//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: A deal made // Story: Caught and Punished // by ThePinkedWonder //------------------------------// With their mission complete, Princess Twilight, her friends, and their unwitting "companion", Starlight Glimmer, were on the way back to Ponyville on the Friendship Express. Twilight and Starlight sat beside each other, with the latter closer to the window. Fluttershy and Pinkie sat in seats opposite Twilight and Starlight. Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity sat in seats by the windows opposite of the one Twilight, Starlight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were beside. The mood considerably varied from pony to pony. Pinkie Pie was cheerfully humming and in her own little world. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were still arguing about what punishment Starlight deserved. Fluttershy stayed quiet. Twilight simply took it all in, switching from listening to the argument and staring at Starlight. At this moment, she was looking toward her friends. As for Starlight, she still had bindings on her hooves and the suppression ring on her horn. She was gazing out the window with a frown mixed with anger and regret over her plans being stopped, being caught, and losing her magic. Twilight told all the ponies they walked by that Starlight was merely acting, so it wouldn’t look suspicious that she and her friends had a bound and gagged pony with them. Her title of princess helped the ponies believe her story. Applejack wasn’t a fan of lying, but reluctantly agreed to go with it. I can’t believe I got captured so easily, Starlight thought to herself. She felt tears moving in behind her glare and shook her head. No way, I am not giving them the satisfaction. Just gotta think about happier times as a filly...no that’ll make me feel worse. Applejack said, “Y’all, we’ve been goin’ on about this for a while now, but we still haven’t gotten anywhere. Since we don’t have enough time to wait for the train to stop into Canterlot, I say we stick her in Ponyville’s jail.” Rainbow said, “But with the kind of security Ponyville’s jail has, she’ll just get away.” "Maybe, but--" Applejack stared at Rainbow and squinted her eyes. “Wait a minute, how do you know about how Ponyville’s security is, Rainbow Dash?” “Oh, uh, I-I just heard stories about it. But let's get back to what to do about Starlight.” “Well, I still think we should make her do manual labor. After all, she enslaved an entire village of ponies, so she deserves to feel what that’s like,” Rarity said. Rainbow turned her head to Twilight, who she now noticed was remaining quiet. "What's up with you, Twilight? You haven't said anything since we've been on the train." Twilight looked to Starlight, who still wore the same glare as before, and took a deep breath. She may have seemed angry now, but Twilight remembered how Starlight broke down in the cave when she saw the suppression ring over her horn, knowing what the ring would do. “You guys might not believe or like what I’m going to say...but I don’t think simply throwing Starlight in a prison cell is the best idea,” Twilight admitted. “In that case, manual labor it is,” Rarity said with a triumphant smirk. Twilight shook her head. “No, I don’t think we should do that either.” Applejack asked, “Well, what should we do with her then?” Twilight looked down and fidgeted her hooves. “I...I’m not sure yet. But I don’t think she deserves any of those.” “What?! Are you crazy?” Rainbow yelled. “Then what?! You want us to just do nothing and let her go after what she did to us and the ponies in that village?!” Rarity questioned. Twilight raised her head back up and stopped playing with her hooves. “No, of course not, Rarity! But, I don’t think any of those ways you, Rainbow, and Applejack said will really be of value.” Twilight turned to Starlight again and added, “Right before you girls got to us in the cave, Starlight cried and begged me to not put the suppression ring on her horn. She looked so scared, and for a second, I almost felt like a villain.” “Well first, yer not a villain, Twi. Second, of course she was beggin’ you to not seal away her magic. But that's because now she can’t use it to take Cutie Marks anymore or hurt somepony,” Applejack said. “Applejack’s right! Besides, she didn’t care how we felt about her taking our Cutie Marks away and even smiled when she took them. Starlight doesn’t care about, as you might say, ‘learning the error of her ways’. All she wants is her magic back so she can get back to her ‘Equality’ plan again,” Rainbow added. “You three really think Starlight isn’t the least bit sorry about what she’s done?” Twilight asked. Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack all simultaneously answered, “No.” Pinkie was still zoned out. Fluttershy wore a puzzled frown, but remained quiet, so Twilight was unable to tell if even she was on her side or not. Twilight gave a deep sigh and said, “Fine. I really hate to do this, but I have no choice but to pull rank.” Rarity asked, “What does that mean?” Twilight’s frown became a more serious one. In an authoritative voice, she ordered, “As the Princess of Friendship, I order you to stop coming up with ways for us to punish Starlight.” Rainbow gasped. She wanted to say something, but understood that Twilight wouldn’t budge. Soon after she became an alicorn and a princess, Twilight told them that she wanted them to keep thinking of her as their friend, not their princess. If she was willing to use her princess status here, this was something she needed to do. Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest. “Oh, you want to be that way? Fine! Just don’t look at me if it backfires and she takes our Cutie Marks again!” Rarity gave a huff in disgust and turned away. Applejack pulled her hat over her eyes, giving a small glare right before she did. Twilight gave another sigh and turned to Pinkie and Fluttershy. “You two aren’t mad at me or think I’m crazy either, are you?” “Oh, I’m not mad, and you’ve been right about crazier things,” Pinkie answered. Fluttershy said, “And I think you’re right about Starlight. She doesn’t want to admit it, but deep down, I think she knows what she did was wrong. Now only that, she seemed to truly think she was helping, so I think there's good in her." Twilight smiled, hope building that she was indeed making the right choice. “At least you guys think this is a good idea.” She hopped off her seat and gave Fluttershy a small hug. After Twilight released her grip on Fluttershy and sat back down, she suggested, “So, let’s try to decide what to do next.” But before Twilight could think of something, Fluttershy said, “Well, first, she needs to be taught what she did was wrong and why. Then, just treat her like a friend, so she’ll learn by example.” Twilight smiled and said, “That’s a great idea, Fluttershy! That way, she can--” Twilight frowned. She became aware of more factors that would make teaching Starlight friendship be even more difficult than she thought. “Hold on, now we have another problem. You’re too busy with your animals to teach her. Pinkie both works at Sugarcube Corner and sometimes watches the Cakes’ foals so she can’t. It’s kinda my job to teach Starlight friendship, but with all my princess duties, I won’t be able to keep an eye on her all the time. I don’t think Spike can handle teaching her. And I doubt Rarity, Rainbow, or Applejack will want to do it.” The huffs from Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow showed that they agreed. At least with Twilight’s last sentence. Fluttershy set a hoof on her cheek and tilted her head down. After two seconds, she smiled, took her hoof off her cheek, and raised her head back at Twilight. “What about Sam? He’s having trouble making friends, right? Maybe he and Starlight would hit it off.” Rainbow interrupted, “Hold on, Fluttershy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Sam’s a bad guy. In fact, I like him as much as the next pony. But do you really think it’s a good idea for him to be friends with her?” Twilight groaned and asked, “What did I just tell you, Rainbow?” “I know, I know. But all I’m saying is, maybe we should rethink sticking her with him,” Rainbow explained. Twilight rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Well, I appreciate your ‘concern’, Rainbow, but I think Fluttershy’s idea of Sam being the one to help Starlight is a great idea. This can be good for Sam too.” Fluttershy smiled at Twilight’s words, but they made Rainbow shake her head, still not liking this idea. Twilight looked out the window she was beside. She saw the buildings of Canterlot in the distance. Poor Starlight. You probably think that’s where we’re going, so we can throw you in the dungeon. Starlight, staring at the same sight, sighed. Great. At least Sunburst won’t find out what I did if we go through Canterlot fast enough, if he's there right now. Twilight looked back to her friends. “We'll about to enter Ponyville. Do you mind giving Starlight and me a minute to talk before we get there?” Twilight's friends all got up from their seats and made their way to another train car. On their way out, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack shot small glares at Starlight. Alone, Twilight tapped Starlight on the shoulder, canceling the deafening spell in the process. Starlight winced at the sudden noise her ears were filled with and looked at Twilight, who was giving her an earnest smile. Even if she wanted to, Starlight couldn’t say anything, but Twilight saw her confused frown. “Welcome to Ponyville, Starlight!” Twilight said with a cheery tone. Starlight simply scowled. “Okay, I know you hate me right now, but please hear me out.” Starlight’s scowl softened, as if she were saying, “I’m listening.” “My friends were thinking of putting you in prison, but I have a better idea. Deep down, I think you’re at least a bit sorry for what you did. I also think you have the potential to be a good, no, great pony, or at least you can stop thinking of me as your enemy, so I want to offer you a second chance,” Twilight explained. Starlight’s scowl intensified again. Sensing she might refuse her offer, Twilight added, “However, if you are not willing to accept this chance, I will have to take this issue up with Princess Celestia. I really don’t want to do that, but I will if I have to. It’s your choice.” Second chance? From her? Not after she took my magic. But, I have no choice, so for now I’ll play along. Starlight nodded her head in “agreement.” The train stopped, signaling they had returned to Ponyville and at its train station. “Okay, I’m gonna take your bindings off, but I’m keeping the suppression ring on your horn. Please, just cooperate with me; I don’t want to have to take away your second chance already,” Twilight said. With that, she removed the magical bindings around Starlight’s hooves, which vanished, and took the gag out of her mouth. Twilight motioned her head toward the door, Starlight slowly got up and walked toward it, and Twilight followed close behind until they got off the train. Once outside and standing next to Starlight, Twilight asked her friends, “Can you guys take her to the castle while I go talk to Sam?” “Of course, Twilight,” Fluttershy responded for the group. “Thank you,” Twilight ran off in the direction Sam’s house was, leaving her friends to keep Starlight in check for the time being. Rainbow walked up to Starlight with a hard glare. “Come on.” The six of them walked toward Twilight’s castle, Applejack and Rarity walked close behind Starlight. The others walked in front of her to ensure she wouldn’t try to flee. A short time later, the group made it to Twilight’s crystal tree-castle. The lower half of the "tree" was made of dark-blue crystal, but the upper half of the tree was a lighter shade of blue. The castle itself was made of purple crystal. Despite her anger, Starlight couldn’t resist to silently marvel at the sight. “You think this is impressive? You should’ve seen it when it first appeared. It just popped right out of the ground!” Pinkie said to Starlight. “Come on, let’s go in,” Applejack said. She went up to the door, bumping into Starlight in the way, and knocked on its grand, two-leaved golden doors. The doors opened to reveal a small dragon with purple skin and green scales. “Hey, you’re back! How was the trip?” “Hey, Spike. Mind if we come in for a minute?” Applejack asked. “No problem. Where’s Twilight?” Spike responded. “She’s, uh, sortin’ stuff out,” Applejack explained. The six of them made their way inside, Rainbow giving Starlight a shove to get her moving. At the same time, the others broke apart their formation around Starlight, allowing her to be visible to Spike. When Spike saw Starlight, his entire world stopped. She was just drop-dead gorgeous to him. “W-Who i-is this?” Spike stuttered. “This is Starlight Glimmer, somepony we...met during our travels,” Rarity responded with a small glare towards Starlight. “N-Nice to m-meet you, I-I'm--” Spike stuttered with a lovesick smile on his face. Starlight just stared at him with a confused frown. A dragon? Why would Twilight have a dragon, let alone a baby dragon from the looks of it? And what's with his face?! Spike stared at Starlight with the same dopey smile on his face. “Spike? You okay there?” Applejack asked. The baby dragon gave no reply. “Spike? Are you in here?” Rarity echoed. Nothing. “Spike!” yelled Rainbow Dash. Spike jumped from the ground by half his height and stopped smiling. “So...what now?” “Twilight asked us to look after Starlight until she got back,” Rarity explained. “Look after her? What are you talking about?” Spike asked. “It’s a...long story. It’s gettin’ kinda late, so we'll fill you in later,” Applejack said. Twilight walked up to a house on the edge of Ponyville. It was a simple house, two stories, average size. She saw a light on in Sam’s living room, meaning he was still awake, even though it was getting close to midnight. Twilight had visited Sam’s house more than any of her friends, or anypony in general. Sam has only been in Equestria for three weeks now, after a still unexplained accident created a short-lived portal. Since he arrived, he had been trying to make friends, but most of Ponyville’s citizens were unnerved by his unusual appearance and largely kept their distance. Some ponies even felt that he “looked down” on them. Not just literally. Twilight and her friends found Sam wondering about inside Twilight's castle confused, soon after the portal was reported. When he saw them, he freaked-out, ran, and tried to hide in one of the castle's bedrooms, but Fluttershy was able to successfully calm him down. He was somewhat less mature than most, but he was really smart and funny once one got to know him. Twilight was one of those few. Sam was nice, but he was still a little weirded out by ponies. Apparently, where he came from, ponies aren’t quite as intelligent as humans, and can’t even talk. That’s what Sam was: a human. Twilight couldn’t help but think about a situation with an aquamarine unicorn named Lyra. Not only was she immediately not bothered by Sam’s appearance, it captivated her, making her follow and at times outright stalk him by hiding in bushes to observe him. Something about the human piqued her interest, and she grew obsessed with learning more about him and even wished to meet more humans. Twilight even had to order Lyra to stop following Sam. But when a thought about Starlight surfaced in her head, Twilight snapped herself out of it and knocked on Sam’s front door. She didn't come here to take trips down memory line. A few moments later, the door opened, revealing Ponyville’s, and Equestria’s, only human. He wore brown shorts and a torn-up white shirt. “Hey, Twilight! I see you’re back from your little trip. What brings you here?” Sam asked with a smile on his face. Well, at least he’s in a good mood, Twilight thought to herself. “Hi, Sam. Sorry for coming so late, but I have a big favor to ask you.” “Alright. Why don’t you come in? It’s freezing out there,” Sam said, shivering. A cold wind gust blew, making Twilight shiver as well. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Twilight went through the door and into the house. The living room, as Sam liked to call it, was about half the size of one room in Golden Oaks Library. There was a white couch, a black chair, a table with glass in the center, a black box that Sam called a “CD player", whatever that was, a bookshelf, and dark-brown, wooden floors. It was the biggest room in the house, but Sam didn’t seem to mind. “So what did you want to ask me?” Sam asked, sitting on the black chair, which he claimed belonged to his father. “First, before I ask, let me explain everything that happened when we left,” Twilight responded. “Oh yeah, you guys told me you were going away somewhere and that you’d be back in a day or two.” “Yes. Now, we were summoned to a village in the middle of nowhere. All of the ponies had the exact same equal sign for a Cutie Mark and creepy smiles that even creeped Pinkie out,” Twilight began. “Woah, if it can creep her out, it must have been really weird,” Sam assumed. “I know, right? Anyway, the village was run by a very powerful unicorn named Starlight Glimmer, who had the same equal sign on her flank. She said they represented the fact that nopony was better than anypony else and took them by force. She even took our Cutie Marks!” “Wow, she must be powerful if she can take even yours. I see you have your Cutie Mark now, so how’d you beat her?” Sam asked, intrigued by the story so far. "Thanks to a plan we came up with, we found out that Starlight had kept her Cutie Mark, but covered it with the fake equal sign one. We exposed her for her lies and got ours back, but when she tried to get away, we caught and brought her back here.” “That’s good news, but what does all that have to do with me and your favor?” Twilight looked down and made circles with a hoof. “Well, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity are convinced she won’t change her ways, but I don’t think that. I think she deserves a chance to redeem herself instead of being thrown in prison, but her magic is nearly as powerful as my own, so I can’t just let her go free. At least not before someone teaches her why what she did was wrong, so..." Twilight sighed. In a more shy voice, Twilight asked, "I was kinda hoping that...you could do it and help her learn to be a good friend?” Sam gasped and pointed at himself as he said, “What?! Me?! Not that I don’t want to help, but this sounds like something that you, the Princess of Friendship, should do. Not me, a guy who’s still having a hard time making friends himself!” “I would, but I’m too busy with my princess duties to stay near her all the time to make sure she won’t try anything. Not only that, the others are either too busy or...too mad to do it.” “Fair enough, but still, why me? Can’t that ‘Zecora’ or someone else do it?” “That's because of another reason. I thought it would be a good opportunity for you to make a new friend, since you’re still having trouble doing it, even if the circumstances are kind of...unusual. Besides, right now, you’re my best option and I wouldn’t be coming to you if I didn’t think you could do it. I really want Starlight to have this chance, but if nopony agrees to help her, I’m afraid of what’ll happen to her. I think she has so much potential.” “Look, I’m all for giving her a chance, but I just don’t know if this is a good idea. Like I said, I’m no friendship expert and not only that, I have to go job hunting. If I agree to this, it would be like an anchor,” Sam countered. “You don't have to be a 'friendship expert' and I’ll give you whatever help I can. In fact, if you need bits, I’ll pay you for helping!” Sam rubbed his chin. “Pay me, you say? How much?” Twilight rolled up her eyes in thought. “How about...two thousand bits a week?” “Woah! How do you even have that much?” Twilight chuckled and responded, "Sam, I'm a princess." Sam in turn chuckled. “Good point, and the price is good I must say.” Sam rubbed his chin again. “But still...I don’t know about this, Twilight.” “Come on, please?” Twilight begged, then tilted her head and put on a sad frown. Her pupils grew huge, ears flopped, and her eyebrows curved at just the right angle. Sam pointed at Twilight and ordered, “Oh, no! Don’t you look at me like that!” Twilight tilted her head even more. Her pupils grew even bigger. “Please, for me? I’m desperate!” Sam tried his best to resist the pony’s face, but he eventually let out a sigh and lowered his finger. “Okay, okay, stop with that face! I’ll do it.” Twilight’s lips instantly turned into a smile, and she reset the tilt of her head to normal. “Thank you so much, Sam! You have no idea how much this means to me and--” “BUT, on two conditions. One, you don’t interfere unless I ask you to, and two, you...actually, that’s about it, so just one condition.” “Of course! She’d be under your supervision. You do this however you see fit!” Twilight cheered. “Good. Now with that settled, you said she was back at the castle? Should we go get her now or in the morning?” “I suppose we could go bring her here now. She’s wearing a suppression ring that cancels out the magic of the unicorn wearing it, so she can’t use her magic.” “Alright then, let me get some better clothes on and a coat, and we’ll get going,” Sam said, making his way upstairs to change. Once he did, now wearing brown pants in place of shorts and a dark-blue coat, he and Twilight made their way to Twilight's castle.