//------------------------------// // Part 3: Ain't it a Sin? (The Bricklayer) // Story: Poison Whiskey // by The Bricklayer //------------------------------// "I try to be a righteous man, talk to the Lord most every day, Sometimes this world can do me wrong, I keep to the path won't go astray When I start boiling over my feelings catch a flame You might be a man, stay a man, but you won't be the same If you ain't gonna do me right I might just do you in, Ain't it a Sin?" Ain't it a Sin: Charles Bradley: Changes, 2016 Rainbow and Fluttershy's shared Cottage: Ponyville Rainbow Dash winced as her wife dabbed away at her bloodied cheeks with an alcohol rubbing wipe. She let out a small squeak each time the wipe touched the bloodied fur and flinched. Fluttershy just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Honestly Dashie, it doesn't hurt that much." She remarked. Rainbow begged to differ. "Yeah? Try telling that to my fur! Stings like a bit-" This time, Fluttershy used one of her butter yellow wings to slap Rainbow upside the head, and this hurt more than the rubbing wipes. "Naughty naughty Dashie, you and I both know I don't tolerate that sort of language in my home. You can use it around your friends, but NOT around me, understood?" Fluttershy asked sternly and Rainbow whimpered out a small reply as Angel snickered in the background and made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a whip being cracked. Rainbow shot him a glare and muttered "Demonic rabbit..." in a tone that was just inaudible enough for her wife not to hear. Speaking of Fluttershy, currently she had parted some of Rainbow's mane to reveal a nasty bloody gash across her forehead and gasped. "Rainbow, what happened?" Fluttershy asked in concern. "That damned stallion smashed my head into one of his house's walls, that's what." Rainbow grumbled. Fluttershy didn't even need to guess who exactly "That damned stallion" was and who Rainbow was referring to. Fluttershy put a hoof into her mouth and whistled and from out of a small cubbyhole under the stairwell came a black and white penguin with a red crest on it's head. "Pen-Pen, do be a dear and fetch me some bandages for Rainbow's head, will you?" The penguin let out a cry of "Wark! Wark!" and waddled off to where Fluttershy kept her medical supplies and soon returned with a ton of bandages in its flippers. "Good boy, Pen-Pen!" Fluttershy complimented and patted him on the head making the penguin emit a pleased sound before it waddled off elsewheres. Fluttershy then inspected the bandages. "Hmm, a bit much, perhaps a teensy bit overkill but these will do nicely I think..." Fluttershy mused to herself and began wrapping the bandages around Rainbow's head. "I better not end up looking like a mummy by the end of this, you hear?" Rainbow deadpanned and Fluttershy could only giggle. Rainbow somehow wasn't reassured in the slightest. Eventually, after a few minutes, and much protesting from a certain prismatic maned pegasus, Fluttershy was done with her "Torture". "There, all better!" Fluttershy chirped cheerfully and planted a kiss to Rainbow's forehead, much like a mother would do to her child. "Gee mom, are you going to check my temperature and feed me hot soup as well and call my wounds Boo-Boos?" Rainbow sarcastically snarked. Fluttershy glared. "Don't you have someplace to be, like checking on Scootaloo?" She asked, and Rainbow slapped a hoof to her forehead as she cursed herself under her breath for her forgetfulness? How could she have forgotten about her own daughter, for Celestia's sake? "Y-Yeah, best I do that." Rainbow stammered out, blushing red before she remembered something else as well and growled. "But first, there's a certain somepony who I have to have words with..." Cloudsdale Weather Factory Rainbow flew towards the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, grumbling very un-family friendly curse words towards a certain group of pegasi as she landed on the cloud path leading up towards the Factory itself and trotted towards the office of the Weather Making Team: Ponyville Division. Ponies parted out of her way, upon seeing the horrible mood Rainbow was in and not wanting to raise her ire and get her fury directed towards them. As Rainbow walked towards the office, she noticed the purple form of the Sparkling Balloon tied to a cloud and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Huh, looks like I'm not the only one who wants words with that fool Cloud Kicker." She mused, and soon her suspicions were proven correct when she heard Applejack's voice yelling at somepony from behind the door that led to the office. The door had a gold plaque on it that read "Rainbow Dash: Head Weather Supervisor for Ponyville", of which Rainbow was very proud of. "...And because of your dang fool idea to create a damn twister, half of our trees got ripped up last night and now they have to be replanted! That's half of our yearly harvest lost, all because of ya showing off what yer team could do when it didn't have Rainbow to keep your Celestia-damned fool selves in line!" Applejack's furious voice bellowed from behind the door, before it opened and out stormed the orange Earth Pony herself, looking very, VERY displeased. Rainbow actually took a step back in fear from the expression on Applejack's face. She'd never seen her THIS furious before. "Ah take it ya want to have words with that idjit as well, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Rainbow nodded, and Applejack simply gestured to the door before stomping off and muttering about needing a stiff drink to herself. Rainbow entered the office and was pleased to see Cloud Kicker and the rest of the Weather Team (Cloud Chaser, Flitter and Thunderlane) already looking quite shaken from Applejack's furious tirade. "Soooo..." Rainbow began slowly. "Anypony want to pipe up and tell me why I got reports from an anonymous source that a tornado was seen on the ground late last night?" Nopony said a word. "Yeah, thought not." Rainbow deadpanned. "You know, a very dear friend of mine almost got herself skewered by a tree being thrown through her home's window because of that tornado, and she wouldn't have made it out just in time if not for Princess Luna's intervention! Did any of you give a flying feather before you even thought about the possible results your idea could have caused, 'cause from where I'm standing, it sure as Tartarus doesn't look like it to me!" The Element of Loyalty roared, and she wasn't done yet as she gazed upon everypony in the room. "Now, all of you have family relations. Thunderlane, what if it had been your younger brother who could have been caught up in that? Huh, did you even think for one second about that!?! Flitter, Cloud Chaser, what if it had been either of you?" Rainbow bellowed, and the silence that came from all three of the ponies and their guilty expressions said it all. "Yeah, thought that might knock some sense into you. Consider yourselves off the team for a solid month and your pay docked, is that clear? IS THAT CLEAR!?!" Rainbow asked, channeling some of her inner Spitfire at the end. The three nodded and hung their heads as they walked out of the room with Cloud Kicker following but Rainbow grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her into a chair. "Eh eh, did I say I was done with you yet?" Rainbow asked, and Cloud Kicker whimpered. "You know, I put my trust, MY TRUST in you when I asked you to take over for the night. Apparently, I was mistaken. When you're head of a Weather Team, you have a responsibility, and you're supposed to uphold it and know when to restrain yourself. Last night, it's clear to me you didn't. To put it simply, you're fired. You're going to have to go and find another job. Go ahead and become a mare of the night for all I care, Celestia knows you like to bang anypony and everypony." Rainbow muttered to herself as Cloud Kicker walked out of the office as Rainbow gestured to the open door, very ashamed of herself. She'd lost Rainbow's trust, and once you did that, you could never get it back. "Now, to go check on Scoots." Friendship Castle: Ponyville The Friendship Castle, a tall gleaming spire of purple crystal, topped off with a yellow star making it almost resemble a Christmas tree. It brought hope to everypony in the small town, just as its owner did the same with her wisdom and guidance. Right now, Rainbow was in need of some of that wisdom and guidance. When she got to the doors of the Castle, she found Fluttershy already there. "Where is she?" Rainbow asked in worry for her daughter. "She's resting, apparently those... parents of hers banged up her worse than we thought. Has a concussion from what Twilight told me, probably from getting a beer bottle smashed over her head." Fluttershy said sadly, almost in tears. She'd been beating herself up for not noticing just how badly Scootaloo had been hurt. Rainbow noticed her distraught state and put a hoof on her wife's shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't beat yourself up. I didn't notice, and I should have. Nopony can notice every fault, especially when we were as tired as we were." Rainbow said reassuringly and Fluttershy smiled weakly. "Come on, Twilight's waiting for us inside." She said, and led Rainbow to Twilight's personal chambers, where Scootaloo was sound asleep curled up under the purple star themed covers snoring softly. It was rather cute, even Rainbow had to admit. "Okay, now somepony want to explain to me what the Tartarus is going on? Fluttershy shows up on my doorstep with a badly bruised Scootaloo, and next thing I see is a battalion of Luna's personal guards rushing down my street!" Twilight demanded, on the verge of a full scale rant. And so Fluttershy and Rainbow explained everything as best as they could, from Scootaloo showing up on their doorstep to Rainbow confronting her adoptive parents. Twilight's eyes grew wider with each passing moment and she sat down on her haunches, quite floored by the influx of information. "...By Celestia... How could anypony be so cruel, to a child in fact?" Twilight whispered, on the verge of tears before she growled. "Rest assured, you two, you'll have my full support in putting those monsters behind bars." Twilight stated firmly before she took a deep breath, knowing what she had to say next Fluttershy and Rainbow wouldn't like. "But there is a problem." Twilight said, looking directly towards Rainbow Dash. "You pretty much broke into a household, and beyond that, assaulted another pony, and that might come up during the trial, and not be favorable in your light." Twilight said, and Rainbow's jaw dropped. "You... You mean those monsters may walk free as a bird just because of my actions!?! Besides, that jerk deserved a beating after what he did to my Scootaloo!" Rainbow yelled with her wings flaring out in anger, while Fluttershy massaged her shoulders to calm her. "I didn't say that, and I perfectly agree with your reasoning (Although Twilight did raise an eyebrow when Rainbow called Scootaloo hers) but I did bring it up so you'll be warned beforehoof." Twilight explained, and Rainbow calmed down, knowing losing her temper wouldn't solve anything. Then, she yawned. She'd had a long day, and she suspected she'd have even longer days to come in the coming weeks. Crawling into bed beside her daughter, she once more wrapped her wings around her protectively. "I promise Scoots, I won't let those monsters get to you, not again." Rainbow whispered as Fluttershy joined her. Twilight smiled and wiped away a tear at the cute scene. "I... I guess I'll be sleeping on the couch tonight then." She said before shutting off the lights.