The Gift of Life

by hell00001

Chapter 12: Welcome to Everfree

The Gift of Life Chapter 12

Two weeks later…

Breathing. Heavy Breathing.

Celestia slowly opened her eyes as she could hear her sister toss and turn in her sleep next to her. Luna gave a few mumbles and a plea before she turned over in her bed and fell quiet, allowing Celestia to close her eyes and maybe go back to sleep. However, just as she could feel sleeps in embrace she heard Luna jerk upright in her bed and let out a very loud scream that pierced her ear drums. The older sister jumped out of bed as quickly as she could, running over to Luna’s bed and shaking her sister awake.

“Luna! Wake up!” Celestia shouted, feeling some relief when her sister slumped back onto the bed and looked at her sister.

“’Tia, I-I’m sorry. It was another nightmare.” Luna said, curling up in a ball and rolling onto her side facing Celestia.

Celestia climbed up onto Luna’s bed and sat next to her sister, nudging the younger’s cheek gently. During these last two weeks it seems as if the frequency of Luna’s nightmares were picking up, starting at about the same she had the vision of Everfree again. She put one wing around Luna and looked down.

“Luna, what happened in your dream?” she asked.

“I… She… The black mare, ‘Tia”

“The one that was giving you the nightmares before?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“What happened?”

“Sh-she continues to tell me things. Awful things. She still tells me that I am not liked and unwanted among the ponies and my own family. She tries to hurt me.”

“Oh, Luna. Have you told Mother or Father yet?” Celestia asked as she lowered her head and nuzzled necks with her sister.

“No, but I have told Regality. I am afraid that they might worry over me instead of worry over Equestria.”

“You silly filly, you should tell them. I’m sure that they would help you. They love you more than all of Equestria.”

“Then why haven’t you told them about your visions?”

Celestia breath caught in her mouth. She wasn’t sure if she heard her sister correctly.

“What?”

“Why have you not told Mommy and Daddy about your visions?”

“I… you… h-how did you know about them?”

“Your face when I first told you about my nightmares gave it away. Also, when we first saw those orbs I saw that you didn’t look away for a long time. I thought you must have seen something.”

Celestia sighed and laid her head down upon Luna’s bed. She might as well tell her sister.

“When I touched that orb a vision was brought to me. I was floating above Everfree on one of its busiest days of the year. Ponies were walking around the entirety of the city and noise could be heard ringing throughout the air from the marketplace. The sun was shining brightly and reflecting off of the castle, causing it to glimmer.

“Suddenly the whole sky would go dark and turn red over the lands of the Eternal Valley. I would watch as Everfree would crumble and fall to pieces, just like you had seen in your dreams. Then, the final spires of the city crumble into rubble..”

Celestia paused and looked at her sister with pangs of depressed emotions. She just couldn’t tell her sister about the black pony in her dreams. She was already visibly terrified of it in her dreams. If she knew it was in Celestia’s visions as well then she might think that it actually existed.

“…and I would see a pair of mismatched red eyes looking at me. The first time all they did was chuckle but when I had a second vision two weeks ago they told me a riddle that was supposed to be a hint for some prophesy.”

“What was the riddle?”

“’At the end of magic’s lord, there will be a clash of sword upon sword. Each strike paints the picture read, until the king and queen have nothing more to be said.’ I recite it every night before I go to sleep.”

Luna laid her head next to her sister’s and pressed her cheek up against her sister’s cheek. “’Tia, what is happening to us? Should we tell our parents?”

“I-I don’t know, Luna. Let us get back to sleep, hm?” Celestia said, giving a yawn.

“Um, ‘Tia?” Luna said as Celestia was raising herself to her hooves.

“Yes?”

“Can you… Can you sleep with me tonight?”

Celestia looked over at her bed and then back at Luna. She knew that she had a chance of becoming harmed if Luna did have another nightmare tonight, whether it just be kicking or a blast of magic. However, her sister looked genuinely afraid for her sister to leave the bed and go sleep in her own. She smiled lightly and sat back down.

“Okay, I’ll sleep with you tonight. Make some room.”

Luna moved over in the bed and curled up at the head with her head lying gently on the pillow. Celestia scooted up next to her sister and levitated her own pillow over and placed it next to Luna’s so she could rest at the head of the bed too. She closed her eyes and gave another yawn.

Just when she was about to fall asleep she felt soft feathers being pressed up against her stomach. She opened one eye and noticed that her sister had scooted from her position on the bed to cuddle up next to Celestia. She smiled a little and then pulled the covers up using her magic to cover their bodies except for their heads.

“Goodnight Luna, sleep tight.”

“Goodnight ‘Tia. Thank you.”

~~~

Celestia looked out over Everfree’s Eastern Commercial District from her balcony. It was a bright and beautiful sunny day so she could make out all of the details of the market. She could see the many ponies walking between market stalls, selling and purchasing their wares so that they could make a living in this enormous city. She could see some of the market performers singing and dancing along the edges of the market, trying to earn a few bits for themselves.

The princess gave a long winded sigh. She had longed to visit the Commercial District for a long time now. She wanted to meet the many ponies that hurried their way between the stalls to make time before work or to get home for dinner. Whether it be the shopkeepers, the customers, or the performers she didn’t care. She would be interacting with the ponies that she would have rule over in the future and it would give her a head start in understanding what it is she had to do to make them happy.

Unfortunately her parents had denied her requests to go to the market place at every turn. They repeatedly told her that the place was too dangerous for a princess as young has her, even when accompanied by some royal guards. When Celestia would ask, they simply told her that the years have grown darker and the ponies were more restless.

She huffed and blew some of her mane from her face as the wind picked up. She really wanted to go, though. Shouldn’t she be allowed to meet the people of her future nation? Shouldn’t she be able to interact and make decisions on how they should be ruled too?

Celestia took her hooves from the balcony rail and turned and looked into her and Luna’s room. Luna was quietly gazing at star charts and memorizing constellations for when she started to take her lessons on how to form and shape the night sky like their father did every night. She was a good student, Celestia noticed. She always studied hard and tried to be the best filly she could be, student, daughter, or otherwise.

She turned to look back out at the Commercial District.

“I’m going to see Everfree today whether my parents like it or not.” Celestia muttered under her breath.

She turned and marched back into her room with a stance full of determination. She trotted over to her clothes closet, earning a curious glance from Luna who looked up from her maps briefly and chewed on her pen. Celestia opened the closet and started shifting through the many dresses she had.

“Are you going somewhere, ‘Tia?” Luna asked, looking back down at her maps.

“In fact I am. I am going to the Commercial District.” Celestia replied, continuing to look through her dresses.

“You’re what?” Luna shot her head back up and stared at her sister.

“You should come with me, Luna. We deserve to get out and meet with the ponies in the market. It is us who will be ruling over them someday, right?”

“’Tia, you know both Mother and Father say that we shouldn’t go to the market unless they come along with us only. It’s dangerous there.”

“Oh, come on, Luna. Do you think the ponies are really going through such unrest right now?”

“Daddy has been very busy negotiating with Germaney lately…”

“And that is Germaney, not here. Besides, as an extra precaution I will be wearing a dress to cover up both my cutie mark and my wings. I’ll look like a regular unicorn!”

“Well, I-I don’t want to go.” Luna glanced at Celestia with a nervous look.

“Don’t you want to have some fun, Luna? We’ll see the performers in the streets, we’ll hear their music, we’ll get acquainted with a few of the shopkeepers.”

“It goes against Mother and Father’s wishes.”

“They’re being over protective.”

“Can I please not go?” Luna laid her head down between her hooves and tightly folded her wings against her sides.

Celestia sighed and brought out a dress from her closet. It was a long and yellow silk dress with some pink embroidery that was simple and perfect for a cool autumn day such as this. She held it in the air with her magic and turned to look at Luna.

“Alright Luna, you don’t have to come with me on this one. Can you do me a favor, though?”

Luna nodded her head, still holding it close to the ground.

“Can you tell no one of where I went? Tell them that I went for a walk through the cherry blossoms if they ask. I’ll be back before it gets dark.”

“Okay, ‘Tia”

Luna slowly lifted her head from between her hooves and went back to studying her maps. Celestia quickly slipped the dress on, fitting perfectly to her slender body and completely concealing her wings and cutie mark from sight. She looked back with approval and then trotted out of the door, making sure to grab a sack of bits, back to the balcony and looked down.

She gracefully hopped from the balcony and used her magic to gently allow her to land on the soft grass. She looked both ways to make sure that none of the guards were making their rounds through this part of the gardens and, upon seeing the coast was clear, she made a dash for the wall that surround the castle.

Celestia hopped up and then used her magic to levitate herself to the top of the wall. She turned and gave one last look at the castle, particularly her room, and then hopped back down on the other side of the castle walls down a rather dirty and deserted alleyway. She had now, for the first time, left the palace without a guard escort or her parents. She smiled at her success and then made her way out of the alleyway.

When she got to the exit of the alley she was met by a wall of ponies going in every direction. The street she was on looked as if it was the main avenue for ponies making their way from the Northern District of Everfree to the Commercial District. She waited for the prime opportunity to step into the crowd and, making sure not to bump into anyone, made her way into the market square. So far so good, nopony has noticed her pink hair or magenta eyes.

Celestia took this time to figure out what she was going to do first. She trotted into the center of the square and took a seat next to the large water fountain that decorated the middle. The fountain was dedicated to High General Bright and reflected him rearing up on his hind legs while he was fully garbed in his armor. Water spouted from his forehead.

In this moment Celestia became lost in all of the sounds of Everfree. She could hear the boisterous chatter among the customers as the ran from shop to shop, buying necessary supplies that they needed for the day or having idle chatter with some of their friends. She heard the music from one of the bards playing over off in a corner of the market, his beautiful music washing over all of the ponies in the market and attracting a few heads. To top it all off the sound of the falling water from the water fountain immersed her in the sound that she had been longing to hear. Celestia gave a heart-felt sigh.

“Excuse me, my fair lady. Is there a particular shop you are looking for?”

Celestia snapped out of her day dream and looked on at a rather handsome looking brown earth pony stallion. He had lighter brown eyes and a darker brown, well-kempt mane and tail as well as a few coins for his cutie mark. He continued to look at Celestia with a quizzical expression.

“Oh, um, no. Thank you, sir.” Celestia quickly managed to say, fumbling with her words as she tried to regain focus.

“Oh, well, you do appear to be lost, if I may say.”

“Sorry, it’s just that it is my first time visiting the market. I have never beheld such wonders before.”

“Ah, that would explain it. Are you new here to Everfree? I am Ledger by the way.”

“Yes, I am, in fact, new to Everfree. My name is Sunny Days.” Celestia smiled at the friendly pony and then shook the hoof that was offered to her.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Sunny Days. Hey, being that you are new in town, would you like me to give you a grand tour of the major points of the city? It would be my honor.”

“That would be wonderful, Ledger. I have never experienced the city myself. This would be a fantastic way to get to know the place.”

Celestia smiled at Ledger again and then followed up alongside him as he made his way over to the source of the music. They walked past a few stalls that were selling a variety of fruit and vegetables. Celestia noticed that one particular stand was drawing a lot of attention from the many colorful signs she had posted along the exterior of the market stall. It looked as though she were selling freshly picked mangoes.

Finally they came upon the source of the music. It was a young colt, perhaps a bit older than Celestia, playing a very finely crafted yayli tanbur. As they both walked by the colt, Ledger through him a few bits for his miraculous playing in which earned him another smile from Celestia. He gave a haughty smile back and then started to make his way away from the market towards a very large building at the end of a wide avenue.

“This here is delegation office building. Although some of the most important meetings are held in the castle such as province boundary disputes and royal hearings, here is where the majority of Equestrian politics take place. Representatives come from all over Equestria come to voice their opinions to their respective pony race leaders.”

Celestia stared up at the massive building. The way it was built would look like a square-ish U if she were to fly above the building. Windows were located all over the building and there was a beautiful, sparkling fountain in the center of the complex. Celestia had to keep herself from gawking at the building and move along with Ledger. She had seen the building almost every day but she had never been this close to it before.

They rounded a corner and took a much smaller street that ran between two rather large and decorative rows of buildings. Flags and banners draped from under the windows of each of the buildings with each one bearing different emblems and colors. Some banners were longer than others while some stood out more. Celestia stared up at each banner as the two ponies walked passed.

“This street I took you down is filled with all of the banks of Equestria. We have Bank of Equestria there, Neighs Fargo there, oh, and that over there is where I personally work. The Royal Bank of Everfree. We manage over a hundred thousand accounts from different ponies, forty thousand of them in Everfree alone.” Ledger said, stopping in front of the building that was ornately decorated with engraved vines and had a huge red banner with an emblem of three white stars on it.

“What is your job here?” Celestia asked, looking over the beautiful artwork of the building.

“I work as one of the bank councilors to help ponies sort out their bank troubles or set up a bank account. It can be quite a stressful job at times when there are a few uncooperative ponies but the pay is very good. Plus, as I am sure you guessed, I have some talent when it comes to handling money.”

Celestia nodded and gave one last look to the banks on either side of her before they both moved on and started to walk towards a bridge that connected the northern and eastern districts. She stared on at sight of the bridge, surprised by large it was compared to seeing it from the castle. As they started to approach and hear the rushing water that ran along between the northern district and the castle they were stopped by a stallion and a mare.

The stallion had a sky blue coat with a silver mane and tail. His eyes were a very soft yellow and on his flank he had a cutie mark of the sign for a bit: a capital C with a line on a horizontal axis through the middle of the letter. The mare that accompanied the stallion was tall and had a slender body similar to Celestia’s, although it wasn’t quite as attractive. She had a light grey coat with a beautiful, wavy, long black mane and tail. Her eyes were a deep blue and on her flank she had the cutie mark of two nail files.

“Hello, Ledger! How do you do this fine day? I see that you got yourself a lovely mare.” the stallion said, carefully looking Celestia over. She slightly blushed at the attention she was getting.

“Good day, Capital Bits. And you too, Amy Joviality. I am doing alright this day but unfortunately she is not my mare. This is her first time visiting Everfree and ever since I first met her in the market square I have been showing her around the Commercial District.” Ledger said in return, glancing over at Celestia.

“My, she is such a lovely mare. And so young. How old would you happen to be miss...?” Amy Joviality asked Celestia.

“Oh my name is Sunny Days. I-I am fifteen, Miss Joviality.” Celestia replied, smiling her beautiful smile at the mare.

“You are young. Shame on you, Ledger. Going after such pretty young mares like this at your age.” Amy Joviality said as she turned to look at the brown stallion.

“What can you say? I do fall for the damsels in distress.” Ledger said, giving the biggest business smile he could offer. Celestia smiled a little nervously.

“Well, we had best be going. Good day to both of you. And good luck, Ledger.” Capital Bits said, nodding at both Ledger and Celestia before smirking at Ledger with the last bit he said. Amy Joviality smiled and waved as they left and both ponies were free to continue on their tour of the city.

They crossed to the other side of the river and then Ledger took Celestia to see the many houses of the rich and famous that were scattered throughout all of the northern district of Everfree. Their first stop was one of the members of the Representative Delegates and Speaker of the Floor for the delegation office building in the Commercial District. His house was massive, raising up to be two stories tall, and had a beautifully red tiled roof at the top. His house was made out of pure white stone and there was a large, black iron gate that barred entrance to anypony looking to speak to the Speaker of the Floor after his work hours.

The next house they visited belonged to the general of the Royal Pegasus Airforce and the head of the Pegasus Senate, General Reaper. Although the house was not quite as big as the Speaker of the Floor’s house, it still stood at two stories tall and boasted a huge front lawn that was decorated with many hedge statures of ponies from all throughout Equestrian history. He had a little fountain that broke the trail from the gate to his front door in half. Celestia was a little confused as to Reaper even owning a house but perhaps he just wanted to spend his huge salary he gets.

Ledger showed Celestia many more houses that ranged from being little, one story cottages on the outskirts of the northern district to some of the massive houses that towered over the inner parts of the district. Some houses had huge gardens that sheltered a whole ecosystem of animals while others had just simple lawns with maybe a tree to add some beauty to it. After another hour of exploring the northern district they finally stopped at the last house that Ledger wanted to show Celestia.

“And here is the house of Star Swirl the Bearded himself. Impressive, if I say so myself.” Ledger said.

Before the two ponies was a massive two story house that sat on the river separating the district and the castle. The house itself looked like its own little castle with three spires rising higher than the rest of the house. Two large willow trees loomed in the front yard of the house and added a gloomy effect to the whole scene. Celestia noticed at all of the windows of Star Swirl’s house slowly changed color at random.

“Wow, this is impressive. I have never seen anything like it.” Celestia gawked.

“It’s a shame he is never home. He likes to spend the majority of his time in Fillydelphia instead of living here. It makes me wonder why he would choose to live in such a polluted environment.”

Celestia turned to look at Ledger. She knew that Star Swirl didn’t enjoy the political side of life and took pleasure in being around the ponies that gave him the most support. In Fillydelphia he was constantly hosting rallies and parties for the ponies of the city, practically giving away all of the money he was earning to donations or the less fortunate.

“Perhaps he enjoys the less political life?” she asked.

“Ah, I don’t know. Let’s move on. There is one last thing I want to show you.”

The two ponies walked to cross the bridge that led from the northern district to the southern district of Everfree. Celestia remembered that this is where many of the middle class or working class ponies in Everfree lived and also bore entrance to the main gate of the castle. Judging from the direction that they were going it looked like Ledger was going to show her the gate.

In a few minutes the two ponies looked upon the massive gate that stood before them. The gate easily stood thirty meters tall and was ornately decorated all over with various vines, trees, and of the King and Queen that the gate protected. It was made entirely out of pure white stone and took up to twenty ponies to open and close the massive gates.

Celestia had seen these gates a few times before but never had she seen them standing still. She felt tiny standing next to the massive stone structure and she folded her wings tight against her body. She was glad so far that nopony had been able to recognize her, even in the massive throngs of ponies that both she and Ledger had to walk through.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Never before in all of Equestrian history has something like this ever been built. We are staring at the greatest feat of stone art work ever created.” Ledger said.

“It really is beautiful. The engravings, the designs, the stone. It is all something you can sit and gaze at for hours.” Celestia said.

“Have I concluded our tour on a very good note?” Ledger asked, turning and throwing another one of his confident smiles at Celestia. The princess meekly smiled back and nodded her head.

“Yes, this was a fantastic conclusion. I really must be getting back to my place now, however. The sun is setting and I am feeling exhausted after an entire day of walking.”

“Where are you staying? I could walk you there and make sure you arrive safely.”

“No no, it is quite alright. I think I know where it is from here. It’s not too far. Thank you for your offer, though.”

“Well, if you insist, my lady. Pardon, but would you be willing to stop for tea sometime tomorrow afternoon? I know of a wonderful place.”

Celestia paused and looked down at her hooves. She couldn’t deny Ledger after he showed her all of Everfree. It wouldn’t be polite of her to refuse him. She was just going to have to sneak out tomorrow and meet him.

“Of course, where shall we meet?” she asked.

“It is called the Apple Honey Distillery. It is only a block away from Star Swirl’s house. You can’t miss it.”

“I will meet you there tomorrow at three o’clock. I hope you have a good day, Ledger!”

“And you as well!”

The two ponies departed and Celestia headed off in the opposite direction of Ledger, hoping that she was heading back the way she came. She continued to walk around the castle walls, following and looking for the specific alley in which she had originally came out of to explore the city. As she continued her walk she glanced up at the sky and saw that sun was getting ready to set on the horizon.

As she continued her walk along the outer walls of the castle the princess started to notice something strange. Instead of the houses improving in quality or the streets becoming cleaner they instead progressively became worse and worse as she walked. Litter started to clutter the streets and the houses started to turn into nothing more than boarded up shacks. The ponies in this part of the city looked like they were unkempt and hungry and were all giving her strange stares as she continued to walk. Celestia felt severely out of place.

As the princess continued her walk she started to get the feeling that she was being followed by somepony. When she turned around she saw that there was a gruff and grey stallion who was walking a few meters behind her, obviously keeping an eye on her movements. Celestia quickened her pace only to find that the pony behind her had quickened his as well. As she continued to move through the dirty buildings she was suddenly stopped by two ponies who blocked her path.

“Well, what do we have 'ere? Ye sure do look out o' place. Are ye lost, little filly?” one of the stallions asked. He was a tall and powerfully pegasus with a sickly green coat and a dark brown mane and tail. His eyes were also brown and his cutie mark was the picture of a hammer.

“Ya, what is such a pretty filly like you doing all the way out here?” the other stallion asked. This stallion was a smaller unicorn with a light tan coat and a dirty grey mane and tail. He also had brown eyes and on his flank was a cutie mark of a pair of scissors.

“I-I… Um, could you please…” Celestia started to say but silenced herself when the two stallions took a step forward. The last stallion, a pegasus finally caught up to the three. He joined the other two stallions and back Celestia into an alley sheltered away from the views of any onlookers who may pass by. His eyes were a deep magenta, giving accent against his grey coat. His cutie mark was that of a plank of wood.

“Could we what? Move out of your way?” the grey pegasus asked, stepping a bit closer.

“But I need to get home.” Celestia said, a little more assertively.

“Not from the way I see it.” said the tan unicorn, lighting up his horn to encompass Celestia’s horn. She tried to resist but noticed that her magic had been subdued. She squealed lightly.

“Oh, what, pretty pony can’t use her horn?” the grey pegasus teased, walking forward more with the green pegasus, backing Celestia into a corner. She had no means to escape unless she ripped her dress and tried to fly from the two pegasi.

“Please, leave me alone. What do you two want?” Celestia asked, pushing herself lower to the ground as the two pegasi were nearly upon her.

“Why, ye o' course. What else could we want?” the green pegasus said, smirking as he stood over Celestia. “Get up.”

If Celestia didn’t have a chance at getting away now then she never would. She pushed herself to her hooves and then attacked the green pegasi, tackling him and biting onto his neck. Before she could throw any more attacks at him, however, the grey pegasus had already kicked Celestia off of him. Before she could raise herself to her hooves again, the green pegasus smacked her back down with one of his powerful hooves.

“Yer lucky ye have a pretty face or I would 'ave hit ye harder.” the green pegasus spat. Celestia groaned as she looked up at both pegasi standing over her.

The grey pegasus kicked Celestia onto her back and then stood over her, laying himself down onto her body and bringing his face close to her face.

“How about we get that pretty dress off of you. It doesn’t compliment you the same way it would if you didn’t have it.” the pegasus sneered before he lifted himself back off of her and then tore the dress off of her. His eyes went wide when he saw Celestia’s wings. The princess whimpered and tucked her hooves closer to her chest.

“What the buck are we doing!? She is one o' tha princesses.” the green pegasus exclaimed. Celestia shut her eyes tight and tried to block out their voices. There was a pause and the air was still.

“I don’t care. Here’s what we’re goin’ to do. We’re goin’ to sell her to the Whinnying Filly who will then sell her onto the black market. She’ll make a fine slave for those crime lords over in Fillydelphia.” The pegasus snickered, slowly turning back to look at Celestia. “But not before we have some fun first.”

He slammed himself back down onto Celestia, knocking the breath from her lungs and forcing her eyes open. She met his dark magenta eyes and whimpered, tears flowing freely from her eyes as she felt his body roughly pressing down upon hers.

“Please, let me go. Please. Pleasepleasepleaseplease no more.” Celestia whined, closing her eyes and turning away from the stallion.

She felt his hoof come slamming down onto her face, keeping it pinned down against the gravel and stone of the alleyway. She cried out from the pain both being exerted on her cheek and on her chest, as well as the other unpleasant feeling that started to come off of the stallion.

How did this happen to her? Why was this happening to her? She never harmed these ponies. She had never wished harm upon these ponies. Yet, even though she was their princess, they wanted to have her for their own and then sell her off so that they could get some money. Was she not another pony just like them?

Suddenly she felt the pegasus on top of her violently fly from her body and smack against the alleyway wall next to her.

“Form a perimeter around the princess! Arrest these ponies! Go!” shouted a familiar and friendly voice. When Celestia opened her eyes she saw that Captain Firemane was standing over her garbed in the full armor of the Captain of the Royal Guard. His pale, white wings were fully extended and his face was contorted into that of anger and disgust.

Those expressions changed drastically, however, as he looked down at Celestia. They were immediately replaced with worry, fear, and even pity.

“Celestia! Are you alright?” Firemane asked, pulling his helmet off and letting it drop to stone floor the alleyway. Instead of responding to Firemane, however, Celestia raised herself up and hugged his leg, crying and soaking his coat with her tears.

~~~

Celestia rode on the back of Firemane when they entered the throne room of the stressed and worried parents, Sol and Galactica. She continued to cry loudly into Firemane’s mane and her wings hung limply on either side of her while both her coat and her mane were a dirty and disheveled mess. The throne room was completely empty, making it obvious that the day court had been canceled upon the knowledge of Celestia’s disappearance.

As the doors to the throne room opened, both adult alicorns turned and quickly rushed over to Firemane and the two guards that were accompanying the pair. When they arrived, their faces were filled with more anxiety than before and Galactica even seemed to lose some of the color of her mane, turning to a more dull orange and purple. Sol leaned his nose down and gently brushed it up against Celestia damp cheek.

“What happened to her? Where did you find her?” Galactica quickly asked, looking at Firemane.

“We found her in the Southern District of Everfree trapped in a small alleyway being sexually assaulted by three stallions, your majesty. It looked as there was a unicorn that had used a negation spell on Celestia’s horn while one of the pegasi had forced her down onto her back. We managed to arrive at the scene before it could progress any further but…” Firemane trailed off as he heard a few more sobs coming from Celestia. It could be seen, even through the well know stoic face of a Royal Guard, that he was almost as torn as the parents over Celestia’s ordeal.

“Have you apprehended the culprits?” the queen asked with tears flowing down her cheeks, now turning her attention to Celestia and pressing her nose on Celestia’s other damp cheek.

“Yes, we have taken all three of them into custody and they are even now being taken down to the holding cells beneath the castles. All three of the ponies are going to be tried on the grounds of assaulting and conspiring to kidnap a princess, earning them all at least twenty five years in prison. The grey pegasus will be tried for sexual assault on a princess which will earn him another twenty five years at the minimum with no bail.” Firemane said, lowering his head so both parents could comfort their daughter.

“Hey Celestia, it’s okay. You’re back in the castle. Mom and Dad are here.” King Sol said, nuzzling his nose up against Celestia’s neck in an attempt to comfort her.

Upon hearing those words from her father Celestia managed to calm down enough to return comforting gesture. She had wrapped her hooves tighter around Firemane’s neck and finally lifted her head out of his tear soaked mane. Sol grimaced upon seeing her bruised cheeks and blackening eye. Upon further inspection of her body he noticed that she had received a few more bruises to her rib cage and her right wing looked as though some of the feathers had been ripped from it.

Tears welled into his eyes but he refused to shed them to prevent Celestia from crying even further. Both he and his wife had managed to calm their daughter enough to stop shaking and sobbing so much, he wasn’t about to blow their victory there. He smiled at his daughter and kissed her on the cheek.

“Okay, let’s get you to the medical ward and take a look at you.” he said.

All three ponies left the throne room and were met by Meadow Free, Regality, and Luna just outside. Upon seeing her princess, Meadow Free’s mouth dropped and she quickly ran over to her, walking beside the queen. Regality looked cautiously down at Luna and saw that the younger filly had started walking towards her sister with tears that were forming in her eyes. She extended a wing and used it to push Luna along, trailing behind Firemane and Celestia.

“I’m sorry, ‘Tia.” was all Luna had managed to say on their way to the medical ward.

~~~

Alright, a big chapter for you guys. I have just a huge brain blast the last two days and wrote up over 5,000 words in that time. When you get one those brain blasts you just don't stop until you feel drained.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Get ready for Chapter 13: Love is in Bloom

Comments

[The Princess Rarity]

"Love Is In Bloom"? *prays for Dislestia*

[Wiggidy]

1616268 Anyone else pretend that the floor was lava, and if you touched it you'd die?

[hell00001]

1618469 Of course! Who didn't? Best game as a kid.

[Wiggidy]

1618627 Or hiding in small places in Hide 'N Seek. Or pretending that a cardboard tube was a sword/lightsaber. Or being able to fit in the bathtub enough to swing back and forth 'till you make a tidal wave. Or digging little holes in the dirt with your friends.

So much fun!

[hell00001]

1618687 We didn't just dig holes, we dug out an entire bunker. Took a few days.

[Wiggidy]

1618846 Just chillin' outside, screwing around. Doing Mad-Libs, drawing "plans" in the dirt for an assault on the neighboring kids' HQ.

[The Princess Rarity]

1616268 ..... I gotta try that.

[BBkat]

We ever gonna learn more about General Reaper? I'm very intrigued by him.

[WrathOfGod519]

This was brilliant.

[SuperSassyGassy]

Ooooh... the story is getting about 20% cooler! not that is wasn't cool before