Blaze: Part II

by Blazing_Mane01

Chapter 4.) Tyrant Celestia

"Here we are, guys. Home, sweet home... I wish..."

Rainbow Dash opened the foldable door leading into a relatively large room constructed entirely of wood logs and grass. Around the barrier of the hideout, posts of trees stuck up from the ground to form an effective wall around the settlement. There were makeshift beds on the floor, which were composed of dead grass, leaves, and dry pine needles. My facial expression turned sad as I noted how horribly these five ponies have been roughing it, compared to what they're used to.

Then again, Twilight and I were sleeping on bare rocks, with nearly no food and no clean water.

"Well, uhh," Applejack waved us in, "make yaselfs at home?"

"Sure," I say quickly, and take a seat in the middle of the 'room.'

Everypony else did the same, from where Twilight picked up. "Okay, so, did Celestia explain why she was kicking you out?"

Rainbow Dash stood up. "Yeah! She got antsy when we said we wouldn't stop looking for you two, so out the door with us!"

Applejack was next. "Once we learned y'all were missin, we were all scared for ya. We made it our top priority to find y'all, and Celestia didn't approve, for whatever reason."

I put my hoof out. "That's because Celestia is the one that threw us in there. I'm sure she wasn't about to tell you that. If you ever figured out where we were, then it would make sense Celestia would get 'antsy.'"

"But why?" Rainbow said again. "Why would Princess Celestia throw you in the Crystal Dungeon?"

"Because Twilight and I were trying to free the Elder."

Everypony drew their head back simultaneously. Ivory was next to speak. "The Elder was captured?"

"No," Twilight muttered, "we sealed him away with the Elements of Harmony."

"But Twilight!" Rarity said, "The Elder was responsible for the destruction of Ponyville Hospital, Blaze's village, and the majority of Canterlot! Why would you even consider breaking him out?"

"Because he wasn't completely guilty. The Elder was tricked into becoming an Ursa. Blaze and I figured that if he didn't have control of the Ursa form, then maybe the ability was forced upon him. Therefore, he might have knowledge regarding who was actually responsible."

Applejack spoke up. "So, y'all freed the Elder, spoke with him, and learned who was in charge of him? So to speak?"

"Yeah," I said, before Twilight could answer. "He said it was Ivory's plan from the very beginning."

Ivory's facial expression changed dramatically. "He said I'm controlling him?"

"No, he merely said you were the mastermind."

Twilight slammed her hoof down. "Luna's the one that told me of all your dubious plans! She told me what you've done to the princesses, what you've done to Blaze's father, AND what you were planning to do to Blaze!"

Ivory looked down again. "And she told you in a letter, huh?"

I observed Twilight's expression. As Ivory turned away, it went from an angry-ish one to a serious-understanding-ish one. She then also took her vision off of Ivory and nodded slowly. "Yes, Luna wrote me a letter."

Ivory laughed out loud. She even threw her head up in the air. Everypony simply stared at her in confusion, as to why the sudden outburst. Once she laughed enough, she gathered her breath, wiped her eye and said, "Wow. Didn't think she would do that."

"Wait a minute," I stuck my hoof out. "Does that mean you're admitting to all that?"

She nodded. "Yes, Blaze. Sorry, I'm guilty. You got me, Twilight."

"AHA!!" Twilight threw her hooves in the air. "You admit it! Finally!!"

Ivory sighed. "Okay, Twilight, you broke me. I'll admit it now; it's all true. I did poison the Elder. I did get Luna kicked out of the throne. I did manipulate Celestia to organize it all. I had her manipulate your memory so I could make it look like I was killed so that you would have hopes for me in your adventure."

"Whoa whoa whoa. So, if Celestia did the mind wipe, then she could've put in any fake memory she wanted."

"Oh, no. She relied on me to make those decisions. So, I decided to just clear up everything from the past, and place me in our everyday life, even though I wasn't ever there. That's how I was able to make it look like I died."

"Okay. What about when she restored my memory? Did that day at the castle actually happen? You know, when I hid on the beams in the ballroom, and I fell on you?"

She nodded."Yes, that actually happened."

I raised my eyebrow. "That must've taken a couple potions..."

"Just two; the one for the Elder, and the one for Celestia. Once Celestia got hers, everything fell in place. Celestia kicked Luna out of the Throne out of fear of losing hers, and the Elder got angry and went to search for Luna. What I didn't count on, however, was the Elder taking you along with him."

Twilight stepped in again. "I thought you'd take that for a good change of events..."

"In the beginning, I was kinda glad it happened, but I regreted it later. I could tell I was losing control of Celestia..."

Twilight gasped. "Wait! You lost it? When?"

She turned her head away and said to the floor, "Well, I completely lost her when you rescued me from Canterlot."

"Oh, no..." I think out loud. "So it's our fault, Twilight."

She turned her attention to me. "Hmm?"

"Once we took Ivory out of Canterlot, she lost control of Celestia's mind, but Celestia was still being controlled by the potion somehow. So that means, Celestia is no longer her formal self. The potion turned her into a tyrant."

Ivory leaped up. "Wow, Blaze, didn't think you could think like that."

"Umm... Thanks?"

"Yes, the potion may be controlling her, and its effects may not wear off by itself, but there is a way to restore Celestia. I made sure of it."

Twilight raised her eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what is that?"

"We need to reintroduce Luna to the Throne."

I sigh. "So, we need to find out where Celestia banished her, and bring her back to Canterlot?"

"That's it."

"Uhh... Do you have any information that may be helpful, Ivory? I mean, after all, YOU made Celestia banish her. Maybe you told her where she was bound, or you overheard it? Anything?"

"Of course. Celestia said she was going to banish her to Neightherworld."

Once she said that, everypony in the room gasped and backed off the table. Twilight nearly jumped out of her coat. Then, Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilight said in unison, "Neightherworld? But that's..."

"I know..." Ivory ducked her head in disappointment. "I never expected Celestia to be so harsh on her as to send her there."

"Excuse me," Rainbow said, "but... what's 'neightherworld?'"

Twilight shared a nervous face with Rainbow before she continued. "Rainbow Dash, the Neightherworld is an evil place in the very depths of the world. It is said to be an endless sea of curses and spirits, whom linger to reek their revenge upon Equestria."

Pinkie added, "Yeah! It's a big, scary underground cave full of monsters, souls, and other kinds of nasties!"

And then it was Rarity's turn. "Not to mention the rivers of hate, darkness, and blood. Ugh, can you imagine falling into such impurities? It's rumored to eat away at your life as soon as you touch it!"

"Oh my God," I say as I realize something.

Twilight noticed. "Yes, Blaze. Dangerous wouldn't even begin to define Neightherworld."

"You're missing the point."

"What's the point?"

I swallow. "Luna is immortal. If the evil entities in the Neightherworld seek revenge upon living souls, then Luna..."

Everypony gasped. Ivory was next to speak. "Exactly, Blaze. I wanted her out of the way, but putting Luna in Neightherworld was just too tyrannical of Celestia. Who knows what kind of pain she may be going through right now...?"