Playing the Price

by Gear Grinder

Chapter 1: The Proposal

Winter was always a difficult time of year to deal with, especially for Pegasi. It normally took a week or so to get every part of Equestria ready for winter, including moving snow clouds, clearing up fall's leftover leaves, helping build homes for animals going into hibernation, etcetera. This year was rather... different, though. Nearly every part of Equestria was supposed to be covered in an even, relatively shallow layer of snow. However, Ponyville was suddenly and heavily covered in about eight feet of snow five days ago, causing many ceilings and small buildings to collapse under the sudden weight. Many homes were totally inaccessible, save for some who had holes in their rooftops that many used as a means of entry. Homes had to be shared among the entire town due to the massive amount of destroyed architecture, and as many as five families huddled together in the ramshackle homes just to keep warm. Many businesses were shut down entirely, including Rarity's Boutique and even Sweet Apple Acres. It was fortunate that many townsfolk were out in other parts of the world when the snow fell, but now there was no way to return home safely due to the train tracks being completely smothered in a thick white blanket.

All the while, the Pegasi of Cloudsdale were dealing with the fallout of the whole event. The city was nearly deserted as hundreds of Pegasi were drafted into the Weather Team, going to all parts of Equestria to balance out the chaotic levels of weather related anomalies. Tornadoes started to form in the San Palomino Desert at the sudden clash of hot and cold winds, others parts flooding as waves of freshly melted snow poured in from the east and rapidly melted in the heated sands. Many ponies from town had to make a long trek out towards Canterlot under emergency Royal Escort to provide temporary housing, and the Weather Team had to make sure the area was cold and solid enough to walk on but not too solid as to turn into slippery ice. Every tunnel in the base of Canterlot Mountain was filled with snow, but the snow was raised high enough for ponies to literally walk uphill into the illustrious city on all sides.

Rainbow Dash wandered around Pinkie's room in Sugar Cube Corner, worried out of her mind. She wanted to be out there helping everypony, but she knew she'd be hunted down the moment anypony saw her. For a few days after the "incident", nopony had known it was her that had completely destroyed the weather factory. She had hoped to keep all of this under wraps, but she had forgotten one key factor when she had led her exhausted tortoise around the facility in her assault: the security cameras. After the guards were done reviewing the footage, her name was spread around all of Cloudsdale and even to Ponyville and Apple Loosa. She was a criminal; a vandal no less. She had intentionally gone out of her way to sabotage the weather itself, causing hundreds of thousands of bits in property damage and dozens of ponies to be harmed in the process. No matter what the reasoning was, it was still a crime, punishable by incarceration. For how long, nopony could guess.

She had fled Cloudsdale in a fit of panic, immediately running to Twilight. Against her better judgement and solely thinking of her friend, Twilight had made a plan with the girls to help out Dash. Once a week, Rainbow would stay at someponies house. After that week, they'd move her to another location. This first week was at Pinkie Pie's room on top of Sugar Cube Corner. The Cake family had been out visiting relatives when the snow had encased the town, so nopony knew or could disapprove of Dash's stay. The girls weren't around either, due to their responsibilities given to them by Princess Celestia. Pinkie had to help pass out food and supplies to ponies in Canterlot, while Applejack did the same in Ponyville. Rarity went in-between the city and the town to hand out fashionable weather appropriate clothing, bringing any material she could salvage from her home. Fluttershy went into the Everfree Forest to help save any harmed animals, with Zecora's help. Twilight had to help oversee reconstruction of the town, as well as help stave off the Royal Guards that came every day to search for Rainbow Dash.

The cyan mare laid herself out on Pinkie Pie's bed, doing her best to relax. She felt lower than an ant under a fat Manticore's paw. She was stuck in a house with nopony to talk to and nothing to do. She wandered downstairs into the store, surrounded by nothing but darkness and silence. She lit a candle and carried it in her hoof to illuminate the store. It was barren, with the walls creaking and groaning under the pressure of the snow. The kitchen was no better. She placed the candle down on the counter and sat down in the middle of the floor, putting her head between her hooves. She knew she was doing the wrong thing, but she didn't want to go to prison! Her beloved tortoise, her Tank, would emerge from hibernation in just a few months. She had come to accept that thanks to her friends, but she knew nopony else would take her seriously. A crime of this magnitude would put her away for a long time; longer than it would take for winter to end and to meet up with Tank. She couldn't have that, and so fleeing and going into hiding was the best option at the time.

Rainbow laid on the floor, her tail curling around her in sadness and defeat. So much for the most loyal pony in Equestria... The warm tears flowed from her eyes as they dripped onto the floor. She wanted to sob aloud, but the noise would probably attract a wandering ear into the store. The only way in was through the second floor window, and that had been partially destroyed in the snowfall. Pinkie did her best to repair it, but using cinnamon sticks as wood was both an admirable and meaningless effort. She wiped her face with her hoof, raising herself up and walking back up the stairs.

A loud creaking was emanating from the ceiling of the building. It sounded like the snow was being blasted off of the roof, as the sagging ceiling righted itself with a thankful groan. Dash ran into her hiding spot: the large wardrobe next to Pinkie's bed. She slowly closed the creaky doors behind her, making herself as small as possible. From the darkness, she heard the window be gently pushed open. Hoof steps echoed in the room, sounding heavier than a normal ponies.

Is that Bulk Biceps? the Pegasus thought. She shook her head slightly. No way. It may sound like his hooves, but there's no way his little wings could get rid of that snow. She listened more closely. She was slightly taken aback when she heard the metal clinking of... shoes? No pony wore horseshoes in winter! The cold would make them too uncomfortable to wear.

"Rainbow Dash?" A voice softly called out into the supposedly vacant room. She tensed, panicking slightly. Somepony knew she was here! She was ready to zoom out of the closet and bolt right out the window without any hesitation or remorse. Her heart beat like a mad drum in her chest, and sweat started to form on her brow.

She opened her eye suddenly when the voice called out her name again. It was strangely calming and powerful, like a thunder's boom in the middle of a rainy night or like a cat purring on your chest as it slept. She relaxed slightly despite her fears, and it caused her to make the door creak. She tensed up again, afraid her mistake would be her undoing. The hoof steps grew louder and closer. Rainbow tensed her hind legs, ready to spring out from the doors.

The door opened gently, revealing a white muzzle with a golden crown upon it's head. The mane that flowed with every color of the sunrise flowed in a windless room, and the violet eyes stared into hers with some disdain. Rainbow bowed before Princess Celestia instinctively. She suddenly realized her mistake, then rose to flee. Celestia held her in place with her magic, making every part of her stiffen up like a mannequin.

The ruler of Equestria walked around the cyan mare. "So..." she began, "this is the mare who brought about this massive catastrophe." She tutted as she came face to face with Rainbow. The princesses' eyes showed no pity, no forgiveness. They were cold and thoughtful, completely unlike the voice that had caused her body to melt before. She inspected Rainbow like a wolf would when it's prey was backed into a corner.

"Your highness, please, listen to me-" Celestia raised a hoof in a slicing motion, almost literally cutting the words Rainbow began to say as the tip of her metal hoof shoe touched her nose.

"Listen to you? To you? A wanted criminal responsible for causing hundreds to go homeless, to nearly starve? You, who brought about winter weeks ahead of schedule in a bout of thunder, snow and chaos?" She visibly gagged when that last word left her mouth. "I expected much better from you of all ponies, Ms. Dash." Rainbows eyes began to water in sorrow. She knew she was right, but being told so in person from her monarch was what drove it home hard.

Celestia continued her walk. "I know why you did what you did." Rainbow began to speak, but was once again cut off with "I have very reliable sources that told me everything both from second and third hand accounts, as well as the footage from the factory." She paused, giving Rainbow a moment to contemplate.

Rainbow's eyes darted about the room in contemplation. Nopony she knew would tell her secret, especially to Princess Celestia! Everypony was busy anyways, so there was no way they could tell her. AJ was stuck in town, Rarity was running around like mad, Pinkie was in the city, and Fluttershy was in the forest! Her face grew hot with rage when she narrowed down her suspect. Some friend Twilight is! Rainbow thought furiously. Or rather, WAS.

Celestia once again lifted her hoof to Rainbows face, lifting her muzzle. "Yes. It was indeed Twilight who told me of your location. You're lucky she told me and not one of the guards. They have orders to bring you to me, but they can be quite... unprofessional. Shining Armor's been working on getting them in order, but being so far from his watchful eye just makes their minds wander and blood boil."

Rainbow felt the magic around her head easing up slightly. She was able to move more of her face, and it contorted into one of both sadness and anger. Celestia smiled slightly, coldly. "Tell me, Ms. Dash. Why didn't you turn yourself in? You're the Element of Loyalty, which means loyalty to your homeland and your ruler."

Rainbow Dash spoke. "I wanted to, I really did. Every day since it happened I've been wanting to beg for your forgiveness, do anything I could to undo the damage I did." She nodded towards to window Celestia had entered previously. "Nopony out there wants to hear what I have to say, and I don't blame'em. I ruined their homes, their business, their lives! Ponies are starving and homeless because of me. Families can't come home because of what I did!" She lowered hear head in shame. "All because I couldn't bear to let my pet hibernate for a few measly months. I couldn't bear to let him go. I love him too much, your highness."

Rainbow raised her head again to see her Princess looking away from her towards the window. The moon had risen, and it was full and bright. Moonlight poured into the room, making her face appear all the more majestic. A very fine streak was under her eyes, which Dash took note of. Suddenly, her head snapped back towards her in annoyance.

"Still, a crime is a crime. As you said, many are suffering because of what you did." She softened her expression slightly. "Thankfully, you're at least aware of your crimes and appear repentant." Silence flooded the room as Celestia looked into Rainbow's tearing, rose eyes. After a few minutes, the binding around Rainbow Dash was released, her bones creaking from being held in place for so long.

Her first instinct was to flee. Flee Ponyville, or even Equestria. Maybe Gilda would take her in for a while? Anywhere but here would suit her fine. She stopped when she realized that one of the most powerful creatures in all of creation was going easy on her, despite her open confession. She knew she wasn't out of the woods yet, but perhaps there was a way to possibly lessen her punishment?

Dash coughed, immediately getting Celestia's attention. "P-Princess? I... I know I messed up, and I'm SOO sorry about it. I really am. I know it's not enough, but it's something, you know?" She said her next words very, very carefully. "I know you've handled situations bigger than this. You've saved Equestria dozens of times, from evil monsters like Discord and Chrysalis to..." She choked on the next word. "to... even your own sister." Celestia's coat stood on end in rage, but Dash had to continue. It was too late to stop now! "But, you've given most of your enemies a second chance! Princess Luna's reformed after a thousand years, and Discord's reformed from even longer than that! Granted, it was me and the other elements who got them to where they are now, but it's by your patience that they're allowed to be where they are now!" She pressed on, getting bolder. "You waited a thousand years when you banished Luna to the moon, right? Well I want to be there when my turtle wakes up from his hibernation in two months, but I can't do that from a prison cell."

Celestia clearly wanted to say something against Rainbow's point, but she held her tongue. Okay, I'm getting to her. Now to drive it home.
"Like I said before, I'll do anything to repair the damage I did. I just can't be stuck in a prison cell then my tortoise wakes up and sees nopony was there to greet him. You were there for Luna's return; let me be there for Tank's return."

Once again, silence conquered the room. The monarch of the Equestrian society was as silent and still as a statue, the only part of her moving was her eyes as they looked all over the Pegasus' face. After a solid ten minutes, Celestia began to chuckle.

"So, you'll do anything as long as it's not be stuck in a cell?" Dash nodded, absolutely no apprehension in her decision.

Celestia stamped her golden clad hoof on the floor. "Very well. Since you want to reclaim your right to live as a free mare so badly, I'll give you the opportunity." She raised a hoof when Dash began to pump her hoof. "However, it's something that you have to earn."

"Whatever it is, I''ll do it!" Rainbow said, ranting adrenaline fueled words. "Fight a dragon? An army of dragons? Wrestle with an Ursa Major? I'll take on whatever you-"

"You must win a race."

Dash stopped, confused. A race? That's it? She scratched her head with a hoof. "Um... sure? That's simple enough, I suppose." She stopped again. It's too simple.

"If you win this race, you'll be absolved of all crimes related to this incident. I'll also publicly announce to all of Equestria that I forgave you of the crimes, and you'll walk away totally free."

Dash's brow raised skeptically. "And if I lose?"

"You'll have to do every single job for Winter Wrap Up by yourself for the next three years." She said calmly.

Rainbow reeled, sitting on the ground in complete shock. All of W.W.U.? For THREE years?! ALONE?! It was an outrageous stake, sure. But her ego and confidence urged her to press on. She was the fastest flier in all of Equestria! She broke the COLOR barrier with sheer SPEED, for Celestia's sake! Confident, she nodded. There was no way she could lose this.

"Can you guess who your opponent will be, Ms. Dash?" Celestia said coyly.

She didn't pick up on the sly notion, pondering in her head who or what she could race against. Well, it'd have to be fast. Fast and powerful. And probably big, too. A manticore? Nah, too bulky. Phoenix? They're a good match, I guess. Griffon's are too slow, and no pony can match me, soo...
Dash shrugged, at a loss of ideas.

"Me."

Silence.

"Wait.... what?" Dash said after a while. "Did you say that... you'll race me?"

"I didn't stutter, did I?" The princess said with a smug face on her muzzle.

Rainbow didn't know whether to laugh or cower in fear. On one hoof, beating royalty in a race would be a great way to earn her reputation back and then some! On the other, she had never really seen Celestia fly before. She knew she was carried around by chariot a lot, or even teleporting to places with her magic. Rainbow had absolutely no real way of knowing just how fast the Alicorn princess was.

That gave her a thought. "What about your magic? You could easily just poof to the finish line or something and win!"

Celestia raised a hoof in defence. "I assure you there will be no "poofing" of anypony in this race." Clearly Rainbow was unconvinced. Celestia rolled her eyes. "Very well. If it bothers you so much, I'll.... I'll have Discord temporarily remove it."

Dash reeled again, shocked by the offer of such a handicap. Celestia was willing to be rid of her magic? For a race? She wasn't sure whether to be shocked or honored. She nodded her head, agreeing to the terms.

The monarch nodded as well. "Here are the terms of our race." She teleported them into Twilight's castle, the Cutie Map already out and revealing every part of Celestia's domain. Rainbow Dash was incredibly tempted to call out Twilight in anger at the mere sight of the castle's interior, but this was far more important. Celestia pointed her hoof at the desert, small tornadoes circling around large dunes while water flooded around them.

"We'll start our race here." She said, pointing the the furthest corner of the landscape. Her hoof glided over to the opposite corner, which was all the way in Manehattan. "And we'll end here."

"That's not too bad, I guess." She slapped her hoof over her mouth. Why do I have to talk before I think?

"Oh really?" said the Princess, getting confident. "Well, since it's not too much of a problem, we'll make Manehattan the... halfway-point." She slid her hoof again to the desert. "Once you reach the furthest corner of Manehattan, then you turn around and travel all the way back to San Palomino."

Dash gaped. "Across the entire continent? Twice?"

"If it's too much for you to handle, we could discuss the terms of your.... imprisonment?"

She shook her head furiously. "No way! I can handle that!"

Celestia nodded. "Good to hear. See you tomorrow morning, Ms. Dash!" Rainbow started to speak, but Celestia was already rearing up for takeoff. The princess of the day turned into a streak of pure white, sending a shockwave of light to rattle the entire castle. Rainbow was visibly shaking, nearly chattering in fear. This would be a tough race, indeed.

A voice called out from somewhere behind her. "Rainbow Dash? What're you doing here? And what was that rumbling? You're supposed to be at Pinkie's place this week and..."

Rainbow stood and turned around. It was time to finally settle this matter with her... friend.

Comments

[RealityCheck]

Problem with the premise:

1). Winter was apparently right on schedule. It was FINISHED early, not STARTED early.

2) The fact that everyone was out playing in the snow the next day rather negates the claim that there was any crisis or damage at all. Ponyville regularly endures fricking MONSTER ATTACKS and is up and back to normal within a day or two. The idea that an abrupt start to winter would devastate the town more than that is rather ridiculous.

3)The factory was not, in actual fact, destroyed, and there was only minor damage. It just farted out an entire Ponyville winter in one big blast. The mushroom cloud was winter bursting over Ponyville, not Cloudsdale.

4)If she punishes Dash this heavily for something of such minimal consequence, she'll have to go back and punish Applejack for the rabbit stampede and the Baked Bads outbreak, Fluttershy for the parasprites and the Gala stampede, Pinkie Pie for the Mirror Pool Pinkiepocalypse, Rarity for running rampant with that renovation spellbook, and Twilight for the Smarty Pants incident... and herself for unleashing Nightmare Moon, Discord and Tirek. Three creatures she imprisoned, that she KNEW were going to escape, and yet gave literally noone any warning about...she even RE-released Discord, which nearly ended the damn world when he teamed up with Tirek! which mean she herself is responsible for more potential death and destruction than the rest of them combined.

VERDICT: Bogus guilt trip. The claims of damages unrealistic, the proposed punishment is draconian, the challenge sadistic, and the one handing out the punishment hypocritical. Celestia is grossly OOC for even contemplating it. When she starts treating beings who actually nearly end the world this harshly, then maybe it would start looking believable. Till then this story fails the smell test.

[Gear Grinder]

5915504 I know Ponyvile's gone though a lot of things worse than this, but considering how close the Weather Factory is to Ponyville and Canterlot, it makes them pretty vulnerable spots for that mass dumping of snow towards the end of "Tanks for the Memories". It made a massive mushroom cloud of snow that immediately buried everything and everypony in snow so deep they had to dig their ways out. Not only that but we never saw if the factory was ever totally salvaged or not, so it's safe to say the whole facility went haywire and started launching giant snow nukes all over the place. I'm from Chicago, so I've seen just how bad large amounts of snowfall can damage buildings and even break whole houses down. On top of that, considering Ponyville wants to keep Winter Wrap Up "traditional", they're not going to clean it until it's the beginning of Spring, and even when then happens they'll do it by hoof (unless Rainbow loses this race, then she'll have to do it. No spoilers.)

For further proof of how damaging snow is, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Vya2-iHqo

[RealityCheck]

5915582 Nothing you said negates ANY of the points I made. At the end the factory was still standing, as was Ponyville, and nopony was behaving remotely as if there was a crisis. People do not go out figure skating in a calamity!

The premise for this story is OVERLY CONTRIVED. It requires damage and destruction that didn't happen, reactions from the rest of Ponyville that were nonexistent, and a draconian (and hypocritical) Celestia to administer the punishment.

[kabutteri]

You're the Element of Loyalty, which means loyalty to your homeland and your ruler."

NO, she's not the Element of Loyalty. The element was the necklace she used to wear. They gave them back, remember? Also, why does Celestia want to punish Rainbow Dash and not Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity? Those four also did something that's as bad as what RD did and they got away with it

[dawn seeker]

5915634 ok can we compromise and just say this is an alternate events to the show? you both make good points
yes in the show none of these disasters happened but if said events were different this could be plausible i mean just how much DO we know about the weather factory and the impacts it has on weather regulation? there is much that is still unexplained so lets just see where this goes.

[Blackguard]

Yeah, I'm sorry but the punishment seems more arbitrary than anything else and everything up to now feels like a setup for it. I just don't get how it is you can go from, "this is a crime and you must be punished" to "we'll have a race and if you win you'll be set free".

Had you wanted to set something like this up maybe a more believable, albeit cliche, reason might be to have Dash be overly boastful about being the fastest pegasus alive. She'd be full of herself, saying something like, "even Princess Celestia can't beat me!" which sets the wheels into motion. Twilight Sparkle send this in a letter to Celestia who thinks that Rainbow Dash needs to be taught a lesson and the story progresses more or less as it was.

[Gear Grinder]

5915504

1) Winter WAS on schedule, but it wasn't meant to be shot out in a massive cannonball like it was in so sudden of a fashion. The Weather Team was originally letting out small amounts of snowfall by individual clouds, whereas Ponyville was hit by a blast of snow that was big enough to bury ponies alive. There was no way damage WASN'T caused, considering how quickly the massive amount of snow fell onto the town.

2) Ponyville has gone through a lot of problems, like I agreed with you before. However, none of those caused a whole lot of damage as this incident potentially did:

A) The rabbit stampede only caused very minor damage to some crops and some bushes, and the baked bads only caused 11 ponies to have indigestion with some vomiting.
B) The Pinkie Pie clones were only a minor town nuisance, and they caused minor damage to a farmhouse that wasn't even truly built in the first place. The problem was resolved by Twilight Sparkle before it could get any worse beyond that.
C) All of Rarity's remodeling was reset by Luna, Cadence and Twilight. Luna may have regained her title and responsibilities but that doesn't entitle her to report everything to her sister, and Cadence owed Spike a great debt for saving the Crystal Empire which was pretty much paid in full when she pretty much covered for him towards the end of Inspiration Manifestation.
D) Celestia forgave the Smarty Pants incident because she knows Twilight better than anypony else, considering she's been her teacher since Twilight was a very young filly. She should have been punished then, but she let her go because everypony else was able to vouch for her and sway her opinion. That and an obvious bit of favoritism. Besides, not a lot of damage was done, except to some ponies pride after fighting over a ragged old doll.

3) The only time they showed the factory from ground level was immediately after the snow-nuke was launched, and that was three seconds of lightning and smoke. The internals of the winter lab were totally demolished because of the damage Rainbow did, and they made sure to show as many thunderclouds forming inside the facility as they could. Also, the whole building was both flooded and had lightning bouncing around, causing massive damage to machinery and possibly even Pegasi. Above all else in this scenario, this is the biggest key factor: Nearly the entire facility is made of clouds. Lightning could easily pierce through the walls of the complex and cause massive destruction to everything and everyone inside.

4) Really? You do know that Celestia is neither omniscient or omnipresent, right? Sure, she kept a close eye on Twilight Sparkle as she grew and learned with magic, but she can't be expected to watch every single little individual corner of Equestria. Not even her magic is strong enough for that! As for your other claims:

A) It wasn't her who released Discord the second time, it was the Bearers of the Elements. Sure, it was under her request, but considering how much of a reputation they've gained and how much political favor they've probably earned, Celestia would've more than likely gone with their decision if they said they didn't want to release him.
B) Celestia may have known about Nightmare Moon's release, but she had full faith that Twilight would come across the Elements of Harmony and discover the power to stop her. On top of that, it's also been debated that Nightmare Moon banished Celestia to the sun when she got free. Celestia had nothing to do with setting her sister free, as the spell was only meant to last for 1,000 years. Even if she DID want to keep it going for longer, do you really think she would've happily agreed to keep her sister stuck on the moon for eternity?
C) Tirek freed himself on his own accord and with his own abilities. Even the show doesn't explain how he got free, and Celestia didn't know about it until he had drained his first victim. She only sent Discord to stop him because she had full faith that he'd stay on the good side. Like I said before, she's not all-seeing and all-knowing. She needed to stay in Canterlot to help maintain order over the denizens that remained, as she's basically the voice of reason among the madness of the city in a time of crisis.

Verdict: The guilt trip was entirely warranted. Like it says in the story, it took five days for news about Rainbow's vandalism to spread to Canterlot. Considering that she heard that Dash had gone into hiding, she had to lay down the law and hold her accountable. Running away from a problem is a sign of fear, and if Rainbow really felt she had done nothing wrong she wouldn't have gone into hiding. She even eased up slightly when she saw that Dash really was sorry, and offered her something that was possibly within her realms of achieving.
She's not entirely acting out of character because so far we've rarely see her take charge of a catastrophe like this. The one time she had the chance to step forward and actually act on something was the Royal Wedding, and she got beat pretty badly after a short fight with Chrysalis.
Celestia isn't being sadistic in this story; it's purely out of competitive drive. Rainbow blurted out that her punishment was no problem, and Celestia added more to the race to make it more of a challenge for both her and Rainbow. She even offered to have Discord take away her magic! That's making the competition pretty level, don't you think?

If you truly feel like something was left out of this WHOLE explanation either read or listen to a dramatic reading of The Fiery Joker's fanfiction: The Folly of Celestia. It covers pretty much everything I covered.

http://www.fimfiction.net/story/248728/the-folly-of-celestia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVBGQBfz2k

PS: The story only has ONE chapter out so far! You're taking this way too seriously before the full story has even been developed. It's a fantasy story in a fantasy setting with fantasy characters, so of course there are going to be a lot of unbelievable and unrealistic things. That's the idea! Also remember that the sixth episode of season 5 hasn't even been released yet, so there's no way anyone can say this couldn't happen when there's no real substantial evidence produced by Hasbro to prove otherwise.
I appreciate some of the input you provided in your post (albeit it was worded rather rudely), but it's like a starved mountain lion taking on a baby: Give it a chance to grow before you pounce on it and feast on the innards.

[kabutteri]

5918920 Then why didn't they punish Fluttershy for the parasprite incident? That one was even more devastating than what RD did.

[superfun]

Rereading this for the first time in a while, and Celestia DEFINITELY comes across as way too harsh.