Chapter 18: Ultimatum
The Gift of Life Chapter 18
The next day...
“This meeting has been called to order to discuss the recent ramifications of the death of Star Swirl the Bearded,” Sol declared, raising his voice above the chattering of the rest of the ponies. “Please have a seat.”
All of the ponies in the room of Everfree Castle’s meeting chambers sat in their respective seats. The room grew quiet as everypony looked at Sol who sat at the head of the massive table. Light shimmered off of the polished oak table, causing some of the ponies to squint to see the king. Sol turned to one of the pegasus guards.
“Lower the curtains,” he said.
The pegasus guards started to lower the curtains enough so that light fell below the table, and Sol turned back to look at the delegation of ponies. Celestia sat to the left of Sol, while Luna sat next to Celestia. Their mother sat across from them, and had her attention turned towards Sol. Once the curtains had been lowered, the pegasus guards left the room, leaving only two unicorn guards to stand watch at the doors.
“As I am certain that all of you know,” Sol began, “Starswirl the Bearded has recently been claimed by an untimely death at the hands of a magic attack by my daughter, Princess Luna. His death was unexpected, as his original intent was to assist my daughter with sleeping problems she has developed. This meeting will be to serve as a trial, a fair trial, as is what to be done about Starswirl’s death, along with the chaos that has been caused by the riots.”
A murmur rose among the delegation, but the noise stopped when Fanatic cleared his throat.
“And who will the defendant and the prosecutor be in this trial?” he asked.
“We shall hold an election right now as to who will represent the defense and who will be the prosecution,” Sol replied. “Are there any nominees for the defense of Princess Luna and Family?”
“I nominate myself,” Orion said, raising himself from his seat.
Everypony else remained seated, their gazes locked on Orion, the only pony who stood up. Celestia bit her lip, and turned to look at her father.
“Very well,” Sol sighed, “Orion shall represent the defense of this trial. Who are the nominees for the prosecution?”
A slight whisper rose from among the delegation, and slowly everypony faced Fanatic. Fanatic had kept a stoic expression through the first election, and now he turned to meet the crowd’s gaze. He coughed, but wore a smug expression as he rose from his seat.
“It seems as if the ponies of the delegation nominate me to be the prosecutor against the Royal Family,” he said. “Very well, are all in favor?”
There were a few exclamations from the delegation, while the remainder of the ponies simply nodded their heads. Fanatic threw a smile at Sol, who merely returned it with a look of disdain. Sol stood from his seat.
“It looks as if Fanatic will be representing the prosecution,” Sol said coldly. “The judges shall be the rest of the delegation. You are to use your logic and judgement upon the defendants of this trial. Refrain from using any biased opinions. You are putting the lives of ponies in your hooves.”
Sol sat back down in his seat as Orion and Fanatic raised themselves from their seats. The two ponies walked to the foot of the table, and stopped to exchange a few words between each other. Celestia couldn’t make out what the two ponies were saying, but she saw an obvious tone of disgust on Orion’s voice.
After the two ponies broke from their conversation, Fanatic returned to his seat and Orion strode up to stand next to Sol.
“This trial shall begin with hearing the story of the defense,” he announced. “From there the prosecution shall begin with the first round of questions. Once his time is up, then it shall be me who will ask the next round of questions. Once both sides have asked two rounds of questions, the conclusion arguments shall be announced and judgement shall be made. Is this acceptable for everypony?”
The ponies of the delegation nodded their heads. Orion nodded in return and then turned to Galactica.
“I should like to hear the story from Queen Galactica’s point of view,” he said.
Orion turned and returned to his seat, allowing for Galactica to begin.
“As my husband stated before,” Galactica started, “our daughter has been suffering from terrible nightmares for a time now. We were unsure of the cause of the nightmares, so we took her before the High Unicorn Council with hopes that perhaps they would be able to help us. We knew about the latest interrogation technique that Starswirl had invented, and hoped that perhaps he would be willing to use a less intensive version on our daughter.”
Galactica turned to look at Luna with sad eyes. “We called the council before us, and Starswirl readily volunteered to be the one to dive into our daughter’s mind. He understood the risks he was taking.”
The queen turned to look at the rest of the delegation. “To clarify what I mean by that, the mind of an alicorn is far different than that of any other pony. In our minds, there are many safeguards that are automatically put in place to guard us from becoming influenced or controlled by outside sources. The safeguards of a young alicorn are not fully set in place yet, so we figured that Starswirl would be able to enter Luna’s mind.”
There were a few whispers among the delegation, and Galactica paused to give a sigh.
“We were wrong, however,” Galactica continued, making everypony fall silent. “When Starswirl entered Luna’s mind, he came into contact with what had been giving our daughter nightmares. The...thing trapped him in Luna’s mind and then expelled his magic out of Luna’s body. The result electrocuted Starswirl and killed him.”
A dull chatter rose among the ponies. Celestia glanced at her mother, who hung her head, and then turned to see that Fanatic had risen from his seat. He strode slowly over to the four alicorns, taking the time to allow the whispers among the delegation to die down on their own.
“A touching story, I may say,” Fanatic said with a tinge of sarcasm. “Our poor, adorable princess is plagued by nightmares. She obviously does need help.”
Fanatic stopped next to Galactica, facing away from the table. Galactica glanced towards the prosecutor, eyes filled with malice.
“However, I can’t help but feel that the story is lacking,” Fanatic continued. “What are these nightmares about, exactly?”
“How is this relevant to the trial?” Orion shouted from his seat. He had risen and was now staring directly at Fanatic.
“That information is vital so we know the exact nature of Starswirl’s death,” Fanatic replied with a hint of irritation in his voice.
Orion sat back down, grumbling to himself. Fanatic turned back to look at Galactica.
“So, what are these nightmares about, Queen Galactica?” he asked.
“They... They are-” Galactica started. She stopped, however, when she noticed the look on Luna’s face.
“I-I’ll tell them, Mother,” Luna said quietly. Fanatic raised an eyebrow while Galactica simply nodded her head at Luna. “In my nightmares, there is a black alicorn mare who would appear before me. She would show me terrible scenes of the potential future, as well as try to corrupt my mind into believing that I am not loved by the citizens of Equestria.”
Luna paused, sniffling and looking down at her hooves.
“S-she is the one who had taken control of me at the time. She threw up my defenses and pushed Starswirl out of my mind. She s-said she was protecting me. She said t-that he wanted to hurt me. I didn’t want to be hurt.”
Fanatic walked around the back of Sol’s chair, and turned to face the two princesses. He stayed silent for a time, staring with malicious intent.
“So, you say that there is some entity in your mind that is corrupting your thoughts?” he finally asked.
Luna nodded her head.
“And it was this entity that ultimately killed Starswirl the Bearded?”
Luna nodded her head again.
“No further questions.” Fanatic said, walking back around the table and taking his seat.
As Fanatic passed by Orion, he recieved a sour look. Orion then lifted himself from his seat and walked over to Celestia and Luna, pausing behind them The silence of the room caused the hairs on Celestia neck to stand on end.
“Luna,” Orion started, “would you happen to know of a way to prevent the black alicorn mare from entering your dreams?”
Luna turned around to look at Orion.
“I-I sleep with my sister on most nights,” Luna said. “We don’t know why, but her presence keeps the black mare away.”
“Can you confirm this, Celestia?” Orion asked, turning his head towards Celestia.
“I can,” Celestia said, giving Orion a sideways glance.
“Sol and Galactica, how long has Luna’s condition been going on for?” Orion asked, stepping behind Sol’s chair and standing between the king and queen.
“For... Seven years,” Sol answered hesitantly.
“And why were either you of not told of Luna’s condition before the time of Starswirl’s death?”
“Because our daughters believed we were too preoccupied with running a nation to need to worry of Luna’s sleeping disorder,” Galactica answered.
“Did Luna appear normal to you two during these seven years?”
“Apart from her being exceptionally more timid than most ponies we know of her age,” Galactica replied, giving a slight smile at Orion, “we did not see anything abnormal about her behavior. In fact, she is one of the most kind and humble mares there are. It may just be her mother speaking, but ask any of the judges and I’m sure that if they have met Luna, they will agree with me.”
“Very well,” Orion said as he turned to look at the delegation. “You, would you agree with Queen Galactica that Princess Luna is an exceptionally kind and humble mare?”
The pegasus stallion who Orion pointed to stood from his seat. “I would have to agree with my Queen.”
“What about you?” Orion asked, addressing a unicorn mare.
“She really is an adorable little filly,” she said.
“And you, Ms. Cherry Blossom?” Orion asked the earth pony governor.
Cherry Blossom bit her lip, but eventually relented. “I have no comment on the matter.”
Orion smirked at who Celestia could only guess was Fanatic. Fanatic’s face contorted into a frown.
“No more questions,” Orion concluded.
Fanatic rose from his seat and focused his gaze over towards the doors that marked the entrance to the meeting room. He nodded his head slightly. Before it could be discerned who he was looking at, Fanatic broke contact and strode hastily over towards the head of the table.
“Princess Luna,” Fanatic said aggressively, “what are these visions that the black mare was showing you? What did she say?”
“I-I...” Luna stuttered, staring at Fanatic.
“Tell me!” Fanatic shouted.
“Fanatic!” Orion said, standing up quickly from his seat. “I do not see how these questions are relevant to the trial.”
“These questions are relevant enough, Orion,” Fanatic spat, briefly turning to look at Orion. “Everypony here deserves to know of what is going on inside Princess Luna’s mind. This... entity killed Starswirl the Bearded, and she could very well kill you as well if we do not get more information from her.”
Fanatic turned to look back at Luna.
“So tell me, Princess, what is it that manipulates you? Who is this black mare? What does she tell you?”
Luna whimpered as she faced the onslaught of Fanatic’s questions, and she started to retreat and hug up against Celestia. Celestia extended a wing around her sister and stared at Fanatic coldly. Fanatic stared back her with an expression that was equally as cold, and then gestured his head towards Sol.
Next thing Celestia knew, both of her parents had been trapped in the magical grip of two of the unicorn guards that had been guarding the entrance to the meeting room. There was a scream from one of the delegate members as Celestia returned her gaze to Fanatic. Fanatic had jumped up onto the table and had pulled a jagged dagger from seemingly out of nowhere. Before she had a chance to react, Fanatic had knocked Celestia to side into the chair that was directly next to her, and was standing over Luna.
“You wield a dangerous power, little princess,” Fanatic said coldly. “You are a danger to everypony around you. You threaten the very existence of Equestria.”
Fanatic twisted the dagger in his mouth so the tip was pointing directly at Luna’s throat.
“I’m going to stop you. I’m going to save Equestria. If that means that I’m going to have to lose my life for it, so be it, but I will not sit back and watch as somepony like you walks free while I have to sit behind bars the rest of my life for trying to stop Equestria’s prophesied apocalypse.”
As Fanatic was about to drive his dagger through Luna’s throat, a blast of magical energy made contact with his back left leg, and caused Fanatic to be thrown against the far wall. Celestia came running up to stand over her sister, her horn lit in a deadly yellow hue and her eyes filled with rage.
“Release my parents,” Celestia ordered at the two unicorn guards who still had Sol and Galactica trapped in their magical fields.
The guards immediately dropped their their magical fields and backed away slowly into a corner. Sol and Galactica heavily dropped to the ground, and shook their heads slightly. Once they had regained their composure, they rushed over to Celestia and Luna and quickly dropped onto their knees.
“Luna, are you okay?” Galactica asked hysterically.
Celestia backed away from standing over Luna and brought her attention to Fanatic. Fanatic was letting out screams of agony as he lay against the wall she had managed to toss him against. Celestia could see that he had a massive burn wound on his leg, although she was sure that wasn’t the full extent of his wounds.
A few more guards came rushing into the room, Firemane included, and they quickly rushed over and arrested the two unicorn guards who began to make a run for one of the windows. Firemane came trotting up to Celestia.
“What happened here?” he asked.
“Fanatic tried to assassinate Luna,” Celestia said as she gestured her head over to Fanatic. “I managed to knock him off of her in time, but the damage of the attack has already been done.”
Firemane sighed, and then whistled for a guard to come over to him.
“Take Fanatic and the two unicorns down to the dungeon,” he ordered. “Make sure you place magic dissipating rings on the two unicorns.”
“Yes sir!” the guard said.
Firemane turned back to Celestia.
“Is she alright?” he asked.
Celestia turned to look back at Luna. Luna had risen back onto her hooves and was fully embracing her mother in a hug. Celestia could not see Luna’s face, but she could see the tears that were streaming down her mother’s face.
“I don’t know, Firemane,” Celestia said with a sigh.
~~~
Fanatic stood before King Sol and Queen Galactica in the throne chambers. He wore a collar around his neck with a chain attached, securely held by the pegasus guard that stood next to him. His back left hoof was roughly bandaged, as well as his front right hoof bound up in a sling from being broken when he impacted the wall. Celestia watched on as her father slowly rose from his chair and walked down to the foot of the steps.
“What were you hoping to accomplish with your attack, Fanatic?” Sol asked coldly.
Fanatic spat between Sol’s hooves and stared directly into his eyes.
“Princess Luna is a threat to the world, Sol,” Fanatic stated. “The visions that are in her mind are true, you know it be. These are not some little filly’s nightmares like you are trying to play it to be.”
“Silence. We have been trying to help our daughter the best we can. Do you think we haven’t? Why do you think we brought the best unicorns of our time before us, if not only to help our daughter be rid of the magic that corrupts her mind?”
“This isn’t something that can be diminished or helped! This is not any regular unicorn magic that is festering within her mind. The more you poke and prod at it, the worse it becomes.”
Sol huffed and turned away to look out across Everfree. The sun was setting in the distance, intensifying the red roofs of the buildings.
“You do not know of what you speak,” Sol said. “The power you think you know so well is so far from your grasp. How could you, an earth pony of all ponies, believe to think you understand of powers that not even I, or your Queen, understand?”
“I do not claim to know,” Fanatic said quietly, “but my master does. He knows of the fate that your daughter will bring upon Equestria.”
“Who is your master?” Galactica asked, eying Fanatic curiously.
Fanatic merely stared at Galactica, his eyes scrunched. Sol turned around and walked back up to Fanatic.
“Galactica asked you a question,” he said. “I suggest you answer it.”
“My master does not have a name, Galactica,” Fanatic answered, “nor do I know of what he looks like. He has only visited me during my dreams, and has done so many times.”
Celestia noticeably flinched.
“And you say he is the one who ordered for my daughter’s death?” Sol asked.
Fanatic didn’t respond, and stared at Sol angrily. Sol gestured his head towards the throne room doors, allowing for the pegasus guard to turn and pull Fanatic along with him back to the dungeons. When the two massive doors closed behind them, Sol returned to his seat and sighed.
“What has this nation come to, Galactica?” Sol asked.
“I don’t know, Sol,” Galactica replied. “It seems as if Equestria has practically collapsed within a matter of years.”
“It does,” Sol raised himself from his chair, quickly followed by Galactica, and they both descended the stairs. “Celestia, Luna, could you two come here please?”
Celestia and Luna raised themselves from their chairs. Celestia felt Luna rub her body against her own, and she gently placed a wing around Luna’s body. They stood before their parents.
“How are you two feeling?” Galactica asked.
“I think we are both a little shaken up,” Celestia answered, looking down at Luna.
Galactica frowned and lowered her head to match the height of Celestia’s. “I know. Today has been a rough day for both of you.”
“What happened to the rest of the delegation?” Celestia asked.
“They were all escorted out of the castle safely,” Sol replied. “Many of them seemed shaken up by Fanatic’s attack.”
The doors to the throne room opened, allowing for Queen Chrysalis to enter. She was followed closely by both Meadow Free and Regality, and upon seeing Celestia and Luna, both maids broke into a gallop.
“Luna!” Regality shouted as she embraced the younger princess in a hug. Luna hugged tightly back, and together they shed tears of happiness.
Meadow Free was soon hugging Celestia as well, and then they both looked at Regality and Luna.
“I heard about how you saved your sister from that deranged stallion,” Meadow Free said, leaning her head up against Celestia’s.
“I’m sure my sister would have done the same for me,” Celestia replied, slightly smiling and extending a wing around Meadow Free.
Chrysalis took a moment to behold the sight of the reunion, and then turned to look at Sol and Galactica.
“Good evening,” she greeted.
“Hello, Chrysalis,” Galactica said.
“How are you two doing?”
“Well, I guess you could say we are both a little disturbed by today’s events,” Galactica said as she looked at her husband, “but we are alright.”
Sol continued to watch Celestia and Luna talk with their maids.
“You look more than just a little disturbed,” Chrysalis stated, raising an eyebrow. “You two look visibly shaken. Are you sure you are alright?”
Galactica sighed. “We do not have the time to relax at the moment. Right now our nation needs us to pick up the pieces from the riots, and put in place a secure government for a time. I think, even if the riots are now over and Fanatic in custody, we need to impose martial law on the citizens.”
“You know as well as I do that I would hate to see Equestria befall such a political system, even if temporary,” Chrysalis said sympathetically, “but it is necessary to repair the social structure that had collapsed.”
“I know,” Galactica said quietly, turning to look and see that Regality had tackled Luna and was trying to tickle her stomach. Her lips started to form into a smile.
“What is to become of Fanatic?” Chrysalis asked.
“He is to be executed for treason and attempting to murder a princess tomorrow morning,” Sol replied.
The doors to the throne room opened once again, and everypony within the room turned to see that one of the pegasus messengers had entered the room. He was carrying an envelope in his mouth. He stopped in front of Sol and gave a salute, and then gave Sol the letter. Soll nodded at the pegasus, dismissing him, and then opened the letter. The longer he spent reading the contents of the paper, the more his face started to contort with worry, and even fear.
“W-what does it say, Sol?” Galactica asked.
“Germaney has declared that they will take hostile action against Equestria if Fanatic is executed,” Sol replied.
Celestia’s jaw dropped slightly, and she looked over at Luna. Luna’s ears were folded back and she had bitten her lip, and Celestia turned back towards her parents.
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“We can only hope that they are bluffing once again,” Sol remarked. “I cannot begin to believe that they have the necessary resources to take hostile action against us. Fanatic must be brought to justice, even if that means that means we will lose what little popularity with Germaney we have left.”
~~~
Celestia watched as the sun rose over the horizon in the east. The trees were all painted pink, while the rooftops of Everfree turned to a deeper shade of red. She could hear the first sounds of the early morning echoing off of the walls of the buildings. Merchants were shouting, listing out their wares to ponies who were passing by to their early jobs. Carts were rolling through the streets on their way to deliver merchandise in and out of the city. It seemed like a normal day.
The door to her room slid open behind her.
“A red sun,” Luna observed as she sat down next to Celestia.
“Luna, I’m afraid for today,” Celestia said, staying her gaze on the red rooftops. “This last week has been terrifying. The social structure of Everfree has completely collapsed. Although the riots have ended, I know there is still discontent being sown among the ponies of Equestria.”
Luna laid her head against Celestia’s neck. “Fanatic isn’t the only one who is corrupting everypony, is he, ‘Tia?”
“No, he couldn’t be. There are of course those who support Fanatic, and reiterate his words as criers, but after today their words would mean nothing. There is something else.”
“Do you think that it might be the two eyes you saw in your second vision?”
Celestia shifted a little. “It may be,” she said. “Fanatic said that his master visited him in dreams, but he never was able to see what he looked like. I can’t help that his master is the same being that was in my vision.”
A bell started to ring, marking the turn of the hour. Its low vibration brought an eerie silence to the city. Celestia hairs stood on end as she heard the next gong of the bell.
“‘Tia?” Luna asked.
“Yes, Luna?”
“Do you remember the riddle?”
Celestia looked at Luna quizzically.
“At the end of magic’s lord, will there be a clash of sword upon sword. Each strike paints the picture red, until the king and queen have nothing more to be said,” she said.
Luna raised herself to her hooves and looked towards the market square. Celestia followed her gaze until she saw the execution square. She could see Fanatic was standing with a noose around his neck. Her mother and father were standing on either side of the platform, and there was a hooded pony with his hooves held firmly on the lever that will drop the door underneath of Fanatic.
“What if Fanatic is ‘will there be a clash of sword upon sword’?” Luna asked.
“What do you mean?” Celestia asked, snapping her head to Luna.
“Germaney has practically threatened Equestria with open war if Fanatic dies,” Luna stated, turning to look at Celestia. “The second part of the riddle is supposed to follow quickly after the first, and if Starswirl dying was the first part of the riddle, that means that Fanatic could be the beginning of the second!”
Celestia’s jaw dropped, and she turned to look back at the execution square.
“We need to get to the execution square now,” she said.
The two princesses turned quickly and ran out of their room. They spread their wings together, and Celestia took off first to soar above the halls. Luna quickly followed her, and together they both flew all the way to the entrance to the castle keep. They both landed gracefully in front of guard who watched over the entrance.
The guard allowed them to pass through the smaller door that had been cut out of the massive castle doors. Once they had passed to outside of the castle, Celestia and Luna broke into a gallop towards the massive castle gates.
“Open the gates!” Celestia shouted to one of the guards who kept watch.
The guard quickly started shouting orders to the other guards who managed the gate, and together they opened the gate wide enough for both princesses to squeeze through. Two of the guards followed the princesses through, providing them escort towards their destination.
“Tia, how much longer do we have?” Luna called to her sister.
Celestia used a spell to enhance her hearing, and focused it upon the execution square.
“...pony has been charged with treason, and attempted murder of a princess, and is to be sentenced to death. He...”
“Our father is almost finished with the formalities!” Celestia shouted back at her sister.
Celestia, Luna, and the guards all picked up their pace as they were entering the Northern District of Everfree. Ponies were hastily moving out of their way as the princesses continued to barrel through, and whatever pony that didn’t move out of the way in time found themselves being vaulted over by four different ponies. There were curses of disapproval being thrown at them, but the troop pressed on.
The princesses and the guards were soon converging on the execution square located in the Eastern District of Everfree. The sound of Sol’s voice could be heard over the clop of their hoofsteps.
“If there are no final words, you are hereby sentenced to death.”
Celestia heard the sound of a lever being pulled, and as she rounded the last corner to the execution square, she saw Fanatic’s whole body pull the noose taught.
Without giving a moment’s hesitation, Celestia shot a blast of energy at the rope. The rope was cut and Fanatic’s body tumbled to the ground beneath the platform.
“Celestia! What is the meaning of...” Sol started to say. He was completely ignored, however, as Celestia dove under the platform. She slowly dragged Fanatic’s body out from underneath the platform, and then started to check if there was any sign that he was still alive. There was a crowd of ponies looking on at the scene before them.
After Celestia had checked for a pulse, her heart sank, and she slowly stood up.
“He’s... He’s dead,” Celestia confirmed.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
656 users online
752,693 hits today, 2,591,549 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I know... poor Connecticut people. (What happened in China? Don't believe I heard that one.)
Anywho, fab chapter like always, though I can admit, a little tear got in my eye once Fanatic was announced dead.
1800887 Thank you. And 22 primary school children, as well as an adult, were all assaulted by a man with a knife. There were no fatalities as far as I know. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2012/12/2012121481220620325.html
what is going to happen to Chrysalis? I want to know dammit
1809187 Not too much longer now. Tension's building, and remember to keep the four part riddle in the back of your mind while reading.
I take my earlier comment back...