{"sf1_id":791814,"sf2_id":null,"title":"To Boldly Hoof It Ch 12. The Truth","author":"BluebloodFan91","words":6393,"posted_at":"2014-12-04T19:22:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Blueblood","Celestia","Character Development","Clean","Doctor Whooves","Equine","Fantasy","Flam","Flim","Friendship is magic","Griffin","Gryphon","Hoops","Horse","Humor","Iron Will","Jet Set","Lightning Dust","MLP","Mare","Minotaur","My Little Pony","Pegasus","Pinkie Pie","Plot Development","Pony","Prince Blueblood","Princess Celestia","Princess Luna","Sci-Fi","Stallion","Starswirl","Starswirl the Bearded","Story Progression","Story Series","Sunset shimmer","To Boldly Flee","Trixie","Twilight Sparkle","Unicorn","Upper Crust","alicorn","changeling","dumbbell","gilda","luna","parody","score","space","surprise"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791814-to-boldly-hoof-it-ch-12-the-truth","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/791814","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=791814\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Ch 12. The Truth\n\n\nLightning Dust and Princess Celestia stared at the\nsudden appearance of Doctor Whooves in the room. He was wearing a pair\nof tan saddlebags over his back.\"Doctor Whooves?\" said Celestia, sounding quite surprised. \"What a pleasant surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?\"\"Oh,\nI'm here because of your little project you got going on here,\nCelestia,\" he gestured around him with his hoof, referring to the space\nstation they were on. \"You've been keeping secrets, your highness. Up\ntill now, I had no idea you were keeping this level of technology at\nyour disposal. Magitech, am I correct? The combination of magic and\ntechnology?\" He let out a long whistle. \"Dangerous mix if your not\ncareful.\"\"Every precaution, is being taken, Doctor,\" said Celestia, watching the time pony with careful eyes.\"Right,\"\nsaid the Doctor as he began casually walking around the room, looking\nat different items while he kept talking. \"However, I've become aware of\nwhat you're really doing here, Celestia. And I'm afraid I'm gonna have\nto put a stop to you.\"\"Doctor, what are you talking about?\" said Celestia, a look of confusion on her face.\"You\nmean she's NOT trying to make the world a paradise?\" asked Lightning\nDust as she leaped into the air and flapped her wings to hover in place.\"Oh,\nshe's trying to make the world a paradise, alright,\" said the Doctor,\nturning to face Lightning Dust. \"Did she mention exactly how she was planning to make the world a paradise?\"\"With a spell!\" Lightning Dust replied.\"And did she say what that spell would do to the world that would make it a paradise?\"Lightning\nDust put her hoof to her chin in thought. That question hadn't occurred\nto her. She looked back up at the Doctor. \"...Make cotton candy grow on\ntrees?\" she guessed with a shrug.The Doctor and Celestia both stared at her with wide eyes.Then\nthey all felt their hearts leap out of their chests in shock when\nsuddenly Pinkie Pie's head popped up out of a vase that was setting on\ntop of the fireplace mantle.\"HEY! THAT'S WHAT I SAID!\" the pink pony shouted, and then her head disappeared back down into the vase just as quickly as she had appeared.Lightning,\nCelestia, and the Doctor were all silent for a few moments as the shock\nof the sudden appearance of the pink party pony wore off them. Then the\nDoctor spoke.\"No,\" he said in response\nto Lightning Dust's guess from before. \"She intends to use a spell that\nwill alter the minds of every living creature on Earth! She's planning\nto brainwash the entire world into thinking only how she WANTS them to\nthink. That's how she's planning to create a perfect world!\"Lightning Dust gaped at Celestia in shock. \"Is that true?\"Celestia, remaining calm, gently held up her hoof to silence them both. \"It's not exactly like that, Doctor. My spell will not force\neveryone to like each other. It will simply bring out the inner\ngoodness and better nature and friendliness that is already inside all\nliving creatures.\"The Doctor shook his\nhead. \"It doesn't matter. Your still manipulating others minds against\ntheir will. You're denying them the freedom of choice! You have no\nright! No one should have that kind of power over another sentient\nbeing!\"\"That's not true!\" Celestia argued\nback. \"They will still be able to choose for themselves! My spell will\nonly help them to make the right choices. Its no different than\nmy niece, Princess Cadence's, love spell, that she uses on ponies who\nshe sees need help with love.\"\"Which is\nsomething I've never approved of either,\" said the Doctor, \"but up till\nnow I've stayed out of it because, so far, I haven't seen anypony object\nto it, and she only uses it in your kingdom. But you've gone too far,\nCelestia! Also, I've found out about that plot hole out there,\nthat's going to destroy the universe, that your student, Twilight\nSparkle, or former student, or whatever she is now, accidentally created\nbecause she decided to mess around with time travel irresponsibly! You\nknow, that mare, for somepony who is supposed to be so smart, she can be\nincredibly thick at times! And now you're using that swirling monstrosity out there to power this monstrosity!\" He once again gestured with his hooves at the space station they were in. \"Well I'm putting a stop to this!\"\"Doctor, please!\"\nsaid Celestia. \"Can't we talk about this like civilized ponies?\"\nLightning Dust noticed that Celestia suddenly looked nervous, and she\nwas scrunching her face a little, like she was trying to concentrate on\nsomething.The Doctor had apparently\nnoticed this too. \"What's wrong, Celestia?\" he asked with a smirk.\n\"Wondering why your magic suddenly isn't working?\"Lightning Dust and Celestia both stared at the doctor in surprise.\"What have you done?\" demanded Celestia, her tone suddenly becoming harsh.The\nDoctor continued to smirk. \"That warm, fuzzy feeling you're probably\nexperiencing right now is the effect of a device that is inhibiting your\nability to concentrate and focus your magical powers. To put it\nplainly, all unicorns, and alicorns as well, need to use a certain part\nof their brains to use their magic, and this device is keeping you from\nusing that part of your brain.\" The Doctor twisted his head around to\nreach into a pocket in his saddlebags with his mouth, and pulled out a\nsmall, metallic, cylindrical device between his teeth. His sonic\nscrewdriver.He put the sonic screwdriver\nin his hoof and spoke again. \"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go\nshut down this space station.\" He put the screwdriver back in his mouth\nand made a move towards the door.\"STOP!\" Celestia cried and flapped her great wings and launched herself out of her seat at the doctor.The\nDoctor gaped at the big alicorn flying at him and quickly leaped out of\nthe way. Celestia sailed past him, and then a split second later, there\nwas the sound of a loud THUMP, and Celestia suddenly came to a stop in\nmid air, like she had crashed into something invisible. The Princess let\nout a grunt of pain and then collapsed backwards onto the floor.Lightning Dust watched the whole thing in confusion, not sure what the heck had just happened.\"You've\nbeen relying on your magic for far too long, Celestia,\" said the Doctor\nwhile Celestia was holding her nose with her hooves. \"You're nothing\nwithout it!\" The doctor turned and started heading towards the door\nagain.Celestia turned to look at\nLightning Dust, who noticed a trickle of blood coming from the\nprincess's nose. \"Lightning Dust! Stop him! PLEASE!\"Lightning Dust's mind reeled as she quickly tried to make a decision while the Doctor walked over to the door of the room. She also\nkind of disagreed with what Celestia was doing, but this might be her\nbest, if not only, chance to become a Wonderbolt. And she knew she\nwanted that more than anything!With a\ndetermined growl, she flared her wings, and flew down at the Doctor at\nher top speed, just as he was about to reach the door and turn the\nhandle. Before the Doctor could react to her sudden attack, she slammed\ninto him, sending them both tumbling to the floor.As\nthey hit the floor, the Doctor's saddlebags opened up, and a small,\ndisk shaped device tumbled out of them onto the floor. It was blinking\nwith a few flashing lights. Lightning Dust realized it must be what was\nkeeping Celestia from using her magic. She quickly leaped over to the\ndevice, reared up on her hind legs, and then smashed the device beneath\nher front hooves.A split second later, Celestia's horn lit up with yellow light.\"NO!\"\nthe Doctor shouted while getting up off of the floor, but before he\ncould do anything else, a blast of magic shot out of Celestia's horn and\nstruck the Doctor, who instantly collapsed unconscious.Lightning\nDust looked over at Celestia, whose horn was still glowing as she\nhealed her bloody nose with magic, the trickle of blood disappearing\ninstantly.\"Thank you, Lightning Dust,\"\nthe Princess said with a warm smile, walking over to where the Pegasus\nwas standing. \"If he had gotten away, everything I've been working on\nwould have been ruined!\"Lightning Dust\nhad mixed feelings as she looked back down at the Doctor's unconscious\nbody. She knew she was securing her future as a Wonderbolt by helping\nthe Princess. She should be happy and excited. So why did part of her\nfeel uneasy?Suddenly the door burst open,\nand two Pegasus guards came rushing into the room. They took a quick\nglance around the room, seeing the unconscious body of the doctor,\nbefore speaking.\"We heard shouting! What happened?\"Celestia,\nsmiled at them. \"Everything is fine now. This intruder tried to\nsabotage the Heart Star,\" she gestured to the unconscious Doctor, \"but\nthankfully, this brave pony was here to stop him.\" She gestured over at\nLightning Dust.The guards looked surprised by this, but said nothing.\"Guards, please lock this intruder in a holding cell,\" Celestia ordered.The guards nodded and picked up the unconscious time pony and carried him out of the room on one of their backs.Celestia\nlevitated the Doctor's sonic screwdriver up off the floor where he had\ndropped it, and set it down over on her desk. Then she walked over to\nthe spot where she had crashed in mid air. She leaned her head forward\nuntil it sounded like her horn tapped against something wooden.Celestia\nsmiled. \"The Doctor's TARDIS,\" she said. \"So that's how he got in here.\nHe must have materialized silently and used the cloaking device to\nconceal it. Its a shame only he can open the door. I would have liked to\nhave seen inside it.\" She turned her attention back to Lightning Dust.\n\"So, Lightning Dust, as I was saying before, will you help me?\"Lightning Dust hung her head, and then nodded. \"Yes, Princess.\"Celestia smiled. \"Thank you, Lightning Dust. I'm happy to have you.\"........................\"Hey, this place looks a lot like the pharaoh's soul room from Yugioh,\" said Score.\"Or the labyrinth from that one David Pony movie,\" said Hoops. \"What was it called? I forget.\"Blueblood,\nTrixie, Gilda, Hoops, Dumbbell, Score, Flim, Flam, Jet Set, Iron Will,\nand Sunset wandered through the corridors of Princess Luna's mind for a\nwhile, looking at the names written on the doors, trying to find\nanything that looked like it might hold what they were looking for. The\nfirst few doors they came across they knew they could rule out because\nthey were things like 'Knowledge of Math', 'Knowledge of Science',\n'Knowledge of Vocabulary', and 'Knowledge of Magic'. They knew what they\nwere looking for probably wouldn't be behind those doors.They\nmade sure to stay together so they wouldn't get lost. Trixie was the\nonly one who could cast the spell to get them out of Luna's mind.They soon came across a door with the word 'Perception' written on it in big bold letters.\"Perception?\" asked Jet Set. \"What do you suppose that means?\"\"This must be how Luna views others,\" said Trixie knowingly.\"Okay. Lets check it out,\" said Flam.They\nopened up the door and peered inside. They were surprised to see what\nappeared to be a stand up stage out of a nightclub inside the door.\"What the heck?\" said Gilda.Suddenly,\nthey were all startled when Princess Celestia appeared on the stage in\nthe spotlight. \"Hello!\" she said in a comedic tone. \"I'm a completely\nincompetent idiot who can't do anything right! But because I just happen to be the first born, I'm mom and dad's favorite foal, and I get to be the TRUE ruler of an entire magical kingdom. And everypony loves me! It never ends for me! Its all about ME!\"\"So this is how Luna views her sister?\" asked Score.\"Wow! Who knew Princess Luna resented her sister so much?\" said Hoops.They all stared at him.\"What?\" he asked with a shrug.Celestia\nthen disappeared, and a split second later Pinkie Pie appeared on the\nstage. \"Hi! I'm a hyperactive nut job who does nothing but party, pull\npranks, and eat sweets all day, and yet somehow I'm still in great\nphysical shape!\"They all laughed.\"About time somepony acknowledged that!\" chuckled Gilda, glad to see the pony she disliked the most being made fun of.Then Twilight Sparkle appeared on the stage, levitating several open books around her with her magic. \"Nyeh! Nyeh! Don't take me outside, or else I might sparkle!\" the purple mare cried out in an over the top, nasally, nerdy voice.They all laughed again, harder this time.\"Oh, I could just stay here and watch these all day!\" said Blueblood, holding his sides in laughter.Then Blueblood stopped laughing when he saw the next pony to appear on the stage was none other than himself.\"Hello!\"\nsaid the Blueblood on the stage. \"I'm a spoiled brat who only thinks of\nhimself and absolutely HATES getting a little dirty,\" the Prince\nBlueblood on the stage said in an over the top obnoxious voice. \"OW! I\nTHINK I HAVE A SPLINTER! MOMMY, KISS IT!\"The\nothers were all rolling on the floor with laughter now, pointing up at\nthe real Prince Blueblood. Blueblood became angry and slammed the door\nto that room shut with his hoof before they could hear anymore. \"Well,\nthis isn't what we're looking for! Next!\" he shouted angrily.They continued walking through the labyrinth, looking for possible rooms to look inside.They soon came across another door that had 'Super Ego' written on it.\"This must be how Princess Luna views herself,\" said Blueblood. He opened the door for them to see what was inside it.Inside,\nthey saw quite the sight! Princess Luna was standing on top of a city\nskyscraper building at night, the full moon illuminating her behind her.\nShe was wearing a pitch black hooded cloak, which was waving in the\nwind. She began speaking in an ominous tone.\"I\nam the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that\ncry out for freedom. I am protector of the innocent. I am the Alpha and\nthe Omega. I am the light in the darkness. I am the darkness in the\nlight. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to evil! I am vengeance! I am\nthe night! I am...\"Blueblood closed the\ndoor. \"She could go on like that for a while,\" he said. \"Besides, that's\nnot what we're looking for either.\"They\nleft that door and kept walking through the labyrinth. Blueblood was\nrapidly loosing hope that they would ever find what they were looking\nfor in this place. They didn't even know exactly what they were looking for.They found a door with the words 'Hall of Memories' written on it.\"Maybe what we're looking for is in here!\" said Dumbbell.They opened the door, and their mouths dropped at what they saw. It was yet another\nlabyrinth, full of doors marked with Princess Luna's various memories.\nThe various stares and passageways looked like they went on forever.\nSince Princess Luna was over a thousand years old, obviously there were a\nlot of memories.\"Oh, great! This is gonna take forever!\" said Flim.They\nall let out a loud groan of despair as they stood in the doorway to\nthis new labyrinth, hesitant to proceed forward. As if things weren't\nbad enough, now there were labyrinths within labyrinths! And they didn't\neven know for certain that what they were looking for was even in Luna's memories. They all felt like just giving up at that point.Suddenly,\nBlueblood noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He glanced\nupward and saw the shadowy figure of a pony up above them at the top of a\nstaircase. Blueblood wasn't sure, but from the beard, the pointy hat,\nand the robe, it looked kind of like Starswirl the Bearded. A split\nsecond later, the figure rounded a corner into a tunnel and disappeared\nfrom sight.\"Up there!\" Blueblood shouted, pointing a hoof up at where he had seen the mysterious pony.\"What?\" inquired Trixie.\"I\nthink I just saw Starswirl the Bearded! Follow me!\" Blueblood took off\ninto the labyrinth of Luna's memories and galloped up the staircase he\nhad seen the unknown pony on. Everyone else hurried after him, Gilda and\nthe three Pegasus jocks flapping their wings and taking flight to keep\nup.Blueblood ran into the tunnel at the\ntop of the stairs and saw the shadowy figure ahead of him at the other\nend of the tunnel, turning a corner. Blueblood and the others continued\nafter him the way he had gone.\"HEY, YOU,\nAHEAD OF US! WAIT! WHO ARE YOU? CAN YOU HELP US?\" Blueblood shouted as\nthey continued to chaise after the mysterious pony. They got no reply\nfrom the pony, who kept galloping away from them every time they caught\nsight of him. Every time they rounded a corner, they saw the mysterious\nfigure ahead of them disappearing around another corner.Why does he keep running away from us? Blueblood thought to himself.After\nseveral minutes of chasing him, after they rounded yet another corner,\nthey saw the mysterious figure up ahead of them actually walk through\none of the doors, like he was ghost! They ran up to the door the pony\nhad walked through and looked at it. The door was very rusty, and it had\nlots of locks and chains on it. Printed on the door was no name, but\nrather the image of a question mark. Blueblood remembered seeing other\ndoors similar to this while they had been running through the\npassageways.\"He went through this door!\" said Hoops as he, Dumbbell, Score, and Gilda touched down to the floor.\"Why does this door have a question mark on it?\" asked Jet Set.Trixie tried to open the door with her magic, but it wouldn't budge.\"It's locked,\" she said.\"Why was he running away from us?\" asked Blueblood. \"You'd think Starswirl would have wanted to talk to us!\"\"Maybe...\" Score muttered, scratching his chin with his hoof. \"...Maybe Starswirl was trying to lead us to this door! Maybe what we're looking for is behind it!\"They\nall looked at each other hopefully at that thought. It made sense, and\nif what they were looking for was behind this door, then all they needed\nto do was get inside it.\"This door certainly looks important,\" said Dumbbell, looking at all the locks and chains over the door.\"We passed a lot of other doors that looked just like this one,\" stated Flam.\"But this is the one we were lead to!\" said Trixie.Blueblood tried to open the door with his magic, but just like Trixie, he couldn't budge it.\"Out'a\nmy way!\" said Iron Will as backed up against the opposite wall and\npointed his thick minotaur horns at the door. \"NEVER SEND A PONY TO DO A\nMINOTAURS JOB!\" he yelled.Everyone else\nquickly moved out of his way, and he let out a yell and ran at the door.\nHe slammed horns first against the door, but much to their dismay, the\ndoor still didn't budge.\"I don't get it,\"\nsaid Dumbbell as Iron Will shook his head and stepped back away from\nthe door. \"If Princess Luna or Starswirl want us to know what's behind\nthis door, then why are they keeping us out?\"\"Maybe they aren't,\" said Trixie thoughtfully. \"Maybe this door is locked to Princess Luna also.\"\"But she came to Blueblood in the middle of the night to tell him about it!\" said Dumbbell, pointing his hoof at Blueblood.\"Yes,\nbut she wasn't herself!\" stated Blueblood, remembering how his aunt\nLuna had been acting that night. \"She was sleep walking, or in a trance,\nor something.\"\"He's right!\" said Gilda.\n\"Remember, when me and Lightning Dust were with her when she was being\nexamined by the doctors, she didn't remember being in Blueblood's house\nat all, or anything about all this!\"\"So\nthis could be like a repressed memory!\" said Trixie. \"Something Princess\nLuna forgot a long time ago, and now she can't remember it.\"\"What about all those other locked doors we saw?\" asked Jet Set.\"Trixie supposes they are also repressed memories! After all, Princess Luna WAS Nightmare Moon for a thousand years, AND was trapped on the moon during those thousand years. That could give anypony some repressed memories.\"\"So what we need to know is something she can't remember,\" said Blueblood.\"THEN LETS BUST THIS SUCKER DOWN!\" said Iron Will, slamming his fist into the palm of his other hand to show his determination.They all turned back to the locked door. There had to be a way to get through that door, somehow!\"Maybe if we all work together, we'll be able to get that door open!\" said Hoops optimistically.\"Worth a try,\" said Blueblood, willing to try anything at that point.\"On the count of three, we all try to bust the door open,\" said Iron Will.They all got ready to attack the door.\"One. Two. THREE!\"They\nall attacked the door. Iron Will rammed into it with his horns again,\nwhile Gilda flew at the door and tried slamming against it with her\nshoulder. Trixie, Blueblood, Sunset, Flim, Flam, and Jet Set all tried\nusing their magic on the door at the same time, and the pegasus jocks\ntried bucking against the door with their hind legs. After a few\nexhausting minutes, they noticed the locks on the door crack, and the\ndoor screech inward a tiny bit.\"It's working!\" shouted Flim excitedly while still pumping magic on the door. \"One more good attack should do it!\"\"I'M\nON IT!\" Iron Will shouted as he ran at the door again. His horns hit\nthe rammed against the door, and the door finally broke free from all\nthe locks and swung open.Blueblood and\nthe others all smiled with joy and relief that they had finally\nsucceeded. Iron Will shook his head and then they all took a look at\nwhat was inside the door.Inside, they saw\na large and beautiful circular room. There was an oak desk, and a\nlarge, circular mattress on the floor. Around the room, against the\nwalls, there were a few cabinets and chests, and standing on a golden\nperch, currently sleeping, was Princess Celestia's pet phoenix. An\ninviting fire was flickering in a fireplace. There was a pair of glass\ndoors leading to a balcony outside, so they guessed they were inside a\ntower of some castle, and outside, they could see that it was night\ntime. And standing in the middle of the room, were Princess Celestia and\nPrincess Luna. They were talking to each other.\"We know what thou hast done, sister!\" said Luna, speaking in the old way. \"We told thou not to do it!\"\"Its unfortunate, I know,\" said Celestia solemnly.\"UNFORTUNATE!?\" exclaimed Luna. \"Don't thou realize the tragedy of what thou hast done!?\"\"The\nspell was supposed to help them!\" said Celestia. \"The flutterponies\njust would not listen to reason. I tried to get them to come join the\nrest of the ponies here in our kingdom! Together, embracing love and\nfriendship for each other! But they continued to refuse. Even my fable\nabout the Windigos did not sway them. They just had too much arrogance\nand uncaring in their hearts. But as ponies, we are all supposed to live\ntogether in harmony! A herd! They should have just embraced their\ndestiny, like a told them.\" Celestia shook her head. \"I just don't\nunderstand why they resisted me! I thought the spell I made would show\nthem the light, bring out the love and better nature in them.\"\"Thine spell did\neffect them, sister, but not in the way thou thought it would!\" Luna's\nhorn glowed, and then a magical image of a valley appeared before them\nfrom her horn. \"We went and saw with our own eyes what happened. Thou\nthought thy spell would make them love, but instead it did the opposite of that! It turned them into monsters! Monsters that feed on other ponies love for sustenance!\"In\nthe image of the valley, they saw a horrifying sight! An entire heard\nof ponies with fairy wings, who supposedly were the flutterponies\nmentioned by Celestia, were falling to the ground, moaning and writhing\nlike they were in pain. Then they began transforming. Their fur fell off\ntheir bodies, revealing blackening skin underneath. The pupils in their\neyes turned into slits, and in their mouths, their herbivore teeth\npushed out into fangs. Horns began protruding from their heads, and in\ntheir legs, holes began to appear.Slowly, Blueblood and the others all began to recognize the creatures the flutterponies were turning into, and were shocked!\"Changelings!\" Trixie gasped, covering her mouth with her hoof in shock. \"My gosh! Celestia created them!\"The\nmonsters that the flutterponies had become soon began swarming up into\nthe air, searching for their one and only new food source.The\nmagical image being projected from Luna's horn disappeared as Luna\nended her spell. \"These creatures will swarm the world like a plaque,\nsister!\" Luna said. \"What are we going to tell the ponies of this land?\"\"We aren't going to tell them anything except to prepare for a possible attack!\" Celestia snapped.\"What!?\" exclaimed Luna in surprise. \"They deserve to know the truth!\"\"No!\"\nsaid Celestia. \"If they know about this, they will all loose faith in\nme! I can't allow that. I must continue to appear as the ponies perfect\nleader and teacher, so that they will always look up to me as an\nexample, and have faith in me. I won't be able to help them, otherwise.\"\"We can not just simply sweep this under the rug!\" argued Luna.\"These\nponies need me! I'm the only one who can help them! I'm the only one\nwho can help them fulfill their destiny! Because that is MY destiny! This was only a minor set back, Luna. Next time, I KNOW I'll get it right!\"\"NEXT TIME!\" Luna shouted. \"THOU MEAN'IST THOU INTEND TO TRY THIS AGAIN?!\"\"I\nhave to, Luna! It may be the only way to help every creature in this\nworld. To save all the unharmonious from themselves! The only way to\nmake a perfect world!\"Luna scowled at her\nsister. \"This is wrong!\" said Luna, backing away from her sister. \"If\nthou will not tell thine subjects of this land the truth, then we will!\"Celestia turned to her sister with pleading eyes. \"Luna, please!\"Luna\nshook her head. \"No, sister! We are telling the ponies of what has\nhappened, and thou cannot stop us! It is the right thing to do!\" Luna\nbegan walking towards the door. But suddenly, the door glowed with a\ngolden aura and slammed shut before she could reach it.Luna glared back at Celestia. \"Sister. Open the door. Now.\"From\nthe look on Celestia's face, she was clearly beginning to panic. She\nlevitated over a pitcher of some clear liquid and two glasses over to\nher side. \"Can't we talk about this, Luna?\" said Celestia as she poured\nthem both a glass of the liquid. \"Lets have a drink to calm us down. How\nabout some bananas? Do you like bananas?\"\"Sister!\" Luna cut off Celestia. \"There is nothing to talk about. We have to tell ponies the truth.\"\"I can't let you do that Luna!\" said Celestia sharply, still holding the door shut with her magic.Luna looked shocked. \"Are thou going to kill us?\"Now it was Celestia's turn to look shocked. \"Of course not! I would never kill you! You're my little sister! I love you!\"\"We\nlove you too, sister, but as the rulers of these ponies, it is our\nresponsibility to be honest with them about everything, even if we make a\nmistake. THE TRUTH MUST BE TOLD!\" Luna's own horn glowed with dark blue\nlight, and the glass doors over at the balcony swung open. Luna started\nwalking over to them, obviously intending to fly out of the room since\nCelestia wouldn't let her out the other door.\"LUNA WAIT!\" Celestia shouted desperately. \"I... I Have A Gift For You!\"Luna stopped walking and turned her head to look back at her sister. \"A gift?\"Celestia\nnodded, a nervous smile on her face. \"Yes. I wanted to wait until your\nbirthday, but I think I'll give it to you now because... I simply can't\nwait to see how you like it!\"Celestia\nwalked over to an armored chest that was setting on the floor over in a\ncorner. She lowered her head and touched her horn to a lock on the\nchest. Her horn glowed, and then they heard a few mechanical clicks from\nthe chest. She then opened the lid of the chest with her magic and\nlevitated something up out of it. When Celestia turned back to face\nLuna, they got a good view of what Celestia had taken out of the chest.\nIt was an elegantly designed metal war helmet.Blueblood gasped when he recognized it. \"I... I think that's Nightmare Moon's helmet!\" he exclaimed, pointing his hoof at the scene before them.Luna grabbed hold of the helmet with her magic and levitated it over to herself. \"Its lovely,\" said Luna, looking it over.\"Try it on!\" urged Celestia, who was clearly twitching nervously. \"I want to see how you look in it!\"Smiling, Luna levitated the helmet up above her, and then brought it down onto her head.Suddenly,\nthe helmet began to glow with eerie dark glow. Then, before Luna could\nreact, she also became encased in the same dark glow. Luna squinted her\neyes shut and keeled over onto the floor, groaning like she was in pain.Meanwhile,\nCelestia closed her eyes and lowered her head sadly while her sister\ngroaned on the floor. \"I'm sorry, sister. You left me no choice.\"Blueblood\nand the others watched in horror as Luna started to transform while she\nwrithed on the floor. She was growing bigger, and her fur was turning\npitch black.Eventually, Luna stopped\ngroaning and the dark glow around her body faded away. Her eyes flew\nopen, reveling her pupils had become slits. A crazed, evil grin slowly\nspread across her face.\"Luna?\" asked Celestia cautiously, looking down at her sister.The\npitch-black alicorn that had once been Luna looked up at Celestia,\nchuckling evilly. \"NO, you bitch. Luna is gone. I am... NIGHTMARE\nMOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!\" She got up off the floor, spreading her great black\nwings dramatically. \"And I'm sick and tired of you always getting your\nway, sis! Always being the favorite! Well no more! Once I get rid of\nyou, all your precious day-lovers will have no choice but to worship ME!\nI think I'll start by getting rid of your day ONCE AND FOR ALL! THE\nNIGHT WILL REIGN FOREVER!\" Nightmare let out a long, maniacal laugh,\nlightning bolts flashing all around her from a dark cloud that was\nmagically growing above her. While\nNightmare Moon was laughing, Celestia lowered her head again, tears\nwelling up in her eyes. \"I'm so sorry, Luna! You were going to ruin\neverything! So I'm going to have to send you away for a while. But don't\nworry. I have a plan. I will make it so you will return one day, after I\nam sure you have forgotten everything in your insanity, and then I will\npurify you with the Elements of Harmony, and then we can put this all\nbehind us like it never happened.\"The\nroom then suddenly vanished, and Blueblood and the others watched as it\nbegan to re-assemble itself back as it was at the very beginning, with\nLuna and Celestia standing in the room talking. Realizing the memory was\nover, and it was just starting over again, Blueblood angrily pulled the\ndoor of the memory shut, not wanting to watch it again.The group all looked at each other, shocked expressions on their faces. None of them could believe what they had just seen.\"Oh my, gosh,\" said Flim.\"I can't believe this!\" said Trixie, so shocked she forgot to speak in the third person.\"This...\nEverything we thought we knew about Luna and Nightmare Moon... has been a\ncomplete lie!\" said Dumbbell. \"Luna didn't become evil because she was\njealous that ponies spent more time outside during the day instead of\nthe night! Celestia turned her evil! That helmet... it corrupted her somehow!\"\"Just like the Ice King's crown!\" said Hoops.\"Or the Alicorn Amulet,\" added Trixie solemnly.\"This\nactually explains quite a bit,\" said Blueblood. \"I remember when Luna\nfirst returned, her memory was all screwed up! In fact, her mental state\nhad pretty much been reduced to that of a little filly! She had to\nrelearn pretty much everything! She even had to relearn what fun was!\"\"And\nthis explains why Nightmare Moon was able to escape the moon after a\nthousand years!\" said Trixie. \"Celestia had arranged for that to happen!\nAfter all, since Celestia and Luna were immortal, a thousand years\nwouldn't be as big a loss for them.\"\"That doesn't make it right!\" snapped Gilda at Trixie.\"Trixie didn't say it did!\" she snapped back at Gilda.Just then, Sunset shouted, \"HEY, LOOK!\" She pointed down the tunnel.They\nlooked where she was pointing and saw the mysterious shadowy pony again\nbefore he disappeared around another corner at the end of the\npassageway, waving a hoof behind him like he was gesturing for them to\nfollow him.\"Come on!\" Blueblood ordered and took off into a gallop after the pony, the others following right behind him.They\nchased after the pony through the labyrinth again. Just like before,\nthe pony would turn a corner the moment they came into sight of him.\"STARSWIRL! IS THAT YOU? STOP!\" Blueblood shouted.A\nfew minutes later, after they rounded another corner, they saw the pony\nonce again walk through a door in the corridor like a ghost. They\nhurried up to the door. Unlike the last door, this door wasn't one of the locked ones. On it were the words 'The Heart Star'.\"I guess he wants us to see what's behind this door too,\" said Sunset.Trixie\nopened up the door with her magic with ease. Inside the door, they\ncould see the throne room of castle Canterlot. Princess Celestia was\nstanding in front of all the Element Bearers, Twilight, Rarity,\nFluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash, as well as Princess\nLuna, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Spike. Celestia was speaking while\nthe others all listened with looks of happiness and excitement on their\nfaces.\"Once the Heart Star is complete, I will finally be able to create the perfect world I've always wanted.\"\"You're going to make cotton candy grow on trees?\" asked Pinkie Pie excitedly, jumping up and down.Everyone stared at Pinkie Pie like she was crazy.\"Um... no, Pinkie Pie,\" said Celestia.The pink pony stopped jumping up and down, a frown appearing on her face. \"Awww,\" she moaned in disappointment.Celestia\ncontinued. \"The magic of love, harmony, and friendship, once amplified\nby this gigantic orbiting space station, will engulf the entire planet,\nand every living creature will be transformed by its light. All\ncreatures will finally understand and embrace love, friendship, peace,\nand togetherness. A perfect world, at long last!\"\"It\nsounds wonderful, Princess!\" Twilight beamed at what Celestia had said.\nHer friends all began cheering and nodding in agreement.\"I know it does,\" said Celestia, tears of happiness in her eyes.Beside\nBlueblood, Gilda suddenly let out a shout at the scene in front of\nthem. \"THAT DOESN'T SOUND WONDERFUL AT ALL!\" she shouted angrily! \"THAT\nSOUNDS HORRIBLE! THAT'S BRAINWASHING EVERYONE!\"The\nrest of them were all equally as appalled as Gilda by this news. This\nwas exactly what Celestia had tried a thousand years ago, which had\nfailed horribly, and now she was trying to do the exact same thing\nagain! And Gilda was right! This was basically brain washing!Celestia\nspoke again. \"Although the chaos created by this plot hole is\nunfortunate, thanks to it, I finally have a power source great enough to\ncharge the Heart Star. Once we turn the world into a paradise, we will\ndeal with the hole with the Elements of Harmony, but for now, it must\nremain protected. The Heart Star should be completed within a few days.\"\"Yes,\nyour majesty,\" said Shining Armor, bowing to Celestia. \"I'll inform the\nshipyards in the mountains to prepare for immediate departure. With\nthese new starships we've built, you have nothing to worry about.\"\"Thank\nyou, Shining Armor,\" said Celestia, and then at that moment the memory\nfaded away as it ended, and began to start its loop over again back at\nthe beginning. Gilda grabbed the door of the memory by the handle and\nangrily slammed it shut before it could restart.They were all enraged by what they had just seen and heard.\"So that's what Celestia's up to!\" said Blueblood, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down from his anger at what he now knew.\"I\ncan't believe it!\" said Score, shaking his head in disbelief. \"She's\ntried to turn everypony into a little, obedient, goody two shoes a\nthousand years ago, and it went wrong, and now she's trying to do the\nexact same thing AGAIN!\"\"Do you think the spell will turn everypony into changelings, just like it did the last time?\" asked Hoops.\"Doesn't matter!\" snarled Iron Will. \"Either way, it's still wrong!\"\"Did you see how those lame-o Element Bearers from Ponyville were actually agreeing\nwith what Celestia was planning to do?\" said Gilda. \"How can they all\nthink brainwashing everyone in the world into being nice is a good\nthing? Its totally wrong!\"\"They all have\ncomplete blind faith in Celestia,\" explained Blueblood. \"In their eyes,\neverything she says and does is right, and she can do no wrong! That's\npretty much how everypony in Equestria sees her.\"\"IDIOTS!\" Gilda growled, looking like she was about to explode with anger. \"Well, no pony's gonna screw with my mind, I guarantee you that! I like myself just the way I am!\"Blueblood looked at Trixie. \"I've seen enough. How do we get out of here?\"\"Don't worry,\" said Trixie. \"Trixie will begin the exiting part of the spell. Be patient. This might take a few minutes.\"..................Surprise stood over Prince Blueblood's unconscious body, holding a knife from the kitchen between her teeth.I have a present for you, your highness, she thought to herself maliciously. It's called getting your throat slit and bleeding out. Time to see if your blood really IS blue.\nShe lowered the knife down to his throat, ready to kill him, and then\nthe others as well. She took a few seconds to savor the moment.\"What are you doing?\"Surprise\ninstantly stood up straight at the sudden voice behind her. She turned\nher head around to see Upper Crust standing in the doorway of the room,\nstaring at her with a look of shock on her face. ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791809-to-boldly-hoof-it-ch-11-the-princess-s-offer.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/791817-to-boldly-hoof-it-ch-13-a-dark-alliance.json"}