//------------------------------// // First day (part 1) // Story: Caught and punished // by TheHardie-Boy //------------------------------// I never went out at night. It was always freezing. Twilight said it was because winter was nearing, but that didn’t make it any better. I quickened my pace, so we could get to the castle a little quicker. Even with this coat on, I could still feel the cold, night air against my skin. I was really used to warmer temperatures, so this was very uncomfortable for me. We finally made it to Twilight’s huge, crystal castle. I’ve been inside once before when I first appeared in Equestria a few weeks ago. I really freaked out when I saw all the ponies, but I’m getting used to it. It really helped that ponies here were like humans back where I came from. We walked inside, and I took off my coat, expecting it to be a little warmer in the castle. Unfortunately, it was just as cold inside as it the castle as it was outside. “I really gotta say this; this castle is cool and all, but it sucks when it comes to insulation,” I told Twilight. “Spike and I never really notice it. Ponies’ fur coats help protect them from the cold, and dragons are just inherently warm on the insider,” Twilight explained to me. Even though I lived here, there was still so much I didn’t know about ponies. “So where are the others?” I asked. Twilight moved ahead of me a little. “They’re probably in the Map Room. You know, the room we found you in.” I chuckled as I recalled the memory. Soon, we came up to the doors I barely recognized. Twilight opened them with her magic, and we stepped inside. Our other friends were all in there, just hanging out and doing whatever. “Hey, girls!” I said, waving a hand. There was a short chorus of greetings as they all turned to face us, save for Spike, who seemed to be staring dreamily at the corner of the room. “So I’m assuming you took Twilight’s offer to look after...her?” asked Rarity. “Yeah,” I replied. Rainbow Dash turned her head to Twilight. “I still think this is a bad idea.” “I told you before, stop thinking about it. Starlight’s in Sam’s hooves -er hands, now,” Twilight countered. “I promise I’ll do my best to help. Where is this ‘Starlight’, anyhow?” I asked. “She’s over there,” answered Rarity, motioning to the corner of the room Spike was staring at. I looked over to where she mentioned, and I saw her. She was a unicorn, like Twilight had said, with a lilac coat of fur. Her mane was a dark shade of purple, just brighter than Twilight’s, with a streak of green flowing through it. It was done up in a ponytail in the back, and the front was done similar to Twilight’s. I noticed she had a small bit of chubbiness in her cheeks and belly, but only because my other friends were pretty slim. One wouldn’t be able to tell without comparison. She was staring at me with big eyes, which were a certain shade of purple. At the moment, I had only one thought going through my mind: ’How could someone so cute do something so bad as what Twilight said?’ That was the thing about me. Even though I didn’t really see them in a romantic sort of way, I thought ponies, especially mares were somewhat cute. I had foolishly expressed these thoughts before to my friends, and although they told me they were flattered, they said I should keep those thoughts to myself when it came to other ponies. That didn’t stop me from poking fun at it with my friends, though. Every time one of them did something cute around me, I would give them a little *boop* on the snoot. It always made them giggle cutely when I did that, even Rainbow Dash, who apparently hated, quote unquote: mushy stuff. I walked around to the back of Starlight, who turned as well. She kept staring at me with those big, curious eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was intrigued or scared. “You must be Starlight. My name’s Sam,” I said, kneeling down. She simply stared at me in response. “So...you do know that she-“ Rarity started. “Yes, he knows, Rarity. He doesn’t need you to tell him again,” Twilight interrupted. “Umm, how exactly am I gonna get her back to my place?” I asked. “That’s...a good question. I can’t teleport you there because the ring would probably come off. You can’t really walk her there because she’ll probably run off,” Twilight mused. “I guess...I could carry her, unless you happen to have a collar and leash?” When I said that, I got a few...mixed reactions from my friends. Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, Rarity put a hoof in front of her mouth to hide a tiny smile, Applejack stifled a laugh, Pinkie Pie was...Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, and Twilight looked away from me, trying to hide what I think was a blush. Remembering my deals with them, I walked up to Twilight, cupped her cheek in my hand to make her face me...and booped her on the nose. She flinched and giggled a little. I rolled my eyes and went back to Starlight, who was still just staring at me. “So...?” “Yeah, we don’t have an better ideas. I’ll come by tomorrow to see if you need anything. Thanks again for doing this, Sam,” Twilight spoke for her friends. “Alright then,” I said. I moved around Starlight and knelt down. I put my arms under her torso and heaved her up. Her expression was now just pure shock. “Umm, Twilight, could you get the door for us?” “Oh, right,” Twilight said, following me down the hall. She opened the front door, and we said our goodbyes. ’What is this thing? And what does he think he’s doing with me?’ Starlight thought to herself. She had never seen anything like Sam before. He seemed nice, but the way he was handling her...she was really not having it. ’It’s not like I can do anything right now. I’ll just have to wait until we’re out of sight of this stupid princess.’ Sam began to run through the peaceful town of Ponyville. It didn’t take long for the cold, night air to hit her coat. She began shivering in Sam’s grasp, although he did provide an extra bit of heat. “See that house over there? That’s mine...or well, ours I guess, for now,” Sam told Starlight. ’Good. That should mean we’re far enough away not to be noticed.’ Starlight started struggling and wiggling as hard as she could to get out of Sam’s grip. Sam stopped a little, but he tightened his arms around her. Starlight tried kicking Sam to get him to let her go, but her hooves were in bad spots to reach him. She would’ve just ended up kicking herself in the flank. “Woah, woah, what happened? You were fine back at the castle,” Sam said. Starlight tried even harder for a few seconds before just giving up. “There you go. It’s alright. You don’t need to be afraid of me, I promise.” ’That was useless. This...whatever it is, is way too strong for me. I’ll just have to find another way.’ Sam arrived at the house he was talking about with Starlight still in his arms. She was thankful it was the middle of the night, or she would’ve been humiliated. Well, even more, at least. Not that she wasn’t feeling humiliated anyway. Sam stepped into his living room and up to his white couch. He gently set Starlight down on it and knelt down to her. “So...welcome to your new home...for now, at least. It’s not much, I know, but it’s enough for me. I’ve never really had a roommate before, so that’ll be a new experience for me. Here, the couch isn’t a pullout, but it’s still comfortable enough to sleep on. I would know,” Sam said, chuckling a little at the end. Starlight stayed silent. “Well...Twilight said you did some pretty bad stuff with your magic, which is why you can’t use it for a while, but she also believes you can make up for it. And even though her friends obviously don’t think the same, I trust her judgement. She’s always been there for me. Living in a land of ponies is pretty weird. Don’t get me wrong, this world is amazing.” Starlight said nothing, but began to grow annoyed. “Umm...I’ll go get you a blanket and pillow so you can sleep. You look pretty tired out. I can imagine you’ve probably had a long day. Be right back.” Sam left the room and returned a moment later with a white, fluffy pillow, and a brown blanket. He placed the pillow on the end of the couch and laid out the blanket next to Starlight. “Feel free to read anything from my bookshelf if you want. The bathroom’s down the hall right there; you can’t miss it. And if you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to come ask. I’ll be upstairs, in the last room to the right...I’m rambling here, aren’t I?” Starlight nodded. “Well, at least I got a response this time. Umm...sweet dreams, I guess. If you wake up before me, like I said, go ahead and take a look at my books, just don’t wake me up early.” With that, Sam went up the stairs. “Finally, he left,” Starlight whispered to herself. “Now I can get this stupid ring off my horn and get out of here.” Starlight poked the ring with her hoof and tried to slide it up her horn. It didn’t move. “Come on. Why won’t you come off?” Starlight said. She tried again, with both hooves this time, but got the same result. “Come off!” Starlight could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She tried firing a spell, but the ring glowed lavender and absorbed the magic. “No! I can’t go without my magic!” Starlight cried. She kept trying to get the ring off as tears started falling down her face. When she still couldn’t get it off, she hopped off the couch and began to sob. “There has to be a way to get this off.” I woke up next morning earlier than I wanted. It had taken forever to get to sleep last night, and had no sleep the night before since Twilight and the others were away. I sat up and stretched, trying to remember what I had planned. Nothing new, just job hunting, “Wait a second, that’s right. I have a roommate now!” I exclaimed as I facepalmed for not remembering. I changed shirts and put on some decent pants before going downstairs to see...my living room was in shambles. The bookshelf was tipped, and there were books everywhere. My glass table was turned over and broken, making it pretty much useless. The couch was in the wrong spot, and the cushions were all across the room. My father’s chair was misplaced, but otherwise oaky. Finally, in the middle of the room was the one who caused it. Starlight was asleep on her side. It looked like she had cried herself to sleep, judging by the small puddle next to her face and the large bags under her eyes. This didn’t do anything to calm my mood. “Starlight! What did you do to my living room?!” I yelled, nearly at the top of my lungs. Starlight shot awake, literally catching a foot of air, with her back slightly arched. Her eyes became pinpricks as soon as she saw me, and she stated backing away. “What. Did. You. Do?!” I yelled again. “I-I-I’ve never b-been without my magic b-before, so I tried to get the ring o-off my horn, b-but it wouldn’t come off, a-and I...” she trailed off, clearly scared out of her mind. Seeing her like that snapped me out of my anger. ’I am such an idiot. I told her she didn’t need to be afraid of me, and I go and do this. Great, things are off to a just peachy start.’ I slowly started walking toward her, and she backed away from me like I was a monster until she backed into the couch. I knelt down in front of her, and she looked away with her eyes clenched shut. I put my hand on her. “Hey, it’s okay. I-I’m not mad,” I cooed. She didn’t look at me. “I’m sorry I yelled. I told you that you don’t need to be afraid of me, and I intend to keep that promise,” I said. Her breaths became a little more steady, and she opened her eyes a little, but she still didn’t look at me. “I get it. You’re scared, and frustrated...and you have every right to be.” She looked at me. Her eyes were still filled with fear, but I thought I also saw what resembled regret. “Here, why don’t you go back to sleep. You still look pretty tired,” I said, lifting her back onto the couch and covering her with the blanket. “R-Really? Y-You’re not gonna make me fix all this?” she asked. “No, it’s fine. I’ll get it,” I said, gently stroking her mane. Her breaths were still very shaky, and her eyes still showed she was afraid. I kept stroking her mane until her eyes slowly closed. Even though she didn’t look as...good as back in the castle, I still had to admit, she looked pretty cute when she was asleep. I turned back to the room to asses the damage. I put the bookshelf back up, and saw it was still in one piece. The books were everywhere, but they were all fine as well. I slowly pushed the couch back into place, careful not to wake up Starlight. I then realized that I had not yet put the cushions on the couch. After I gathered the cushions, I pushed my father’s chair back into place. She had left all the pictures of my family untouched, as well as my DVD player. The only thing that was unsalvageable was the table, which I didn’t mind too much. Sure, it looked nice, but I was always afraid the glass in the middle would break, so I meant to get a new one anyhow. I simply opened the front and tossed it out. I started to put the books back when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to see Twilight. “Hey, Sam. I just came by to give you your first payment,” she said. I stepped outside and put a finger over my mouth, closing the door behind me. “She’s still sleeping in there, so we have to be quiet.” “Oh right, sorry. Like I said, I just came by to drop off your first payment,” she said, giving me a saddlebag full of bits. It was then that she noticed the broken table on the porch. “What happened to that?” I ran my hand across the back of my head. “She...kinda had a little tantrum last night...” “And?” Twilight said, raising her eyebrow. “...And she kinda messed up my living room.” “What?” she silently yelled. “It’s not that big a deal, really. The only think she really broke was the table,” I assured. Twilight opened the door a little and looked inside. She sighed when she faced me again. “Well...I guess it looks okay. But you’re still gonna have to take some kind of measure to make sure she doesn’t do it again.” “What do you mean?” “Well...my friends suggested something last night back at the castle, and while I’m not the biggest fan of what they said, it looks like they might’ve been on to something,” she said, unable to face me. “What did they say?” I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “I don’t think you’re gonna like this, and I know for a fact that she won’t, but...they suggested maybe getting her a fairly large cage for her to sleep in and a collar and leash for when you need to go out, just until she shows she can behave,” she said, very sheepishly might I add. “What?! You can’t be serious,” I nearly yelled. I checked back inside to see if I had awoken Starlight, which I didn’t. “You said you didn’t want to throw her in prison. How is this any different?” “I know, but...between what happened at the village and this tantrum...I don’t have any better ideas.” I thought about it for a second. “Well, a cage is completely out of the question...but you’re right. I’m probably gonna have to get her a collar.” “I’ll watch her for you,” Twilight offered. “Thanks. Help yourself to anything in the fridge,” I responded. “There’s a pet shop not too far from here. If you’re gonna find a pony-sized collar anywhere, it’ll be there,” Twilight told me. “Alright, I’ll be right back,” I said, walking off with a handful of bits. I walked around Ponyville, getting a lot of weird looks. The ponies around here were still kind of warming up to me. Except for a mare named Lyra Heartstrings, who was furiously waving at me. I chuckled and waved back. She may have been a little...crazy for humans, but I could tell she meant well. I finally found the shop Twilight was talking about and walked in. It was big, and it had a lot of stuff you’d expect to see in a normal pet shop. There was food, cushions, toys, and junk like that. I’ve never owned a pet, so the whole experience was fairly new to me. “Well, hello there! How can I help you?” I heard a cheery voice. I looked at the counter and saw a female earth pony with a bright blue coat and a dark blue mane. She wore a big smile that seemed to compliment her cheery tone. “Hey...I’m, uh, Sam, and I was wondering if you had any...collars and leashes?” I asked sheepishly. I wasn’t exactly sure how she would respond to me treating a pony like a...pet. “Well, of course we have collars and leashes, honey. What kind of animal were you thinking of?” she asked. Her tone was still cheery, so I lightened up a little. “Umm...a pony,” I answered. “Oh...oh, why yes, we have collars for ponies,” she said, her voice growing sly. I gulped. “Well, that’s great. Where are they?” She gave a sly chuckle. “Oh, we don’t keep those out for all to see. I’ll be right back with one.” She walked into a back room. I don’t know why, but I had a feeling I wasn’t gonna like what she came out with. Sure enough, she came back out with a green collar. It had a little charm that had a little bow tie behind it. “It’s rather...rare somepony asks for a collar for another pony, but it’s happened before, so we always try to be prepared. This one’s made from the finest leather in Equestria, shipped all the way from Phillydelphia.” I hesitantly took the collar in my hand. One would have to be an idiot to not know what it was really for. “Y-You aren’t appalled by leather?” “Some are, but most aren’t. I can also have the little charm engraved for the lucky mare,” she answered, giving me a wink at the last part. “You don’t have anything a little...less? I’m not really sure Starlight would like this,” I said, realizing my mistake too late. Of course, she took the leash and made her way back to where she got it. A few minutes later, she returned with the leash. “Here you go. I’m sure your Starlight would love this, lucky mare,” she said dreamily. I shuddered and looked at the charm. It was now engraved. ’Starlight, property of Sam’ There was also a heart dotting the “I” in “Starlight”. I grimaced as I read the words. ’I can’t believe I was stupid enough to say Starlight’s name in front of her. Great, it’s not like I can’t buy it now that she’s engraved it.’ “How much?” I asked dejectedly. “Well, normally the collar and leash alone cost thirty bits, plus an extra twenty for the engraving, but you’re cute, so I won’t charge you for the engraving, bringing the final cost back to thirty bits,” she said. I blushed a little when she called me cute, and started counting bits. I handed her the bits, and took the collar. “Oh, and don’t forget the leash, no charge,” she said, giving me a blue string. I took at and tried clamping it to the charm, hoping it would cover the engraving. It didn’t. “Thanks. I should be going,” I said, walking back to the door. “Oh by the way, my name’s Lilly. Give your precious Starlight my greetings,” she said in a tone that I was not at all comfortable with. I sprinted through Ponyville back to my house. I did not want any of these ponies to see me with a pony-sized leash. I got to my house and caught my breath before walking inside. Starlight was still asleep on the couch, looking a bit more peaceful than before, and Twilight was using her magic to put all my books back on the bookshelf. I tapped her on the shoulder and motioned toward the kitchen. We both walked in, and I showed her the collar. “Do not ask me to go there again. Lilly is way too much like Pinkie without actually being for my liking,” I told her as she inspected the collar. She grimaced at something. “Well, this collar is certainly...interesting.” “Is it the leather? Or the engraving?” I asked. “The engraving. Leather doesn’t gross me out quite as much as it used to, but the engraving...it’s a bit much,” Twilight admitted. “Yeah, I made the mistake of saying who it was for in front of Lilly. I couldn’t really back out of buying it, though,” I responded. “At least it’s a fairly nice collar. Although, I doubt that’d do much to help.” “I’m definitely gonna find something to cover those words,” I said. “And hey, who knows? Maybe she’ll start behaving quick, so she won’t have to wear it long,” Twilight said. “Yeah,” I agreed. There was a small pause. “This is gonna get ugly isn’t it?” I asked. “Probably,” Twilight admitted. Starlight suddenly walked by us, ignoring us and looking very tired still, and into the bathroom. “I guess I should be going. I’ll come by again, probably tomorrow, to see how you’re doing. Good luck,” Twilight said. “Thanks. I’m probably gonna need it,” I responded. Twilight left, and I leaned on the counter, waiting for Starlight to return. After a moment, Starlight came back out. I had a guilty look on my face that made her pause. “Hey, listen. I really don’t want to do this...but it’s kinda out of my hands,” I told her. She tilted her head in confusion. “Just, with your little outburst last night, I have no choice but to take...tighter measures until I can fully trust you,” I said, holding up the collar. As soon as she saw it, her breaths became shaky again, and her expression from earlier when I had yelled at her returned. ’I am just doing a terrible job not scaring her.’ I started walking toward her, collar in hand. She started backing away from me until she hit the wall and had nowhere to go. I slowly knelt down and fastened the collar around her neck. Surprisingly, she didn’t put up a fuss as I tightened it, not enough to strangle her, but enough to keep it from falling off. I stood back up and observed her. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she was starting to hyperventilate. She brought her hoof up to the collar, as if trying to get it off. She looked like she was on the verge of crying. I looked away from her. I felt terrible. I had promised her she didn’t need to be afraid of me, but I wasn’t doing a very good job. “I’m really sorry about this, but...you’re just not leaving me with much of a choice. Look, when you start behaving, and I can start to trust you, I’ll take it off, okay?” I said. She looked at me again before dipping her head and breaking into crying. I just couldn’t look at her like that. ’At least she looks pretty cute, wearing that collar and being all sub...No, no, no, no, NO! Do NOT go there right now!’ “W-Why don’t I make us some breakfast?” I offered, trying to cheer her up a little. She calmed down a little. I looked at the clock and chuckled. “Okay, forget breakfast. How about brunch?” I opened the fridge to find...almost nothing. I looked back at Starlight, who was now looking back at me. “I...don’t have anything here. Looks like we’re gonna have to go out and get something,” I said, my voice laced with guilt. Starlight nearly broke down again and looked away from me. “F-Fine...let’s just get this over with.” ’At least she’s talking now. That’s good...right?