As Princess Celestia stood next to Commander Bolt, she too bowed in respect to the small memorial. One by one, the soldiers who were accompanying them started to bow in respect for the fallen Commander. When they rose, Princess Celestia asked Commander Bolt, “What does the red cloth stand for?”
Commander Bolt replied, “Passion, it was a gift from Gem Stone. She… she liked to wear a color that would symbolize her mood for the day’s events. That day we were setting off for Cloudsdale. I guess she was feeling passionate that day.”
“What does pink mean then?”
Commander Bolt lowered his head, “Pink… was her favorite color, she wore it when she wanted to look her best… or when the day was going to hold a special occasion. I guess she was expecting us to win that battle in Canterlot. She had too much confidence in her commander.”

Before Princess Celestia could try to cheer him up, the Celestial Commander approached, “Your majesty? We’ve spotted the nightmare front. How would you suggest we continue?”
Commander Bolt turned to the Celestial Commander, “Where are they?”
The Celestial Commander replied, “Over the next hill about a quarter mile from here.”
Commander Bolt spoke as he trotted away, “Direct your troops as needed your majesty, I'm going to see mine.”
The Celestial Commander called out to him as he trotted off, “If you approach them before sending a signal, they’ll attack you.”
Commander Bolt called back, “Then let them come!”

Before Commander Bolt was passed the group of soldiers, two pike ponies blocked his path. Commander Bolt Glared at them and spoke, “Step aside.”
The Celestial Commander called out, “Commander Bolt, calm down there is no need to rush off and risk yourself like this. If you wait a second we can…”
“With all due respect, commander, I don’t follow the orders of you… or your princess. The deal is that I help you get to Nightmare Moon without any further conflict. If you want to, then sit here and cower. But I'm not afraid of my army, and showing them otherwise would only decrease our chances of peacefully resolving this issue. So for Luna’s sake I’d advise your soldiers to step aside before they get hurt.”
The Celestial Commander Sighed, “Fine then go, we will be right behind you.”

The Celestial Commander turned to Princess Celestia, “Your majesty? I don’t like this one bit. Ever since we left Canterlot, he has been acting reckless and arrogant. I don’t think I trust him anymore, I think if he continues like this, he will risk all our lives.”
Princess Celestia nodded her head, “He has been acting differently, but his values stay the same. Still I'm worried, if the Elements of Harmony should fail, then we may have to fight him after all. Until then, be patient… he doesn’t mean any harm, he has only acting out of desperation. He has nothing left except my word. I hope he is prepared for what could happen.”
The Celestial Commander nodded his head, “If you trust him your majesty, then I'll do my best to do the same.”
As the Celestial Commander trotted off, Princess Celestia turned to the spear and spoke, “Commander Mist, Please watch over him, Star Bolt is in a bad place right now and he needs guidance from both you and that archer. I only hope he doesn’t try anything too reckless.”

In the Nightmare Camp, a lookout was standing next to a Zebrican Officer, as he spotted Commander Bolt, “Sir! Soldier spotted on the horizon!”
The officer replied, “Soldier? Or soldiers? How many and what nation?”
The lookout replied, “so far only one sir, it looks like a Nightmare soldier but he is still too far to identify.”
All of a sudden the lookout was shocked when he realized who it was, “SIR!!! IT’S COMMANDER BOLT! COMMANDER BOLT IS ALIVE AND APPROACHING!!!”
After calling that out a large number of soldiers started to gather at the front of the camp. The Zebrican offices called to his soldiers, “Send out a signal for a meeting, I want an archer and a medic to accompany me as I go out to meet him.”
A few seconds later the lookout called again, “Celestial Crusaders spotted! And it looks like… PRINCESS CELESTIA IS WITH THEM!!! Repeat, Princess Celestia, Commander Bolt and Celestial Crusaders are approaching!!!”
The Zebrican officer was confused, “I wonder… why would Commander Bolt be traveling with the enemy princess? Let us go meet him.”

Once the Zebrican Officer had gathered a small number of forces, he met Commander Bolt in the center of the field. Commander Bolt wasted no time on getting down to business, “Who is leading these soldiers?”
The Zebrican Officer replied, “Commander, how relieved we are to see you safe, my name is Chief Tatum. Chief Rafi put me in charge of the remaining Zebrican forces. Currently I am the highest ranking officer with these troops.”
Before Commander Bolt could continue, Princess Celestia approached the two, “May I address your soldiers? I would like to explain my reasons for accompanying Commander Bolt.”
Chief Tatum ignored Princess Celestia and continued talking to Commander Bolt, “Why are you with the enemy princess, commander? Are you her prisoner, or have you joined her?”

Commander Bolt spoke with a serious expression, “Princess Celestia and I have made an agreement that we must discuss with the rest of my troops but first I would like to know where Nightmare Moon is?”
The Chief replied, “She and Commander Viscous are back at the castle.”
“Commander?”
“Yes she was promoted to commander, following the battle at Canterlot.”
Commander Bolt could only assume the worst has happened to Captain Drib since he would be second in command by rank, but this wasn’t the time to discuss that so Commander Bolt continued with the matter at hoof, “Chief, I want you to allow Princess Celestia and her commander to pass. As for the rest of her army they will stay behind in a safe distance as part of an armistice agreement.”

The Celestial Commander looked at Commander Bolt, “Agreement? The Princess agreed to no such thing.”
Commander Bolt turned to the Celestial Commander and spoke, “The Princess has no choice in this matter. I will gladly escort you and her to Nightmare Moon for this meeting, but I will not allow an entire army to pass my ranks or to approach the Castle with absolutely no resistance. This doesn’t change anything, all this means, is that this meeting between the royal sisters, will be either a fair truce… or a fair duel.”
Chief Tatum spoke next, “Meeting?”
Commander Bolt trotted past him and replied, “The Princess and I will explain the agreement with the rest of my soldiers… unless you refuse to relinquish command, in which case I will view you as hostile and act accordingly. So… which is it?”
Chief Tatum nervously replied, “Oh... uh... of course I'll step down to you commander, I'm not about to challenge you, Brother Rafi wouldn’t forgive me if I tried.”

As the two groups trotted back to the Nightmare front Commander Bolt had to ask, “Hey chief, where is Chief Rafi? I’d figure he’d be in charge.”
“Brother Rafi… he and the rest of our brothers went back to the homeland, in the last battle everypony, zebra and griffon got hurt, whether they bled or not. So brother Rafi lead our brethren home, while I and a few others stayed behind.”
Commander Bolt understood the analogy completely, “I see did Orem do the same?”
“Yes, he traveled home too, I heard about Captain Snow from Commander Viscous and I know about General Roza but what happened to Captain Stone?”
It took every ounce of strength for Commander Bolt to reply without tearing up, “She.. Well… Like you said, everypony got hurt, and… she… she didn’t hurt long.”
Chief Tatum understood what Commander Bolt meant so he didn’t reply, he only continued trotting until they made it back to the Nightmare front.

After they made it to the Nightmare camp, Chief Tatum Yelled to the soldiers, “SOLDIERS, FATE HAS GUIDED OUR GREAT COMMANDER BACK TO US, AND WITH A MESSAGE THAT WE SHOULD ALL LISTEN TO!”
Commander Bolt yelled to his soldiers, “Two days ago we all lost something, whether it be a limb, a friend, a home or even our pride. Canterlot was the center of suffering for us all. Well, I'm here to make that right! With me I brought Princess Celestia who will explain our current situation.”
Princess Celestia stepped forward and tried to speak but the soldiers started to yell and criticize her, just like the citizens of Canterlot did to Commander Bolt, “WHY ARE YOU HERE!?! WHO ARE YOU TO TALK TO US LIKE THIS!?! WHAT MAKES YOUR CAUSE SO SPECIAL!?! WHY SHOULD WE LISTEN TO YOU!?!”
As the Nightmare soldiers continued yelling Princess Celestia had a hard time trying to speak so that she could be understood, “We are here… to… attempted to um… discuss… terms of peace… between…”

Commander Bolt waited to see if the princess could calm them down but after a few minutes of waiting he became inpatient, using the lightning orb he sent a large bolt of lightning into the sky that branched off looking similar to a tree. Once the bolt was gone and the cloud dispersed, nopony not even Princess Celestia was making a sound. Commander Bolt flew into the air and called out to his soldiers, “If you won’t listen to her, then you will listen to me. The princess and I have talked it over, and we have decided, that this war shouldn’t be decided with the deaths of soldiers. It will be decided, by the princesses who rule them. I will accompany Princess Celestia to speak with Nightmare Moon; this will be a meeting of peace so only her commander will accompany us. These peace talks will end in two ways, either the end of the war, through negotiation… or the end by duel. Regardless I'm giving you your orders now. All of you will hold your ground here. At no time, will you ever move forward towards the Celestial Crusaders ranks, as they will hold their position where they sit. Once this meeting is finished you will receive further orders, though I can’t say for certain they will be from me.”

Without explanation of his last remark, Commander Bolt landed and began making his way through the ranks, “Shall we, Princess?”
Before Princess Celestia could reply a small group of archers blocked his path, “Commander… we have to ask… is there any word from Captain Stone? We… heard some… things from the archer that accompanied Chief Tatum when he went out to meet you. is… is she really gone?”
Commander Bolt replied, she will always be by my side… whether I see her or not. She is dead… but she will always be with me. As she wanted to be.”
The archers looked at each other and nodded their heads, “Then we will join you too, it was her loyalty to you that gave us confidence in your orders, if you will allow it we will go with you to the castle.”
Commander Bolt smiled, “NO!”
“No?”
Commander Bolt continued trotting, “I won’t lose any more soldiers, If you truly respected Gem as your Captain… then you will stay here… as ordered.”
The soldiers didn’t argue. without objection, they stood at attention and answered in an official way, “Yes, Commander!”

Princess Celestia was a little surprised to see how Commander Bolt addressed his soldiers; he explained the situation so confidently that no pony questioned any part of it at all. He must have gathered a lot of trust from his soldiers for them to accept his return and his sudden change in actions. she was truly impressed. As they continued through the Nightmare camp The Celestial Commander Spoke, “Commander Bolt, is it wise to approach the castle so… casually?”
Commander Bolt replied, “It isn’t, but I saw a Pegasus messenger leave the camp before I told them the situation so they will be expecting us… If all goes well then this meeting will begin as soon as we arrive.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
Star Bolt looked up at the eclipse as it started to set. “Then the castle will seem very noisy tonight.”

A short time had passed before the group approached the Stone bridge that allows ponies to cross the ravine. As they started across Commander Bolt felt uneasy, the castle was right ahead but something was amiss, Commander Bolt turned back to the two, “Stop for a second.”
He flew into the air and studied the castle. Meanwhile on the ground the Celestial Commander called to him, “What is it commander? Is something wrong?”
Commander Bolt landed and looked at the Celestial Commander, “Do you see something wrong with the castle from here?”
The commander looked at the castle and realized something, “Where are the guards? It looks deserted.”
Commander Bolt replied, “It’s not, the guards that are usually patrolling the area aren’t there but at the castle door I can see two waiting for us. Just keep your guard up… this seems way too easy.”

As the group approached the castle doors, the guards stepped to the side and opened the doors without a single word. Commander Bolt stopped and looked at one of the guards expecting him to say something but they just stood there staring forward as if he was invisible. Commander Bolt shook his head and continued forward leading the group into the castle. All along the main lobby leading to the throne room, where pike ponies all standing at attention, and all ignoring Commander Bolt and the rest of the group. As the group moved forward, the Celestial Commander became skeptic and spoke silently to the princess, “Your majesty? I don’t like this one bit. It seems like a trap to me…”
Commander Bolt overheard the commander’s concern and replied, “Haven’t you ever heard the old saying? A spotted trap is a useful opportunity.”

Commander Bolt stopped and looked at the soldiers carefully, “These ponies are Lieutenant Viscous’ troops…”
“That’s commander!”
Commander Bolt looked forward as Commander Viscous trotted to the center of the lobby, “It’s good to see you sir, but why are you with Princess Celestia?”
Commander Bolt smiled, “She and I have made an agreement. I'm happy to see that you made it out alive, but if you're commander, then does that mean that Drib is…”
“Dead? No, he is alive… but… but he…”
Commander Bolt could see the pain in her eyes as she tried to talk, “Viscous? What happened to him… what happened to Captain Drib?”
She started to cry as she answered, “It’s… it’s his wing… the burns were so bad that… that they… had to take it… they had to remove his wing… they amputated it… he… he will never fly again. did you hear me! THAY HAD TO REMOVE HIS WING FROM HIS BODY! Why! flying was his life… his talent… why did they…”

As Viscous’ crying echoed through the hall, Commander Bolt lowered his head, “Hot shot… no.”
Commander Viscous used her magic to help her lift the heavy axe and point it forward at Commander Bolt, “WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO FOR HIM!!! YOU TELL ME THAT!!! WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW!!!”
Commander Bolt tried to calm her down, “Commander, lower your weapon and go to him. he needs yo…”
“NO!!! Now that I'm commander I can’t go… Not until I fulfill my duty!”
“What?”
She gripped the axe as if she was going to charge, “Stand down Commander! You’re not going any further unless you get through me!”
At that moment, all the pike ponies in the room pointed their spears at the group while the Celestial Commander drew his sword and braced himself for a fight. Commander Bolt unslung his shield and readied himself, “You can’t beat me Viscous, I don’t want to hurt you. please lower your weapon and stand down. Drib needs you and I don’t want to take more from him than he has already lost. I don’t want anypony to go through that kind of pain.”

Commander Viscous got angry, “WHAT DO YOU CARE! I'm all alone now… I'm the last of the Nightmare Officers! Roza is dead, Rafi and Orem went back to their countries, Callous can no longer fight or fly, you abandon us, and nopony knows where in Equestria Snow or Stone are! I'm al…”
“VISCOUS, GEM IS DEAD!!!”
The sound of her axe echoed through the lobby as Viscous’ spell that held it up dispersed due to her shock. When the axe crashed to the floor it left indentation that held the blade in position as she replied to the horrible news, “G-Gem is Dead?... but… how… why… what happ…”
Commander Bolt lowered his head and replied, “She… She died while we were trying to escape from Canterlot… after we signaled the retreat. She died in my arms, I couldn’t leave her there, I knew she wasn’t going to make it as soon as I saw the wound, but I didn’t want to leave her side… that’s why I didn’t come back, that’s why I abandoned you. Would you have left Drib… knowing that he wasn’t going to make it? I doubt it. Viscous, I told her how I felt before she died, and now I will never know what it’s like… to spend the rest of your life with the pony you love, But you can. Lower your axe, go to Drib, leave this place with him, and enjoy the rest of your life. I watched my family fall around me; don’t tell me to kill the last one. Please… I don’t think I can handle that.”

Commander Viscous had tears rolling down her face as she looked at the blade on her axe, it had buried itself deep enough that when she let go of it, it stayed in place. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she called to Princess Celestia, “Your Majesty? If I surrender now, what will happen to me and Callous, will we be imprisoned?”
Princess Celestia Smiled, “The agreement for the Nightmare Legions surrender in Canterlot was that everypony who laid down their weapons would be pardoned for their actions and will be free to live their lives without punishment. I hope you live your life wisely… with the stallion you love.”
Viscous nodded her head then she looked back at Commander Bolt, “Commander, I… I'm… sorry. I can see why she fell in love with you now, I see why they both were in love with you.”
Commander Bolt was confused, “Both?”

Viscous trotted up to Commander Bolt and hugged him, “Thank you Star Bolt… for everything. Callous and I won’t forget you, in fact we will see you after this war settles down a bit, ok?”
Commander Bolt smiled, “You take care of him Ardent, and don’t ever be afraid to talk to new ponies, as long as he is with you, you don’t need to be afraid.”
Viscous stopped hugging him, smiled, and called out to her soldiers, “EVERYPONY LAY DOWN YOUR SPEARS AND LEAVE THE CASTLE IMMEDIATELY, BY THE ORDER OF YOUR COMMANDER!!!”
All the guards looked at each other, then one by one they dropped their spears and left out the castle doors, Viscous smiled at Commander Bolt and spoke, “Remember what Gem used to say. Don’t die, I don’t know what your agreement with the princess is, but I don’t want you to kill yourself. Be careful Star Bolt.”

Viscous smiled then left to get Captain Drib ready to leave. The Celestial Commander sheathed his sword then approached Commander Bolt, “I envy you commander, to surround yourself with such loyal and trustworthy officers is a rare thing.”
Commander Bolt replied, “No, they aren’t loyal and trustworthy officers, they are my family, and they have suffered enough. You realize that now the only pony left to face is Nightmare Moon Right?... I hope you’re ready.”
Princess Celestia replied for her commander, “We are ready, and don’t think I forgot our deal, I promise with my very life, you will see Luna again.”

Commander Bolt continued leading the group to the throne room, when he reached the door he gently pushed it opened and saw Nightmare Moon standing next to the throne with an unamused expression on her face, “Well, well, I’ve known you for your entire known life and yet you continue to surprise me commander. I'm happy to see you alive and well, but it pains me to see that you betrayed me.”
Commander Bolt approached the throne and bowed, “Your majesty, yes I am alive and safe, however I have not, and will never betray the Nightmare Legion. I have only escorted Princess Celestia here, so that she may have one more attempt at negotiating peace between you two.”
“You don’t seem injured, at any rate, your armor shows little signs of a fight or struggle, infect by appearance, you seem to have surrendered in Canterlot without a fight. Why is that?”
Commander Bolt raised his head, “I had no choice your majesty, not only was I alone but I…”
Nightmare Moon grabbed him by the throat and raised him into the air with her magic, “I don’t want to hear your excuses commander, I just want to see results, thus far you have proven yourself useful, but lately you have showed me that you are nothing but a pathetic comm…”
Princess Celestia stepped forward, “Sister! Don’t blame him for his actions, I'm the one who convinced him to do this. I want this war to end. I don’t want to see anypony else suffer for this ridiculous disagreement between the two of us. Please will you agree to my offer of peace?”

Nightmare Moon shook her head, “Dear sweet sister, you’ve always known what’s best. No matter what you have always been there to lead me in the right direction. In fact, the only time I was able to make my own choice was when I decided to bring Star Bolt back from the Everfree forest. and when I think about it… that was the first time I ever felt appreciation from anypony for anything I ever did for Equestria, so if this is my decision too, then I expect someday this two will be appreciated…”
“Sister no…”
“And I Expect that when the ponies of Equestria realize the error in their ways then they will finally understand the beauty that is the night…”
“Please Sister don’t…”
“And in order for the ponies to realize that error they must first see the beauty that is my night!”
“LUNA, SISTER THIS ISN’T THE WAY…”
“So beg and plead all you want dear older sister! But you and the ponies of Equestria WILL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF THE SUN AGAIN!!!”

Nightmare Moon tossed Commander Bolt to the side then she fired a dark beam from her horn at Princess Celestia. Celestia jumped back dodging the beam then using the Elements of Harmony she fired a beam back, which was blocked when Nightmare Moon used the throne behind her as a shield. As the two sisters continues fighting Commander Bolt laid on the ground with many different thought going through his mind. Part of him wanted to help Nightmare Moon and fight off Princess Celestia. While another wanted to help Princess Celestia and return Luna. Instead of doing either, he just laid there with Nightmare Moon’s words going through his mind, mainly the one word that has been used to describe him as of late, “Pathetic.”
The Celestia Commander galloped up to him, “Commander! Are you OK? Get up quickly we have to help Princess Celestia!”
Commander Bolt sat up, “No, this fight is between the two of them we can’t get involved.”

Princess Celestia continued trying to hit Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony but no matter how much she tried, Nightmare Moon would phase through the beam by turning herself into mist, or she would use her magic on an object in the room to block it. Princess Celestia flew into the air trying to get around behind Nightmare Moon, “Sister your reign of terror must end, you must give up before you hurt somepony you care about.”
Nightmare Moon became infuriated, “STOP TRYING TO USE MY FEELINGS AGAINST ME!!!”
Using her magic, Nightmare Moon grabbed one of the pillars holding a part of the ceiling up and tossed it at Princess Celestia. The pillar did hit the airborne princess but luckily, it was only a graze, and no real injury came out of it. But what Nightmare Moon didn’t realize, is that the portion of the ceiling that the pillar held up was right above the spectating commanders.

Commander Bolt notices a large chunk of the roof falling into the room from above. Thinking fast he placed both hooves against the Celestial Commander’s body and pushed him out of harm’s way. However, when he also tried to flee, the debris fell on top of him covering the area in a cloud of dust. The Celestia Commander shuffled to his hooves and called out, “COMMANDER STAR BOLT!!!”
Hearing this, Nightmare Moon paused and looked at the cloud of dust, “Star Bolt? Are you…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Nightmare Moon was hit directly in the back by the Elements of Harmony encasing her in a magical barrier. Trying to free herself, Nightmare Moon tried punching, kicking and hitting the barrier with a magic beam from her horn, but it was no use, the barrier was made by the very elements used to turn Discord into stone.

After the dust settled, Commander Bolt pulled himself out of the rubble. He had numerous gashes and damage to both his armor and shield but other than a few cuts and bruises he was perfectly fine. When he looked over at Nightmare Moon he felt anxious, was this the moment he was waiting for, his chance to see Luna again? Princess Celestia landed next to the barrier and focused everything she could into the elements of harmony, then she fired a beam that went through the magical barrier and hit Nightmare Moon in the chest. Though the beam knocked her down, it didn’t affect her in any other way. Nightmare moon stood back up and laughed, “Oh my… it would seem that you don’t have the power to change my heart back to the way it was. Perhaps without me, you can’t use the elements to their full potential… it’s a pity isn’t it? What will you do now dear sweet sister?”

Princess Celestia looked over at Commander Bolt who was watching in suspense, then she sighed and mumbled to herself, “I’m sorry, but I must do this.”
Nightmare moon didn’t hear what Celestia said, “What was that? Speak up.”
Princess Celestia looked Nightmare Moon in the eye and spoke with a serious tone, “Princess Luna, you allowed darkness to corrupt your heart and turn you into a wicked mare of darkness. Then you forced the moon into the sky to block out the light of the sun and bring forth continuous darkness. For this I am forced to banish you to the darkest depths of the very moon you control, this shall be your prison. Do you have anything to say before I carry this out?”

Nightmare Moon looked over at Commander Bolt and smiled in an affectionate way, “Good bye Star Bolt, I… I'm glad you stayed by my side through this war.”
Commander Bolt yelled out, “NO!!! You can’t do this! She doesn’t deserve this! Celestia Stop!”
Princess Celestia fired a beam of light from the Elements of Harmony that hit the barrier setting it into a pink flame that gave it the appearance of a pink fireball. Commander Bolt charged toward the burning barrier trying to prevent anything else from happening, but before he got close enough the fireball shot through the ceiling and continued flying through the air until it hit the moon, which was the only thing in the sky. Instantly the surface of the moon turned into a fire red and began scattering all over the surface leaving deep patches of fire on the surface. Commander Bolt watched in in tears as his only chance of seeing Luna burned, upon the surface of the moon.

Commander Bolt dropped to his knees and closed his eyes, “she… she is gone… now… I have noth…”
Commander Bolt felt a strange combination of sadness, depression, and relentless fury. He stood back up and glared at Princess Celestia who had her back to both Commander Bolt and the moon, “YOU! I’LL KILL YOU!!!”
Commander Bolt flew through the air as he unslung his shield and secured it to his hoof. As he swung the blade, the Celestial Commander blocked it before it made contact with Princess Celestia. The Celestial Commander tried to calm him down, “Commander! Cease this immediately, she had no choice it’s not her fault, she did everyth…”
“SHUT UP!!!”

Star Bolt swung his body around and kicked the Celestial Commander in the side of the face and knocking him to the ground, “I AM NO LONGER A COMMANDER!!! My name is Star Bolt. And I WILL NOT BE MADE A FOOL OFF!!!”
Before the Celestial Commander could get back on his hooves, Star Bolt used his shield to bash him upside his face knocking him unconscious. Then he turned to Princess Celestia but before he could attack her she called out in a low, deep, rage filled voice that caused him to pause, “…how dare you…”
The tone of her voice sent a chill up his spine, “What?”

Princess Celestia turned around to face him, her face had tears rolling down it, but the anger on her face put Star Bolt in a state of fear, “How dare you… who do you think you are? You don’t get it do you? She… she was my sister… she was my best friend and the one pony who I could go to for help. She was the one pony I cared about more than anything else in this world! In addition, you talk to me as if I did this without even the slightest bit of remorse. JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!!!”
Star Bolt lowered his head in shame, “We… we had an agreement, you gave me your word and now I'll never see Luna. She will nev…”
“Are you ready Star Bolt?”
Star Bolt looked back up at her, “What did you say?”
Princess Celestia looked at Star Bolt with an unamused expression, “Your punishment, are you ready? This war is over and it is time for you to accept responsibility for your actions… Are you ready to do that?”

Star Bolt lowered his head, slung his shield, and chucked a bit, “Great things.”
Princess Celestia didn’t reply but she gave him a look of curiosity so he spoke again, “When we first met you told me that a pegasus with a cutie mark for using the lightning orb was destined for great things… funny I bet you weren’t expecting this, were you?”
Star Bolt turned around and trotted towards the hole in the ceiling to take one last look at the moon. by this time the surface was no longer red but there was an image of an alicorn on it. He could only smile and turn back to Princess Celestia. I'm ready your majesty, do what you want, today Commander Bolt dies.”
Princess Celestia replied, “A star can only see when it shines… but it can hear so much more. Remember this lesson Star Bolt it will make things more bearable as time goes by.”
“What?”

All of a sudden, a beam of light shot out of the Elements of Harmony and went straight towards Star Bolt. Before it hit him, it split into six different colored lights that began to spiral around him like a tornado. Star Bolt could only assume each light would eventually skewer him like a spear. Therefore, he closed his eyes in acceptance. Finally, all the light colligated with him causing him to spontaneously burst into pink flames. The feeling of the fire against his skin was incredibly painful, but he tried as hard as he could to deal with it, knowing that he deserved every bit of it. Finally, he shot into the sky as if a catapult had launched him. He had never been so afraid in his life, as he flew into the sky with incredible speeds.

Outside the castle, Ardent Viscous was pulling a cart with Callous Drib laying on it as he looked into the sky he spoke, “Ardent… ARDENT… look, look at that. What is it?”
Ardent stopped trotting and looked at the pink fireball as it crashed through the roof of the castle and into the sky, “Is that? No it’s got to be something else, let’s keep going Callous we need to get to a town before sunrise... it feels weird saying that.”
As she started pulling the cart again, Callous mumbled to himself, “Good to see you sir. And good luck.”

Further away Frances Snow the Third was sitting on a hill watching as the imprint of an alicorn on the moon began to darken, and then he saw a second fireball take to the sky, he thought to himself, “Commander… truly a position of significance. I suppose I'm not qualified for such nobility … but the greatest honor was to know a pony who was… Sir, you have my dearest sentiments.”

Outside of Trottingham a griffon soldier called out, “Commander! There is another one!”
Commander Orem looked toward the sky, “This one is smaller than the last but it doesn’t look like it’s going to hit the moon… wait that can’t be.”
The griffon soldier looked at Commander Orem, “Sir? What is it?”
Commander Orem replied and he bowed his head, “A hero… one that I fought aside in a glorious battle, I don’t know why that princess did this, but she won’t get away with it.”

Near the coast, Chief Rafi was sitting on a ship that had just left port when he saw the first fireball. When he saw the second he bowed his head and spoke,
“The Star flies high, in flames of fear,
but it’s not over, not now nor here.
I will help you in days, far off from now,
though I don’t know when, or even how.
Be at peace, until one day soon,
when we see the real end, of Nightmare Moon.”
The zebra standing next to him asked, “Chief Rafi? What are you talking about brother?”
Chief Rafi turned to his soldier, “I was only making a promise to a good friend, May good fortune smile upon him in the future.”

Star Bolt’s heart raced as he flew into the sky, by passing the moon entirely, as he continued flying far into the darkness of the night, he started to think to himself, “Is this death? Is this the pain and fear that they went through? I can’t imagine putting any of them through this agony, Storm… Mist… Roza… Gem… I’m sorry; I can never make it up to you, not now, not ever.”
Finally, the feeling of flight, and the pain from the flames around him vanished. Star Bolt opened his eyes and looked around there was nothing there. All he could see was an endless abyss of black in all directions. It appears that this was his fate; this was now and forever, his prison