After fifty long years imprisoned for her heinous crimes Rarity faces the final phase of her sentencing. Regardless of what fate the royal pony sisters hand down to her; death, exile or otherwise; she will have to answer the question: is there really any difference when everything you are and everything you were has been ripped from you?

Fan-sequel to Broken Hearts and Diamonds by TheCamel if the story had ended at the "Punishment" Chapter

The Kingdom of Equestria, United by Princess Celestia,
During the long years of her reign she was able to defeat all foes of her realm.

All except one....

The war against the Horde took its toll,
And the prisoners of the kingdom were to pay the price,
The Princess needed magical gems for her army,
And every pony guilty of a crime,
No matter how insignificant,
Was forced to work the gem mines on the captured Zebra Island of Korinis.

To make it impossible for them to escape,
The Princess sent out the best unicorns in the kingdom,
To make a magical barrier around the entire valley.

I was one of them....

Ah, but something disturbed the delicate structure of magic...

We were trapped inside our own barrier...

One second of negligence was enough for the prisoners,
Korinis was now under the control of the convicts...

The Princess had no choice,
She had to negotiate,
She needed the gems.

Month after month,
The Princess supplied everything the prisoners needed,
Month after month,
They brought the gems to the edge of the barrier in exchange...

Until the present day...

Another convict was brought to the edge of the cliff,
She did not know it, but she would change everything....

((Main characters will be updated along with chapters.))
[I ask that if you down-vote, please let me know why so I can improve.]

According to Lauren Faust, Luna wasn't evil in the first place as she became Nightmare Moon due to being possessed by some outside force which made her change. This force was torn from the princess and has not been seen in over a year until the most unlikely pony happens across it and discovers that history is not always as it is told, and as her world crumbles around her she is faced with a choice no filly should have to make.