it private discussions? I actually rarely use them, sorry.
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It's a long story. But, one of the main problems is her track record of getting her butt kicked/losing and being imprisoned by the Main Villains or Threat in the Season or Movie. Or being on the sidelines, and barely help her Student and her Friends on the dangerous tasks and Bad Guys. She is like Princess Peach by almost being worthless, and being a Damsel in distress. And Twilight, Spike, and their friends are like Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi coming to save the day once again.
I have no issue with Princess Peach. At least she has a excuse to being captured, and her Character/Personality is made to be a Damsel in Distress. But, considering that Celestia is a Powerful Alicorn, lived for thousands of years ( Basically having experience and wisdom), and is considered a "Goddess" by the Pony Populace, and controls the Sun of all things.
You might think that she could have help or aid the Main Six more in handling Villains and Threats??!! Sadly, I ( and probably everyone else ) are disappointed on Celestia ( and also Luna, and Cadence ), on being worthless in a fight against Evil.
I do get that she isn't the Main Character or Main Heroic Team like Twilight and her Friends. But, it would be better IF she helps more often, or even win against the Villains sometimes.
What does discord mean by channel verification lvl to high